My sister is Luna

"Is the person who came here Shangguan Wan'er?" Di Renjie sat in the hall, looking down at Shangguan Wan'er, and said with an imposing air.

"Your Excellency, I am Shangguan Wan'er." Shangguan Wan'er stepped forward, neither humble nor arrogant, while Cain watched her from behind.

"Can you guarantee that every word of your complaint is true?" Di Renjie asked, his gaze sharp as he stared intently at Shangguan Wan'er.

"Yes, the emperor was furious that my grandfather failed to stop the crown prince's filial impiety. The crown prince cursed my grandfather, believing that it was my grandfather who betrayed him, causing the plan to fail. My grandfather was thus convicted and died unjustly in prison..."

Shangguan Wan'er recounted a story from over a decade ago about brotherly love, filial piety, and parental harmony.

“But that’s not how it is, and I am a witness to this conspiracy.” Shangguan Wan’er looked intently at Di Renjie, her voice clear and powerful.

“The sorcerer named Ming Shiyin was the mastermind behind this conspiracy. My grandfather was never involved in it. He tricked Emperor Taizong into believing that the crown prince was plotting a rebellion. My grandfather was used by him. He thought his conspiracy was perfect, but I saw it.”

“I have irrefutable evidence that he used a peculiar illusion technique. To make my grandfather, who had such a strong will, do such a thing, he must have left strong traces of the illusion technique on him. Even now, when only bones remain, there must still be remnants. The power comes from the same source. We can find out by examining his demonic energy and the traces of the illusion technique.” Shangguan Wan’er’s tone was resolute.

"Then do you agree to the Dali Temple exhuming the body for examination?" Di Renjie asked.

"I am willing!" Shangguan Wan'er replied through gritted teeth.

“Very good. Without further ado, let’s hurry to Ming Shiyin’s residence to arrest him. The rest of you, go to Shangguan Yi’s tomb, find the body, and prepare for examination. The sooner the better.”

After hearing what Shangguan Wan'er said, Di Renjie made a decisive move. He got up and walked out of the main hall, summoned some constables and gave them a few instructions. Then, he led his men, Cain and Shangguan Wan'er, towards Ming Shiyin's location.

In fact, he originally wanted to lead his men directly to arrest Ming Shiyin, but the Dali Temple had its own rules and procedures, so he had to go through the process again, listen to the victim's account of the injustice, and confirm whether it was true and whether there were any mistakes or regrets. Otherwise, he would have been on his way to arrest Ming Shiyin long ago.

Ming Shiyin...

As she got closer to Ming Shiyin's residence, Shangguan Wan'er clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white, her heart filled with tension and anticipation.

A courtyard where peonies are in full bloom.

"Ming Shiyin, please come with us." Di Renjie, along with Cain, Shangguan Wan'er, and a group of constables, stormed into the courtyard.

"Lord Di, welcome to my humble abode. I had a divination done yesterday and have been waiting for you for a long time."

Ming Shiyin sat in the courtyard, admiring the enchanting peonies, leisurely and content, as if all of this was within his expectations, seemingly unmoved by Di Renjie.

Looking at the culprit who had tormented her with nightmares for years, Shangguan Wan'er thought she would be filled with anger, but now she felt an unprecedented calm, because her grievances were about to be redressed, and he would receive his due punishment. Her pent-up emotions had been resolved upon awakening, and she would enter a new world, where life would begin anew.

"Since you already knew, I thought you would just run away."

"Di Renjie said sarcastically. At the same time, his eyes were fixed on Ming Shiyin's every move, not missing the slightest change."

"I am innocent, why would I run away?" Ming Shiyin said with a slightly innocent expression, his face full of sincerity.

"Hmph, whether he's innocent or not, we'll see when we get back to the Dali Temple to verify it," Di Renjie said, waving his hand.

"Come, take him away."

"Yes!" Two constables, each holding a knife, surrounded Ming Shiyin and led him to the center.

"Eh? Miss, we seem to have met somewhere before. May I ask where?" As he passed by, he saw Shangguan Wan'er and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

“Your enemy,” Shangguan Wan’er said coldly.

"I see." Ming Shiyin nodded, then glanced at Cain, a strange emotion flashing in his eyes. He walked to the middle of the constables and had them surround him.

The journey back to Dali Temple went smoothly. Ming Shiyin was calm and unhurried, seemingly unaware of his crime, which made Cain think that he had a backup plan and he became secretly wary.

They arrived at the front of the hall.

Several constables were examining a pale skeleton.

"Well……"

Shangguan Wan'er's face was somewhat pale. Those were the remains of her beloved grandfather. Because of that incident, her grandfather had died so tragically. Thinking of this, her eyes welled up with tears, but she bravely held them back.

“It’s alright, I’m here, I’ll stay with you…” Cain noticed Shangguan Wan’er’s unusual behavior. He gently took her hand and comforted her softly, his voice gentle yet firm.

Shangguan Wan'er was deeply moved. With such a friend by her side, she no longer needed to fear this sadness, and her complexion improved considerably as a result.

"Lord Di, we have indeed detected some traces of illusion. Should we extract them?" Upon seeing Di Renjie's arrival, the inspecting constable hurriedly stepped forward to report, his expression tense.

"Yes, very good. Extract it and prepare for verification," Di Renjie nodded and said.

The constables quickly extracted a crystalline purple energy from the skull of the corpse using a special method. They placed it on a Yin-Yang plate specially made by the Xuandu Temple. The purple energy did not dissipate on the plate; instead, it steadily gathered together and manifested as a visible entity.

"Ming Shiyin, bring out your power and let's see your so-called innocence."

"of course."

Ming Shiyin smiled and nodded, condensing a pearl-sized drop of fluorescent yellow energy from his fingertip. Like a water droplet, the fluorescent yellow energy slowly fell onto the plate.

"Let's begin the verification," Di Renjie said.

For a moment, everyone looked at the constable who was conducting the verification.

The constable manipulated the intricate patterns on the plate, causing two energies to rotate and collide, yet they failed to merge. This was a result of the two energies having different properties. The constable found this result hard to believe, thinking there was an error in the operation. So he manipulated the plate again, trying to merge the two energies.

"Uh...Reporting to Lord Di, there are two powers, and these two powers do not originate from the same source."

The constables had tested the method multiple times and found the same result. They wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads and could only report the truth in trembling voices.

"Are you sure?" Di Renjie's expression remained unchanged, but a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he secretly thought to himself that something was wrong.

"Lord Di, the verification results show that these two energies are not the same. He is not the one who cast the illusion on Shangguan Yi." The constable replied again with a bitter face, keeping his head down and not daring to look at Di Renjie's expression.

"..." Shangguan Wan'er clenched her fists in silence, burning with anger. She knew it was Ming Shiyin, it must be that person, but her enemy was right in front of her, yet he was still at large. The only evidence she had was not enough to prove his crime and to convict him. How could she not be furious?

"Don't worry, there will definitely be a way. At least I still have a way." Cain held Shangguan Wan'er's hand tightly.

"Lord Di, I am indeed innocent, am I?" Ming Shiyin asked with an elegant demeanor, a smile on his face as if the outcome was already decided.

"May I leave now?"

"No, you can't leave yet!" Di Renjie said immediately. He was thinking to himself, how could he let go of this hard-won opportunity so easily?

"Why? This has already proven that I am not a suspect, has it? Does Lord Di intend to detain someone who is not involved?" Ming Shiyin asked in confusion, a sly glint in his eyes.

"Lord Di, you should really think about the reputation of your Dali Temple. All the people are watching."

The Dali Temple judges cases openly and fairly, never shying away from the public's attention. Hearing the news, people flocked to see what was happening. Before long, a large crowd had gathered in front of the Dali Temple, watching everything unfold and discussing it animatedly.

"I heard that the sorcerer was arrested?"

"Yes, and it was Lord Di who personally arrested him."

"How could that be? Lord Ming didn't do anything wrong, did he? He's such a good person. A few days ago, he not only gave me a free fortune telling, but also gave me a peony he planted himself. Placing it in my home makes me feel refreshed. Someone who can grow such a flower, Master Ming, is definitely not a bad person."

"Yes, yes, he even gave this frail old woman strength all of a sudden. I don't feel tired when I work, my legs don't hurt, and my back doesn't hurt. How could they arrest such a good person as Ming Fangshi for no reason?"

"Lord Di must have made a mistake. I heard that Lord Di and Master Ming are not getting along in court. Could it be that Lord Di is targeting Master Ming?"

Judging from the people's discussions, they seemed to greatly support Ming Shiyin.

"Lord Di, should we disperse them?" a constable asked Di Renjie, leaning close to his ear.

“No, we must also let the people see his true colors, so they can’t remain deceived forever,” Di Renjie refused, his gaze resolute.

"I'll come and see the results myself." With that, Di Renjie approached the constable carrying the plate.

“That’s true…” Di Renjie carefully examined the verification results, and indeed, as the constable had said, the results clearly showed that he was not a user of illusion magic.

call out--!

But suddenly he threw out a token, which shot towards Ming Shiyin with lightning speed.

"Lord Di, how can you just throw such a dangerous thing around?" Ming Shiyin seemed to have anticipated this, and gently turned his head to dodge it, the token hitting a pillar not far behind him.

"Tsk." Di Renjie clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"Hey, is Lord Di getting angry out of embarrassment? He wants to force the Ming Fangshi to settle a personal score. Even someone as noble as Lord Di is going to fall? Sigh..." The onlookers outside started discussing again.

"Lord Di, now that you have personally proven my innocence, may I leave?"

Ming Shiyin asked with a smile. He showed no anger at Di Renjie's sudden attack, displaying magnanimity, which made the people admire him even more and believe that he was not the criminal.

"As everyone knows, our Dali Temple always emphasizes evidence, and our wise and impartial judges, with their divine judgment, surely would not do something as unreasonable as forcibly detaining an innocent person, would they?"

Ming Shiyin wore a confident smile that suggested he had everything under control.

They've already won—

Ming Shiyin was filled with pride and satisfaction.

……