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

After Xu Sandao left, I stood in the courtyard for a long time.

The night breeze blew across the stone table, causing Shen Lie's handwritten letter to flutter slightly.

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.

These few lines of text were like nails, nailed to my eyes.

Of course I remember whose son I am.

The problem is, I'm also becoming increasingly clear that if Shen Lie's son only obeys his father's orders to draw his sword, then in the end, he might not be the emperor who gets killed.

It might be the truth.

Ah Liu squatted to the side, hugging his knees, his face as white as if the Ministry of Revenue had just confiscated his grain.

"Young master, what should we do now?"

I glanced at him.

Which matter are you asking about?

Ah Liu counted on his fingers.

"The Ministry of Revenue is collecting rations from the dead, the Ministry of Rites is checking your cuffs, the princess is asking about your knife, the Three-Knife Master is ordering you to assassinate the emperor at your wedding, and there's another unknown person from the southwest who might be tasked with assassinating the emperor for you."

After he finished breaking it, he was silent for a moment.

"Young master, how about we pretend to be sick?"

"What are you pretending to be sick for?"

"A serious illness. Preferably one that would prevent one from getting married, investigating cases, entering the palace, or even assassinating someone."

I thought about it carefully.

"have."

Ah Liu's eyes lit up.

"What illness?"

"die."

He immediately lowered his gaze.

Yan Xiaoyi sat on the wall at some point.

This person really likes walls.

They don't use the door when they can, and they don't stand on the ground when they can, as if they owed money for roof tiles in their past life.

He said lazily, "Pretending to be sick is useless. If you are really sick, His Majesty will send an imperial physician, the Princess's residence will send a female official, the Southwest will send someone to confirm whether you are faking it, and the Accounting Committee will take the opportunity to make you really sick."

Ah Liu looked utterly hopeless.

"Master Yan, can't you leave some room for maneuver in your words?"

Yan Xiaoyi looked at me.

"The food they make is never much thicker than a hair."

I sat down and refolded Shen Lie's letter.

"So we need to keep this strand of hair from breaking for now."

Yan Xiaoyi raised an eyebrow.

"How do I do it?"

"Cha Nan Soup Dishes".

Ah Liu almost didn't react.

"The Three-Knife Master just forced you to assassinate the Emperor, and now you're inspecting the soup kitchens?"

"right."

"What's the connection between these two things?"

I pointed to the living people's register and the wooden plaque on the table.

"What my father wants is the old score and the truth. I can't stop his knife now unless I can produce a more useful set of facts than the knife."

Ah Liu frowned.

"But the Nan soup kitchen was investigating the epidemic in Shimen Prefecture."

"Precisely because it is an epidemic."

I picked up the Ministry of Revenue's register of medicinal herbs.

In Shimen Prefecture, at the onset of the epidemic, the Ministry of Revenue allocated 300 taels of silver for medicinal materials.

The entries in the ledger are written neatly.

The epidemic has not spread.

The disaster victims are now safe and sound.

The required amount of medicinal materials is sufficient.

There were no major deaths from the epidemic.

The problem is that the medicinal herbs for treating the epidemic, such as Coptis chinensis, Bupleurum chinense, and Atractylodes lancea, are scarce, while the herbs for calming the mind and relieving pain, such as Styrax nitrate and Styrax nitrate pills, are excessively abundant.

In times of disaster and epidemic, the most important thing is to treat the disease.

The Ministry of Revenue, however, seemed to be trying to lull people to sleep.

If the southern soup kitchens also have problems, then the Ministry of Revenue's case will expand from grain, silver, and people to medicine.

Food can kill people.

Medicine can shut a living person up.

If this claim is true, Shen Lie will at least understand that I am not stalling for time in the capital to marry the princess.

I'm really exposing the true nature of the accounting committee.

I said to Yan Xiaoyi, "Go and see Manager Chen."

Ah Liu was so frightened that he immediately went to check the door.

"Young master, didn't you say we shouldn't mess with Manager Chen's informants?"

"It's not something to be taken lightly now."

"That is?"

"That's deadly."

Ah Liu stopped talking.

Yan Xiaoyi jumped down from the wall.

"What message should I convey?"

"Tell Manager Chen that if the South Congee Shop and Shimenfu Pharmacy are confirmed, immediately send a report to Xu Sandao."

Yan Xiaoyi looked at me.

"Are you going to proactively hand over the accounts to the Southwest?"

"Only hand them a corner that can make them stop temporarily."

"What if they don't listen?"

I looked at Shen Lie's letter.

"At least let them know before they make a move that someone is trying to use them as a tool."

Yan Xiaoyi nodded and turned to leave.

I called out to him.

"Also, investigate whether Du Heng has any connection with Shimen Prefecture."

"The one from the Ministry of Rites?"

"Um."

"Isn't he a minor official in the rites department of Yong'an County?"

"Those who could travel from Yong'an County to the Ministry of Rites' Ceremonial Office would not necessarily have taken only one route."

Yan Xiaoyi scoffed.

"Your path to officialdom is truly circuitous."

"That's why it's easy to get lost."

After he left, I went back to my study and spent half the night looking at the medicine accounts.

Ah Liu accompanied them for half the time, nodding his head like a chicken pecking at rice.

I pushed a cold snack at him.

"Eat and go to sleep."

Ah Liu woke up instantly.

"Young master, you are such a kind person."

"Get up at 5 AM tomorrow."

His hand, holding the snack, froze in mid-air.

"Young master, could you please be a less diligent but still kind person?"

I ignored him.

The next morning, we went to the South Congee Stall.

The South Congee Stall was located beside the old post road in the south of the city, which was farther than the West Congee Stall.

This place mainly houses disaster victims from Shimen Prefecture.

Shimen Prefecture is the most unique among the memorials submitted by the Ministry of Revenue.

Yong'an County is experiencing both drought and flooding.

Write about the river embankment in Qingping County.

The Shimen Prefecture records the epidemic.

The word "epidemic" is the most troublesome.

Once you get involved, people's hearts will be thrown into turmoil.

The area outside the Ke Nan soup kitchen was not chaotic.

It was even too quiet.

Over at the western soup kitchen, the disaster victims were shouting, crying, kneeling, and begging; all you could see was the suffering of the living.

The southern soup kitchens are different.

Most of the people here are lying down.

Patients were everywhere—in the thatched hut, at the foot of the wall, and on tattered mats.

Some people were coughing, some had a low-grade fever, some were staring at the sky with their eyes open, and some seemed to be asleep.

There was a medicinal smell in the air.

It doesn't taste like the bitterness of medicine.

It has a sweet, cloying aroma.

As soon as I got off the bus, Ah Liu covered his mouth and nose with a cloth.

"Young master, may I wait in the carriage?"

I glanced at him.

"Afraid of disease?"

Ah Liu nodded frantically.

"Afraid."

"Then you should go in even more."

Why?

"At least die knowing why."

Ah Liu's eyes shattered on the spot.

In the end, he followed them in.

He walked while quietly chanting Buddhist prayers.

The reading was quite varied.

One moment he's praying to Buddha, the next to Taoism, and then he's asking Princess Zhaoning for protection.

I reminded him, "The princess isn't married yet."

Ah Liu said, "Let's pray first, just in case it works?"

The person in charge of the South Soup Dishes Stall was surnamed Jiang.

Manager Jiang was much more polite than the one at the West Soup Hall.

They were so polite, as if they knew I was coming.

As soon as he saw me, he came out to greet me with his men.

"Lord Shen, you've worked hard. The Ministry of Revenue has already issued an order that the accounts, medicine registers, and lists of disaster victims at the southern soup kitchens are all available for your review."

A thought struck me.

Such perfect coordination?

That would be even more sinister.

Manager Jiang led us to the small hut behind the shed.

Inside the room were account books, tea, and even a plate of candied fruit.

Ah Liu swallowed hard when he saw the candied fruit.

I look at him.

He immediately straightened his back.

"I don't eat food given to me by others."

Not bad.

After following me for so long, I've finally learned a rule for survival.

Chief Jiang opened the medicine booklet.

"Lord Shen, please take a look. After the disaster victims from Shimen Prefecture arrived in the capital, the southern soup kitchens provided medicine twice a day, and the epidemic has been brought under control. The Ministry of Revenue allocated three hundred taels of silver for medicine, and the expenditure on medicine materials is clear and all here."

I opened the medicine booklet.

Coptis chinensis, three catties.

Bupleurum root, 2.5 jin.

Atractylodes macrocephala, one jin.

Patchouli, one and a half jin.

Twenty catties of calming incense.

Calming soup ingredients, 30 doses.

Suhewan, fifty pills.

Looking at these numbers, I asked, "Sir Jiang, what diseases are the disaster victims in Shimen Prefecture suffering from?"

Chief Jiang answered quickly.

"Most of the symptoms are alternating chills and fever, acclimatization problems, palpitations, and insomnia."

"Not an epidemic?"

"Local reports indicated that the epidemic had just begun, but it was well controlled after entering the capital and did not become a major epidemic."

"So there are few medicines to treat the epidemic, but many sedatives?"

Chief Jiang smiled and said, "Disaster victims are far from home, and they are afraid and can't sleep. Calming their nerves is also a form of healing."

What a wonderful saying! Calming the mind can also cure illness.

The people in the Ministry of Revenue are getting better and better at talking.

I went out of the hut to check on the medicine shed.

There were two young apprentices in the medicine shed, brewing soup.

The earthenware pot was filled with a light brown broth that smelled sweet with a hint of bitterness, and the bitterness was accompanied by a drowsy aroma.

I asked the young apprentice, "What kind of medicine is this?"

The medicine boy bowed his head.

"Calming Soup"

"Treat what?"

"Treats palpitations, crying, and insomnia."

"Who prescribed it?"

The apprentice dared not speak.

Jiang, the person in charge, chimed in from the side.

"It was prescribed by the doctor in the shed."

Where are they?

"I went to town to get the medicine."

I smiled.

And again, he just happened to be away.

These key figures in the capital are all busier than the emperor.

I walked up to the ward.

A middle-aged man lay on a tattered mat, his face flushed, his lips chapped, and his forehead burning hot.

The little girl next to him knelt down and wiped his sweat.

I squatted down and asked, "Has your father taken any medicine?"

The little girl nodded.

"I drank it."

"What medicine?"

"I don't know. I'll go to sleep after I drink."

"How long do you sleep?"

"Half a day. Sometimes a whole day."

I looked at the man.

He wasn't asleep.

It's drowsiness.

I reached out and felt his wrist.

It's extremely hot, and my pulse is erratic.

This cannot be cured by calming the nerves.

Ah Liu leaned closer and whispered, "Young master, why do I feel like everyone here is sleeping a little strange?"

I looked at a row of thatched huts.

That's definitely not right.

When disaster victims get sick, they feel pain, cry out, cough, and beg for medicine.

But it's too quiet here.

It was so quiet it didn't feel like a hospital ward.

Like an old warehouse that has been scented with incense.

Chief Jiang was still smiling.

"Lord Shen, the disaster victims are often frightened. Calming them down will make them less likely to move around, which will be beneficial for their recovery."

I looked at him.

"So they stopped causing trouble because they're cured?"

"nature."

"Or is it because they fell asleep?"

Jiang's smile froze.

I stood up.

"I want to see the dregs of the medicine."

Jiang's expression changed slightly.

"The dregs of medicine are filthy, why bother, sir..."

"I've seen the accounts, I've smelled the medicine, and I've seen the person."

I pointed to the wooden buckets behind the medicine shed.

"Now look at the trash."

Jiang, the official in charge, could no longer stop it.

Ah Liu panicked first.

"Young master, could the dregs of the medicine be poisonous?"

I look at him.

"It's not poisonous if you don't touch it."

"Then who will touch it?"

I looked at him.

Ah Liu's eyes widened.

"Young master?"

"Turn it over with a stick."

With a look of utter despair, he found a wooden stick, stood three feet away from the bucket, and stretched out his arm to turn it over.

With Yan Xiaoyi gone, A-Liu became all the more precious.

Although timid, he has long arms.

After the dregs of the medicine were turned out, I squatted down to look at them.

Coptis chinensis is scarce.

Bupleurum in small amounts.

Patchouli was almost nonexistent.

However, there are quite a few of them, such as jujube seed, polygala root, and benzoin.

These things cannot be said to be useless.

But it's not enough for people who actually have a fever and an epidemic.

I picked up a piece of dregs and smelled it.

Ah Liu immediately said, "Young master, please be careful!"

"fine."

I put down the dregs of the medicine and asked the young apprentice, "How many pots of calming soup are made each day?"

The apprentice lowered his head and did not answer.

I placed two copper coins in front of him.

He didn't move.

I exchanged it for a small piece of silver.

His eyes flickered.

well.

Another person who knows that money is more effective than calming soup.

He whispered, "Three pots."

Chief Jiang retorted sternly, "Nonsense!"

The young apprentice trembled with fright.

I looked at Chief Jiang.

"Let him speak."

Chief Jiang's face was grim.

The apprentice medicine boy gritted his teeth and said, "Three pots of calming soup every day, even the seriously ill drink it. Those who are restless drink more, those who are calm drink less. Some people are less awake after drinking it, but the foreman says it's easier this way."

"What's the point of saving trouble?"

The apprentice dared not speak.

I'll speak for him.

"To save them from crying out in pain, to save them from asking for medicine, to save them from asking why the Ministry of Revenue's accounts show the epidemic is under control, yet they are still suffering from fever."

Chief Clerk Jiang angrily retorted, "Lord Shen! This is inducement!"

I laughed.

"I was just finishing what he said for him."

Chief Jiang's face turned ashen.

Just then, a coughing sound came from outside.

It wasn't just one person.

It's a group of people.

For some reason, several of the disaster victims in one of the wards woke up and started coughing one after another.

The coughing was uncontrollable, one after another, like a rag being torn apart.

Ah Liu's face turned pale when he heard this.

"Young master, is the epidemic still not under control?"

I looked at those patients.

It's not that I lost control.

It was never under control.

They were simply kept in check by the medicine, preventing them from causing trouble outside the Ministry of Revenue.

I whispered, "Seal off the medicine shed."

Jiang's expression changed drastically.

"Lord Shen, you mustn't! If the medicine shed is closed, what will happen to the patients' medication today?"

I looked at him.

"What medicine should we give them? Should we let them continue sleeping?"

He was speechless.

"Ah Liu, write this down."

Ah Liu immediately took out his pen.

His hands were still shaking this time, but he was a bit more steady than at the soup kitchen.

"The records at the South Porridge Shed and Medicine Account state that the epidemic in Shimen has been controlled, but an investigation reveals that there is a shortage of medicine to treat the epidemic and an overdose of sedatives. Patients have not yet recovered from their fevers, and the medicine shed is serving three pots of sedative soup daily, suspected of using sedatives to suppress the illness and cover up the fact that the epidemic is not under control."

When Ah Liu wrote the word "cover up," he whispered, "Young master, is this word too strong?"

"Heavy."

"Should we switch to something lighter?"

"No change."

Ah Liu nodded and continued writing.

Jiang's face was no longer presentable.

Just as I was about to check the sealed packages of medicinal herbs, a young apprentice suddenly ran out from behind the shed carrying a tent bag.

He had only taken two steps when the constable grabbed him.

"Where are you going!"

The medicine boy was so frightened that he cried.

"It wasn't me! I didn't hide the tent bag! They made me burn it!"

My eyes darkened.

"Give it to me."

The bailiff dared not look at Chief Jiang and hesitantly handed me the account bag.

The bag wasn't large; it contained several medicine packets sealed with paper and a small ledger.

The seal on the envelope had the pharmacy's mark.

Jirentang.

Clear and transfer.

When I saw the words "Qinghe", I already knew what was going on.

The rice bag is clean and pure.

The medicine packet is also mild and gentle.

Qinghe Charity Granary is probably more than just a charity granary.

It is a transit point for supplies.

The grain passes through here.

The medicine also comes from here.

The silver was probably laundered here as well.

I opened the side tent.

There were a few notes on the exchange of medicinal herbs.

Twenty catties of calming incense, Qinghe Zhuan.

Suhe Pill, 50, Qinghe Reconstituted.

Three boxes of old clothes and fumigation medicine, verified by Du Heng of the Ministry of Rites.

My fingers stopped.

Du Heng, Minister of Rites.

It's him again.

Ah Liu came over to take a look and was immediately shocked.

"Young master, why is Du Heng in the medicine tent?"

I stared at that line of text.

Three boxes of old clothes and fumigation medicine, verified by Du Heng of the Ministry of Rites.

The Ministry of Rites collected three boxes of old disaster relief clothing three days ago.

Three boxes of old disaster relief clothing and fumigation medicine were also found in the medicine tent of the South Congee Shop.

These three boxes of disaster relief clothing were not simply transferred from the old warehouse of the Ministry of Rites.

It was also fumigated with medicinal herbs.

Why fumigate the old disaster-stricken clothes with medicine?

Is this for the purpose of eliminating the epidemic?

Or is it to cover up the stench?

Or perhaps, it was to leave traces of the Shimen Prefecture plague on a piece of clothing?

I suddenly remembered my wedding dress.

The Ministry of Rites wants me to try on the clothes.

Zhou Xianyao measured the sleeve.

Du Heng wanted to examine the knife.

If they mix things from the old disaster clothes into the wedding dress...

On the wedding day, what's discovered might not just be a knife.

It could also be old clothes from disaster victims, the smell of medicine for epidemics, or wooden signs for disaster relief.

They want to link me, the disaster victims' chaos, the Ministry of Revenue case, and the assassination attempt in the Southwest into a complete chain of evidence.

Chief Jiang's face turned ashen.

I closed the side tent and looked at him.

"Master Jiang, it seems the reason the patients at the southern soup kitchen aren't causing trouble isn't because the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief efforts are effective."

His lips trembled.

I put the ledger into my bosom.

"It's because you put them to sleep."

The coughing outside is getting louder and louder.

And the accounts in my hands finally connected the three boxes of Qinghe Yicang, Du Heng from the Ministry of Rites, and old disaster relief clothing into one place.

This case is starting to get bloody.