In a small inn 100 miles outside the city, unexpectedly, Zong Ho's group stayed for three days and three nights.

  Every now and then, someone would cautiously emerge from the inn to observe their surroundings, apparently worried that staying too long would bring trouble. Unfortunately, Zong Huo, who had been freed from hell, didn't care at all and indulged in debauchery.

  The Bae family's dark guard was quietly lurking around.

  Three days later, the convoy finally persuaded Zong Huo to leave. When he left, Zong Huo was satisfied and had a half-asleep, half-awake drunken expression on his face.

  Several of Pei's secret guards immediately entered the inn to investigate and found that the innkeeper's daughter had already hanged herself silently in her room.

  After examining the body, the two dark guards exchanged a glance: "He was strangled to death."

  And lifted up the woman's clothes, down, body disheveled and in disarray, obviously extremely humiliated.

  The inn was desolate and uninhabited all around, Zong Huo was greedy for female charm, only the daughter in this inn could satisfy his lust.

  The poor woman was thus deceived.

  A dark guard clenched his fist: "Horse messenger, report to the young master."

  This evil escaped death and continued to commit numerous crimes on his way, which are too heinous to be recorded.

  The Zong family father and son, in order to cover up their crimes, had long since not valued anyone's life. After Jing Yuanyu escaped from the palace, the palace traitor also passed on the news to Zong Chuke, "Cui Shanggong was unable to kill that corpse-collecting palace maid."

  Zong Chuke crushed the cup in his hand: "What did you say?"

  Wanting to make the substitution a secret, eliminating all parties involved is crucial. Unexpectedly, even that Choi Sang-gong couldn't handle this matter.

  The newcomer told Zong Chuke about everything that happened in the palace last night, including suspicions that it was Prince Chang Le who took the person away.

  "Could it be anyone else but Prince Chang Le?"

  Either Prince Chang Le or... Pei Tan.

  It was this very son of the Pei family who initially advocated for his son's death penalty.

  "Pei Tan was summoned to the palace last night, and besides, there is Cai Gonggong by Your Majesty's side as proof. It should be... not the person who took away that palace maid." Moreover, Pei Tan also had no motive to take away Jing Yu'er.

  After all, the palace is heavily guarded, and to quietly take someone away requires immense power. Thinking it over, Long Le Wang is still the most likely suspect.

  But when it comes to family, Zong Chuke obviously didn't relax his vigilance so easily. He looked at the person who replied, his voice cold and stern: "If Pei Tan discovers any clues..."

  That person was also shocked, and couldn't help but think that this Pei Tan was indeed a jinx. At first glance, he seemed like a gentle and refined young master of the Pei family, but no one had expected him to be so cold-blooded and ruthless, without any regard for familial relationships.

  "If Pei Tan has discovered something, he would have been the first to expose it and report it to Your Majesty. He wouldn't be keeping quiet like this..." The man made a cautious guess.

  Indeed, at that time Pei Tan was able to disregard all obstacles and ask Zhong Zong to issue an edict to execute Zong Huo. Now if he were to discover that Zong Huo had not actually died, wouldn't he be even more determined to expose everything?

  Zong Chuke's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness, and for a moment, there was no speech.

  ——

  Because no one was willing to risk offending Emperor Taizong of Tang, Cui Shanggong was warned not to mention the matter again.

  Cui Shanggong was so resentful that she gritted her teeth, never expecting that the carefully planned move would end up losing both the general and the soldiers.

  "Go and bring Qiao over here for me!" She ordered fiercely.

  Chao'er was brought over when she didn't understand anything, but subconsciously felt a sense of trepidation, especially when she came into contact with Cui Shanggong's gloomy face, her heart sank.

  Chui Shanggong gazed coldly at the little palace maid who had already been frightened stiff, "That day I instructed you to follow Jing Wanyan together to collect the corpses, did you listen to my words and stay by her side every step of the way?"

  Qiao'er trembled severely: "Yes... yes..."

  Cui Shanggong's eyes were deep and unfathomable, and she had let Qiao'er follow her precisely to guard against a hidden hand. If Jing Wanyu hadn't discovered anything on the corpse, then everything would still be all right.

  "Then you tell me in detail how Jing Wanyan did it that day?"

  Qiao'er stared blankly at Cui Shanggong, feeling a chill of desperation rising from her feet. She hadn't brought out the palace token that day and was left alone by Jing Wanyan inside the palace gate.

  She didn't watch as Jing Wan'er collected the corpse.

  "The slave saw... she used kerosene and burned the corpse..."

  At that time she stood inside the palace gate, seeing the burning flames and white smoke, thickly filling the air.

  Choi Sang-gong glared at them: "Where did you drag the body to burn it? And how did she do it?"

  That grave in the palace occupies a lot of land, and where did the fake corpse of Zong Ho end up? Even if it's just ashes left behind, it's evidence.

  Qiao'er's face turned pale and she stared at Cui Shanggong in a daze.

  "Choi Sang-gung's voice grew more menacing: 'Why aren't you saying anything? Didn't you see her dispose of the body with your own eyes?'"

  Cui Shanggong's cruelty in the miscellaneous room was deeply rooted, and no palace maid could stand in front of her for half a moment. Qiaor originally had a timid and fearful nature, under Cui Shanggong's intentional pressure and probing, she finally collapsed mentally.

  "I was wrong! Please forgive me, Your Highness..."

  Choi Sang-gung stared at her coldly for a while: "Why did you ask me to spare your life?"

  Qiao'er sobbed intermittently: "I, I didn't follow Jingyu out of the palace to collect the body, I only saw the flames burning the body at the palace gate, I didn't intentionally deceive Shang Gong, I promise it won't happen again!"

  Cui Shanggong's hand clenched tightly inside the meat, well, Jing Yuanyu escaped from under her eyelids, and now she found out that Qiaoer was also being hypocritical. In this case, there was no way to know how Jing Yuanyu had handled the corpse that day.

  If this matter is known by that Shangshu, even her life may be in danger.

  "Come on, drag Xiao'er away and beat her to death with a whip!"

  Qiao'er's face was ashen, "Your Highness Shang Gong, spare my life..."

  The palace maids beside Cui Shanggong would not show mercy, two tall and sturdy duty palace maids stepped forward, tightly pinching Xiao Er's two arms, dragging her towards the door.

  Qiao'er finally reacted and shouted: "Shang Gong Da Ren! Shang Gong Da Ren!"

  Cui Shanggong couldn't bear the thought of her dying immediately, if she let this Qiao girl shout out something and it reached the ears of Zong Chuke, not only would the position of Shanggong she had climbed to over the years be hard to keep, but even she herself would have to suffer a fate like that of these palace maids, how could she tolerate it.

  "Shut her up and don't let her make a single sound before she suffocates!"

  Qiao Er's fear was stuffed into her throat, her eyes wide open, unable to understand why her life was gone in an instant.

  Cui Shanggong had killed Qiao'er, but the anger in her heart still lingered. She wished that Jing Wanyan was indeed taken away by Prince Chang Le and became his plaything. If she couldn't leave the Prince's mansion for the rest of her life, it would be a consolation to her.

  At night, Choi Sang-gung, who was a demon in the daytime, bowed his head and said to a eunuch: "Please rest assured, everything has been taken care of."

  The eunuch pinched his throat and narrowed his eyes, saying: "The Minister asked you, why did that palace maid escape ahead of time, was it because you leaked the news?"

  Chui Shanggong's eyes flashed with a hint of viciousness, but his expression became even more humble and subservient: "Of course not. Jing Wanyan has always remembered that she was once the daughter of a noble family in Chang'an, and she has long been unwilling to be a slave. She must have seen Long Le Wang entering the palace and thought of flying up to become a phoenix, so naturally she would rely on Long Le Wang... this big tree."

  The eunuch's voice was cold and detached: "Can you be certain that Jing Wanyan followed the Prince of Chang Le?"

  Cui Shanggong sneered: "She's just a lowly slave who can be manipulated at will, if it weren't for the protection of Prince Chang Le, even if she grew wings, how could she fly out of this vast palace?"

  The eunuch's eyes moved slightly, and it was unclear whether he believed this or not.

  Chui Sang-gong's eyes rolled, and he pulled out a letter from his sleeve: "This is the testimony of the guards at Danfeng Gate that night. That evening, Prince Changle drove into the palace alone in his carriage, and when he left... they all heard with their own ears the sound of a woman's laughter coming from inside the carriage."

  This is ironclad evidence that proves King Changle Li Xiuyi indeed took away the palace's female attendants.

  Having seen this testimony, the eunuch's eyes finally relaxed a little.

  "To ensure your safety, if the Prime Minister finds out that Jing Yuanner was taken away by someone else, not only will you lose your life, but our entire family will also be buried with you."

  Chui Sang-gung naturally replied with courtesy: "This servant understands."

  When the eunuch left, Cui Shanggong's clenched fist finally relaxed. Her expression was cold and indifferent, and this confession was naturally forged. On that night, Prince Chang Le was drunk and left the palace, and no one saw anyone else in the carriage. But such things, it should be said that no one would voluntarily speak the truth.

  ——

  Due to Pei Tan's insight into human nature, everyone will eventually describe the fact that "Jing Yuanyuan was taken away by Prince Chang Le" as more and more true for their own benefit.

  Even Zong Chuke couldn't find a weakness for the time being.

  But these past few days, Pei Tan has done nothing at all, only letting Xing Zhubu bring over the accumulated case files from the Dalisi Temple, one by one, seemingly aimlessly flipping through and examining them.

  "Sir, these are all hopeless cases, some have already exceeded the time limit, why bother looking at them?"

  Xing Zhubu has been dealing with Juan Zong for the past two days and has ended up looking like a fool, but he can't figure out what this official wants to do.

  "There's nothing, just wanted to see if there's anything else that can be done with these cases."

  Pei Tan said, "In a moment," and then pointed to one of the cases, saying, "This case involves several people who are still in Chang'an. Tomorrow, have the bailiffs bring them here for questioning. I have some questions to ask."

  Xing Zhu Bo stretched his neck to take a look, and it was actually another case that was about to expire. He really couldn't understand what Pei Tan was thinking, so he could only say: "Yes, I'll go and deal with it tomorrow."

  At this time, as it was already late, after Xie Tan had finished reviewing the case files, Xing Zhubu left the Supreme Court.

  There was a horse-drawn carriage at the gate. Xing Zhubu's face changed color when he saw the carriage, but then he got on as if nothing had happened.

  The carriage then left, but did not head towards the Xing Zhushi's house. Instead, it deliberately circled around several times before stopping at the back door of the Shangshu Mansion under the cover of nightfall.