Chapter 8 — Once I am reborn, I will not give him even a strand of hair

Waiting until there were only three people left in the room, Co Nghien Hanh slowly sat back on the bed.

"That year, the Khuong family did not encounter an unexpected accident."

"When her father was preparing medicine for the Tay Canh army, he accidentally got a list."

My hand holding the white jade hairpin is getting tighter and tighter.

“What list?”

“A secret list of selling weapons and poisons to enemy countries.”

“It involves seventeen mandarins in the capital and three princes.”

Co Nghiem Hanh's throat filled with a sweet taste, he bent down and coughed out a mouthful of black blood. I'm still standing in place.

"It turns out you knew from a long time ago that my parents were murdered to silence us."

“Why didn't you tell me?”

Co Nghien Hanh was silent for a long time.

“Because that list has finally fallen into my hands.”

"As for me marrying you, it's to find the remaining half of the evidence that the Khuong family has hidden."

The first rays of morning sunlight shined in from the window, illuminating his pale face, leaving nowhere to hide. I suddenly burst out laughing. I originally thought that I was just giving my true feelings by mistake. It wasn't until this moment that I realized that since the day he came to marry me, I have been the key that Co Nghiem Hanh chose. Co Nghien Hanh raised his eyes.

“Jade command is not only used to pray for medicine.”

“It can also open a secret vault at the foot of Kunlun Mountain.”

“Thanh Tu, give me the jade order.”

I slowly put the white jade hairpin back into my hair.

“The jade order has been stolen.”

Co Nghien Hanh looked at me, his voice suddenly became cold.

"The jade order she brought with her is fake."

“The real jade order is still in her pharmacy.”

Suddenly there was a heavy crash outside the door. Immediately after that, Phuc An shouted loudly in panic.

“The pharmacy is on fire!”

“Someone stole the wooden box from the secret compartment and took it away!”

As soon as I arrived at the pharmacy, the fire shot from the window onto the eaves, billowing thick smoke mixed with the bitter smell of medicinal herbs, so strong that it was almost impossible to open one's eyes. Several servants carrying buckets of water ran back and forth, the water overflowing from the mouth of the well flooded the green tile floor, but still could not control the fire in the room. Phuc An knelt in the hallway, coughing and choking. The tiger mouth on his right hand was torn and bleeding, and half of his sleeve was burned by fire. I stopped in front of him and asked in a low voice:

“Did you see the person who took the wooden box away?”

Phuc An raised his eyes red from the smoke, his voice broken.

"It was a mother wearing a gray shirt. She held the lady's card belt and said she was following orders to get medicine."

“The slave saw her pushing open the medicine cabinet and knew something was wrong.”

“After taking out the wooden box from the secret compartment, she immediately set it on fire. When the slave tried to stop her, she used a brooch to stab her and injured her hand.”

Thach Thanh picked up half of the card belt that fell next to the door, turned it over and saw my name clearly engraved on it. Co Nghien Hanh was helped into the yard by a guard. With just one look, he coldly said:

“This is the card belt she uses when entering and leaving the palace.”

“Half a year ago was lost.”

I took the card belt, my fingertips lightly grazing the break.

“Back then, everyone in the palace said I remembered the wrong place.”

The old lady had just arrived, and upon hearing that sentence, a look of loss appeared on her face nature.

“It's just a card belt, now the most important thing is to catch people.”

"The side door was blocked, so she couldn't run far with the wooden box."

Thach Thanh immediately ordered people to search all the buildings, while I squatted down under the window and picked up a scorched piece of cloth from the wet mud. The outer layer of the cloth is gray, but inside reveals a light yellow thread, with the scent of osmanthus still lingering at the edge. In the General's palace, there is only one place where this incense is burned all at once for the servants.

“Go to the laundry room behind Tung Hac Duong.”

I stood up.

"That person changed his clothes. The original clothes he wore were the clothes of the servants in the old lady's house."

The old lady's face immediately darkened.

“You doubt my people?”

“I only believe in the traces left behind.”

I looked at Phuc An.

“What is the figure of that ghost in the gray shirt? Is there anything unusual about walking and standing?”

"Half a head shorter than the lady, her back is slightly hunched, her right hand is always hidden in her sleeve."

Phuc An thought for a moment, suddenly grabbed the stone pillar and stood up.

“When she entered, she called the slave by the correct name.”

“The slave has never met her, yet she knows the slave guards the pharmacy.”

Thach Thanh led his people to the laundry room, and in less than half a moment, he pulled out a blanket and mattress from the large wooden box drying it. That ghost was dead, wearing only a bra, her face covered with a mask as thin as a cicada's wing.