With a warehouse full of supplies, I stood alone as king in this chaotic world, gun in hand.

"The clothes that the Empress Dowager wore?" Bei Chenyan frowned.

"The Empress Dowager's belongings, including her dowry, were all stored in the Luanfeng Palace. However, that woman later took over, and the clothes the Empress Dowager wore have probably already been disposed of by her!"

That woman is selfish and jealous; she would never keep the clothes that the Empress Dowager wore.

"I think there should still be some." Nangong Wu thought for a moment, "Any clothes that the Empress wore at least once, like her wedding dress, would be fine."

"The Empress Dowager's wedding dress is still there. The Empress's wedding dress is the one worn upon receiving the investiture certificate. It belongs to the ceremonial robes of the court. After being washed, it is stored in a special clothing storehouse by the Imperial Clothing Bureau, to be worn again for important ceremonies such as sacrifices." Bei Chenyan frowned again as he said this.

"But so many years have passed, and the palace holds sacrificial rites every year. These clothes have probably been worn by that woman and are probably unusable!" After saying this, Bei Chenyan called over several guards who were following behind him and instructed them:

"You all heard what I and the princess just said. Go find them immediately."

"Yes, ma'am."

Several guards obeyed and left.

"Let's go to the Cold Palace first." Bei Chenyan led Nangong Wu toward Guan Wanshi's Cold Palace.

If he finds out where his mother is, kill that woman immediately.

The two arrived at the same cold palace they had visited before.

An old woman dressed in palace attire was guarding the dilapidated courtyard gate. Upon seeing them arrive, she was so startled that she immediately knelt down and shouted "Your Majesty!" three times.

"This old servant kowtows to Your Highness the Crown Prince, may you live a thousand years!"

"Get up!" Bei Chenyan stopped and glanced at the dilapidated courtyard gate. "How is the person?"

The old woman scrambled to her feet, bowed, and replied, "Your Highness, rest assured! This old servant will follow your orders and ensure that Wan Shi suffers a fate worse than death!"

Bei Chenyan nodded. "Open the door!"

"Yes!" The old woman hurriedly opened the courtyard gate. "Your Highness, please come in." Then she went to open the door of the dilapidated house.

Nangong Wu followed Bei Chenyan inside and saw the courtyard overgrown with weeds. She realized that this was the real Cold Palace, even more dilapidated than the Red Cloud Courtyard where the original owner of this body lived when she first transmigrated.

As soon as I entered the room, a strong smell of urine hit me.

Both of them frowned.

Nangong Wu looked around. The place was empty and there was nothing there. In the left corner, there was a pile of withered grass, a large jar, and a dirty bowl next to it.

The stench was coming from that jar.

The person in the haystack stirred when they heard the noise.

"Someone, I want some water!" The voice was hoarse, like a rough millstone grinding in a large iron pot, and it was very unpleasant to hear.

Nangong Wu looked over and saw a disheveled person huddled in a pile of grass.

"You can leave now!" Bei Chenyan gestured to the old woman.

The old woman understood, bowed, and withdrew.

Upon hearing Bei Chenyan's voice, Wan Shi suddenly raised her head, her eyes flashing with resentment beneath her disheveled long hair.

"Bei Chenyan, you wretched child!" Wan's voice was hoarse and indistinct, but one could still make out what she was saying.

"You're quite resilient; even poison couldn't silence you." Bei Chenyan slowly approached, looking down at her. "Wan Shi, tell me where my mother is, and I'll give you a quick death."

"Give me a quick death? Hahaha!" Wan laughed, her dirty face contorting into a hideous grimace.

"Why should I tell you? The Empress was originally mine, what right does that vile woman have?"

"Then just wait and see the Wan family destroyed bit by bit!" Bei Chenyan sneered.

Nangong Wu put on a pair of gloves, walked over, grabbed Wan Shi's hair, and pulled her head up, revealing a filthy and ferocious face covered in mud.

"You vile woman, I am the Empress! How dare you be disrespectful to me?" Enraged, Lady Wan spat a mouthful of water at her.

Nangong Wu pulled down hard, and Wan Shi spat onto herself.

"Ahhh..."

"Shut up!" Nangong Wu pressed Wan's acupoints to numb and silence her, and the unpleasant voice stopped.

Bei Chenyan frowned. "It's too dirty!"

Wan's face was too dirty; you couldn't tell what her original features were.

Nangong Wu took out a bottle of mineral water from her spatial storage, unscrewed the cap, and splashed the water on Wan Shi's face.

She took a cloth and wiped Wan's face a few times.

Seeing that it was about time, Nangong Wu threw the person into the haystack.

She then took out paper and pen and gave them to Bei Chenyan, saying, "Write down your mother's birth date and time."

"Okay." Bei Chenyan took the paper and pen and wrote down his mother's birth date and time.

Nangong Wu carefully examined Wan's face for a while, then took out a tortoise shell divination plate.

Bei Chenyan finished writing and handed her the paper, saying, "That's enough."

Nangong Wu took it and placed it aside, then used the divination board to calculate based on the birth date and time.

This method of divination uses the images of the I Ching, the Eight Characters (Ba Zi), and the Six Lines (Liu Yao) to deduce and predict destiny.

"Mutual restraint, falling into a trap, encountering an inauspicious gate, an ominous star, a moving line..." Nangong Wu frowned as she looked at the final hexagram.

Seeing her like this, Bei Chenyan assumed it was a bad omen from the divination and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's an ominous sign!" Nangong Wu swept her hand, put the items into her spatial storage, and stood up.

"An ominous omen..." Bei Chenyan's tall body suddenly staggered.

"Watch out!" Nangong Wu caught him.

"Could it be that Mother Empress has already..." Bei Chenyan didn't say the words "passed away," feeling extremely distressed.

His eyes suddenly turned fierce as he looked at Wan Shi lying in the hay. "I want this woman and the entire Wan family to be buried with my mother!"

"Wait a minute," Nangong Wu stopped him. "The divination I did came up with is an inauspicious omen, but not a death omen..."

"What did you say?" Bei Chenyan's grief and indignation turned into surprise and joy. "The Empress Dowager might still be alive, right?"

"Hmm." Nangong Wu nodded slightly. "Judging from the divination I just performed, your mother is imprisoned, but she still has a chance of survival."

"That's wonderful!" Bei Chenyan's sorrow turned to joy. "Then what use are Mother's clothes?"

Nangong Wu held the birth chart and said, "Because twins are born at close times, and in the birth chart you provided, both of them were born within a quarter of an hour, I'm not sure if this divination is for your mother or this woman."

Twins can be born one after the other, with a difference of a second, but his mother and this Wan woman's birth time were not remembered so clearly.

"Personal belongings carry the person's aura, fortune, and can even reveal karmic connections. But regardless of whose divination this is, your mother is still alive."

"Alright, I'll go find the clothes Mother wore now." Bei Chenyan took Nangong Wu's hand and walked out.

Luanfeng Palace.

When Bei Chenyan and Nangong Wu arrived, they saw Wei Yang leading people to move out all the Empress's clothes.

However, there were too many clothes, and all the people who originally served Lady Wan had been ordered to be executed by the Emperor of Southern Qi, so no one knew whether any of them were clothes that the Empress had actually worn.

"Go and invite those people who once served the Empress Dowager over," Bei Chenyan instructed the guards beside him.