Looking up at the horizon, a line of rosy clouds spread like ink wash, quickly tinting the pale blue sky red. The sun was bright as fire, slowly igniting bit by bit, making the daylight increasingly brilliant.

Qin Chang Ge poked her head out from the window to look outside. There was a dilapidated courtyard where the few flowering trees in the early winter weather had withered more than half, looking sparse and pitiful. The iron gate of the moon-shaped doorway was tightly shut, but light footsteps gradually approached.

Qin Chang Ge listened carefully to those footsteps… Hmm, the steps were very light and movements cautious – a careful woman.

That person walked close, went around the gate, and came to the open window, quietly peering inside.

The light was dim, so she squinted and tried hard to see. Suddenly, a snow-white face slowly emerged from the darkness. Though the features were delicate and beautiful, against the backdrop of those scattered corpses behind, it inevitably seemed rather ghostly, causing her to cry out in alarm: “A ghost!”

Ghost… Qin Chang Ge twitched the corner of her mouth. She indeed was a ghost, but this body should count as human, right?

She narrowed her eyes to size up the woman, who appeared to be around forty years old with ordinary features, but her entire bearing was crisp and clean. Judging by her dress and adornments, she seemed like a prominent palace maid.

That woman was startled by Qin Chang Ge’s sudden appearance at the window, but fortunately had a composed nature. After the initial shock, she steadied herself, recognized the face, and said joyfully: “Ming Shuang, you’re still alive!”

Qin Chang Ge instinctively sensed the woman’s goodwill. Remembering that she had returned to the imperial palace after three years when everything had changed, to gain a foothold in this treacherous palace, she absolutely needed someone’s full support. Currently friendless and alone, her first priority was to befriend this palace maid who seemed to have considerable status.

But who was she?

However, this didn’t stump her – it was quite easy… Qin Chang Ge raised her head with a completely bewildered expression, her gaze vacant and unfocused as she looked at the person before her.

Sure enough, the moment that woman met this “mentally disturbed” gaze, she immediately panicked.

“Ming Shuang, Ming Shuang, were you beaten senseless? You don’t even recognize Aunt Jin Yun anymore?” The woman quickly reached through the window to shake Qin Chang Ge.

Ah, so her name was Jin Yun. Qin Chang Ge immediately “recovered her senses,” as if awakening from a dream, focusing her gaze on the woman’s face. After staring blankly for a while, she began crying without any hesitation: “Aunt, I was so scared…”

Jin Yun patted her hand with a face full of pity: “Poor child, you were terrified… Her Ladyship sent me to see if anyone was still alive. Fortunately, you’re still well…” She peered into the room to look at the scene inside, her expression changing slightly, but she didn’t say more, only gently said: “Hurry and come out… A room full of dead people must have frightened you terribly.”

Stepping aside, she revealed two eunuchs behind her who woodenly went to open the door and began dragging out the corpses of those wrongfully dead women one by one. One thin-browed eunuch muttered under his breath: “Really unlucky, all the awful jobs fall to us two!”

The other had alert eyes and glared at his companion, saying: “Stop your grumbling. Don’t you know the rules here?”

Jin Yun paid them no attention, only supporting Qin Chang Ge’s arm with gentle comfort as they slowly walked out. Passing by the eunuchs, Qin Chang Ge’s gaze swept lightly over Qing Lian’s corpse being roughly dragged by a eunuch, then slid past indifferently.

She wouldn’t waste time grieving or sympathizing with anyone. She would only do what she needed to do.

For instance, figuring out the current layout of the Xiliang Imperial Palace.

While thinking about how to extract information, from the corner of her eye she suddenly caught sight of the thin-browed eunuch secretly removing jewelry from the corpses and stuffing it into his own clothes, while the alert-eyed little eunuch seemed not to see his companion’s actions, only focused on neatly stacking the bodies on a cart, turning a blind eye to the jewelry.

Qin Chang Ge carefully examined the little eunuch, then walked out.

Returning to the corner room in the eastern side corridor of Cuiwei Palace where the palace maids lived, Jin Yun personally helped Qin Chang Ge onto the bed to rest. She then took out a bottle of medicine from her bosom – the medicine was contained in a jade bottle, exquisite and delicate, with a yellow label tied to it. After taking care of her taking the medicine and looking around, she frowned: “Everyone in your room was beaten to death. I have to serve Her Ladyship tonight keeping vigil. Tonight you’ll sleep here alone – who will attend to you? Why don’t I request Her Ladyship’s permission to assign a little palace maid to take care of you?”

“Don’t,” Qin Chang Ge grasped Jin Yun’s hand, “Aunt needn’t trouble yourself. Duties are important. I’m fine now – why bother Her Ladyship with such troubles?”

Jin Yun sat down and compassionately stroked Qin Chang Ge’s hair, sighing: “I knew you were a sensible one. Back in the day…”

She seemed to be reminded of memories and couldn’t help opening up, and with Qin Chang Ge deliberately drawing her out, she soon learned that Jin Yun and this body’s original owner were from the same hometown. However, their friendship wasn’t because of this, but because once Jin Yun accidentally broke Concubine Rou’s beloved Jiu Linglong. Everyone knew that though Concubine Rou’s title meant “gentle,” her temperament was anything but gentle. Such a mistake would mostly result in being beaten to death, and with the best luck would mean severe punishment followed by expulsion. Jin Yun was so frightened she cried day and night. Later, Ming Shuang learned of this and somehow obtained an identical Jiu Linglong, quietly replacing it for Jin Yun, thus preventing disaster.

Jin Yun was grateful and had looked after her ever since, often mentioning this incident. Understanding the whole story, Qin Chang Ge actually had more questions in her heart. Jiu Linglong was a tribute from Zhongchuan Kingdom, known as the “nation of skilled craftsmen” and proficient in various arts. Though not supremely precious, because of its nine-layer precision crafting, most of the workmanship required slow carving in extremely minute spaces, making it very labor-intensive and therefore rarely seen. Back when she had her own palace, she only had two – one made of jade and one of gold. How could Ming Shuang, a mere little palace maid, have come by such a treasure?