Cui Tao wanted to say “I don’t know” for the third time, but Judicial Officer Han seemed to have anticipated her answer and had no intention of listening. He turned around and beckoned Wang Zhao, whispering a few instructions to him. After Wang Zhao nodded, he subconsciously glanced at Cui Tao.

It’s so late at night, and these two grown men are whispering nonsense right in front of her. They’re not acting like gentlemen at all.

Cui Tao simply ignored them and continued to look around, searching for any missing clues. After searching everywhere, she found nothing particularly unusual.

Staying in this room for too long can feel stuffy. The flickering lamplight illuminates the dried blood scattered on the floor, making the stench of blood seem to grow stronger. Cui Tao opened the south window to let in some fresh air and overheard the Li brothers, Li Yuan and Li Cai, who were guarding the door outside, whispering to each other.

“I heard from Wang Zhao that the Ministry of Justice inquired about Miss Cui’s case today. They seemed unhappy to learn that the person was still alive, saying that if there were no clear leads, the execution should continue.”

Li Yuan sneered, “The Minister of Justice and our Prefect Bao have always been at odds; he’s just deliberately picking a fight.”

Cui Tao knew that if she couldn’t find concrete evidence to prove her innocence, she would be finished sooner or later.

She glanced at the bloodstains splattered on the window paper and stepped outside. Looking towards the east and west sides of the courtyard, she noticed the east wall—the wall flanking the east wing. Perhaps the Meng couple loved cherries, as they had planted a row of cherry trees along the east wall. These cherry trees stood side-by-side, their branches and leaves lush and taller than the courtyard wall. Through the dense cherry trees, she could only vaguely make out light coming from the neighboring house.

Looking further west, there was only some firewood piled up at the base of the west wall, offering no real cover. You could easily see the lights on in the houses on the other side, with shadows moving inside.

The brothers Li Yuan and Li Cai were responsible for guarding Cui Tao. When Cui Tao was released, the two of them followed her.

“What are you looking at?” Li Yuan asked.

“It’s Aunt Qiu’s house,” Cui Tao said.

Li Yuan couldn’t help but laugh, “You really have amnesia. Aunt Qiu’s house is over there.”

Li Yuan pointed eastward.

Cui Tao was startled, her eyes instantly lighting up, and she even let out a delighted laugh, “Heaven is helping me!”

Judicial Officer Han also came out, and Cui Tao immediately explained to him.

She pointed to the bedroom window on the west side of the main house, the one with the bloodstains, and then pointed to the east.

“Aunt Qiu is lying. It was the third day of the lunar month, the night was dark, and it was so far away with so many dense leaves blocking the view. There was no way she could have seen the bloodstains on this window from her house while she was peeking over the wall.”

After Cui Tao finished speaking, she snatched the lantern from Li Yuan’s hand, walked to the east wall, and started shining the light on the cherry trees along the wall from the beginning.

The cherries were almost ripe at this time of year, with red and green cherries hanging from the branches. Because the cherry trees were well-cared for, there were fruits on almost every branch. After checking two trees, Cui Tao found that there were very few cherries in the area where the branches intersected between the third and fourth trees. Shining a lantern on the ground, she could see many rotten cherry pits lying on the ground.

These cherry pits, lying on withered leaves, are very fresh, indicating they are from this year’s harvest. Furthermore, their size and firmness suggest they are not fully ripe; they are much smaller and softer.

Following this mark, they parted the branches and found a small black mark on the top of the mud wall, which looked like dried blood.

Judicial Officer Han ordered Li Cai to return to Kaifeng Prefecture immediately to report the news, gather manpower, and order Wang Zhao and Li Yuan to secretly guard Aunt Qiu’s residence.

Judicial Officer Han and Cui Tao stayed in the courtyard to wait for the time being.

Cui Tao: “Does Judicial Officer Han really think that three grown men can’t handle a woman?”

“How do you know there are no accomplices? Even if there aren’t, it’s not simple.” Judicial Officer Han’s voice was calm and composed, and his handsome face seemed to glow mysteriously under the lantern light.

Having too much skin is a sin, isn’t it?

Cui Tao nodded in agreement, surprised by Judicial Officer Han’s thorough consideration. He was right; for an elderly woman like Aunt Qiu to easily kill two young men was indeed no simple feat. If she had accomplices, three constables alone wouldn’t be able to capture them all.

The surroundings were quiet, making the chirping of crickets seem particularly noisy.

Currently, she is being guarded by only one person, a bookish official who is not skilled in martial arts.

The situation prompted Cui Tao to mentally plan her escape route. With her current strength restored, she could barely evade Wang Zhao and Li Yuan’s pursuit and escape this alley. However, she probably wouldn’t even reach the city gates before Kaifeng Prefecture was under martial law. Inside Dongjing City, she was penniless and had no one she could trust to turn to, her prison clothes making her particularly conspicuous. If Kaifeng Prefecture then issued a city-wide warrant and posted her portrait everywhere, even with her great abilities, escape would be difficult.

What’s the point of living like a rat in the street, always hiding? She wanted to go to the brothels and entertainment districts with dignity, and sample the countless delicacies of the city, from the Zhouqiao Night Market to the Mahang Street Night Market and the Zhuque Gate Street Night Market…

Judicial Officer Han noticed Cui Tao making frequent swallowing motions, turned to look at her, and assumed that she was nervous because she had regained some memories, so he asked her what she was thinking about.

“It reminds me of the wonderfully delicious Kaifeng steamed bowls, the crispy and crumbly Ganglu baked flatbread, the tender and refreshing shrimp wontons, as well as pan-fried mutton intestines, dripping butter candied fruit, almond tea, duck blood soup, and sugar-coated shaved ice with cold meatballs…”

Judicial Officer Han took a deep breath, then looked away and walked away from Cui Tao, seemingly annoyed by her chatter.

Soon after, Wang Zhao arrived with his entourage. Cui Tao stopped daydreaming about the delicious food and quickly followed Judicial Officer Han.

More than thirty constables immediately dispersed and surrounded Aunt Qiu’s residence.

“Who is it?”

The person inside must have heard the noise outside, so they pushed open the door and came out. It was a young woman who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old.

Wang Zhao, Li Yuan, and the others immediately rushed into the courtyard to subdue the woman. Seeing her condition, they threw two darts and shouted into the house, “Master, run!”

The woman shouted and tried to escape, but Wang Zhao stopped her and they fought.

Li Yuan led the remaining men into the house, only to find it empty. They then heard noises coming from the back window. Aunt Qiu tried to escape through the back door but was caught red-handed by the constables guarding the backyard.

Aunt Qiu fought back with her knife, each move deadly and ruthless. The constables dared not be negligent, but still wanted to leave her alive as much as possible. So, during the fight, they tried to avoid vital areas. Finally, one of their knives stabbed Aunt Qiu in the leg. As soon as the knife was pulled out, a large amount of blood gushed out. Aunt Qiu screamed in pain and fell to the ground, whereupon she was immediately captured.

The constables dragged the woman to the front yard and found that Aunt Qiu was bleeding more and more, leaving a heavy trail of blood along the way. Aunt Qiu’s face was deathly pale, and her body was trembling uncontrollably.

The blood volume seemed a bit abnormal, so Li Yuan hurriedly went to report to Judicial Officer Han.

The young woman had already been captured and was shaking her shoulders, trying to struggle and escape. Upon seeing the bleeding Aunt Qiu, she became even more agitated, exclaiming, “Master! How are you? You’ve lost so much blood…”

Cui Tao guessed that Aunt Qiu’s femoral artery had ruptured, and rushed over to provide first aid. Since she couldn’t find any cloth strips immediately, she tore off a corner of her own clothing and used it to bind Aunt Qiu’s bleeding thigh. Then, Li Yuan and the others cooperated with Cui Tao, finding some clean cloth from inside the house to help her stop the bleeding.

When Aunt Qiu saw Cui Tao, her eyes, which had been half-open and weak, immediately widened.

“It’s you—”

“I need silver needles.” Cui Tao’s hand, which had been pressing on her wound, was soon stained with blood, and she quickly looked up at Judicial Officer Han and said.

Judicial Officer Han stood with his hands behind his back, calm and collected, not showing much concern about Aunt Qiu nearly dying from blood loss. After hearing what Cui Tao said, he just gave a small nod with his eyes, and the three constables quickly ran off to find her.

In contrast to Judicial Officer Han’s cold and calm attitude, Aunt Qiu looked at Cui Tao, who was anxiously trying to help her, and suddenly smiled. She gathered all her strength, lifted her head, and said to Judicial Officer Han, “I killed the person. It has nothing to do with her.”

“The reason?” Judicial Officer Han glanced at the young woman who had been arrested.

“No, it has nothing to do with her. Ping’er only arrived in the capital yesterday!” Aunt Qiu suddenly became agitated, but she was growing weaker and weaker, as if even taking a breath was a luxury for her. “I killed the couple to threaten them into handing over the salt transport map. I originally wanted to kill her too. But when I saw her fall to the ground in fright upon seeing the dead, covered in blood, I thought it would be perfect to have a scapegoat, so that the authorities wouldn’t suspect me in the process of… investigating… the murderer.”

The “she” that Aunt Qiu was referring to was Cui Tao.

“How do you know the salt transport map is in their hands?” Judicial Officer Han asked again before Aunt Qiu could finish speaking.

“It’s…it’s Tianji Pavilion…offering a high reward—” Aunt Qiu suddenly fainted.

Cui Tao checked Aunt Qiu’s pulse, continued pressing on the bleeding wound, and anxiously waited for the yamen runner who had come to find the silver needle to return.

The young woman named Ping’er, who had been arrested, burst into tears and kept calling out “Master”.

For a moment, everyone fell silent except for Ping’er’s crying, and Cui Tao’s forehead slowly began to bead with sweat.

After a while, Cui Tao checked Aunt Qiu’s pulse again, and then released the hand that was pressing on the wound.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you saving my master?” Ping’er became even more distraught and agitated when she saw Cui Tao let go.

Cui Tao looked at Judicial Officer Han, who was also looking at her, and whispered, “She’s dead.”

The bailiffs led Cui Tao to wash her hands first.

When Cui Tao returned, Judicial Officer Han had already questioned Ping’er. Ping’er genuinely knew nothing about Aunt Qiu’s murder of Meng Da and his wife.

Li Yuan and the others found a piece of bloodstained clothing that hadn’t been completely burned in the ashes behind the house. Wang Zhao and the others found two dried bloodstains below the kitchen door frame. These must have been accidentally wiped off by Aunt Qiu when she was cleaning up the blood-stained clothes after killing the person.

“There was very little blood on the wall. She must have taken off her clothes after killing the person, thrown the blood-stained clothes over the wall, and then climbed back home to burn them.”

Wang Zhao reported his deductions to Judicial Officer Han and handed him a letter he had just found in Aunt Qiu’s wardrobe.

The letter contained two portraits of Meng Da and his wife, Lady Yu, and a note that read, “Kill the male and female thieves, steal the treasure map, and you will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver.”

Therefore, it seems that Meng Da and Lady Yu are the infamous “male and female thieves” who have been rampant in the martial arts world for the past two years. It is said that their thieving skills are so superb that they can even enter and leave the imperial palace undetected. This salt transport map was very likely stolen by them from the Salt and Iron Bureau. Interestingly, the imperial court has never reported that the salt transport map was lost.

It’s understandable that Aunt Qiu came looking for the map because she received news from the martial arts world. But why is she still living next door after killing someone? Could it be that she didn’t get the salt transport map and is now waiting here to find another clue?

Judicial Officer Han looked at Cui Tao.

Cui Tao noticed something strange in Judicial Officer Han’s eyes and quickly said, “Now that the real culprit has been caught, it can be proven that I am not the murderer and that I am innocent. Can Judicial Officer Han release me now?”

Judicial Officer Han chuckled softly.

This smile felt somewhat familiar to Cui Tao; it was the same smile Judicial Officer Han had given her when she offered a clue in exchange for a bowl of “Hundred Flavors Soup,” and then tricked her.

In court, Cui Tao appeared heartbroken, weeping pitifully as she recounted how she had taken the blame for someone else. Everyone in the courtroom assumed she was doing something foolish for her lover. However, the real culprit was a middle-aged, ugly woman nearing fifty with a face resembling a boot.

“So Aunt Qiu is the one who made you weep, willing to take the blame for them, and heartbroken?” Judicial Officer Han’s voice was extremely pleasant, even carrying a hint of tenderness.

Judicial Officer Han smiled gently, revealing a handsome and refined appearance that was truly unparalleled. If an ordinary woman were to see him, she would likely blush, her heart race, and perhaps even scream with excitement. But to Cui Tao, she felt like a featherless chicken being choked and pinned to a chopping board.

Afraid of being discovered by Judicial Officer Han, she quickly grabbed Aunt Qiu’s arm, tears welling in her eyes. “It should be…it must be her, right? I don’t remember why, but I felt a sense of kinship as soon as I saw Aunt Qiu. No wonder I tried so hard to save her just now. I guess she’s always been very kind to me!”