Feng Zhi Wei was silent. Even though these words were what she wanted, but to have Shaoning thinking of her so wholeheartedly while she had been using her all these time, she couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. And thinking of what happened the other night, anger bubbled up inside her, feeling that she could only find justice for herself and Shaoning by getting hold of those jerks and killing them. 

“I can’t stay with you any longer.” Seeing that they were almost at their destination, Shaoning grabbed the petition and said, “This witness won’t be given to the Ministry of Punishment but will be taken directly to the Justice Department. Zhang Yong of the Justice Department is a cautious person and won’t make big mistakes. My father should still be discussing business at the inner court. I will take this petition directly there and see who dares to cover it up!” 

“Princess is very wise and thoughtful.” Feng Zhi Wei praised. 

Hearing those words, Shaoning paused as she was about to stand up, hesitated for a moment, and her face suddenly turned red. Surprised, Feng Zhi Wei was just wondering why Shaoning suddenly started blushing when Shaoning quickly leaned over. The next thing Feng Zhi Wei felt was a whiff of perfume before a warm and fragrant kiss was placed on her face in the silence.

Feng Zhi Wei was stunned. The bold kiss caused Shaoning’s heart to beat like a drum, not daring to look at Feng Zhi Wei again, a red-faced Feng Zhi Wei jumped off the carriage with the petition in hand. 

Feng Zhi Wei stared blankly at Shaoning’s back as she ran off merrily. Slowly caressing her warm forehead with the still lingering perfume, a hint of worry gradually filled her eyes. 

She really should not give a girl who is head over heels in love any more hope. The deeper she falls in love the more uncontrollable it will be in the future. What happens when it can no longer be suppressed by anything one day? 

She looked at the majestic palace in front of her and sighed. 

==================================

In the late spring of the fifteenth year of Tiansheng, the forged case of the South Mountain shocked the imperial court. 

The cause of this case is very simple. There was a rebellion at South Mountain but it was quickly suppressed by the South Mountain government. Since the leader of the rebellion was a member of Hang Clan whose father was forced to commit suicide after being implicated in the case of the Third Prince’s revolt, the government officials over in South Mountain just ruled that the rebellion was all for revenge. The case was already closed but by chance, a petitioner from South Mountain was met by Princess Shaoning in the imperial capital. The petitioner claimed to be a hunter from South Mountain and his whole family was killed by an unknown army that showed up with the local government. The petitioner only survived because he was away selling his prey. The princess was shocked and immediately accepted the petition, barged right into the imperial study, and delivered the petition directly to the emperor in front of all the ministers of the cabinet, forcefully overturning the previously closed case of the South Mountain. 

Or at least according to the version circulating in the imperial court. The truth is, this case has always been kept tightly under wraps to the point of even bypassing the South Mountain’s Inspector’s Office and justice department. The case was handed directly to the Imperial Justice Department and all of the related investigation was kept secret. Not only was the public not aware of anything concerning the case, all the officials who were second-rank or lower were not qualified to know about the case as well. However, the court officials are a smart bunch and have already sensed danger from the dramatic twists and turns of the event as if they can already see the dark clouds blowing from the south silently gathering overhead. 

No one knows what has happened or what is about to happen. The low-ranking officials rush here and there all day long trying to inquire or speculate what is causing their superiors’ worried expressions. Those officials with high enough ranking to be in the know, spend their day coming in and leaving with stony expressions. Around the same time, the defense inside and outside of the Imperial Capital was suddenly strengthened. Every day, every division of the imperial guards took turns patrolling the capital. There were also some unfamiliar faces with sharp eagle-like eyes who rushed in and out, continuously inviting officials to a secret “tea-drinking session.” Some people came back after finishing their tea, while some disappeared right after. These fragmented but disturbing news put an atmosphere of nervousness over the entire capital. 

During this period, something else happened that didn’t arouse too much interest– Shuyu Villa, the famous villa belonging to the Second Prince in the suburbs of the capital, suddenly caught fire, and half of the villa was burned down. 

Fires are of course a common enough thing but those who are lucky enough to have been to Shuyu Villa can’t help but wonder– Shuyu Villa is surrounded by springs and is built along the mountain cliff. What kind of fire can cause it to burn? And what kind of fire can climb mountains and burn down half of the villa along the cliff? 

Naturally, only a few people directly involved understand the fishiness of these matters. 

All this caused a stir in the capital but the instigator stayed away from the center of the storm. Feng Zhi Wei, the Minister of Rites, put on a leisurely attitude as if none of this had anything to do with her. But then again, the only thing she did was to lift a corner of the veil, and the rest were all taken care of by those who were supposed to take care of them. 

As she had suspected, Tiansheng Emperor was wary when it came to the Second Prince and that’s why he had ordered the commander of Gold Feather Guards to accept the Second Prince’s goodwill in hopes that the commander would gain some insider information. However, the Second Prince was also too scared of the commander’s status and hid the most inner secrets from the commander…inner secrets that were accidentally discovered by Ning Yi and Feng Zhi Wei.  

Now that Feng Zhi Wei had delivered the petition via Shaoning’s hands and used the hunter’s family’s assassination as a secret hint, reminding the emperor to go back and compare the differences between the case’s purported location versus the actual location. Once the emperor starts digging then he will discover the unusual movements of Changning, and from Changning discover his alliance with the Second Prince – which will lead to an even more terrifying thought – a prince on friendly turns with a foreign vassal, and this foreign vassal is restless and even went to the next province on an assassination mission, what does this mean? 

Tiansheng Emperor might be able to be patient with much, but no matter what, he will never be patient with this!

This is the highest form of attracting one’s enemy to where you want them – be calm and not reveal all your cards, let them figure it out themselves. People trust the conclusion they have personally come up with the most. 

While the imperial capital is shaking with secret turbulence, Feng Zhi Wei is continuing with business as usual– starting from the seventh day of March, the Spring exam. 

With this year’s spring exam being later than the previous years and the fact that the chief examiner is none other than Official Wei, the national scholar, all the students have been waiting impatiently, eager to show off their skills. All dream that once their name appears on the golden list, then the world-famous Marquis Wei will be their exam master. (The golden list= the list of scholars who passed the national exam. Exam master= the chief examiner who was in charge during the year a scholar passed the national exam.)  

Chief examiner Wei bathed and burned incense to welcome the Spring Exam. Guard Master Gu came to make his rounds while eating walnuts. The jade carving-like guard that follows Minister Wei everywhere ended up having quite a unique influence on the National Spring Exam.

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