My father ordered me to kill the emperor, but His Majesty bestowed a princess upon me instead.

Before going to Ci'en Temple, I did something that showed how much I valued my life.

The five medicine chests were escorted back to the Censorate.

The medicines were stored in five medicine boxes: cold medicine, calming pills, heat-clearing drink, medicine for free medical consultations, and old wound ointment. The names all sounded kind, but the contents underneath were dirtier than knives.

I had Commandant Luo escort two boxes with his troops, Qin Er and He Qi escort two boxes, and Yan Xiaoyi watch over the remaining box.

Yan Xiaoyi looked at me.

"You want me to watch the box?"

"right."

"Do I look like a warehouse clerk?"

"You look like someone no one dares to steal from you."

He thought about it.

"That's a good point."

Ah Liu, holding the official document, whispered to the side, "Young master, what about me?"

"Come with me to Ci'en Temple."

His face fell immediately.

"I thought I could be a pawnbroker too."

"You pledge the box, the box pledges you."

"That's true."

He quickly accepted his fate.

This is Ah Liu's strength.

I'm afraid of death, but I don't dwell on it.

Physician Song stayed at the free clinic to save Jiang Wen and Huang Laosi.

Mo Qingshan was detained by Commandant Luo, and the free clinic tent was only partially sealed off.

The patient still needs treatment.

The medicine must be checked, the fire must be extinguished, and people must live.

This is the most annoying part of investigating a case.

Bad guys can stuff the bill into the medicine box, but I can't smash the whole medicine box.

Because the medicine chest contained not only accounts, but also the lives of the poor.

When the carriage headed towards Ci'en Temple, it was already late afternoon.

I haven't slept a wink since last night, but I'm not sleepy at all.

The Qinghe account book is in hand.

Jiang Wen is alive.

The sedan chair from the Fan family went to Ci'en Temple.

The female pilgrim accompanying her had three-holed orchids on her sleeves.

These lines, like several ropes, are all pulling in one direction at the same time.

Ci'en Temple.

My first visit to Ci'en Temple was during the time when Chalan did not return.

Later, this led to the discovery of Wei Qingping, the discovery of the incomplete copy of the list, and the revelation of the late Empress's old case.

Now, the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief fund case has come full circle.

Ah Liu leaned against the car wall, his eyes half-closed, muttering to himself.

"Young master, I don't think Ci'en Temple is like a temple."

"Like what?"

"Like a rest stop for your investigation."

I glanced at him.

That's a very accurate statement.

Ci'en Temple certainly doesn't look like a temple anymore.

It's like a dilapidated post station specifically for me to hide my old accounts.

The temple bells had just rung when the carriage stopped outside the temple gate.

There weren't many worshippers.

Several women carrying incense baskets came out of the mountain gate, their faces showing the weariness of someone who had just breathed a sigh of relief after praying to the gods.

As soon as I got out of the car, the Venerable Master Huiming came out from inside the gate to greet me.

No.

It's not a welcome.

He came out with a sigh.

When he saw me, he put his hands together in prayer, but his eyes showed no Buddhist compassion, only a weariness of "Why is it you again?"

"Lord Shen."

I bowed.

"master."

Huiming looked at me, then at A-Liu, and then at the carriage behind me.

"What are they investigating this time?"

I said, "Check people."

Huiming sighed even more deeply.

"Last time we investigated the dead, the time before that we investigated those who should have died but didn't, and this time we're investigating people. In a few days, this humble monk's temple will probably have to put up a sign for the Ministry of Justice's outer office."

Ah Liu, unable to contain himself, whispered, "Master, our young master said the same thing."

Huiming looked at him.

Ah Liu immediately lowered his head.

"Amitabha Buddha, I was too talkative."

Huiming said, "Lord Shen, the tranquil place of the temple has been disturbed quite a bit recently."

I am very sincere.

"I don't want to get involved either."

"Then what brings Lord Shen here?"

"Someone brought in dirty stuff."

Huiming remained silent for a moment, then stepped aside.

"Come in."

As I walked, I asked, "Did any sedan chairs from the Fan residence enter the temple today?"

Huiming paused in his steps.

He did not answer immediately.

That's what it means to exist.

I looked at him.

"Master, this is no small matter."

Huiming whispered, "A small sedan chair will enter the temple through a side gate in the afternoon."

Who is in the sedan chair?

"I don't know."

"I don't know?"

Huiming glanced at me.

"Lord Shen, I am merely a monk, not a spy from the Censorate."

Ah Liu whispered, "You knew quite a lot last time."

Huiming looked at him.

Ah Liu immediately put his hands together in prayer.

"Amitabha Buddha, I'm being too talkative."

I asked, "Why did the sedan chair enter through the side gate?"

"The accompanying person said that the elderly patient from the Fan family had come to fulfill a vow and did not want to disturb the worshippers."

"Has the patient gotten out of the sedan chair?"

"No. The sedan chair was parked in the back courtyard's side corridor, the curtains were not lifted, and only a cough could be heard."

"Is your cough heavy?"

"Heavy."

"old?"

Huiming thought for a moment.

"picture."

Like.

It looks like it again.

Wang Gui said he resembled Fan Yong.

Luo Wanqian said the coughing was heavy inside the curtain.

Huiming also said it was like an old patient.

The more people say it looks like me, the less I dare to believe it.

The clearing house is best at making a "look".

Like the charred corpse of Du Heng.

Like my fake knife.

Like the wooden signs in the southwest.

It sounded like Fan Yong's cough.

I asked, "Where are the female pilgrims who accompanied you?"

Huiming's expression became more complicated.

"Who is Lord Shen referring to?"

"A person with a three-hole orchid mark on their cuff."

Huiming looked at me for a moment.

"You already know."

"I just found out."

Huiming sighed.

She entered through a side door and headed towards the old clock tower.

My heart sank.

The old clock tower.

The place where Wei Qingping gave me the incomplete copy of the list.

It was also a place that Lan Bugui liked to use to deliver letters.

I asked, "Is she Lan Bugui?"

Huiming shook his head.

"It doesn't look like it."

"Doesn't look like it?"

"Mr. Lan's steps are light, but not hurried. Today, that female pilgrim's steps are hurried, and her heart is even more anxious."

That old monk really knows how to judge people.

I said, "The master just said he wasn't a spy."

Huiming clasped his hands together in prayer.

"This humble monk merely observes how people walk."

Ah Liu whispered from behind, "The master's observations are even more accurate than those of a secret agent."

I turned to look at him.

He looked down at the ground.

"Amitabha."

We walked toward the old clock tower.

The backyard of Ci'en Temple remains quiet and deserted.

The orchids are still there.

The few pots that looked almost frozen and wilted last time had their leaves trimmed again.

The leaf tips are neat, and the potting soil is slightly moist.

Someone has been here recently.

I squatted down to look at the edge of the basin.

There was half an incense ash in the soil.

It's grayish-white with a hint of brown.

Albizia julibrissin.

I wrapped it in paper.

Seeing me picking up incense ash again, Ah Liu couldn't help but ask, "Young master, is this stuff almost worth more than silver now?"

"In this case, it's more valuable than money."

"So, the little one will pick up any ashes he sees from now on?"

Don't pick them up randomly.

Why?

"Some ashes are incense, some ashes are tents, and some ashes are people."

Ah Liu's face turned pale.

"Then you should pick it up, young master."

The old clock tower door was half open.

A breeze blew in from inside, carrying a faint scent of stale wood.

Yan Xiaoyi wasn't with me this time.

I only have two Censorate officers and Ah Liu.

This makes me very uncomfortable.

It's not that Ah Liu is useless.

However, when encountering assassins, he usually wanted to find Yan Xiaoyi even more than I did.

I raised my hand, signaling the constable to watch the back of the door first.

no one.

The clock tower was empty.

The bell is still there, and an old prayer mat sits on the stone steps beneath it.

A single orchid leaf needle rests on the futon.

A letter was pressed under the needle.

Ah Liu's eyes lit up and then dimmed when he saw the letter.

"Young master, believe me."

Why are you making that face?

"Every time someone leaves a letter for the young master, someone will die in the end."

I was speechless.

I walked over, but didn't take it directly.

Look around first.

There was no blood on the ground.

There were no overlapping footprints.

There was only a small patch of light gray.

The female pilgrim has already left.

And they left in a very hurry.

I used tweezers to pick up the orchid leaf needles and then took the letter.

There was no name on the envelope.

Only the three-hole orchid mark is present.

Orchids can grow from pinholes.

Same as before.

I opened the letter.

It wasn't Lan Bugui's long letter inside.

There was only one short piece of paper.

The handwriting is not Lan Bugui's.

It's more like someone copied down what others said.

The first sentence is:

Fan is not Fan Yong.

My heart tightened.

Ah Liu leaned closer and read it aloud.

"Fan, not Fan Yong?"

He was stunned.

"Then we just made a wasted trip to the Minister's residence?"

"It wasn't a wasted trip."

At least we know that the black box passed through the Fan residence, and we also know that the Fan residence has acacia benzoin.

But this statement is fatal.

When I saw the words "sick tent, Fan, old fragrance" in the Qinghe tent, my first thought was Fan Yong.

Zheng Huaien probably hopes I think that way too.

The storyline of Kelan not returning suddenly reminded me that Fan is not Fan Yong.

What is that?

I'll keep watching.

The second sentence:

Fan means model or template.

Medical bill template.

My brow furrowed slightly.

Medical bill template.

Ah Liu blinked.

"Young master, what do you mean?"

"It means that someone created a template for patients."

"template?"

"For example, what illness, what age, what pulse, what medicine, how to claim illness, how to change caregivers, how to die as if from illness."

Ah Liu's face grew increasingly pale as he listened.

"Du Heng has fallen ill, Jiang Wen has fallen ill, and Minister Fan is seriously ill..."

"They could all be in this template."

As I looked at the letter, my heart sank heavily.

If "Fan" doesn't refer to Fan Yong, but rather to a template for medical bills, then the Qinghe system is more complete than I thought.

It involves more than just transferring grain, medicine, clothing, cards, and accounts.

It can also "cause disease".

Let the wrong person claim illness.

Turning living people into patients.

Make the witness die as if he or she had died of illness.

Let those who are truly going to take action be covered in a layer of illness.

I continued reading the letter.

The third sentence:

Qinghe did not kill any survivors.

Some survivors must first be treated to become patients.

The fourth sentence:

The medical records were kept in the Ministry of Revenue, while the nucleic acid test results were kept by the Imperial Physician.

Fifth sentence:

This afternoon, medical records from the Ministry of Revenue were sent to the Imperial Hospital for review, crossing the Daci Bridge.

The last sentence:

Don't believe a cough.

Don't believe a cough.

As I looked at those four words, a chill suddenly ran down my spine.

The coughing sound kept drawing our attention, starting from the back alley of the Ministry of Revenue.

Wang Gui said he heard an old man coughing inside the black car.

Luo Wanqian said there was a coughing sound coming from the sedan chair at the Fan residence.

Huiming said the coughing was heavy inside the sedan chair.

Fan Yong did indeed cough.

All the coughs sounded like Fan Yong's.

As the saying goes, don't believe a cough.

This means that someone deliberately used the coughing sound to steer me towards Fan Yong.

Fan Yong may not be innocent.

But he may not be "a person who is ill".

The truly sick person may not be a patient at all.

Rather, it's the person who has access to the medical bill template.

I closed the letter.

Ah Liu whispered, "Young master, is this letter credible?"

"have no idea."

"So, should we believe it?"

"Believe only half of it."

"What about your other half?"

"Take the Daci Bridge for testing."

I looked out the window.

The sun was already setting in the west.

This afternoon.

The Ministry of Revenue's medical records were sent to the Imperial Hospital for review, across the Daci Bridge.

It's not too late.

If the letter is true, we can intercept the medical records.

If the faith is false, then the Great Compassion Bridge is the next trap.

Ah Liu also thought of it, his face scrunched up like a bitter gourd.

"Young master, are you running away again?"

"Um."

"I haven't even had a sip of the tea from Ci'en Temple."

Huiming whispered from outside the door, "The temple won't serve Lord Shen's tea."

I turned around.

The old monk stood outside the door, his face calm.

Why?

"Trouble is likely to occur where Lord Shen drinks tea."

Ah Liu whispered, "Master, that's quite accurate."

I put the letter into a sealed bag.

"Master, is the sedan chair from the Fan family still at the temple today?"

"They've already left."

"when?"

"Shortly after the female pilgrim entered the bell tower, her sedan chair left through a side gate."

Where did they go?

Huiming shook his head.

"I don't know."

I asked, "Where is the female pilgrim?"

"They took the path behind the mountain."

"Did they leave a message?"

Huiming looked at me.

"have."

"What?"

She said that if Lord Shen followed the coughing sound, there wouldn't be enough time to track down the medical records.

My heart sank.

really.

The sedan chair from the Fan family, the female pilgrim, and the three-holed orchid were all there to lure me here.

But luring me here doesn't necessarily mean they're going to harm me.

It might also be a reminder to me not to pursue the wrong path.

The question is, who is reminding us?

Lan Bugui?

Or was it another person who secretly marked the place by Lan Bugui?

I looked at the few pots of pruned orchids.

The water droplets on the orchid leaves had not yet dried.

It looks like someone just wiped it.

If Lan Bugui is still watching this game of chess, why did she only give half a sentence?

She doesn't believe the emperor, she doesn't believe Shen Lie, she doesn't believe Zhao Ning, and she doesn't believe me either.

She only trusts the books.

So this time, the records she wanted me to see were the medical records.

I turned and walked out.

"Ah Liu, go to Da Ci Bridge."

Ah Liu hugged the sealed bag tightly, feeling utterly hopeless.

"Young master, I do not consider myself a servant."

"What is that?"

"Just there to keep you company."

I glanced at him.

"If you ran a little faster, you could say that."

He shut up.