Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

The next day at dawn, the case of Xi Yuefu hiring someone to kill her elder sister caused a sensation throughout the capital.

Before dawn, the county government posted a notice, clearly stating in black and red ink: Xi Yuefu, the second daughter of the Xi family, is guilty of harboring assassins and hiring murderers. The evidence is conclusive, and she is hereby detained pending trial.

Within an hour of the notice being posted, teahouses and taverns throughout the West Market were buzzing with discussion.

"The second daughter of Minister Xi of the Ministry of Revenue? She seemed like a pretty young girl all along, but she actually hired someone to kill her older sister?"

"I heard that her elder sister took over her mother's management of the household affairs, and she was furious..."

"Wasn't that the eldest sister who went mad? Mad and then killed, really..."

"What do you know! At yesterday's flower-viewing banquet, His Highness Prince Chen personally poured wine for her. The fact that notices about this case were posted so quickly suggests that His Highness might be behind it all—"

"Shh! Are you out of your mind?!"

When Xi Mingyuan saw the notice, the teacup in his hand shattered at his feet.

He rushed to the county government office to try and pull some strings, but before he could hand over the silver, the curtain of the back hall of the county government office was lifted, and a person dressed in black casual clothes walked out.

The Tian Shu Division's secret guard, with an iron badge at his waist, glanced down at him, then looked at the unopened bag of silver ingots in his hand.

"Lord Xi, His Highness has ordered that this case be handled impartially, and no one is allowed to interfere. If you value your official position, please leave."

When Xi Mingyuan stepped into the gate of the Xi residence, his legs went weak and he almost fell on the threshold. The steward helped him back to his study.

In the Buddhist hall, Fang cried out that she wanted to go to the county government to seek justice for her daughter, but she was stopped by two servants as soon as she stepped out the door.

When the old lady gave Fang a severe dressing down and she was carried back to the Buddhist hall, her well-maintained face revealed a complete and utterly shattered look of panic for the first time.

She knelt on the prayer mat and kowtowed to the Buddha statue until her forehead turned blue, but the door to the Buddhist hall was locked from the outside.

Xi Yueli changed into plain clothes, gave her name, and came to the prison to visit. The jailer, who had already received instructions from the Tian Shu Division, tactfully withdrew.

Xi Yuefu huddled in the haystack, half of her face still wrapped in gauze, the other half of her face as pale as paper, her lips cracked. She trembled violently when she saw Xi Yueli walk in.

"What are you doing here..." Her voice was so hoarse it was almost unrecognizable. "Have you come to laugh at me?"

Xi Yueli took out a stack of papers from her sleeve, unfolded them, and showed them to Xi Yuefu one by one through the fence. Each paper had a date and an event written on it.

"On July 12th, Xi Yuefu pushed Xi Yueli down the steps, causing bruising to her right knee." Attached below is a signed statement from a servant.

"On August 17th, Xi Yuefu added croton seeds to Xi Yueli's food, causing her to have diarrhea for three days." Attached is the signature of a kitchen maid.

"On September 21st, Xi Yuefu led a group of people into Jinxian Courtyard and insulted Xi Yueli in front of the servants, calling her 'promiscuous.'" This is accompanied by the testimony of a gatekeeper.

One after another, from three years ago to half a month ago, each and every one of them was something Xi Yueli herself couldn't remember.

She looked at the dense handwriting on the papers. Some of it she knew, some she had never even heard of, but every story had witnesses, dates, and details.

The Dark Pavilion's intelligence network is like a silent spider web, covering every evil deed Xi Yuefu has committed over the years.

"These," Xi Yueli finished showing the last sheet of paper and put it back in her hand, "you know in your heart how much you've done. I'm here today to tell you that the county magistrate has already sentenced you for hiring a hitman to be exiled to the frontier, to be executed in the autumn."

Xi Yuefu collapsed onto the haystack, the light in her eyes gradually fading away.

"...You won." Xi Yuefu buried her face in her knees, her voice muffled by the folds of her clothes, "You insane madwoman with dissociative identity disorder, you won."

Xi Yueli stood outside the prison gate, looking down at her. This once arrogant younger sister was now huddled in a pile of damp straw, like a bird whose feathers had been plucked.

"I don't even remember what you owe me," Xi Yueli said, turning and walking out of the cell. Her back was cast as a long, thin shadow in the dim candlelight. "But actions leave traces. Before you're exiled, take a good look at what you've done."

When Xi Yueli walked out of the county government office, the sun was shining brightly. She squinted as she stood on the steps. Xi Yuefu would be escorted to the northern border before winter and would never appear in the backyard of the Xi family again.

As the carriage entered the alley where the Xi residence was located, the gatekeeper ran over to open the gate from afar. As Xi Yueli alighted from the carriage, she turned her head and asked, "Is Father in the residence?"

The gatekeeper, head bowed, replied, "He's in the study; he hasn't come out all day."

Xi Yueli nodded and walked towards the study. As she passed the Buddhist hall, she heard Fang Shi's suppressed sobs coming from inside, as thin as a string stretched to its limit.

She stopped in front of the study door, raised her hand and knocked. There was a long silence inside, then Xi Mingyuan's hoarse voice said, "Come in."

Xi Yueli pushed open the door and went inside.

Xi Mingyuan sat behind the desk, his back slumped, a handkerchief clutched to his forehead, his face obscured by shadows.

A stack of official documents lay on the table, the ink mostly dried, clearly indicating that they hadn't been looked at all all day.

"Father." Xi Yueli stopped three steps away from the desk, not moving any further.

Xi Mingyuan didn't look up; his voice, muffled and hoarse, came from under the handkerchief: "Your sister...was sentenced?"

"Exiled to the frontier, to be carried out in the autumn."

"Are you satisfied now?" Xi Mingyuan finally raised his head. His face looked more tired and aged than ever before in the candlelight, his eye sockets were sunken, and the lines on both sides of his mouth were more than one line deeper than they were three days ago.

He looked at her, his eyes churning with resentment and anger, with a hint of guilt that he was forcibly suppressing.

"You're the one who slashed your sister's face, you sent her to jail, and you locked her mother in a Buddhist temple. Now do you think you're the boss in this family?"

Xi Yueli didn't avoid his gaze. She stood where the lamplight and shadow met, half her face illuminated by the candlelight and the other half hidden in darkness. "Does Father think it's all my fault?"

She took out the stack of file summaries she had brought back from the Wan Shi Lou from her sleeve, placed them on the table, and pushed them in front of him.

"The evidence against Xi Yuefu for hiring a murderer is conclusive. It was the county government that made the judgment. I did not wrong Fang Shi either. Zhang Mama confessed without hesitation. There are witnesses and physical evidence. If Father does not believe it, he can go to the county government to see the case file himself."

Xi Mingyuan looked down at the stack of papers. When his gaze swept over the first line of text, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Those were records of the private money exchange that Fang had set up in his early years. The date, amount, and the person in charge were all listed clearly. He recognized Zhang Mama's handwriting characteristics on it, so there was no mistake.

"Where did you get these...?" He looked up at her, his gaze now filled with a wariness he had never shown before.

"Father doesn't need to know." Xi Yueli put the dossier back into her sleeve.

"I'm not here today to dredge up old grievances with Father. The past of the Fang family and Xi Yuefu's case are already settled. I want to talk to Father about something else."

She took half a step forward, the candlelight illuminating her face clearly: calm, clear-headed, and neither humble nor arrogant.

"From this day forward, my actions will no longer be subject to the control of the Xi family. I will no longer allow anyone to tie me up, imprison me, or send me to the manor."

"If anyone mentions the phrase 'sending the eldest daughter to recuperate,' I'll tell him to go stay at the estate for a few days first."