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

When we returned to the palace from the southern suburbs, the Donghua Gate was already closed.

The one who sealed the door was not an internal guard.

They were the palace guards.

The reason given was that Censor Shen An had entered the palace to investigate medicines on the emperor's orders, and no one was to be disturbed.

I stood outside the door.

Looking at the copy of the warrant on the door.

My name is me.

My official position is [my official title].

The details of leaving Beijing to check the registered residents north of the Yangtze River and the urgent return today are all written very clearly.

The only problem is, I'm outside the door right now.

There's another one inside the door.

The guard captain at the gate had a complicated expression on his face when he saw me.

"Lord Shen."

"Um."

"That one inside..."

"Also called Shen An."

"The face is similar too."

How similar?

"Watch it at night."

"Seven or eight out of ten."

Xiao Lingyi asked, "Has the official seal been verified?"

"It has been verified."

"True Seal?"

"Deputy Censor of the Censorate"

My seal is on my waist.

The deputy seal was originally kept in the office of the Censorate.

It was sealed before leaving Beijing.

Now it can be used by people.

This shows that the Censorate was also exposed in a certain way.

I asked, "Who delivered the imperial edict to Donghua Gate?"

"Eunuch Wei."

"Which one?"

The captain was taken aback.

Nowadays, people are asking this question more and more skillfully.

"Delivered at Shenshi (3-5 PM)."

The real Wei Zhi was in the West Garden at Shenshi (3-5 PM), while the fake Wei Zhi had already been arrested. The only one who could deliver the order was the third.

The captain only looked at the face, not the hands and the steps, and only now did he realize what he had missed.

"Which way does Shen An take?"

"Enter through the Donghua Gate."

"Go to the duty room in the Censorate to retrieve the case files first."

"Next to the inner warehouse."

"Finally, we entered the inner passage of Changning Palace."

The dummy was not in a hurry to kill the emperor.

He filled in the records along the way through the Censorate, the Imperial Treasury, and Changning Palace, preparing to have the palace register prove that "Shen An" had indeed entered the palace.

I handed the official seal to Xiao Lingyi.

"Your Highness, please keep it safe."

"You don't need it?"

"The person inside already has a deputy seal."

"If I take another one in, it'll be even harder for the gatekeeper to distinguish them."

She took it.

"Where's the knife?"

Yan Xiaoyi handed over the knife.

I didn't answer.

"Keep it too."

Ah Liu was surprised.

"Young master, are you going in empty-handed?"

"The person inside is carrying me."

"If he carries a knife."

"I won't bring it."

"Can this prove it?"

"cannot."

"At least when a fight breaks out, the Imperial Guards know to press down on the one with the sword first."

This method suits me perfectly.

Yan Xiaoyi said, "I'll go in."

The captain immediately said, "Swords are not allowed in the palace!"

Yan Xiaoyi looked at him.

"Then stop them."

The captain remained silent.

I said, "Yan Xiaoyi from the roof."

"Han Feng led his men through the inner passage."

"His Highness has sealed off the Donghua Gate and the outer gate of Changning Palace."

Xiao Lingyi looked at me.

"And you?"

"Use the main entrance."

Why?

"He wanted me to appear fake."

"Then I'll let everyone see where the real exit is."

She did not object.

Just say:

"Don't die."

"I will do my best."

"Not as much as possible."

"Yes."

She's becoming more and more adept at giving me this perfunctory attitude.

I re-entered the palace through the Donghua Gate.

There is no print.

There is no knife.

Only Ah Liu was brought along.

Ah Liu was originally unwilling.

"Young master, you just said that I run slowly."

"We need to slow down today."

Why?

"Let people along the way see your face clearly."

Ah Liu felt that this reason was weak.

But I followed along anyway.

At each gate I passed, the military officers recorded that I returned from the southern suburbs without an official seal or sword, accompanied by Ah Liu.

Three copies of the door register are always more reliable than one face.

The inner warehouse duty room is in chaos.

On the table was a catalog of medicine records that had just been taken away.

Recipient:

Shen An.

It used my old signature.

The old signature resembles me, but the ink droplet falls to the right of the character "安" (peace/safety).

I always place my inkstone on the left. The person imitating my calligraphy learned the strokes, but not how I sit. The clerk on duty also said that the person deliberately couldn't raise his left shoulder.

"What did you say?"

"Where is the new medicine treasury in Changning Palace?"

"They even asked where Wei Zhiguan was."

"Which one should we ask first?"

"Wei Zhi".

He entered the palace not just to kill the emperor.

They also want to kill Zhen Weizhi.

As long as Zhen Weizhi dies.

No one could uncover the fake Wei Zhi's identity from the details of his daily life.

Two imperial guards lay dead at the entrance to the inner passage of Changning Palace.

He didn't die.

There was a pinhole on the back of each neck.

Anesthesia was used.

Han Feng arrived from the other side.

"The person has already entered the West Garden Pharmacy."

"Where is Wei Zhijia?"

"They have just moved into the side hall of Changning Palace."

Who shared it?

"The Imperial Medical Academy says His Majesty wishes to see you."

"Has His Majesty given the order?"

No one witnessed it.

It was still an oral order.

The people in the palace who deliver imperial edicts are too busy today.

The stretcher in the side hall fell to the ground, but the drops of blood and the tire tracks were separated to the sides.

Zhen Wei was pushed toward the abandoned medicine well on the left; the blood was merely a guide.

The medicine well had long been sealed.

But the wellhead was opened.

Wei Zhijia leaned against the well.

His hands were tied.

His mouth was stuffed with cloth.

There was a person standing behind him.

He wore the blue robe of an imperial censor.

His face resembles mine by about six or seven points.

Dim the lights.

More injuries.

That's definitely enough.

He had a thick cloth wrapped around his left shoulder.

He wore the seal of the Deputy Censor at his waist.

He held a short blade in his hand.

Two characters are engraved on the scabbard.

Return to its sheath.

Xiao Lingyi entered from the other side.

Upon seeing the knife, the first thing I said was:

"Fake."

The fake Shen An laughed.

"How did Your Highness know?"

"The real sword is in my palace."

"After you left the capital, the mansion fell."

"It wasn't lost even though it was breached."

Xiao Lingyi said, "I have placed the knife in a fake case under the bed."

"The true box is in the Empress Dowager's old dressing table."

I glanced at her.

It turns out she had left two places as well.

It is true that couples can learn bad habits from each other.

The fake Shen An's knife was still pressed against Wei Zhijia's neck.

"Retreat."

Han Feng did not move.

"retreat."

I said.

He looked at me.

I nodded.

Everyone take three steps back.

The fake Shen An stared at me.

"Aren't you afraid I'll kill him?"

"Afraid."

"Then make way."

"Where are you being told to go?"

"Changning Palace".

"Kill the emperor?"

"By imperial decree, I am investigating the medicine."

"You have a knife."

"For self-defense."

"I don't carry this kind of knife when I'm investigating cases."

"You've led it before."

"before."

I said, "Later, she was taken in by the princess."

Xiao Lingyi said, "It's not about accepting."

"It's for safekeeping."

At this point, we also need to correct the wording.

She looks a lot like her.

The fake Shen An hesitated for a moment.

He memorized my case files.

Knowing that it should be returned to its sheath.

But no one knows who kept the knife afterward.

I asked him his real name.

He only answered Shen An, saying that there could only be one. But before he finished speaking, his collar was already stained black.

That imperial censor's robe began to poison him from the moment he put it on: kill the emperor, kill Wei Zhi, and then die as me.

"How much longer do you have to live?"

I asked.

"It's none of your business."

"Half an hour?"

His eyes flickered.

"The medicine enters the skin through the collar."

I said, "I'm not asking you to take it afterward."

"I've been trying to kill you ever since you put on this outfit."

"They're not prepared to let you go back."

"Shut up."

He raised his voice.

Wei Zhijia suddenly lifted his foot.

It wasn't kicking.

It was stepping on fake Shen An's shoes.

The fake Shen An shifted his body to one side.

Yan Xiaoyi fell from the well beam.

One hand gripped the wrist of the knife.

With his other hand, he pulled open the collar.

Han Feng also dragged Wei Zhijia away.

Ah Liu had some unknown source of courage.

He grabbed an old manhole cover and crashed into it.

The impact was inaccurate.

It bumped right into the back of the fake Shen An's legs.

The person knelt down.

Yan Xiaoyi unloaded the knife.

Xiao Lingyi sealed the poison in his collar with a cloth.

Everything happened very quickly.

It was so fast I didn't have time to help.

This is good.

My help usually only results in one more injured person.

The fake Shen An fell to the ground.

The poison has entered the body.

The physician arrived and induced vomiting, cut off the clothes, and washed the skin.

He was convulsing violently.

He still gritted his teeth and refused to say his name.

I squatted down beside it.

"Survive first."

"I don't need it."

"you need to."

Why?

"Because you failed to kill him this time."

"They will find another Shen An."

"If you die."

"You'll be blamed even for who taught you this."

He opened his eyes.

For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

It's not that I'm afraid of dying.

She was afraid of being replaced again.

"I……"

The sound was very soft.

"I started out... at the Qingzhou Saltworks."

"What's your name?"

"I don't remember."

"Remember what?"

"My maiden name is He."

There is a stone mill in front of the door.

"Left foot..."

The physician held him down.

He is missing a little toe on his left foot.

He only remembered that his mother's surname was He, that there was a stone mill in front of his house, that he had worked at the Qingzhou Saltworks, and that he was missing a little toe on his left foot.

The clerk recorded it truthfully. The imposter Shen An, upon hearing this, did not argue about the name again for the first time.

The physician pulled three items out of his collar.

A packet of transdermal poison powder.

A confession from Shen An regarding the murder of his father.

A bronze medal.

There are only four characters on the front of the card.

Settle old accounts.

The back has a door pattern.

The third real card.

When Wei Zhijia saw the sign, his breath hitched.

"Palace Gate Plaque".

"Yours?" I asked.

"The late Empress entrusted the guards at the palace gates."

"It was originally kept by the servants."

When was it lost?

"While imprisoned in the Western Garden."

If the real card, the fake knife, the confession, and the corpse are left together, "settling old scores" will be turned into a slogan for regicide.

The emperor's voice came from outside the door.

"The cards... bring them here."

He woke up.

He was helped to the entrance of the side hall by two eunuchs.

His complexion was still very bad.

But he saw the fake Shen An on the ground with his own eyes.

Look at me again.

"Not very similar."

I said, "The light is dim."

"It doesn't seem like it either."

"Your Majesty is familiar with it."

"I read your memorials every day."

"I don't recognize your face."

"Familiar with the characters."

I handed him the imperial warrant.

"Was this written by His Majesty?"

The emperor has seen it.

"The upper half is."

Which sentence?

"Those who hold this order."

"You may enter Changning Palace."

"What about the name Shen An?"

"It wasn't written by me."

Why leave it blank?

The emperor admitted that it was a blank urgent order left eleven years ago and never retrieved.

Suddenly, the fake Shen An grabbed my sleeve.

He has very little strength.

"Medicine card..."

"Where?"

"The Imperial Medical Academy..."

"Who has it?"

"The Dead Man's Warehouse"

What is a "dead man's cellar"?

He was breathing heavily.

"The plaque of the deceased physician."

"The medicine card... was placed under the name of a dead person."

"Tomorrow at ten o'clock."

"The third dose."

"Who should receive the third dose?"

He looked at the emperor.

"It's not about letting him sleep."

"Let him wake up."

After saying that, he completely fainted.

The physician said he was still breathing.

Whether he will wake up or not, I don't know.

The emperor looked at the doorplate on the ground.

"The third one."

I said, "Yes."

"Send him to Yong'an?"

"First, make three rubbings."

"Send it again."

The emperor closed his eyes.

"Shen An".

"Your subject is here."

He said the medicine would wake me up.

"I heard you."

"What do you mean?"

I looked in the direction of the Imperial Hospital.

It was already very late at night.

Tomorrow, less than three hours from the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

"Dream-locking drugs make people sleepy."

"A drug to suddenly wake you up."

"It might not be a lifesaver."

I put away the doorplate.

"Someone doesn't want His Majesty to die peacefully."

"I want you to do something while you're awake."