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

There are many carriages in the palace.

Deliverymen delivered vegetables, charcoal, clothing, incense, and even items used by the dead.

Living people need to have their license plates checked when entering the palace gates, but cars sometimes have an easier time.

Because cars can't talk.

As long as the person escorting the vehicle has a license, the rules are written on the vehicle, and the cloth is covering it tightly enough, no one will be so idle as to rummage through a vehicle full of old curtains.

Especially the old curtains of the Imperial Wardrobe.

unlucky.

Looking at the empty coffin, I suddenly understood why Qingzhang liked the palace.

All the dirty dealings in the palace can be veiled in a layer of etiquette.

Sending evidence involves burning old clothes.

Killing the survivors is a recurrence of an old illness.

Buying palace gates was a way to receive rice for disaster relief.

Even an empty coffin can be described as a ritual implement used in a water and land ceremony.

I squatted down next to the car and reached out to touch the blood on the edge of the dashboard.

The blood hadn't dried completely yet.

The person had just been dragged away.

Yan Xiaoyi had already looked around the driveway, and when he returned, he didn't look too good.

"The drag marks point north."

What's to the north?

Wei Zhi followed and replied, "To the north is the abandoned stables of the Imperial Garden, and beyond that is the narrow path through which the palace's manure carts enter and exit."

Ah Liu's face turned green when he heard "manure truck".

"Young master, they wouldn't have hidden someone in there, would they?"

I said, "Very likely."

Ah Liu immediately covered his mouth.

"Should we continue chasing?"

"Chase."

"Suddenly, I feel that death isn't so bad after all."

I look at him.

He immediately put his hand down: "The junior officer will go after him."

Xiao Lingyi didn't speak, but just stared at the charred corner of the cloth.

She reached out to take it, but I stopped her.

"Your Highness, it's been scalded, and may have been treated with medicine."

She said coldly, "I know."

She used a handkerchief as a shield to pick up the corner of the cloth.

The corner of the cloth was very small, only half the size of a palm, with charred edges and the blue pattern almost completely burned away.

But Xiao Lingyi still recognized her.

"These are the Empress Dowager's orchid patterns."

Her voice was very soft.

The lighter it is, the colder it feels.

I asked, "Are you sure it's a hospital gown?"

"uncertain."

She gripped the piece of cloth, the coldness in her eyes gradually subsiding.

"But this is the pattern on the Empress Dowager's undergarment."

Wei Zhi sighed.

"Then this is no small matter for the Imperial Wardrobe."

I smiled.

"Father-in-law, this has been no small matter since Han Shangfu died."

Wei Zhi looked at me and said, "Lord Shen, you're getting bolder and bolder with your words."

"no way."

I looked down at the incense ash in the empty coffin.

"They've already brought the coffin to me; if I were to be polite, it would seem like I lack manners."

The incense ash is very fine.

There were tiny bits of gold paper and a few grains of rice mixed in.

Ci'en Temple does indeed use this kind of ash when performing water and land rituals.

But in the corner at the bottom of the coffin, there was still a small clump of mud.

The mud was yellowish in color and mixed with small pieces of rice husks.

I picked up a little bit.

It's not mud from the palace.

Like the damp soil of the grain yard near the granary.

Qinghe Yicang.

Ci'en Temple.

Old cars from the Imperial Clothing Bureau.

These three places were finally connected to form a solid road.

I stood up.

"Don't chase the manure truck yet."

Ah Liu's eyes lit up.

"real?"

"real."

Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, I continued, "Check the wheels."

Ah Liu's face fell again.

"They're checking the wheels too?"

"Cars don't lie."

Since Bai Zhi wasn't there, I had to say those words for her.

The wheels were covered in mud.

The mud contained rice husks, a little incense ash, and grass clippings that had been soaked in water.

The palace driveways are mostly paved with stone slabs, so they won't get covered in this kind of mud.

This indicates that before entering the palace, the carriage had visited a place with grain, incense ash, and a ditch.

There is a release ditch near the back gate of Ci'en Temple.

There was also a muddy ground for grain storage in the backyard of Qinghe Yicang.

If there are two tracks on the wheel at the same time, it means that it did not go directly from the palace to Ci'en Temple.

It first went to Qinghe Yicang, then to Ci'en Temple, and then to the palace.

An old cloth cart from the Shangyi Bureau circled around Qinghe Yicang and Ci'en Temple.

This is even more unreasonable than Ah Liu suddenly becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination.

I handed the mud to Wei Zhi.

"Sir, could you perhaps relocate the patrol scouts outside the palace gates?"

Wei Zhi nodded: "Yes."

"Check whether any carriages that have entered or exited Xihua Gate since the beginning of this morning have changed shafts, drivers, or bypassed Qinghe Granary."

Wei Zhi immediately ordered the inner guards to carry it out.

Xiao Lingyi looked at me: "You suspect the old clothes haven't been destroyed yet?"

"It's not just doubt."

I looked at the empty coffin.

"If the old clothes were completely destroyed, they wouldn't have risked sending the empty coffin back to the palace. Bringing back the charred cloth was to make us think the old clothes had been burned."

Ah Liu asked in a low voice, "Where are the old clothes?"

I said, "In places they don't want us to investigate."

"where?"

"Qinghe Yoshikura."

Ah Liu was stunned: "Not Ci'en Temple?"

I shook my head.

"Ci'en Temple is where we were shown the truth. Qinghe Granary is where they wanted to hide it."

Xiao Lingyi's eyes flickered slightly: "So Qinghe's trip to Ci'en Temple was a false clue."

"At least it's not all real thread."

I pointed to the mud under the car.

"What was burned at Ci'en Temple were cloth corners. The real old clothes were probably transferred from Qinghe Granary."

Wei Zhi said, "But the Qinghe Granary is located outside the capital region and is not under the jurisdiction of the palace."

I looked at him.

"It falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue."

As soon as he said it, everyone fell silent for a moment.

Ministry of Revenue.

Zheng Huaien.

We went on such a long detour, from the disaster victims' records, the Imperial Clothing Bureau, the Changning Side Hall, the Old Clothing Room, the palace gate road, and finally back to the Ministry of Revenue.

This case is like a snake.

You thought you had caught its tail, but it turned around and bit you.

Ah Liu muttered, "Why is the Ministry of Revenue everywhere?"

I said, "Because the silver has to pass through the Ministry of Revenue everywhere."

Wei Zhi suddenly smiled.

"Lord Shen, your visit to the palace today to express your gratitude has inadvertently uncovered a major case."

"Father-in-law, that's not right."

"What's wrong?"

"The case was already there; they just insisted on dressing me up in a wedding dress."

I glanced down at the red clothes I was wearing.

"I was just wearing it for a while when I realized it was unlucky."

Xiao Lingyi looked at me and suddenly said, "Take it off."

I was taken aback.

"Your Highness, are you really taking your clothes off this time?"

She said coldly, "This garment is already evidence. If you keep wearing it, are you expecting people to accuse you of concealing evidence?"

Makes sense.

That makes perfect sense.

However, this is the outer palace road. Although I am surrounded by imperial guards, I, the dignified prince consort, am being asked by the princess to remove my outer robe in public on the second day of my marriage.

If this gets out, there will probably be thirty more versions circulating in the capital the next day.

At least twenty-nine of them are quite frivolous.

I looked at Wei Zhi.

Wei Zhi turned around with a smile.

"I'm getting old, and my eyesight isn't good."

Yan Xiaoyi also turned around.

"I'm going to sleep for a while."

Ah Liu went even further, covering both eyes completely.

"I didn't see anything!"

I sighed.

Xiao Lingyi personally took off my outer robe, handed the red dress to Qiutang to put away, and then took a spare blue robe from the carriage.

Her movements were clean and efficient, without a trace of elegance.

For some reason, Ah Liu was still peeking through his eyes even while covering them.

After I changed my clothes, I asked him, "What are you looking at?"

Ah Liu said sincerely, "I think Your Highness actually cares a lot about the young master."

Xiao Lingyi glanced at him.

Ah Liu immediately added, "Concerned about the evidence."

I think he has made great progress.

At least now they can make up for it themselves.

Wei Zhi's side soon received a report from the inner guards.

The patrol team outside the palace gates found that the old cloth cart from the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau did not go directly to Ci'en Temple after leaving the palace, but stopped for a quarter of an hour in the back alley of Qinghe Granary.

The driver has changed.

The original driver has disappeared.

Qinghe, who was escorting the truck, also disappeared after that.

After changing vehicles, the old cloth cart went to Ci'en Temple.

Half an hour later, another cart carrying incense ash from the Water and Land Ritual emerged from Ci'en Temple, bearing the sign "Qinghe Yicang Rice Offering".

That car is heading south of the city.

I asked, "Where in the south of the city?"

The guard said, "Judging from the direction, it looks like they're heading to the South Soup Dishes."

Southern porridge stall.

Xiao Lingyi and I looked at each other at the same time.

The South Soup Dishes Shed was one of the earliest breaches in the disaster relief case.

The porridge was thin, the tents were full, there were many people, but little food.

Now the incense ash cart is heading south to the soup kitchen.

This is not a detour.

This is returning home.

I said, "Qinghe probably won't go to Ci'en Temple; she's at the South Soup Porridge Shed."

Wei Zhi looked at me: "Lord Shen is leaving the palace?"

"want."

"What about His Majesty..."

"I would be grateful if you could inform me on my behalf, Father-in-law."

Wei Zhi smiled, his eyes narrowing.

"Lord Shen has not yet expressed his gratitude today."

I laughed too.

"Your Majesty, if I were to go and express my gratitude now, the people from Changning Side Hall, the Old Clothing Room, Xihua Gate, Qinghe Granary, Ci'en Temple, and the South Soup Porridge Shed would all likely express their gratitude on my behalf."

Wei Zhi chuckled softly.

"If His Majesty hears this, he will most likely accuse you of being presumptuous."

"Then let my father-in-law put it more tactfully."

"for example?"

"Your Majesty, I am so worried that I don't even have time to kowtow."

Wei Zhi glanced at me.

"Sir Shen's mouth will be sewn shut sooner or later."

I said seriously, "So we should check the Imperial Wardrobe first."

Xiao Lingyi, who had been keeping a cold expression, finally showed a faint smile in her eyes upon hearing this.

Just a little bit, and it'll be gone in no time.

Wei Zhi sent someone to report to the emperor, and at the same time, he dispatched a team of imperial guards to accompany us out of the palace.

Before leaving the palace, Aunt Sun was sent to a side hall for care, and Physician Song arrived to take over. Physician Huang, Consort Qin, and Liu Chengquan were temporarily detained in the Changning side hall. Consort Han's body was sealed, and her red ceremonial robe was sent to the palace storeroom as evidence, where it was personally guarded by Wei Zhi.

In this way, the threads in the palace will not be cleaned for the time being.

We can go and chase after the south of the city.

Only when the carriage drove out of the palace gate did Ah Liu finally dare to breathe heavily.

"Young master, have we escaped?"

I lifted the carriage curtain and watched the palace walls gradually recede into the distance.

"No."

"What is that?"

"You'll have bad luck if you go somewhere else."

Ah Liu immediately shut his mouth.

The carriages and horses traveled all the way to the south of the city.

The closer you get to the South Soup Dishes Shelter, the more disaster victims you'll find on the street.

Some people sat against the wall, some held broken bowls while queuing, and some children nestled in their mothers' arms with frighteningly large eyes.

These people didn't know who had just died in the palace, nor did they know where the late empress's old clothes might be hidden.

All they know is hunger.

Hunger is the most unreasonable thing.

If you try to reason with it about etiquette, it will gnaw on your bones.

If you talk to it about the accounts, it will bite your stomach.

There were more people outside the South Congee Stall today than in the past few days.

But the aroma of porridge wafting from the shed was stronger than it had been a few days ago.

Ah Liu sniffed it and exclaimed in surprise, "Young master, the porridge seems thicker today."

I looked at the large pot that was steaming.

"When something happens, the porridge always thickens."

Ah Liu didn't understand.

Xiao Lingyi had already looked toward the back alley of the soup kitchen.

There was a car parked there.

The vehicle was covered with a gray tarpaulin, and a sign hung next to it:

Incense ash from Ci'en Temple.

Rice supply: Qinghe Yicang.

The driver is not here.

Qinghe wasn't there either.

Only a few workers at the soup kitchen were unloading bags of rice from the truck.

I got out of the car and walked over.

One of the men saw the guards, his face changed, and he turned to run away, but Yan Xiaoyi kicked him to the ground.

Ah Liu instinctively covered his eyes.

"Guard Yan woke up quite quickly today."

I walked to the car and reached out to lift the gray cloth.

The truck was piled with bags of rice.

A jar of incense ash was placed on top of the rice bag.

It looks normal.

I had someone move the rice bags.

A layer of wooden planks was visible under the car.

There were fresh nail marks on the wooden board.

Yan Xiaoyi drew his knife and pried it open.

Beneath the wooden board was a hidden compartment.

A person was curled up in the dark compartment.

It's not Qinghe.

He was a young man with a scar on the back of his hand and a thick web between his thumb and forefinger.

It was the scribe Liu Cheng had mentioned who "looked like a palace maid."

He has already stopped breathing.

A thin needle was inserted into his throat.

Like the young eunuch who died outside the old clothing room.

Ah Liu's face turned pale: "He's dead again."

As I looked at the corpse in the dark compartment, my heart sank deeper and deeper.

The dead man was clutching half a rice coupon in his hand.

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

There is also a line of small print on the back.

I carefully took it out.

It says:

At midnight tonight, the charitable granary will be cleaned of ashes.

I looked up and gazed into the distance south of the city.

Qinghe Yicang.

It's finally its turn.

Just then, someone outside the soup kitchen suddenly shouted:

"The prince consort has arrived!"

The next moment, someone in the crowd shouted:

"He's the one who embezzled the relief funds!"

A broken bowl flew out from the crowd, hit me at my feet, and shattered into pieces.

The congee splashed onto the hem of my blue robe.

Scalding hot.

Ah Liu was so frightened that his face turned pale.

Xiao Lingyi stepped to stand beside me.

Looking at the disaster victims who suddenly became agitated, I suddenly understood.

They led me out of the palace.

It wasn't to make me investigate He Yicang.

It was so that I would die at the hands of the disaster victims.