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

The old ditch was narrower than I had imagined.

It smelled worse than I expected.

The stone walls on both sides were covered with moss, and the overhead was very low, so I had to bend over slightly to walk forward.

Xu Sandao walked at the front; to him, this place was no different from the main road.

Yan Xiaoyi switched positions with me, one in front of the other.

He listens to the beginning and the end of things, like a cat that doesn't like to meow much.

My journey has been very difficult.

It's not that I'm afraid of getting dirty.

I'm just too sleepy.

When a person is extremely tired, walking through a ditch makes them feel like they might fall headfirst into the most undignified place on the main beam at any moment.

I asked Xu Sandao, "How much longer?"

"Soon."

How did you know?

"It's windy."

I felt it too.

There was a faint breeze deep in the ditch.

The wind carried the smells of mildew, incense ash, and a faint scent of very old fabric.

The old laundry bureau.

Back then, this place must have been a frequent haunt for sick clothes, blood-stained clothes, and clothes worn by the dead.

Some smells linger even after eleven years.

After walking for about ten feet, a round well appeared ahead.

The well wall is concave, and a thick wooden board is sealed on top, but the board is already half rotten.

Xu Sandao looked up.

"The old clothes well is right above."

I used a short blade to scrape the well wall.

There are old scratches on the well wall.

It wasn't carved randomly.

Like the marks left by wheels and ropes.

People used to hoist things down from here.

Clothes and bags?

A shroud?

Or is it a person?

Yan Xiaoyi squatted down and picked up a piece of black cloth from the mud at the bottom of the well.

The fabric scraps were brittle, as if they would crumble at the slightest touch.

I took out some oil paper to catch it.

There was a dark red stain on the cloth.

Old blood.

Xu Sandao looked at it.

"A shroud?"

"possible."

I touched the edge of the well wall again.

There are a few thin lines in the mud.

The thread has turned black, but you can still tell that it was originally a white, fine linen thread.

The old laundry department often used this kind of thread to sew the edges of burial clothes.

Just as I was about to continue searching, Xu Sandao suddenly said, "We can get up from here."

He pointed to one side of the well wall.

There were several indentations there.

It's old, but you can still step on it.

I immediately replied, "No."

Xu Sandao sneered.

"Is the young master afraid I'll go to the palace?"

"I'm afraid you'll die."

"If I die, the master will avenge me."

"So you absolutely cannot die."

He glanced at me, then said nothing more.

At this moment, Yan Xiaoyi suddenly tapped a pine stone at the bottom of the well.

The sound is empty.

There's another layer below.

I was taken aback.

Is there a hidden layer beneath the Old Clothes Well?

Xu Sandao squatted down and used a thin knife to pry open the turquoise.

A small hole was visible beneath the stone slab.

The hole was stuffed with tarpaulin.

My heart jumped into my throat.

The oilcloth had hardened and was covered with incense ash and locust flower fragments.

I carefully removed it.

It's not an account book.

It was a tattered piece of a corpse's clothing.

There are three tiny pinholes on the broken corner.

Three holes form an orchid.

I gasped for breath.

Aunt Lan's secret mark.

This fragment of the corpse's clothing is the exact opposite of the "corpse clothing without orchids" left by Granny Han.

The corpse that Granny Han saw had no hidden marks.

However, the real remains of the corpse were hidden under the old clothes well, and there were three holes in the well.

In other words, someone changed the body clothes back then.

The one really was hidden.

Show the fake one to Grandma Han.

I sealed the broken corner back up.

Xu Sandao frowned: "Is this what you wanted to investigate?"

"One of them."

"Can you bring up old grievances from the Southwest?"

"more than."

I continued to explore the cave.

There was another hard object inside.

It looks like a piece of wood, or a corner of a card.

I took it out and wiped off the dirt.

It is a broken corner of an old literary tablet.

Made of a mixture of copper and wood, the edges are cracked, leaving only half of the seal mark.

魏。

My fingers tightened slightly.

Old plaque with the character "Wei".

Ji Qing was not lying.

Eleven years ago, the old laundry department's night gate did indeed use the old document plaque with the character "Wei".

If this broken piece of wood can be matched with the old Zhongshu warehouse number, it will prove that the door was not opened normally that night, but that someone was using the old Zhongshu warehouse number to change the way.

I showed the broken piece of the horn to Yan Xiaoyi.

He glanced at it.

"Can it be used?"

"able."

"Who can be nailed?"

"We can't nail people down yet."

"What can you do?"

"It's keeping Pei Shen up at night."

Yan Xiaoyi nodded.

"That's not bad either."

Xu Sandao didn't understand these court intrigues, but he did understand the importance of the old Zhongshu token.

"Can this card prove past wrongdoings?"

"It can prove that someone used the old Zhongshu document token to open the night gate of the old laundry bureau. If we find the token number record, we can trace back to who received the token, who didn't destroy it, and who transferred Ji Qing."

Xu Sandao was silent for a moment.

"So if I go straight to the palace tonight, will these things be gone?"

"meeting."

Why?

"Because once you enter the palace, this place will become an assassin's passage. At that point, who will care about the corpse and the old token? They'll just seal the ditches, burn the wells, and kill the witnesses."

Xu Sandao stared at the tattered remains of the corpse.

This time, he did not refute it.

I know he listened.

not much.

Even a little bit is fine.

Just then, a faint metallic sound came from the distance overhead.

Yan Xiaoyi looked up.

"The lantern patrol is back."

My heart skipped a beat.

Gu Xingzhi might also be here.

The half hour I left is almost up.

"Walk."

Xu Sandao, however, looked at the footprints on the well wall.

"I'll go up and take a look."

"no."

"Just one glance."

"If you take one look, and the guards take one look at you, you won't need to come back."

Just as Xu Sandao was about to speak, a cough suddenly came from the depths of the well.

It's very light.

Very old.

The three of us stopped at the same time.

Why would someone cough in a ditch?

Xu Sandao immediately gripped his knife.

Yan Xiaoyi also turned around and looked deeper into the distance.

My back felt a little cold.

Besides us, there are other people in this old ditch.

Another cough sounded.

This time it's clearer.

It came from behind the old clothing well.

Xu Sandao whispered, "The person."

"nonsense."

"Alive."

"That's even more obvious."

He glanced at me.

I shut up.

Yan Xiaoyi had already started to move forward.

I stopped him.

"etc."

He turned around.

I took half an orchid leaf from my sleeve.

The piece that Aunt Meng gave me.

"If it were Aunt Lan's person, they might recognize this."

Xu Sandao frowned.

"What if not?"

"Then run."

Yan Xiaoyi said, "You can't run fast in this place."

"Then you hit him."

He sighed.

"I knew it."

We walked a few steps deeper into the ditch.

There is a collapsed stone niche ahead.

A person was huddled inside the niche.

He was wearing a tattered gray coat, had gray hair, and was very thin.

He heard us approaching and looked up.

Her face was dirty, and you couldn't tell her age.

But those eyes were very bright.

It's like enduring many years in a black ditch.

I held up the orchid leaf.

"We've come to find Aunt Lan."

The man stared at the orchid leaf for a long time.

He suddenly chuckled.

He coughed after laughing.

I coughed so hard it felt like my lungs were about to rupture.

"Aunt Lan?"

His voice was terribly hoarse.

"She won't come back."

My heart skipped a beat.

Lan will not return.

I quickly asked, "Who are you?"

The person did not answer.

He stretched out his hand.

His fingers were thin and bony, but there were three needle marks on his palm.

Three holes form an orchid.

Xu Sandao whispered, "A man?"

This person is indeed a man.

But there was a secret mark on his palm from Aunt Lan.

He looked at me, his voice so low it sounded like he was crawling out of a well.

"Your surname is Shen?"

My heart skipped a beat.

"Yes."

"Shen Lie's Shen?"

Xu Sandao suddenly looked at me.

Yan Xiaoyi also frowned slightly.

I did not answer.

The person seemed to already know.

His laughter became even more hoarse.

"Don't let Shen Lie go to the capital."

That same phrase again.

I stared at him.

"Who gave you permission to send this?"

He raised his hand and pointed above the Old Clothes Well.

Eleven years ago, someone sent two things from here.

"What?"

"A shroud."

"Anything else?"

He coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"The name of a living person who is dead."

I squatted down.

"Whose name is this dead person?"

The man looked at me.

"Lan will not return."

After saying that, he took out a small bronze medal from his pocket.

The bronze plaque is somewhat worn, and a name is engraved on it.

Lan will not return.

Female. Retired due to illness from the former laundry department.

The register of the dead has not been cleared.

The register of the dead has not been cleared.

In other words, Aunt Lan has been living as if she were dead.

She didn't disappear.

She lives in the Book of the Dead.

Just as I was about to ask another question, a low shout suddenly came from above my head.

"There are people down below!"

Internal defense!

Gu Xingzhi has arrived.

Xu Sandao gripped his knife instantly.

I grabbed him and held him down.

"Don't move."

"Young Master!"

"If you make a move, everyone is finished."

The man in the stone niche chuckled softly.

"It's too late."

I asked, "What's too late?"

He looked at me, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"The well of old clothes has been opened, and the names of the dead have been awakened."

"After tonight, Lan Bugui will know you've come."

I wanted to ask him something, but he suddenly closed his eyes and fell backward.

Yan Xiaoyi reached out and probed.

"Still alive, but dying."

The footsteps overhead grew closer.

Gu Xingzhi's voice came from above:

"Shen An".

I looked up.

A light fell from the wellhead.

Gu Xingzhi stood above, his face as cold as iron.

He looked at me, then at Xu Sandao.

Finally, my gaze fell on the broken corner of the old Wei character plaque and the Lan Bugui dead registration plaque in my hand.

"Lord Shen."

He spoke very slowly.

"You'd better explain why you were with the Southwest Swordsman in the old ditch of the palace."

I closed my eyes.

very nice.

The most inexplicable thing was seen by the person who least wanted to see it.