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

Chapter 68, Kong Chenglan

After Qian Rong said, "Your Majesty already knew," the interrogation room remained quiet for a long time.

Ah Liu stood at the door, half of the hot pancake in his hand had gone cold, and he didn't dare to take a bite.

Zhao Guanlan sat at the desk, his pen hovering over the paper, not falling.

Lu Huaizhou looked at Qian Rong, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a mosquito.

I didn't speak immediately.

There are some things you shouldn't rush to respond to when you hear them.

Especially when it involves the emperor.

That was too quick, like you wanted to say the same thing.

If you answer too slowly, it makes it seem like you're guilty.

So I took a sip of cold tea first.

Cold tea doesn't taste good.

But it makes me swallow back the words I want to say.

I looked at Qian Rong.

"Minister Qian, what did His Majesty know all along?"

Qian Rong smiled.

"Isn't Lord Shen the most skilled at auditing accounts? Audit it yourself."

"You only said half a sentence, and now you want to take it back?"

"I'm not taking it back," Qian Rong said. "I'm just reminding you that once the accounts are investigated at the palace level, it's not something a seventh-rank censor can ask about casually."

I looked down at the official robe I was wearing.

"Does Vice Minister Qian still remember that I am a seventh-rank official?"

"Of course I remember."

"You must have felt terrible being detained in the Censorate's interrogation room by a seventh-rank censor."

Qian Rong's smile faded slightly.

Ah Liu almost bit his hand with the hot pancake at the door.

I continued, "How did Aunt Lan die?"

Qian Rong did not answer.

"What is the connection between Ji Qing's severed finger and Aunt Lan?"

He still did not answer.

"You said that hand that was involved in a crime eleven years ago also owed a finger. Whose hand was that?"

Qian Rong finally looked up.

"Shen An, the more questions you ask, the faster you'll die."

"I've heard that many times in the past few days."

"This time it's for real."

"They said the same thing the last few times."

Qian Rong remained silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed.

"Young man, you only have one life."

"There's only one account," I said. "It will generate interest if we drag it out."

Qian Rong looked at me, as if it was the first time he felt that I was really difficult to deal with.

After a while, he said, "Regarding Aunt Lan's matter, I will only say one thing."

"explain."

"Look at the shroud, not the tombstone."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"When a female official dies in the palace, the record will state that she died of illness, her name will be engraved on her tombstone, and the inner court will give her family some compensation. But what clothes the dead are dressed in, who changes them, who sews them, is often never asked."

Qian Rong lowered his voice.

"Aunt Lan was the kind of person who would poke three holes in her letter paper to mark 'Lan.' Do you think that if she really died, there might be a secret mark on her shroud?"

A thought struck me.

Three holes form an orchid.

Xiao Lingyi once said that Aunt Lan was afraid that the letters in the palace would be switched, so she would poke three holes in the edge of the paper with a needle, making it look like an orchid leaf.

If there are no hidden marks on the shroud, then there are two possibilities.

First, the person who died was not Aunt Lan.

Second, Aunt Lan didn't even have the chance to leave a secret mark.

Either one is sufficient for investigation.

I asked, "Who will collect Aunt Lan's body?"

Qian Rong closed his eyes.

"have no idea."

"Does Vice Minister Qian really not know?"

"I don't know," he said. "All I know is that most of the people who collected corpses in the palace back then later went to Jingyi Lane."

Clean Clothes Alley.

A very inconspicuous alley in the south of Beijing.

Many of the retired laundry women, old palace maids, and needlework women from the palace would settle down there.

Because they had spent half their lives in the palace, they had no home to return to after they came out, and they could do nothing else but wash clothes, mend clothes, and sew funeral clothes for others.

Look at the shroud, not the tombstone.

Clean Clothes Alley.

I noted down these two clues.

Qian Rong then said, "Lord Shen, I'm not saying this to help you."

"I know."

"All I want is to live."

"Then continue."

He smiled.

"Talking too much will make you unable to live."

That old fox is still calculating.

Every half-sentence he uttered was just to give himself a little more breath.

I didn't press them any further.

Because forcing them won't get you any more.

Qian Rong won't reveal everything now; he needs to save his life.

Just then, Qiu Tang arrived.

She entered the Censorate through a side gate, carrying a small wooden box.

Ah Liu perked up immediately when he saw her.

"Miss Qiutang!"

Qiu Tang glanced at him.

"Ah Liu, why are your dark circles darker than the charcoal ash under my eaves?"

Ah Liu touched his face.

"That's called loyalty."

Qiu Tang didn't laugh, but handed me the small wooden box.

"His Highness instructed me to bring it."

I opened the wooden box.

Inside was an old handkerchief.

The handkerchief is embroidered with orchids.

There was also a piece of paper next to it.

It is Xiao Lingyi's courtesy name.

Three holes formed an orchid, which only Aunt Lan remembers.

Old letters and clothes from the palace may leave traces.

The scroll bearing the name of Aunt Lan who died is unreliable.

You can find Granny Han in Jingyi Lane.

Grandma Han.

I looked up at Qiutang.

Who is Granny Han?

Qiu Tang whispered, "Your Highness has investigated for many years and only found one name. Granny Han used to work in the palace's laundry department. It is said that she helped change Aunt Lan's clothes the night she passed away. Later, she left the palace and lived in Clean Clothes Lane."

"Still alive?"

Qiu Tang shook her head.

"Your Highness doesn't know either. The people of Jingyi Lane are tight-lipped; a thorough investigation by the Princess's residence would be astonishing."

I understand.

Xiao Lingyi could not investigate openly.

She was a princess, and her every move would be known both inside and outside the palace that she was investigating the Empress Dowager's former associates.

I am different.

I'm dirty enough already.

If they investigate just one more alley, outsiders will only think that Shen An, this seventh-rank censor, has gone a little crazy.

I put the old handkerchief away.

Qian Rong's eyes flickered when he saw the handkerchief.

I asked, "Does Vice Minister Qian recognize him?"

"I don't recognize him."

"You glanced at it twice just now."

"I'm old, so everything I see is slow."

I smiled.

"Minister Qian, don't be in a hurry. I'll come back and ask you after I've finished investigating Jingyi Lane."

Qian Rong lowered his eyes and remained silent.

I got up.

Zhao Guanlan frowned.

"Are you still going?"

"go."

"How long has it been since you last slept?"

I thought about it.

"I forgot."

Lu Huaizhou said from the side, "If Lord Shen goes out now, he could easily be mistaken for a crime scene."

Ah Liu hurriedly said, "Lord Lu, please don't say that, it's bad luck."

Lu Huaizhou looked at him.

"I'm telling the truth."

Ah Liu choked.

Yan Xiaoyi leaned against the door and said lazily, "Go to Jingyi Alley and bring Luo Wanqian."

I look at him.

Why?

"That place doesn't recognize officials, it only recognizes familiar faces and money."

I nodded.

"Then you should go too."

Yan Xiaoyi sighed.

"I knew it."

Ah Liu immediately said, "I'll stay and guard the inn."

"The Censorate".

"They're about the same."

After he finished speaking, he added, "They specifically cater to people who are about to die."

I actually think he's right.

Before leaving, I glanced at Qian Rong.

"Minister Qian."

He looked up.

"You'd better stay alive."

Qian Rong said calmly, "I'd also like to say this to Lord Shen."

I smiled.

"I will do my best."

When I went out, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

The capital city is slowly waking up.

Steam rose from the breakfast stalls, a man carrying water walked past the alley entrance, and in the distance, a child cried and refused to get out of bed.

These people were unaware that a vice minister's seal had just been stripped in the Golden Palace, nor did they know that a river management case had been uncovered involving a former empress.

They only care about today's rice price, whether the weather is cold, and whether they were given a spoonful of porridge less for breakfast.

I suddenly felt a little envious of them.

Ah Liu chased after me from behind and shoved the hot pancake into my hand.

"Young master, eat on the way."

I took it.

"Why do you always have hot pancakes?"

Ah Liu said earnestly, "I've discovered it now: every time the young master is about to die, he has to eat something."

I looked at him.

"You're saying that as if you're seeing someone off."

Ah Liu immediately spat three times.

"Children speak without thinking!"

"How old are you?"