In this huge gōngzhǔ mansion, the Fùmǎ in front of him was the only one who expressed regret for the death of Madam Jin.

However, Lin Fei did not want the Fùmǎ’s regret. No matter how much he regretted, the person would not come back. Compared with this, it was the job of the Dali Temple officials to find out the truth about the death of the deceased and to redress the injustice of the deceased.

When Liu Yuan and others were trying to find a topic to bring up the relationship between the Fùmǎ and Madam Jin, they heard Lin Fei speak directly: “We just met Chao’an Gōngzhǔ. The gōngzhǔ said that you, the Fùmǎ, had ‘exchanged flirting glances’ with the deceased Madam Jin. Is it true?”

As soon as these words came out, Liu Yuan and others fell silent: Wasn’t their superior too direct? Directly exposing Chao’an Gōngzhǔ?

The Fùmǎ opposite was obviously a little surprised by this. After a moment of shock on his face, he smiled bitterly at Lin Fei: “She is still like this…”

The gōngzhǔ was of course not easy to get along with, especially when the Fùmǎ’s family was defeated and the gōngzhǔ was not an easy gōngzhǔ to get along with.

“She was born into a golden family, willful and arrogant.” The Fùmǎ sighed, “My marriage with her was decided by the late Emperor. At that time, my family was already in decline, and I had no choice but to accept it.”

“On the night of the wedding, she told me that as a Fùmǎ, there was only one thing I needed to do,” said the Fùmǎ, “and that is to endure!”

This one word determined the path that the Fùmǎ would take in the future.

“After my family fell, and I was left with only the status of the Fùmǎ, I had to endure it even more.” The Fùmǎ couldn’t help but smile bitterly when he said this, “But although my life was a bit frustrating, she wasn’t too harsh on me in other aspects.”

Lin Fei glanced at the robe he was wearing, which was made by a famous artist, and said lightly, “Hmm,” and asked, “Anything else?”

Anything else? The Fùmǎ was startled, thought about it, and said, “There’s nothing else…”

Everyone on the side: “…”

In the end, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but ask, “Fùmǎ Fu, our Lin Shaoqing wants to ask about the relationship between you and Madam Jin. Why did the gōngzhǔ say that you two were ‘flirting’ with each other?”

The Fùmǎ’s reply was quite good but irrelevant, and it was unclear what he was talking about.

After hearing Liu Yuan’s reminder, Fùmǎ Fu looked embarrassed. Hearing this, he quickly coughed and said, “No one has asked me these questions for a long time. I said too much…”

Lin Fei in front of him didn’t even blink, and there was no pity or sympathy on his face. He just looked at him calmly and asked, “What’s going on between you and Madam Jin?”

This time, Fùmǎ Fu finally stopped talking nonsense and replied, “It’s just a misunderstanding! I occasionally met Madam Jin when I went out before. One time, her carriage was stuck in the door frame, and her coachman couldn’t pull it out by himself, so I helped her!”

“If that’s all, Princess Chao’an would call it ‘flirting’ rather than ‘exchanging glances’.” Lin Fei looked at Fùmǎ Fu without even raising his eyelids, “What’s the matter with exchanging glances?”

Facing the calm eyes in front of him, Fùmǎ Fu turned his face away awkwardly. After a long pause, he said, “It’s nothing. There’s nothing wrong between Madam Jin and me. I looked at her twice more before, but I thought Madam Jin looked familiar,” Fu Fu paused here, “She looks a bit like Chao’an.”

Chao’an Gōngzhǔ? Everyone was stunned when they heard this. When they saw this Madam Jin, she had already committed suicide. She was wearing a plain dress and there was not even a hairpin on her body.

And that Chao’an Gōngzhǔ… Thinking of what they saw earlier, the Chao’an Gōngzhǔ lying on the soft chair, adorned in elaborate palace makeup, with intricate and heavy cosmetics. Her eyebrows were drawn in the popular style of hanging pearl brows from some days ago in the capital. The pair of eyebrows appeared both serious and comical, especially when combined with the thick makeup. Overall, Liu Yuan and the others couldn’t grasp the aesthetic beauty of such a look.

Not only could they not understand it, but because of this dress, Chao’an Gōngzhǔ’s original appearance was suppressed, and it was more like a thick layer of makeup was pressed on her face, making it difficult for people to see her original appearance.

However, the difficulty in recognition was only for Liu Yuan and others. For Lin Fei, who could clearly distinguish the different colors of women’s lip balm, it did not seem difficult.

Hearing this, Lin Fei nodded and said, “The eyebrows, eyes, and nose are indeed somewhat similar. If the Gōngzhǔ washes off her makeup, she will look about 50% similar to Madam Jin when she stands next to her.”

Hearing Lin Fei’s affirmation, Fùmǎ Fu, who was still a little nervous, immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Lin Fei and said with a smile, “Lin Shaoqing also saw it? I also think the two are very similar, especially the way Madam Jin smiles… To be honest, I once saw Chao’an Gōngzhǔ when I was young. At that time, the Gōngzhǔ was only four years old. Although her appearance is very different from now, the way she smiles is really very similar to Madam Jin!”

Liu Yuan and others suddenly looked up and glanced at Fùmǎ Fu.

Fùmǎ Fu seemed to realize that his words were ambiguous and waved his hand and said, “It is very common for people to look different when they are young and when they grow up. The way I looked when I was four years old was very different from what I look like now…”

Although he explained a lot later, the explanation later was obviously insignificant compared to the previous sentence.

When they left the Gōngzhǔ’s mansion and walked out of the alley, Liu Yuan couldn’t wait to speak: “Lin Shaoqing, what does the Fùmǎ Fu mean by this?”

Lin Fei glanced at him and shook his head.

Bai Zhu said: “Although there are many explanations later, what this Fùmǎ who loves to talk nonsense and talk about other things really wants to say is that Madam Jin looks similar to Chao’an Gōngzhǔ.”

This was interesting! How could Chao’an Gōngzhǔ, a Gōngzhǔ of the royal family, look similar to a woman of “low birth” in the words of the Gōngzhǔ? In addition, the Fùmǎ Fu specifically pointed out that he had seen the Gōngzhǔ when he was young, and the Gōngzhǔ looked more like Madam Jin when she smiled. What did this mean?

“What he wants to say, is…” Liu Yuan looked at everyone, pointed in the direction of the imperial city, lowered his voice, and whispered, “Confusing the royal bloodline?”

If the royal bloodline was really confused, then Chao’an Gōngzhǔ was afraid of trouble.

“Looking at the relationship between the Gōngzhǔ and her husband, the husband must be hoping that the Gōngzhǔ is in trouble!” Liu Yuan said, “If she is really a fake, he will be very happy. It is not surprising that he has hinted to us to investigate!”

After pondering for a moment, the “old man” Wei Fu spoke: “In fact… with the style of the late emperor back then, he would open the palace gates from time to time. Sometimes he would invite some beauties in, and sometimes he would invite some “immortal masters” in. It should not be difficult to confuse the royal bloodline.”

“This matter is very serious. I will go to the palace to report to the Emperor,” Lin Fei said, looking at everyone and lowering his eyelids, “The death of Sūdān Shēng, the envoys from Goguryeo, and the matter of King Yu and Madam Jin’s death should be investigated together!”

(End of this chapter)

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