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

Chapter 143 Old Clothes

Sometimes, a piece of clothing is more important than life itself.

That sounds absurd.

But in the palace, absurdity is often the thinnest layer of truth.

Aunt Sun said that Qin Shangyi didn't want to kill me, but rather that old garment.

I looked down at my red thank-you dress and suddenly felt the fabric sticking to my skin and getting cold.

If Ah Liu were here, he would definitely say: Young master, why don't you take it off?

It's a pity I can't take it off.

Taking off clothes in the palace is more troublesome than putting on the wrong clothes.

Moreover, the fact that this garment was delivered to me through all sorts of means means that I need to wear it so that the other party can reveal it next.

I asked Aunt Sun, "What old clothes?"

Her lips moved, but she couldn't utter a sound immediately.

Wei Zhi had already ordered his men to guard the entrance to the old clothes room and sent his inner guards back to the Changning side hall to check on Qin Shangyi.

Xiao Lingyi squatted down beside the box, her voice very low.

"Aunt Sun, look at me."

The old man struggled to lift his eyes.

"Your Highness..."

"Which of Mother's old clothes is it?"

Aunt Sun shuddered.

It was a very light touch, but I saw it.

She wasn't afraid of Qin Shangyi.

What she feared was what lay behind the words "the late empress."

After a long while, she said in a voice so thin it sounded like a broken thread, "Sick gown."

Xiao Lingyi's fingertips tightened slightly.

"What were you wearing on the night your mother passed away?"

Aunt Sun nodded.

Wei Zhi's expression also changed.

Suddenly, someone pulled a thread deep into my heart.

The old case of the late Empress.

Sick clothes.

Albizia julibrissin.

Shelter from the wind, keep quiet, and dim the lights.

The arrangement made for me in the side hall of Changning today is very likely the same as the one used on the night the late Empress passed away.

It was only used on the Empress back then.

It applies to me today.

For a lowly censor like me to suffer the same fate as the Empress is truly a sign of my ancestors' graves emitting black smoke.

Aunt Sun said haltingly, "That hospital gown... it shouldn't have gone into the thrift store back then... someone took it... and then a corner of it was returned..."

Xiao Lingyi asked, "Who brought it back?"

Aunt Sun's eyes darted away.

"I couldn't see clearly... I only remember the smell of medicine on the cuff... it was sweet... it made me sleepy..."

Albizia julibrissin.

I asked, "What's on the hospital gown?"

The old man shook his head, then nodded.

"There's a needle...not an embroidery needle...it's a sealing needle..."

I didn't understand.

Xiao Lingyi understood.

She whispered, "There's a hidden thread technique in the old palace needlework that allows you to sew a strip of paper into the lining of your garment. If you don't unsew it, it won't be noticeable from the outside."

I looked at my cuffs.

"It's in my dress too."

"What you have is just the ceremonial attire," Xiao Lingyi said. "There might be something else hidden in the Empress Dowager's sick clothes."

Wei Zhi suddenly asked, "Sun Ajin, where is that sick gown from back then?"

Aunt Sun closed her eyes, as if she dared not answer.

I answered for her.

"Not in the palace."

Wei Zhi looked at me.

I said, "If this were in the palace, Consort Qin wouldn't need to set up such a grand scheme. She could just close the door and search slowly. What she wants to kill isn't the old clothes in the palace, but someone who is about to send old clothes into the palace, or someone who wants us to find the old clothes."

Xiao Lingyi raised her eyes: "So she has to destroy the thread first."

I nodded.

"Han Shangfu's death is the thread. Aunt Sun's entry into the palace is the thread. This antique-style dress I'm wearing is also the thread."

Aunt Sun opened her eyes and looked at me with difficulty.

"Old clothes...in Gongde Village..."

merit.

I suddenly remembered the half-line that Lan Bugui had sent me the previous time:

The relief funds are not in the granary, but in the merit book.

Ci'en Temple.

Book of Merits.

Incense money.

Temple repair silver.

Now I have another old garment.

I asked in a low voice, "Ci'en Temple?"

Aunt Sun's eyes twitched.

She didn't need to say anything; the answer was already obvious.

Xiao Lingyi stood up, her face as cold as if covered with frost.

"How did Mother's sick clothes end up at Ci'en Temple?"

No one answered.

But I know there will be an answer to that.

Ci'en Temple collects incense offerings, repairs Buddhist halls, and conducts Buddhist rituals.

If the Ministry of Revenue's relief funds could be laundered into incense money and temple repair money, then an old garment that shouldn't exist could also be hidden in the Merit Deeds Hall.

Incense is the cleanest.

The dead are the quietest.

The accounting department would like this kind of place.

Because when living people go there, they must bow their heads.

I asked Aunt Sun, "Who told you to mend that stitch on my dress?"

Aunt Sun's breathing became rapid.

"Qing...Qing..."

As she finished speaking, a short, painful scream suddenly came from outside.

Yan Xiaoyi rushed out almost simultaneously.

I instinctively shielded Xiao Lingyi and stepped back.

The guards around Wei Zhi also drew their swords.

Outside the old clothes room, the young eunuch who had just reported that Qin Shangyi had fainted lay on the ground with a thin needle inserted into his throat.

The needle is very fine.

It was so thin it didn't look like something that could kill.

But it still killed people.

Yan Xiaoyi knelt against the wall, looking up at the eaves.

They ran away.

My heart sank.

"Did you see it clearly?"

"The palace maid's figure was light, and her steps were very light."

Xiao Lingyi immediately said, "Qinghe."

The "green" that Aunt Sun just mentioned is very likely Qinghe.

The maid from the Imperial Wardrobe who led "Sun Ajin" into the palace at the palace gate.

Now, the eunuch who delivered the message is dead.

Qinghe ran away.

The third person to die in the secondhand clothing store is most likely Aunt Sun.

Wei Zhi's face darkened.

"The Imperial Wardrobe Bureau."

After he finished speaking, he looked at me again.

"Lord Shen, things are likely to get very unsettled in the palace today."

I said, "Father-in-law, things are already very unsettling."

Xiao Lingyi suddenly reached out her hand.

"Take off your outer robe."

I was taken aback.

"Your Highness, here?"

She looked at me and said coldly, "Shut up."

I immediately shut up.

Yan Xiaoyi wisely turned around.

Wei Zhi looked up at the sky.

The guards also looked down at the ground.

People in the palace are very disciplined.

Even in situations like this, one knows to pretend to be blind.

Xiao Lingyi didn't actually make me take off the whole garment; she just untied the back of the outer robe and turned it inside out to the stitching.

She used the silver scissors Qiu Tang had given her to cut open a small section.

Sure enough, there was more than just the ceremony plan from last night inside.

There is also a red line that is hidden very deeply.

The red line is similar in color to the dress, so it's practically invisible unless you take it apart.

Xiao Lingyi pinched the red thread and slowly pulled it out.

As the thread emerged, it brought out a small piece of paper that was rolled up very finely.

The paper was thinner than last night's rites, as if it had been cut from an old scripture.

I took it and unfolded it.

There were only a few words on it.

Qinghe Yicang.

Ci'en Temple.

Merits and virtues performed on land and water.

There was also a tiny ink mark at the back.

It's not those eight characters from the "Clearing Accounts Meeting".

It wasn't stamped by the Ministry of Revenue.

It is a small seal with orchid patterns.

Xiao Lingyi's expression changed instantly.

"This is the private seal mark from the Empress Dowager's palace."

My fingers tightened.

The late empress's personal seal appeared in the lining of my new dress.

In other words, someone didn't simply want to harm me.

Someone wanted to use my visit to the palace to express my gratitude to deliver clues about the late Empress's old case to Xiao Lingyi.

At the same time, someone else was killing Han Shangfu, eliminating the young eunuch, and pursuing Aunt Sun.

Two groups of people.

At least two waves.

One group wanted to lure us into searching for old clothes.

One group wanted to wipe all the threads clean before the old clothes were discovered.

I suddenly remembered Lan Bugui's half-spoken, half-hidden manner.

She told us not to drink tea, reminding us that someone in the Imperial Wardrobe would die, but she didn't say who would deliver the thread.

This woman is like a lamp.

Only half a step.

The remaining half step is for you to fall on your own.

Wei Zhi looked at the thin piece of paper, and his voice lowered.

"Qinghe Granary, Ci'en Temple, Water and Land Merit Ceremony."

He looked up at me.

"Lord Shen, doesn't this resemble the relief fund case you're currently investigating?"

I smiled.

"Father-in-law, it doesn't look like him."

I folded the paper.

"That's it."

The investigation into the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief funds has finally led to the connection between the wooden plaques of disaster victims, the fake accounts of soup kitchens, the medical records of free clinics, and the incense for calming the nerves, and the merit book of Ci'en Temple.

It also connected to the late empress's sick clothes.

This case is becoming increasingly difficult.

But thinking about it, it makes sense.

I have never had an easy job in my life.

Aunt Sun suddenly started coughing violently.

Xiao Lingyi immediately helped her up.

The old man gripped Xiao Lingyi's sleeve tightly, as if grasping at the last thread of life.

"Your Highness...the sick clothes must not be burned...if they are burned...then Her Majesty's death will have been in vain..."

Xiao Lingyi's eyes suddenly turned terrifyingly dark.

"Who wants to burn it?"

Aunt Sun looked towards the door with difficulty.

"Qinghe... took the tinder... and went... to Ci'en Temple..."

I suddenly stood up.

Ci'en Temple.

It's Ci'en Temple again.

Not only is there a book of merit there, but there may also be clues to the late empress's sick clothes.

If Qinghe really went to Ci'en Temple, then she wasn't running away.

It's to destroy the evidence.

Wei Zhi immediately ordered: "Summon the Imperial Guards and seal off Ci'en Temple."

I shook my head.

"Too late."

Wei looked at me.

I said, "The fact that she was able to escape from the palace means that someone was helping her outside. If we seal off the temple now, we might only get ashes."

Xiao Lingyi looked at me: "What do you want to do?"

I looked down at the thin piece of paper in my hand.

Qinghe Yicang.

Ci'en Temple.

Merits and virtues performed on land and water.

This is not a line.

This is an invitation.

Please ask us to leave the palace, please ask us to go to Ci'en Temple, and please ask us to leave the palace where the investigation is still ongoing.

If we go there, the medical records of Qin Shangyi, Huang Yicheng, and Liu Yuanpan on the side hall of Changning might be completely wiped clean.

If we don't go, the donation books and old clothes at Ci'en Temple might be burned to ashes.

Account clearing parties often like to give people a choice between two options.

But I don't really like answering questions based on other people's answers.

I looked at Yan Xiaoyi.

"Go to Ci'en Temple, but don't go inside. Just keep an eye on the back gate and the incense ash cart."

Yan Xiaoyi nodded: "I understand."

I looked at Wei Zhi again.

"Please have the Imperial Guards seal off the side hall of Changning Palace. Not the people, but the tents. Today, nothing—not tea, spices, lamp oil, charcoal, clothing, or needles and thread—is to be touched."

Wei Zhi smiled.

"Is Lord Shen going to audit the accounts again?"

"People can run fast, but tents can't."

I turned to look at Xiao Lingyi.

"Your Highness, we will not pursue Qinghe."

Xiao Lingyi asked, "Then who should we pursue?"

I placed the old coin belonging to Aunt Sun in my palm.

"Chase the palace gate."

Her eyes flickered slightly.

I said, "Qinghe was able to bring a fake Aunt Sun into the palace, hide her in the old clothes room, and even arrange for a young eunuch to spread lies. A mere maid like her couldn't do that."

Wei Zhi said, "Liu Cheng, the eunuch guarding the Xihua Gate."

"right."

I smiled.

"Investigate him first."

No sooner had he finished speaking than another group of guards rushed in from outside.

"Eunuch Wei, Liu Cheng has disappeared from Xihua Gate!"

Hearing this from nearby, Ah Liu couldn't help but call out, "Gone again?"

I sighed.

"Ah Liu."

He immediately shut up.

I looked up at the narrow patch of sky beyond the palace walls.

"Go find him."