Such scenes occur almost daily. Qi Mingxuan is sometimes lucid and can recognize Xiao Chengyu, and at other times he is gripped by fear and confusion. The imperial physician says it is caused by a head injury and requires time to recover.

However, matters of state cannot wait. Although the border war has been temporarily halted due to the timely delivery of supplies, the Northern Di army remains a menacing threat. Officials in the court have received a series of threatening letters from the Shadow Pavilion, causing widespread panic.

At the morning court session that day, the Minister of Justice reported: "Your Majesty, three more murders have occurred in the capital recently, and the victims are all officials of the court. Shadow symbols were found at the scene of each case."

Xiao Xun's expression was grave: "Have you found the murderer?"

"The murderer acted with extreme secrecy, and we have no leads yet. However, I have discovered a common thread: these officials had all opposed increasing border military spending during their lifetimes."

Xiao Chengyu's heart skipped a beat: "This means that the Shadow Pavilion's purpose may be related to the border war."

After the court session, she immediately summoned the commander of the secret guards: "Send more people to monitor all officials involved in border military affairs, especially those who advocate cutting military spending."

After making the arrangements, she returned to the side hall, only to find that Qi Mingxuan was not in the room. The palace maid reported tremblingly, "The Prince Consort said he wanted to take a walk and wouldn't allow me to follow..."

Xiao Chengyu's heart tightened, and he immediately led his men to search. Finally, they found Qi Mingxuan beside the artificial hill in the Imperial Garden. He was squatting on the ground, drawing strange patterns with a twig.

"Mingxuan?" Xiao Chengyu called softly.

Qi Mingxuan raised his head, his eyes unusually clear: "Yu'er, I've remembered something." He pointed to the pattern on the ground, "I've seen this symbol at the Shadow Pavilion's stronghold. It represents 'grain'."

Xiao Chengyu examined the pattern closely and found that it indeed bore a resemblance to the symbol found at the scene of Lord Zhang's murder.

"What else did you remember?" she asked eagerly.

Qi Mingxuan frowned in thought, then suddenly clutched his head, groaning in pain, "My head hurts so much... shadows... so many shadows..."

He was thrown into confusion again. Xiao Chengyu had no choice but to help him back to the palace to rest.

That evening, Xiao Chengyu studied the symbols drawn by Qi Mingxuan alone. Suddenly remembering something, she ordered her men to retrieve all the secret letters from the Shadow Pavilion that had been confiscated earlier. Upon comparison, she discovered that these symbols were indeed related to the character "grain," but each symbol had subtle differences.

"Could these symbols represent different granaries?" she suddenly realized and immediately ordered people to investigate.

Sure enough, each symbol corresponds to the location of a specific granary. And the most recently marked symbols happen to correspond to some of the largest granaries in Jiangnan!

"Their target is the granaries of Jiangnan!" Xiao Chengyu immediately wrote to the Governor-General of Jiangnan, reminding him to strengthen the defenses of the granaries.

However, the day after the messenger set off, bad news arrived: three major granaries in Jiangnan caught fire simultaneously. Although the fire was extinguished in time, the loss of stored grain was severe.

"We're too late." Xiao Chengyu slumped down, a deep sense of powerlessness welling up inside him.

What unsettled her even more was that the Shadow Pavilion seemed to know everything about her actions, always managing to get ahead of her. This meant they had spies in the court, and those spies held high positions.

In the following days, Xiao Chengyu became even more cautious. All important decisions were discussed only within a very small circle, but the Shadow Pavilion always seemed to get the information.

That day, she was having a secret discussion with Xiao Chengji about increasing troops at the border when Qi Mingxuan suddenly burst in, looking panicked: "We can't send in more troops! It's a trap!"

Xiao Chengji frowned: "Mingxuan, you..."

"It's true!" Qi Mingxuan said urgently, "I remember now! They've set up an ambush on the border, just waiting for our reinforcements!"

Xiao Chengyu and his brother exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes. In the past, they would never have doubted Qi Mingxuan's words. But now, he was delirious; could these words be trusted?

However, it's better to be safe than sorry. Xiao Chengji immediately revised the troop reinforcement plan and sent out small detachments to conduct reconnaissance first.

The result was shocking: the reconnaissance troops indeed discovered the Northern Di ambush in a valley on the border! If it had not been detected in time, a large number of reinforcements would have suffered heavy losses.

This incident gave Xiao Chengyu a new understanding of Qi Mingxuan's condition: even though he was not in his right mind, his military instincts and strategies still remained.

From that day on, she began to consciously discuss politics with Qi Mingxuan. Although he was often confused, his occasional moments of clarity always brought surprising insights.

However, the Shadow Pavilion's activities became increasingly rampant. One morning at court, an imperial censor suddenly stood up and impeached Qi Mingxuan for treason and collusion with the enemy!

"Your Majesty! I have evidence that Qi Mingxuan colluded with Yingge, deliberately falling off a cliff to fake his death in order to cover up his treasonous acts!" The censor presented a stack of letters. "These are secret letters exchanged between Qi Mingxuan and the Northern Di, which were found in a hidden compartment in Qi Mingxuan's study!"

The entire court was in uproar. Xiao Chengyu was both shocked and furious: "Nonsense! How could Mingxuan possibly..."

“Your Highness,” the imperial censor interrupted her, “you can know a person’s face but not their heart! These letters have been authenticated and are indeed written by Qi Mingxuan himself!”

Xiao Chengyu looked at the letters and was shocked: the handwriting was indeed extremely similar to Qi Mingxuan's, almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Just then, another minister stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I also have witnesses who can prove that Qi Mingxuan colluded with the Shadow Pavilion." He beckoned to a man who looked like a guard, "This man is Qi Mingxuan's personal bodyguard, and he can prove that Qi Mingxuan's fall off the cliff was a pre-arranged ruse!"

The guard knelt and stated, "Before the prince consort fell off the cliff, he told me to 'proceed according to plan.' I didn't understand what he meant at first, but it was only after seeing these letters that I suddenly realized..."

The court erupted in discussion. Xiao Chengyu, witnessing this, felt a chill run down his spine. This was a meticulously planned scheme, designed to kill Qi Mingxuan.

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