On the other side, in West City.
The sudden downpour gradually eased after several quarters of an hour.
Near the Marquis of Yunning's Residence in West City, countless Imperial Guards still maintained a tight cordon, but the Imperial Palace Experts hunting within had abandoned the search after confirming that no criminals remained hidden there, and had gathered outside the Corner Tower in the northwest of the Imperial City.
Dressed in a silver Python Robe, Dongfang Liren stood before the Corner Tower's entrance, her head high and chest out, looking in excellent spirits.
After directing operations from the Corner Tower all day, she had now captured more than twenty wanted criminals in one sweep-a rich haul indeed. Her only regret was that the Heir of Prince Wu's special status required a senior minister from the Ministry of Justice to take him into custody; she could not lead her guards to arrest him herself.
But the credit for this affair would undoubtedly fall to her, the Female Prince whose discerning eyes could spot the finest autumn hair. Cases this big had been few and far between since the dynasty's founding, and she had cracked it. From now on, she could demand silver from the Ministry of Revenue with perfect justification, and the censors would find it harder to criticize her ill-defined authority. Just thinking about it was gratifying.
Having reaped such enormous credit, Dongfang Liren certainly could not leave her subordinates disheartened. The search had barely ended before she began preparing a celebration, intending to thoroughly praise the subordinates who had spent the whole day running about.
But as Dongfang Liren stood before the Corner Tower and surveyed the returning crowd, she noticed that His Lordship Tangtang, who deserved eight-tenths of the credit, had not returned, so she asked:
"Shang Jianli, where