Chapter 63

Liu Yuanxun had not been inside long when snow began falling outside. The crowd of onlookers among the common folk fell silent for quite a while, only coming back to life with a murmur of fragmented whispers.

But the topic of discussion this time was a world away from the earlier atmosphere of malicious glee and idle spectatorship.

Half a month earlier, the servant boy from Left Advisor Wang Mingxuan’s household had begun quietly searching for someone. The missing person was the family’s beloved noblewoman, and since the matter touched on the reputation of a secluded young lady, the Wang family had kept it hushed, merely dispatching people with her portrait to seek her out discreetly.

Few had seen the portrait, but word of the Wang Family Noblewoman’s disappearance had still spread through the capital on wings of rumor.

Had it been someone who showed their face in public every day who vanished, others might have speculated about mishaps or foul play. But for a noblewoman who spent her days confined to the inner courtyard, most people’s immediate assumption leaped straight to “elopement.”

The story had circulated widely enough, but it was no earth-shattering scandal, lacked any firm conclusions, and the Wang family had worked quietly to suppress it, so it hadn’t whipped up any real tempest.

All that changed early that morning when a bounty notice appeared on the Imperial Edict List, accusing the perpetrator of attempting to assassinate a prince. Passersby who had glimpsed the noblewoman’s portrait promptly identified her, and Left Advisor Wang Mingxuan, upon hearing the news, marched to the Meridian Gate and beat the Drum of Grievances.

The noblewoman’s disappearance had already been buzzing through the city; this imperial announcement turned it into a raging storm. Even without that drumbeat, the tale would have spread like wildfire across the capital before nightfall.

Events had spiraled to a point where even the emperor’s personal intervention might not contain them.

The snow intensified, yet not one soul waiting outside departed. Though the massive gates had long since slammed shut, the buzz of conversation beyond them refused to die down.

…

The prefect of the Capital Prefecture Yamen, Prefect Bai, was a master of suave diplomacy and adept governance.

With the facts unclear, he took care not to alienate either side. He personally oversaw the bailiffs as they hauled in two rosewood chairs cushioned with soft padding, then escorted Liu Yuanxun to take a seat.

Wang Mingxuan, by contrast, ignited with blazing fury the instant his eyes fell on Liu Yuanxun. He lunged forward, only for sharp-eyed bailiffs to seize him. Though restrained bodily, his voice erupted in anguished curses. “You heartless beast! Give me back my daughter’s life!”

Liu Yuanxun regarded Wang Mingxuan with calm composure. He knew any dispute now would be futile, so he sat steadily, absorbing the man’s tirade while subtly appraising him.

Wang Mingxuan appeared relatively young, his slightly plump scholar’s face contorted beyond recognition by rage. The grief and fury etched across it seemed utterly genuine. He bellowed until his throat cracked, dissolving midway into a thunderous coughing fit.

For all the noise, it yielded nothing tangible. Liu Yuanxun remained impassive, awaiting the crucial evidence.

Prefect Bai seized the moment of the cough to slam his gavel with a resounding crack, bellowing, “Silence! Order in the court!”

The hall fell quiet at last.

Prefect Bai cleared his throat with a dry cough and boomed, “Who stands before the court? State your grievance! Speak truthfully!”

Wang Mingxuan had been gagged and pinioned at the waist by the bailiffs. At the prefect’s prompt, they released him. He crumpled to the floor as if his spine had been extracted, dissolving into sobs and wails. “I have a young daughter, just turned seventeen, already betrothed. Yet she refused the marriage, hinting at a secret love she wouldn’t confess. Half a month ago, she left a farewell letter and vanished without a trace. I sent men far and wide to find her, all to no avail—only to discover she had become the assassin named on the Imperial Edict List for trying to kill the prince! Lord Bai! Lord Bai! You must deliver justice for my daughter! She’s only seventeen!”

Prefect Bai pressed on. “Then why do you insist that the prince had an illicit affair with your daughter?”

“Lord Bai!” Wang Mingxuan’s emotions surged, his voice pitching high. “It was no affair—it was enticement and rape! Prince Rui enticed and raped my daughter!”

An illicit affair was mere household drama; even with proof, it damaged only reputations. Enticement and rape, however, was a capital crime—but one demanding specific proof.

Prefect Bai’s brows knitted tighter. “The crime of enticement and rape generally applies only between adults and children. Your daughter is seventeen, no longer a child—this…”

“My daughter is seventeen,” Wang Mingxuan snapped, whirling to fix Liu Yuanxun with a venomous glare, his bloodshot eyes seeming ready to bleed. He jabbed an accusing finger, hatred dripping from every word. “But Prince Rui deceived her for five full years! Five years! She was only twelve five years ago!”

The revelation stunned everyone in the hall. Even the seasoned Prefect Bai blanched, his tone sharpening to iron. “Do you have evidence?”

“Naturally!” Wang Mingxuan sneered. “Without ironclad proof, would I dare beat the Drum of Grievances? Do I look eager to die?”

Only then did Liu Yuanxun show a flicker of response.

He raised his gaze to Wang Mingxuan, meeting a stare laced with crimson veins, ferocious enough to devour him whole.

Before Prefect Bai could interject, Wang Mingxuan clapped sharply, signaling the servant boy at his back to open the box clutched in his arms.

As the boy knelt forward with it, Wang Mingxuan continued. “I have a witness as well, Lord Bai. Please summon her.”

Prefect Bai nodded. “Proceed, Lord Wang.”

“The witness is Hong Xiu, a palace maid tasked with cleaning in Preservation Harmony Hall.”

Summoning someone from the palace would take time, and by the end of his words, the Wang family servant had flung open the box.

It brimmed with letters and jade artifacts, densely packed. As they were presented one by one upon the desk, Wang Mingxuan proclaimed, “These hold letters penned by Prince Rui himself over the past five years—each attesting to their back-and-forth. The jade pieces are imperial exclusives, obtainable only by Prince Rui. The letters meticulously record the dates and locations where he lured my daughter to their trysts. If you harbor doubts, Lord Bai, inspect them thoroughly!”

Prefect Bai pored over the letters even as suspicion dawned. “Lord Wang, when did you uncover these?”

“My daughter left a farewell note before vanishing, declaring her heart pledged elsewhere, vowing never to wed another. That spurred my secret search for her paramour’s identity, alongside dispatching men to track her down. Reclusive in her chambers, young and naive, she had stashed them carelessly in her vanity box. They took little effort to find—in two days, I had them all. Yet with a prince involved, caution was paramount. I held my tongue and tasked intermediaries to probe the palace.”

Wang Mingxuan rattled off the long explanation, nearly choking on his words. He slumped into the chair behind him, gasping for breath a good while before choking out, “Once I secured the witness and confirmed the prince’s guilt, I swallowed my rage, seeking only to let the matter rest if he would marry her for her sake and grant her a proper title. But alas—when next I saw my daughter, she lay dead in the wilds, branded a prince-slaying thief on the imperial list! Gentle and obedient from birth, she deserved better. As her father, I will demand justice even from beyond the grave!”

Liu Yuanxun now grasped the full prelude and aftermath.

Having vented his fury and marshaled his arguments, Wang Mingxuan collapsed utterly, slumped in his chair and heaving ragged breaths. Veins throbbed on his forehead; even his lips quivered.

His wrath felt sincere. A man capable of such a flawless performance would never earn the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s secret dossier label of “mediocre talent.” If he were truly that obtuse, then someone else wielded him as a murderer’s blade.

A mere fifth-rank official like Wang Mingxuan lacked the pull to extract anyone from the palace. Whoever unearthed Hong Xiu held the true knife over him.

Liu Yuanxun spoke for the first time since entering the yamen. “Lord Wang, physical evidence can be fabricated, witnesses intimidated. Does it not occur to you that someone might orchestrate this from the shadows, planting Hong Xiu as a false witness?”

Wang Mingxuan rejected it outright, unhesitating. “Absolutely impossible!”

“Oh?” Liu Yuanxun smoothed his sleeves languidly, a note of comprehension in his tone. “Your utter faith in her suggests Lord Wang Senior—your father—found her himself.”

Wang Mingxuan froze, instantly on guard. “What are you scheming? Threatening my father?”

Evidently, it was indeed Wang Youqi.

Liu Yuanxun offered only a faint smile, letting the matter drop.

The question planted seeds of doubt in Wang Mingxuan, who promptly clamped his mouth shut, resolved to let the witness seal Liu Yuanxun’s fate.

Thus, until Hong Xiu’s arrival, the only sound in the court was Prefect Bai riffling through the letters.

Such an imperial-tangling case warranted haste; in under half an hour, a disheveled Hong Xiu was escorted in.

She still wore her water-pink palace maid’s garb, her hairdo disarrayed but her appearance otherwise tidy. Only her eyes betrayed irrepressible terror—she hardly seemed the type to lie.

Prefect Bai, no stranger to skilled deceivers, betrayed no sympathy, his expression stern. “Are you Hong Xiu, maid of Preservation Harmony Hall?”

Her name spoken aloud triggered an instinctive shudder. She nodded timorously. “Th-this servant is Hong Xiu.”

“Very well.” Prefect Bai inclined his head. “Lord Wang claims you as witness. What do you attest to?”

His dignified authority perhaps lent her courage. Though her face remained timid, her words flowed more readily. “My lords surely know Preservation Harmony Hall serves as the site for the emperor’s banquets with ministers—and where princes might encounter their offspring. This servant did indeed see… see…”

At the crux, terror seized her anew. She stammered for an age, lips parting but no words emerging.

Wang Mingxuan grew frantic, roaring the conclusion for her. “Five years past, on the Late Emperor’s birthday feast for the assembled officials, Prince Rui was in a side chamber of Preservation Harmony Hall, groping my scantily clad young daughter!”

The outburst left him panting in fury, eyes crimson, his voice a wail. “Liu Yuanxun! What say you now?”

Ling Qing, her senses clouded by rage, erupted without thinking. “Lies! You old bastard, don’t slander with your filthy mouth!”

Liu Yuanxun turned his head to her, giving a gentle shake to bid restraint.

Gritting her teeth, Ling Qing swallowed her wrath, though inwardly she yearned to hack the babbling old wretch into eighteen chunks.

Preservation Harmony Hall… young girl…

Liu Yuanxun sighed wordlessly to himself.

He had pegged Hong Xiu as potentially bribed, but her testimony dredged up a dusty memory. Should she have truly witnessed it, denial would prove all but impossible.

Prefect Bai quietly glanced at Liu Yuanxun, hoping he would offer a few words in his own defense. Yet Liu Yuanxun acted as if he were completely oblivious to the accusations leveled against him. He simply sat there with his eyes downcast, his expression serene and utterly inscrutable.

With no help from that quarter, Prefect Bai had no choice but to speak up himself. “The witness and physical evidence do seem complete,” he said. “However, all this proves at most is that Prince Rui had an illicit affair with a ‘young girl.’ But the crime of seduction and rape—the key word there is ‘rape.’ Does Lord Wang have proof of that?”

“Of course I do! How could I not?” Wang Mingxuan detected the partiality in Prefect Bai’s tone and let out a bitter laugh. He drew a tightly wrapped package from within his robes.

The bundle was not large, but it had been secured with meticulous care. Wang Mingxuan’s manner toward it was strangely reverent—his gaze flickered with both loathing and anguish. As his trembling hands loosened the cords, a single murky tear splashed onto the floor.

The opened package lay quietly on the ground, revealing a scattering of tiny bones. Anyone could see at a glance that these were the remains of a fetus not even a month developed.

Wang Mingxuan choked up at the sight, sobs wracking him until he could scarcely speak. He gasped for breath several times before forcing the words out. “I… I dare to ask Prince Rui—do you dare drip a drop of your blood onto these bones!”

The Bone-Drop Kinship Test.

The Bone-Drop Kinship Test again.

Liu Yuanxun’s heart sank. He suddenly recalled Xiao Jinye’s case—that man had been definitively convicted all because of a fetal skeleton just like this.

If Xiao Jinye had been falsely accused, it meant these people had devised some bizarre technique, one that could make even the blood of those utterly unrelated seep into the bones.

Liu Yuanxun did not move.

Wang Mingxuan left him no room to maneuver. “These remains were unearthed from my daughter’s courtyard,” he continued, “and her corpse is right here as well. By all means, summon the coroner to examine her. See for yourselves if my seventeen-year-old daughter bore any traces of childbirth!”

With that, his hands shook as he cradled the skull—no larger than a fist—from amid the tiny pile of bones. He staggered toward Liu Yuanxun, his voice breaking with sobs, thick with hatred. “Drop your blood! I’m telling you to drip it! Do you dare?”

At this juncture, Prefect Bai could no longer remain neutral. He turned to Liu Yuanxun. “This… what say you, Your Highness?”

In the blink of an eye, a storm of thoughts had raced through Liu Yuanxun’s mind.

He wondered if he might have unwittingly brushed against some sort of medicinal powder that would cause his blood to fuse on contact. He even considered having Ling Qing test it first, to see if anyone’s blood could seep into the bones. But in the end, all these ideas faded away.

The enemy had laid this trap with such precision and wielded methods so utterly inconceivable. Any futile resistance now would only waste his energy.

“Very well, then. Ling Qing—you do it.” Liu Yuanxun extended the hand that clutched his handwarmer from beneath his wide robe sleeve. His slender, pale fingertips were flushed a faint pink from the warmth, the hands unmistakably of someone who had never soiled them with common labor.

Ling Qing had no time for overthinking; to her, the whole affair smacked of farce. She plucked a silver needle from the concealed pouch at her waist, pricked Liu Yuanxun’s fingertip with gentle precision, and squeezed until a drop of blood—crimson tinged with shadow—emerged.

The droplet quivered twice at the tip of his finger before falling precisely onto the dainty skull cradled in Wang Mingxuan’s hands.

The instant the blood made contact, time itself seemed to halt. Everyone held their breath.

Yet beneath Ling Qing’s gaze, blazing with outrage, the blooddrop slowly seeped into the bone’s snowy surface.

The air turned to ice. Ling Qing stared at the skull in disbelief, as if she could bore straight through it with her eyes alone. Even Prefect Bai, who had been closely watching the proceedings, furrowed his brow.

Wang Mingxuan alone erupted into a frenzied, heartbroken laugh. “Hahaha! Murderer! You’re the murderer! Heaven has eyes at last! Heaven has eyes! You ravished my daughter, you killer! You’ll pay for her life with yours!”

In the vast hall, nothing echoed but Wang Mingxuan’s piercing, mournful cackles.

Prefect Bai stood stunned for a moment before composing himself, his expression turning grave. “Your Highness, matters have reached this point. Have you any defense left to offer?”

Liu Yuanxun pressed a cloth to his still-bleeding finger. “If Lord Bai trusts my word,” he said softly, “I can reveal the truth to you: I had no hand in this.”

“You’re still denying it! Still denying it!” Wang Mingxuan’s eyes bulged red with madness. He lunged at Liu Yuanxun once more, roaring like a beast. The bailiffs on either side rushed forward, seizing and dragging him back to his seat by force, though they made no move to silence him. He raged on unchecked. “Are you going to claim these bones came from somewhere else? That someone framed you by passing off another woman’s child? Speak up! Go on, say it! The moment you do, I’ll drip my own blood right here and settle it!”

Wang Mingxuan had abandoned all reason in his thirst for vengeance on his daughter’s behalf. Yet his taunt rang true. If Liu Yuanxun grasped at such an excuse in desperation, Wang Mingxuan would simply drip his own blood onto the bones. His daughter might be dead, but as the child’s maternal grandfather, he shared its bloodline. The test would confirm it for him just as easily.

Liu Yuanxun, of course, would commit no such elementary blunder. Reason had long deserted Wang Mingxuan; there was no talking to him. Instead, Liu Yuanxun addressed Prefect Bai alone. “Lord Bai, might we speak privately in the side chamber?”

Wang Mingxuan thrashed against his restraints, bellowing at the top of his lungs. “In your dreams! I’ve sounded the Drum of Grievances—this case belongs to the public now! You could spin tales to the heavens in that side room, Liu Yuanxun, and it wouldn’t change a thing. Your guilt is ironclad!”

Prefect Bai had initially wished to avoid any appearance of impropriety and had been inclined to refuse. But Wang Mingxuan’s outburst made him reconsider.

The case’s ins and outs would all be compiled into official records and made public regardless. A private word with Prince Rui could hardly sway the greater outcome.

Thus, he nodded and gestured invitingly. “This way, Your Highness.”

Ling Qing moved in a daze, yet she dutifully supported Liu Yuanxun as they headed toward the side hall.

Liu Yuanxun glanced sideways at her and saw how pale her face had become. “What’s this?” he murmured. “Afraid?”

“No.” Ling Qing’s eyes swept the surroundings gravely. The moment they rounded the corner into the side chamber, she seized Liu Yuanxun’s sleeve and whispered urgently, “Your Highness, I might not be able to fight them all off, but I can hold them back. You make for the palace—hide with His Majesty!”

Seduction and rape was a capital crime; even a prince enjoyed no immunity. Staying here offered no escape, but the palace—surely His Majesty could contrive a way out.

The composure Liu Yuanxun had maintained throughout shattered in that instant. Were the timing not so dire, he might have burst out laughing.

“You fool,” he said, flicking her forehead with a bent knuckle. “Do you think I’d stoop to running away? Just wait here for me.”

“But…” Time pressed too hard; she hadn’t even paused to question Liu Yuanxun’s guilt. Her first instinct had been what came next, and with her skills, the only plan she could devise was smuggling him into the palace for the Emperor’s protection.

Before she could finish, however, Liu Yuanxun had already turned and stepped into the side chamber.