A Clean Break

No wonder something had felt off!

When Xia Jingui mentioned the Northern Garrison Office, Sun Shaozong immediately recalled an old matter: when they had wiped out the White Lotus rebels, many White Lotus spies in the capital had been captured. Yet Bing San, Aunt Li's most prized ace spy, had never surfaced.

At the time, the Northern Garrison Office had only learned that Bing San's public identity was that of a court official with considerable authority in the capital—and that his wife had been pregnant.

And when Sun Shaozong left the Su Family residence today, he had happened to run into Su Xingfang's wife and child. Though he had not looked closely, the child should have been around one or two years old.

A capital official with real power.

A wife who had been pregnant two years ago.

An Old Madam who brimmed with resentment toward court officials, calling them "dog officials" right in front of her grandson.

Put those three conditions together, and calling them irrefutable proof would certainly be an exaggeration—but examined closely, they were more than enough to arouse suspicion!

Moreover, if the White Lotus background were fitted into the current case, the motive that had left Sun Shaozong baffled might finally have an explanation.

First, Su Xingfang had likely not killed out of righteous indignation. He had probably been forced into it after the Black Post Master threatened to expose his identity.

Only a crime punishable by the extermination of one's entire family could drive an official with such a promising future to take such a desperate risk and break the law himself.

As for the later scheme to kill his own maternal uncle...

Given the Old Madam's resentment toward the court, Su Xingfang's uncle was very likely a White Lotus spy as well.

And if