I'm Going to Be a Witness!

The Imperial Princess Mansion.

Li Xingluo quietly turned the pages of the book in her hands. It was a manuscript by a master craftsman from the previous dynasty, and the book Daoist Kongxu had borrowed most often since joining the Imperial Princess Mansion.

She flipped through it for a while.

She couldn't understand it.

But that was no matter.

As an Imperial Princess, she didn't need to be a jack-of-all-trades. She only needed capable subordinates with a variety of talents.

She hadn't been interested in puppet crafting before because she had a clear understanding of it: puppets were an extremely inefficient means of support.

Perhaps the combat power they offered surpassed that of every other weapon.

But they were bound to cost several times as much as other weapons.

She thought it was foolish to spend so much just to get something "shaped like a person." That prejudice had extended to all puppet crafters.

Until she met the man who called himself Daoist Kongxu.

His near-miraculous method of imbuing puppets with spirits was only part of it. What truly impressed her was his approach of returning puppet crafting to the principles of weapon forging.

Applying the unique spirit-imbuing techniques of puppet crafting to all kinds of novel military machines gave each weapon a specialized means of attack. It not only greatly reduced the complexity of imbuing them, but also let their owners wield them as effortlessly as their own limbs.

That was how to unleash the greatest combat power at the lowest cost.

In a one-on-one fight, they might not measure up to those so-called divine weapons.

But on a battlefield, they would be utterly terrifying.

A genius!

This man was an absolute genius!

Just as the corners of her mouth lifted slightly,

Pu Mingzhu hurried over. "Imperial Princess, he's left!"

"Oh? How did he seem when he left?"

"Furious!"

"He's not a fool, then."

Li Xingluo smiled faintly. Although she would intervene this time, the Qin Family's position was too delicate. If she could avoid suspicion, she would.

The Heir to the Marquis of Southern Suppression knew how to play along, too.

He'd paid his visit through the back door.

He'd stood in the cold wind for a whole hour.

After getting the handkerchief, he'd immediately pretended to hit a wall and stormed off in anger.

Very good.

Pu Mingzhu hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Imperial Princess, are you really going to intervene this time? You said His Majesty wasn't very supportive."

"He hasn't opposed it. That means he supports it. Nanny, what's happening outside now?"

Pu Mingzhu answered unhurriedly, "Everyone who can play dead is playing dead. But the Court of State Ceremonial has no intention of letting them off so easily. They've gone after quite a few people, and those people are already discussing how to impeach Qin Yanying at tomorrow's morning court so they can have her executed."

Li Xingluo scoffed. "They have quite the lovely dream. If Qin Yanying is executed, Great Gan will fall into internal turmoil and become their vassal once and for all."

"Imperial Princess, then tomorrow... should we seize the case?"

"Why would we seize it?"

"Hm?"

"Seizing it would only trap us in endless attacks and counterattacks. This case belongs to the Court of State Ceremonial. How could we take it from them?"

"Then... we don't seize it?"

"We don't."

A hint of a smile appeared on Li Xingluo's face. "They can investigate their case, and we'll investigate ours!"

Pu Mingzhu mulled over those words several times. Then her eyes suddenly lit up. "The Imperial Princess is as brilliant as ever!"

"Nanny, I'll leave this matter to you!"

"I won't fail you!"

Pu Mingzhu answered and hurried out of the Imperial Princess Mansion.

The plan was clever, but it was beset by difficulties.

To investigate the cases separately, they first needed a case to investigate.

At least two problems stood in their way.

First, how could they get a case opened?

Second, how could they get the "criminal" into custody?

Setting aside the more difficult second question, even getting a case opened was no simple matter.

Because for a case to be opened,

someone had to report it.

Even the powerful and influential in the capital were avoiding this case if they could.

Expecting the silenced commoners to come forward was like asking them to climb the heavens.

As for getting a full acquittal,

they didn't even dare dream of it.

The next day.

The morning court was in an uproar.

Countless officials impeached Qin Yanying for her arrogance and wanton slaughter of the Demon Official's kin.

Accusations rained down on Qin Yanying like a storm.

Some said she intended to tarnish the Demon Official's loyalty and service to Great Gan.

Others claimed the Qin Family wanted to drive the Demon Official away and seize the opportunity to occupy Great Gan while it was weak.

No matter how outrageous the accusation, they hurled it at her.

All they wanted was for the emperor to order Qin Yanying's death.

Li Hong didn't take any of it to heart. He treated it as an ordinary case and, as was customary, assigned it to the Court of State Ceremonial, leaving the relevant officials to investigate it themselves. Only then did the morning court's uproar subside.

But although the case had stirred up a storm in court,

there wasn't a ripple among the common people, as if nothing had happened.

And yet... it had happened.

They could cover people's mouths and keep them from speaking.

But memories carved into their minds weren't so easily erased.

No matter what, those who had been there the day before would never forget that absurd scene.

Children and pregnant women had been hauled along in a cart. A massive snake's corpse lay in front of them, while a brawny man covered in scales followed with a fiendish glare. The prisoner in chains, however, was the renowned General Qin Yanying.

That scene had given many people nightmares.

But some were suffering even more than they were.

Night had fallen.

Yet Qingtiao tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

Hearing the rustling, Fu Gui blearily opened his eyes. "Wife, why aren't you asleep?"

"How could I sleep?"

Qingtiao gave a bitter smile. "General Qin was arrested after saving us, and there hasn't been a word about her since."

Fu Gui jolted, suddenly much more awake. He lowered his voice and warned her, "Forget about it. A major matter like this has nothing to do with people as lowly as us!"

"Why shouldn't it? That demon snake wanted to eat the children. Am I not allowed to testify?"

"If they really needed your testimony, why would they have let you come home?"

Fu Gui's expression turned grave. "Have you ever wondered why they only arrested General Qin, and not the demon snake that tried to harm you?"

"Because General Qin acted so quickly that none of us were hurt, so the demon snake got away."

"How could that be?"

Fu Gui gave a bitter, self-mocking laugh. "Do you remember the Young Master who broke my leg? He beat me right there in the street. Did anyone arrest him? Why did they only arrest General Qin and not the demon snake? It wasn't because the snake didn't get the chance to hurt you. Even if it had, it still wouldn't have been arrested.

"Because only the lives of the noble lords count. The lives of commoners don't count as lives!

"So General Qin committed a crime, but the demon snake bears no blame at all!

"Forget the Demon Officials!

"It's the same with those human nobles.

"When the powerful kill commoners, not a ripple is made.

"But if someone kills one of them for killing commoners, then it becomes a huge scandal."

"How can the world be governed by such a rule?"

Qingtiao trembled with anger. "So even if General Qin is in the right, they can still make her wrong? No! They can't be allowed to do this!"

Fu Gui was startled. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to testify for General Qin! If we make sure everyone knows what happened, I refuse to believe they'll still be able to convict her."

"How will you testify? And how will you make everyone know? You don't even know where General Qin is being tried."

"I'll report it to the authorities!"

"Which official would dare take your case?"

Fu Gui panicked. "Wife! Without the Demon Officials, Great Gan's borders will fall into chaos. Without us, nothing will change! You can choose not to fear death, but can't you at least think of the child in your belly?"

Qingtiao gritted her teeth. "But if it weren't for General Qin, I'd be dead already! And there's the Young General, too. If he hadn't given me that pouch, how could I have saved enough money to treat your leg? Husband, people can't live without a conscience. I don't want our child to have parents with no conscience, either!"

"But have you thought about what could happen if you report it? We might be dead before the case is even opened!"

"I..."

"And besides, the demon snake didn't manage to kill anyone. You can stand by the truth, but what about everyone else? What if they're threatened? What if they're paid off? With just your one mouth, how can you argue against them?"

"But..."

"And another thing!"

Fu Gui spoke urgently. "How will you testify? In front of everyone, you'll have to say you took money to be someone's Fortune Bead. How will we live after that? And how will people point their fingers at our child?"

Qingtiao froze, her whole body trembling.

She had always tried to convince herself not to care about the strange looks people gave her.

But in that instant, all the contempt she'd ignored in the past came crashing back tenfold.

The night was dark.

Yet she felt as if countless eyes had appeared on the ceiling.

They seemed to look at her like she was trash, like she was a wanton woman, full of contempt and burning with lust.

Each gaze fell on her like a blade, as if it wanted to carve the flesh from her body, one cut at a time.

She trembled...

And then, for one brief moment, she broke down sobbing.

But just as the first sob escaped her, a voice that belonged to neither of them suddenly sounded in the room.

"There's no need to start crying just yet!"

"!!!"