Liu Ruyan stood by the lamp wearing an overcoat, her shoulders and back taut, her face pale.
"Is it related to our Liu Clan?"
Madam Chun didn't meet her gaze, only saying, "The road over at the old building is ready."
Liu Ruyan looked up at her.
"The big boss has finally agreed to see me?"
Madam Chun pressed down on her sleeve, rubbing her fingertips against the edge of the sleeve twice.
" Ruyan, if this drags on any longer, the people from the Second Prince's Residence and the Imperial City Bureau will block off the area around the old building."
Gu Moran raised his hand and extinguished the lamp.
The room darkened, and the smell of lamp oil overpowered the fragrance of osmanthus.
"Change clothes, pack your things."
Liu Ruyan wiped her face, but didn't apply any rouge or powder; she simply fastened her outer garment.
Madam Chun turned around to open the back door.
The door hinge, damp with moisture, made a clicking sound.
Liu Ruyan walked beside Gu Moran.
The back alley was damp and cold; the moss at the base of the walls was glistening from the rain, and it felt slippery to walk on.
Madam Chun led the way.
The gray-clad spies would be replaced by another person every so often.
No one spoke.
Guided by hand gestures only.
Uncle Fu followed him to the alley entrance, where Gu Moran raised her hand to stop him.
"You stay outside."
Uncle Fu frowned.
Your Highness.
Gu Moran tightened his cuffs, revealing the roll of old paper underneath.
"If I were to encounter someone who wanted to harm me, even ten guards wouldn't be able to save me."
He glanced at the puddles at the alley entrance.
"If someone surrounds the building outside, you'd better leave me a way out."
Uncle Fu glanced at Liu Ruyan and took a half step back.
"This old servant will wait at the alley entrance."
Madam Chun pushed open the wooden door of the old building.
The musty smell comes out first.
The plaster is peeling off the wall.
The stairs creak with every step.
Liu Ruyan held onto the railing.
The splinter pierced her palm, but she didn't let go.
Gu Moran down and saw a red mark on the side of her palm.
"If it hurts, don't grip so tightly."
Liu Ruyan withdrew her hand and pressed the handkerchief against the wound.
"I'm afraid I'm moving too slowly."
Gu Moran slowed her pace by half a beat.
"This building isn't going to move by itself, it won't make a difference if you take a few more steps."
Liu Ruyan glanced at him but didn't reply.
Fifteen minutes later, Madam Chun stopped in the innermost room and knocked on the door three times.
The door opened by itself.
Only one lamp was lit in the room.
An old map hung on the wall, its paper yellowed and its edges scorched by fire.
Gu Moran's gaze fell over.
It depicts the former capital of the Jing Yan.
Northern grain transport route.
Southern River Ferry Crossing.
Nine former camps of the rebel army.
Each red dot has fine lettering next to it, the ink of which is faded and worn.
Liu Ruyan couldn't understand it, only seeing the character "Liu" in one corner.
Her throat bobbed.
"These belong to the Liu Clan?"
Madam Chun replied softly, "Yes."
Liu Ruyan stared at the character "Liu".
Who left it?
Madam Chun didn't answer; instead, she bent down and placed a small box on the table.
The box has no keyhole, only a narrow groove.
Gu Moran glanced at the box.
How do I open it?
Madam Chun looked at Liu Ruyan.
The key is with her.
The room fell silent.
Liu Ruyan looked at Madam Chun, then at the box.
"I?"
Madam Chun looked into her hair.
"I've been giving you that hairpin ever since the first day you entered the building."
Liu Ruyan raised her hand and pulled out the white hairpin.
The hairpin has intricate patterns, and the tip has been polished smooth.
"I always thought it was just an ordinary old thing."
Madam Chun bowed her head.
"Old things are the keys."
Liu Ruyan pressed the tip of the hairpin into the groove.
Pressing the hairpin tip down, a clicking sound came from inside the box.
The latch popped open.
It doesn't contain gold or silver.
On top of it was half an old bronze plaque, its edges blackened.
Below are several pieces of paper scorched by fire, a tattered rubbing of a seal, a section of old wax seal, and a list wrapped in fine linen.
Liu Ruyan's fingertip hovered above the bronze plaque, but she didn't touch it.
Three taps came from behind the screen.
Madam Chun stepped back half a step.
Gu Moran looked up at the screen.
Under the light, a section of an old wooden wheel was visible.
Someone was sitting in the back.
Gu Moran's gaze paused for a moment.
The big boss, Liu Huaijin?
The moment his name was mentioned, he had already activated the Eye of Monitoring.
The system panel flashed before my eyes the next moment.
[Ding! The Destiny Monitoring Eye is under maintenance.]
[Estimated recovery time: half an hour.]
Gu Moran tapped his fingertips.
That worthless piece of junk, lacking any ambition, is precisely the one undergoing maintenance now.
The person behind the screen spoke, their voice terribly hoarse.
"Since we're here, let's take a look at the bronze medal first."
Gu Moran looked in that direction.
There are rules in the building: when meeting someone for the first time, you must cover your face with a screen.
But today, this screen is covering more than just faces.
If you go along with the other person, every sentence you say next has to follow their rhythm.
He coughed lightly.
"Since you invited me here, you should at least let me know who is speaking."
A moment of silence followed behind the screen.
Madam Chun bowed her head.
"Your Highness, the rules of the old building..."
Gu Moran her eyelids.
"Right now, Second Prince's Residence and the Imperial City Bureau are searching for Tao Wujiu. Flower-Between Pavilion has been framed in the pill-related case, and Liu Ruyan is standing here."
He placed the old paper from his sleeve onto the table.
The corner of the paper was damp with wax; when illuminated by the lamp, half of the remaining print was visible.
"At a time like this, you're still talking about old rules with me?"
" Madam Chun, shouldn't you put aside your boss's rules for a while?"
Madam Chun opened her mouth, then closed it again.
The person behind the screen coughed twice.
The cough was short, and an old wound was pressing against his chest.
Madam Chun wanted to move, but was stopped by the person behind the screen who tapped the table with their finger bones.
"That child, still has the same temper."
Gu Moran's fingertips hovered over the edge of the table.
The wood grain pressed against my palm.
This person knows more than just him.
We're quite familiar with each other.
He looked at the bronze plaque on the table.
"It seems you do know me well."
"Many people know me, but few dare to place the old belongings of the Liu Clan before me."
Why don't you dare come out?
The person behind the screen paused.
We're acquainted, you could say.
"Your Highness, all you need to know is that I'm on your mother's side, so let's talk about business first."
Gu Moran nodded and picked up half of the bronze plaque.
There are residual patterns on the back of the bronze medal, the fracture is black, and only half of the willow character and half of the military rune pattern are left on the front.
He turned the bronze medal upside down under the lamp.
"The character 'Liu' (柳), military insignia, and an old military map."
Gu Moran's gaze shifted to the old wooden wheel under the screen.
"You summoned me here because you probably have more to say than just about the elixir case."
The person behind the screen coughed.
What you have is half of the rubbing of the old military tally of the Liu Clan.
Liu Ruyan looked up.
"When did the Liu Clan obtain military credentials? Our Liu Clan doesn't handle military affairs."
Humanity behind the screen.
"That was the previous dynasty, at the end of the Jing Yan era. Emperor Xiao Yan increased taxes and levied grain levies, and the three northern prefectures were the first to fall into chaos."
When your grandfather Liu Xiao raised an army, Prince Yi's grandfather Gu Yuan was still on the run.
Gu Moran put the bronze medal back on the table.
" Emperor Taizu Gu Yuan?"
The person behind the screen coughed again.
This time the cough was worse, the last syllable stuck in his throat.
Madam Chun picked up the water cup and had just taken half a step forward when she was stopped by a knocking sound on the table.
"Back then, Gu Yuan was defeated and pursued by the previous dynasty, with fewer than three hundred men by his side."
Later, it was Liu Xiao who led the rebel army to rescue him. Still later, they became sworn brothers, splitting into two groups to develop their own forces.
Liu Ruyan looked at the map on the wall.
The lamplight illuminated the red dots, and the old ink on the paper darkened.
What are these cinnabar dots?
"Your grandfather Liu Xiao's grain route, old camp, ferry crossing, and the burial ground of his soldiers."
The person behind the screen paused, then continued speaking.
That war lasted three years.
"On the day the city was captured and the old capital was breached, the words 'Liu' were shouted most often in the army's tents."
The dampness in the room, heated by the lamplight, gave off a bitter smell.
Gu Moran stretched out his finger and pointed at the old capital, grain routes, and ferry crossings on the map, before landing on the incomplete rubbing of the warehouse seal in the box.
Something feels off.
Liu Ruyan pressed her fingers on the edge of the table.
"Master, you're wrong. That's not how it's written in the history books of Great Yan."
"It was not stated that the rebel army's military power was in my grandfather's hands."
The person behind the screen chuckled softly, then coughed after laughing.
"History books certainly wouldn't record it that way."
Gu Moran looked at the screen.
"If military power is in the hands of the Liu Clan, why was it my imperial grandfather who ascended the throne?"
The person behind the screen smiled again, a hint of helplessness in their expression.
"That's because Empress Lady Zheng, the wife of Emperor Taizu, who is now the Empress Dowager and your grandmother, personally went to Liu's camp to persuade Liu Xiao to abdicate."
Liu Ruyan stared at the half of the bronze plaque.
"Give way?"
Gu Moran was also stunned.
"You can even talk about that? What did my imperial grandmother use to persuade her?"