The legitimate daughter returns to the capital and embarks on a splendid life, tearing apart the fak

The physician, surnamed Du, was taken aback for a moment, then quickly replied, "That Cold Jade Powder, I bought it myself!"

"You bought it yourself?" Xiao Jingyan raised an eyebrow, his tone full of disbelief. "You just said it was a secret medicine from the Southern Frontier. If it's a secret medicine, where did you buy it?"

Doctor Du swallowed hard and stammered, "Your Highness is right. This stuff is indeed impossible for ordinary people to obtain. My Cold Jade Powder... I bought it from a medicinal herb merchant from the Southern Frontier. I met him at the Ghost Market back then. I didn't expect to need the medicine at the time; I just wanted to keep it on hand just in case. Later, when Madam Liu asked me about it, I..."

Xiao Jingyan's gaze sharpened slightly. He exchanged a glance with Yun Jin, then asked, "What does that merchant from Southern Xinjiang look like?"

As the physician recalled, he said, "A dozen years ago, he was only in his forties, not very tall, and had a scar on the corner of his left eye. Now, he should be over fifty, but I don't know if he's still in the capital."

Xiao Jingyan nodded, not pressing the issue further, but instead asked a question that terrified Physician Du: "You just said you were afraid of the person behind Lady Liu. Tell me, who is that person behind her?"

Doctor Du wanted to slap himself, but the words were already out and it was too late to take them back. He endured the pain in his fingers and said, "Your Highness... this humble servant... this humble servant truly does not know who that person is."

Lady Liu once told me that her journey to the Central Plains was orchestrated by her master at every step. If I dared to reveal that she was from the Southern Frontier, her master would never forgive me.

I've witnessed her ruthlessness and viciousness firsthand. She said the people behind her are even more ruthless than she is.

Xiao Jingyan stood up, stomped his feet a few times, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Isn't it that Young Master Mu?"

The physician, Du, thought for a moment and shook his head: "I have also pondered this question. It should not be that young master Mu. Young master Mu was born to a concubine and was weak from childhood. He was not valued in the Mu family, so he should not have such ability."

The people behind Lady Liu are either from the palace or the imperial court. Otherwise, how could they have such means to completely erase her identity and transform her from a maid from the southern border into a young lady of the Liu family in Jizhou?

Moreover, that person might also have their own influence in the Central Plains.

Xiao Jingyan nodded; this was roughly in line with his guess. He looked at Yun Jin: "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Yun Jin mentally reviewed what the physician from the Du family had said, then shook her head: "Nothing for now."

Xiao Jingyan summoned a guard and instructed him, "Take him away first and ask him carefully which people from the Southern Frontier he knows in the capital. Draw a portrait of him. If he is not honest..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the physician from the Du family understood. He said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, I promise I will tell you everything I know. But, Your Highness, after I've told you everything, could you please let me go?"

Xiao Jingyan sneered: "Fine, as long as you can escape their pursuit."

The physician's shoulders immediately slumped as the guards led him away.

Yun Jin watched the physician Du's figure disappear behind the stone gate, remained silent for a long while, and then turned to Xiao Jingyan, sighing:

"I never imagined that Liu was from the Southern Frontier. The real Liu Zhixue was probably killed by her long ago in Jizhou. She used someone else's name and identity, moving from Jizhou to Jiangnan, and then from Jiangnan to the capital. In the past ten years, she has killed no fewer than five people, stepping on the corpses of others with every step she took."

She paused, then said in a deep voice, "Moreover, the person behind her who can pave the way for her in the capital and erase her identity completely is no ordinary person. Doctor Du said that person wasn't Mu Yanqing, so who could it be? Could it be that Consort Shu is also connected to the Southern Frontier?"

Xiao Jingyan stood with his hands behind his back, pondered for a moment, and slowly shook his head, saying, "It's hard to say. Consort Shu's father served in the southwest for eight years, and perhaps he met Lady Liu during that time, but to say that she definitely had an affair with the southern border..."

He shook his head, his words leaving no room for doubt, then changed the subject, "However, one thing is certain: the person behind the Liu family is lurking in the shadows, and they probably have big ambitions."

Previously, my mind wasn't on this, and I hadn't thought about it in this way.

If these things hadn't been uncovered today, who would have thought that the reach of the southern border had extended to the capital?

From now on, I will focus my energy on this. Although I have no intention of vying for the throne, I will not tolerate the people of Southern Xinjiang causing trouble in the court.

Yun Jin looked at the cold glint in his eyes and nodded gently.

Xiao Jingyan withdrew his gaze and asked again, "Who are you planning to interrogate next?"

"Zijuan," Yun Jin said without hesitation.

Xiao Jingyan gave an order to the door, and soon the guards brought Zijuan in.

Zijuan had been locked up on the estate for days, and people kept bringing her food and drink, but no one talked to her or asked her any questions. This made her restless and unable to eat or sleep, and her already thin body became even thinner.

She was taken to a separate courtyard yesterday, and she has no idea what awaits her.

Now, suddenly brought to this stone chamber and seeing the instruments of torture on the wall, she was so frightened that she knelt down with a thud. Without even seeing who was in the room, she kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Please, Your Excellency, spare my life! Whatever Your Excellency wants to ask, this servant promises to tell you everything I know!"

Looking at her, Yun Jin couldn't help but sigh. With such audacity, how could she dare to help Yun Heting steal her own mother's dowry?

She shook her head and said coldly, "Raise your head, I have something to ask you!"

Zijuan's voice was suddenly choked. She looked up, saw Yun Jin, and then looked at Xiao Jingyan beside her.

Having lived in the capital for many years, she naturally knew Xiao Jingyan, but she never expected that Yun Jin would be with him.

Her lips trembled as she kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Miss! Please, Miss, spare me! I know I was wrong! I shouldn't have stolen Madam's dowry! I'll stay far away from the capital and never come back. Please, Miss, spare my life!"

Yun Jin looked at her calmly without saying a word.

Zijuan cried for a long time, but Yunjin didn't respond. Her voice gradually weakened until she was completely silent. Only then did Yunjin calmly speak: "Fine. As long as you answer me honestly, I can let you go."

Zijuan suddenly raised her head, a glint of light flashing in her eyes, and kowtowed repeatedly: "Miss, please ask! This servant will definitely tell the truth! I will definitely tell the truth!"

Yun Jin looked at her with a complicated expression: "I'm asking you, did you know that I was switched at birth?"

Zijuan's body stiffened slightly. She bit her lip and after a long while, she whispered, "I didn't know at the time. I only found out later... later."

Yun Jin pressed further, "When did you find out?"