The entire hall fell silent.
No one answered Madam Ding’s question.
Because everyone present knew that the evidence was overwhelming.
The IOU carried Bai Qingzhou’s signature.
The courtesans from Hexiang House had witnessed him spending the night with the flower queen.
When he was discovered that morning, the two had indeed been found in the same room.
From every angle, the case appeared airtight.
Yet Bai Qingzhou remained kneeling upright.
His face was pale.
His eyes were red.
But his voice did not waver.
“I cannot prove it.”
The hall stirred.
Even Shen Mianmian frowned slightly.
She knew the original plot.
But she also knew something else.
In the novel, Bai Qingzhou had indeed been foolish.
Yet he was not a liar.
Especially not when it came to matters like this.
Bai Qingzhou lowered his head.
“I only remember attending the poetry gathering.”
“Several people kept urging me to drink.”
“I drank a few cups.”
“After that…”
His brows knitted tightly.
“I remember nothing.”
The moment those words left his mouth, Shen Mianmian’s eyes sharpened.
Drugged.
Her first thought was exactly that.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yinjin lowered her gaze to hide the faint change in her expression.
Everything had proceeded exactly according to plan.
The gathering.
The alcohol.
The flower queen.
The debt note.
All of it.
Even if Bai Qingzhou guessed he had been framed, there would be no evidence.
Because the people involved had all seen him enter the room willingly.
The flower queen herself had no idea she was merely a chess piece.
And the most important witness—
the person who had arranged everything—
would never be traced back.
At the head of the hall, the Marquis’s expression remained stormy.
“You’re saying you blacked out?”
Bai Qingzhou nodded.
“Yes.”
The Marquis laughed angrily.
“A grown man drank himself unconscious and now claims innocence?”
“If that’s true, it’s even more disgraceful!”
The pressure in the room instantly intensified.
Madam Ding’s eyes reddened.
She wanted to believe her son.
But the evidence…
The evidence was impossible to ignore.
At that moment, a soft voice suddenly sounded.
“May I ask a question?”
Everyone turned.
It was Shen Mianmian.
The Marquis frowned.
“What do you wish to ask?”
Shen Mianmian bowed respectfully.
“Houye, this concubine merely finds one thing strange.”
“What thing?”
She pointed toward Bai Qingzhou.
“His handwriting.”
The room froze.
Even Bai Qingzhou looked over.
Shen Mianmian continued,
“May I see the debt note?”
The Marquis exchanged a glance with Madam Ding.
After a moment, he nodded.
A servant quickly presented the document.
Shen Mianmian accepted it.
Then she lowered her head and carefully examined it.
The hall watched silently.
After several moments, she suddenly laughed.
That laugh startled everyone.
The Marquis’s face darkened.
“What are you laughing at?”
Shen Mianmian raised the paper.
“This signature is indeed the Young Master’s.”
Several people immediately nodded.
Exactly.
The signature was clearly his.
But Shen Mianmian smiled.
“Which is precisely why it’s strange.”
She looked toward Bai Qingzhou.
“Young Master.”
“When you usually write, do you begin a stroke heavily or lightly?”
Bai Qingzhou was confused but answered honestly.
“Lightly.”
“And when you’re drunk?”
“…I don’t know.”
Shen Mianmian grinned.
“Then I do.”
The room became even quieter.
She held up the debt note.
“The signature is his.”
“But the force used in the brush strokes isn’t.”
Everyone stared blankly.
Including the Marquis.
Including Madam Ding.
Including Jiang Yinjin.
Shen Mianmian had spent days copying scriptures beside Bai Qingzhou.
Watching him write.
Watching him practice.
Watching his brushwork.
No one in the room had seen more of his handwriting recently than she had.
She tapped the signature.
“If this was written while heavily intoxicated, the pressure should be unstable.”
“But every stroke here is controlled.”
“Too controlled.”
She smiled.
“It looks less like drunken writing.”
“And more like someone carefully imitating a drunken person’s writing.”
The room exploded into murmurs.
Even Nurse Li gasped.
The Marquis immediately snatched the note.
His martial background didn’t make him a calligraphy expert.
But after looking closely, he could indeed see something unusual.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yinjin’s fingers tightened imperceptibly inside her sleeves.
Shen Mianmian continued calmly,
“Of course.”
“This alone proves nothing.”
“Maybe the Young Master simply has extraordinary control while drunk.”
She paused.
Then smiled brightly.
“But if we’re investigating, shouldn’t we investigate thoroughly?”
Her gaze swept across the room.
“Who organized the poetry gathering?”
“Who poured the wine?”
“Who witnessed the signing?”
“And most importantly…”
She looked toward the flower queen.
“When exactly was the redemption contract signed?”
The flower queen froze.
For the first time since entering the hall, genuine panic appeared in her eyes.
And Shen Mianmian immediately noticed.
Her smile widened.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Perhaps this matter wasn’t as airtight as everyone thought.