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

After Luo Chenghai uttered the words "Lan Gu," the Xuanzheng Hall remained silent for a long time.

It's not that nobody has heard of it.

Too many people have heard of it.

From Lan Bugui to San Kong Lan, and then to Duan Lan Yin in the West Courtyard of the Wang Family, this orchid has bloomed many times on tents, clothes, medicine, food, and the dead.

Now someone finally says it is a person.

I don't quite believe it.

If someone could simultaneously appear in the Southwest Military Supply Route, the Capital Bank, the Old Imperial Treasury, and the West Courtyard of a Prince's Mansion, she either had to be able to fly, or she had to own every door in the capital.

The former is unlikely.

The latter is more frightening.

The emperor looked at Luo Chenghai.

"who is she?"

Luo Chenghai lay on the ground, his shoulders trembling.

"This humble citizen does not know."

Gu Xingzhi took a step forward.

Luo Chenghai immediately added, "This humble subject truly has no idea!"

People who are this afraid usually don't care whether the lyrics sound good or not.

"You haven't seen her before?"

"I've seen it."

"What does it look like?"

"Every time...it's different every time."

He Wenzheng, still kneeling to the side, couldn't help but say, "Absurd. How can a person look different every time?"

"Not just one person."

I asked, "Then why are they all called Aunt Lan?"

"Because they all took the same thing."

"The Broken Orchid Seal?"

"And another order."

"What order?"

Luo Chenghai licked his chapped lips.

"When Lan Gu came, she did not give her name."

"Only half a blue card is handed over."

There's something going on with the cards.

"Medicine, clothing, gate, food, and silver—five things."

The half-plaque found in Feng Xikong's grave last night reads "By Order".

The Inner Court General Command is divided into three lines: medicine, clothing, and gates.

Now there is also more grain and silver.

This is not just an old case from the palace.

It is a complete command transmission system.

Gu Xingzhi took out the half of the "By Order" token.

"Is this the kind?"

Luo Chenghai glanced at it, his face turning even paler.

"picture."

"Why is there only half a piece?"

"The person receiving the order keeps half, and the person delivering the order keeps half."

"Only when the wood grain and the gaps match can it be considered a true order."

Bai Zhi listened attentively from the side of the hall.

She suddenly asked, "What if the messenger dies?"

"What?"

"If the person holding the other half of the card dies, how does the process continue?"

"Someone will take the card."

"Who?"

"have no idea."

"The previous Lan Gu passed half of the token to the next Lan Gu?"

"Sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"The half-cards will be placed in designated old clothes, medicine boxes, or food carts."

I looked at the two sets of accounting plaques on the table.

The first batch of genuine licenses has dual verification and a duplicate register stamp.

The second batch of counterfeit license plates removed the accountability rules, but retained the system of issuing orders to counterfeiters.

The accounting meeting was not about indiscriminate killing.

It changed the method the late empress used to limit power to one of concealing responsibility.

Bai Zhi said, "So Lan Gu is not a name."

"It's a hand."

"Whoever gets the other half of the card can issue the next command."

"right."

"When I was serving in the Southwest Army, I met two Lan Gus."

"An old man, with a hoarse voice."

"A young man, missing his little finger on his left hand."

"After arriving in Beijing, Yongfeng Bank also visited Lan Gu."

"The person was wearing a veiled hat, so we couldn't see their face."

"Where is Madam Wang?"

I asked, "Is she Aunt Lan?"

"No, I don't know."

"You transferred silver and delivered grain for her, and you also worked in the Wang family's secret treasury."

"She took the Broken Orchid Seal."

"You still don't know?"

"Madam Wang never personally claims to be one."

"She only said, 'Lanling has arrived.'"

Lady Wang can issue orders without having to assume the identity of "Lan Gu".

Because Lan Gu is never a fixed person.

Whoever holds the license is the holder.

The emperor asked, "Who gave you that old letter from the fourteenth year of the Chengxi reign?"

"An old clerk in the Southwest Army."

"name."

"Du Cheng."

The Ministry of War officials immediately flipped through the records.

Du Cheng, Deputy Chief of Military Grain Transport in Southwest China.

In the winter of the fourteenth year of Chengxi, he died of illness while escorting grain.

Another dead person.

I asked, "Did you see him die with your own eyes?"

"no."

Who reported the death?

"Grain Transport Station".

"Who will perform the autopsy?"

"No test was conducted."

Why?

"The body was said to be infected with the plague, and it was burned that night."

The accounting committee prefers to ensure that the dead die in a proper manner.

I asked, "When Du Cheng wrote you the letter, who did he say it was for?"

"Send it to the west counter of Yongfeng Bank in Beijing."

"Wang Song wasn't mentioned?"

"no."

"Why did the letter end up in the Prince's residence?"

"This humble citizen does not know."

"Who received it after you delivered it to the west counter?"

"An old woman."

"What does it look like?"

"He has a white film over his right eye and wears a silver ring on his hand."

"Who did she say she was?"

"Aunt Lan".

Several officials in the hall had already begun taking notes.

"You just said that you saw two Lan girls in the Southwest."

"One old and one young."

"Was the old woman one of them?"

"no."

"Then at least three."

"Yes."

"After arriving in the capital, I met Lan Gu again, who was wearing a veil."

"Yes."

"Madam Wang can still issue orchid orders."

"Yes."

"Not just one person."

"And not just one generation."

"Lan Gu is a messenger."

Pei Shen knelt beside the hall and suddenly spoke.

"Back then, there was a kind of anonymous order in the old treasury of the Imperial Secretariat."

He has handed over his official seal today, and he's talking more than before.

It's like when someone loses their official position, they no longer have to leave room for future advancement in every word they say.

"What nameless order?"

"During the reign of the late emperor, when the border troops encountered an emergency, they could use half a tally to procure grain."

"A half-talisman does not record the holder's name, but only the talisman's mouth."

"It was later scrapped because someone forged it."

"When the second batch of inventory lists were being cleared and materials were being collected, Grand Secretary Wang reviewed half of them in accordance with the old system."

I looked toward the palace gate where Wang Song had left.

That old man is indeed very good at maintaining order in the court.

Use what's useful from the old system.

What remains is a set of knives that everyone can use and no one has to take responsibility for.

The emperor said, "I will transfer half of the old records from the Secretariat."

Gu Xingzhi accepted the order.

I then asked Luo Chenghai, "How does Lan Ling distinguish between light and heavy?"

"Inscriptions on the back of the card".

"Medicine, it's about using medicine."

"Clothing" refers to changing clothes, hiding things, and selling clothes.

"The door represents sealing the door, changing the guard, or moving the person."

"Grain refers to the transfer of grain to warehouses, the cutting off of grain supplies, and the creation of grain robbery cases."

"Where's the silver?"

Luo Chenghai swallowed.

"Silver is not written directly."

Write "water".

Bai Zhi frowned.

Why?

"Silver Image Water".

"It can flow from anywhere."

These words don't sound like something Luo Chenghai would have thought.

I asked, "Who taught you that?"

"Aunt Lan".

Which one?

"The one with the veil."

Bai Zhi turned the cover of the second tent to several blank spaces.

Previously, we only thought these wavy marks were the marks left by the bank.

Looking at it now, the three short ripples correspond exactly to the "water command" that Luo Chenghai mentioned.

"Wang's second account was not a separate silver route."

She said, "It's the waterline in Lanling."

"Medicine, clothing, doors, food, and water."

Five lines.

"Each person is only responsible for one section."

"Where will the money ultimately be transferred to?"

Luo Chenghai immediately shook his head.

"have no idea."

"You'd better know something."

"The common people only care about food and water."

At the end of each month, someone will come to collect the total amount from account B.

"Who?"

"It's different every time."

"How do you recognize it?"

"Look at your hands."

"hand?"

"The person who comes will have a broken orchid red rope tied around their left wrist."

"Tie the red string into five knots."

"Five lines, one line and one knot."

I suddenly remembered the orchids outside the window of the Wang family's west courtyard, broken by a car wheel.

A very thin red thread was also tied to the broken edge.

That wasn't a mark left casually.

This is the general order.

Before leaving the West Courtyard, Madam Wang had already taken away or sent out one of the five threads.

I asked, "Who will ultimately receive the red string?"

"This humble citizen has never seen it."

"But I heard that the five knots are complete and must be sent to the old storehouse."

"What old warehouse?"

Luo Chenghai looked up at Pei Shen.

Pei Shen's expression changed slightly.

"The old treasury of the Imperial Secretariat?"

Pei Shen said, "The old treasury of the Imperial Secretariat does not contain such a thing."

"Yesterday, Vice Minister Pei said that the General Manager of the Inner Court was initially in charge of Feng happy."

"Today they say the old warehouse is empty."

"How much do you actually know?"

Pei Shen remained silent for a moment.

"The old treasury of the Central Secretariat was divided into three sections: A, B, and C."

"Official records are in document A."

"The draft edict is sealed in place."

"House C is not registered."

What does it mean if there's no register?

"Special storage for items that are not suitable for inclusion in the catalog but cannot be destroyed."

"The Liang Dynasty was very good at naming things."

"Things that cannot be exposed to light are kept in rooms without curtains."

"Who can enter room C?"

"The Grand Secretary, two Vice Ministers, and those who held the old keys entrusted by the late emperor."

"Does Wang Song have the key?"

"have."

"And you?"

Pei Shen did not answer.

Gu Xingzhi had already walked up to him.

Pei Shen took out a very small copper key from his sleeve.

"Your subject has."

For every item this old fox hands over today, he incurs another sin.

But it also opens another door.

The emperor said, "Open room C."

Pei Shendao said, "Your Majesty, the Bingfang has been sealed for eleven years."

"Since the new decree from the Secretariat was issued last night with the official seal, the Bingfang office may still be sealed."

"Commander Gu."

Gu Xingzhi was already walking out.

Yan Xiaoyi suddenly entered from outside the palace gate.

But the fact that he came in means there's something more urgent outside than the rules.

"Something has happened to the old treasury of the Imperial Secretariat."

Several officials in the hall turned pale at the same time.

My first thought was fire.

These people in the capital have nothing new to offer.

But Yan Xiaoyi continued, "No fire started."

He didn't dare to loosen his grip on the other half.

"What is that?"

"The door to room C is open."

"What's inside?"

"It's empty."

When did you move?

"Before the palace gates were sealed off last night."

"Who's moving?"

"The Secretariat is retrieving the files."

"Is there any documentation?"

"have."

He handed a file transfer form to Gu Xingzhi.

True seal.

The information about the transfer was written very simply.

A box of Chengxi's old discarded talismans.

The old warehouse of Taichang Temple west of the city.

I looked at the forty-seven Taichang supply boxes that had been stopped yesterday.

One of the mouths was filled with stones.

Madam Wang did not seize Lanling's main account last night.

She had already packed the old talisman from the Bingfang house into that box.

If we hadn't sealed the gates, the box would have already left the palace by now.

But after the box was stopped, why was there only stone inside?

Someone changed it again before loading it onto the truck.

Gu Xingzhi asked, "Who was the person who retrieved the files?"

Yan Xiaoyi said, "Pei Shen."

All eyes in the hall fell on Pei Shen.

Pei Shen knelt very steadily.

"Not a subject."

"Your signature is on the form."

"The signature is real."

"That's what you signed."

"No."

Pei Shen looked at the file transfer form.

"This is a fortune slip from eleven years ago."

"The 'Zhongshu Requesting Files' slip changes its placement of the writing mark every year."

"The dark spot on this list is from the fourteenth year of Seong-hee."

"Someone took the blank file transfer form that I signed eleven years ago and filled in the content yesterday."

A blank document from eleven years ago.

Yesterday’s true seal.

The accounting meeting is not a temporary counterattack.

It has been preparing for today for eleven years.

Bai Zhi suddenly flipped over the file transfer form.

There is a very shallow indentation on the back.

She lightly brushed it with charcoal powder.

A line of words pressed out by the upper layer of paper slowly appeared.

The old talisman for the Bingfang branch has been transferred.

Lan Gu went to the capital.

I stared at the last four words.

Luo Chenghai said that Lan Gu was not a person.

But this list looks like it was written by a real person.

She has already arrived in Beijing.

Moreover, this happened right after Wang Song handed over his official seal, Madam Wang fled, and my identity was revealed.

She didn't come to save anyone.

They've come to take over.