The Grand Secretary has no heir? His concubine gives birth to triplets.

"That Chidi prince said that Marquis Dingyuan, Murong Kui, accepted 10,000 taels of gold from him two years ago, promising to cooperate with him from within and without to break through the border defenses of our Great Chu!"

"But two years have passed, and Murong Kui has not contacted him until the news of the Crown Prince's deposition arrived, at which point he thought the time had come."

"He was fully expecting Murong Kui to open the city gates and let them in, but... I caught them like turtles in a jar!"

Pei Yan's pupils contracted sharply, and his voice was as cold and hard as iron.

"Impossible, Murong Kui would never betray his country for personal gain."

"Of course I know!"

Sima Di slammed his fist into the stone wall, sending up a flurry of dust.

"I served under the Marquis for three years; I know him better than anyone else what kind of person he is."

"So I had the prince carefully describe the physical characteristics of the person he was meeting..."

Sima Di's lips curled into a cold smile:

"The man's height and accent matched, but there was a discrepancy in his left ear."

"The Marquis of Dingyuan had a deep, bone-exposing wound on his left ear from his early battles, but the contact the prince described had no such wound on his left ear!"

"Therefore, I conclude that someone must have disguised themselves as Murong Kui and tricked the Chi Di prince out of 10,000 taels of gold."

"To prevent their scheme from being exposed, they turned around and pinned the blame for treason on the Marquis of Dingyuan and his son!"

Pei Yan frowned, various clues rapidly intertwining in his mind, and a murderous intent surged in his eyes.

"Who else knows about this?"

"That's all." Sima Di's face was cold and stern. "I interrogated that prince alone, and afterwards I ordered my trusted men to keep a close watch on him."

"This matter is of great importance. I know that in this capital city, only you have the ability to overturn such a major case."

"That Chidi prince has been secretly brought into the city by me and is currently tied up in the cellar of a dilapidated temple in the west of the city."

Pei Yan took a deep breath and shouted sharply, "Xiao San!"

Xiao San rushed forward: "Master!"

"Send ten of the most astute guards to the dilapidated temple in the west of the city and bring that Red Di prince, unharmed, to the Prime Minister's dungeon!"

Pei Yan's gaze was as dark as an abyss.

"There's no time to lose. Let's interrogate him together tonight and get as many details as possible."

The thick, long iron chain was violently pulled and slammed against the rough stone wall, producing a deafening thud.

"Bah! Lackeys of the Great Chu!"

The Red Di prince was bound to a black iron frame with his hair disheveled. When he saw Sima Di approaching, he immediately spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"You used underhanded tricks to destroy my 80,000 elite Red Di cavalry! If we were lined up in battle on the plains, I would have ripped your head off and used it as a football!"

Sima Di stopped and raised her hand to wipe away the blood splattered on her neck.

His face was tense, and his hand was on the hilt of the short sword at his waist.

"All's fair in war. You don't even understand these four words. It's no wonder you've fallen into my hands."

Sima Di forcefully suppressed the urge to draw his sword and kill someone.

"I'm not here today to listen to your whims. Tell me everything that happened when you made contact with the Great Chu."

"If you mispronounce a single word, I'll chop off one of your fingers!"

Pei Yan stood with his hands behind his back, his face hidden in the shadows, and he slightly raised his hand.

Xiao San silently stepped forward and unfolded several copies of letters, which had been copied from the secret archives, in front of the Chi Di prince.

"Do you recognize this?" Pei Yan asked.

The Red Di prince narrowed his swollen red eyes, examined the situation for a while, and then let out a cold sneer.

"I recognize it. The royal seal, the secret royal code, and the handwriting on this letter are all my own. What, you still want to use this to convict me?"

Pei Yan ignored his provocation and continued, "What was the story behind the secret letter from the Great Chu that you received back then?"

"A letter written in the Great Chu script, signed by Marquis Dingyuan, Murong Kui." The Red Di prince shook his head.

"The letter said that as long as I send someone with gold to the old ferry crossing on the Black River, Murong Kui will leave an opening during the border troop rotation to let our people in."

"At the time, I felt like I had won the lottery, but I was suspicious, so I wrote this reply to test the waters."

"What conditions did you propose?" Pei Yan stepped forward and pressed.

"I say that Murong Kui must come in person before I can hand over the ten thousand taels of gold to him."

"To prevent any fraud, I also told the other party that on the day of the meeting, I must wear a dragon crystal earring in my left ear."

"I never expected him to actually come."

Sima Di grabbed the Red Di prince by the collar, choking him until he could barely breathe: "What does the contact person look like? Tell me!"

The Red Di prince, panting heavily, spoke haltingly:

"A big guy, dressed like any ordinary farmer from northern Xinjiang."

"He was very burly, and he was indeed wearing the dragon crystal earring I requested on his left ear. His facial features... were similar to the portrait of Murong Kui that the spies brought back."

"But the man's complexion was unnaturally sallow. However, the winds and sandstorms in the northern frontier are severe, and many people's faces have been turned yellowish by the wind."

Pei Yan loosened his clasped hands and slowly walked into the light.

"He was burly, wore an earring in his left ear, and had a sallow complexion."

He read these points aloud in a calm tone.

"This person has clearly used disguise. He is not only familiar with the appearance of the Marquis of Dingyuan, but also knows the pattern of the Marquis's seal, and is also very knowledgeable about the timing of the border garrison rotation."

Sima Di clenched his fists so tightly they cracked: "This must be someone in the military, and their rank is definitely not low!"

Pei Yan nodded: "The Chi Di's reply is genuine, but its appearance on Your Majesty's desk is the result of someone's elaborate scheme."

The Chi Di prince looked at the two of them and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Which official in the Great Chu isn't corrupt? You actually can't believe your own people have betrayed you! With real gold and silver right in front of you, who wouldn't be tempted?"

"Even if Murong Kui hadn't betrayed the country, someone else would have! You're all a bunch of mad dogs tearing each other apart!"

"Zheng—"

Sima Di could no longer bear it. He drew his short sword from his waist, and the gleaming blade pressed against the neck of the Red Di prince, cutting a very thin line of blood.

"Shut up, or I'll send you to hell right now."

The blade paused for three breaths, then Sima Di flicked his wrist and sheathed the short sword.

He can't kill this beast; this man is a key witness to overturn the verdict.

As Pei Yan watched the drop of blood fall, a figure suddenly flashed through his mind.

Liu Quan.

After Murong Kui and Murong Sheng were transferred by the emperor from the northern frontier to Baoding for military training.

That person was responsible for forwarding documents from the Ministry of War in Baoding Prefecture, and he traveled between the capital and Baoding extremely frequently before and after the case of Marquis Dingyuan.

"Xiao San, go and invite Lu Yunzheng here."

Half an hour later, the secret door opened.

Lu Yunzheng, dressed in a blue robe, walked down the stone steps, first looking around at the instruments of torture before standing in front of Pei Yan.

"Prime Minister Pei summoned me in the middle of the night; have you discovered something unusual?"

Pei Yan asked directly, "How is Liu Quan doing?"

"Don't even mention it, it's a stinky, hard rock from the latrine." Lu Yunzheng's smile faded, and his expression darkened slightly.

"I secretly detained him in an abandoned granary outside Baoding city and starved him for three days."

"They whipped him and used a branding iron, but he didn't utter a sound."

"That old scoundrel neither begged for mercy nor ran away, but kept repeating the same sentence over and over. He said that Marquis Dingyuan had colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country, and deserved to be punished, and that he, Liu Quan, had a clear conscience."

Lu Yunzheng smirked, a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes:

"I was so angry that I held a knife to his neck. What did Pei Xiangcai say?"

"He actually reached out and grabbed the blade himself!" Lu Yunzheng gestured.

"He stared into my eyes and said, 'If Lord Lu wants to avenge the Murong family, he can take my life; it will be a worthy death.' Don't you think this man is insane?"