The princess was ordained by Heaven.

Lu Jun was very satisfied with his masterpiece, and he even felt a morbid sense of satisfaction when he saw his parents fall ill because of "himself's" death.

His imitation fooled even his closest parents and Lu Kun's wife and daughters; it was almost flawless. What a remarkable thing that was.

The reason I say "almost" is because he had a wife, Ms. Sun, whom he cared deeply for.

Sun and Lu Jun were childhood sweethearts, and she regarded him as her future husband from a young age. Even though everyone thought Lu Kun was more outstanding, Sun's eyes were always on Lu Jun.

The heartbroken Sun had intended to die with her husband, but when she saw her young son, she held on to her last breath and decided to raise them.

She was a rare and devoted woman, but unfortunately, Lu Jun was not worthy of her sincere heart.

Soon, Mrs. Sun noticed that her "elder brother" was acting strangely.

At first, she thought it was a delusion caused by missing her deceased husband too much. She felt guilty towards her elder brother and sister-in-law and blamed herself for a long time.

But she knew Lu Jun too well.

She remembered clearly Lu Jun's habits that he himself hadn't even noticed, as well as his tastes and those subtle habits he had when he wrote.

When she finally realized that the living person was indeed her husband, she nearly went mad.

He is clearly her husband, but now he sleeps with his sister-in-law while holding the title of the eldest brother, leaving them a grieving widow and her young child and their precarious little family.

At this moment, the perfect image of Lu Jun, which was like a god in Sun's eyes, shattered.

She wanted to expose this.

Whether it's the parents-in-law still grieving the loss of their son or the sister-in-law who is kept in the dark, they should both know the truth.

However, she had loved Lu Jun deeply for many years, and when she was with him, she inevitably revealed her feelings.

Knowing he had been exposed, Lu Jun strangled Sun.

Children who accidentally witnessed their mothers being victimized were not spared either.

He found a suicide note written by Sun in the room.

That was written when Sun was in despair, when she truly considered taking her child and going to the underworld with Lu Jun.

But this was so unfair to the child, so she eventually put the letter away.

This letter became the final link in Lu Jun's feigned suicide of his wife and children.

When Zheng Xun got to this point, the sarcasm in his voice was almost overflowing.

Lu Jun kept his head down. He seemed to have gotten used to the pain, or perhaps his thinking was a little sluggish, so there was no special expression on his face, making it impossible to figure out his true thoughts.

“You have cultivated your reputation very well. Everyone knows that Lu Jun loves his wife and children and is loyal and devoted. Everyone knows that Sun Shi loves you deeply and will never change her mind. Therefore, the reason of dying for love has not aroused any suspicion. At most, some people will mutter a few words about how heartless Sun Shi is, even taking the children away.”

Lu Jun suddenly smiled and said, "She's always been pitifully foolish."

Upon hearing this, Zheng knew that nothing he said would make a difference.

He's a heartless, inhuman person; don't expect him to feel guilty.

Zheng Xun glanced at him coldly and gestured to Lord Shi: "Have someone send him to Duan Yunfeng. Let him tell us what he did."

Lord Shi snapped out of his daze and respectfully agreed.

Lu Jun was usually kind and diligent, and had a good reputation in the Hanlin Academy. No one could believe that he could do such a thing.

But Zheng Xun couldn't possibly be lying. It's just that you can know a person's face but not their heart. A wolf that wants to hunt is born knowing how to disguise itself.

He suppressed his sigh and summoned two minor officials to take Lu Jun away.

Zheng Xun stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "Let's go, let's continue."

Lord Shi tugged at his official robes that were stuck to his body and hurriedly followed.

The Hanlin Academy truly lived up to its reputation as a place of outstanding people and resources; in the end, she managed to recruit four assistants from there.

Zheng Xun left satisfied only after agreeing to let those involved in the mapping project meet.

However, the pebbles she threw into the lake near the Hanlin Academy created ripples that lingered for a long time.

On the other side, Zheng Xun had just stepped out of the Hanlin Academy when he saw an unexpected figure.

"Song Zhiling? What are you doing here?"

Song Zhiling exclaimed excitedly, "Princess! This humble subject has been waiting for you!"

Zheng Xun raised an eyebrow in surprise.

She left the palace today on a whim, and went straight to the Hanlin Academy after leaving the palace. How did Song Zhiling know her whereabouts?

Seeing that she didn't react, Song Zhiling thought she was angry, so he hurriedly knelt down: "Princess, I know that I have overstepped my bounds by spying on your whereabouts, but I beg you to give me a chance to explain."

"Alright, get up. Before I could even speak, you have already condemned yourself."

Seeing that she looked alright, Song Zhiling breathed a long sigh of relief and stood up from the ground.

How did you know I was in the Hanlin Academy?

Song Zhiling scratched the back of his head sheepishly: "This humble citizen just did it casually."

[You're being modest. This isn't something you can just find out easily; your information-gathering skills are exceptional.]

Hearing such a straightforward compliment, he lowered his head somewhat shyly.

When he belatedly realized that Zheng Xun hadn't said a word, his expression gradually turned terrified.

In the original future, Song Zhiling joined the army with a patriotic heart. Before being assigned to the patrol guard, he always thought about serving the imperial court in the future, but the gap between reality and ideals far exceeded his imagination.

Most of the guards in the patrol area were good-for-nothings. He was weak and aloof, yet exceptionally handsome. Beautiful people or things that are powerless to protect themselves always arouse the destructive desires of the strong.

Unable to escape the abyss of being bullied, his eventual descent into darkness and defection to the Brown Kingdom became almost inevitable.

Hearing this, Song Zhiling wanted to refute it. He wanted to say that he would never betray Dayong, let alone the princess, but no matter how hard he tried to open his mouth, he couldn't say a word.

[But this cannot be blamed on him. It was Bao Ye's foolishness and the court's dereliction of duty to push a soldier who was wholeheartedly devoted to serving his country to the opposite side.]

Moreover, his end was truly tragic. What kind of good place was the Brown Kingdom? As a man from the Great Yong Kingdom, he would only be more unwelcome there.

After a long and arduous search, he thought he had found a safe haven, but he never expected that the Brown Kingdom was even worse than the Patrol Guard. He could not accept that this was the result of his betrayal of the Great Yong Dynasty, so he committed suicide in anger.

Song Zhiling almost laughed. He wasn't so naive as to think he could get the same fairness in the Brown Kingdom as he couldn't get in the Dayong Kingdom.

But does he really not know how?

If Zheng Xun hadn't appeared, what would he have become if he had continued living in those dark and hopeless days?

He considered it, but found no answer.

A sense of unease rose within him; he was most worried that Zheng Xun might develop a prejudice against him because of this.

If the "future" she spoke of is true, then he is guilty of heinous crimes. How could he possibly face the princess?