Cui Tao only realized after she had spoken the words that the man surnamed Han was treating her like a mule!

Her hypothesis of “taking the blame for others” had actually been debunked long ago.

The plot broke down when Aunt Qiu confessed that she saw her fall into a pool of blood and took the opportunity to frame her as the murderer. Clearly, her becoming the murderer was a passive act, not an active scapegoating.

It was really strange, though. She didn’t kill anyone, and she didn’t know who the real culprit was, so why didn’t she even cry out that she was wronged, but just confessed and waited to die? It was too unbelievable! And who exactly was that man with blood on his chest and a mole on his finger?

Faced with Judicial Officer Han’s meaningful gaze, Cui Tao immediately feigned sudden realization, quickly shaking off Aunt Qiu’s arm and asking Judicial Officer Han with a puzzled expression, “Something seems off. If Aunt Qiu murdered my cousin and his wife, and I didn’t know she was the killer, then who am I taking the blame for? Did I mistake someone for the murderer, and that’s why I’m taking the blame for them?”

Cleverly, she threw the question back at him.

Judicial Officer Han was more inclined to believe that Cui Tao was talking nonsense to save her own life. However, since she had “amnesia” and she did not kill Meng Da and his wife and was wronged, this point could be temporarily ignored.

As for other doubts, Judicial Officer Han didn’t have time to investigate them in detail. He turned and left; he needed to report the salt transport map to the imperial court as soon as possible.

Cui Tao breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Judicial Officer Han finally leave. Luckily, she reacted quickly and didn’t overdo the act, otherwise Judicial Officer Han would have seen right through her.

Under the escort of Li Yuan, Wang Zhao, and others, Cui Tao and Ping’er began their journey back to Kaifeng Prefecture on foot.

Ping’er kept crying until her voice was hoarse, her body trembling with each sob. Cui Tao, annoyed by the noise, tried to stay as far away from her as possible.

Now that she was cleared of the murder charge, Cui Tao felt she should try her best to get out of prison as soon as possible. However, she was a little wary of Judicial Officer Han, fearing that he wouldn’t let her go. So she needed to think carefully about her next move. Cui Tao mechanically walked forward as she pondered this.

But after a short while, Cui Tao was fully awakened by a wafting fragrance.

Cui Tao sniffed a few times, following the aroma, and saw a night market at the fork in the road ahead. The smell was coming from the stall making lotus-shaped meat pies at the fork in the road. The meat filling, with alternating layers of fat and lean, was pressed into a round shape about the size of a child’s palm, decorated with green peas, resembling a lotus pod, and then steamed. The hexagonal pie was pan-fried and placed in a bowl, its six corners rising up along the curve of the bowl, resembling lotus petals. Then the lotus-pod meat pie was moved to the center of the petal-shaped pastry, thus creating a complete ‘lotus flower’.

I don’t know how the meat patties were seasoned, but the aroma was so strong that it could be smelled from miles away, making people’s mouths water and wanting to rush over for a bowl.

Seeing many diners drawn by the aroma and crowding around the shop to buy food, Cui Tao could only watch longingly from the crossroads, sniffing the air a couple more times before turning, turning, turning…

“Sigh!” Cui Tao sighed deeply, wondering when she could freely flit through the night markets like a butterfly, becoming the legendary night market tyrant of Dongjing City!

Ping’er had already cried herself out and was now sobbing softly. She suddenly heard Cui Tao sigh and looked at her. Thinking that Cui Tao was thinking about her master, she tried to comfort her.

“Your master was a woman of great loyalty and kindness to everyone. She must have had her reasons for wrongly accusing you. Now that she has passed away, please don’t blame her, okay? After all, she told the truth before she died and cleared your name.”

“I have a bad temper.”

“What?” Ping’er looked at Cui Tao in confusion.

“Stop your lotus words, shut up, and don’t talk to me.” Cui Tao rolled her eyes at Ping’er, showing her utter disdain.

“What do you mean by ‘lotus words’? I was trying to be nice to you, how could you treat me like this? No wonder Master made you a scapegoat,” Ping’er said angrily.

Cui Tao looked around and saw that Li Yuan was not there for some reason. Wang Zhao and the others were walking ahead, and the yamen runners behind them were chatting and not paying much attention to them. Cui Tao took a few steps closer to the wall by the street and pried a stone out of a crack in the wall.

Then she took a few more steps, walking alongside Ping’er. She then flicked a stone, which grazed precisely past the ear of the constable in front of her. The stone landed with a thud; the sound alone indicated the force was considerable. Luckily, it missed; had it hit his head, he would certainly have been injured.

“Who?” The constable, gripping his sword, immediately turned around to look for the person.

Wang Zhao also sensed something was wrong and turned around.

“I know, she did it!” Cui Tao pointed at Ping’er with her freshly washed, fair fingers.

Ping’er stared at Cui Tao in surprise: “How could it be me? It’s clearly you—”

“She flicked her finger, and the pebble flew out, just as powerfully as when she threw darts earlier,” Cui Tao explained to Wang Zhao and the others, ignoring what Ping’er said.

“It wasn’t me, it was her, she did it!” Ping’er cried out anxiously.

Wang Zhao glared angrily at Ping’er, naturally choosing to believe Cui Tao. Ping’er was not only skilled in martial arts but had also thrown darts, a fact known to all. Besides, why would Cui Tao throw stones at the yamen runners for no reason? Ping’er, on the other hand, was likely driven by hatred towards these runners for accidentally killing her master in the fight.

“Who gave you the audacity!” Without a word, Wang Zhao slapped Ping’er across the face, warning her that if she dared to make any more moves, it wouldn’t be as simple as ten slaps. Wang Zhao then ordered his men to bind Ping’er’s hands and upper body tightly together, rendering her unable to move except for her feet.

Ping’er was so angry that she cried again, shouting that it wasn’t her, but her voice was already hoarse from crying and she couldn’t make a sound.

After Cui Tao waited for Ping’er to calm down, she moved closer to her and said in a deliberately gentle tone, “I had my reasons for wrongly accusing you, please don’t blame me, okay?”

Those words sounded so familiar; she had just said them.

“You—” Ping’er’s face flushed with anger. She finally understood why Cui Tao had done this. She glared at Cui Tao as if she wanted to kill her, but she was tightly bound and could do nothing.

“What are you glaring at me for? I was trying to be nice to you, how could you treat me like that? No wonder you got slapped, you deserved it!” Cui Tao smiled slightly and returned the second sentence to Ping’s face.

Ping’er was so angry that she rushed towards Cui Tao and raised her foot to kick her.

“You don’t blame yourself for what you did, but you blame me for reporting you?” Cui Tao screamed for help in fright and ran behind Wang Zhao.

Seeing this, Wang Zhao kicked Ping’er hard, then ordered his men to drag her back to Kaifeng Prefecture. Ping’er cried in pain; the kick really hurt. She couldn’t struggle anymore and could only let the constables roughly drag her away.

Cui Tao wanted to follow and see Ping’er’s miserable state, but Wang Zhao stopped her.

“There’s no one in this alley,” Wang Zhao said.

Cui Tao looked around and, sure enough, no one was there. Then she looked at Wang Zhao, who had a square face, sword-like eyebrows, and was tall and strong. He was no more than twenty years old, in the prime of his life…

Cui Tao knew she was quite pretty; her messy hair and dirty prison uniform couldn’t hide her beauty.

Cui Tao cautiously took several steps back, leaning against the wall, her shackled hands behind her back, wondering if she could pry out a few more pebbles for self-defense. Luckily, there were no pebbles in the crack in the wall.

Wang Zhao was taken aback by Cui Tao’s reaction, then quickly waved his hand and laughed, “Miss Cui, you’ve misunderstood. I didn’t mean anything by that.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yuan’s voice came from the other end. Cui Tao sniffed, her eyes brightening as she looked at the paper package in Li Yuan’s hand.

Li Yuan smiled and handed the paper package to Cui Tao.

“I noticed you seemed to really want to eat this lotus-shaped meat pie, so I asked Inspector Wang to do me a favor, as a way of repaying your kindness.”

Cui Tao smiled, thanked him, and took the paper package. She smelled it first, and sure enough, it was that familiar and tempting aroma. Without saying a word, she took a bite. The tender and juicy meat pie and the white flour crust blended together in her mouth, fragrant and chewy. Because of the addition of scallions to the filling, it was not greasy at all.

It was so delicious! Cui Tao puffed out her cheeks and quickly finished the whole lotus-shaped meat pie. Her emptiness was finally relieved, and her eyes smiled, curving like crescent moons. She even seemed more energetic than before.

Seeing Cui Tao seemingly find boundless joy in eating a pie, Li Yuan and Wang Zhao couldn’t help but laugh. She was truly endearing, making them want to feed her, just to see her satisfied and happy expression after her meal.

“Can I take a shower today?” Cui Tao pressed her advantage, pretending to be cautious as she asked. She first looked down at her clothes, which were not only dirty but also stained with Aunt Qiu’s blood, and then raised her clear black and white eyes, looking longingly at Wang Zhao and Li Yuan.

Li Yuan hesitated, explaining that Midwife Zhang wasn’t there, and that it seemed a bit unreasonable to go out of his way to call her from home to bathe with her.

“Aunt Zhao from the kitchen is here, I’ll go and tell her,” Wang Zhao said. “Since Miss Cui isn’t the murderer, it’s fair that the yamen wronged her. Although we can’t release you without Judicial Officer Han’s order, letting you sit in jail comfortably isn’t a mistake.”

“Brother Wang, you’re so kind! Brother Li, you’re so kind too! Thank you so much!” Cui Tao said sweetly, trying to establish a kinship, and quickly bowed to Wang Zhao and Li Yuan in gratitude.

“Alright, don’t be so polite. I know you’re a good person.” Wang Zhao couldn’t help but recall the scene of Cui Tao trying her best to save Aunt Qiu. What a kind and gentle nature she had.

Cui Tao finally took a bath in the woodshed!

Although the woodshed wasn’t much better than the morgue, it was still much better than being surrounded by rotting corpses.

People should know how to be content and believe that things will get better day by day. Look at her now, she’s eating meat and taking baths. Now she’s just hoping that the mean-spirited Han Qi will be magnanimous and let her off the hook.

After taking a shower and changing into a new prison uniform, Cui Tao returned to her cell, looking clean and tidy. As soon as she entered, she heard groans and sobs all around her.

As luck would have it, Ping’er was also locked in this cell. The groaning sound was from Wang Siniang, who was still complaining about the pain in her buttocks after being beaten; the crying sound was naturally from Ping’er, whether she was crying for her master’s death or for the injustice she had suffered, it was hard to tell.

As soon as Cui Tao entered the prison, Wang Siniang and Ping’er looked at Cui Tao at the same time, and then stopped making any noise.

Wang Siniang dared not provoke Cui Tao any further, and immediately turned her head away, silently lying down. Ping’er, on the other hand, stared at Cui Tao with a wary and angry expression, as if she wanted to fight her.

Ignoring the two of them, Cui Tao searched around and found a spot where the straw looked the cleanest, then sat down and meditated with her eyes closed.

After a long while, they suddenly heard Lady Liu from next door whispering to Wang Siniang about how her case was going.

“They haven’t caught him yet, but today they interrogated me, only asking if I had any grudges against my elder brother and where he might be hiding. But how would I know why he wanted to kill me, or where he might be hiding? I’m so angry! I never imagined he would dare to poison me!” Wang Siniang said, her teeth practically grinding to powder with hatred, her eyes blazing with fury.

Cui Tao opened one eye, stole a few glances at Wang Siniang, then closed her eyes again and continued meditating.

The next morning, Cui Tao was taken in for questioning.

Although it was called an interrogation, she wasn’t actually taken to the main courtroom, but rather to a side room. Judicial Officer Han was sitting at the head of the table, holding a case file and looking at it.

After bowing, Cui Tao, seeing that Judicial Officer Han remained silent and noticing that there were no outsiders around, asked Judicial Officer Han, “The real culprit has been found, and it can be determined that the murderer is definitely not me. Now that I am no longer guilty, should Judicial Officer Han release me?”

Judicial Officer Han suddenly stopped flipping through the case files and looked up at Cui Tao. He must have noticed that Cui Tao had already taken a bath and tidied up, so he looked at her for a little while longer.

Not wanting to cause trouble for the kind-hearted Wang Zhao, Cui Tao quickly explained, “Yesterday, I was covered in blood while saving Aunt Qiu.” She figured she deserved some credit for her hard work, even if she didn’t achieve anything significant!

“We can’t let you go,” clearly, Judicial Officer Han didn’t delve into the meaning behind Cui Tao’s clothing and simply answered her question.

“Why?” Cui Tao asked, puzzled and indignant.

Judicial Officer Han placed the salt transport map on the table. “Since you know where this salt transport map is hidden, you must be involved with it. Do you know what crime you have committed by coveting this item?”

Coveting the government’s salt transport map is a crime far more serious than murder; even eight deaths wouldn’t be enough to atone for it.

Cui Tao took a deep breath. This Han Qi was indeed not going to let her off easily. “Does My Lord have any evidence to prove that I am definitely involved with this salt transport map? I just happened to discover it.”

“Coincidentally, you lived under the same roof as Meng Da and Lady Yu? Coincidentally, when they died, you didn’t cry, make a scene, or call for help, but instead insisted on taking the blame for someone? Coincidentally, you suffered from amnesia and remembered nothing, yet you went straight to the bronze mirror at the crime scene?”

Cui Tao: “…”

Damn it, why does this guy surnamed Han have so many questions? Is he some kind of curious child?

“A decision can only be made after the case has been thoroughly investigated.” Judicial Officer Han then asked Cui Tao if she had anything to add. If she was willing to confess sooner, her punishment could be mitigated.

“I know nothing, and I don’t know what to confess,” Cui Tao said angrily, silently cursing Han Qi eight hundred times in her heart.

Judicial Officer Han then signaled to Li Yuan to take Cui Tao away first.

“Judicial Officer Han, something terrible has happened! Inspector Wang sneaked into the Tianji Pavilion branch last night and was hit by a poisoned dart. He’s dying!” A bailiff ran up to report, panting.

Judicial Officer Han immediately got up to check on the situation.

Just as Judicial Officer Han walked quickly past Cui Tao, Cui Tao slowly raised her head and spoke loudly.

“My Lord, I know how to cure the poison!”