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

After I got injured, I didn't go anywhere.

It's not that I don't want to go.

Ah Liu absolutely refused to let me go.

He said, "Young master, if you go out again today, I'll hug your legs and cry."

I glanced at him.

"Are you threatening me?"

"No," Ah Liu said earnestly, "I'm begging you to save me some face."

I thought about it and decided to let his face off for now.

The injury on my right arm wasn't serious, but it hurt whenever I raised my arm. The medicine that Gu Xingzhi brought was really effective; it felt cool after being applied, unlike Ah Liu's bottle of medicinal wine, which felt like someone had stuffed a handful of hot salt into the wound.

I sat in my study and laid out all the information I had gathered over the past few days.

Old accounts of the Ministry of Works.

The Annals of Yongning Prefecture.

Riverbank stone materials.

The death of Fang Yuanshi.

The whereabouts of Fang Zhoushi and her son.

Killed by a cart collision.

Each one is like a thread.

I have the thread in my hand. If I pull it down, what I might pull out isn't a fish, but a water snake that can swallow a person.

Ah Liu brought me a bowl of porridge, and after setting it down, he couldn't help but ask, "Young Master, are you really not going out today?"

"No."

He visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

I continued, "Write a memorial."

Ah Liu's breath hitched again.

"A memorial? Addressed to the emperor?"

"Or should I write it for you?"

"I don't understand."

"That's why I won't write it to you."

He leaned closer to look at the account books on the table: "Young Master, are you going to tell His Majesty everything you've found?"

"No."

Why?

"Because it's unsafe."

Ah Liu was taken aback: "Even writing to the emperor isn't safe?"

I looked up at him.

"Do you think the emperor personally collected, opened, and read all the memorials he read every day?"

Ah Liu thought for a moment: "It shouldn't be."

"Memorials must be registered by the Censorate, go through the Office of Transmission, and then be sent to the Emperor. Who can say whether the contents can be seen in between, or whether a copy can be sent out?"

"Then why not write it?"

"That won't work either."

That's the problem.

If I don't write it, the emperor will think I'm useless.

He gave me an official position, a house, and a marriage, and then dumped the Yongning River case on me, not so that I could recuperate and eat porridge in Chengpingfang.

He will be disappointed if I don't report anything.

If the emperor becomes disappointed, my joke of "the entire court only trusts you" might become a real joke.

Those who make the emperor a laughingstock usually die in a very proper manner.

Writing too much is also not good.

Fang Yuanshi is dead, and Fang Zhou and her son have not yet been found. If I write this line into the folded book, it will be equivalent to telling everyone who can see the folded book: I have already investigated to the point of silencing them.

At that time, Fang Zhoushi will not be a witness.

It's a target.

Therefore, this first fold must be written.

But you can't write it all out.

I need to let the emperor know that I am useful.

I also want those who want to kill me to know that I haven't yet found out what they fear most.

I spread out the memorial paper and ground the ink.

This is the first time in my life that I have formally written a memorial to the emperor.

I used to keep account books, write military reports, and even write notices to fool the local gentry for my father. If I made a mistake in those things, at most my father would scold me a couple of times.

If I make a mistake in the memorial, maybe no one will scold me.

Because the person is gone.

I picked up my pen and wrote the first line.

Your humble servant, Censor Shen An, respectfully submits this memorial.

As soon as those words were spoken, the room became much quieter.

Ah Liu stood to the side, not daring to breathe.

I continued writing.

Regarding the Yongning River channel repair case, after my initial investigation, it appears that the accounts do not match the actual situation.

First, the land route from Hengshan to Yongning River is eighty li long. The price of stone transported by trolley is 2.8 qian per cubic meter, which is far lower than the usual price, so it is suspected that the information is untrue.

Secondly, after inspecting the river embankment on-site, I found that the stone used did not match the Hengshan bluestone recorded in the account, suggesting that inferior materials were used instead of superior ones.

I'll stop writing here.

Ah Liu waited for a long time, then asked, "Is that all?"

"That's all."

Where is Fang Yuanshi?

"I won't write it."

"Did the cart hit you?"

"I won't write it."

"The old man by the river says the construction schedule is wrong?"

"I won't write it either."

Ah Liu looked puzzled: "Isn't this fold too short?"

"Shorter is better."

Why?

"The emperor reads dozens of memorials every day, and he may not have the patience for lengthy ones. Shorter ones will let him know that every word I say is meaningful."

Ah Liu scratched his head: "But you're being far too polite. What 'suspected of being untrue' and 'suspected of using inferior goods as superior ones'? Isn't this blatant forgery?"

"Even if it's obvious, it can't be written as obvious."

Why?

"Because I don't yet have enough evidence to kill them."

I put down my pen and blew on the ink.

"This is not a public rant. Every word written must be able to withstand counterattacks. What I can confirm now is that the freight charges are abnormal and the stone materials are not up to standard. As for Fang Yuanshi, the cart, and Fang Zhoushi, they are all undercover agents."

Ah Liu nodded as if he understood but not quite.

"So this is called keeping something in reserve?"

"No."

"What's it called?"

"Stay alive."

He understood immediately.

After I finished writing the folded paper, I read it over three more times.

After three attempts, more than a dozen words were deleted.

In the end, the entire text was only about three hundred words long.

short.

But that's enough.

It told the emperor: I have found something.

I also told the Ministry of Works: I only found the surface.

More importantly, it tells everyone who sees this fold: Shen An was not scared away by a cart.

I sealed the folded document, changed into my official robes, and went to the Censorate.

Ah Liu originally wanted to come along, but I left him to watch the house.

He was very worried: "Young Master, are you going alone?"

"I'm going to deliver a commemorative document, not to fight."

"But you weren't fighting last time you went out."

I glanced at him.

He makes a lot of sense.

But I still didn't bring him.

The atmosphere inside the Censorate was different from when I first arrived.

At that time, people looked at me as if I were a stone that the emperor had suddenly stuffed into their hands.

Now everyone is looking at me because this rock is actually starting to hit people.

When I arrived at the duty room, two young censors were talking in hushed tones. They immediately stopped talking when they saw me enter.

I nodded with a smile.

They laughed too.

He laughed very restrainedly.

I handed over the folded document, and according to the rules, it was first registered and then sent to the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief for review.

The Left Vice Censor-in-Chief's surname was Zhao, and his given name was Guanlan.

This name is very elegant.

The person is not elegant at all.

When he looked at the folds, his eyebrows barely moved, except for lingering a little longer on the two points: "the price of the foot is lower than usual" and "the stone material is unsuitable".

After he finished reading, he looked up at me.

"You went to the Yongning River?"

"Yes."

"Are you injured?"

I was taken aback for a moment.

He pointed to my right arm.

The sleeves of his official robes covered the injury, but his movements still appeared unnatural.

I said, "I tripped and fell on the way."

Zhao Guanlan looked at me.

That look in his eyes clearly said: Do you think I'm stupid?

But he didn't expose it.

He simply picked up the pen and signed his name at the end of the folded paper.

"Send to the Secretary for Communications."

I cupped my hands in thanks and said, "Thank you, sir."

He suddenly said, "Shen An."

"Your humble servant is here."

"The Censorate investigates cases without fear of offending anyone."

Just as I was about to feel a warmth in my heart, he added another sentence.

"But don't be stupid enough to let someone kill you for nothing."

I paused for a moment.

"This subordinate has remembered."

As I left Zhao Guanlan's official residence, I suddenly realized that this old man might be more interesting than he appeared.

At least he wasn't completely pretending to be blind.

After handing out the folded paper, I did not return to my residence immediately.

I sat in the duty room of the Censorate for a while.

and so on.

Wait for the folding paper to be distributed.

Waiting for the emperor's reaction.

We are also waiting for the Ministry of Works' response.

In real investigations, it's often not about you taking the initiative to investigate, but about you releasing some information and seeing who gets restless first.

Before evening, the Ministry of Works could no longer sit still.

The doorman delivered a name card.

Qian Rong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works.

Rank 4.

The calling card was written very politely.

I have long admired Lord Shen's reputation and will pay him a visit another day.

Along with the post came a box of tea.

Longjing tea.

Before the Qingming Festival.

Judging by its quality, it's worth quite a bit of money.

Ah Liu looked at the box of tea, his eyes lighting up slightly: "Young Master, is this tea drinkable?"

"cannot."

His eyes immediately darkened.

"poisonous?"

"uncertain."

"Then why can't I drink it?"

"If you drink it, it's a gesture of goodwill."

"Then should we return it?"

"If I back out, it means I've turned my back on you."

Ah Liu frowned: "Then what should we do?"

"Leave it."

"Where should I put it?"

"A conspicuous place."

Why?

"Let the person who delivered the tea know that I received it. But also let them not know whether I actually accepted it or not."

Ah Liu thought about it for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

I didn't expect him to understand.

This box of tea is more interesting than the tea the Ministry of Works treated me to yesterday.

Yesterday, Director Zhou invited me for tea, but that was just a delay.

Qian Rong sent me tea today; it was a test.

Let's see if I accept it or not.

Let's see if I'm scared.

Let's see if I'll show some consideration in my words after hearing about a box of tea.

I left the tea box on the shelf in my study without opening it.

Night slowly fell.

Chengpingfang was quieter than the south of the city, so quiet it was uncomfortably quiet.

I sat in my study, my right arm throbbing slightly.

The Ministry of Works' account books were laid out on the table.

The tea that Qian Rong had sent was on the shelf.

The rough stone that hit me is still in the drawer.

These things, laid out in one place, are quite complete.

account.

present.

Knife.

Ah Liu stood by the door and asked in a low voice, "Young Master, do we have any progress?"

"Calculate."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you sighing?"

I looked out the window.

"Because from today onwards, they won't just be looking at me anymore."

"Then what are you looking at?"

"Let's see when I die."

Ah Liu's face turned pale.

I smiled.

"Don't be afraid."

"real?"

"At least not tonight."

Ah Liu had just breathed a sigh of relief when the gatekeeper came to report again.

"Lord Shen, someone left a message outside the door."

I looked up: "What did you say?"

The gatekeeper whispered, "That man said that if Lord Shen wants to live, he should stop investigating the Yongning River."

Ah Liu's face turned completely pale.

But I laughed.

These words came faster than I expected.

It seems my first fold was just right.

It's good enough that some people finally realize I'm not just a useless, connected person who only knows how to drink tea.