Su Yihan sat hunched over her desk, papers scattered all around, trying to figure out what they had overlooked.
Kong Wenlang, Han Ruichu, Lianqiao… Xiaoluo…
Suddenly, she lifted her head. From the start to the present, they had missed one crucial person.
Kong Wenlang’s maid, Xiaoluo.
Xiaoluo had testified that she went to bed at “Chou hour” (around 1–3 a.m.). Two things stood out: first, a normal maid wouldn’t stay up so late, since she had to serve her mistress early the next morning. Second, she precisely identified the hour of rest, inadvertently confirming Kong Wenlang’s timeline.
Their focus had been entirely on proving Kong Wenlang’s innocence, and in their frustration over lacking evidence, they had overlooked Xiaoluo’s carefully prepared, unwavering testimony.
“Di Yuanshi.” Su Yihan had been holed up in her room for seven hours, nightfall settling outside.
Tao Chun didn’t dare intervene, sitting on the doorstep steps with a tearful face.
Finally, their mistress emerged, her expression bright:
“Miss has finally decided to rest? Miss, your body cannot withstand late nights. I don’t even know how to report to Master if anything happens…”
Su Yihan ignored Tao Chun and said directly to Di Yuanshi: “Go check on Kong Wenlang’s maid, Xiaoluo.”
“Yes!”
Di Yuanshi valued efficiency. Within half an hour, he had traced Xiaoluo’s background thoroughly. He reported succinctly:
“Xiaoluo is no ordinary maid.”
Her records were partly fabricated; only digging deeper revealed the truth.
Xiaoluo’s birth mother was Zhuang Manqing, the primary wife of the Kong family. Zhuang Manqing had once been briefly married through a discreetly arranged match by her elders. The husband came from a wealthy but eccentric village family—essentially, her parents had “sold” her.
Beautiful Zhuang Manqing, only eighteen, naturally resisted, but she was forced into the marriage. After giving birth to a daughter, she accidentally met Kong Hongcai. Covering up her prior marriage, she remarried him and gave birth to Kong Wenlang.
Thus, Xiaoluo and Kong Wenlang were half-siblings.
Xiaoluo, however, became Kong Wenlang’s personal maid—apparently without his knowledge. Her placement had been deliberate.
And behind it all was Xiaoluo’s biological father: Cheng Guan.
Cheng Guan was eccentric and born with physical defects. Bullied by peers, he grew odd and reclusive, eventually making a living with snakes. Initially, he extorted money from passersby using snakes, later branching into selling poisons.
After Zhuang Manqing left, both Xiaoluo and Cheng Guan vanished without a trace. Thus, the origin of this case became clear.
Tao Chun was thrilled. “Miss! My prediction came true!”
She remembered that day, remarking on why the entire Kong household trembled with fear—even the maids. It turned out they truly were a single fearful family.
But why had Cheng Guan targeted Lianqiao? And where had Cheng Guan gone?
Wait… Lianqiao had no parents…
Su Yihan connected all the dots: the missing Lianqiao… the missing Cheng Guan…
“Miss.”
Di Yuanshin dashed forward, kneeling on one knee:
“General Shen requests an audience.”
It was late morning; only a quarter-hour remained before Kong Wenlang’s scheduled execution. Su Yihan slowly rode toward the site in a carriage.
In the crowd, Shen Yu’s tall figure stood out.
Through the distant crowd, their eyes met. Shen Yu slowly shouted, “Stop,” in the final seconds.
Han Mao’s previously smug expression faltered, and he controlled his anger:
“General, what questions do you have?”
Shen Yu raised his hand, and attendants brought a woman forward.
Han Mao’s pupils constricted. “Lianqiao?”
The woman before him was indeed the vanished Lianqiao, her eyes dark and intense.
Di Yuanshin produced the shoe size portrait, removed one of Lianqiao’s shoes, and grinned:
“The shoe prints under Kong Wenlang’s bed match Miss Han’s.”
Di Yuanshi displayed the evidence from the underground chamber: the shoes, the man’s clothes, the powdered poison, and the snakes—all placed before Lianqiao, like offerings for a public execution.
Shen Yu spoke slowly:
“Lianqiao, also known as Cheng Guan, is the first husband of Mrs. Kong, Zhuang Manqing. Before marrying into the Kong family, she gave birth to a daughter and left her with Cheng Guan, named Xiaoluo. Xiaoluo also served as Kong Wenlang’s maid, but we can now verify the blood relation on site.”
Xiaoluo was brought forward, prepared in advance with tools for a blood-based paternity test.
Shen Yu politely addressed her:
“Mr. Cheng, do you admit it, or shall we test?”
Tao Chun stifled a laugh. “Shen Yu is too wicked—still teasing at such a moment.”
Even Su Yihan couldn’t help but smile faintly.
Lianqiao scowled and said coldly: “Go on.”
That was an admission. Her voice still sounded feminine.
Shen Yu continued:
“Cheng Guan came to the capital to make Zhuang Manqing pay. Mocked for growing up with a woman’s stature, he self-taught voice modulation, disguised himself as a woman, infiltrated the Han household, and became Han Ruichu’s maid.
“Han Ruichu was temperamental, and Lianqiao often suffered abuse, which fostered resentment. Those letters were premeditated evidence—achieving two goals at once.
“Cheng Guan also resented Zhuang Manqing for leaving him and their daughter, devising a plan to make her lose her son as well.
“He conveniently framed Kong Wenlang for Han Ruichu’s death.
“The powdered poison in Kong Wenlang’s room was placed by Xiaoluo.”
Every piece fit perfectly.
Shen Yu smirked. “Mr. Cheng, do you think my account is accurate?”
“But… but he still looks like a woman…” a nearby villager holding a basket of vegetables murmured.
Di Yuanshin wasted no time and, in a few moves, stripped Lianqiao down to her undergarments.
Two buns fell to the ground with a soft thud.
The vegetable-carrying woman froze, then silently threw two eggs at him.
Right and wrong were now clear.
The man who had harmed Han Ruichu in disguise was Cheng Guan.
Han Mao nearly fainted with rage, imagining a man disguised as a woman, spying on his daughter as she changed, bathed, and slept… and assaulting her before killing her.
Cheng Guan laughed arrogantly:
“Master Han, are you angry? This is your own doing—if Han Ruichu hadn’t beaten me, I wouldn’t have harmed her…”
He continued shamelessly:
“Truly a pampered girl meant for the emperor, soft and warm… If I hadn’t feared her screaming would attract attention, the sound would have been intoxicating…”
Han Mao, furious, slammed down his signet: “I’ll kill him! Shut up! Shut up!”
The guards covered Cheng Guan’s mouth.
Eunuch Zhuang quickly reported the incident to the palace.
Even the narrowly escaped Kong Wenlang showed no joy on his face…