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

Chapter 69 The Former Palace Maids of Jingyi Alley

Jingyi Alley was narrower than I had imagined.

On both sides were low houses with clothes that had been washed until they were faded hanging on the walls, and soap scum floating in the ditch.

The flavors here are quite diverse.

It smelled of damp clothes, medicine, burnt rice, and a hint of musty smell from an old wooden box.

Luo Wanqian changed into an old cotton-padded coat and walked ahead.

He's more useful than me in this kind of situation.

The Censorate's waist token is less useful than copper coins here.

The official robes of the censors were even less effective.

Most of the people living here are women who have retired from the palace, or seamstresses who used to run errands for former palace staff.

They've met too many influential people and know that you can't blindly trust what they say.

As Luo Wanqian walked, he whispered, "Lord Shen, the people of Jingyi Lane are tight-lipped. They're even more averse to talking about old palace matters than about the dead."

I asked, "Where does Grandma Han live?"

"The third house at the end of the alley."

"Still alive?"

Luo Wanqian paused for a moment.

"He just died last night."

I stopped in my tracks.

"last night?"

"right."

Too late again.

I'm almost used to this bad luck now.

The clues had just been obtained when the person died.

In this capital city, news of death travels faster than a horse.

Yan Xiaoyi glanced at me.

"continue?"

"continue."

Even the dead can talk.

Especially those who have recently died.

A white cloth was hanging at the door of the third house at the end of the alley.

A low sobbing sound came from inside the house.

It wasn't a loud cry, but a suppressed sob.

Luo Wanqian knocked on the door.

The girl who opened the door was about seventeen or eighteen years old. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her hands smelled of soap.

When she saw us, she took a half-step back warily.

Who are you looking for?

Luo Wanqian said with a forced smile, "Miss Han, this is Lord Shen from the Censorate. He's here to ask your grandmother a few questions."

The girl's expression changed.

My grandmother is dead.

I said, "I know."

"You can't ask questions of the dead."

"That's why I'm asking you."

She bit her lip.

"have no idea."

I didn't even ask, and she already didn't know.

They seem very skilled.

I did not show my waist badge.

He simply took out that old handkerchief with orchid design.

"Does your grandmother recognize this?"

The girl's face changed instantly when she saw the handkerchief.

She immediately tried to close the door.

Yan Xiaoyi reached out and blocked the door.

The movement was light, yet the door remained completely still.

The girl exclaimed urgently, "Go away! My grandmother didn't say anything!"

I looked at her.

"How did she die last night?"

"Died of illness."

He died of illness again.

Now, just hearing those two words makes my teeth ache.

"What illness?"

"Old age and illness."

"Have you seen a doctor?"

"I can't afford it."

I looked into the room.

A very faint medicinal smell wafted out.

"If you can't afford a doctor, why does it smell like medicine?"

The girl's face turned pale.

Luo Wanqian said in a low voice, "Miss Han, Lord Shen is not here to harm you. If your grandmother really left any words, even if you don't speak, the people who want to harm her will come again."

Her eyes were even redder.

"I told you I would come."

This is true.

I lowered my voice.

"Did your grandmother collect Aunt Lan's body?"

The girl gripped the door frame tightly with her fingers.

No answer.

"Has she seen Aunt Lan's shroud?"

She still didn't answer.

"There's no San Kong Chenglan on the shroud, right?"

The girl suddenly looked up.

Her reaction was the answer.

I asked, "What did your grandmother leave behind?"

She looked at me, and tears finally fell.

"Grandmother said it cannot be given to an official."

Why?

She said the officials would take the things away, and after they took them away, the person would disappear.

I couldn't refute it.

Because this statement is often true in Daliang.

I said, "Then give it to me."

She smiled bitterly.

"Aren't you an official?"

"Yes."

She was about to close the door.

I added, "But recently I've offended more officials than you've ever met."

Yan Xiaoyi added, "It's true."

Luo Wanqian nodded: "Very real."

The girl was taken aback by what the three of us said.

I continued, "If your grandmother didn't want to leave anything behind, she wouldn't have hidden these things until now. The fact that she left them means she wasn't waiting for an official, but for someone who could take these things away."

The girl remained silent for a long time.

Finally, they opened the door.

The room was very small.

The bed was covered with a white sheet.

Grandma Han was lying down there, already dead.

I did not lift the white sheet.

The dead should be respected.

Moreover, I was afraid that I would see another person die of illness, so I couldn't help but demolish Jingyi Lane.

The girl took an old sewing basket from behind the stove.

There is a hidden compartment at the bottom of the basket.

She opened the hidden compartment and took out half of an embroidered handkerchief.

The embroidered handkerchief is old and only half remains.

There are three pinholes in Pa-kau.

Three holes form an orchid.

But there was a very small sentence embroidered next to the needle hole.

The shroud was devoid of orchids.

Four words.

The stitches are so fine that they are almost invisible.

As I looked at those four words, a chill crept into my heart.

The shroud was devoid of orchids.

Qian Rong is right.

Look at the shroud, not the tombstone.

If Aunt Lan was truly the one who knew how to use the three-hole mark to form an orchid, there should have been a mark on her clothes before her death, after her death, and on her body.

However, the evidence left by Granny Han indicates that the body clothes were without orchids.

In other words, the "Aunt Lan" mentioned in the scroll about the woman who died in the palace is very likely not Aunt Lan herself.

I asked, "What else did your grandmother say?"

The girl whispered, "Before she died, she kept saying that the body from back then was not right."

"What's wrong?"

"hand."

My heart skipped a beat.

"What happened to your hand?"

"Grandmother said that Aunt Lan had an old needle mark on her left index finger, and her knuckles were slightly bent. But the corpse's hands were very clean, as if she hadn't done needlework for many years."

hand.

It's a hand again.

Ji Qing lost a finger.

Eleven years ago, that hand stole a finger.

The hands on Aunt Lan's corpse don't match.

These threads, like several fine needles, slowly tied together.

I asked, "Who did Grandma Han see last night?"

The girl's face turned pale.

"no."

"to be honest."

She lowered her head.

"A man."

"What does it look like?"

"Wearing a straw hat, dressed in gray, and speaking in a very low voice."

The man in the gray robe?

My heart skipped a beat.

"He killed your grandmother?"

The girl immediately shook her head.

"No! After my grandmother met him, she told me to keep this half of the handkerchief safe and to give it to any imperial censor named Shen if he came."

I was stunned.

A censor surnamed Shen.

The man in the gray robe knew I was coming.

Or rather, he had been leading me here all along.

"How did your grandmother die?"

The girl shuddered.

"After the man in gray left, another person came. That person didn't enter, but only said something through the window. After hearing it, my grandmother told me to hide in the woodshed. When I came out, she was already..."

She couldn't continue.

I asked, "What did that person say?"

The girl choked up and said, "He said, 'Grandma Han, Aunt Lan is still alive. You should close your eyes now.'"

The room fell silent.

Aunt Lan is still alive.

I could almost hear my heart skip a beat.

If this is true, the most crucial female official among the late empress's former subordinates may not have died.

She lived for eleven years.

Where is it hidden?

Who hid her?

Why doesn't she show up?

And why are the clues only being revealed little by little now?

Yan Xiaoyi suddenly turned to look out the window.

"There's someone there."

Just as he finished speaking, a soft sound came from outside the window.

It wasn't a human figure, but a small bamboo tube that was thrown in.

Yan Xiaoyi opened the window and chased after him.

I picked up the bamboo tube.

There was a piece of paper inside.

The handwriting is still unfamiliar.

The shroud is bare of orchids, but orchids remain in the world.

To find the orchid, ask the severed finger.

If Ji Qing dies, this thread will break.

Another reminder.

The man in the gray robe?

Or someone else?

Yan Xiaoyi returned quickly and shook his head.

They ran away.

I looked at the note.

Ask about the severed finger.

Ji Qing.

Ji Qing lost a finger, not because he was killed by the Clearing House, but because he was punished by someone related to Aunt Lan.

Or perhaps the severed finger itself is a sign of something that happened eleven years ago?

I sealed up the half of the embroidered handkerchief and looked at Miss Han again.

You can't stay here any longer.

Her face was deathly pale.

Where can I go?

I've heard this question far too often lately.

Fang Zhou asked about it.

Xiao Xiu asked.

Manager Lu almost asked.

Now it's Grandma Han's granddaughter's turn.

I said, "The Censorate."

She backed away in fear.

Luo Wanqian hurriedly said, "Miss Han, there are many people there now, and it's crowded, but it's safer than here."

Yan Xiaoyi added, "He's not dead yet."

The girl became even more frightened.

I glared at Yan Xiaoyi.

"Could you please say less?"

He shut up.

I instructed Luo Wanqian to arrange for someone to take Miss Han to the Censorate, and left some constables to guard Granny Han's body.

The body must not be disturbed again.

When I came out of Jingyi Lane, the sun was already high in the sky.

But I felt cold.

Aunt Lan might not be dead.

This should have been a good thing.

But I can't feel happy at all.

Because a living person who can hide for eleven years is more dangerous than an old person who has been dead for eleven years.

In particular, she was involved with the late Empress, the Southwest military pay, the old accounts of the Imperial Treasury, and Ji Qing's severed finger.

I leaned against the wall at the alley entrance and closed my eyes to catch my breath.

Yan Xiaoyi asked, "Can't hold on?"

"We can still hold on."

"Every time you say that, it sounds like you're about to collapse."

"Then you should hold on to him."

He reached out and grabbed the back of my collar.

I opened my eyes immediately.

"Don't lift it."

"If you can't hold it up, you can lift it up."

I took a deep breath.

"Return to the Censorate."

"Interrogate Qian Rong?"

"First, see the princess."