She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

The princess instructed the female official: "Go and ask them questions."

The female official accepted the order and left.

When Shen Qingtan heard the words "Jinyiwei" (Imperial Guards), her heart jumped into her throat.

The Southern Garrison was responsible for the legal and military discipline of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, while the Northern Garrison was specifically responsible for cases designated by the Emperor. When handling cases, they could arrest, interrogate, and execute people on their own without having to go through the other three judicial departments.

Their people are everywhere; they can arrest not only ordinary officials, but also members of the imperial family.

She had originally thought that the eldest princess would send the person to the Dali Temple...

Shen Qingtan was very grateful that Zhao Yi had told her the royal secrets yesterday, so she wouldn't be completely clueless. If the Princess questioned her later, she would know how to act accordingly.

"Tan'er?" the eldest princess called out.

Shen Qingtan snapped out of her daze and looked at the princess blankly.

Seeing that she seemed distracted, the eldest princess said in a gentle voice, "I heard that your family calls you Tan'er, so may I also call you Tan'er, just like your family?"

Shen Qingtan was taken aback and looked up at the princess. She saw that the princess had long, black hair tied up in a high bun, long eyebrows that reached her temples, and a pair of sharp phoenix eyes. She was wearing a blue brocade robe with gold embroidery of clouds and phoenixes, which made her look dignified, solemn, noble and extraordinary.

Even though the princess's expression was much gentler and subtly revealed a sense of closeness, she still exuded an innate majesty in her eyes, making it difficult for her to feel close to the princess.

Shen Qingtan was puzzled by the Princess's attitude towards her. After all, the wives of officials in the capital all said that the Princess was not easy to approach. If someone could catch the Princess's eye, it would be a great honor.

However, since the eldest princess established her own residence, no one has been able to befriend her, and she has never been seen to be close to any of the younger generation.

She said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Your Highness, you are my elder, it would be more intimate for you to call me Tan'er."

The eldest princess smiled and said, "Come sit next to me."

"Yes."

Shen Qingtan slowly and calmly walked to the Princess's side and sat on the stool next to the main seat.

The eldest princess carefully examined Shen Qingtan. She was outstanding in appearance, demeanor, and manners, and had a gentle and graceful temperament. She felt very comfortable looking at her.

"I had heard before that your embroidery skills were excellent, and that you were one of the best among the noble ladies in the capital. I saw you at the Yongyi Marquis's residence yesterday, and I can see that your reputation is well-deserved."

The eldest princess asked curiously, "Why did you embroider a peacock? If you younger generation were to give embroidery to your elders, you would only embroider things like 'fortune,' 'longevity,' cranes, and pine trees."

Shen Qingtan vaguely sensed a hint of frustration in the princess's words, as if these insights were all based on her own personal experience.

She had a strange feeling in her heart, as if she suddenly felt much closer to the princess, without that sense of distance from her, and that she was just an ordinary elder chatting with a junior.

She couldn't help but smile and say, "I originally prepared a painting of a hundred blessings and a hundred longevity."

"Oh?" the princess asked again, "Then why did you change it?"

Shen Qingtan remained silent for a moment before saying, "I have heard a saying that 'wherever a peacock lands, that family will prosper.' Compared to the 'Longevity and Fortune' painting, Auntie would probably prefer the symbolism of the peacock painting."

The eldest princess, however, sensed from Shen Qingtan's brief silence that the matter of the birthday gift was not as simple as she had described.

After all, when Shen Qingtan was delivering her birthday gift yesterday, someone deliberately snatched the gift she had prepared and displayed it in public.

The officials' wives present had been taught manners by their governesses since childhood, so how could they have done something so impolite?

It was clearly done on purpose, to embarrass her.

Otherwise, since one was her own sister and the other was her own aunt, when they saw the "pheasant" embroidery, no matter how dissatisfied they were, they should have concealed it from the guests first and then investigated it later.

Instead of criticizing and interrogating her in front of the guests, those aggressive words clearly indicated an attempt to accuse her of disrespecting her elders.

Having grown up in the deep palace and witnessed all sorts of schemes, the eldest princess, after this analysis, realized that the birthday gift Shen Qingtan had prepared had been switched. She herself had also noticed this and, in a way, prepared a peacock embroidery that looked like a pheasant but actually contained a hidden secret.

"You little girl are so clever and skillful. That embroidery is just what I wanted." The princess composed herself, her eyes filled with affection. "I invited you here today specifically to ask you to embroider a piece for me."

Shen Qingtan asked, "What pattern would Your Highness like to embroider?"

“Embroider a scroll of scripture,” the eldest princess said. “Embroider a scroll of the Medicine Buddha Sutra.”

Shen Qingtan was taken aback, and a variety of thoughts surged through her mind.

The eldest princess looked very well; although she was over fifty, she looked no more than forty years old and did not appear to be ill.

She had no children, and no one in the palace seemed to be sick, so why would she embroider a piece with the Medicine Buddha Sutra?

The only person Shen Qingtan could think of was Zhao Yi, who was deeply favored by Emperor Jing'an.

Could it be that the eldest princess is also doing this for Zhao Yi?

If that's the case, then it makes sense why the eldest princess treated her so kindly.

I just don't know how much sincerity is in this intimacy.

At this moment, a female official came in from outside and came to the princess's side. She whispered in her ear, "Your Highness, that troupe leader has been using the troupe as a cover to abduct many children. He specifically trains these abducted children to become female roles in operas to earn money for him. If a child is strong-willed and doesn't obey, he either punishes them or cripples them and throws them away."

The eldest princess was furious: "You scoundrel! He has committed so many cruel and vicious acts. According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he should be torn to pieces!"

"Your Highness, please calm down." The lady-in-waiting patted the princess's back to soothe her, then handed her two booklets and continued, "That troupe leader confessed that someone had bribed his troupe to perform a play called 'The True and False Heiress' at the Yongyi Marquis's residence. Afterwards, someone else paid double the amount to bribe his troupe to perform another play... which was the play you heard at the Yongyi Marquis's residence."

She paused, glanced at Shen Qingtan, and then said, "The first person who bribed the troupe leader didn't try to hide it much, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard quickly found out that it was Zhao San's wife from the Duke's mansion who did it. As for the second one, they hid it a bit better, and the investigation is still ongoing."

The eldest princess, with a cold face, opened the first booklet, which indeed told the story of the real and fake heiresses.

After reading the whole story, she vaguely guessed that the fake heiress in the play referred to Shen Qingtan, while the real heiress referred to Shen Mingzhu.

Marquis Chengen is not stupid. If his own daughter had been maliciously switched at birth and now that his biological daughter has been found, why would he continue to raise the thief's daughter?

It's likely that Shen Mingzhu was jealous of her eldest sister, who excelled in every way, and deliberately created this play to ruin Shen Qingtan's reputation.