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Though it was a family tragedy, there were circumstances that made it understandable.

There had also been cases of parents abusing their own children, only for it to emerge that they had been led astray by a cult and offered their children as sacrifices. Such crimes were monstrous, but their motives were not hard to grasp.

Madam Li, however, neither seemed to hate the Zheng Family nor appeared to belong to a cult. Her everyday behavior was quite natural. Even her supposed mistreatment of the child was subtle enough that someone less attentive—or someone who could not be bothered—might dismiss it as her being "a little strict."

But that kind of "strictness" was highly unusual in a concubine who needed her son to secure her position.

When something was amiss, there was bound to be a reason. Those small oddities were enough to warrant an investigation.

Silence fell over the room. Madam Xie was the first to lose patience. "Say something, won't you?"

Xie Heng stood and walked to the window, looking out at a begonia tree in the courtyard.

"Ever since Wanrong died, I've felt that I failed the Zheng Family. That I failed Zheng Yin."

Madam Xie sighed. "So have I. Wanrong came into our family a healthy young woman and bore a child for the Xie Family, yet we couldn't keep her alive. We must not have taken good enough care of her."

"Because of that guilt, I've helped Duke Zheng in official matters whenever he hasn't gone too far. We've always welcomed Wanru warmly, too, because she's Wanrong's only sister—"

His tone turned sharp.

"But if she isn't, then whether Wanru knows it or not, I will not stand by while Madam Li treats a relative of mine this way!"

"If there's even the slightest chance,