Favored concubine deposed empress? I'll seize your throne and marry you to a powerful minister.

"Died from choking on water." The coroner removed small amounts of aquatic plants from Caiyue's nostrils and throat, concluding: "She inhaled excessive water, causing suffocation."

Normally, even an ordinary imperial physician could tell if someone had drowned and suffocated.

The coroner then examined Caiyue's hands: "However, if she had accidentally fallen into the water, her hands shouldn't be in this position."

"When people are startled, especially underwater, even if what they are holding is very important, they will instinctively thrash around instead of holding onto the object with their arms crossed like this."

She tried to pry open Caiyue's hands, which were tightly clasped to her chest—her hands had never let go until her death, and what she was holding tightly was Wei Rong's palace dress that she had changed out of.

The clothes felt unusually heavy after being soaked in water.

Wei Rong's attention was diverted—from the inside out, she was indeed missing her inner garment.

She remembered that she was wearing a pink dress that day. Her dress was the only one in the entire palace that could be embroidered with a phoenix. It had a phoenix on it and the hem was trimmed with gold.

Now that undergarment has disappeared.

Underwear, no matter who finds it, is a highly insulting thing.

Who would have switched it with a hairpin and taken it somewhere?

She couldn't help but look for Ling Xianru's figure, but saw that the other person had her back turned and was not looking in this direction.

The coroner had already removed Caiyue's clothes. Because her body was swollen, she used scissors to cut them open. The coroner examined her body, and the corpse had no dignity to speak of.

Wei Rong felt a strange sensation. Although the person was already dead, Ling Xianru still opened her eyes.

The coroner was also a woman—he was showing respect for Caiyue.

It seems absurd that a powerful prime minister would respect the dignity of a palace maid after her death.

But Wei Rong felt that after several encounters, Ling Xianru was not as hostile as she had imagined—if he was faking it, then she could only say that he was faking it too well.

"Sir, she was strangled with a rope and then thrown into the lotus pond, where she drowned."

While Wei Rong was distracted, the coroner had already stripped Cai Yue of her clothes. Cai Yue, lying on the stone bed, had a white cloth covering her eyes, temporarily concealing her protruding eyeballs.

On his body—his stiff arms and back—lies a bluish-purple ligature mark, a full circle, with subcutaneous bruising indicating it was a ligature mark from when he was alive.

Ling Xianru didn't seem surprised: "If that's the case, how come it took several days to be discovered?"

Wei Rong had another question: "What about the rope?"

"I just asked the guards who were retrieving the fish. When Caiyue was found, she had nothing on her. Your Majesty, let's make a hypothetical scenario: if Caiyue had been tied up with a rope, with a heavy stone attached to the other end, and then thrown to the bottom of the pond, her struggles and cries for help would not have been heard."

Wei Rong felt a chill run down her spine just thinking about it; how painful that must be!

No wonder she couldn't find Caiyue these past few days. If she had been at the bottom of the lotus pond, someone would have to dive into the water to find her.

"Is the rope still under the lotus pond?"

Ling Xian gestured to the coroner, who covered Caiyue's body with clothes before he approached Wei Rong: "It's not important anymore. Your Majesty needs to give her the truth. She was indeed murdered."

"But the chaos on New Year's Eve and the frequent deployment of patrol personnel made it difficult to find the murderer."

Wei Rong was somewhat distracted: "The murderer is—"

As she finished speaking, she came to her senses, glanced at Ling Xianru, and turned to leave the room.

The murderer can only be Shen Mingxiu. Ling Xianru's statement is probably an attempt to protect Shen Mingxiu.

She indeed couldn't produce any evidence that Shen Mingxiu was the mastermind.

The cup of tea in her hand had gone cold. Ling Xianru, who had followed her out at some point, poured her a warm cup, took the one from her hand, and handed her the new one.

Wei Rong's anger had nowhere to go: "How dare you! How could you!"

"How dare you? You changed Her Majesty's tea?" Ling Xianru poured himself a cup, moistened his throat, and continued, "Your Majesty might as well consider this: this incident just gives His Majesty a reason to reorganize the patrol system. With the palace maids killed, the patrol system is clearly vulnerable."

As expected of a shrewd and calculating prime minister, Wei Rong sneered, "You came to help today because of this, didn't you, Lingqing?"

If the Imperial Guards and patrol battalions, or even the most ordinary guards, could be replaced with his own men, he would advance even further.

"Your Majesty may not believe it," Ling Xianru said unperturbed, "This humble official has no interest in such matters."

Not interested?

Wei Rong didn't believe a word he said: "Does that mean I should stop investigating the real culprit?"

Ling Xianru neither denied nor admitted it: "You should know that there is no shortage of truths in this palace. The death of a palace maid alone cannot shake anything. In the end, if you want to gain a foothold in the palace, you need power."

That's true, but it's very unpleasant to hear.

Wei Rong understood, of course. Sometimes she felt that she was too upright and incorruptible, wanting to exchange one life for another.

That's too unrealistic.

She gave a cold laugh, holding her teacup as she approached Ling Xianru. Though not as tall as him, her aura was no less imposing, and the mole on the tip of her nose shone even more brightly when she looked up: "In the end, it's because the Prime Minister can't bear to see anyone pay the price for this."

As the scent of white orchid drew near, Ling Xianru opened her mouth as if to speak.

Wei Rong interrupted him: "Perhaps you also feel that I have gained something by exchanging the life of a servant girl for something else, but a human life is a human life."

Human life is human life.

She thought Shen Mingxiu was at most scheming and jealous in private, but the fact that she dared to kill innocent people indiscriminately showed that she had long been blinded by the interests of those in power.

Ling Xianru finally had to say, "Your Majesty, being too principled will put you at a disadvantage in this palace."

Wei Rong knew.

But temperament isn't something that develops overnight; she grew up this way for the past twenty years. Her father said that only by upholding one's bottom line can one uphold one's true self.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

The paulownia trees outside were sprouting new buds. This time, Wei Rong did not refer to herself as "this palace," and her voice was soft. She only looked at the paulownia tree.

Much later, he tilted his head, and the bent joint quickly brushed past the corner of his eye.

This was the first time she had lost a life since her father passed away and she shed the protective shell of the Wei family, finding herself caught in a torrent of scheming and struggle.

Wei Rong stood very straight, her back seemingly never yielding.

"The Imperial Guard Patrol Battalion is going to be reshuffled. Your Excellency, please recommend Yun Sheng to me. The Yun family has never been involved in factional strife, but when the late Emperor wrongly judged Uncle Yun for dereliction of duty, even after the case was overturned, the Yun family was never reinstated. Yun Sheng is a promising talent in the Imperial Guard. He has far more talent and skill than Shen Minglan."

This was her condition for giving in.

Ling Xianru had no idea that the Yun family and the Wei family were not close on the surface, and that Wei Rong had recommended someone who had no connection with her at all.

Using one of his conditions in this way seems to offer her no benefit whatsoever.

Ling Xianru remained silent, and Wei Rong continued, "I know that as long as His Majesty gives the word, many people are eyeing the positions of Commander of the Imperial Guards and Commander of the Patrol Battalion. But the Prime Minister naturally has his own plans for these high positions, and I do not need you to elevate Yun Sheng to such a position."

"I have no interest in either the Imperial Guards or the Patrol Battalion."

Wei Rong glanced at him in surprise, her eyes still slightly red. She nodded, unsure whether she believed him or was just being perfunctory: "I need your help with something else."

She was clearly just giving a perfunctory answer, and Ling Xianru raised her chin: "Just give the order, Your Majesty."