Zhong Zong raised his eyes and swept a glance at Pei Tan, who felt the pressure of the emperor's majesty.

  Saying that the corpse is not Zhongzong means that someone has gone against the will of Zhongzong, and the orders of Zhongzong have not been carried out, which means that the authority of Zhongzong has been challenged.

  Zhong Zong said coldly: "Say one by one what you want to say to me."

  Pei Tan came in the middle of the night, he must have had a lot to say, at least not as little as what he's saying now.

  Pei Tan slowly knelt down, "I previously attended the wedding of Su Shilang's son, where I was secretly handed a piece of human skin by an imposter guest during the chaos. The skin had tattoos on it, which I later found out belonged to a former slave from the Zhong family, who were once the imperial guards. Following the clues, I dug up the corpse of 'Zong Huo' from the palace cemetery and discovered that... the tattooed human skin came from his body."

  Zhong Zong said coldly: "Who is the person who impersonated the guest? And how did you follow the clues to dig up Zong Huo's body in the tomb?"

  Jungjong's sharpness was exactly what Bae Dang wanted to explain, and Bae Dang also knelt down on the ground and said after a long time: "The person who impersonated the guest had a slender figure with a strange fragrance, which is actually a woman in disguise. And she revealed her extreme familiarity with the palace etiquette during her courtesy, so... I deduce that she is a palace maid who escaped from the palace."

  A case of a human skin corpse, not only dragged out the fake substitute death, but also pulled out the event of palace maid escaping from the palace, it can be seen that Zhongzong's face at this time is already extremely ugly.

  But Pei Tan paused for a moment, and continued: "That palace maid had the aura of a corpse that had been to a graveyard on her body, so I took the risk of coming here to try. The soil on the 'Zong Huo' corpse had been freshly turned over by someone, and after I ordered it dug up, inside was... a fake corpse wearing Shangshu Fu attire."

  All of this was the result of Pei's meticulousness and his level of reasoning that others could hardly reach, so when Pei spoke out to Zhong Zong, Zhong Zong stared at him for half a moment without making a sound.

  "So, Zong Chuke, you really went against My imperial decree for the sake of saving your son?" Zhongzong said extremely coldly.

  Pei Tan has already understood that Zhong Zong's intention to deal with Zong Huo is clear, and in the end, Zong Huo's fate has been placed on Zhong Zong's chessboard and his outcome has already been decided.

  Zhong Zong said to Pei Tan: "Get up."

  This night is still very long, and Zhong Zong's words to Pei Tan are obviously only clear when Pei Tan stands up.

  Zhong Zong said gloomily: "What evidence do you have for me to believe you?"

  Zong Chuke was also a first-class Shangshu who controlled the Ministry of War. Before that, he was still the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty.

  Even if Zhong Zong wants to move him, he has to consider it carefully.

  Pei Tan stood up from the ground, his body tall and straight, looking at Zhong Zong and said: "Your Majesty still remembers, how were the corpses of those who were executed in the palace handled?"

  Zhong Zong glanced at Pei Tan. Pei Tan could dig up even fake corpses from the ground, and what he did was naturally not limited to these things.

  Bai Tan looked at Zhong Zong: "The miscellaneous affairs department in the palace has always handled miscellaneous matters, and most importantly, the location of the miscellaneous affairs department is near Wenchangmen."

  There are eight gates in the palace, with front and back. The Wenchang Gate is the most desolate and distant gate of the palace. Ordinary people do not want to get close to it.

  Outside the palace gate, it's all a graveyard.

  So handling corpses naturally fell on the miscellaneous affairs office over time.

  Pei Tan said: "Your Majesty just spoke to me about the case of Jing Shi, which you want to re-examine. Jing Zhe's own daughter, Jing Yu'er, became an official slave and was punished by being sent to do chores in the miscellaneous service room."

  Such a coincidence made Zhong Zong's eyes flash.

  "Jing Zhe's daughter?"

  Pei Tan said: "Right. Five years ago, Jing Wanyu was ten years old, just enough to be a palace slave."

  Those under the age of ten will be sent to the homes of various high-ranking officials first, and only those who meet the standards will be sent into the palace.

  Zhong Zong's expression became increasingly profound: "What do you mean by saying these things?"

  Pei Tan's eyes were dim: "I sent someone to the miscellaneous service room to inquire, Jing Yuanyu, for five years, has been collecting corpses in the miscellaneous service room."

  Only Jing Wan'er was doing it, and the other palace maids in the miscellaneous service room did not have the opportunity to touch the corpse.

  Now that it has come to this, what else doesn't Zhong Zong understand? Even the emperor himself sensed the astonishing coincidence in this matter. He narrowed his eyes: "So you think that the one responsible for collecting the remains of Zong and Huo is actually Jing Yuanner. And after Jing Yuanner discovered that the corpse wasn't Zong or Huo, she cut off a piece of human skin... and intentionally sent it to you?"

  Bai Tan's faint smile and Zhong Zong's gaze at each other obviously acknowledged this point.

  Zhong Zong laughed and said, "You think that Jing Yuanyu, a palace maid, could accomplish all this with supernatural powers, even sending the skin of a dead person to your hands outside the palace?"

  All this cannot be explained by coincidence in order to persuade Zhong Zong.

  Pei Yan also knew, so he looked at Zhong Zong: "I said earlier that the person who passed on the human skin to me and appeared at the wedding banquet that day was a palace maid in disguise. This palace maid is likely to be under the instruction of Jing Wanyan."

  "That's enough." Zhong Zong said coldly, "Pei Tan, do you think my imperial palace is a place where anyone can come and go as they please? A lowly palace maid with nothing to her name, could escape the heavily guarded imperial palace? Don't treat me like a fool with your fabricated story."

  Pei Tan fell silent for a long time, then raised his eyes and said: "Since Your Majesty has doubts, why not summon Jing Yuanner and let Jing Yuanner... explain everything?"

  Zhong Zong's eyes flickered.

  "Your subject has already determined that the corpse could only be touched by those who collected it in the palace, and that they deceived everyone to cut off the tattoo. All of this can only be done by Jing Wanyan, who is in the palace."

  As for how Jing Yu'er was able to find another palace maid and have her successfully deliver the human skin into Pei Tan's hands, only Jing Yu'er herself can explain.

  It can be seen that Zhong Zong did not fully believe Pei Yan's words, but he also could not refute Pei Yan. Especially when Pei Yan bluntly pointed out the identity of Jing Yu'er.

  At this moment, a palace eunuch came to Zhongzong's side. Zhongzong said to him: "You go and find out for me where the daughter of Jing Shi, who was exiled five years ago, is now."

  The eunuchs withdrew after hearing this, and Pei Tan stood silently with Zhong Zong in the palace hall.

  After a long time, the palace maid returned and whispered a few words in Zhong Zong's ear. Zhong Zong's expression turned solemn.

  The investigation by the eunuchs has proven that Pei Tan's words were not false, and Jing Shi's daughter, Jing Yu'er, is indeed a palace maid in the palace at this time.

  "Even if Zong Chuke deceived me, the act of cutting off human skin by a woman from the Jing family is also punishable by death." Zhongzong said coldly with a stern face.

  Not to mention this daughter of a guilty minister, who has means to communicate with the heavens and can transmit messages from outside the palace.

  Pei Tan looked at Zhong Zong and revealed Jing Yu'er's identity, apparently not hoping that Zhong Zong would deal with Jing Yu'er.

  "Your Majesty, if the daughter of the Jing family were to discover that the person she had buried was not only not the son of the Minister, Zong Ho, but also a former slave who had served in the Jing household, how do you think she would react?"

  In the palace as a slave for five years, one day I found that the corpse I personally buried was my own family member. As the eldest daughter of the Jing family and once the precious daughter of the Grand General's mansion, if there is still blood in my veins, I will use all means to cry out for justice.

  This method naturally does not include cutting off a piece of tattoo representing the servant of the Qiong family and finding a way to send it to Pei Tan, who holds the position of Dalisi Temple.

  All of Jing's daughter's thoughts could be anticipated by Pei Tan.

  At that moment, he had already put himself in the position of the descendants of the Jing family to look at the whole case.

  Zhong Zong sank into silence for a long time before saying, "What you said tonight, no one else can hear except me."

  "Your Majesty," said Pei Tan, "I came forward at midnight for the same reason as you."

  If this is true, it cannot be spread out of the Zi Chen Palace tonight. This is a matter that can overthrow the imperial court.

  Zhong Zong's second ascension to the throne was still unstable, and this matter caused the Zhong clan to commit treasonous acts, which also implicated a former third-rank imperial consort.

  Zhong Zong and Pei Tan both understood, "If I haven't remembered wrongly, the one who insisted on banishing the Ji clan back then was indeed Zong Chu Ke himself."

  "Who says Jing Wanyu's actions are not for revenge of past grievances?"

  It was precisely because of the grudges and grievances of those years that when Jing Wanyu saw that the son of her enemy might still be alive, she became even more determined to get to the bottom of this matter.

  And she did it.

  The young lady of the Qin family back then has now become a silent and voiceless palace maid in this palace.

  When Pei Tan finally left the Zichen Hall, he had already tucked away in his bosom an imperial edict from Zhongzong:

  Pei Qing, I order you to investigate this matter, find out where Zong Ho is actually located, and also investigate how the daughter of the Jing family deceived everyone and facilitated this event.

  For the emperor's dignity, whether it is a minister who turns his back on himself and pretends to obey, or a palace maid who steals the sky and changes the day, it is an act of provoking authority.

  So for Zhong Zong, both can be used together.

  For Pei Tan, a palace maid like Jing Yuanyuan could achieve this, and for her, how to know the changes in personnel outside the palace, and clearly knew that the current Dalisi Temple Master was him, Pei Tan?

  At this time, Jing Wan'er was quietly getting out of bed, and in the corner of the room, a stick of incense was slowly burning.

  The girl's mouth corners, brushed with a hint of smile.

  These palace maids didn't know that they were disgusted by the corpse smell on Jing Yuanner, so they deliberately burned incense every day, but it just happened to make them fall into Jing Yuanner's trap of hypnotic drugs.

  Jing Wan'er carefully approached the window, in the clear night sky, a pure white pigeon flew over.

  Jing Wan'er immediately raised her hand to catch it and removed the message tube she needed from the pigeon's foot.

  She unrolled the paper, it was a note secretly passed to her by that palace maid who had escaped: "The young master Pei has dug up the corpse, and his fake identity is no longer secure."

  The Pei family's young master refers to Pei Tan. Before this, the name of the Pei family's young master had already made Pei Tan famous in Chang'an.

  Even before Jing Wan'er entered the palace.

  Jing Wan'er looked at the words on the note, her mouth curled up slightly, not surprised in the least. She had already lifted her hand to burn it clean with the candle flame.

  She released the carrier pigeon again. Every day in the palace, messages were constantly being transmitted without end. This small carrier pigeon blended in with them and did not arouse anyone's suspicion.

  Jing Yuanner spent five years collecting corpses and rescued countless palace maids, who then gathered outside the palace to form a large network that became Jing Yuanner's eyes and ears.