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

Qinghuai Lane is located outside the former laundry bureau.

The name sounds elegant, but it's actually a narrow and damp old alley.

There are three old locust trees at the entrance of the alley, their bark cracked like the back of an old man's hand.

A gust of wind blew, and a few withered leaves fell from the tree into the ditch, swirling and drifting forward.

Meng Gu lived behind the third locust tree.

The door was very small.

Three pieces of wood were patched up on the door panel, neatly arranged, like someone who didn't want to look poor.

Yan Xiaoyi knocked on the door.

There was no movement inside.

He knocked again.

still none.

I took out the hidden token that Xiao Lingyi had given me and stuck it in front of the door crack.

A moment later, an aged voice came from inside the door.

"Who gave it to you?"

Princess Zhaoning.

The door opened a crack.

A woman in her fifties stood behind the door, her hair neatly combed and her eyes bright.

Unlike an ordinary old woman.

It looks more like a pair of scissors covered in old cloth.

She glanced at me.

"Shen An?"

I cupped my hands in greeting.

"Exactly."

"You look like you're about to die."

I paused for a moment.

Were all the people in the old laundry department so good at reading people's expressions?

"Still alive for now."

Meng Gu opened the door.

"Come in. Don't bring the smell of blood in."

I looked down and smelled myself.

"Does my body smell of blood?"

Yan Xiaoyi said, "Yes, it smells like mud and medicine."

I increasingly don't want to walk with him anymore.

The room was very clean.

Several clean old clothes were hanging on the wall, there was a sewing basket on the table, and a pot of orchids was placed by the window.

Aunt Meng closed the door.

"Did His Highness send you to investigate Lanwu?"

I was taken aback.

She was more direct than I expected.

"Yes."

"Your Highness has finally found this way."

"Does Aunt Meng know Lanwu?"

She sat down and poured herself a glass of water.

They didn't pour it for me.

It seems she doesn't like officials very much.

"Lanwu is not called Lanwu".

A thought struck me.

"What's her name?"

"Su Qinghe".

I immediately sat up straight.

Aunt Meng glanced at me.

"Don't get too emotional, the person is already gone."

"Dead?"

"He's not dead, he's gone."

"When?"

"Last night."

It was last night again.

Granny Han died, and Su Qinghe left.

These people seemed to hear the same bell.

I asked, "Who took it?"

Aunt Meng shook her head.

"I don't know. She left on her own, but not voluntarily."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone gave her a severed finger."

My heart sank.

Ji Qing's severed finger?

"After she saw the severed finger, she packed her things and left."

"Where to?"

"have no idea."

Did she leave a message?

Meng Gu got up and took out a broken orchid leaf needle from under the sewing basket.

The needle is extremely thin, and half of the needle's tail is broken off.

"Leave this behind."

I took it.

There are three small engravings at the end of the needle.

Three holes form an orchid.

"There's one more piece of paper."

Aunt Meng handed me the paper.

It says:

To find a living orchid, first find the dead Ji Qing.

I frowned.

"Damn Ji Qing?"

Yan Xiaoyi also looked over.

That's a strange statement.

Ji Qingming is still alive.

At least he survived after losing his finger.

But the note said "Ji Qing died".

Does this mean that to find Aunt Lan, we first need to find Ji Qing, who has already been treated as dead?

Or is it that Ji Qing will die, and only after his death will he leave behind clues?

Aunt Meng looked at me.

"Lord Shen, I don't care what you're investigating. If Su Qinghe is still alive, don't let her return to the palace."

Why?

"People eat each other in the palace."

That was said too calmly.

It's like saying water will get wet, and fire will get hot.

I asked, "Is Su Qinghe the same as Lan Wu?"

"Yes."

"The princess has been searching for her for three years without success. How does Aunt Meng know this?"

Meng Gu sneered.

"Her Highness is a princess; wherever her people investigate, that place will be swept clean. We old-timers don't need to use the main entrance to investigate people."

Where has Su Qinghe been all these years?

"In the back street of Qinghuai Lane, he sewed funeral clothes for people and occasionally delivered needles and thread to Jingyi Alley."

"Did she know that Aunt Lan was still alive?"

Meng Gu did not answer immediately.

This is what it means to know.

I continued, "Where is Aunt Lan?"

"have no idea."

"Meng Gu".

She looked at me.

"I really don't know. If Aunt Lan wanted to hide, no one could find her. She could die once in the palace back then, and she could live eleven times outside."

That's an interesting statement.

"Die once?"

Meng Gu's lips twitched slightly.

"Didn't you already find out that the corpse shroud is devoid of orchids?"

I stared at her.

"It wasn't Aunt Lan who died of illness back then."

"I didn't say that."

"But you know."

"Knowing it won't help," said Aunt Meng. "Those who knew back then are either dead, insane, or have changed their names. Granny Han survived until yesterday; she's already proven her fate is tough."

"Why is Su Qinghe leaving now?"

"Because a finger was severed."

It circled back to the severed finger.

I asked, "What did losing a finger mean to Su Qinghe?"

Meng Gu looked down at the orchid needles on the table.

"The name Ji Qing was changed later."

"What was his original name?"

"have no idea."

"What is his relationship with Aunt Lan?"

"I've only ever heard one old saying."

"What?"

Meng Gu lowered her voice.

"Eleven years ago, Aunt Lan saved a ghost with many fingers. Later, that ghost opened the palace gate for someone else."

My heart skipped a beat.

It often refers to ghosts.

Ji Qing?

Did Aunt Lan save Ji Qing?

Later, Ji Qing opened the palace gates for someone else.

Why open the palace gates?

The gate of the late Empress's palace?

Inner vault door?

Guangchumen?

I asked, "Who said that?"

"Su Qinghe once let it slip while she was drunk. After she woke up, she slapped herself twice and never mentioned it again."

Where will she go?

Aunt Meng shook her head.

"have no idea."

"Does she know anyone?"

"Grandma Han in Clean Clothes Lane, Mute Zhou at the Old Paper Shop, and the Dead Man's Clothes Shop in the West of the City."

"A shop selling clothes for the dead?"

"When Su Qinghe makes funeral clothes, she doesn't use the names of living people, but rather the names of the dead."

I suddenly remembered that Bai Laoxiu's crane tent was also hidden in the dead man's clothes.

Old clothes, funeral clothes, shrouds.

These people all hid their lives in their clothes.

Meng Gu added, "If she really wants to hide, she will go to a place where there are dead people's clothes."

What's the name of the shop selling clothes for the dead in the west of the city?

"Return Clothes Shop".

Good name.

Returning home.

When a person dies, their clothes also go away.

I wrote down the name.

Why was Aunt Meng willing to tell me?

She looked at me with a cold gaze.

"Because Granny Han died."

"besides?"

"Because Your Highness has waited for eleven years."

"Is there anything else?"

Meng Gu remained silent for a moment.

"If Aunt Lan were still alive, someone should ask her why she hasn't come back in these eleven years."

There's resentment in that statement.

A deep resentment.

It's not that I hate Aunt Lan.

It is hatred for all those who are alive but cannot turn back.

I put away the orchid needles and the note.

"Aunt Meng, you can't stay here either."

She scoffed.

"I'm too old to walk."

"Even if you can't walk, you have to walk."

"Where to?"

"The Princess's Residence Villa".

She frowned.

"Your Highness will be exposed."

"Then let's go to the Censorate."

"Isn't that where people who are about to die live?"

I was stunned.

Has Ah Liu's words already spread this far?

Seeing my expression, Aunt Meng sneered, "The news in Jingyi Alley is faster than in your imperial court."

Yan Xiaoyi chimed in from the side, "That's true."

Just as I was about to try to persuade him again, a short whistle suddenly sounded outside the door.

Yan Xiaoyi's expression changed.

"Someone is coming."

Meng Gu immediately blew out the lamp.

Their movements were so practiced it was heartbreaking.

She has probably been waiting for this day all these years.

Footsteps stopped outside the door.

A piece of paper was slipped through the crack in the door.

No one broke in.

There was no knife either.

Yan Xiaoyi opened the door and chased after him, returning quickly.

"Nobody's here."

I picked up the paper.

The handwriting on it is the same as the one in Jingyi Lane.

Don't pursue Su Qinghe.

Chasing Ji Qing.

Before Ji Qing died, he went to Guiyi Shop.

Returning Clothes Shop.

They matched up again.

As I looked at the note, the feeling of being led by the nose grew stronger and stronger.

The man in the gray robe.

Or Aunt Lan.

They never showed themselves, but kept throwing lines at my feet.

If I don't pick it up, the line will break.

If I pick it up, I'll be led astray.

Meng Gu glanced at the note.

"Looks like someone's more anxious than you."

"Who?"

"The one who wants Ji Qing dead."

I asked, "What about us?"

Meng Gu said coldly, "You are the ones who want him to live and speak."

That's right.

The emperor wanted Ji Qing to live.

I also want to live like Ji Qing.

Qian Rong might also want Ji Qing to live a little longer.

But another group of people were writing the words "Dead Ji Qing" in front of me.

I got up.

"Go to the clothing store."

Yan Xiaoyi said, "You're really going to die now."

"Then hurry up."

"Hurry up and die?"

"Hurry up and get there."

Suddenly, Aunt Meng called out to me.

"Lord Shen."

I turned around.

She cut a leaf from the orchid on the table, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and handed it to me.

"If the shopkeeper of Guiyi Shop doesn't recognize you, show him this."

"He recognizes Lan Ye?"

"He owes Aunt Lan a life."

I took it.

Thank you.

Aunt Meng looked at me.

"Don't thank me too soon. The person who owes Aunt Lan a life may not be willing to repay it."

I nodded.

It was already dark when I went out.

Looking at the old locust tree at the street corner, I suddenly felt that every alley in the capital city held memories of the past.

They wash clothes, sew clothes, sell clothes, and make funeral clothes.

They looked as low as dust.

But the old grievances from eleven years ago have somehow hidden many truths in their hands.

I asked Yan Xiaoyi, "Do you think Ji Qing will go to the clothing shop?"

"meeting."

Why?

"Because everyone knows he's going to die."

"Is that a reason?"

"When a person is about to die, they always want to find a garment to wrap their body in."

That's such an unlucky thing to say.

But I couldn't refute it.

I tucked the orchid leaf into my sleeve.

Returning Clothes Shop.

Ji Qing died.

Aunt Huolan.

The next step probably isn't about finding someone.

It's about taking lives.