Bai Tan's words apparently made the entire dungeon quiet, and then Hu Chao burst out laughing in extreme anger: "Fine, if you don't let me leave Chang'an, you'll never find out what happened to the Crown Prince's letter!"

  Pei Tan remained still, staring at Hu Chao. His voice was devoid of emotion, "It's been three days, the scouts from the Shangshu Fu should be arriving soon."

  Although Dali Temple seized the opportunity this time and caught Hu Chao secretly, Zong Chu's Shangshu Fu's secret agent was not a vegetarian.

  Hu Chao panted heavily and burst out laughing, revealing a sinister tone: "If I die in the Grand Temple, you'll all be implicated too! I don't believe you dare..."

  Shen Xingwen narrowed his eyes: "Sir?"

  Hu Chao is a fugitive, there's no need to take such a fugitive too seriously, the priority should be to get out of the prince's handwriting.

  Pei Tan slowly turned his body, his eyes no longer staring at Hu Chao, and coincidentally met Jing Wanyan's gaze in a casual glance. In that instant, relying on

  The two of them surprisingly understood each other's intentions.

  Hu Chao naturally had seen the young girl in the big prison earlier, but his mind was not on Jing Yuanyu, thinking she was just an ordinary maid beside Pei Tan.

  At this time, Jing Wanyi took a step forward and walked out of the range protected by Pei Tan. She almost stood beside Pei Tan.

  Hu Chao is now a startled bird, and Pei Tan's few words have almost collapsed his psychological defense line.

  "Pei Tan's gaze at this time slowly shifted back to Hu Chao's face, and he said: 'Do you know the identity of this girl by my side?'"

  Hu Chao's line of sight involuntarily shifted onto Jing Yuane.

  Shen Xingwen was just about to persuade Pei Tan, because he didn't want the results of three days of interrogation of Hu Chao to go to waste. But at this moment, he unconsciously swallowed his words and became meaningful.

  Jing Wanner's eyes stared motionlessly at Hu Chao.

  She finally saw him, but still couldn't chop him into pieces.

  "Her voice was as gentle as the breeze, whispering in his ear: 'She is the daughter of Jing Zhe, the former commander of the Imperial Guard of Chang'an, and the biological daughter of Jing Wenyi...'"

  Hu Chao's eyes grew bigger and bigger as Pei Tan introduced him, almost bulging out of his head.

  "What did you say? What did you say?!"

  Pei Tan knew he had heard it loud and clear, this reaction was enough.

  Shen Xingwen said slowly beside him, repeating a sentence: "Jing Du Hu's daughter, Jing Wan Er, what? Didn't you hear?"

  Pei Tan stared at the fluctuating flesh on Hu Chao's face, then said: "Are you wondering why Jing Zhe people's daughter would be in Dali Temple?... Intact and unharmed, standing right in front of you looking at you?"

  Shen Xingwen noticed that when Pei Tan mentioned being intact and undamaged, Hu Chao seemed like he was about to collapse.

  Hu Chao muttered: "Jing Shi, isn't she already...". Everyone knew that his unfinished sentence referred to Jing Shi being exiled along with her entire family, the women were taken into the palace, and not a single man was spared.

  Jing Wan'er walked slowly to Hu Chao's front, staring at Hu Chao who was staring back at her with eyes wide with terror. She spat out the question that had been brewing in her mouth for a long time: "Hu Chao, do you still remember how you framed me back then?"

  "Is it going to harm my dad?"

  Hu Chao was dumbfounded.

  Pei Tan's voice followed suit, echoing after Jing Yuane: "Your Majesty has already pardoned the entire Jing family. Before long...Jing Zhe will return to Chang'an from Lingnan..."

  Jing Wan's face seemed to float with a hint of a smile.

  Hu Chao suddenly exploded: "This is impossible! How could Your Majesty pardon the Jing family, how could he?"

  "Actually, it's right before your eyes. Jing Yuanyu has already left the palace and stayed at the Dali Temple for this case."

  Hu Chao looked at Jing Wanyu, who didn't show any signs of suffering from the cold. Instead, her exposed neck and wrists were slender and delicate like jade, showing a refined and elegant appearance that only came with a life of luxury.

  Hu Chao's whole body suddenly started shaking, like sifting flour. His change fell in everyone's eyes. Why did he hear that Zhong Zong pardoned the Jing family and Hu Chao was so excited? Jing Yuanyu was just a young girl, not enough to stab him with a knife. He was like this because he heard that Jing Zhe would return soon

  What's going on in Chang'an?

  Shen Xingwen seemed to have an epiphany.

  Pei Tan suddenly smiled, looking at Hu Chao: "Compared to physical evidence, as long as the people who know the inside story are still alive, no matter how long it takes, there will be a day when the case will resurface. Even if physical evidence can be destroyed or deliberately hidden, people won't."

  Living witnesses are present, and any crimes from that year can no longer be denied. It is people who truly witness the changing times of this era.

  Pei Tan stared at Hu Chao, "When Jing Zhe returns to Chang'an that day, whether this case has physical evidence or the handwritten letter from the Crown Prince will no longer be important. You, naturally, will also be unimportant."

  The chains binding Hu Chao suddenly made a rattling sound as he struggled with all his might to break free.

  "Be good... think about it."

  Hu Chao seemed as if he hadn't heard it at all. After being interrogated for three days, he had never been so disheartened.

  Pei Tan patted Jing Yuanyuan's shoulder, and she turned around to see

  He nodded and said, "Let's go."

  The jailers in the dungeon, having listened to this half-hour of verbal sparring, had long since been thoroughly convinced. They gazed after the departing Da Li Temple Master with bewildered and dreamy eyes.

  Shen Xingwen followed behind Pei Tan, sending the two out of the prison gate.

  Standing at the door, Shen Xingwen's expression was even more profound, and after a long time, he said: "Shen Mou spent three nights in trial, but it wasn't as good as your few words."

  "Without the leads you've been investigating over the past few days, Hu Chao wouldn't have fallen for it so easily."

  Just because Shen Xingwen understood what happened back then and combined with Hu Chao's so sinisterly framing Jing Zhe, he could grasp his weak point.

  Shen Xingwen's eyes were full of meaning: "Your Excellency doesn't need to praise Shen Mou, Shen Mou knows himself and is not worthy of Your Excellency."

  That's why Pei Tan is the Grand Master of Dalit Temple, he isn't. With Pei Tan around, it's impossible to cross this mountain.

  "Leave the rest to you."

  Respond to the Shangshu Fu and possibly the swift arrival of wind and thunder.

  Shen Xingwen lowered his eyes: "Understood." He only did this in extremely rare cases.

  Many times I have called myself inferior, now it counts as a moment.

  Pei Tan took Jing Wanyu away, and it wasn't until the large prison gate was far out of sight that Jing Wanyu felt the invisible shackles being removed from her body.

  At this time, she looked at Pei Tan as usual and said, "Thank you, sir, for speaking up for Wan'er just now."

  Bai's few words had an effect as severe as Shen Xingwen described.

  The current Hu Chao is already a paper tiger that can't withstand a single blow.

  Pei Tan looked at her: "It's you who cooperated well." Jing Wanyan was clever and had long been so for more than one or two days.

  Jing Wan'er shook her head, opened her mouth, and hesitated to speak.

  Until just now, she really felt that this case, which had been going on for years, was finally about to reach the bottom. Compared to being impulsive at the moment, it was indeed only by being more stable that one could see victory.

  Jing Wan'er seemed to have let out a sigh of relief from her heart, and she understood that if it weren't for Pei Tan, she wouldn't have been able to calm down just now.

  Bai Tan seemed to have noticed the girl's emotions, so his voice was gentle.

  "We're almost there." However, the closer we get to the storm, the more danger we face.

  Jing Wan'er's eyes sparkled, and she suddenly smiled. A girl's smile is more beautiful than a peach blossom.

  ——

  Chang'an has truly welcomed the largest thunderstorm in history. After a sky filled with lightning, came torrential rain. At three o'clock in the night, the dark sky was like a huge black curtain, bringing endless oppression to people.

  The gate of the temple was kicked hard from the outside, startling the sleepy doorkeeper who had already fallen into a deep sleep.

  The eunuch, chilled to the bone by the rain, opened the door with a trembling body. "Who dares to be so bold..." The words were stuck in his throat as outside the door stood a white-robed eunuch as pale and eerie as a ghost at midnight.

  "Your Majesty has summoned Pei to enter the palace immediately for an audience!" The eunuch was drenched from head to toe, his pale face like a ghost.

  Not a moment can be delayed, it must be immediate, enter the palace at once.

  Pei Tan had barely managed to throw on a robe when he ordered his servant to fetch his official uniform, but the eunuch replied in an ambiguous tone: "His Majesty has instructed that Minister Pei is not to be delayed for even a moment."

  "What's going on here? Are you trying to defy orders?"

  At the slightest disagreement, they would say "resist imperial orders". Pei Tan glanced at the eunuch, and this strong wind and heavy rain seemed to make him feel a little uneasy.

  Zhong Zong hastily summoned him and did not even draft an imperial edict, but instead directly issued a verbal decree.

  Without waiting to change into official attire, Pei Tan adjusted his clothes and belt, ensuring he would not lose his dignity in front of the emperor. He then said to the eunuch, "Let's go."

  As soon as Pei Tan left, all the remaining people in the Dalisi Temple woke up with a start. The first to react was the bailiff, who immediately rushed towards Shen Xingwen's house.

  Before he reached the door, it was opened and Shen Xingwen, wearing a cloak, appeared at the entrance.

  He stared silently at the bailiff: "What happened?"

  The yamen runner's face turned pale with fright as he shook his head desperately: "Your subordinates don't know."

  No one knows, including Pei Tan, but something has happened and everyone can smell it in the air.

  "Temple Master, there is a letter..." The speaker was the official who had been guarding the gate earlier, holding up a letter that had already gotten wet. He didn't dare to hide it anymore, "Just after nightfall tonight, someone delivered this..."

  The letter was delayed because the seniors were all resting, and we subordinates had planned to hand it over tomorrow...

  The words were not finished, Shen Xingwen snatched the letter, but when he saw the name on the letter, his eyes suddenly narrowed.

  The official lowered his head: "This... this is a letter for Miss Jing..."

  Late at night, someone sent a message to Jing Wanyan alone.

  The official trembled as he recalled that the person who delivered the letter had repeatedly urged him to hand it over to Jing Wanyan immediately. However, at that time, he was dozing off and didn't think a letter was anything urgent, so he verbally agreed but then blocked the messenger outside the door.

  "I think this letter has nothing to do with Master going into the palace..."

  The next moment, Shen Xingwen tore open the letter in front of him, took out the letter paper inside, and scanned the content. In that instant, there was a flash of dark light in his eyes, and suddenly, a gloomy smile hung on the corner of his mouth.

  The official saw it and was afraid that he had really gotten into trouble. Did this letter really contain something important?