“Yes! I’ve had this booklet in my possession for many years, it’s time to let it see the light of day again!” Yan Bi drew a slim booklet from her bosom and handed it to Gu Chengyu.

Gu Chengyu glanced at her, then suddenly asked, “Can you read?”

“I cannot read, nor have I ever looked at what’s written in this booklet, and I have never shown it to anyone else.” Yan Bi hurriedly waved her hands. She knew this booklet was extremely important; how would she dare let others see it? Once it leaked, what awaited her would be a death sentence.

Gu Chengyu nodded. “I’ve already had a place prepared for you. For the next few days, do not wander about. Once this matter is concluded, you may return.”

Hearing this, panic rose in Yan Bi’s heart. She knew this meant she was to be temporarily confined. But she also understood that this was to protect her life—after all, the contents of this booklet must implicate some high officials of the court. If people discovered that the booklet came from her, her life would be in grave danger.

He questioned Yan Bi again about that year, and seeing that her account was much the same as Xue Miao’s, Gu Chengyu ordered that she be taken away.

Half a month had already passed, and in truth most of the investigation was done. Of the officials implicated in those prior letters, some indeed had problems, but for some, nothing amiss had yet been found. Now he held this booklet in his hand, hoping it would bring a new breakthrough.

Opening the booklet, Gu Chengyu found that it was another list of names, and beneath each name were details of their collusion with Da Xing. Gu Chengyu scanned it; the entries that gave specific details aligned with what he had already uncovered. Yet there were a few names about whom he had found nothing suspicious, and here there was no related record either.

Gu Chengyu read on, word by word and line by line, when suddenly he spotted a name further down: Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, Zhu Kui?

He tightened his grip on the edge of the booklet, steadied his mind, and kept reading. When he reached the listed evidence of crimes that followed, he pressed his lips into a thin line, sinking into thought.

After calming himself, Gu Chengyu pondered for a long while and realized that this booklet only recorded the precise dates when these officials colluded with Da Xing and the amounts of bribes they received. As for what they specifically did, it was not described in detail. Gu Chengyu frowned. Could it be that the evidence here was incomplete?

He turned to the last page of the booklet but found no statement that other evidence was hidden elsewhere. Suddenly, Gu Chengyu noticed that the final stroke of the character “Chu” on the last page was somewhat peculiar.

He immediately recalled the evidence he had obtained from Xue Shuyao earlier; the final stroke of that same character “Chu” was clearly different from this one.

The final stroke of that “Chu” had a sharp, forceful tip with a slight hook, whereas here it was rather flat, insufficiently keen, more delicate than powerful.

A faint suspicion arose in his heart. He turned to the front and carefully examined the booklet. In the end, he found two more discrepancies.

Even though the writer of this booklet tried their utmost to imitate the downward strokes, the essence was always a shade off. At times they even seemed to forget to imitate, and he found two such instances.

Gu Chengyu let out a cold snort. This booklet was definitely not written by Xue Haozhen. No wonder he’d found it odd—since there was already a list, why had another appeared? And the names overlapped greatly with the previous one. Most likely someone wanted to mix truth and falsehood together and muddle the waters.

Then why would this person do such a thing, and who was it? Was this booklet originally in existence, or was there something wrong with Yan Bi herself?

Gu Chengyu tapped his index finger on the table. “Ming Mo!”

“Prince!” Ming Mo pushed the door open, entered, and saluted Gu Chengyu.

“Go interrogate Yan Bi. I suspect there’s something off about her. This booklet is not in Xue Haozhen’s own hand! Oh, and over at Gu Wanhua’s place, has he been properly mollified? He lost his wits over that woman. If he chases her to the Capital, it’ll be troublesome.”

Ming Mo froze for a moment. “Ah—Prince, he doesn’t know Yan Bi has come to the Capital. We took her away without his knowledge.”

Gu Chengyu:…

They’d actually just taken her like that. Who knew if Gu Wanhua, once he discovered she was missing, would go completely mad.

…

“Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!”

The whip sliced through the air before landing on flesh, the sound sharp and cutting. With each blow came a thin, stifled groan. The woman forced her eyes open and croaked, “I’ll confess!”

“Prince, she did indeed confess. Two months ago, this woman was bought off by Yang Shiqi, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Yang Shiqi wanted the evidence she carried, but in fact all of the evidence was already with Xue Shuyao; she had none. So she imitated and fabricated a set of false evidence. She had previously leafed through those letters and still remembered part of their content. As for the items not in the original letters, those she simply made up herself. She then gave the booklet to Yang Shiqi, and afterward copied out another one for herself.”

Ming Mo handed Yan Bi’s confession to Gu Chengyu, who read it through carefully. “She still isn’t telling the whole truth. Interrogate her again!”

That Yan Bi could read was now beyond doubt. But the list of names in this booklet was not something a mere inner-courtyard woman could have compiled. If she truly remembered, she only needed to write out another copy—why go to such unnecessary trouble?

…

“Huh? Which household is this now? These days, the mansions of the aristocratic families and noble houses in the Capital are really in an uproar!” A commoner watched officers of the Military Department rush into the Yang Mansion and could not help sighing.

Recently the court seemed to have gone mad, raiding the estates of quite a few officials.

“Heh! You really are ignorant, aren’t you? It’s said these officials are all treacherous scum colluding with Da Xing. The court has evidence in hand and is going to confiscate their property and exterminate their clans! Bah! If you ask me, these officials may look glorious and lofty in ordinary times, but once they commit crimes, they face charges that mean beheading and execution of their Nine Families! Tsk tsk!” The man next to him exclaimed immediately.

“How do you know all this?”

“My nephew works in the Military Department. How could I not know? Wasn’t there a young lady who submitted a petition straight to the Emperor some time ago? They say…” He was in high spirits as he spoke, but halfway through, he suddenly cut himself off. Seemingly remembering something, his expression changed, and he lifted his leg to leave.

“Hey! Don’t rush off! Why stop talking now?” The people around were drawn in by his words. With his story cut halfway, they all felt itchy with curiosity.

“Ah, can’t say it. This touches on court secrets. Anyway, once the proclamation is posted someday, we’ll all know.”

…

In the first year of Xizong, on the tenth day of the sixth month, the case of the Xue Family’s vindication shook the Capital. Eighteen officials were found to have colluded with Da Xing, lurking within the court and secretly funneling intelligence to Da Xing.

The Emperor flew into a rage. Whether ringleaders or accomplices, all had their homes raided and clans exterminated, to be executed in the autumn assizes as a warning to others! Because of this, the court went through yet another great purge.

Wearing a bamboo hat, Xue Shuyao stood before the imperial proclamation with tears brimming in her eyes. The Xue Family had finally been cleared. The crowd grew ever denser, and discussions buzzed all around.

Some said the Xue Family had been burdened with false charges for many years and had at last washed away their injustice. Others said the Xue Family had long failed to discipline its clan members and had already lost its good name.

Whatever people said, the Xue Family no longer had to bear the stigma of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country. Pressing down the brim of her bamboo hat, she stepped out of the throng.

“May the young lady stay a moment. My Prince has said that the remains of the Xue Family’s people from back then are already gone. The court takes pity on you and is willing to help you build a Xue Family Mausoleum, raising cenotaphs for the Xue clan.”

Hearing this, Xue Shuyao smiled through her tears. She knew this was Gu Chengyu’s intention. He was indeed not as cold-hearted as he appeared on the surface.

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