Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

Ye Churan suppressed her nausea and listened to Zheng Luoqi's explanation. Zheng Luoqi would occasionally peel back the corpse to show Ye Churan what it was.

Ye Churan felt a wave of nausea as he looked at the bloody scene before him. He tried his best to control himself, not wanting Zheng Luoqi to see his discomfort.

Just as Zheng Luoqi opened the chest cavity of the corpse that the coroner had just cut open, a strong stench of decay hit him. Ye Churan could no longer bear it and bent over to vomit.

Zheng Luoqi chuckled inwardly; he had long anticipated that Ye Churan would be unable to bear such a scene.

But on the surface, he feigned concern and asked insincerely, "Oh dear, Lord Ye, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Should I send someone to fetch a doctor? Perhaps you caught a chill last night?"

Ye Churan finally stopped vomiting. He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, then covered his mouth and nose, and weakly replied, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Zheng. I probably ate something bad today, but I feel much better now."

Seeing Ye Churan in such a disheveled state, Zheng Luoqi was secretly delighted, but still pretended to be very worried and said, "Lord Ye, you must take care of your health! If you fall ill here, I can't bear the responsibility! Why don't you go back and rest for a while? The coroners and I can handle things here."

Ye Churan nodded gratefully and said, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Zheng. I am indeed a little tired. I will go out and rest for a while. However, please keep me informed of the progress of this case."

Zheng Luoqi smiled and agreed, then turned around to continue examining the body.

Ye Churan quickly left the morgue, taking a deep breath to try to dispel the unease in his heart.

Zheng Luoqi, on the other hand, examined the body more carefully because Ye Churan wasn't around.

Zheng Luoqi frowned, carefully examining the marks left by ropes binding the corpse. He noticed that the vines binding the body seemed to be coated with some kind of venom.

Not long after, the coroner handed the death record to Zheng Luoqi. After taking the record, his expression became increasingly solemn.

According to the records of the deceased, Young Master Hu was first drugged and then hanged. However, the venom-laden vines that were tied to his body were placed there after his death.

Zheng Luoqi immediately ordered Boyu to investigate what kind of poison the venom on the poisonous vine was, and arranged to send Hu Gongzi's body back.

He pondered for a moment, a question arising in his mind: "That kind of sleeping potion is very common on the market. If you want to drug Young Master Hu without him knowing, then it must be someone close to him?"

Zheng Luoqi once again ordered people to investigate whether Young Master Hu had any enemies, whether he had recently been in contact with any strange people, and whether any of the maids and servants serving him had behaved abnormally.

When Zheng Luoqi came out of the room, he immediately saw Ye Churan slumped on the table like a dead person.

Zheng Luoqi didn't even want to look at him again and left directly.

It was already past midnight, and apart from the sound of Zheng Luoqi's carriage passing by, everything was unusually quiet.

This night is destined to be anything but peaceful.

When the carriage was halfway through its journey, a person completely covered in black clothes stood in the middle of the road. The person wore a bamboo hat, and their face was also completely covered, with only their eyes showing. They held a sword in their hand, which gleamed coldly.

He stood in the middle of the road, sword in hand, looking menacing. The atmosphere around him became tense because of his arrival.

Zheng Luoqi sat upright in the carriage, slowly opening her eyes, thinking to herself, "I thought they weren't coming. They've gone to all this trouble to lure me out. I'd like to see how 'Opera Takes Life' works."

Zheng Luoqi said leisurely, "Sir, haven't you heard the saying 'a good dog doesn't block the way'?"

"You corrupt official, I'll send you to meet the King of Hell tonight!"

The man in black emitted a hoarse voice that sent chills down one's spine.

With that angry shout, many more men in black emerged from the surrounding darkness. They were armed with sharp weapons and their eyes revealed a fierce intent; they were clearly well-trained assassins.

The appearance of these people instantly made the already tense atmosphere extremely oppressive, making it difficult to even breathe.

With a "whoosh," a dart flew straight toward where Zheng Luoqi was sitting, and Zheng Luoqi caught the dart between two fingers.

The surrounding guards immediately engaged the assassins in battle.

Five or six assassins rushed toward Zheng Luoqi's location. Zheng Luoqi picked up the sword she usually kept in the carriage and immediately jumped out.

The carriage was instantly hacked to pieces by the assassins.

Upon seeing this, the assassin immediately turned and charged at Zheng Luoqi, who drew her sword to defend herself.

Zheng Luoqi fought five opponents and didn't seem to be at a disadvantage, even gaining a slight advantage.

The assassins' moves were all deadly, and Zheng Luoqi dared not relax for a moment. Taking advantage of the moment when one of the assassins did not react, she pierced his heart with a sword.

Seeing an opening, the other four assassins tried to finish them off, but Zheng Luoqi used the corpse of the recently deceased assassin as a shield and then took down another assassin.

The man wearing a straw hat was entangled by the guards. Seeing that the five assassins were no match for Zheng Luoqi, he wanted to rush over and kill her immediately, but the guards managed to delay him for a while.

By the time the man in the straw hat arrived, Zheng Luoqi had already dealt with the five assassins. The man in the straw hat rushed forward and started fighting with Zheng Luoqi.

Zheng Luoqi was not intimidated at all and directly swung her sword to fight him. The man was clearly no match for Zheng Luoqi and was eventually stabbed through the right shoulder by Zheng Luoqi's sword, and was pinned to the wall by Zheng Luoqi with the sword.

As Zheng Luoqi captured the leader, the other assassins were also captured by the guards. Most of them committed suicide by poison the moment they were captured, while a few did not have time to take poison because their jaws were dislocated in time.

Zheng Luoqi stepped forward and ripped off the mask of the man wearing a straw hat. After examining him closely, Zheng Luoqi was quite certain that he had never seen him before.

Zheng Luoqi asked in confusion, "Xiao Jie?"

Xiao Jie stared in shock, his eyes wide. He hadn't expected Zheng Luoqi to recognize him. Zheng Luoqi had only guessed at first, but seeing his reaction, she knew it was him.

"The 'Sword and Poison Duo' of the martial arts world? One is named Xiao Jie, and the other is Xiao Jie. Why would martial arts figures interfere in the affairs of the imperial court?" Zheng Luoqi asked in confusion.

Xiao Jie just stared intently at Zheng Luoqi without saying a word. Zheng Luoqi wasn't annoyed and ordered her men to send him to the dungeon first. Once there, there were plenty of ways to make him talk.

In the dungeon

Xiao Jie was tied to the execution rack, his eyes filled with murderous intent as he looked at Zheng Luoqi.

Zheng Luoqi sat opposite him, brewing tea, letting Xiao Jie stare at him.

"Because of you people, I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep these past few days. Tell me, how should I punish you?" Zheng Luoqi's light voice echoed in the cell, sounding particularly sinister and terrifying.