The first person was Bai Sheng. She looked pale, with grief written all over her face.
In contrast, Bai Di, standing beside her, didn't have her sister's depth of guile.
Although she also feigned sadness, her eyes couldn't hide her smugness.
The Princess Yunxi, who had led Bai Di to the rockery, and the Heir Apparent of Xuanning Prince, Zhuo Lingxiao, who had stopped Feng Linyuan, were both looking shocked.
As for Feng Jingyang... Bai Zheng scanned the area with her eyes.
Where was Feng Jingyang?
"Sister, there's no way to save Yan'er now. Don't be too sad," Feng Linche said in a deep voice, frowning.
Hearing this, the Princess of Pingyang trembled. Her eyes widened, and her body seemed to lose all support as she slowly slumped to the ground.
The Marquis of Gaochang beside her staggered and knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face. "Your Majesty, the princess and I only have Yan'er as our daughter. Now she died an unclear death during the palace banquet. Please, Your Majesty, thoroughly investigate this matter and find the real culprit. Give justice to the Gaochang Marquis Mansion and to Yan'er!"
As he spoke, the Marquis of Gaochang knocked his head on the ground, making a "bang, bang, bang" sound.
Feng Linche's face was ashen. His own niece, the daughter of a powerful minister, had been assassinated in the palace. Where did this leave his dignity as the emperor?
"Investigate!" Feng Linche gritted his teeth. Years of imperial might radiated from him, scaring everyone to their knees. "You must thoroughly investigate this matter for me!"
Suddenly, Bai Zheng felt a gaze on her. She looked back and saw Bai Sheng slightly turning her head, looking at her with a half - smile.
Her eyes were filled with coldness.
At Feng Linche's order, all exits in the palace were strictly guarded. All the maids and eunuchs who had entered or left the imperial garden at that time were ordered to be thoroughly investigated.
The rest of the people participating in the palace banquet, along with Feng Jingyang who had rushed over in a hurry, were all driven back to the main hall.
The hall doors were tightly closed, and Feng Linche sat on the upper seat with a gloomy face.
Everyone in the hall sat silently in their seats. The atmosphere was as cold as ice.
Gradually, people came in one after another to report the progress of the investigation to Feng Linche.
Since the Princess of Pingyang had fainted from the grief of losing her daughter, the first person to be brought up for questioning was Zheng Yan's personal maid, in order to obtain valuable information.
The maid was obviously extremely frightened. Her eyes were red, and she stammered as she replied, "Your Majesty, after Miss hurt her foot, she was carried into the warm room on the east side to rest and receive treatment. Since her skirt was stained with blood and dirty, the princess ordered this servant to fetch the spare clothes. So this servant left. When this servant came back, Miss was no longer in the room. This servant really doesn't know anything, Your Majesty!"
"Who else was left in the room when you went to fetch the clothes, and what were they doing?" Feng Linche asked in a deep voice.
The maid lowered her head. "Only the princess and Miss were left. Miss didn't say a word, and the princess was crying heart - brokenly beside her."
This was understandable.
When the female relatives of the ministers participated in the palace banquet, they usually only brought one personal maid. This time, when Zheng Yan was injured, besides the personal nanny brought by the princess, the only one who could serve her was Zheng Yan's own maid.
It was only because Lin didn't bring anyone this time that Bai Zheng had brought both Zhuling and Qingshao.
"According to what you said, was it the princess who took Miss Zheng to the imperial garden?" Feng Linche narrowed his eyes.
"This servant really doesn't know!" The maid was so frightened by Feng Linche's stare that she was in a complete mess and kept kowtowing.
Bai Zheng frowned in thought.
Zheng Yan was seriously injured. The princess, who loved her daughter dearly, would surely not let her run around at this time.
If what this girl said was true, and it wasn't the maid beside her or the princess, then who had taken Zheng Yan to the imperial garden?
Actually, Bai Zheng had a general idea of who the murderer was.
But now it was obvious that this matter was aimed at her. She had to peel away the layers of mystery and find the crucial points the murderer had missed in order to clear herself of the suspicion.
"Miss Bai San, what's wrong with you?" Princess Yunxi asked with a concerned look on her face. "Speaking of which, Miss Bai San, you were there nearby just now. Did you see any suspicious people?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expressions changed.
Feng Linche sized up Bai Zheng, who looked a bit disheveled after being chased by the masked man. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Miss Bai San was always there nearby?"
"Yes. Just now, I went to the imperial garden to enjoy the flowers with Miss San. When we walked to the rockery, I suddenly found that my handkerchief was missing, so I went back to look for it. Miss San said she would wait for me there. But..." Princess Yunxi deliberately paused.
"But what?" The Marquis of Gaochang stood up.
"But after I went back, I didn't see Miss San there. I thought maybe Miss San had been called by her family to enjoy the flowers. I felt a bit tired from going back and forth, so I returned to the main hall and didn't look for Miss San anymore."
"But just now I saw Lady Bai and the others. There were only the four of them in the family, and Miss San wasn't there!" A woman in brocade clothes suddenly said.
"Lady Jiang is right. I didn't see Miss San either," another lady chimed in.
"So, Miss San, where exactly did you go?" Feng Linche stared at Bai Zheng intently. "And why are you so disheveled now?"
Bai Zheng recalled what had happened to her after Princess Yunxi left and couldn't help but sneer in her heart.
When Zheng Yan had the accident, she had been trapped by Bai Sheng's formation nearby. And besides Feng Linyuan, no one else could prove this.
That was to say, there was no witness.
It was really a well - played game.
Bai Zheng sneered in her heart, but her face showed great panic, looking like a frightened girl. She walked to the center of the main hall, lowered her head, and replied timidly, "Your Majesty, this subject was indeed always there nearby.
But not long after Princess Yunxi left, for some reason, a masked bandit with a knife suddenly appeared. He tried to rob this subject of the jade pendant bestowed by Concubine Yi.
This subject was so panicked that she fled for her life, which is why she looks so disheveled."
"A bandit with a knife!" Bai Di exclaimed in a timely manner and said with a worried look on her face, "I didn't expect that there would be a bandit with a knife committing crimes in the imperial garden where people come and go. Sister, are you injured?"
Bai Di's words seemed concerned on the surface, but in fact, they were reminding everyone.
If what Bai Zheng said was true and there was a masked bandit, with so many people coming and going in the imperial garden, although the place where she stood was remote, it wasn't a blind spot. How could no one have noticed?
Bai Zheng covered the sneer on her lips and replied sobbingly, "This sister also thought it was unbelievable at first. But now seeing that Miss Zheng has actually lost her life here, it shows that the bandit is extremely cruel. This sister is already lucky to be alive."
"Yes, sister is really lucky," Bai Sheng said with a sigh. "Miss Zheng was both literate and martial, but she lost her life here. Sister is weak as a kitten, but she is safe and sound."