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

Lin Zhiruo, with almost devout respect, slowly reached out to the antique and mysterious box.

The inside of the box was unfathomable, and one could vaguely see a neatly folded piece of paper lying there quietly, as if whispering a dusty past.

With an almost sacred sense of ritual, she gently unfolded the thin piece of paper, on which was drawn a lifelike portrait of a person, which was awe-inspiring.

"Who on earth is this master who could have left behind such a vivid painting?"

Lin Zhiruo pondered in her heart and was about to take a closer look, but Henghua snatched the paper back with lightning speed.

"It was left here, and should have been discarded like a worn-out shoe."

Henghua muttered to himself with a complicated expression, as if he had countless secrets in his heart.

She hurriedly hid the paper in an unknown corner, as if she was afraid that it would reveal some secret.

Lin Zhiruo was filled with doubts, and her eyes once again moved to the box full of toys, trying to find more clues.

There was a box full of miscellaneous items, and one of them was particularly eye-catching.

It looks like a child's toy, yet is too plain and simple, as if it contains some unknown secret.

It looks like a pebble, but its brilliance is restrained. A touch of bright yellow appears on it, shining like the brightest star in the night sky.

Lin Zhiruo couldn't help but asked softly, "Can I touch it lightly?"

Henghua smiled slightly and agreed softly: "Of course you can, but you have to be careful."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiruo took out a piece of delicate paper from her bosom, gently lifted up the stone, squinted one eye, and looked at it carefully.

"Where on earth did this thing come from? The chief steward has no interest in collecting rare stones."

Lin Zhiruo muttered to herself, while Henghua's smile was calm and mysterious.

"Is this thing going to be confiscated immediately?"

Lin Zhiruo asked tentatively.

Henghua nodded, his expression solemn: "That's true. The stones we pick up are bound to be contaminated with dust, so we need to handle them with care."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiruo nodded, and in an almost ritualistic manner, she carefully wrapped the stone and put it back into the box.

"Because this stone actually contains a deadly poison."

She took a deep breath and spoke slowly, as if every word carried a heavy weight.

"What the hell does this happen?!"

Henghua rarely lost his composure, his face was as pale as paper, his eyes were wide open, full of astonishment and confusion.

Although Lin Zhiruo had some guesses in her mind, she remained calm on the surface. "I don't know either. I'm just trying to find out the secret. How could the steward have such a dangerous thing?"

Henghua's expression became even more complicated when he heard this: "Could it be that when Quan Wushuang was young, he had ever entered the forbidden area of ​​the inner court?"

Lin Zhiruo sensed the hesitation and concern in Henghua's words, but nodded in understanding. "But Lin Zhiruo, even if he had set foot in the inner court, what would it matter?"

Henghua hesitated to speak, but finally gritted his teeth, as if he had made some kind of decision.

She said nothing more and went to bed, and the candle went out.

Lin Zhiruo also slowly climbed onto the simple bed, and the lights dimmed.

The next morning, Lin Zhiruo, accompanied by Quan Wushuang and the Empress Dowager, walked into the ancient and mysterious building.

Frankly speaking, Lin Zhiruo was not completely sure in her heart. If she guessed wrong, she would lose face.

However, she could not refuse this invitation and mission from the imperial power.

She bowed respectfully and stepped into the dusty room.

Every step he took raised a puff of white mist, and the air was filled with an indescribable stench mixed with the smell of mold, but it was far more than that, as if it was hiding some unknown secret.

A brush lay quietly on the floor. It had a rather strange shape, the front end was as flat as a knife, and the tip was uniform, as if telling a piece of dusty history.

Lin Zhiruo thought to herself, "Could this be the brush the late emperor once used?"

She asked everyone quietly, but saw everyone looking at each other in confusion.

Only the Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes slightly, lost in memories of the past: "Only once did the late Emperor paint a picture for me personally. The friendship depicted in that painting is still vivid in my mind."

She stroked her chest gently, as if chasing the past time.

"The late emperor once said that if anyone knew about it, it would be confiscated, so this can only be done in secret."

When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned, especially Quan Wushuang. Although he tried his best to remain calm, his fingertips were still trembling slightly.

Lin Zhiruo just recently discovered that Quan Wushuang actually had such subtle flaws and secrets.

Lin Zhiruo knew very little about the late emperor, the man who was ridiculed by the world as a tyrant and dubbed the empress's puppet, and she was unwilling to delve into it.

However, now as the envoy of the Queen Mother, she has to uncover the mystery of the curse and uncover this dusty history and secrets.

"Did the late emperor ever paint here?"

Lin Zhiruo asked softly, but no one answered.

After all, it was the first time that everyone learned that the late emperor had such elegant tastes and talents.

"I don't know either, but ever since the late emperor moved here, he has always had a maid serving him personally."

The Empress Dowager's personal maid said so.

Lin Zhiruo was moved when she heard this: "Can we call her over quickly?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Zhongcheng immediately ordered his subordinates to go and look for him.

"Would you allow me to touch this brush?"

Lin Zhiruo asked softly, with a hint of awe and anticipation in her tone.

The Queen Mother smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

Lin Zhiruo carefully picked up the paintbrush and touched the tip of the brush with her fingertips. The tip of the brush was harder and sharper than she had imagined.

She put her nose close to it and sniffed, and a unique stench hit her nose, as if carrying some kind of vicissitudes of history and the sedimentation of time.

On the floor, a translucent fragment caught the eye, as if it were solidified syrup, or some kind of mysterious mark.

In addition, there are some scattered stains, which seem to have been wiped away vigorously.

Lin Zhiruo looked closely and found that the stains became denser the closer they were to the wall, as if telling some unknown secret.

She looked up at the wall and stroked it with her hand.

The wall was more elastic and resilient than she had imagined, which made her feel puzzled and curious.

Is there thick paper on the wall?

Or was some special paint applied to harden the surface and conceal the truth?

The wallpaper looked rather plain and monotonous, perhaps because it had turned yellow and faded due to age and erosion by wind and rain.

However, in addition to keeping warm, wallpaper also carries the heavy responsibility of decoration and historical memory.

Lin Zhiruo's eyes were fixed on the wallpaper, and an inexplicable impulse and desire surged in her heart.

(Could it be... that this wallpaper hides the mystery of the curse suffered by the late emperor?)

Lin Zhiruo already had a rough idea and guess about the mystery of the curse suffered by the late emperor.

She believed that her intuition and judgment were almost correct, but it seemed that she would uncover an unknown past and secrets in the process.

"I have brought the person here."

The voice of the official broke the silence and mystery, bringing in an old man with a hunched back.

The old man was very old and frail, but he was once responsible for managing the rooms and secrets of the most noble and important people.

This surprised and shocked Lin Zhiruo.

"you are……"

The Queen Mother looked at the old man and asked softly.

The old man narrowed his eyes and slowly bowed his head, "I have personally witnessed that history and secret."

Lin Zhiruo was moved when she heard this and tried to ask the old man a question, but the Empress Dowager gently shook her head and stopped her: "This man was once a lowly slave and knows many unknown secrets."

Hearing this, Lin Zhiruo suddenly understood, and all the mysteries seemed to be slowly being revealed...