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

The moment the name Sun Ajin was uttered, the lights in the side hall of Changning seemed to dim.

A person who resigned from the palace three years ago due to illness entered the palace this morning with his old credentials.

But her old card was hidden in Han Shangfu's sleeve.

If this happened outside, it would at most be considered strange.

If it were placed in the palace, it would be more than just strange.

Nothing strange happened in the palace.

Only arrangements.

Wei Zhi looked at the young eunuch kneeling under the corridor, still with a smiling expression.

Which palace gate?

The young eunuch hurriedly replied, "Xihua Gate."

"Who checked the license?"

"Liu Cheng, the gatekeeper eunuch."

"Who brought them here?"

"Qinghe, a maid in the Imperial Wardrobe."

Where did they go?

The young eunuch swallowed hard. "They said... they said it went to the old clothes room of the Imperial Wardrobe."

Qin Shangyi's expression finally turned completely ugly.

She knelt on the veranda, her back still straight, but her knuckles were clenched so tightly they turned white.

"Eunuch Wei, the old clothing room of the Imperial Wardrobe has not been used for many years, and I have not sent anyone there."

Wei Zhi glanced at her.

"Consort Qin, someone has died in the palace. I'll listen to whatever you say. But listening doesn't mean I believe you."

That's a mild way of putting it.

They are also very ruthless.

I looked at the wooden plaque that had fallen out of Han Shangfu's sleeve.

The wooden sign was very old, with the edges worn rounded, but the three characters "Sun Ajin" on it were still clearly visible.

I asked Wei Zhi, "When they check the identification tokens at the palace gate, do they keep the tokens?"

Wei Zhidao said, "When former palace women return to the palace, they are usually returned after their identification tokens are checked. Only those summoned by imperial decree receive a separate permit."

"Did Sun Ajin issue any approval slips today?"

The young eunuch shook his head: "No."

That's strange.

Ah Liu finally squeezed in from outside, and when he heard the word "strange," his face looked even worse than mine.

He now understands that when I say something is strange, it usually doesn't mean I've discovered a problem, but rather that someone is about to suffer.

Of course, most of the time, I'm among the unlucky ones.

I took the wooden plaque and handed it to Wei Zhi.

"Since the token was checked at the palace gate and the person entered the palace, the token shouldn't be in Han Shangfu's sleeve."

Wei Zhi nodded: "Unless there are two pieces."

I said, "Or perhaps the piece used for the palace gate inspection is fake."

Qin Shangyi immediately said, "The old plaques at the palace gates all bear the seal of the inner court, and ordinary people cannot imitate them."

I looked at her.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Qin Shangyi? I haven't even said who copied it yet."

She closed her eyes.

"This servant is simply answering according to protocol."

"Many people were killed today due to the rules."

Her face paled even more.

Xiao Lingyi stood to the side, her gaze fixed on the wooden plaque.

"Aunt Sun was an embroiderer in the Empress Dowager's palace back then. Her eyesight was poor, so she retired early."

I asked, "Does Your Highness still remember her?"

"Remember."

Xiao Lingyi's voice was very soft.

"She sewed me a cloth rabbit. The rabbit's ears were different lengths, she said that would make it run faster."

Hearing this, Ah Liu couldn't help but whisper, "How can one run fast if one is long and the other short?"

Yan Xiaoyi said calmly, "You take what I say to a child seriously?"

Ah Liu thought it made sense, so he shut up again.

I looked at Xiao Lingyi.

She didn't show much expression, but I knew that the cloth rabbit she remembered wouldn't just be a cloth rabbit.

That was one of the few remaining warm places in the former palace of the late empress.

The accounting department is very selective in choosing its employees.

Every thread it picks can pierce a person's old wounds.

Wei Zhi has already ordered the Xihua Gate to be sealed off, and the eunuchs in the palace are not allowed to move around without permission. The old clothes room of the Shangyi Bureau has also been surrounded.

Qin Shangyi wanted to get up and follow, but Wei Zhi stopped her with a soft word.

"Qin Shangyi, please stay."

Qin Shangyi looked at him and said, "This servant is in charge of the Imperial Wardrobe. If any outsiders enter the old clothes room, this servant should go with them."

"You're in charge of the Imperial Wardrobe, so you should stay even more."

Wei Zhi smiled.

"So that if you go, there won't be another dead person in the secondhand clothing store."

Qin Shangyi was speechless after hearing this.

To me, the people around the emperor seemed to be very good at chatting.

Gu Xingzhi's conversations are like knives, while Wei Zhi's conversations are like needles hidden in cotton.

None of them make people feel comfortable.

Not many people go to the secondhand clothing section of Shangyiju.

Me, Xiao Lingyi, Wei Zhi, Yan Xiaoyi, and two inner guards.

Ah Liu wanted to follow, but I stopped him.

"You stay and guard Bai Zhi's few tents."

Ah Liu said urgently, "Young master, I would rather stay by your side."

"I have Yan Xiaoyi by my side."

Ah Liu glanced at Yan Xiaoyi.

Yan Xiaoyi yawned.

Ah Liu became even more anxious.

"He doesn't look like he's fully awake."

Yan Xiaoyi said lazily, "It'll be the same even when you're awake."

I patted Ah Liu on the shoulder.

"Guard the accounts well. People in the palace are dying so quickly today. If the accounts are lost, I'll really have to rely on my luck."

Ah Liu immediately hugged the paper in his arms tightly.

"As long as I am here, the account will remain."

That's a pretty good point.

As long as his legs don't shake, he'll look even more like him.

The Imperial Wardrobe Bureau was located on the east side of the palace, not far from the Changning Side Hall.

The secondhand clothing store is even more out of the way.

As you go along, the palace path becomes narrower and narrower, the moss at the base of the walls is damp, and the red lacquer on several doors has peeled off, revealing the dark brown wood grain underneath.

The most deceitful person in the palace.

The front hall was magnificent and resplendent, but the back always smelled damp and musty.

Two bodyguards stood outside the old clothes room.

The door was locked from the outside.

There are new scratches on the lock.

Yan Xiaoyi squatted down and took a look, then reached out and touched the keyhole.

"It was just driven there."

Wei Zhi asked, "How long?"

"Within half an hour."

My heart sank.

Within half an hour, it was exactly around the time Han Shangfu died.

The door had been opened.

It was locked again.

If there are people inside, they are either being hidden or being imprisoned.

Wei Zhi ordered the inner guards to unlock the door.

The sound of the lock clicking down was particularly crisp in the narrow alley.

As soon as the door was pushed open, a musty, old fabric smell mixed with the aroma of medicine wafted out.

If Ah Liu were here, he would probably have already started praying for his ancestors' blessings.

I held my breath and looked inside.

The room was dark.

Rows of wooden shelves stood against the wall, piled high with old clothes, curtains, and drapes. They hadn't been used for many years; the fabrics were covered with gray cloth, and a layer of fine dust had settled on the cloth.

But there are footprints on the ground.

New footprints.

Xiao Lingyi saw it too.

"Someone has been here."

I nodded.

"And there's more than one."

There are two kinds of footprints in the dust.

A light, narrow shoe, like a woman's palace shoe.

One type is heavy, with toes pointing outwards, like an eunuch.

Two kinds of footprints led all the way to the deepest part of the house.

There were several old trunks there.

In front of one of the boxes, the dust was wiped away, revealing a blackened wooden board.

Yan Xiaoyi walked ahead, his hand already on the hilt of his knife.

He's usually so lazy he could practically sleep on the roof, but when it really comes to this, he doesn't make a sound at all.

The secondhand clothing store was very quiet.

It was so quiet I could hear my own breathing.

The silence was so profound, it didn't feel like no one was there.

It's like someone is holding their breath, waiting for you to approach.

When she reached the third row of wooden shelves, Xiao Lingyi suddenly stopped.

She looked to her left at an old palace robe that was half-open.

The palace robe had faded, but a very fine blue pattern remained around the cuffs.

She reached out and touched it.

His fingertips paused slightly.

"This is the old style from the Empress Dowager's palace."

I looked over.

The blue pattern is very faint; if you don't look closely, it looks like ordinary embroidery.

Xiao Lingyi's voice was cold: "It shouldn't be here."

Wei Zhi said, "The late Empress's belongings should all have been sealed and stored in the Imperial Treasury back then."

I smiled.

"If the Imperial Treasury really knew how to seal things, Qian Rong wouldn't have had to die so hastily."

Wei Zhi glanced at me.

"Lord Shen, if you're going to criticize the Imperial Treasury in the palace, you should keep your voice down."

"Father-in-law is right."

I lowered my voice a bit.

"If the Imperial Treasury really knew how to seal things, Qian Rong wouldn't have had to die so hastily."

Wei Zhi sighed.

Yan Xiaoyi suddenly raised his hand.

We all stopped.

A very faint sound came from behind the wooden frame.

It felt like someone had grabbed the fabric.

Yan Xiaoyi dodged past, his sword half-drawn from its sheath.

"come out."

No one answered.

I smelled an even stronger medicinal odor.

It doesn't smell like incense.

It smelled like stale medicine soaking in water on the clothes.

I gestured for Xiao Lingyi to take half a step back, and I also wisely refrained from moving to the front.

Cherishing life shouldn't just be something you talk about.

Yan Xiaoyi kicked away the old box next to the wooden frame.

The lid of the box was opened, but there were no clothes inside.

There was only one person.

An old man was curled up in a box, wrapped in a tattered palace robe, his hair was gray, and his face was wrinkled like dry tree bark.

Her eyes were half-open, her lips were purple, and her fingers were tightly gripping a piece of red silk thread.

Xiao Lingyi's expression changed.

"Aunt Sun?"

The old man's eyelids twitched when he heard those three words.

She turned her head with great difficulty to look at Xiao Lingyi.

Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared in his cloudy eyes.

"Your Highness...Your Highness..."

Xiao Lingyi immediately stepped forward, but I stopped her.

She looked at me.

I whispered, "Test for poison first."

She did not refute it.

Wei Zhi ordered the Imperial Guards to fetch silver needles and also sent someone to summon Physician Song.

I squatted down next to the box, looking at the piece of red thread in the old man's hand.

"Aunt Sun, are you here to enter the palace today with your credentials?"

The old man's lips moved slightly.

The sound was so faint it was almost inaudible.

"No……"

A thought struck me.

"Not you?"

She shook her head.

"Someone...took my cards...took my face..."

Take my face.

These words sent chills down one's spine.

Xiao Lingyi asked in a low voice, "Who?"

Fear was evident in the old man's eyes.

She seemed to want to speak, yet dared not.

I asked, "Has Han Shangfu seen you before?"

The old man's fingers tightened suddenly.

The red line was almost squeezed into her palm.

"Han... Han girl... you shouldn't have seen this..."

Xiao Lingyi asked, "What did you see?"

The old man was breathing heavily.

I took out the antidote pill from my sleeve, but after thinking about it, I didn't dare to feed it to him directly.

There are too many medicines in the palace. Now, whenever I see a pill, I feel like it wants to kill me.

Wei Zhi, being experienced, instructed the guards to dilute the solution with water and apply it to the old man's lips.

Aunt Sun breathed a sigh of relief.

She was holding onto the piece of red thread when she suddenly looked at me.

"Don't wear...that dress..."

I glanced down at the red dress I was wearing.

"I'm already wearing it."

Despair was evident in Aunt Sun's eyes.

"That's not... a wedding dress..."

I asked, "What is it?"

A broken hiss came from her throat.

"It's... the Soul-Guiding Robe..."

Everyone in the room fell silent.

I looked down at my new wedding dress, a symbol of gratitude.

Crimson, gold threads, cloud patterns, jade belt.

Just now, I only thought it looked like a funeral shroud.

Now look what's happened.

Someone told me that it wasn't even a shroud.

It is a soul-guiding garment.

For a moment, I couldn't tell whether my guess was accurate or they had acted ruthlessly.

Xiao Lingyi's voice trembled with coldness.

"Who told you to sew it?"

A single, cloudy tear rolled down Aunt Sun's cheek.

"It wasn't me... I only got one injection... They said if I only got one injection, they would let my grandson live..."

"Who?"

The old man opened his mouth.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside.

The guard at the door hissed, "Who's there?"

A young eunuch knelt outside the door, his voice trembling: "Eunuch Wei, Consort Qin has fainted in the side hall of Changning!"

Xiao Lingyi and I looked up at the same time.

The smile on Wei Zhi's face slowly faded.

Did Qin Shangyi faint?

What a coincidence.

One survivor was found, and another insider fainted.

Looking at Aunt Sun in the box, I suddenly asked, "Aunt Sun, does Qin Shangyi want to kill you?"

The old man shook his head.

She grabbed my sleeve with all her might.

"No……"

Her cloudy eyes stared intently at me.

"She's not trying to kill you..."

I frowned.

Aunt Sun spoke slowly and deliberately, as if she were squeezing out words from blood.

"She wants to kill...that old garment."