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

Zhou Guan's name was quite ordinary in the old pharmacy's ledger. So ordinary that over the past eleven years, more than a few people had investigated him, but all had quickly stopped. Because the ledger stated: "Died of illness in the winter of the fourteenth year of Chengxi." There were medical records. There was a document to claim his body. And there was his wife's fingerprint.

All three are present. Now, just seeing the word "present" gives me a headache. The more complete a dead person is, the more we should examine them. Zhou Guan's wife died young, and the so-called wife's handprint came from a female pharmacy worker. She later changed her name three times, one of which was Chen Xiaoniang.

We've seen this name before. There are also traces of Chen Xiaoniang adding entries to the old candidate list for the Nangou female corpse. Bai Zhi placed the two sheets of paper together. "Zhou Guan isn't a single person." "A position again?" I asked. "More like a medicine position." In Wang's pharmacy, there are several names that have been there for a long time.

Zhao Qi was in charge of the imperial physicians' prescriptions. Zhou Guan was in charge of revising and copying prescriptions. Chen Ping was in charge of the accounts. Even after someone died, their name remained. The next person would continue writing. Therefore, the question "Who is Zhou Guan?" may never have a single answer. What we really need to find is the hand that revised the prescription the second time.

There's a small habit left on the medicine prescription: the last stroke of the character "护" (hu, meaning "protect") is hooked back. Bai Zhi says this isn't a calligraphic quirk. It's because someone whose right index finger isn't very strong uses their strength, so they use their middle finger to bring the stroke back. Qiao Su's right index finger is missing a section.

The character "护" in the first layer of the modified square doesn't have a hook. The second layer does. This indicates that the second one wasn't her. "Another one with an injured hand?" Ah Liu asked. "Possibly." "Is it among the nineteen children?" Number Three's early physical records were brought out. His right hand was intact.

No, that doesn't match. There is one person on the list of the Wang family's old pharmacy: Zhou Jin. Zhou Guan's cousin. His right index finger was crushed by medicine in his early years; he can write, but can't hold a pen for long. He disappeared after the fourteenth year of Chengxi. "Zhou Guan, Zhou Jin," Ah Liu frowned, "Why is this family so careless with their naming?"

"It's convenient to change it," Bai Zhi said. Though her words were cold, they might be true. We didn't arrest Zhou Jin immediately because we didn't know if he was still alive. We checked the execution of the second dose first. The late Empress woke up briefly after the first third dose. Upon waking, she personally said to stop.

The medicine was delivered to the pharmacy. The second and third doses were delivered to Changning Palace six hours later. The person delivering the medicine was not Qiao Su. The record said "Zhao Qi." Zhao Qi had actually been dead for half a year at that time. The person receiving the medicine was Feng happy. Feng Xi had also died long ago. Wei Zhi was the one recording the time at the door.

The truth about Wei Zhi's authenticity is still not fully clear. The road to medicine is lined with dead people. But the dead don't know how to carry medicine. So we changed our method to checking the bowls. All medicine bowls in the palace are uniformly washed, and each bowl has a burnt number on the bottom. That day, the second and third doses used bowl number twenty-seven.

Bowl number 27 had no record of being washed again. Three months later, however, it was reported damaged in the Imperial Clan Court's funeral storage. Why would a medicine bowl end up in the funeral storage? Nobody knew. Yan Xiaoyi went there and only found half a broken bowl bottom behind an old shelf. Bowl number 27.

There was a dark brown medicinal residue on the inside of the bowl. Eleven years had passed, and most of it was undetectable. But there was a small piece of wax on the bottom edge of the bowl. It wasn't medicinal wax. It was the black wax used to seal the mortuary. "The medicine bowl was used to deliver medicine and then went into the mortuary," Bai Zhi said.

"Why?" "To hide things, or to exchange things." The funeral storehouse was responsible for organizing the late empress's belongings after her death. Less than a day after the second dose, the palace had already begun preparing for the funeral. Not because the late empress was already dead. Because someone judged that she was about to die.

This judgment itself wasn't surprising. She was very ill. But it was strange that the funeral storehouse had collected the medicine bowls ahead of time. Continuing to investigate, there was another inconspicuous record of requisition in the old funeral register: Three catties of black wax. Two empty mortuaries. Recipient: Zhou Guan.

Why would a pharmacy clerk take a body casket? Bai Zhi didn't write "destroy evidence." I didn't have anyone write it either. I only asked: What's the purpose of taking it? Less than half a day after the question was sent out, a fire broke out in an abandoned house in the east of the city. When Yan Xiaoyi arrived, the fire had just burned through the roof.

There was no one in the room. Only a dozen or so boxes of old medical papers. Five boxes were rescued. One box contained copied prescriptions under the name "Zhou Guan." There were at least four different handwriting styles. The one closest to the second-level modified prescription only appeared for two months. There was often a very small triangular ink dot next to the signature.

A-Liu asked, "What is this?" Bai Zhi looked at it for a long time. "It's not a mark." "Then what is it?" "The nib of a pen broke." Tucked among the same batch of paper was a pen repair record. Zhou Jin. He received three fine right-hand pens. Two months later, he returned one.

After that, there were no further records. "Alive?" "I don't know." "Where did she go?" "An old post station ticket says Qingfeng." Qingfeng. Qiao Su's bones are in Qingfeng. I suddenly felt that Zhou Guan, the person behind this dead man, might never have been too far away from Qiao Su.

Three days later, Qingfeng reported back. Zhou Jin had indeed gone. Not under the name Zhou Jin. He used "Fan Ji," the name of the physician who had advised Qiao Su to add a small amount of black vine the first time and later disappeared. After reading it, A-Liu only said one sentence: "Young Master, I'm starting to hate idiots."

"The dead didn't bother you." "Their names are too busy." I agree. But this report also brought another matter. Someone at the old medical shop in Qingfeng remembered that in the winter of the fourteenth year of Chengxi, a man with a disability in his right hand once asked a question with the late Empress's prescription: If someone has said to stop, but then faints, does that still count as stopping? The old doctor answered at the time: Of course it does.

The man asked again: "What if the emperor says to continue?" The old doctor replied, "That's a matter for your palace." This statement didn't solve anything. But it proved that before the second dose, someone already knew about the "stop" option. It wasn't that they hadn't heard it; it was that after hearing it, they were still looking for a way around it.

After reading the report, Xiao Lingyi asked me, "Should we still look for Zhou Jin?" "Yes." "And then what?" "Ask him who ordered the second dose to be changed." "What if he says it's the Emperor?" I looked towards Changning Palace. "Then continue asking the Emperor."

This time, no one's name can replace the answer.

Zhou Jin wasn't found. What was found was his grave. Outside Qingfeng City, a small earthen mound. The inscription read: Tomb of Fan Ji. Died in the fifteenth year of Chengxi. One year after the late Empress. Qiao Su's younger brother, Qiao Mu, was the first to object to opening the grave. "Dig it again?"

He spoke harshly, but he wasn't entirely without reason. We've called the dead countless times along this investigation. Bai Zhi asked, "Any other evidence?" Yes. Fan Ji's old medical shop had a medicine scale. Every ten coins on the scale were marked; people with limited right-handedness were accustomed to adjusting the weight from the reverse side. The marks matched the measurement order used in the second layer of the revised prescription.

There were three unmailed letters. One of them was addressed to Qiao Su. It was only half a page long. "I changed to the second tube not because she wanted to wake up, but because the higher-ups wanted her to wake up." "Since she has already said to stop, I shouldn't have moved it anymore." The rest was torn out. It didn't say who the "higher-ups" were.

Upon seeing the words "above," the emperor's first words were, "It wasn't me." I didn't respond. He quickly realized what was going on. "Investigate first." "Your Majesty is making rapid progress." "Shut up." "Above" could be the imperial physician. It could be Lady Wang.

It could be Pei Shen. Or it could really be the emperor. A vague "above," if you fill in the blanks in the direction you most want to see, anyone can come up with someone they hate. So we went to look for the torn-out second half of the page. We couldn't find it. But we found the mailing logbook.

This letter was not originally intended for Qiao Su. It was intercepted by the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs. The interceptor was a former subordinate of Pei Shen. When Pei Shen was summoned to the outer hall, he did not argue. "I am aware of the controversy surrounding the discontinuation of the medication," Xiao Lingyi suddenly looked up. "When did you find out?" "After the second dose."

"Is the Empress Dowager still alive?" "Yes." "Why wasn't the third tube stopped?" Pei Shen remained silent for a long time. "Because at the time, the palace believed that once the Empress Dowager fell into a complete coma, the Nineteenth Child's Loose Leaf, the Opening Order, and the Jiangbei Grain Supply Line would lose their final confirmation."

"Who thinks so?" "Your Majesty." Upon hearing this, the Emperor looked at him. Pei Shen continued, "The Wang family is also pushing for it. At the time, I thought that the two sides had different goals, but both needed the Empress to wake up again." "So you agree to continue?" I asked.

"I didn't issue the drug order." "What did you do?" "I didn't stop it." These three words were far more effective than "I am guilty." He knew the discontinuation order existed. He knew the second dose had exceeded his consent. Yet, because he felt "waking up again would be useful for the overall situation," he didn't cut off this connection.

"Does the Emperor know?" Xiao Lingyi asked. Pei Shen looked at the Emperor. "I reported the dispute." "How did you report it?" "I wrote: Her Majesty's illness has been fluctuating, and the pharmacy has differing opinions. Should we still use the emergency remedy? Please make a decision." "What did I write in my reply?" Du Cheng quickly found the old imperial edict.

There were only two words: "Discretionary action." The emperor stared at those two words, his face turning pale. "Did I write that?" "The handwriting matches perfectly," Bai Zhi said. "Whether he was conscious at the time needs to be verified." "I wrote 'Discretionary action,' and they continued to administer the drug?" Pei Shen said in a low voice, "At the time, I interpreted it as not rejecting the proposal."

"The late Empress said to stop," I said. "I know." "Then what is there to veto by the Emperor?" Pei Shen did not answer. This is the most troublesome part. No one needs a clear "continue." As long as the first person refuses to stop, the second person feels there is still room for maneuver, the third person is afraid of taking responsibility for making mistakes, and the fourth person uses a vague imperial edict to protect themselves.

A path can be walked on its own. In the end, not a single person can be found to say: "I ordered her to die." But she did say "stop." And no one stopped. There is no evidence that the third vial was completely administered. The late empress's cause of death cannot be written as "a single vial of medicine directly caused her death."

She was already seriously ill; high fever, blood loss, and pre-existing conditions were all potentially fatal. Liu Shen's final conclusion was that the second and third doses of stimulant medication were administered even after she had explicitly requested to stop, and the latter two prescriptions carried significantly increased risks compared to the originals. This action likely exacerbated her condition and shortened her time of consciousness and survival, but the existing medical records could not accurately determine the proportion of each factor.

Not beautiful. Nor pleasant. Xiao Lingyi stared for a long time. "So no one can tell me who killed Mother Empress." I remained silent. Neither the Emperor nor Pei Shen spoke. Finally, Zhao Yue spoke. "Your Highness, didn't Her Majesty ask who killed her in the end?"

Xiao Lingyi looked up. "She said stop." Just one sentence. Clearer than any proportion. Who heard? Who didn't stop? Who took the silence as continuation? These can all be noted down. There's no need to find the worst person first and stuff all the blame onto them.

The emperor opened a page himself that day. The first line read: "Xiao Jingheng failed to fulfill his responsibility to verify and stop the second and third doses of medicine given to the late empress." He stopped there. I asked, "Why not write 'discretionary action'?" He added: "The word 'discretionary action' was used to handle the existing controversy regarding my opinion on stopping the medicine, allowing subordinates to continue interpreting it as feasible."

Pei Shen also wrote: Knowing of the controversy surrounding the discontinuation of the medicine, he did not obstruct it; he allowed the medicine supply to continue on the grounds of the need for court affairs, loose-leaf records, and accounting. He Xiu wrote: The needle box was examined, but the person's discontinuation of the medicine was not; later, the genuine box was used to replace the genuine medicine. Qiao Su's page stated: The first dose of the modified prescription was with his explicit consent; there is currently no evidence to prove his participation in the subsequent two doses, and the remains have been returned to their original name.

The dead don't have to bear another sin. And the living can't pretend nothing happened just because there's no "execution order." That night, Xiao Lingyi didn't cry. She copied her mother's letter three times: "If I say stop, the third dose will be stopped."

One copy will remain in the palace. One will be placed in the imperial mausoleum. One will be given to me. "Why are you giving this to me?" "So you won't have to explain things for the dead later." "When did I—" She looked at me. I swallowed the rest of my sentence. "Okay." When I left, Ah Liu was waiting outside.

He asked, "Is the case closed?" "For now, we can only write up to this point regarding the late Empress." "What's left?" I looked at another box on the table. Inside were a copy of my father's decree to assassinate the emperor, my mother's old grain ledger, and a piece of paper that Wang Heng had recently sent from prison.

The paper read: Fifty-seven former soldiers, who can enter the capital within three days. Ah Liu's face fell immediately. "Why are there more?" "Because someone doesn't want us to eat in peace." The late empress had just finished writing that. Another knife, sharpened eleven years ago, was pulled out from the old tent.