"A swaddling cloth?"
The two exchanged a look, neither of them quite understanding.
"What swaddling cloth?"
With a helpless sigh, Yun Xi said,
"The swaddling cloth that a baby is wrapped in."
"Ah?"
Sai Xing was the first to exclaim in surprise,
"A child? Could it be that Concubine Shen gave birth to a child in the Cold Palace!?"
Yun Xi didn't directly confirm it, but only said,
"Not necessarily. This cloth is too dirty to tell what it is. It might also belong to another concubine."
"Look for some water to wash it. I'll see if there are any other clues."
"Yes, Miss."
Sai Xing answered and, pinching the cloth, went to look for water. Yun Xi thought for a moment, then led Ling Yan back to the dilapidated house where the exit of the secret passage she had come out of was located.
Before, Yun Xi had been in a hurry to get out and hadn't taken a good look at the environment of the house.
Today, with the intention of looking for something, she immediately noticed many traces that she hadn't noticed before.
Although the house had been in ruins for many years due to the wind and rain, the traces of someone living there carefully were still very obvious if one paid attention.
A small stove built with broken tiles and stones, a "bed" made of arranged wooden boards and weeds, broken pottery bowls, clothes that had been deliberately picked up and carefully stored but were now in tatters after many years...
Even in some corners, there were still traces of words written stroke by stroke with stones and paintings full of childlike fun...
That is to say, there had indeed been a child living in this place!
And all the signs indicated that the child had lived in this place for a long time. Then the mother of this child, who met the conditions and was most likely, was Shen Danqi.
It was very likely that Concubine Qing helped her because of this child.
Yun Xi's heart was suddenly complicated and indescribable. She didn't know what it felt like.
None of the files in the palace had recorded the existence of this child, so it was obvious that it was unknown to outsiders.
When Shen Danqi gave birth to the emperor's child, whether it was a princess or a prince, it was a chance for her to turn things around. Why didn't she tell the late emperor? Instead, she chose to raise the child in the Cold Palace under such difficult circumstances. And she hadn't revealed a single bit of information for so many years. It was obvious that she had deliberately wanted to hide the child.
More importantly, was this child... still alive?
If it was still alive, was the child a boy or a girl? How old was it? What was its name? How was it living? Did it know its own background?
During the plague, many children who had entered the palace as slaves at a very young age had died. For example, if Jiang Ning hadn't been saved by Hunyuan, she would probably be just a handful of loess now.
Was that child also buried in that plague without knowing why?
Yun Xi fell into silence. Staring at those incomplete and unrecognizable words, she seemed to be able to see Shen Danqi patiently teaching a small ball to write stroke by stroke more than ten years ago.
The two were silent for a moment.
Over there, Sai Xing had already come back with the broken cloth. Before she even reached them, she had already started to say excitedly,
"Miss, Miss, I've washed it. But it's been too long. There's nothing to be seen on it. But..."
Running a few steps in front of the two, Sai Xing had a look of "quickly praise me" on her face,
"Before, I saw Jiang Ning flipping through the weaving secret technique passed down to her by the palace aunt. Coincidentally, I saw this kind of material."
"It uses a special plant called... uh, called... alas! I've forgotten."
Pouting, Sai Xing slapped her own head dissatisfiedly. The next moment, she became lively again and continued,
"Forget it, it's not important. Anyway, it's the cloth made from that kind of plant. It can prevent mosquito bites. And it must be woven with a very special weaving method to be made. Although I don't remember what the weaving method is called... But the texture is really special, so I've always remembered it until now. Jiang Ning also showed me that picture. It's exactly the same as this cloth."
"And,"
Sai Xing whispered mysteriously, with a look of telling a small secret,
"Jiang Ning said that because this cloth has special effects and is very difficult to weave, apart from the two bolts that the Queen occasionally gets, no other concubines can use it. Except for... Concubine Qing!"
"As for the current emperor, he only bestowed it on Empress Cao and Concubine Shen. But it is said that the one who uses it the most is the Fourth Princess."
It was Yi Zhen again.
Yun Xi always felt that there was something on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't really grasp it.
Shaking her head, Yun Xi only said,
"Then this should be the swaddling cloth that Concubine Qing gave to Concubine Shen. She is indeed the one who helped Shen Danqi secretly."
"Aunt Lan Chu..."
Suddenly, a ray of light flashed through Yun Xi's mind. She suddenly raised her eyes.
"Since Concubine Qing helped Concubine Shen secretly, she must have sent her own confidant. Aunt Lan Chu must know something. She must know something about the plague and the plans of the Saint Master and others. Maybe she also has a way to get rid of the gu on me!"
However... if Lan Chu was willing to tell her, she should have said so long ago.
But she didn't.
So... did she not know? Or was she unwilling to say?
In any case, she had to go and ask to find out.
Looking around, Yun Xi said,
"Let's go. Let's go down."
The tunnel was as dark and cold as ever.
Yun Xi and the others searched for a long time inside, but Lan Chu never appeared. They couldn't find her at all.
However, the few of them found some traces left by a child in the corner of the basement that they hadn't noticed before.
Maybe it was because the tunnel was cleaned by Lan Chu and hadn't been eroded by the wind and rain outside.
The words engraved on the stones that Yun Xi and the others saw in the tunnel were much clearer and more complete. They could vaguely recognize the three characters "Shen Danqi". The rest were scattered. They could recognize "The cold moon sways the clear waves, the flowing light... the window" and so on. It seemed like they were learning from Li Bai's poem.
The three of them looked around. They didn't find anything else useful, so they had to retreat slightly dejectedly.
However, just as they exited the tunnel and walked into the corridor, Ling Yan grabbed Yun Xi's arm and whispered,
"Someone!"
Yun Xi and Sai Xing were both shocked. They involuntarily held their breaths.
Ling Yan signaled the two to wait for her in place. Holding her sword, she was vigilant and slowly approached forward.
She saw an old woman wearing palace clothes at the corner.
Her eyes were gray. She seemed to be unable to see clearly. She was trying her best to grope and pick up the dead branches that had fallen on the road.
Ling Yan had already walked behind her, but she still didn't notice. She seemed to be unable to hear at all.
The sword that had been unsheathed slowly returned to the scabbard. However, Ling Yan didn't easily let down her guard. She deliberately kicked a stone beside her and made a small noise.
The old woman still didn't move at all.
Ling Yan turned to look at Yun Xi, pointed at her own ears and eyes, then waved her hand, signaling that the old woman seemed to be blind and deaf.
Just to be on the safe side, Yun Xi didn't leave rashly.
Bringing Sai Xing, she deliberately made a noise and walked behind the old woman. She directly slapped her on the shoulder.