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

When I arrived at the Ministry of Rites, the fire was already burning.

In the darkness, the old warehouse of the ceremonial office was a sea of ​​red.

Flames leaped up along the roof ridge, crackling and popping as they burned the tiles. Smoke billowed into the sky, black with a hint of red, like someone had tossed a wedding dress into the stove.

I suddenly realized that the capital city is very good at adapting to the occasion.

I had just unearthed the names of the deceased from the wedding clothes in Chengpingfang when the Ministry of Rites started burning down the old warehouses.

One side is dressed in red.

One side is thriving.

Those who didn't know better would think the Ministry of Rites was arranging my wedding in advance.

Ah Liu followed behind me, running breathlessly.

He was still clutching the sealed copy of the evidence from Chengpingfang tightly in his arms, his face deathly pale.

"Young master, are we really going in?"

I glanced at him.

"Or how about coming to the Ministry of Rites to enjoy the fire?"

Ah Liu swallowed hard.

"I think watching fire is quite dangerous."

Zhou Xian also came.

I asked him to come along.

The fire at the Ministry of Rites shouldn't be witnessed by only an outsider like me.

Zhou Xian's face was not good the whole way, and when he arrived at the entrance of the Ministry of Rites, he looked like he had been ripped out of his soul.

He looked in the direction of the old warehouse, and his lips moved slightly.

"How could it be so fast..."

This is an interesting statement.

It's not "How did it catch fire?"

It's "How could it be so fast?"

This indicates that Zhou Xian knew something bad might happen.

He just didn't expect the fire to come so quickly.

I asked, "Did Lord Zhou know all along that the old warehouse would burn down?"

Zhou Xian suddenly looked at me.

"No, that's not what I meant."

"What does that mean?"

"I only know... the old warehouse has always been guarded, how could it suddenly catch fire?"

I smiled.

"The old warehouses in the capital have been quite prone to flooding lately."

This is what the old archive building of the Prince's Mansion looks like.

The same applies to the old storehouse of the Ministry of Rites' Ceremonial Office.

The people in the accounting association seem to really like fire.

After the fire is finished, the paper will turn black, the cloth will rot, and people will die. In the end, everything can be summed up in one sentence:

Walk away from the water.

How convenient.

The entrance to the Ministry of Rites was in complete chaos.

The minor official carried water, the servants moved ladders, and the guards dispersed the onlookers.

Several officials from the Ministry of Rites stood on the stone steps, wearing outer robes, their expressions filled with panic.

One of them, a man in his forties with a fair complexion and short beard, was wearing a scarlet robe from the Ministry of Rites and was giving instructions on how to put out the fire in a deep voice.

Zhou Xian whispered, "That's Feng Ke, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites."

Feng Ke.

I finally met him.

Feng Ke also saw us.

He first looked at Zhou Xian, then his gaze fell on me.

In that instant, the look of surprise on his face vanished quickly.

It was as fast as a hand retracting through a crack in a door.

He came down to greet her and bowed.

"Lord Shen?"

I returned the gift.

"Dr. Feng."

Feng Ke glanced at A Liu and Zhou Xian behind me.

"A fire at night is something the Ministry of Rites will handle. What brings Lord Shen here?"

I said, "What a coincidence. I just unearthed an old garment sewn into the inner robe of a wedding sent by the Ministry of Rites from Chengpingfang, and then the old warehouse of the Ministry of Rites burned down. I felt it would be inappropriate not to come and see such a coincidence."

Feng Ke's eyes darkened slightly.

"Wedding robes?"

"Doesn't Doctor Feng know?"

He looked at Zhou Xian.

Zhou Xian's face turned even paler, but he could only brace himself and say, "When the clothing was inspected in Chengping Ward, a piece of old cloth from the Jiangbei disaster victims was found on the waist of the inner robe, with an old record of the Fang Liu family on it. Fragments of old Southwest travel permits were also found on the sleeve."

Feng Ke's expression changed drastically.

This shock looks real.

It's at least more genuine than Zhou Xian's earlier statement.

However, the shock of the officials in the capital, like the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue, cannot be judged by appearances alone.

I asked, "Dr. Feng, did you approve the three boxes of old disaster relief clothing?"

Feng Ke paused for a moment.

"It's a routine verification and supplement by the Ministry of Rites."

"Was it you who recommended Du Heng for the Ceremonial Affairs Department?"

"Du Heng once served as a minor official in the Rites Department of Yong'an County, Jiangbei, and is familiar with the local household registration after the disaster. The Ministry of Rites recently reviewed the old clothing and relief efforts in Jiangbei and transferred him to assist. Is there anything inappropriate about this?"

Where is he now?

"He has not yet arrived to claim illness."

"What a coincidence that you fell ill."

Feng Ke's expression was displeased.

"Lord Shen, please be careful with your words. Although the Ministry of Rites does not handle criminal cases, it is not a place where the Censorate can arrest people at will."

coming.

Every government office has this phrase.

The Ministry of Works has said so.

The Ministry of Revenue has stated this.

The Ministry of Rites also says this now.

It means: You can search, but don't search right outside my door.

I took out the seals that had been removed from Chengpingfang and copied them.

"Dr. Feng, this is not an arbitrary arrest. The wedding robes sent by the Ministry of Rites to the prospective prince consort's residence were sewn with old clothes from the deceased disaster victims, and also contained scraps of old road permits from the southwest. I was ordered to investigate the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief funds, and now the old disaster relief clothes from the Ministry of Rites, the box from Qinghe Lane, the clothes examined by Du Heng, and the fumigation medicine from the secondary account are all connected together."

I looked at him.

"If you still insist that this is the internal affair of the Ministry of Rites, then the Ministry of Rites' appetite is far too great; it even wants to devour my life as well."

Feng Ke remained silent.

The firelight danced on his face, casting his expression in shifting light and shadow.

After a moment, he asked, "What does Lord Shen wish to do?"

"I need to see the fire."

"no."

Why?

"The fire in the old storehouse is still raging. Inside are old archives from the Ministry of Rites, ceremonial robes, and sacrificial garments. It would be dangerous to enter without authorization."

I nodded.

"Danger is good."

Feng Ke was taken aback.

I said, "If it's not dangerous, they won't need to set fires."

Ah Liu whispered from behind, "Young master, that sounds even more dangerous."

I ignored him.

Feng Ke was about to stop them when Qiu Tang arrived.

She arrived sooner than I expected.

Behind her were guards from the princess's residence, as well as two female officials.

Without wasting any words, Qiu Tang directly produced Princess Zhaoning's warrant.

"His Highness has ordered that the wedding attire involves old clothes from the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Revenue, and disaster victims in Jiangbei. Tonight, the old warehouse of the Ministry of Rites was flooded, and the Princess's residence needs to investigate the sealing of these old clothes."

Feng Ke frowned.

"Miss Qiutang, this is the old treasury of the Ministry of Rites."

Qiu Tang calmly replied, "It is also the source of His Highness's wedding attire."

These words left Feng Ke speechless.

Xiao Lingyi was not allowed to arbitrarily search all the old treasuries of the Ministry of Rites.

But she was able to check her wedding dress.

Especially after pieces of shroud containing the dead had been removed from the wedding dress.

If they continue to obstruct them, it would show that the Ministry of Rites is guilty.

Feng Ke finally stepped aside.

"The fire is still burning, everyone please be careful."

I walked toward the old warehouse.

The closer you get, the stronger the heat wave becomes.

The smoke stung his eyes, and Ah Liu covered his nose with his sleeve while still clutching the evidence book tightly.

"Young master, won't this place collapse?"

I looked up at the beam, which was burning red.

"meeting."

Ah Liu paused in his steps.

"Then let's..."

"So hurry up."

He almost burst into tears.

In front of the old warehouse gate, several servants from the Ministry of Rites were splashing water.

The fire has been extinguished by half, but the three rooms on the east side are burning the worst.

I stood outside the door and looked around, and quickly realized something was wrong.

The fire didn't start from one place.

There is a used clothing store on the east side.

There is a middle book shelf.

One spot near the west side inner warehouse door.

Three fire points.

At the same time.

The places that escaped the fire were precisely those ordinary ceremonial robes, sacrificial vessels, and old banners.

The places that were burned the most were all related to what we are investigating now.

I asked Zhou Xian, "What should we put on the east side?"

Zhou Xian said in a hoarse voice, "Old disaster clothes, old funeral clothes."

"The middle bookcase?"

"Recently issued orders, design changes, and acceptance records for the Instrumentation Department."

"The inner warehouse on the west side?"

"Expensive formal wear, sample garments that have not been put into the open warehouse."

well.

It was very accurate.

The old disaster-damaged clothes were burned, which can help clarify the source of cloth pieces like those from the Fang Liu family.

The document rack was burned, but it can be used to clarify Du Heng's transfer order, Feng Ke's approval document, and the revised sleeve pattern.

The inner treasury burned down, but we can clear out that box of old disaster clothes and wedding robe patterns that were not put into the public treasury.

Fire should not be burned indiscriminately.

Someone burned the tent.

I said to Ah Liu, "Remember this."

Ah Liu was coughing as he wrote.

"There were three fire spots: the old clothing warehouse in the east, the order rack in the middle, and the inner warehouse door in the west. Ordinary formal attire was not badly damaged, but old disaster clothing, altered sleeve patterns, and the order rack in the ceremonial department were the most severely burned."

Upon hearing this, Feng Ke's expression grew even more unpleasant.

"Lord Shen, the extent of the fire is still unclear; how can you make a hasty judgment?"

I looked at the three plumes of black smoke.

"If Physician Feng has a better diagnosis, he can tell us."

Feng Ke stopped talking.

I walked to the middle bookshelf.

Half of this place has already burned down.

Bamboo slips, paper books, and wooden frames were mixed together, forming a dark mess.

However, when paper is burned, not every single sheet is completely burned.

Especially those that are pressed at the bottom, sometimes there is still a little bit left.

I squatted down and used a stick to stir up the ashes.

Ah Liu cried out in a low voice in a panic, "Young master, it's hot!"

I look at him.

He immediately handed me his wooden stick.

"Use the longer one."

That's good.

Despite being afraid of death, they have a strong sense of tool-making.

I brushed away a layer of ash and saw half a charred wooden sign.

The sign is not for disaster victims.

It's a Ku brand.

Three characters are still visible on it.

Sleeve pattern frame.

I continued scrolling down.

One corner of the charred paper was not completely ash.

I picked it up with tweezers.

Half a line of text remained on it.

Prince Consort Shen An tucked his sleeves in…

It burned out later.

I put it in the envelope.

Zhou Xian's face turned ashen when he saw this half-line.

This at least proves that the original document regarding the modified sleeve design is indeed here.

And it was indeed burned.

I went to the secondhand clothing store on the east side.

The fire was even worse here; many clothes were reduced to charred remains.

But old clothes are different from paper; they will leave fiber traces even after being burned.

I saw a few scraps of cloth that hadn't burned through in the ashes.

One of them was grayish-white with dark brown edges from medicinal fumigation.

It looks very similar to the old cloth taken out of the inner robe of He Chengpingfang.

Qiu Tang instructed the female official to come forward and seal it.

As Feng Ke looked at these things, his expression gradually stiffened.

He suddenly asked, "Where is Du Heng?"

I looked up.

"Does Doctor Feng also want to see him?"

Feng Ke ignored my sarcasm and turned to ask the minor official beside him, "Did Du Heng come to the old treasury today?"

The minor official was so frightened that he knelt down.

"I don't know."

"Where is the warehouse clerk on duty?"

"Wei San has disappeared."

Wei San.

I wrote down this name.

The old warehouse clerk who was on duty has disappeared.

This fire is even more complicated.

Just then, someone shouted from the direction of the western inner warehouse:

"There's someone inside! There's someone inside!"

Everyone looked over.

Two servants dragged a charred body out from behind the half-collapsed door.

The person was burned beyond recognition.

Clothes clung to his body, making his face unrecognizable.

Ah Liu almost vomited after just one glance.

I'm not feeling well either.

I've seen plenty of dead people.

There aren't many that are burned to this state.

Feng Ke's expression changed drastically.

"Who is it?"

With trembling hands, the servant removed a cracked wooden plaque from the corpse's waist.

One side of the wooden sign was blackened by fire, while half a character could still be seen on the other side.

衡。

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Zhou Xian exclaimed, "Du Heng?"

Feng Ke took half a step back.

Ah Liu's throat tightened.

"Young master, did Du Heng burn to death?"

I stared at the charred corpse without saying a word.

The waist tag belongs to Du Heng.

A person may not be Du Heng.

In this world, if you can exchange accounts, you can exchange clothes.

If I can sew Fang Liu's old clothes into my wedding dress, I can hang Du Heng's waist tag on someone else.

I squatted down.

The heat hadn't dissipated yet.

There was a very faint, sweet taste in the corpse's throat.

Calming incense.

My eyes darkened.

This person was not conscious and struggling before being burned to death.

At least not fully conscious.

He would likely be drugged first and then thrown into the fire.

I reached out to look at his hand.

His charred fingers were curled up.

There are thick calluses on the fingertips.

It's not a callus from writing.

The calluses are from years of moving things, carrying water, and pushing carts.

Du Heng was a minor official in the Ministry of Rites, and later entered the Ministry of Rites' Ceremonial Affairs Office.

His hands should have calluses from writing brushes and rulers, not these rough calluses.

I looked at the shoes again.

The sole of the shoe was half burned, but mud was still left on the inside.

The mud is black mud with some grain husks.

There would be no grain husks or mud in the old treasury of the Ministry of Rites.

There are soup kitchens and medicine sheds in the south.

The grain store in Qinghe Lane also had it.

I stood up.

Feng Ke said urgently, "Lord Shen, this corpse..."

I interrupted him.

"It's not Du Heng."

Everyone fell silent.

Zhou Xian was taken aback.

"The waist tag clearly belongs to Du Heng."

I looked at the charred corpse.

"It's easier to change a dead person's waist tag than to change the Ministry of Revenue's account book."

Ah Liu's face turned deathly pale, and he asked in a low voice, "Then who is this?"

I looked into the depths of the fire.

"have no idea."

But I know one thing.

This body was shown to us.

It wanted to tell everyone that Du Heng was dead.

The wire broke.

The old warehouse burned down.

The bill is gone.

Unfortunately, I've seen this kind of player substitution trick a bit too often lately.

Aunt Lan was able to take someone else's place in death back then.

Fang Liu was able to receive grain after her death.

Du Heng could also find a dead person to burn in the old treasury of the Ministry of Rites.

No.

This person may have been alive before the fire.

I felt a chill run down my spine as I looked at the faint taste of sedative in the corpse's throat.

The accounting and documentation process is thorough, and indeed, it never discriminates between the living and the dead.

As long as it can be entered into the account, it can be used.