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

The fact that Lady Wang left the palace gates sounds somewhat absurd.

She was the wife of a former official who had served as regent.

Before the prince's residence was sealed off, he could leave the capital with legal documents.

Why bother going into the palace and then taking a carriage full of sick clothes out?

Unless those three carriages for returning home were never meant for her in the first place.

The carriage was responsible for informing everyone that she had gone to Qingzhou.

Liang Qi was responsible for telling everyone that she was going to Qingxia.

The real Lady Wang, however, remained in the capital.

Waiting for Wang Song to hand over the seal.

Wait until my identity is revealed.

The old seal of the Central Secretariat, Bingfang, will be transferred out.

Then I personally connected the last few wires.

She didn't escape early.

They left late.

Fang Dianyi retrieved the vehicle register from the south gate of the Imperial Clothing Bureau.

Three carts carrying sick clothes left the palace last night.

Four tire tracks remain on the ground at the palace gate.

When Gu Xingzhi's people checked again, they initially thought one of the cars had returned empty.

Looking at it now, the fourth rut only leads out and not in.

There is no record of a fourth vehicle in the palace gate records.

I asked, "Can cars just appear out of thin air?"

The guard inside the gate knelt on the ground.

"When the ambulance carrying hospital gowns leaves, the two vehicles drive side by side."

"The fog was heavy at night, and it was covered by a gray cloth."

"I only checked the license plate of the front vehicle."

The two cars are driving side by side.

The car in front has license plates.

The car behind followed closely.

From a distance, the gatekeeper would only see a vehicle with a trailer.

A minor oversight.

That's enough to send off Madam Wang, Lan Gu, and Chen Ping.

Gu Xingzhi did not kill the gatekeeper on the spot.

He simply ordered his men to arrest him.

This is more useful than killing.

Those who are alive will explain who changed shifts, who hung up the gray light in advance, and who told them that patients in hospital gowns must not approach.

I asked, "Which way is the fourth car going?"

There were no tire tracks outside the south gate.

Gu Xingzhi Dao.

It rained lightly last night.

"The ruts should be very clear."

"Someone laid down charcoal ash."

Charcoal from the Black Stone Kiln.

The person delivering the fake letter used a black stone kiln charcoal bag.

When the medical gown cart left the city, charcoal ash was used to cover the ruts.

The Wang family's former property was not only used for burning charcoal.

It is the terminus of the Lanzhou-Chengnan Railway.

I said, "Let's go to the Black Stone Kiln."

Xiao Lingyi had already asked Qiutang to bring her a cloak.

"I will go with you."

"It is more secure for Your Highness to remain in the capital."

"You're making decisions for me again?"

I immediately changed my tune.

"Please, Your Highness."

When couples try to reason with each other, the most important thing is to admit defeat in time.

It's only twenty li from the palace to the Black Stone Kiln.

We did not have a large ceremonial procession.

Gu Xingzhi brought six bodyguards.

Four guards from the princess's residence.

Me, Xiao Lingyi, and Bai Zhi.

Physician Song did not come.

He said that if the patients in the coal mine were still alive, they should be carried back to the Imperial Hospital.

If he/she is dead, call a coroner.

The attitude is clear.

Ah Liu is not here.

The journey was much quieter.

He was so quiet that I wanted to turn around and ask him if he was scared several times, only to remember that he had already gone to Yong'an with Yan Xiaoyi.

That kid is probably regretting it on horseback right now.

I also have some regrets.

I should have kept him from going.

It's not that I'm worried he'll hold us back.

It's because there's no one around to tell me my fears; I have to be afraid all by myself.

The Black Stone Kiln was built behind a low hill.

Nominally, it was sealed up yesterday along with the Wang family's property.

The seal is still affixed to the main entrance.

It's not broken.

Gu Xingzhi glanced at it.

"Enter from the side."

The Wang family really liked not breaking the seal.

The seal was meant for those who would investigate the case later.

Those who truly get things done never use the front door.

There is a charcoal transport ramp behind the kiln.

The ground was covered with black ash.

The wheels leave no clear tracks when they pass over them.

A gray cloth vehicle was parked at the end of the slope.

There were no hospital gowns on the bus.

There were only stones.

It's a stone again.

The old talismans in the offering box of the Grand Master of Ceremonies were replaced with stones.

The hospital gowns were exchanged for living people with stones.

Stone from Beijing has been very busy lately.

They were busier than the officials in the Ministry of Revenue.

Bai Zhi jumped onto the vehicle and first looked at the vehicle's side panel.

"Has carried heavy loads."

"How heavy is it?"

"At least six people, plus two suitcases."

"When was it removed?"

"last night."

Gu Xingzhi ordered the inner guards to disperse.

There was no one on the surface of the kiln site.

The fire in the stove did not go out completely.

The innermost charcoal kiln was still emitting wisps of smoke.

The Wang family's properties were sealed off yesterday.

Logically, all kiln fires should be stopped.

However, once the kiln fire goes out completely, it is very troublesome to reignite it.

Some people don't want it to perish.

This means it will be used here again.

I walked up to the charcoal kiln.

New charcoal was piled up at the entrance.

The charcoal pile may look messy, but there is a gap at the bottom that allows a person to squeeze through sideways.

Gu Xingzhi used the scabbard to pry it open.

Behind it was an iron gate.

There was no lock on the door.

Only half of the blue badge was hanging there.

There is a single character engraved on the back of the card.

Clothes.

It is the one that Mother He saw.

Bai Zhi put the two cards together.

The wood grain matches the gap perfectly.

Lan Gu kept half of it.

It's like they're afraid we won't be able to find them.

I said, "She sent out invitations again."

Gu Xingzhi pushed open the iron gate.

There is no charcoal kiln behind the door.

It is a downward stone staircase.

The charcoal smoke only masks the smell.

What was actually burned were the old paper and clothing in the basement.

When we went down, there were still people inside.

Three women.

Two men.

They were all tied up.

not dead.

This is quite remarkable.

One of the women was dressed in the clothes from the Prince's Mansion's sewing room.

The other one was a former palace maid from the Shangyi Bureau.

The last one was fifteen or sixteen years old, and he only had one shoe left.

Du Rong.

Du Chang's niece.

I immediately had them untied.

The first thing Du Rong said after waking up was:

"Where is my uncle?"

"To live."

Her tears immediately fell.

Did he write it?

"I wrote it."

Her face turned pale.

I added, "They've recanted their confession too."

Only then did she burst into tears.

She didn't cry even though she was tied up.

He cried when he heard that his family members hadn't taken the blame for him.

People are strange sometimes.

I can endure the pain when the knife comes down.

Once the accounts were cleared, I couldn't help myself.

Xiao Lingyi asked, "Who locked you up here?"

The voice of the former palace maid from the Imperial Wardrobe trembled.

"Madam Wang."

I looked into Gu Xingzhi's eyes.

"Saw it with your own eyes?"

"Yes."

What was she wearing?

"Gray robe."

"Wearing a veil?"

"Start wearing it."

"Pick them after you come in."

"Who else?"

"A woman missing her little finger on her left hand."

"A man with a scar on his right ear."

Madam Wang.

Lan Gu.

Chen Ping.

All three of them were present.

Last night, the fourth vehicle carried them to Heishiyao.

But now the person is nowhere to be found.

I asked, "Where did they go?"

"There is another road underground."

The palace maid pointed to the deepest part of the charcoal kiln.

"The old brick road outside the city."

"When are you leaving?"

Before dawn.

One step away.

I wasn't surprised.

If you're chasing someone who's already planned out their path, you're lucky if you can even see their back.

This time, however, they did not kill everyone.

It's not that I'm soft-hearted.

It's too late.

Or perhaps they deliberately wanted us to rescue them.

Gu Xingzhi led his men into the old brick road.

I didn't follow.

I don't know kung fu.

Going down there would only add another consort to his roster who needs protection.

I've always been aware of this.

Bai Zhi has already started searching the basement.

This doesn't look like a temporary Tibetan.

It's more like a workshop for creating identities.

Old uniforms from different government offices were hanging on the wall.

Shangyi Bureau.

Taichang Temple.

Post station.

Grain store.

Constable of the Jingzhao Prefecture.

There were even two sets of uniforms for the Censorate.

On the table were discarded plaques, old seals, blank road signs, medical records, grain deeds, and various colors of wax seals.

A piece of clothing.

A card.

A paper.

This could transform a woman from a member of the royal household into a palace maid in plain clothes.

From being a deathbed courier, it became a Ministry of War official.

From surviving disaster victims to anti-government forces in the southwest.

The accounting meeting was not just about killing people.

It's also changing people's identities.

Kill the people who should be alive.

Then, the identity of the dead is given to the person who needs it.

Bai Zhi found a row of wooden sticks on the wall.

Each wooden tag has two lines written on it.

The above is the real name.

The following is a fake identity.

Chen Ping – A minor official in the Ministry of Rites.

Jiao Wu – Tongzhou Express Delivery

Du Cheng – a clerk who died of the plague.

He Shi – Qingyi Value.

Further on, there was another one that read:

Lady Wang – Seventh in Qing Dynasty Armor.

Below are the gray marks from the South Gate hospital gown cart.

Lady Wang did indeed leave the palace in the fourth carriage.

The three carriages returning home were just a pretext.

She never went to Tongzhou Wharf.

They didn't head towards Qingzhou.

She first used her Qingyi identity to leave the palace, and then left through the underground brick passage of the Black Stone Kiln.

Where does this brick path lead?

It wasn't on the old map.

But there was a lucky charm hanging on the wall.

Qingxia Binglu.

She will eventually go to Qingxia.

They just didn't take the official road.

I continued reading.

The last wooden slip did not have a real name.

It says above:

Shen An.

The following lists three identities.

The sick prince consort.

A tyrant who murdered his ruler.

Young Master of the Southwest.

The first option has already been used.

The medical records before the wedding and the ceremony for expressing gratitude and avoiding danger were all designed to portray me as a sickly prince consort.

The second item is currently in use.

False letters, hidden knives, supply lines, and future battle reports all portray me as a tyrant and traitor.

The third item has not yet been stamped.

Young Master of the Southwest.

Bai Zhi removed the wooden stick.

There is a line of small print on the back.

It can be completed once you leave Beijing.

I watched it for a long time.

They're not in a hurry to capture me in the capital.

They're not in a hurry to kill me.

As long as I leave the capital for the sake of the seventy-three people of Yong'an, as long as I embark on the Wang family's grain route, all the genuine and fake seals along the way will help me complete my third identity.

Shen Lie's son left the capital.

Investigate the Wang family's grain route.

It came into contact with the hidden stakes in the southwest.

Finally, it appeared in Qingxia.

No matter what I do, the court will receive the following:

Shen An returned to the southwest.

Xiao Lingyi saw it too.

"That's why Aunt Lan has been pressuring you to leave the capital."

"Yes."

"Where are the people from Yong'an Warehouse?"

"We must save them."

"Then we must ensure that even after you leave the capital, the capital still knows what you are doing."

I looked at her.

She has already started thinking of a solution.

It wasn't an attempt to persuade me to stay.

It's not a decision made for me.

It's about figuring out with me how to get into the system, without letting the system write the ending for us.

Bai Zhi's voice suddenly came from the other side of the basement.

"There's another copy here."

She pulled a booklet from a hidden compartment in an old trunk.

The investiture did not include a name.

The first page only has five lines.

medicine.

Clothes.

door.

grain.

water.

Behind each line are people corresponding to the capital and local authorities.

Not the complete book.

It's just a list of people to be handed over recently.

Many names are coded.

However, some parts are clearly written.

Sun Jing, Registrar of Yong'an County.

Cao Heng, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

Liang Wenxiu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Madam Wang.

The last page contains only one command.

After Wang Song made the decision, he abandoned the old railway line in the capital.

He led Shen An out of the capital.

He received the order from the Southwest Father.

If he turns back, let Zhao Ning be his witness.

I looked at Xiao Lingyi.

"What kind of testimony?"

Bai Zhi turned to the next page.

A pre-written confession was pasted on the back.

Princess Zhaoning personally testified:

Imperial son-in-law Shen An left the capital on his father's orders and joined Shen Lie's forces.

The confession ends with the location of the princess's golden seal.

It is exactly the same as the fake stamp on the Qingxia accident report.

They want me to become the young master of the Southwest.

Xiao Lingyi also needs to personally verify it.

Gu Xingzhi returned from the old brick path.

"The person is gone."

"Where is the exit?"

"Ten miles outside the city, there is an abandoned charitable estate."

"What should be left behind?"

"The wheel tracks point south."

"How many?"

"One car."

Mrs. Wang no longer needs three fake cars.

Her identity has been completely changed.

The road has been cleared.

Gu Xingzhi handed me a letter that had been left at the exit.

This time, I did not imitate Shen Lie's calligraphy.

It is a handwritten letter by Madam Wang.

There are only two sentences.

Imperial Censor Shen, there are seventy-three lives in Yong'an Granary. We can't wait for the capital to discuss this further.

If you don't come, I will accept it on behalf of your father.