The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 1144

Chapter 1144: 558 Confession (second update)

Xiao Liulang, having come from the Hanlin Academy, surely possessed the qualifications for a literate clerk.

If the case had been judged by someone else, the Emperor might have wanted to review it once or twice, but both Minister Xing and Xiao Liulang had been personally promoted by the Emperor, who still held considerable trust in both of them.

The Emperor was not fully aware of Xiao Liulang’s talent in solving cases. If it had been only Xiao Liulang handling the investigation, the Emperor might still have doubted whether he could be deceived by others, but Minister Xing was an old hand at solving cases, and he surely wouldn’t let a criminal fool him.

Could it really have been done by a Royal Princess?

But that would be absurd, wouldn’t it?

Addressing His Majesty the Emperor, in other words, the mysterious young master behind the Xianle Inn was his sister.

He only had three sisters—Ning An, Xinyang, and Huaiqing.

None of these three seemed likely to be suspects.

There was no need to mention Ning An. Such a kind and naive person as her, how could she possibly be in league with the forces of the brothel and commit an act that hurt the young divine physician?

Huaiqing was a naive child, even less capable of such a deed.

It surely couldn’t be Xinyang.

Xinyang indeed was a formidable figure. Among the many princesses, neither favored exclusively by the Empress Mother nor by the Emperor, she never suffered a loss at anyone’s hands.

She even had the great marriage arranged for her by the Emperor on his deathbed.

She truly was a capable woman.

But she had no reason to frame the young divine physician!

Minister Xing dared to ask, "Your Majesty, do you have any idea in your mind?"

The Emperor said irritably, "What clues could I have? Are you sure you haven’t been deceived by the murderer?"

Although the Emperor trusted Minister Xing’s ability, when it came to suspecting his own sisters, he would rather question the accuracy of Minister Xing’s judgment.

With the investigation proceeding to this point, Minister Xing had a conjecture in mind, but there was no concrete evidence at the moment.

Xiao Liulang could say to him that the son-in-law was killed by the siblings of the Gu Family, which was an internal officer in the Ministry of Justice making case reasoning—providing valid clues to infer the real murderer’s motive.

But he couldn’t say the same to the Emperor.

As Minister Xing contemplated how to speak to the Emperor, the voice of Eunuch Wei came from outside the Imperial Study Room.

"Princess Ning An, what brings you here?"