An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

"Mammy, can I take down these two couplets and have a look at them?"

After the ceremony, Jing Chunxi slowly rose to her feet, her knees scraping softly as they left the mat. She first smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles on her plain dress before walking toward the west wall.

The candlelight cast a flickering shadow behind her, stretching her slender figure. She first stopped three steps away from the couplet on the wall, looking up at the couplet with only two characters.

The retired emperor's calligraphy is very free and unrestrained, and the force of his brushstrokes reveals that he was a man of great courage and decisiveness. However, looking at the entire scroll, his eyes comb through every stroke like a comb.

"This ink color..." she murmured to herself, her fingertips hovering in the air, tracing the direction of the writing. It truly didn't look any different from ordinary calligraphy and painting; there were no hidden marks or unusual patterns.

She then turned to the empty couplet next to it, and carefully examined even the golden patterns printed on the couplet, but found nothing.

The incense of sandalwood lingered in the Buddhist hall, mixed with the unique aroma of aged rice paper. Jing Chunxi bit his lower lip and finally turned to Madam Zhou, who was busy at the altar. He spoke again, "Madam Zhou, I want to take a closer look."

She knew that this request was really abrupt - it was already a violation of the rules to enter Shou'an Palace without Xu Zize's permission, and now she wanted to touch the items that the Empress Dowager cherished during her lifetime, which were written by the Emperor before his death.

Perhaps it was because of the well water Jing Chunxi had deliberately left behind. Madam Zhou, who had been a little hunched, straightened up considerably. But at this moment, her back suddenly froze.

Her hands were holding three newly lit incense sticks, with plumes of smoke rising and swirling around her graying hair. The moment she heard Jing Chunxi's request, the incense sticks trembled violently between her fingers, and a few drops of ashes fell, leaving tiny gray spots on the brocade of the altar.

When the old nanny slowly turned around, Jing Chunxi saw surprise and hesitation flash across her eyes.

"Young lady, do you think there's something fishy about this writing?" Madam Zhou's voice was a little sharper than usual, with a subtle tremor at the end. She subconsciously used her body to block the tablet on the altar, as if that would protect something.

Suddenly, a night wind blew past the Buddhist temple, making the window paper rustle and the flames of several eternally burning lamps dance restlessly.

The scene of Jing Chunxi breaking into the palace at night flashed back in Madam Zhou's mind. In the gloomy night, the little girl in black clothes climbed over the high wall like a fallen leaf and fell into the deserted, gloomy and terrifying Shou'an Palace, rushing in to find her without knowing the danger.

At first, Nanny Zhou thought she was traveling with the prince, until she saw only her frail figure in the moonlight, and then she realized how bold she was.

Even more strange was that the first thing the girl said when she saw her was that she wanted to go to the Great Buddha Hall to pay homage to the Empress Dowager. Seeing her concentrating on studying the couplet, Nanny Zhou suddenly realized: this child was clearly looking for something.

This realization made the hairs on the back of the old nanny's neck stand up. She had seen enough of the palace's overt and covert intrigues. After the Emperor's passing, the Emperor himself rarely came to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager. However, the eunuchs who were sent there, ostensibly to show concern or deliver messages, were incessantly rummaging around in Shou'an Palace, even checking the bottoms of bottles when wiping them.

The maids in the Queen's palace often snooped into the inner chambers under the pretext of delivering snacks. Even when the princes came to pay their respects, they would always glance at the Treasure Pavilion and look around the study.

After the Empress Dowager passed away, they became even more aggressive. Almost every brick and tile in Shou'an Palace was searched, except for the large Buddhist hall where the spirit of the late Empress Dowager was enshrined. This was the last bit of dignity that was spared.

Nanny Zhou's eyes flickered between Jing Chunxi and the couplet. She suddenly remembered what the prince had said during his last late-night visit: "Nanny, treat Xi'er as you would treat me."

When the young man said this, there was a star-like light in his eyes, which was a vitality that had not been seen for a long time since the death of the previous emperor.

The old woman's wrinkled hands unconsciously stroked the hem of her clothes, the coarse fabric giving her a familiar touch. The girl before her had clear features, the candlelight casting a warm hue on her porcelain-white face. She didn't look like someone harboring evil intentions at all.

"Maybe..." An absurd thought suddenly came to Nanny Zhou's mind, "Is this really guided by the Queen Mother's spirit in heaven?" She remembered her dream yesterday where the Queen Mother was still wearing that indigo phoenix robe, standing under the crabapple tree and smiling at her.

Suddenly, as if in response to Madam Zhou's thoughts, the incense sticks on the altar suddenly "crackled" and burst into sparks, startling Madam Zhou back to her senses.

She trembled as she inserted the incense stick into the censer. Suddenly, she knelt on the mat, her back bent deeply, her forehead touching the ground, a few strands of gray hair falling from her bun. "This old slave has overstepped..." Her mumbled words mingled with the sandalwood, as if she were explaining something to the tablet, or perhaps trying to convince herself.

After chanting for a whole incense stick of time, Nanny Zhou slowly stood up, supporting herself on the edge of the altar, her kneecaps making a crisp sound as she couldn't bear the weight.

"Miss, please wait a moment. I will move a stool to take it down." As Madam Zhou spoke, the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, as if she had made a great decision.

She looked around the empty Buddhist hall. Apart from the rosewood altar in the middle and a few cushions, there was not even a low table.

She was about to go out to look for it when she heard the sound of clothes tearing through the air behind her.

"Madame Zhou! I'm here."

The moment the old nanny turned around, she saw a black shadow flying across the sky like a swallow.

Jing Chunxi tapped her toes lightly on the blue brick floor, her wide sleeves fluttering like butterflies as she raised her bare hands. Her leap was incredibly graceful, her waist twisting in a breathtaking arc in the air, her right hand precisely grasping the red string at the top of the couplet.

With a soft rustling sound, the couplet inscribed with the words "Shield from the Wind" had landed safely in her arms. The entire movement was so smooth and effortless that it didn't even disturb the candlelight on the altar.

Nanny Zhou stood there with her mouth open. The last time she remembered seeing him perform this skillfully was the year the prince left the capital. Back then, he could already walk on lotus leaves without getting his boots wet.

The seemingly fragile girl in front of me didn't even stir up any dust when she landed on the ground. She looked like a fairy from the Moon Palace banished to the mortal world.

"Xier learned it from the prince!" Jing Chunxi saw the old man's surprised look and hurriedly explained.

She carefully spread the removed couplet flat on the altar, but instead of immediately picking up another blank couplet, she helped Madam Zhou sit down on the mat. Madam Zhou's hands were as cold as well water, trembling slightly in her palms.

"Good! Good! You're all good children." Madam Zhou suddenly choked up and wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. The cloth, now washed white, rubbed against her wrinkled eyelids, which were already wet.

She recalled how the Crown Prince was punished by the Empress Dowager when he was young, and how he recited his lessons in this Buddhist temple while the Empress Dowager held the scroll and smiled faintly; she also recalled the last time the late Emperor came to Shou'an Palace, and how he stood under the crabapple tree and stared at the palace gate for a long time.

"Madam Zhou! He will be fine soon. The prince is doing well now too." Jing Chunxi squatted down to look the old woman in the eye, his voice so soft as if he was afraid of disturbing something.

She saw the flickering candlelight reflected in Nanny Zhou's cloudy pupils, as well as her own worried face.

The ticking sound of the copper clock in the corner of the Buddhist hall made the silence at the moment even more heavy.