My father ordered me to kill the emperor, but His Majesty bestowed a princess upon me instead.

It was nearly midnight when we returned to Chengpingfang.

Ah Liu was so sleepy that he was staggering as he walked, muttering to himself, "Young master, we still have to go to the South Soup Porridge Shelter tomorrow, and we have to try on formal attire at Shenshi (3-5 PM). Will someone send poisoned needles again tonight? Maybe we should weld the door shut."

I got off the bus.

"The door is welded shut, where are you going to run from?"

Ah Liu thought about it seriously for a moment.

"Dig a hole?"

"Can you poach an inside defender?"

He stopped talking.

The night in Chengpingfang is very quiet.

It was unusually quiet.

The lanterns outside the gate were still lit. Old Zheng, the gatekeeper, was dozing off by the door when he heard the car and quickly stood up straight.

"Young master is back."

I nodded.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, a short blade hidden in his sleeve suddenly pressed against his wrist.

It wasn't the knife that moved.

I sensed something was wrong.

There was a strange smell in the courtyard.

It's not incense, and it's not charcoal.

It smells like a mixture of rust and leather.

This smell was common in military camps in the southwest.

I stopped in my tracks.

Ah Liu almost bumped into my back.

"Young master?"

I raised my hand.

He immediately shut up.

Someone was standing in the shadows in front of the main hall.

Tall, broad-shouldered, with his right hand resting on his waist.

Xu Sandao.

When he emerged from the shadows, the lantern light fell on his face, illuminating a pair of deep, dark eyes.

Ah Liu gasped.

"Master Three Knives".

Xu Sandao didn't look at him, he only looked at me.

"Young Master has gone to the Princess's residence."

This is not a question.

I sighed.

"Why aren't the people in the capital who's watching me sleeping?"

Xu Sandao's voice was cold.

"Master can't sleep."

My smile faded a little.

"So I'm telling you not to sleep either?"

"The master asked, 'Where is the missing page?'"

"I've already sent the message."

"That's not a missing page." Xu Sandao stepped forward. "A little bit of a copy, a corner of a rubbing, might fool others, but it won't fool the master."

Ah Liu lowered his head, wishing he could bury himself in the floor tiles.

I looked at Xu Sandao.

"What does Father want?"

"The real account."

"The real accounts haven't arrived yet."

"Then let's start with the surgery."

As soon as those words were spoken, it seemed as if the wind in the courtyard had stopped for a moment.

I lowered my voice.

"Uncle Sandao, do you know what you're saying?"

Xu Sandao said, "I know."

"If we use the knife now, the old case will be solved."

"This old case has been under investigation for eleven years. How many people have died, and how many leads have been lost?" Xu Sandao stared at me. "Before the young master went to the capital, the master said that investigating the accounts is the way, and regicide is the door. If the way is blocked, then break down the door."

My heart sank.

Shen Lie finally decided he couldn't wait any longer.

Or rather, he never intended to wait too long.

During this period, I used the Qian Rong case, the old laundry bureau, the rubbing of the bloodstained baby's clothes, and the missing pages and fragments to stall the Southwest region time and time again.

But with each delay, Shen Lie's patience dwindled.

He was not the emperor.

I don't find exploring a dead end interesting.

He only wanted to see the emperor's blood.

Xu Sandao took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

The paper was very rough and folded into tiny pieces.

He handed it to me.

I didn't answer.

He didn't take it back.

"Written by the master himself."

I remained silent for a moment, then accepted it.

There were only a few lines of text on the paper.

She entered the palace on her wedding day and was three steps away from the emperor.

If the old debts cannot be settled, then blood will be used to settle them.

An'er, don't forget whose son you are.

The last sentence was unsigned.

No signature is required.

I stared at the two characters "An'er," my fingertips growing cold.

Shen Lie rarely calls me that.

He used to call me that when I was a child.

I cut my hand while practicing with a knife, and he said, "An'er, a knife doesn't feel pain."

The first time I looked at the military tent, I made a mistake, and he said, "An'er, the tent doesn't discriminate based on feelings."

After the uprising in the southwest, he rarely called it that anymore.

He called me Young Master.

Call me Shen An.

The person who told me to do my job.

Now, these two words are written on paper again, but without any warmth.

Like a nail.

It's embedded in my son's bones.

Ah Liu whispered, "Young Master..."

Xu Sandao's eyes turned cold.

Ah Liu immediately shut up.

I folded the paper.

"My father wants me to take action when I enter the palace for my wedding?"

Xu Sandao said, "Entering the palace to express your gratitude is the closest you will ever be to Xiao Jingheng."

"That was also the time when I was being watched the most closely."

"That's why it's an opportunity."

I smiled.

"What kind of logic is this?"

Xu Sandao said coldly, "The less people think you dare, the more likely you are to succeed."

Do you think I can succeed?

"If you want to."

"No," I said, looking at him, "only if I want to die."

Xu Sandao's eyes darkened.

"Young Master is afraid of death."

"right."

I answered very quickly.

"I'm afraid of death. I'm also afraid that if I stab someone, the emperor won't die, but the old case will be closed. I'm afraid that Shen Lie's lifelong injustice will eventually become a case of assassination. I'm afraid that the 300,000 troops in the southwest will become rebels and mutinous soldiers written in the history books by the Qingzhang Society."

Xu Sandao stepped forward.

"The master is not a traitor."

"That's why I can't let him become a true traitor!"

The courtyard fell silent as soon as he said that.

Ah Liu was so scared that he dared not breathe.

Xu Sandao looked at me and slowly pressed his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

I looked at him too.

This wasn't the first time they had confronted each other.

But this time it was more dangerous than that night at the old laundry department.

That night he was just suspicious of me.

Tonight, he carries Shen Lie's orders.

Father's command.

Murder of the emperor.

These four words have been like a rope around my neck ever since the day I arrived in Beijing.

The emperor knew part of it.

The princess guessed part of it.

The accounting committee wants to utilize everything.

Now, Xu Sandao is going to tighten this rope.

Xu Sandao whispered, "Young Master, have you already sided with Xiao Jingheng?"

I shook my head.

"no."

"Then why not take action?"

"Because if we take action now, the happiest people will be the accounting committee."

"Excuse."

"It's not an excuse."

I placed the rice bag covers from the West Soup Dishes Shelter, the living people's account book, and the paper package containing the old disaster clothes collected by the Ministry of Rites on the stone table.

"Look."

Xu Sandao didn't move.

I said, "The Ministry of Revenue is using the dead to collect grain, while the living are anonymous. The Ministry of Rites is linking old clothes with the wooden plaques of disaster victims. Du Heng came to the capital from the Jiangbei Ceremonial Office and was transferred to the Ministry of Rites' Ceremonial Office three days ago. Today, they checked my cuffs. Someone wants to link the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief case, my wedding in the palace, and the knife hidden in my sleeve into a counter-case."

Xu Sandao remained silent.

I continued, "If I were to draw my sword during my wedding, regardless of whether the emperor lives or dies, Shen Lie would immediately be proven guilty of regicide. The old case in the southwest would never be a miscarriage of justice; it would only be the result of years of plotting by remnants of the rebels."

Xu Sandao coldly said, "Then kill the emperor first, then seize the tent."

"The accounts will be burned."

"Even murderers can be held accountable."

"No one in the world will believe the stories obtained through murder."

Xu Sandao sneered.

"The people of the world? When did the young master become so concerned about the people of the world?"

I looked at him.

"It started when I saw disaster victims kneeling outside the soup kitchen, begging for half a bowl of porridge."

Xu Sandao frowned.

I handed him the wooden plaque belonging to Fang Deshun.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Wooden sign".

"A relief plaque. The account book says this man's grandfather received grain rations and porridge this year, and was properly settled. But his grandfather died last year. The surviving grandson almost starved to death outside the porridge kitchen."

Xu Sandao did not accept it.

I placed the wooden sign on the table.

"The Clearing Accounts Society has harmed not only the Shen family, nor only the Southwest. They have harmed the entire Liang Dynasty. Father's innocence must be overturned, but not through an assassination that would please them most."

Xu Sandao finally spoke.

"You want to convince me?"

"no."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Take these to your father."

I pointed to the rubbings and ledger pages on the table.

"Tell him that there are old grievances in the Ministry of Revenue case. Tell him that the Ministry of Rites is also involved. Tell him that I'm not refusing to take action, but if I do, the action will become evidence written by someone else."

Xu Sandao looked at me.

"The master won't wait forever."

"I know."

"The wedding is in seven days."

"I know that too."

"If you don't get enough real accounts to make the master stop within seven days, he will send someone into the palace himself."

My heart sank.

"Who?"

Xu Sandao did not answer.

That's the answer.

The Southwest is in the capital, and it's not just about Manager Chen or Xu Sandao.

There are still people.

Moreover, they are the kind of people who would take action before or after the wedding.

I whispered, "Who else did you arrange?"

Xu Sandao turned around.

"Young Master, Master asked me to ask you a question."

"What?"

He stopped in the courtyard without turning around.

"If you are unwilling to kill Xiao Jingheng, then on your wedding day, will you stop and kill Xiao Jingheng's men?"

I didn't answer immediately.

A night breeze blew by, and the paper on the stone table stirred slightly.

This question is more ruthless than asking me to take a knife.

If I answer no, it would be tantamount to admitting that someone is assassinating the emperor.

If I answer yes, it's the same as standing opposite Shen Lie.

Father and ruler.

Hatred and debt.

Knife and Truth.

Everything is contained in this one sentence.

Xu Sandao waited a moment, then said coldly, "The master will know your answer."

After he finished speaking, he climbed over the wall and left.

They came silently and left quickly.

Ah Liu's legs went weak, and he grabbed a pillar for support.

"Young master, was there really an assassination attempt on your wedding day?"

I didn't answer.

Because I don't know either.

Or rather, what I fear most is knowing.

I looked up at the night sky.

The emperor ordered me to investigate the Ministry of Revenue.

The princess asked me not to let anyone else draw my sword.

Shen Lie ordered me to take three steps closer to the emperor and demand an explanation in blood.

The accounting committee wants to leave me with nowhere to hide my dagger, and then pin the assassination charge on me.

Everyone was focused on the wedding seven days from now.

That day was supposed to be my wedding day to the princess.

Now it seems more like a trap set up for me by the entire capital.

What's most crucial to me isn't whether or not I should draw my sword.

I might have to stop another person from drawing their sword for Shen Lie.