Who understands? He traveled through time with a high-spec spatial ability.

At dawn, Qiao Jingjing stood outside the Ministry of Justice prison, the morning dew wetting the hem of her skirt. The Grand Tutor, arrested last night, refused to confess, claiming the secret letters were all forgeries.

"Your Highness, the results are in." Old Mo hurried over, lowering his voice, "The ink used in the secret letter was indeed specially made for the Yan Kingdom's court, but..."

“But what?”

"The paper was produced in the paper mill of the Xue family in Jiangnan—and the Xue family are protégés of the current Prime Minister Su."

Qiao Jingjing's pupils contracted slightly. Prime Minister Su Mingyuan, a leader of the upright officials in the court, had always been at odds with the Grand Tutor. If the paper used in the secret letter truly came from the Xue family...

“We might have arrested the wrong person,” she whispered, a tightness in her chest. “Or perhaps, someone wants us to arrest the Grand Tutor.”

Footsteps sounded behind her, and Tantai Zhou approached with a squad of personal guards, his face terribly grim: "Jingjing, something's happened. The Grand Tutor... committed suicide in prison."

"What?!" Qiao Jingjing turned around abruptly. "That's impossible!"

"He hanged himself with his belt. The blood-written note he left behind claimed he was innocent, and the real traitor... was Prime Minister Su."

Qiao Jingjing and Lu Yuan exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes. The situation had reversed too quickly, like a carefully orchestrated play.

"Don't make a fuss yet." She quickly regained her composure. "With the Grand Tutor dead, the court will inevitably descend into chaos. We need..."

Before he could finish speaking, a guard came running up: "Your Highness! Princess! The Emperor urgently summons you!"

Inside the Xuanzheng Hall of the Imperial Palace, Emperor Liang, his face ashen, slammed a memorial to the ground.

"Overnight, the Grand Tutor died in prison, eighteen court officials were arrested, and the capital was in a state of panic! Prince Chen, is this your explanation to me?"

The matter had become a huge uproar, and he had to strike first to prevent the court officials from harming Zhou'er and affecting the new emperor's ascension to the throne.

Tantai Zhou knelt on one knee: "Your subject is guilty. But the evidence of the Grand Tutor's treason is irrefutable..."

"Confirmed?" Prime Minister Su stepped forward, the elderly minister, over sixty years old, now filled with righteous indignation. "Your Majesty, I have just examined those so-called secret letters, and the troop movements mentioned on them are completely inconsistent with the actual situation! This is clearly a frame-up!"

Qiao Jingjing stood at the corner of the hall and keenly noticed that when Prime Minister Su said these words, his gaze inadvertently swept towards General Zhao Yi, who was standing at the head of the military officers.

The veteran, who was over fifty years old, remained calm, but her right thumb unconsciously rubbed the hilt of her sword. She had read about this in "A Close Analysis of Micro-expressions and Body Language," and it was a typical gesture to conceal nervousness.

"Your Majesty," Qiao Jingjing suddenly spoke, "may I have a word to say?"

The entire court was in uproar. Women were forbidden from interfering in politics without an imperial edict; this was an ancestral rule of the Great Liang Dynasty.

Emperor Liang raised his hand to quell the commotion: "Yongding, please speak freely."

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Qiao Jingjing bowed gracefully. “In my opinion, the most urgent matter is not to pursue right and wrong, but to find out the cause of the Grand Tutor’s death. If he truly committed suicide out of fear of punishment, why did he leave behind a letter in blood to plead his innocence? If he was silenced…” She paused deliberately, her gaze sweeping over Prime Minister Su and General Zhao, “Then the real culprit must still be in the court.”

The hall was deathly silent. Prime Minister Su's expression changed slightly, and General Zhao stopped rubbing his fingers.

"Yongding's words are reasonable." Emperor Liang nodded slowly. "This matter will be thoroughly investigated by the Court of Judicial Review. Court adjourned!"

As they walked out of the Xuanzheng Hall, Tantai Zhou grabbed Qiao Jingjing's wrist: "You were too reckless just now."

"How can we lure the snake out of its hole without taking risks?" Qiao Jingjing whispered. "I bet someone will start to get restless tonight."

The night was as dark as ink. Qiao Jingjing sat alone in the study, with all the secret letters she had brought back from the Grand Tutor's mansion spread out in front of her.

Fa Cai curled up on her lap, occasionally nuzzling her hand with his head to comfort her.

"Master, is there a problem with these letters?"

“Every letter mentions ‘Shadow Pavilion,’ but none of them specify who it is.” Qiao Jingjing frowned. “It’s like…”

It's like deliberately leading us to think in the wrong direction.

She suddenly stood up and took out a roster from a hidden compartment—it contained information on all the members of "Dark Fragrance." Her fingers flipped through the pages quickly, stopping at the page with "Grey Sparrow."

"Lu Yuan said that the Grey Sparrow voluntarily surrendered a month ago?"

Fa Cai flapped his wings: "Yes, he said he was bullied a lot in the Yan Palace, so..."

"What a coincidence," Qiao Jingjing sneered. "We just needed spies from the Yan Palace, and someone delivered themselves right to our doorstep."

She quickly wrote a few lines, stuffed them into a small bamboo tube, and, along with Fa Cai, entered the space, instantly appearing at the place where they were exchanging information.

"Have Feiyu delivered to Lu Yuan immediately, without involving anyone else."

Just as Fa Cai flashed out of the space with the bamboo tube in his mouth, Qiao Jingjing suddenly felt dizzy. The aftereffects of using spatial rewind due to excessive consumption of spiritual power had kicked in.

She gripped the corner of the table, and a strange image appeared before her eyes: a person wearing a bronze mask stood in front of the map, his finger pointing directly at... the location of Cloud Mist Peak!

"Is this... a scene from a premonition?" she murmured to herself. Since using spatial rewind to save Tantai Zhou, these fragmented premonitions have become increasingly frequent.

A soft "tap" sound came from outside the window, like a pebble hitting the window frame.

Qiao Jingjing alertly extinguished the candle and quietly moved to the window. By the moonlight, she saw a familiar figure crouching on the courtyard wall.

It's Ji Yunchuan!

She carefully opened the window, and Ji Yunchuan leaped in as lightly as a falling leaf.

"Mr. Ji? What's going on here...?"

“Princess, let’s make this brief.” Ji Yunchuan’s expression was more solemn than ever before. “‘Shadow Pavilion’ is not an organization, but a code name—referring to the highest-ranking spy from the Yan Kingdom who has been deeply embedded in the court for twenty years.”

Qiao Jingjing gasped, "Who is it?"

Ji Yunchuan shook his head: "No one knows. But I found out that every time the Shadow Pavilion transmits intelligence, they draw a..."

“Spider.” Qiao Jingjing suddenly interjected, recalling the inconspicuous spiderweb mark on the windowsill of the Grand Tutor’s study.

Ji Yunchuan stared at her in shock: "How could you..."

Before she could finish speaking, a crossbow bolt pierced the window and struck Ji Yunchuan squarely in the back! Qiao Jingjing instinctively deployed a spatial barrier, and a second arrow hovered in mid-air. She steadied the staggering Ji Yunchuan and noticed the arrowhead was blackened.

"Damn it, it's poisonous again!" Qiao Jingjing couldn't help but swear.

“Heavenly Secrets… Sect…” Blood spilled from the corner of Ji Yunchuan’s mouth. “The Boundary Gate… is the key…” His head lolled to the side, and he fell silent.