He was still in his official robes, so he had clearly just returned to the residence. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance as if lost in thought.
Zhi Wan jumped in fright at the sight of him. She stopped short and shot a look at Shuang'er to keep her from speaking, then pulled her hand to retreat.
Just then, Lu Zhan, who had been staring into the distance, suddenly turned his head toward them.
The man's eyes were cold and distant, and his brows were furrowed with a hint of impatience at being disturbed.
Zhi Wan's heart skipped a beat as their eyes met, and she froze in place.
"Cousin," she called out timidly, lowering her head.
Lu Zhan paused upon seeing her, apparently a little surprised.
He grunted a low "mm" in acknowledgment, then started walking away.
As he passed her, a pleasant, faint fragrance drifted into his nostrils. He hesitated for a second but did not stop, continuing straight on his way.
Only after he was far away did Zhi Wan let out a long sigh of relief. She pressed a hand to her chest and plopped down on the chaise lounge.
'Cousin's glare just now... so cold, so terrifying.'
Shuang'er had also been given quite a scare.
"If we'd known the Princely Heir was here, we wouldn't have come," she muttered under her breath.
'Isn't that the truth?'
Zhi Wan nodded in agreement.
"But I wonder what the Princely Heir was thinking about. He looked so serious," Shuang'er said, recalling the scene with curiosity.
Zhi Wan shook her head. "Who could possibly know?"
After leaving the water pavilion, Lu Zhan did not return to Qingyun Residence. Instead, he had Chen Jiu prepare a horse and rode for the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice had recently taken on a case.
Back at the water pavilion, he had been thinking about this very case.
And after catching the faint scent from his cousin, the piece of the puzzle he couldn't grasp had suddenly clicked into place.
「Ministry of Justice.」
Miss Yan was the Oiran of the Chunxiang Building, but she had recently been implicated in a murder case and sentenced to death.
She was originally held at the Ministry of Justice, and was later transferred to the prison of the Ministry of Justice.
After several days in custody and multiple interrogations, she was already in a daze by the time she was brought into the main hall today.
"You are in the presence of the Lord Temple Minister! Kneel!" the Prison Chief bellowed.
"This humble servant, Miss Yan, pays her respects to Your Lordship." Miss Yan knelt, trembling.
Lu Zhan lifted his gaze from the documents before him and fixed it on Miss Yan. "Miss Yan," he began in a heavy tone, "you insist that you did not kill Liu Hongru. Can you produce any evidence?"
At the mention of Liu Hongru, Miss Yan's dazed expression grew agitated. "I did not kill anyone! Mr. Liu's death has nothing to do with me! I implore Your Lordship to see the truth and clear my name!"
"But he died in your room. The knife used to peel fruit in your room was found plunged into his chest. If you claim you didn't kill him, then you tell me, who killed Liu Hongru?" Lu Zhan's gaze sharpened as he stared her down, his tone growing heavier. "After all, you were the only one there when Liu Hongru died!"
Miss Yan's shoulders slumped in defeat, and she began to mutter, "I didn't kill him... I didn't kill anyone..."
"I heard that the first person to arrive at the scene was Liu Hongru's wife, Lady Zheng. Is that correct?" Lu Zhan asked suddenly.
Miss Yan froze, remaining silent.
"Lady Zheng arrived so quickly because you sent for her. You did so because, by that point, Liu Hongru was already dead," Lu Zhan added, dropping another bombshell.
Miss Yan's pupils contracted, and she lowered her head further.
Lu Zhan suddenly let out a cold sneer. "If I'm not mistaken, Liu Hongru's death *was* because of you!"
Hearing this, Miss Yan grew agitated once more. "It had nothing to do with me! It really didn't! I didn't kill him! He wouldn't listen to reason, he insisted on... insisted on..."
"Insisted on what?"
Miss Yan flinched, her voice dropping to a whisper. "...insisted on taking an aphrodisiac..."
The officials observing the trial all stared at her in shock.
Despite being interrogated so many times, Miss Yan had never revealed this detail.
'He took an aphrodisiac? In that case, did Liu Hongru die because of...?'
"So, Liu Hongru died during intercourse with you. He became overexcited and suffered a fatal seizure. You panicked. You were afraid that if the truth got out, it would ruin your reputation and you'd lose your standing at the Chunxiang Building. So, you didn't dare raise the alarm. Instead, your first move was to notify Lady Zheng.
But you didn't expect that Lady Zheng would also find the matter disgraceful, fearing it would tarnish her family's name. What you certainly didn't expect was that she would decide to pin the whole thing on you, to make you take the fall!
The true cause of Liu Hongru's death was too sordid. You were afraid that if the truth came out, it would affect your status at the Chunxiang Building. That's why you didn't stop Lady Zheng when she plunged the dagger into Liu Hongru's heart. You tacitly approved of her actions. Or perhaps she promised you something, a reward, a guarantee that she would help you escape punishment. That is why you chose to conceal the truth.
But it wasn't until you were sentenced to death, and Lady Zheng never came forward to protect you, that you finally became afraid and began to cry foul." Lu Zhan's tone was icy, but his expression held the sharp wisdom of one who has seen through all deceit.
The assembled officials looked at him with admiration.
But one official raised an objection. "Your Lordship, according to the autopsy report submitted by the Forensic Doctor, Liu Hongru's cause of death was indeed a fatal wound to the heart from a weapon. It wasn't anything else..."
"You are correct," Lu Zhan said calmly. "It is precisely because of that autopsy report that the Ministry of Justice was misled into identifying Miss Yan as the murderer."
"Are you saying that the Forensic Doctor who performed Liu Hongru's autopsy was bribed by Lady Zheng, and that the report he submitted was falsified?" a young official blurted out.
Lu Zhan glanced at the young man but didn't answer him. He simply gave an order: "Summon Lady Zheng and Forensic Doctor Feng!"
At these words, Miss Yan's face went deathly pale. She collapsed bonelessly to the floor, no longer daring to hide anything, and confessed everything. "Your Lordship, Lady Zheng tricked me! She told me to confess, and promised she would see to it that I was unharmed. But I was sentenced to death and she never appeared again! Only then did I realize I'd been deceived..." Sobbing uncontrollably, she crawled a few steps on her knees toward the high desk. "Your Lordship, I've been truly wronged! I did not kill Liu Hongru! Please, I beg you to clear my name."
The officials looked at her with pity.
'How could she have been so foolish as to believe Lady Zheng?'
'Liu Hongru was a regular at the brothels; as his wife, Lady Zheng must have despised her. Using her as a scapegoat for this incident would preserve the family's honor while also eliminating her—killing two birds with one stone.'
Liu Hongru's death originally had nothing to do with her. However, instead of reporting it to the Government, her first instinct was to conspire with Lady Zheng to conceal the true cause of death, thereby misleading the official investigation.
Her actions were a violation of the law. According to the legal code of Great Chen, she would face twenty strokes of the cane and one month of imprisonment!
Furthermore, Lady Zheng and Forensic Doctor Feng would not escape punishment either.
Even though Liu Hongru was already dead when Lady Zheng stabbed him, her act of bribing Forensic Doctor Feng to falsify the autopsy report was a clear violation of the law.
Soon enough, Lady Zheng and Forensic Doctor Feng were brought before the court.
With the evidence laid out before them, neither could offer any defense. They quickly confessed their guilt and recounted the entire sequence of events.
With the case concluded, Lu Zhan was preparing to leave when Duan Ling, the Right Temple Minister of the Ministry of Justice, approached him.
He approached with a cheeky grin. "This morning, you had no leads on this case. How is it that you go home for a bit and suddenly crack it wide open? If I didn't know for a fact that you have neither wife nor concubine at your residence, I'd have to assume you were inspired by some beauty."