Chapter 28: Shadows Conceal Treachery, Besieged Once More

I clutched the gold piece, which had yet to warm in my palm, feeling a surge of irritation. A perfectly good path to riches had been severed, and a life had been lost in the process! There was definitely something fishy going on behind the scenes.

"Yunsheng, look," I said, pointing to the servant’s twisted lips on the ground. "It looks like poisoning."

Yunsheng crouched down, examined the body carefully, and his expression grew grave. "Indeed, it is a potent poison. It seems someone did not want him to speak."

In this palace, there are plenty of people who want me dead, but the current situation clearly wasn't aimed at me. These thieves were stealing nothing but trinkets; who would go to such great lengths to silence a pawn? Unless... their goal was something else entirely.

Over the next few days, Yunsheng and I interrogated the captured thieves one by one, finally piecing together some clues. It turned out there really was a mysterious mastermind directing them to steal, but instead of valuable treasures, they were after strange, trivial items: worn-out sachets, rusted copper coins, a jade pendant with a missing corner...

What on earth was all this? I was filled with questions, feeling as though I had fallen into a complex murder-mystery game with no clue how to play. What made it even more headache-inducing was that this mysterious mastermind, using some unknown method, began waging psychological warfare against us. First, they spread rumors that the treasures we had recovered were cursed and would bring disaster upon the palace, stirring up widespread anxiety. Then, they sent people disguised as wandering mystics to perform supernatural theatrics, claiming the palace was haunted by unclean spirits, further fueling the panic.

Good grief, were they trying to play palace intrigue with me?

I sneered. When I was navigating the depths of palace life, these petty tricks of yours hadn't even been invented yet!

Yunsheng and I decided to take the initiative; we couldn't just sit back and take the hits. We disguised ourselves as eunuchs and maids to scout for the mastermind's whereabouts, but we hit walls at every turn. His subordinates were like flies, buzzing around us—pretending to bump into us, intentionally provoking us—all to keep us from conducting a proper investigation.

"Sister Wan'er, this isn't working," Yunsheng said, growing anxious. "We can't find the mastermind at all."

"Don't panic," I patted his shoulder. "Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a person. We need a way to flush the snake out of its hole..." A bold plan formed in my mind as my eyes darted. "Yunsheng, go find Imperial Physician Zhang and tell him..."

I leaned into his ear and whispered my instructions. His eyes lit up when he heard me. "Brilliant, Sister Wan'er! That’s a masterstroke!"

Over the next few days, we deliberately spread the word that we had found a priceless treasure and hidden it in a secret location. This rumor grew wings, spreading rapidly through the palace and even outside its walls. I knew the mysterious mastermind would hear it, too.

That was when my "cheat" kicked in. Strangely enough, ever since I touched that first piece of gold, my sense for treasure had become remarkably sharp. I could feel a peculiar aura emanating from a spot in the palace, one that closely resembled the energy of that gold coin. I followed this trail, searching until I arrived at an abandoned palace. It was a remote, overgrown, and eerie place where no one ever ventured. I carefully pushed open the doors, and a smell of decay rushed out to meet me.

At that moment, my internal sense began to hum, pointing toward a wall inside the hall. I walked over and tapped it; the wall was hollow! Overjoyed, I signaled Yunsheng to come over, and together we pushed the wall aside. Behind it lay a secret chamber!

The room was piled high with all sorts of treasures—gold, silver, antiques, and paintings. But that wasn't the point. In the midst of the hoard, I found a small box containing... those worn-out sachets, rusted copper coins, and the broken jade pendant.

So, we had finally found the mastermind's lair!

We quickly gathered the items and slipped out of the chamber. We didn't make a sound, because I knew the mastermind must have had a backup plan. Sure enough, shortly after we left, a group of men in black suddenly appeared, surrounding us. The mastermind had caught up to us!

"Sister Wan'er, what should we do?" Yunsheng asked, trembling.

I sneered. "What's there to be afraid of? Back in my day..." Before I could finish my sentence, a sudden, chilling breeze swept across my back.