In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

"Don't move."

A familiar voice sounded behind him.

It's Xue Yi!

The chill emanating from the sword's edge instantly tensed Qin Shaolang's body.

He slowly raised his hands and turned around.

Xue Yi still had that expressionless face, the long sword in his hand steadily pointed at his heart, his eyes revealing no emotion.

"Guard Xue, what a coincidence." Qin Shaolang forced a smile, a smile more like a grimace. "You're here too... to admire the moon?"

Xue Yi ignored his teasing and coldly asked, "How did you find this place?"

"I was just wandering around and got lost," Qin Shaolang started spouting nonsense.

"Is that so?" Xue Yi's sword moved forward slightly, the tip almost piercing his clothes. "I'll ask you one more time, how did you find this place?"

His voice carried a hint of murderous intent.

Qin Shaolang knew that pretending to be stupid was no longer useful.

"It was my master who told me," he said, deciding to be honest.

Xue Yi's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

"You seem to trust him quite a bit."

"He is my master." Qin Shaolang's answer was simple.

The two faced off, and the air seemed to freeze.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall, mixed with the shouts of guards.

"Who goes there!"

"There's movement over there, hurry and give chase!"

Xue Yi's expression changed. He glanced at Qin Shaolang, listened to the commotion outside, and a resolute look flashed in his eyes.

"If you don't want to die, stay here and don't move!"

Before he finished speaking, the long sword in his hand suddenly changed direction, not to stab Qin Shaolang, but to slash fiercely at a huge medicine vat next to him!

"Clang!"

The medicine jar shattered with a crack, its dark brown liquid splattering everywhere.

The loud noise immediately attracted the attention of all the guards outside.

"Over there!"

"The assassin is inside the palace! Quickly surround it!"

After doing all this, Xue Yi didn't even glance at Qin Shaolang before breaking through the window and speeding away in the opposite direction from where Qin Shaolang had come from.

"stop!"

"Don't let him get away!"

All the guards were led away by Xue Yi.

In the blink of an eye, silence returned to the side hall.

Qin Shaolang stood there, looking in the direction where Xue Yi had disappeared, his heart trembling.

He didn't come to kill me.

He came to save himself!

He deliberately created a huge commotion to draw all the pursuers to him, just to give Qin Shaolang a chance to escape.

What is this person thinking?

Qin Shaolang didn't have time to think further; he knew this wasn't the time to be daydreaming. Xue Yi had bought him little time, and he had to find useful clues as soon as possible.

His gaze returned to the bottles and jars in the room.

This is the Queen's poison workshop.

He quickly began searching the hall.

Soon, he discovered a forgotten corner under a stone table used for grinding medicinal herbs.

There, there was an unlocked small wooden box.

Qin Shaolang opened the wooden box.

There was no poison inside, only a few pieces of clothing that the servants had changed out of.

Just as he was about to close the suitcase, something fell out of his pocket and caught his attention.

That was a token.

The token was made entirely of black iron, and felt cold and heavy to the touch.

Qin Shaolang turned the token over.

On the front of the token is engraved a lone wolf howling towards the sky, with the character "北" (North) on its forehead.

This is the token of the Northern Wolf Army!

Qin Shaolang's heart sank. Back in Qinghe County, Chen Wu and his men faced an army carrying these wolf-head tokens.

He flipped the token over again to look at the back.

The back of the token has no name or number, only an emblem.

A blooming nine-petaled lotus!

It is exactly the same as the "Golden Lotus Under the Moon" emblem that I found on the silk medical record left by my master, except that it does not have the crescent moon!

The Wang family! The Empress's maternal family!

Qin Shaolang felt his breath catch in his throat.

The tokens of the Northern Wolf Army were engraved with the emblem of the Empress's maternal family!

This clue, like a thunderclap, connected all the seemingly unrelated fragments!

Zhou Mu of Qinghe County colluded with the Northern Wolf Army to supply the capital with the highly poisonous "Qinghe Aconite".

The one who received this batch of poison in the capital and turned it into a slow-acting poison was the Empress!

Sixteen years ago, my father, Qin Wentian, was executed along with his entire family on charges of "treason and collusion with the enemy," and the "enemy" he was colluding with was none other than the Northern Wolf!

A terrifying truth is about to be revealed.

The case of my father back then was a complete conspiracy! It was a shocking deception set up by the Empress and the royal family behind her in order to bring down their political enemies and collude with foreign enemies!

And his own father was nothing more than the most innocent victim in this dirty political struggle!

"Heh...heh..."

Qin Shaolang gripped the cold token tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, his chest heaving violently, a surge of overwhelming hatred and rage almost burning away his reason.

He forced himself to calm down.

This token alone is not enough. It only proves that the Wang family and the Northern Wolf Army colluded, but it cannot directly exonerate my father.

He needs more evidence.

A living witness who can testify against the Wang family!

A name flashed through Qin Shaolang's mind in an instant.

Liu Chengen!

The pawn he planted in Qinghe County, who was ultimately silenced—Zhou Mu!

Liu Chengen must know something!

Qin Shaolang carefully put the token away from his body. He glanced out the window; the pursuers had already been led far away by Xue Yi.

He must leave here immediately.

Just as he was about to return the way he came, he caught a glimpse of something on the stone table out of the corner of his eye.

It was an open booklet, filled with densely packed notes.

Qin Shaolang walked over and picked up the booklet.

That was an account book.

The records above do not contain silver or money, but rather the "inbound and outbound" records of various poisons.

"On the fifth day of the third month, ten catties of aconite were taken from Qinghe, and three qian of 'heartbreak powder' were taken out and sent to...the East Palace."

"On the nineteenth of March, two ounces of arsenic were taken in, and one bottle of bone-dissolving water was taken out and sent to... the residence of the Minister of War."

Qin Shaolang's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints!

The Ministry of War's residence! Liu Chengen!

The Empress was also poisoning Liu Chengen!

He flipped backwards very quickly.

The last page of the booklet records the most recent entry.

"On the first day of the fifth month, half a catty of golden cicada flowers were brought in, and one 'Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Grass' was taken out and sent to... the Wei residence, to be received by Xue Yi."

Nine-Turn Resurrection Grass!

It was the poisonous herb that Wei Zhongxian "rewarded" him to use in creating a fake death!

This poisonous herb actually originated from the Empress!

Xue Yi took the poisonous herb from the Empress and handed it to Wei Zhongxian, who then gave it to himself.

What tricks are these three people playing?!

Qin Shaolang felt his head buzzing. He stared intently at the name "Xue Yi" on the ledger, and an even crazier and bolder idea popped into his head uncontrollably.

Perhaps Xue Yi is not a descendant of the legendary Doctor Xue at all.

Perhaps, his true identity is...