Why am I, a cook, always involved in cases?

In a prosperous place in the capital, there is a brothel called "Hongxialou". A girl in the brothel suddenly fell ill with a strange disease.

She wandered around at night like a possessed person, as if being pulled by some force.

Although Lin Zhiruo carefully prepared various soothing snacks for her, she was still unable to soothe the worries deep in her heart.

The girl was cheerful by nature and well versed in poetry and songs, which attracted the attention of a businessman who wanted to redeem her.

Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better. Every night, she wandered around the building as if possessed, and soon a lot of gossip spread.

The poster wanted to stop her from walking at night, but her nails scratched his arm instead.

The next morning, the sisters came to ask her why she was like this, but she smiled and said, "Sisters, what's wrong?"

She had no idea what had happened during the night, but her bare feet were covered in mud and had some bruises.

In the Jinyu Pavilion of the imperial palace, Quan Wushuang, Lin Zhiruo and Gao Zhongcheng were accompanying Concubine Yuyao.

Princess Ai Ling was taken care of by Caiwei.

"What happened later?" asked Concubine Yuyao.

"That's how it ended. After the girl failed to redeem herself, she never went out at night again." Lin Zhiruo said calmly.

"You mean, she actually doesn't want to be redeemed?" Concubine Yuyao asked with her head tilted.

Lin Zhiruo nodded: "I think so. Although the merchant is a wealthy man, he already has a wife and children, and even a grandson."

"Besides, she only needs to wait a few more months before she can redeem herself."

Rather than being redeemed by someone you don't like, it's better to be patient for a while.

In the end, the girl was not redeemed and thus gained her freedom.

"This disease often occurs when she is excited. I will prepare some snacks for her to calm her mind and soothe her nerves. Although the effect is not great, it can always provide some comfort." Lin Zhiruo explained.

"Really?" Quan Wushuang held his chin with his hand, his tone a little tired.

“Is that really the case?”

"That's it." Lin Zhiruo tried hard not to let the disgust show on her face.

Gao Zhongcheng, who was standing by, silently gave her an encouraging look.

"Well, I still have some snacks to prepare, so I'll take my leave first." Lin Zhiruo bowed and turned to leave.

Let’s go back in time for a moment.

After witnessing the white shadow, Lin Zhiruo went to look for the gossipy Xiao Cui.

As soon as Xiao Cui saw her, she asked about Concubine Yuyao. Lin Zhiruo exchanged some irrelevant information and asked about the origin of the ghost.

It is said that the white shadow first appeared in the first ten days of the month and was first seen on the northern palace wall.

After a few days, people in the east also saw it, and the figure could be seen almost every night.

The guards were frightened by the ghost rumors and simply pretended not to see them.

Since no harm has been caused so far, no one cares about this matter.

This deep inner palace is protected by moats and high walls, which made the guards slack off.

What a bunch of useless bastards.

Then Lin Zhiruo went to the imperial kitchen to find the food officer.

The talkative man even told Lin Zhiruo everything that she didn't ask.

He mentioned that Princess Lianhua had been feeling down lately.

Although this princess was from a neighboring country, her status was not high.

She lived in a palace in the north and entertained herself with dancing, but she was timid and easily nervous.

When something went wrong during her audience with the emperor, the other concubines made fun of her for it.

From then on, the sensitive princess locked herself in the house and refused to see anyone.

Although she dances gracefully, she is not good-looking and has not been favored by the emperor since she entered the palace.

I heard that she will be given a military commander soon. I hope she can be happy.

Lin Zhiruo already had some speculation in her mind.

But these ideas are still at the speculative stage and cannot be expressed out loud.

Let's go to the middle of nowhere.

At this time, a fair-skinned concubine walked through the middle door with a blush on her face.

Although her appearance is not outstanding, her happy expression makes people stop and take a look.

Everyone's eyes were on her.

Everyone was thinking, what a blessing it would be to be granted a minister as his wife.

"You are not a stranger, so it's okay for you to tell me, right?" Concubine Yuyao smiled sweetly.

Although she was already a mother, she was only eighteen years old and still had a playful look on her face.

Lin Zhiruo fell into deep thought.

How to answer?

Facing Concubine Yuyao's burning gaze, Lin Zhiruo finally sighed.

"This is just my little guess, I'm afraid it will make Her Majesty unhappy."

"I asked it myself, so why would I be angry?"

It seems that I have no choice but to say it, Lin Zhiruo made up her mind secretly.

"Please promise not to tell anyone else."

“I’ve always kept my mouth shut.”

Although this didn't sound very solemn, Lin Zhiruo still chose to believe her.

So Lin Zhiruo told the story of another patient with nocturnal syndrome.

This story is different from the one he told before Quan Wushuang.

That girl, like the previous brothel girl, suddenly fell ill when someone wanted to redeem her, resulting in the redemption failing.

But the matter did not end there. The girl continued to walk at night, and even the calming snacks carefully prepared by Lin Zhiruo were of no use.

At this time, another guest expressed his willingness to redeem her.

The poster was reluctant to let the patient be redeemed, but the other party insisted on doing so.

In desperation, the landlord had to sign a contract at half the price of the last time.

“It was later discovered that it was a scam.”

"scam?"

It turned out that the first person who wanted to redeem himself was in cahoots with the later buyer.

They knew that the girl was pretending to be sick and deliberately let the first redemption attempt fail.

Then the accomplices would redeem him at a low price.

"The girl's contract is still a long way off, and the man doesn't have enough money to redeem her."

"You mean, Princess Lianhua is the same as those prostitutes?"

The military officer was of humble origin, and even if Princess Lianhua came from a vassal state, he would have no chance of marrying her.

So he vowed to achieve great things just to marry his sweetheart one day.

Unexpectedly, the princess was sent to the harem because of a political marriage.

She was concerned about the military officer, so she deliberately made mistakes in dancing, which she was best at, to make the emperor lose interest in her.

From then on, he lived in seclusion in the palace, leading a life like an invisible man.

She has remained innocent all these days.

Just when the military officer had made many military achievements and was about to marry the princess, she began this night journey.

This was to prevent the emperor from suddenly becoming interested in her and thus losing the chance to regain her freedom.

These powerful people are always like this. When they see that their beloved things are about to be taken away by others, they develop a desire to possess them.

If the emperor favors her, he will not give her to anyone else in a short time.

What's more, Princess Lianhua cares most about her innocence. If she is favored by the emperor, how can she face the person she thinks about day and night?

She danced at the East Gate, perhaps waiting for that person to return safely.

"This is just my guess." Lin Zhiruo said lightly.

"This kind of thing..." Imperial Concubine Yuyao showed a helpless look, "Given the Emperor's temperament, this is indeed possible."

She sighed softly, thinking that the emperor only came to her once every three to five days recently.

Although it was because of the busy government affairs, there were many beauties in the harem and the emperor also had the responsibility to continue the royal heir.

"If I say that I envy Princess Lianhua, would that be too much?" Lin Zhiruo shook her head.

"Will not."

Although Lin Zhiruo felt that her speculation made sense, she did not intend to tell Quan Wushuang.

It is better not to say some things, so as to protect the happiness of those two people.

She hoped she could keep that innocent smile.

On the surface, the mystery seemed to be solved, but there was still a question lingering in Lin Zhiruo's mind.

“How on earth did she manage to climb such a high wall?”

Lin Zhiruo looked up at the wall that was five times taller than herself, puzzled.

She looked at the top of the towering city wall and secretly decided to find an opportunity to find out what was going on.

Princess Lianhua that night was so beautiful that she seemed beyond mortal beauty, and she was completely different from the shy princess she usually was.

If lovesickness can change a person to this extent, what kind of miracles can love bring?