The messenger from the relay station of Qinglong Temple indeed set off on horseback at midnight.

  The Prince of Chang Le said it and did it, and it was indeed not a threat to Pei Tan. As a king, he didn't need to lower his status to threaten his own subjects.

  Seeing this, Pei Tan silently closed the door.

  The pressure on Dali Temple is unprecedented, and Pei Tan alone can't hold it, so the night seems endless.

  Jing Wan'er couldn't sleep well either, she tossed and turned until dawn, then immediately got out of bed and went out.

  At the gate, I unexpectedly saw Shen Zhen stretching his waist, "The air in this temple is indeed cleaner than Chang'an City. Shen Mou hasn't felt so comfortable for many years."

  Staring at his expression, Jing Wanyu originally thought of ignoring him as usual. She looked directly at Pei Tan's room and was about to take a step forward.

  Shen Xingwen stopped her: "Miss Jing, are you going to find the master? I saw him leave half an hour ago, and there's no one in the house now."

  Jing Wan'er's footsteps paused for a moment. She didn't believe it, because she had hardly slept all night, yet she hadn't heard any movement coming from Pei Tan's room.

  Shen Xingwen looked at her with a faint smile.

  Jing Wan'er slowly turned around, "Where did Sir go?"

  Shen Xingwen shrugged: "I don't know either, but seeing the look of worry on your face, maybe you just went out for a walk."

  With a worried look on his face, this is naturally what should be. The current situation is just a worried look on his face, which is already not bad.

  Jing Wan'er said: "I know."

  She thought for a moment and still didn't want to be alone with this servant in the courtyard, so she'd rather go back to her room.

  Shen Xingwen, however, showed a sudden interest and said to Jing Yuane with great enthusiasm: "Miss Jing, do you know that before the Lord took office as the Temple Master, his predecessor had been in office for two years and handled at least twenty cases, but not one of them was ever solved?"

  Jing Wantong had made up her mind not to get entangled with this person, but his words somehow made it impossible for her to move forward.

  She turned around again in front of the door and stared at Shen Xingwen, asking: "Why is it like this?"

  Two years and a case hasn't been settled? This really sounds like something that can't help but make people suspicious.

  "Alas, the Dali Temple is different from the Ministry of Punishment. The Minister of Punishment and the six ministers are all from the seven clans and five surnames, but at that time, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple was only a direct descendant of a humble surname. However, since the Dali Temple investigated cases in the capital city, naturally eight or nine out of ten were related to the sons of powerful officials. When you pull up the radish, the mud comes with it. Once you start investigating, everything becomes complicated and entangled. The Dali Temple couldn't bear it, so they just let it go."

  To put it simply, power can be overwhelming, and in Chang'an City, this is even more the case. On the main streets, anyone you grab might just be a member of the royal family.

  Shen Xingwen's words are straightforward and realistic, which is consistent with his usual style.

  Jing Wan'er said: "So when the adults took office, they cracked the case of Zong Huo, which was considered the first major case solved by the Temple of Justice in all these years?"

  "Sir, you've only just taken office and yet you're already making waves. Fortunately, your family is large and influential; if it were someone like me from a humble background, I'd have been dragged out and minced by now."

  Who can't hear that his words are clearly praising and actually blaming, pointing to Pei Tan being able to crack the case relying on the shelter of the Pei family.

  Jing Wan'er suddenly lost all her good feelings towards this person.

  She turned around and pushed the door open to enter.

  Jing Wan'er closed the door, and Shen Xingwen's deliberately made expression was withdrawn, gazing at Jing Wan'er's room with profound meaning.

  Pei Tan Qing returned in the morning, and Jing Yuanyuan went to see him at the first opportunity.

  The identity of that woman is now surfacing.

  "Sir, let's have Qinglong Temple hand the person over." Jing Wanyi thought that at this point, even if Qinglong Temple was being stubborn, they would still need to cooperate with Dalu Temple.

  Pei Tan glanced at Wan'er: "Qinglong Temple may hand over people, but it's also possible that they won't."

  The person was escorted here and had nothing to do with the Dali Temple. If the Qinglong Temple also received another imperial edict, another edict protecting the woman's identity.

  Jing Wan'er suddenly understood.

  Rather than rushing into things and demanding from others, it may end up being a case of losing both wife and soldiers.

  Bai Tan's cautiousness was once again revealed at this time.

  Jing Wan'er slowly looked at Pei Tan's deep and mysterious eyes. What Pei Tan relied on was not his identity as a member of the Pei family, although that could bring him some benefits. It was his extraordinary ability to avoid danger that was truly his lifeline.

  Just like handling the previous two cases, his seemingly sharp tactics were actually a kind of small-for-big gamble.

  For example, in the first case, he insisted on asking for an imperial edict to sentence Zong E and Ho to death, but absolutely refused to dig deeper and investigate the darker secrets of the Imperial Secretariat.

  In the second case, he caught the murderer of Fan Wenjun, Liu Pinxiao, but did not dare to touch Wei and Pei Tan who were manipulating everything behind the scenes.

  This is a kind of kung fu, Jing Yuanyu saw on Pei Tan's body, an absolute wisdom.

  In this dark and mysterious Chang'an, only Pei Tan's method can bring the guilty to justice.

  Jing Wan'er spread out her hands, somewhat stunned. What about her? She had always thought of herself as clever, and the sword in her heart had never been willing to relax or compromise. She thought that as long as she staked her life, she could kill anyone she wanted to kill. Did she think this was right? Wasn't this obsession fundamentally off the mark?

  "We can only find her ourselves then." Jing Wanyu said palely as she recovered from her reverie.

  But how can we find that woman in the 2,800 meditation rooms of Qinglong Temple?

  Pei Tan stared at a monk who was sweeping the yard.

  That monk was neither slow nor hasty, Qinglong Temple even a monk who sweeps the floor, is extremely ritualistic. But today this monk swept the ground, seems to be somewhat casual and careless.

  Pei Tan slowly walked out and approached him.

  Jing Wantong subconsciously followed.

  That little monk was still pretending to sweep the floor, but when Pei Tan walked up to him, his hands couldn't help but tremble.

  The little monk kept his head down, "Little Master." Pei Tan called out to him.

  The little monk still didn't lift his head, but he shook even harder.

  Even Jing Wan'er could see that something was wrong now.

  She stared at the little monk immediately. All the monks in Qinglong Temple, except for the martial monks, were mostly clean and neat.

  The little monk's hands grasping the broom were also slender and white, even a bit pale.

  Jing Wantong suddenly thought of something and stared at this strange "monk" without blinking.

  Bai Tan's voice was very soft, as if he were whispering to the monk: "Generally, the hearts of those who commit crimes are filled with panic and terror, making them more willing to return to the scene of the crime, even at the risk of being caught. Perhaps it is out of fear of leaving behind evidence, but people often have an obsessive need to repeatedly check over what they have done. Is that not so with you?"

  That little monk finally stopped shaking, his lowered head was a bit eerie.

  The monk slowly loosened his grip, and the broom fell to the ground from his fingertips, but he still maintained a certain posture.

  "How did you know?" A soft and beautiful voice appeared in Jing Wanyu's ear.

  The monk lifted his head and smiled brightly.

  Wearing monk's robes and holding Buddhist beads, even with a tonsure on his head, but since ancient times, where did the female monks come from?

  Even with such a getup, the face in front of me is still delicate and moving.

  "From the shoe size on your feet, I can tell."

  Everything can be disguised, even one's appearance, but a woman's feet, born with her, cannot be hidden in monk shoes.

  This "little monk" has been sweeping the ground for at least an hour here, so Pei Tan just watched her without exposing her.

  Jing Wan'er couldn't help but admire this determination.

  That woman smiled again, her eyes gazing at Pei Tan like ripples: "It was my oversight, I've been in the deep palace for many years and didn't know that there were already such formidable figures in the world."

  The woman's words were equivalent to revealing her identity, she indeed came from the deep palace, and judging by her appearance, it had been many years since she last inquired about worldly affairs.

  There is an otherworldly charm about women that moves people.

  "Who are you, after all?"

  Pei Tan looked at the woman, and the woman also looked at him. After a long while, Pei Tan's voice became even softer as he said: "Emperor Ruizong left behind three imperial consorts, among whom the empress had passed away, the noble consort was old, looking at your age, you must be Consort De."

  The woman gazed at Pei Tan with a hint of sorrow, her eyes seemed to hold a deep grievance. Judging from Jing Wanyu's perspective, the woman should also be over forty years old, but due to her exceptional beauty, she was even more captivating than an ordinary young maiden.

  Before Hui Gen's death, the extremely beautiful woman he saw was undoubtedly her.

  "De Fei? I never thought I'd be addressed as such in this lifetime." The woman said with a distant expression.

  Pei Tan looked at her, "Emperor Ruizong and the current emperor have always been deeply affectionate as brothers, so you and the other two ladies can still live in peace in the palace after what happened to Emperor Ruizong, all because of the kindness of the current emperor."

  In the history of the Tang Dynasty, there has never been an emperor who was not deposed, and his concubines were still safe and sound. It is none other than the current Emperor Zhongzong, who is the son of Ruizong, who abdicated the throne.

  After the Anshi Rebellion, the former Emperor Ruizong of Tang Li Dan resolutely supported his elder brother Li Xian to ascend to the throne, thus there is today's Emperor Zhongzong of Tang.

  This piece of history is probably enough to become a legend for any historian.

  The woman smiled faintly: "Benevolence? Even if I were to live in the rear palace, I would still be nothing more than a guilty concubine who cannot mention her surname, and everything from my past is already irrelevant."

  So-called benevolence of Your Majesty is probably also a matter of perspective, at least this woman in front of you should not think there's anything benevolent about it.

  Actually thinking about it, I also know what it's like to live like a prisoner.

  Jing Wan'er pinched her palm.

  That year's sacrifice under the shadow of the Empress Dowager was not just one person, De Fei.

  Pei Tan fell silent for a moment, "the murderer" seemed to be right in front of them, but none of them asked that question.

  "When did Princess De and the prince get to know each other?"

  The woman's eyes fluttered, and she suddenly smiled, staring at Pei Tan's eyes, which turned gloomy: "Young man, I know what you want to do. In these years, this palace has seen countless dark things. Let me give you a piece of advice: the more self-righteous people die faster, often without even seeing it coming... that kind of tragic end..."

  Just look at De Fei, from an ethereal and beautiful woman, instantly becoming somewhat gloomy.