Chapter 49: Pretend to Obey, But Disobey
Chen He suddenly raised his head, and a terrifying light flashed in his eyes!
"I remember now!"
Her voice trembled with excitement.
"It's Aunt Liu!"
"Madame Liu, the one who manages the small storehouse at the Cining Palace beside the Empress Dowager!"
"Su Xin... was her name before she entered the palace!"
Chu Yue and Gu Yu were both stunned.
Someone close to the Queen Mother?!
Zhou Yan'an's expression instantly became serious.
"But..." Chu Yue frowned, "Even if she is from the Empress Dowager's palace, it can't prove that this jade bracelet belongs to her..."
Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by her next discovery.
Chu Yue's eyes never left the account book.
With her medical acumen and attention to detail, she always felt that something was wrong with this account book.
She stretched out her fingers and gently twisted the dark blue cover of the account book.
Then, she took out a golden needle as thin as an ox hair from the needle bag she carried with her.
The tip of the gold needle carefully picked up a corner of the glued inside of the cover.
The color and texture of the paper exposed inside are completely different from the roughness on the outside!
It was a piece of extremely delicate paper, as white as fresh snow, with a faint luster, attracting attention like a work of art.
"This is?"
Chu Yue's expression suddenly changed and she let out a low cry of surprise.
"Snow silkworm paper!" There was disbelief in her voice.
"This is the unique snow silkworm paper in the palace!"
"It's a tribute material used by the Inner Court to record the royal family's top secret archives!"
"How could a small spice shop in a prosperous area of the capital city have such noble paper to use as the cover and inside pages of its account books?!"
These words were like a bolt from the blue, shocking everyone!
Chen He and Zhou Yan'an's gazes instantly focused on the corner of the paper that Chu Yue gently lifted!
There is no doubt about it!
That delicate texture and snow-like luster are definitely extraordinary!
Chen He's heart sank!
A deeper doubt surfaced.
She snatched the account book away and quickly flipped to the page with the transaction records.
Keep your eyes fixed on those dates!
March 7th, March 15th, March 21st...
These dates...
These dates!
Chen He's pupils suddenly contracted!
Her breathing almost stopped!
"wrong!"
Her voice was tense, filled with the coldness and horror of discovering the truth!
"These purchase dates..."
"All of this happened while the Queen Mother was in seclusion worshipping Buddha!"
Zhou Yan'an's expression changed: "What do you mean?"
Chen He raised his head, his eyes filled with coldness and determination.
"The Empress Dowager would seclude herself in seclusion for half a month every March to worship Buddha. During this time, no one in the Cining Palace was allowed to leave without permission, except for special purchases!"
"Especially for an old lady like Madam Liu who is in charge of the storehouse, it is impossible for her to leave the Cining Palace even for a moment!"
"How could someone confined to the palace run to a spice shop outside the palace and buy this 'blood jade musk' again and again?!"
Fatal flaw!
This is the most fatal flaw!
The yard was dead silent.
Only the sound of the wind remained, whimpering through the broken window frames.
In the sunlight, the dark blue account book seemed a huge irony, a signpost pointing to a dark abyss. The wind was growing more choked up, rustling through the dilapidated window frames.
In the yard, the chill that had just dissipated seemed to gather again.
Zhou Yan'an's brows were tightly furrowed, as if he could squeeze water out of them, making the air in the room so solid that it was suffocating.
"hiss--"
He took a deep breath, and the coolness seemed to penetrate his heart and create a crack in the gloomy atmosphere.
"This Mr. Xue..."
He sighed softly, and his words were somewhat elusive, like a light in the fog, flickering.
"What kind of drama are you directing?"
He raised his hand and lightly stroked the cover of the account book with his fingertips, as if it was a hot potato, or as if it was the prelude to a secret.
"He threw this hot potato, ostensibly to help us, but the evidence points directly to the Cining Palace..."
"The target of the attack is actually the Queen Mother's favorite, Madam Liu."
"But strangely, this account book is full of loopholes."
Zhou Yan'an's eyes were full of confusion and puzzlement, as if he was in the middle of a complicated chess game and every move needed to be carefully considered.
"The date doesn't match, and the use of snow silkworm paper is strange..."
"Doesn't this clearly tell us that there's something wrong with this evidence?"
"Does he want to help us, or does he want to...muddy the waters?"
Chu Yue also nodded, her brows furrowed.
"Yeah, that's weird."
"If you wanted to frame someone, why leave such an obvious flaw?"
"If you want to help, why would you take out something like this pointing to the palace?"
Guyu stood aside, not daring to breathe, just looking at Chen He nervously.
Shen He didn't speak immediately.
Her fingertips almost dug into the dark blue cover.
The slightly cool touch of the account book now seemed to carry a scorching temperature.
Xue Minglan...
She repeated the name silently in her heart.
The man who always has a smile on his face and a distance on his face, making it hard to tell his true nature.
With his cunning and impeccable skills...
How could such an obvious omission be left?
This doesn't seem like his work.
unless……
A thought, like lightning, breaks through the haze!
Chen He suddenly raised his eyes, his gaze as sharp as an ice blade, looking straight at Zhou Yan'an!
"Unless, this is not what he wants to give at all!"
Her voice was not loud, but it carried a chilling air of knowing everything.
"What do you mean?" Zhou Yan'an asked.
Chu Yue also looked over, with a searching look in her eyes.
Shen He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"Xue Minglan is the Queen's man!"
As soon as these words came out, the air seemed to freeze!
Zhou Yan'an's pupils shrank slightly, obviously he also knew this relationship.
Chu Yue opened her mouth slightly in astonishment.
Chen He looked at them, and every word he spoke seemed to be knocking on ice.
"If I'm not mistaken..."
"I'm afraid the Queen forced Xue Minglan to hand over this account book!"
"What does the Queen want?"
"She wants to lead the fire to the Cining Palace! To the Empress Dowager!"
"Madame Liu is the Queen Mother's confidant. If you touch her, you'll be slapping the Queen Mother in the face!"
"So, the Queen needs evidence, evidence that can implicate Madam Liu and the Cining Palace!"
"Xue Minglan is in charge of some secret channels in the capital. It shouldn't be difficult for him to find the account book of this spice shop."
"but……"
The corners of Chen He's mouth curled up in a cold arc.
"Xue Minglan, he might not want to completely fulfill the Queen's wishes."
"He couldn't directly disobey the Queen."
"So, he gave it."
"He gave me this account book, a record of Su Xin's purchase of 'Blood Jade Musk'."
"That's enough for the Queen's errands."
"But at the same time..."
Chen He's eyes fell on the inner pages of the account book that were obviously pasted on later, and then scanned the purchase records that coincided with the dates when the Queen Mother was in seclusion.
"He deliberately left these fatal flaws again!"
"The abruptness of the snow silkworm paper, the contradiction in the purchase date..."
"These flaws can be discovered with just a little careful inspection!"
"He is..."
Shen He paused, his voice becoming even colder.
"Pretend to obey, but secretly disobey!"
"He gave the Queen the 'evidence' she wanted, but also gave us enough 'handle' to refute this 'evidence'!"
In the yard, the only sound was the whistling wind.
The shock on Zhou Yan'an and Chu Yue's faces was beyond words.
If Shen He's guess is true...
This Xue Minglan's thoughts are too deep and terrifying!
He struck a perfect balance between the Queen and Shen He!
He neither offended the Queen nor made a fuss, giving Chen He a clue to fight back!
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