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

Zheng Huaien died in the deepest part of the inner prison.

When the news reached Xuanzheng Hall, many people's first reaction was shock.

My first reaction was: That was perfect timing.

It was as accurate as an accountant's perfectly calculated abacus.

Just as the account book was presented to the palace, just as Wang's private seal was revealed, and just as Zhou Bingli confessed to being "Wang," Zheng Huaien died.

This is not suicide.

This is like strangling a dog that has already bitten the corner of Wang Ge Lao's robe.

Of course, these words cannot be said directly in the palace.

So I just went to the inner prison with Gu Xingzhi.

Xiao Lingyi is also coming.

Before Grand Secretary Wang could speak, the Emperor spoke first: "Zhao Ning, please go with me."

This time, even Grand Secretary Wang couldn't stop it.

The inner prison was still as cold as ever.

It was so cold it didn't feel like a prison cell; it felt like it was deliberately sucking the warmth out of people's hearts.

When Zheng Huaien's cell door opened, it was quiet inside.

He lay on the couch, his head slightly turned to the side, with a trace of dark blood at the corner of his mouth.

His hands were still locked.

There were also locks on their feet.

In the corner of the cell, there was a cup of cold tea, half an untouched cake, and an empty medicine bottle.

The medicine bottle rolled on the ground, its opening facing outwards.

It looks like he took the bottle and poisoned himself.

Very complete.

Complete yet fake.

Ah Liu didn't come in this time.

I left him outside.

He'd seen enough dead people.

If I keep watching, I'm afraid he'll wake up in the middle of the night and come running to ask me, "Young master, do we have a well in our house?"

Gu Xingzhi stood at the prison gate, his face colder than usual.

"Where are the guards?"

Two bodyguards were brought up.

Their faces were deathly pale, and they knelt on the ground.

"Commander Gu, your subordinates have not left your side for a moment."

Gu Xingzhi looked at them.

"How did the person die?"

One of the voices trembled: "Zheng Huai'en said he felt tightness in his chest and wanted to drink water. I checked the tea and the cakes; there was no poison. Later, he lay down, and I thought he was asleep. A moment later, I checked again, and he was already..."

Gu Xingzhi did not swear.

When he's not swearing, he's even scarier than when he is.

I walked into the cell.

Xiao Lingyi stood by the door, not approaching the corpse.

She wasn't afraid.

She knew I needed to see it.

Physician Song also arrived.

This physician has been working non-stop since last night, and his face clearly says, "Your court will work me to death sooner or later."

He squatted down to examine the body, first looking at the mouth and nose, then the fingernails, and then smelling the medicine bottle.

"The poison is from the aconite family; it won't kill instantly upon contact with blood, but it takes effect very quickly after ingestion."

I asked, "Like self-medication?"

The physician frowned.

"The medicine residue in my mouth was obvious; it was definitely ingested."

"Did he swallow it himself, or was he fed it?"

"It's hard to say."

I looked at Zheng Huaien's hands.

My wrists were rubbed red by the chains.

But there was a little bit of fine powder between the fingers of my right hand.

I picked it out with a silver needle and smelled it.

It's not medicine.

It's sawdust.

Where did the sawdust in the cell come from?

I looked up at the edge of the tatami mat.

There was a very fine scratch on the edge of the tatami board.

It looks like someone scratched it with their fingernails.

wrong.

With Zheng Huaien's hands locked, it would be normal for him to grab the bed board if he struggled before he died.

There is only one scratch.

Moreover, there is a small dent next to the scratch.

It felt like something had crushed it.

I asked the prison guard, "Were there medicine bottles in the cell originally?"

"no."

"Who brought it in?"

Their faces turned even paler.

"No one is bringing it in."

Gu Xingzhi looked at them.

One of them quickly said, "I dare to guarantee with my life that no one will go to jail."

"Where did that medicine bottle come from?"

No one answered.

I looked at the medicine bottle.

The medicine bottle was small, made of ordinary porcelain, and the stopper lay to the side.

The bottle is very clean.

So clean it didn't look like it had rolled on the floor of a prison cell.

I picked up the stopper and looked at it.

There was a thin black line on the inside of the stopper.

The line is very thin.

It looked like it had been pulled out of some kind of organization.

I looked up at the cell wall.

The walls of the inner prison are very thick.

But there are ventilation holes in the corner of the wall.

The ventilation hole was only the size of a fist and was sealed off by an iron grille.

I walked over and squatted down to look.

The iron fence is intact.

But a little bit of white paper was stuck in the gap of the fence.

I removed the paper scraps.

It has a very faint fragrance.

Albizia julibrissin.

I closed my eyes.

It tastes the same again.

A lingering fragrance, dating back to the late Empress's old case, seems to haunt you.

Gu Xingzhi walked to my side.

Where does the hole lead to?

The guards inside the prison said, "The alley leading to the back is usually deserted."

Gu Xingzhi immediately sent people to investigate.

Looking at the ventilation holes, I roughly pictured what was going on.

Someone would come from the back of the passage and use a thin thread or bamboo tube to send the medicine bottle into the ventilation hole.

The medicine bottle rolled through the hole to the side of the bed.

Zheng Huaien retrieved the medicine bottle.

The question is, why did he drink it?

Was he pressured by someone?

If no one goes to jail, how can you force them?

Unless the medicine bottle contains more than just poison.

There was also a reason why he had to take poison.

I looked at Zheng Huaien's corpse.

"Physician Song, can you tell whether he was under the influence of other drugs before taking the poison?"

Physician Song was taken aback for a moment, then carefully examined the eyelids and the base of the tongue.

After a moment, he said, "There are traces of sedatives."

"Acacia benzoin?"

"It's very weak; it won't cause unconsciousness, but it can slow down one's consciousness."

In other words, Zheng Huaien was not fully conscious.

Someone would first give him a sedative by inhaling or taking it orally, and then send him to prison with the poison.

But there was no incense burner or medicine in the prison.

I looked at the half-eaten pancake.

"Test the cake again."

Physician Song broke open the cake, smelled it, and shook his head.

"The cake is neither poisonous nor has any calming incense."

The tea has also been tested.

Then there's only air.

Ventilation opening.

Someone burned a very faint incense stick outside the vent, letting the scent come in through the vent.

Zheng Huaien felt a slow reaction after inhaling the medicine, and then saw the medicine bottle or note again.

Note?

I suddenly looked at the medicine bottle.

The medicine bottle was empty.

However, there is a slight scratch mark on the inside of the bottom of the bottle.

It looks like it once had paper stuffed in it, but someone took it away.

Zheng Huaien took the paper, read it, and then took the poison.

Where is that piece of paper?

He couldn't have swallowed it all before he died.

I looked at Physician Song.

Physician Song's expression changed.

"Another C-section?"

I don't want to either.

Really.

But it seems the dead these past two days have all been keeping their stories to themselves.

Before I could even speak, Gu Xingzhi said, "Dissect it."

Physician Song sighed.

"Lord Shen, your investigation has been hampered by medical personnel."

I said earnestly, "Once the case is closed, I will send you tonics."

Physician Song glared at me.

"Don't give me calming medicine."

"Definitely."

Xiao Lingyi stood by the door and asked coldly, "Did he take the poison voluntarily, or was he forced to?"

I looked at Zheng Huaien's face.

After his death, he lost his usual gentle facade.

His brow was furrowed and his jaw was clenched.

It doesn't seem like he committed suicide peacefully.

It's like hatred.

"Semi-voluntary."

Xiao Lingyi looked at me.

I explained, "He swallowed the poison himself, but before he did, he saw something. That thing made him realize that not drinking it wouldn't have helped, or that not drinking it would have made things worse."

Xiao Lingyi's eyes darkened.

"His family?"

"uncertain."

People like Zheng Huaien are adept at using other people's family members as weapons.

But whether his own family members can threaten him is hard to say.

I prefer the other one.

He was told: If you don't die, you can't protect something bigger.

Or, if you don't die, you'll die an even more gruesome death.

The autopsy results came back quickly.

Sure enough, there was a small piece of wax-sealed paper in Zheng Huaien's stomach.

The paper was half ruined by the poison and stomach acid.

The physician Song slowly soaked the herbs in water, and Bai Zhi was also called in to decipher the characters.

She paused for a moment when she saw Zheng Huaien's body as soon as she entered the cell.

She did not speak.

He didn't show any satisfaction either.

She just looked at that face that had killed her father and embezzled disaster victims' money.

After a long while, she finally came over.

"What's written on the paper?"

Only a few lines remained on the tattered paper.

...The Wang family could not save their tails.

...The white curtains have been placed in the three cabinets.

...If you do not clear your name, the old case of Bai Song will fall solely on your shoulders.

The last four characters are still complete:

Settle old accounts.

Bai Zhi's fingers trembled slightly after reading it.

I asked, "What is a white tent?"

Her voice was low: "The old grievances of Bai Song."

The white curtains have been placed in the three cabinets.

But when we checked the three counters at Yongfeng, we only found old tickets and ticket stubs. Bai Song's old accounts have already been taken away.

The paper says "already in the third cabinet," but that doesn't refer to the present.

This was to tell Zheng Huaien that the Wang family had taken control of Bai Song's old connections.

If he hadn't died, Wang could have pinned all the blame for Bai Song's old case on him.

Zheng Huaien certainly harmed Bai Song.

But he may not be the only killer.

If he were alive, he might bite Wang.

So Wang first had him clean himself.

Docking the tail.

The rules of the accounting committee are very harsh.

If the debt falls on you, you have to clear your name.

Xiao Lingyi looked at the tattered paper.

"The Wang family will not be able to save their tails."

This statement is more direct than simply stating the amount.

She looked at me.

"Grand Secretary Wang."

I nodded.

"At least the Wang family."

Is there a big difference?

"It's very large in the imperial court."

The surname Wang could be Wang Ge Lao himself, his wife, a clansman, a student, or Cui Jing from Yongfeng.

As long as it's not written by Grand Secretary Wang himself, it can be approved.

The old man is probably waiting for us to take this scrap of paper to the palace.

Then he said: Before Zheng Huaien committed suicide out of fear of punishment, he accused Wang, and there was no way to verify it after his death.

We can't rush things.

Especially at times like these, you must not use a half-worn piece of paper as a knife.

If the knife is too dull, it will be snatched away.

The men Gu Xingzhi sent to the back alley have returned.

"There was incense ash residue outside the ventilation hole, a thin bamboo tube, and a section of black thread. The person is gone."

"Who can get into the back alley?"

"Prison servants, guards, and minor officials who deliver meals."

"Take them all."

Gu Xingzhi's voice was cold.

I asked, "Are there footprints?"

"There is a string of small footprints."

Small footprints.

Many names flashed through my mind.

Palace maid.

Little novice monk.

Tea server.

Qinghe of the Shangyi Bureau.

The accounting committee seems to prefer using unassuming people.

Insignificant people die quickly and are inconspicuous.

I squatted in front of the ventilation vent and suddenly saw a little bit of light red powder on the ground.

It's not blood.

Like rouge.

How could there be rouge in the alley behind the inner prison?

I wrapped it in paper.

Xiao Lingyi glanced at it.

"Rouge from the Palace"

"Does Your Highness recognize him?"

"The Imperial Clothing Bureau usually uses it to design embroidery patterns, not for women's makeup."

Shangyi Bureau.

The line went back.

Qin Shangyi is still in the palace.

After we left her place, we traced our way to Zheng Huaien, Zhaoyue Nunnery, Yongfeng, the Princess's Treasury, and then back to the inner prison.

Now that Zheng Huaien is dead, the thread points back to the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau.

Was Qin Shangyi a member of the clothing guard or a member of the accounting committee?

I got up.

"Go see Qin Shangyi."

Gu Xingzhi said, "She is in the side hall of Changning."

"Still there?"

"His Majesty did not move her."

I looked at Xiao Lingyi.

The emperor kept Qin Shangyi in the side hall of Changning.

This doesn't seem like negligence.

It seems intentional.

Xiao Lingyi had obviously thought of that as well.

She didn't ask any further questions, only saying, "Let's go."

Bai Zhi suddenly spoke.

"I'll go too."

I looked at her.

She gripped the tattered piece of paper tightly.

"Zheng Huai'en is dead, but Bai Song's old grudges still exist. If the Imperial Wardrobe is involved in the issue of sick clothes, I need to know."

I nodded.

"Walk."

As I left the inner prison, I glanced back at Zheng Huaien's corpse.

This person is utterly wicked.

But his death was also very useful.

The papers he left behind after his death laid bare the rules of the Wang family and the Qingyi Association regarding cutting off the tail of the family.

A person falsifies accounts while alive.

Death, ironically, became part of the true account.

The capital city is truly absurd.

Even more absurdly, we have to continue the investigation.