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

Liu Cheng has disappeared.

In the palace, this statement was even more troublesome than "Liu Cheng is dead".

The dead at least leave behind a body.

People who disappear leave behind countless possibilities.

He may have escaped, been silenced, gone into hiding, or he may be waiting for us to go in the wrong direction.

I hate the last one the most.

Because there are too many clever people in the capital, and fools often die too quickly, most of the remaining people are not easy to fool.

Xihua Gate is not far from the old clothes room, but they are separated by two palace walls.

When we arrived, the gatehouse was already surrounded by the inner guards.

The guards knelt on the ground, their faces pale, as if they had just been pulled out of a flour vat.

Ah Liu followed behind me, carrying the account book, running all the way until he was out of breath.

"Young master, the palace is so big, why do bad things always spread so quickly?"

I glanced at him.

"Because bad things don't require formalities."

Ah Liu paused for a moment, then realized it made a lot of sense.

Wei Zhi stood at the door of the duty room, his smile gone.

When he's not smiling, he looks more like someone who has lived by the emperor's side for decades.

When did Liu Cheng disappear?

The eunuch kneeling at the front hurriedly kowtowed: "Reporting to Eunuch Wei, it was just half an hour ago. After the news of Han Shangfu's death came, Liu Cheng said he was going to wash his hands and has not returned."

"Wash your hands?"

Wei Zhi repeated it softly.

The eunuch trembled even more violently.

Everyone in the palace who "went to wash their hands" might not actually be washing their hands.

It is also possible to go to the Pure Land.

I went into the duty room.

The duty room was small, with a long table, two braziers, a wooden plaque for the gate hanging on the wall, and a register of those who entered and left the palace gate that day spread out on the table.

The booklet is still there.

That's not right.

If Liu Cheng were to flee, the most important thing he should take with him is the family register.

People could only enter and leave the palace by speaking through this device.

The fact that he didn't take it with him means he didn't intend to take any trace of it with him.

Some people thought the booklet was no longer useful.

I sat down at the desk and opened the register.

The handwriting is fairly neat.

This morning, at the third quarter of the Chen hour, Qinghe, a maid from the Imperial Wardrobe, presented an old token, leading Sun Ajin, a retired official who had fallen ill, into the palace.

The person checking the license plate was Liu Cheng.

Seal, Xihua Gate.

They were led to the Shangyi Bureau's secondhand clothing room.

These lines are too clean.

It was as clean as if I had just washed my hands.

Looking at the seal, I asked, "What was Liu Chengping's handwriting like?"

The kneeling eunuch hurriedly said, "Liu Cheng is not very literate. Usually, I write down the household registers for him, and he only affixes his seal."

"Who wrote this line today?"

The eunuch's expression changed.

"It was...it was written by Liu Cheng himself."

I laughed.

"A person who doesn't know many characters suddenly writes more neatly than the Minister of Rites today."

Ah Liu leaned over for a look and whispered, "Young master, the calligraphy is quite beautiful."

I asked him, "Did you suddenly start writing so well?"

Ah Liu thought about it seriously.

"Unless possessed by a ghost."

Wei Zhi looked at the kneeling eunuch.

"Written by Liu Cheng?"

The eunuch pressed his forehead to the ground, not daring to reply.

I pushed the booklet to Xiao Lingyi.

She glanced at it only once and said, "This is not a pen commonly used by palace eunuchs."

I asked, "Your Highness noticed?"

"The ink is too even, and the brushstrokes are too steady. The brushes used by those on duty at the palace gate are always damp, so the writing will be rough."

She pointed to those lines of text.

"This ink resembles the ink used in the imperial court's scholar's studio."

In other words, these lines were not hastily jotted down at Xihua Gate.

It was likely written in advance and then added to the register.

The register of members can also be pre-written.

The capital city is truly a place that moves the accountant.

If Bai Zhiruo were here, she would definitely say: This is called entering the tent ahead of time.

I turned a few more pages, then suddenly stopped.

At dawn today, a carriage left the palace through the Xihua Gate.

The old cloth cart of the Imperial Clothing Bureau.

Destination: Ci'en Temple.

Purpose: To burn old curtains and draperies, and to offer sacrifices in Buddhist and Taoist rituals.

The sealer is Liu Cheng.

My fingertips paused.

Ci'en Temple.

As expected, it was Ci'en Temple again.

When did the old cloth cart from the Imperial Wardrobe leave?

The kneeling eunuch said, "The second quarter of the morning."

He entered the palace a quarter of an hour earlier than the fake Sun Ajin.

This is interesting.

The old cloth cart left the palace first, followed by the fake Sun Ajin. Han Shangfu then died in the Changning side hall, while the real Aunt Sun was hidden in the old clothes room.

This is not a line.

This involves several lines moving simultaneously.

The objective is clear.

Take out what should be destroyed, keep those who should die in the palace, and send in those who should be framed.

I asked, "Who escorted the old cloth cart?"

No one spoke.

Wei Zhi's voice was low: "Let me ask you one more time, who placed the bet?"

A young eunuch raised his hand, trembling.

"Yes, sir, it's Qinghe."

Ah Liu couldn't help but ask, "It's her again?"

I glanced at him.

"She's gone from a little handmaid to a very busy person."

Ah Liu whispered, "She's so busy, the Ministry of Revenue should pay her a salary."

I said, "The Ministry of Revenue may have already issued it."

Ah Liu was taken aback, not understanding.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that this statement might be true.

Qinghe, a lowly maid in the Imperial Wardrobe, was capable of managing old cloth carts, recruiting former palace servants, arranging household registrations, assassinating the eunuch who delivered messages, and even destroying evidence at Ci'en Temple.

This is not something she can do alone.

There must be someone behind her providing her with money, connections, and resources.

Where does the silver come from?

If it eventually comes back to the relief fund case, I wouldn't be surprised at all.

I looked at the small drawer next to the register.

The drawer was half-open, and inside were some loose silver coins, a doorplate, and half a cold steamed bun.

Ah Liu, with his sharp eyes, suddenly said, "Young master, there's ash on this steamed bun."

He picked up the steamed bun and turned it over to show me.

There was a little bit of black ash stuck to the bottom of the steamed bun.

It's not ordinary soot.

There are very fine incense powders in the ash.

I took a sniff.

Incense ash from Ci'en Temple.

I smelled this scent outside Ci'en Temple a few days ago when I was checking the merit book.

The incense in the temple was expensive, and the ash from burning it had a slightly sweet smell.

There shouldn't be incense ash from Ci'en Temple in the palace gate guardhouse.

Unless Liu Cheng had come into contact with anything from Ci'en Temple.

Or perhaps there was incense ash in the place where he had just hidden.

Yan Xiaoyi squatted by the door and looked at the ground.

There were footprints at the back door.

Behind the duty room was a small door leading to the passageway between the palace walls.

It's usually used for moving charcoal and pouring water, and few people walk on it.

There was a series of very shallow footprints in the dust on the ground.

Toes pointing outwards.

It was exactly like Liu Cheng's footprints.

The footprints led into the alley.

We followed the footprints inward.

It was colder inside the palace walls than outside; the wind blew through the space between the walls, making the hem of my clothes stick to my legs.

I hadn't changed out of the red dress I was wearing; the wet cuffs had dried, but a faint medicinal scent still lingered.

This taste reminds me.

I'm not investigating a case right now.

I was investigating a case while wearing evidence.

After walking about twenty steps, the footprints suddenly stopped.

There was a wastewater well in front of us.

The wellhead was covered with a wooden board, but half of the board had been moved away.

Yan Xiaoyi drew his sword and stepped forward to kick the wooden board aside.

There is no water in the well.

There was only one person.

Liu Cheng was curled up at the bottom of the well, his mouth stuffed with cloth, his hands tied behind his back, his forehead cut, but he was still alive.

When Ah Liu saw him, he first breathed a sigh of relief, but then panicked again.

"Young master, he's alive! He's alive this time!"

I look at him.

"You sound quite surprised."

"I'm happier to see someone alive than to see money."

I love hearing that.

This at least shows that after following me for so long, he has come to understand that a living person is more valuable than money.

Yan Xiaoyi jumped into the well and pulled Liu Cheng up.

After the gag was removed from Liu Cheng's mouth, he coughed violently a few times, then knelt on the ground, trembling like paper in the autumn wind.

"Eunuch Wei, spare me! Your Highness, spare me! Lord Shen, spare me! I didn't mean it, I really didn't mean it!"

I squatted down in front of him.

"Who told you to remember Aunt Sun entering the palace?"

Liu Cheng cried, "I don't know if she is Aunt Sun. Qinghe brought the old token and the approval slip from the Imperial Wardrobe, saying that it was ordered by Consort Qin. I only checked the token and dared not ask any more questions."

"Where's the approval slip?"

"Qinghe took it."

Who wrote the words on the registration form?

Liu Cheng's face turned pale.

"It's not written in smaller characters."

Who wrote it?

"One of the people Qinghe brought."

"Who is it?"

"Wearing the official robes of the Imperial Wardrobe, with her head down, I couldn't see her face clearly."

I asked, "Male or female?"

Liu Cheng was taken aback.

"Like a woman."

"picture?"

He swallowed hard.

"The hands don't look right."

A thought struck me.

"Why don't the hands look like that?"

"He has a scar on the back of his hand, and his thumb and forefinger are thick, like he's been holding a knife."

Yan Xiaoyi's eyes flickered slightly.

Palace maids can impersonate others.

It's not easy to fake the hand holding the knife.

I asked again, "What about the old cloth cart?"

Liu Cheng cried even harder.

"It was Qinghe who made the pledge. She said that a batch of discarded curtains were cleared out from the old clothing room and were to be sent to Ci'en Temple for a Buddhist ritual to be burned. This kind of thing often happens in the Shangyi Bureau, and I dare not stop it."

I said, "You accepted the money."

Liu Cheng immediately kowtowed.

"Damn it! I only accepted two rice coupons!"

"Rice coupons?"

I reached out my hand.

With a single glance from Wei Zhi, the guards immediately searched Liu Cheng and found two small folded paper coupons.

The paper coupons were stamped with the seal of Qinghe Yicang.

You can get a bushel of rice with this coupon.

Ah Liu was stunned when he saw this: "The palace eunuchs are accepting rice coupons from the public granary?"

I looked at the two paper coupons and suddenly smiled.

The disaster relief fund case was found at the palace gate.

The disaster victims are not receiving food.

The palace eunuchs, however, used the grain coupons from the public granary to release carts for others.

Qinghe Yicang was involved in more than just silver laundering.

It's still buying its way in.

I handed the rice coupon to Wei Zhi.

"Sir, does this count as collecting relief grain at the palace gates?"

Wei Zhi smiled again.

But the smile lacked warmth.

"Calculate."

Liu Cheng was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.

I asked again, "Who knocked you unconscious and threw you into the well?"

Liu Cheng said, trembling, "It was that person who wrote the characters. After Qinghe left, he said the registration was wrong and asked me to go to the back to take a look. I had just turned around when I was knocked on."

Which way did he go?

Liu Cheng pointed to the end of the alley.

"There...there's a small door over there that leads to the outer driveway."

Outer Garden Driveway.

The old cloth carts from the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau would also pass through there if they wanted to leave the palace.

I stood up and looked at Wei Zhi.

"The old cloth cart may not have arrived at Ci'en Temple yet."

Wei Zhi asked, "How do you know?"

"If the car only carries old clothes, it will naturally travel faster. But if the car is hiding things that are really meant to be destroyed, it won't take the right path."

I looked at the end of that alleyway.

"They will change cars."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Xiaoyi had already sped off towards the outer garden driveway.

Just as I was about to follow, Xiao Lingyi suddenly reached out and stopped me.

"You stay."

I looked at her.

She said coldly, "You went out wearing this outfit because it's not convenient enough for someone to frame you?"

I glanced down at the red dress.

Also.

Wherever I go, I look like a walking piece of evidence.

Ah Liu whispered, "Young Master, His Highness is right."

I sighed.

"Ah Liu."

"exist."

"You're becoming more and more like His Highness."

Ah Liu was startled and immediately pledged his loyalty: "I am the young master's man!"

Xiao Lingyi glanced at him.

Ah Liu added, "They are also from His Highness's residence."

well.

He learned to save his life on both sides.

Just then, a sharp whistle rang out from outside.

It's Yan Xiaoyi.

Xiao Lingyi and I exchanged a glance and immediately headed towards the outer garden driveway.

At the end of the driveway, there was an old car covered with a gray cloth.

The carriage shaft was broken in half, the driver was nowhere to be seen, and several bundles of old curtains were scattered on the ground.

Yan Xiaoyi stood beside the car, his knife already drawn.

There was blood beneath the gray cloth.

As I approached, I saw a dark red line seeping through the seam of the car body.

Yan Xiaoyi lifted the gray cloth.

The clothes in the car weren't old.

It was a small coffin.

The coffin lid was half open, and the inside was empty.

The bottom of the coffin was covered with a thick layer of incense ash.

On the incense ash, half a piece of charred cloth was pressed down.

The corner of the cloth was embroidered with very faint blue patterns.

Xiao Lingyi's face turned pale in that instant.

As I stared at the half-piece of charred blue-patterned cloth, my heart sank.

The old clothes had already been burned.

But it wasn't completely burned.

Some people sent it out of Ci'en Temple, while others wanted to send it back to the palace to be destroyed.

Or.

This coffin was originally meant to contain Aunt Sun.

Ah Liu's voice trembled: "Young master, is it a good thing that this coffin is empty?"

I looked at the blood on the car floor.

"No."

I looked up at the end of the outer garden driveway.

"This means it just dumped out one person."