On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Guo Ao patted Liu Wentao's knee and said earnestly, "Prime Minister, listen to me. I know you're anxious for your son, and I understand. But this path is a dead end! You submit the list today, and tomorrow Lin Yi will confiscate all their property. And the day after? Their descendants, students, and relatives will all hate you! Even if your son enters officialdom, he won't go far!"

This is where Lin Yi's brilliance lies.

Because he didn't want the Liu family to rise again, he released this bait to see if you would take the bait.

If you take the bait for your son's sake, his career won't go far; if you don't take the bait... then don't take the bait, Lin Yi isn't that short of money right now.

Besides, if we really wanted to investigate corrupt officials, we wouldn't need a list at all. We could just grab anyone in the bureaucracy, investigate them, and find out who is truly innocent.

Liu Jing's heart sank.

She had thought about this question, but...

"Uncle Guo."

Guo Ao turned to look at her.

"My younger brother is sixteen years old this year. Nobody talks to him at the Imperial College. The teachers don't call him by name, and his essays are never reviewed. He sits there every day like he's invisible. A few days ago, I saw what he wrote. There were dozens of 'death' characters on a piece of paper. He's only sixteen! I don't care about reputation or anything like that. I just want him to live."

The room fell silent again.

Guo Ao stood there, his mouth opening and closing several times, but he couldn't say a word in the end.

He certainly knew what it felt like for a sixteen-year-old boy to be isolated by the whole world.

Because his own son wasn't much better off.

Lin Yi confiscated the Guo family's property, and now his son can't even find a decent job outside.

But the problem is that these two things are different.

Guo Ao turned to look at Liu Wentao: "Prime Minister, say something."

Liu Wentao finally raised his head, his eyes cloudy, whether from lack of sleep or from crying, it was hard to tell.

At fifty-two years old, most of his hair had turned white, his cheeks were sunken, and his cheekbones were prominent.

"Old Guo."

"Um?"

"I understand all the reasons you're giving me. Betraying your colleagues will lead to being condemned by the world and ultimately ruining your reputation... I know all that."

Guo Ao breathed a sigh of relief: "Then why are you still..."

"But what's the use of all those principles?"

Guo Ao was taken aback.

Liu Wentao stood up.

He had been sitting for too long, and his legs were a little numb. He swayed as he stood up and grabbed the windowsill for support. "You talked to me about my reputation, about the future, about how everyone hates me. But you never told me what's going to happen to my son now."

Liu Wentao appeared somewhat agitated: "Although he's not my only son, he's still my own flesh and blood! How can I abandon him? He's only sixteen, he's done nothing wrong! He hasn't embezzled a single tael of silver, nor has he harmed a single person. Why should he be buried with me? Why?"

Guo Ao took half a step back.

Liu Wentao rarely lost his temper. During his twenty years as prime minister, he was always calm and composed, and adept at handling all situations in the court.

Everyone knows he's hypocritical, but everyone admits he's good at enduring.

But today he couldn't hold back anymore.

"I've accepted the end of my life, but my son can't be finished!"

Liu Wentao's eyes were bloodshot, but very bright, giving off a sense of recklessness.

Guo Ao wanted to say something to refute him, but he swallowed the words back.

He's a father too.

Although the good-for-nothing son in the family wasn't as miserable as Liu Yuan, his life wasn't much better.

Ever since Lin Yi confiscated the Guo family's property, the whole family has been trapped in the palace. The son has nothing to do all day long, and only occasionally grumbles a few words.

But if his son were like Liu Yuan, isolated to the point that the word "death" was written all over a piece of paper... what would he choose?

Guo Ao dared not think about it.

"Your Excellency, I'm not saying you shouldn't think about your son, I'm just... afraid that you might regret something you do in a moment of impulse."

Liu Wentao shook his head: "No."

How did you know?

"Because I've been thinking about this for three days now. Ever since Jing'er went out to see Lin Yi for the first time but didn't get to see him, I've been thinking about this."

Liu Jing was taken aback upon hearing this.

For the past three days, she thought her father was sitting under the window in a daze, not thinking about anything.

It turns out he had been thinking about this all along.

Liu Wentao called her, "Jing'er."

"father."

Do you think Lin Yi keeps his word?

Liu Jing thought for a moment and said, "I've investigated what he did. He's ruthless to the enemy, but he's never gone back on his promises."

Liu Wentao nodded.

Guo Ao listened from the side, his face growing increasingly grim.

Because he knew that Liu Wentao had already made his decision, and no one could stop him.

"Prime Minister, are you really planning to hand it over?"

"Um."

"Is my name on that list...?"

Liu Jing also looked at her father.

Liu Wentao was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes."

Guo Ao's lips twitched.

"The Tianxianglou incident, the salt permit incident, your accounts from those years in the Ministry of Revenue... I have them all."

Guo Ao closed his eyes.

I took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

"So after you hand it over, Lin Yi will also come and copy my documents?"

"You've already been searched once, and besides, you're trapped in the palace now, with nothing at all. Even if he comes to investigate you with the list, what could he possibly find?"

Guo Ao gave a wry smile: "That's true... but others are different. Those people in the capital, and those who have been transferred to other places, if you hand over this list, it's like Lin Yi has a knife, and he can stab whoever he wants."

Liu Wentao said, "That's their business."

"But they will hate you."

"I can't care about that anymore. I've been prime minister for twenty years, cleaning up countless messes and plugging countless holes for those people. When have they ever thought of me? When I was down on my luck, did anyone even glance at me? Now I'm trapped in this side hall, and not even a bowl of hot food has been brought to me. Those who have used me as their protector for twenty years, even sending a bag of loose silver would have been appreciated, but has anyone done so?"

Guo Ao did not respond.

It really doesn't.

After Liu Wentao's home was ransacked by Lin Yi and he was forced to seek refuge in the palace, not a single official in the entire court ever came to visit him.

It's as if Liu Wentao never existed.

"Why should I keep this secret for them?" Liu Wentao's voice sounded sinister. "For their peace, I'd risk my son's life? That's impossible!"

A gust of wind blew in through the cracks in the window, and the light flickered.

Liu Jing stood to the side, feeling extremely heartbroken.

She rarely heard her father say so much.

Back when he was in the Prime Minister's residence, Liu Wentao never talked about official business when he came home, and he always maintained a composed and dignified demeanor in front of his children.

But today he voiced all his grievances.

Because he had nothing left to hide.

The room remained silent for a long time.

Guo Ao sat there without saying a word, holding the now-cold cup of tea in his hands.

Liu Wentao stood by the window, one hand on the windowsill and the other hanging at his side.

The lamp oil was almost gone, and the flame grew smaller and dimmer.

Finally, Liu Jing broke the silence.

"Father, have you thought this through? Are you really going to give it to me?"

Liu Wentao didn't turn around: "Hmm."

"Then I'll go to the Prince's Mansion tomorrow."

"No rush, I need to organize things first. A list is a list, and accounts are accounts; you can't just write down a few names and hand them over. Lin Yi isn't stupid; if what you give him isn't detailed enough, he won't believe it."

Liu Jing asked, "How long will it take you?"

"Three days, I guess."

Guo Ao suddenly spoke up from the side: "Prime Minister."

"Um?"

"How many people are you planning to include on that list?"

Liu Wentao turned to look at him: "Are you afraid I'll include everyone in the list?"

Guo Ao didn't speak, but his meaning was clear.

Liu Wentao shook his head: "I won't write about those insignificant, petty officials who embezzle a few hundred taels of silver. It's useless to write about them. Lin Yi wants the big fish."

"How big is considered big?"

"Those who embezzle more than ten thousand taels, or those with serious problems."