Chapter 7

Chapter 7

There was a secret room hidden beneath the Gu Family ancestral hall-something even I hadn’t known.

Using the excuse of offering incense to my mother, I went to the hall alone late at night. I moved the altar table behind the memorial tablets, and as expected, a loose blue brick was revealed underneath. When I lifted it, a rush of cold, musty air surged upward.

The secret room wasn’t large; its four walls were lined with medicine cabinets. At the very back sat a black wooden chest. It didn’t contain gold or silver, but rather a stack of yellowed Bone Examination Records and a tightly sealed Bone Casket.

Just as I pulled the Bone Casket out, a sigh echoed from behind me.

“I knew you would eventually find this place.”

My father, Gu Chong, stood on the steps holding a lantern. His face was deathly pale.

Clutching the Bone Casket, I looked at him, a sudden urge to cry welling up inside me. “Father, did you know all along that they were coming for me?”

Gu Chong remained silent for a long time before finally nodding.

“Years ago, your mother discovered in the palace that the Late Empress’s remains were fake. She also found out that a daughter of the Xiao Family had been abandoned in a well. That’s when she realized someone was using a body double to swap identities,” he said, his voice raspy. “She originally intended to hand the evidence over to the Late Emperor, but she didn’t realize he had already been targeted with a slow-acting poison. Before your mother was silenced, she only had enough time to hide the Life-Exchange Register and the Bone Examination Records in separate locations.”

My throat tightened. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you loved Zhou Xuzhang.” Father closed his eyes. “If I had told you, you might not have believed me, and it would have only led to your death sooner.”

Those words pierced my heart like needles.

In my previous life, the reason the Gu Family lost so miserably was, in the end, because I had been blind.

Father opened the Bone Casket. Inside was a small finger bone and a Begonia Hairpin that had been snapped in two.

“These are the Late Empress’s true remains,” he said. “The one buried in the palace is a double. After your mother performed the examination back then, she kept this bone as evidence. Combined with the Life-Exchange Register, it proves that the identities of certain people in the palace cannot withstand scrutiny.”

Just as I was about to ask for more details, a loud pounding erupted at the courtyard gate. Immediately after, the shrill voice of a Eunuch pierced the night.

“By Imperial Decree, seize the Gu estate! Imperial Physician Gu is suspected of murdering the Late Emperor! Take him to the Imperial Prison immediately!”

My head buzzed.

It was happening after all.

Father, however, seemed prepared. He thrust the Bone Casket into my arms and said sternly, “Go through the back door! Find Wen Xiuzhu! Trust no one! Remember, do not let anyone know you have this until Heaven-Worship Night!”

I grabbed his sleeve. “What about you?”

Gu Chong looked at me, and for the first time, a look of near-supplication appeared in his eyes. “Lanyin, this time… do not look back.”

With that, he shoved me hard into the secret passage.

In the final glimpse I caught before the passage door closed, I saw the Imperial Guards smash open the doors of the ancestral hall. Zhou Xuzhang stood behind the crowd, still wearing that same gentle expression.

He even gave a slight bow to my father, looking for all the world like an innocent junior.

I bit my lip hard, forcing back the tears.

In my past life, I watched helplessly as the Gu Family was destroyed.

In this life, I will no longer just cry.

The secret passage led to a back alley. When I rushed out clutching the Bone Casket, Wen Xiuzhu was already there waiting for me.

It was as if he had calculated that something would happen to the Gu Family tonight.

Moonlight fell upon his shoulder, where the blood from his unhealed wound stained his clothes, and upon the hand he reached out toward me.

“Gu Lanyin,” he said. “Give me the item. I will take you to save your father.”

Standing in the wind, I looked at him and suddenly asked a question I hadn’t even expected myself to ask.

“Wen Xiuzhu… in my previous life… did you come to save me then, too?”

His pupils contracted slightly, and for the first time, he looked visibly stunned.