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

Not many people dared to break into the princess's residence.

Five.

But they were all suicide squad members.

They didn't shout for battle or waste any words; after scaling the wall and entering the courtyard, they went straight to the west wing.

The goal is clear.

Ji Qing.

Gu Xingzhi stopped the two.

Yan Xiaoyi stopped the two.

The last one rushed to the corridor, but was shot down by Qiu Tang and her men with a hidden crossbow.

I stared at the small crossbow in Qiu Tang's hand and fell silent for a moment.

The maids in the princess's residence should not be viewed merely as maids.

Xiao Lingyi stood by the door, her expression unchanged.

This wasn't an assassination attempt; it was just that it was windy at night.

The assassin who had been shot down tried to bite the poison, but Gu Xingzhi stepped on his chin.

The movements were very heavy.

It hurts just hearing about it.

Gu Xingzhi took the poison sac from behind his teeth and said coldly, "Keep him alive."

well.

The interior defenders finally managed to get a chance to breathe.

However, this person clearly wouldn't speak easily.

His eyes were dull and lifeless, showing no fear.

It's as if they've already included themselves in the list of the dead.

I didn't rush to ask him.

Because Ji Qing suddenly coughed again inside the room.

He coughed very badly.

Granny Qin shouted, "Ask now if you want, or we'll question the corpse."

We went back inside immediately.

Ji Qing lay on the couch, his chest heaving rapidly.

Gu Xingzhi stood by the bed.

Xiao Lingyi sat to one side.

I stood on the other side.

This scene is very strange.

The emperor's personal guards.

The emperor's daughter.

The emperor personally appointed a seventh-rank censor he trusted.

They all surrounded a dying chief secretary.

If Ji Qing still had the energy to laugh, he would probably laugh even more horribly.

I asked first, "You just mentioned Wei."

Ji Qing's eyes moved slightly.

Gu Xingzhi said: "The old plaque with the character 'Wei' on it."

I looked at him.

"Does Commander Gu know?"

Gu Xingzhi did not answer.

Xiao Lingyi said coldly, "Commander Gu, if you're going to ask someone, don't just let Shen An guess."

Gu Xingzhi remained silent for a moment.

"The old official documents of the Secretariat are divided into reign titles, treasury titles, and signatures. The Wei signature is a batch of old documents with a secret signature from the late emperor's reign."

I frowned.

"Not Wei Zhi?"

Gu Xingzhi glanced at me.

"At that time, Eunuch Wei was still in the inner court and did not have access to the old documents of the Secretariat."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't Wei Zhi.

Not at least not for now.

But this also makes things more complicated.

The old Wei character plaque does not belong to one person.

It's a batch of brand cards.

Whoever gets hold of it can use the name of the old document to mobilize some old files, old items, and even old people.

No wonder Ji Qing was able to force Feng Baoquan to stamp the internal treasury receipt.

No wonder Qian Rong could say that he was misled by the old document tablets of the Imperial Secretariat.

This sign is a pass without a face.

Xiao Lingyi asked, "Why can this kind of card still be used?"

Gu Xingzhi said, "Logically, it should have been abolished long ago."

"Logically?"

According to the records, the documents were collected and destroyed in the third year of the Chengxi reign.

I gave a cold laugh.

"The scroll also records..."

Gu Xingzhi glanced at me but didn't refute me.

Ji Qing gasped, "It's not destroyed..."

"Who left it?"

He shut up.

Granny Qin raised her hand to insert the needle again.

Ji Qing said in a low voice, "I told you... I wouldn't survive either."

I said, "If you don't tell me, you won't survive."

"Living... is harder than dying."

"Then why are you still waiting for Lan Ye?"

Ji Qing's eyes trembled slightly.

I opened the clothing store's account book and placed it in front of him.

"I've brought your list of the dead. Ji Qing, male, thirty-six, left hand crippled, no relatives, died suddenly from a pre-existing illness."

His gaze fell on that line of text.

long time.

Then he chuckled softly.

"Written...very neatly."

"Do you want to change it?"

He looked at me.

"Can the records of the dead be altered?"

"As long as you're alive, you can."

Ji Qing remained silent.

Xiao Lingyi suddenly spoke up: "Eleven years ago, you opened the palace gates?"

Ji Qing's expression changed.

This isn't the first time I've asked.

But the princess asked, "It has a different meaning."

He looked at Xiao Lingyi's face as if he were seeing a different person.

"I... drove it."

Which door?

He made a labored sound in his throat.

"No...the main gate of the Empress's palace."

Xiao Lingyi's fingers tightened.

I immediately pressed, "Which one is that?"

Ji Qing closed his eyes.

"Laundry Department Night Gate".

The old laundry bureau.

really.

Xiao Lingyi and I looked at each other at the same time.

Aunt Lan, Granny Han, the corpse clothes, the needle torture, the severed finger, and finally all returned to the old laundry bureau.

Gu Xingzhi also frowned slightly.

This answer was clearly not what he expected.

I asked, "Why do you run the laundry service at night?"

Ji Qing was breathing rapidly.

"Someone... wants to give away a piece of clothing."

"What clothes?"

"The shroud."

Xiao Lingyi's voice was frighteningly cold.

"Whose shroud is this?"

Ji Qing's lips moved slightly.

No sound.

Granny Qin immediately put a pill in his mouth.

Ji Qing paused for a moment before continuing:

"From Aunt Lan."

The room fell completely silent.

Aunt Lan's clothes were sent out through the old laundry room at night.

But Granny Han left behind the words "The body clothes are without orchids".

In other words, the so-called shroud of Aunt Lan was problematic from the very beginning.

I asked, "What's inside your clothes?"

Ji Qing shook his head.

"have no idea."

"I don't know why you opened the door?"

"Wei Zi Pai" (魏字牌).

"Who gave it to you?"

"A...former secretary of the Imperial Secretariat."

"name."

His eyes showed struggle.

Gu Xingzhi stepped forward.

Ji Qing suddenly looked at Xiao Lingyi.

"Princess...don't look for Aunt Lan."

Xiao Lingyi stared at him.

Why?

"If she comes back... even more people will die."

Where is she now?

Ji Qing smiled.

"Nobody knows where Aunt Lan is."

"Do you know Su Qinghe?"

Ji Qing's eyes flickered.

I knew immediately that he knew.

Where is Su Qinghe?

"They were taken away."

"Who took it?"

"Herself."

"Where to?"

"Looking for a dead man."

It's that kind of talk again.

I wish I could hang all the riddle solvers right now.

"Which dead person?"

Ji Qing looked at me.

"The last page."

I was taken aback.

"The last page is in the hands of a dead man?"

He nodded with difficulty.

"Dead people...not people who are dead."

"What is that?"

"Names of the deceased."

The name of a deceased person.

I suddenly remembered the list of dead people at the Guiyi Shop.

Ji Qing could be written as a dead man.

Aunt Lan is also acceptable.

Su Qinghe is also an option.

If a person's name is no longer recorded in the living register but is changed in the dead register, then she becomes a "dead person's name".

The last page is not in the hands of a real dead person.

In the hands of someone who lives as a dead person.

I asked, "Who was that dead person's name?"

Ji Qing's lips moved slightly.

This time, he uttered three words.

"Lan... will not return."

Xiao Lingyi suddenly stood up.

"Lan won't return?"

Ji Qing closed his eyes.

"She doesn't return... that's why she's called 'Never Returns'..."

The name is like a blunt knife.

If Aunt Lan were still alive, she would have named herself Lan Bugui (meaning "Lan Never Returns").

She really had no intention of returning to the palace.

Xiao Lingyi's voice tightened: "Where is she?"

Ji Qing did not answer.

Granny Qin felt his pulse, and her face darkened.

"You can't ask anymore."

Gu Xingzhi asked, "How much longer can we hold out?"

"It depends on fate."

It's that same sentence again.

I get a headache just hearing about it now.

Gu Xingzhi looked at me.

"Ji Qing must enter the palace."

Xiao Lingyi said coldly, "He can't move right now."

"His Majesty will send a royal physician."

"The imperial physician is here."

Gu Xingzhi frowned.

"Your Highness."

Xiao Lingyi stood by the couch.

"I said, the imperial physician is here."

At that moment, I suddenly felt that Xiao Lingyi and the emperor were actually very similar.

It's just as cold.

There is no room for retreat.

Gu Xingzhi remained silent for a moment before finally saying, "I'll go and deliver the message."

He turned and went out.

I watched his retreating figure, but I didn't feel relieved.

Because Gu Xingzhi's departure means that the palace will soon know everything.

Old plaque with the character "Wei".

The old laundry room at night.

Aunt Lan's shroud.

Lan will not return.

How would the emperor react if these things entered the palace?

do not know.

Xiao Lingyi sat back down in her chair, her fingers pressing against the half of the embroidered handkerchief.

She didn't cry.

She didn't cry at all from beginning to end.

But I'd rather she cry.

Her coldness only made people feel uneasy.

I whispered, "Princess."

"explain."

"At least for now, we know that Aunt Lan may still be alive."

She looked at Ji Qing.

"If she were alive, why hasn't she come looking for me in eleven years?"

I can't answer that.

No one can answer this question.

Perhaps Aunt Lan cannot.

Perhaps they dare not.

Maybe if she comes back, even more people will die.

Ji Qing suddenly coughed again.

The sound was extremely soft.

I looked down at him.

His eyes were half-open, as if he were looking at me, or perhaps looking somewhere else.

"Shen An..."

"I am here."

"You...don't seem like Shen Lie..."

My heart skipped a beat.

Xiao Lingyi also suddenly looked at me.

The air in the room seemed to freeze instantly.

Does Ji Qing know my father?

Or is it just a mention of the Shen family in the southwest?

I held back my racing heart.

"Who are you talking about?"

A trickle of black blood spilled from the corner of Ji Qing's mouth.

His voice was so faint it was almost inaudible.

"Don't let him...go to the capital..."

After saying that, he fainted again.

This time, everyone's eyes in the room were on me.

Xiao Lingyi looked at me.

long time.

I know that some things are about to become uncontrollable.