Xiao Liulang, having come from the Hanlin Academy, surely possessed the qualifications for a literate clerk.
If the case had been judged by someone else, the Emperor might have wanted to review it once or twice, but both Minister Xing and Xiao Liulang had been personally promoted by the Emperor, who still held considerable trust in both of them.
The Emperor was not fully aware of Xiao Liulang's talent in solving cases. If it had been only Xiao Liulang handling the investigation, the Emperor might still have doubted whether he could be deceived by others, but Minister Xing was an old hand at solving cases, and he surely wouldn't let a criminal fool him.
Could it really have been done by a Royal Princess?
But that would be absurd, wouldn't it?
Addressing His Majesty the Emperor, in other words, the mysterious young master behind the Xianle Inn was his sister.
He only had three sisters—Ning An, Xinyang, and Huaiqing.
None of these three seemed likely to be suspects.
