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

I thought about what the gatekeeper said over and over again.

If Lord Shen wants to live, he should stop investigating the Yongning River.

His tone was quite polite.

At least they still know to call me Lord Shen.

Ah Liu was quite frightened.

He checked the door three times that night, and the window four times. Finally, he stood outside the study with a fire poker in his arms, like a kitchen god preparing to be buried alive with me.

I advised him, "This is useless to you."

Ah Liu looked down at the fire poker: "Then shall I get a kitchen knife?"

"It's no use."

"Then what would be the point of changing it?"

"To exchange one's life for another."

Ah Liu immediately put down the fire poker.

I put the threat aside.

Someone warned that the folding mechanism was working.

This is actually a good thing, rather than having no reaction at all.

What you fear most is not being threatened by an enemy.

The worst thing is that you make a fuss for ages, and the other person doesn't even glance at you.

The Ministry of Works remained silent early the next morning.

The emperor remained silent.

The box of tea that Qian Rong sent is still on the bookshelf, unopened and unreturned. Every time Ah Liu passes by, he glances at it, like he's looking at a roast chicken that he can't eat.

In the evening, Manager Chen arrived.

His expression was more somber than usual this time.

When I saw his face, I knew there was trouble coming.

"Young Master Shen, the master's men have arrived."

I stopped writing.

The people around the master.

These words are different from "the master's people".

Manager Chen is my father's man.

The pharmacy clerk was also one of my father's men.

Those secret agents who occasionally deliver letters in the capital are all my father's men.

But those who could be called "the master's men" could be counted on one hand.

I asked, "Who?"

Shopkeeper Chen whispered, "Xu Sandao."

Ah Liu, standing to the side, turned pale instantly.

I remained silent for a while.

Xu Sandao has arrived.

This is not delivering a message.

It's a death sentence.

I learned short-blade fighting from him when I was a child.

I studied for three months, endured two months of beatings, and spent another month recovering from my injuries.

Xu Sandao is a man of few words and doesn't like to lecture. His teaching method is very simple.

If you can't avoid it, you'll get hit.

If you get bothered too much, you'll naturally start to avoid it.

I can now dodge the first hit when the cart comes at me, and I have to thank him for that.

But that doesn't mean I want to see him.

"Where?" I asked.

"Chen's backyard. Tonight at 7 PM."

Manager Chen paused for a moment, then added, "He only sees you."

Ah Liu immediately said, "No, young master is injured."

I looked at him.

Ah Liu, forcing himself to speak, continued, "What if he hits you?"

I thought about it carefully.

"Then there's no point in you following along."

Ah Liu opened his mouth, but couldn't refute it.

At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), I changed into an inconspicuous short brown robe and left the mansion through the back gate.

Ah Liu insisted on walking me to the alley entrance.

He took the fire poker back from his hand.

I looked at him: "You really think this thing can protect me?"

"cannot."

"Then what are you going to do with it?"

"To bolster courage."

"Who are you giving courage to?"

"I."

I patted him on the shoulder and walked into the night.

Chen's Pharmacy is not very close to Chengpingfang.

The streets were deserted at night, except for a few drunken customers making a racket in front of the foot shop. The old man selling wontons lifted the lid of his pot, and white steam billowed out, filling the air with a delicious aroma.

I'm a little hungry.

But then I remembered that Xu Sandao was still waiting for me, so I didn't eat.

It's not that I'm afraid of being late.

I'm afraid that if I eat too much, he'll beat me until I throw up.

Only one lamp was lit in Chen's backyard.

The lights were off, and half of the courtyard was in light, while the other half was in darkness.

After Manager Chen led me inside, he left and closed the door behind him.

There was only one person left in the courtyard.

The man was sitting on a stone bench with his back to me.

There was a knife on the table.

The knife was short, and the handle was wrapped in old, dark cloth.

I recognize that knife.

When I was little, it whittled sticks, cut mutton, and even pressed against my neck to tell me what "don't move" meant.

"Young Master."

The man spoke.

The sound was low and flat, like the back of a knife scraping against a stone.

I walked over and sat down opposite him.

"Third Uncle."

Xu Sandao looked up at me.

He was a little older than I remembered.

The corners of his eyes have become more wrinkled, and his temples have turned gray, but his eyes haven't changed. They're not bright, but hard, like two old iron nails.

When he looks at you, you feel like a piece of wood that's about to be nailed to the wall.

His gaze fell on my right arm.

"Are you injured?"

"Minor injury."

"Who hurt him?"

"Still under investigation."

"Having been in the capital for only a few days, he's already taken up an official post, settled into a life of leisure, and is about to marry the princess. Now he's even investigating corrupt officials for the emperor." Xu Sandao's voice was flat. "Young Master is quite busy."

There wasn't a single dirty word in those words.

But it's worse than insulting me.

I didn't take his jab, and simply said, "Uncle, you must have had a long journey."

"I'm not tired," he said. "It's you who are tired, sir."

I sighed inwardly.

coming.

Xu Sandao looked at me: "The master asked me to ask you a question."

"ask."

"Are you here to kill the emperor, or to become an official for him?"

This sentence conveys the same meaning as what my father meant in his letter.

But coming from Xu Sandao's mouth, it sounded more like a knife was at his throat.

I looked at the knife on the table and said, "What if I said that the emperor insisted I take the position?"

"That's because you were the one who took the blame."

"If I hadn't taken the position, I would have died in the Xuanzheng Hall yesterday."

Xu Sandao didn't speak.

I continued, "The emperor appointed me in front of the entire court, made me a censor, and bestowed upon me a residence and a marriage. This was not my choice."

You can refuse.

I chuckled: "Third Uncle, why don't you try refusing an emperor in the Xuanzheng Hall?"

Xu Sandao finally frowned.

He was not unaware of the danger involved.

He just doesn't care.

For him, a task is a task.

No matter what the emperor does, I should find an opportunity to complete the task my father entrusted to me.

"What about the routes inside the palace?" he asked.

My heart sank slightly.

"The route taken by the emperor was different each time he summoned me. The first time, he went to the Xuanzheng Hall, and the second time, he went to a side hall. The route changed, and the eunuchs were also different."

Xu Sandao stared at me.

"So you didn't take a note?"

"If I memorize it, I can remember it."

Is that enough?

"not enough."

The courtyard fell silent.

The light flickered, casting Xu Sandao's shadow long.

He suddenly said, "Young Master, you're stalling."

I did not answer immediately.

He was absolutely right.

I am indeed delaying.

It's not because I voted for the emperor.

It's because I understand Xiao Jingheng less and less.

He seemed to know I was in danger, yet he still kept me by his side.

It's like they're using me, or maybe they're waiting for me.

Taking action rashly under these circumstances would not constitute assassination.

He was sending himself to be beheaded, and in doing so, he also dragged all of my father's undercover agents in the capital into the mess.

I said, "I need time."

"The master has given you three months."

"It's not there yet."

"Master, you won't trust us for more than three months now."

I looked up at him.

Xu Sandao reached out and slowly stroked the hilt of his sword.

"On your first day in the capital, you were personally chosen by the Emperor. On the second day, you were betrothed to a princess. On the third day, you were tasked with investigating a case for him. Young Master, if you were the Master, what would you think?"

I didn't speak.

If I were my father, I would probably want to drag my son back and give him a beating.

First, find out whether his surname is Shen or Xiao.

Xu Sandao said, "The master asked me to do three things."

Which three items?

"First, it depends on you."

The word "see" is pronounced very flatly.

But I understand what it means.

Surveillance.

"Second, investigate the palace."

My brow twitched.

"Third Uncle, the capital is not the southwest. The Imperial Guards are not just sitting around doing nothing."

"I know."

"Gu Xingzhi is already watching me."

That's your problem.

"If you make any trouble, he will trace it back to Manager Chen, then to me, and then to the entire line of culprits."

Xu Sandao raised his eyes: "So you'd better hurry up."

I was angry, but I suppressed it.

Arguing with Xu Sandao is pointless.

Once he's made up his mind about something, he'll only move forward and won't change course.

"And the third one?" I asked.

He paused for a moment.

"Third, if you make no progress, I'll take care of it for you."

I looked at him.

If Ah Liu were here, he'd probably be looking for the door by now.

I didn't move.

I just felt a bit cold on my back.

Xu Sandao did it for me.

This sounds like a request for help.

That's actually the worst-case scenario.

If someone like him were to attempt an assassination in the palace, and succeeded, the world would be thrown into chaos.

If it fails, all the secret agents in the capital will be wiped out.

Either way, I'm not going to survive.

"Give me a month," I said.

Xu Sandao looked at me.

"Twenty days."

"One month."

"Twenty days." His tone was flat. "Young Master, you've already used up quite a few days."

"I need to find out why the emperor did this."

"That's not your task."

"This is a matter of whether or not we can kill him."

Xu Sandao finally fell silent.

I knew that this sentence would persuade him.

It wasn't because he suddenly became reasonable, but because the question of "whether or not the emperor can be killed" was useful to him.

After a moment, he said, "Twenty days."

I frowned.

He added, "If you still don't have a real opportunity in twenty days, I will investigate the palace myself."

"You're going to kill everyone."

"The master said that if there is still no result after three months, he will personally go to the capital."

My heart sank.

This statement carries more weight than his own actions.

If Shen Lie went to the capital in person, then it wasn't an assassination.

It was a mutiny.

Half of the capital city was buried with them.

Xu Sandao stood up and picked up the knife on the table.

"Young master, the master wants the emperor's life, not the Ministry of Works' accounts."

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the hidden door in the backyard.

He paused again as he reached the door.

"And also, young master."

"Um?"

"You were too slow in dodging the cart today."

My lips twitched.

He pushed open the door and left.

I was the only one left in the courtyard.

The lights were burning very low.

I was sitting on a stone bench when I suddenly felt pain in my right arm again.

This capital city is really interesting.

The emperor is afraid I will die.

The Ministry of Works wants me dead.

My father was afraid I wouldn't kill the emperor.

Xu Sandao was afraid I was killing too slowly.

In the end, the only person who really cares about whether I'm living comfortably is Ah Liu.

Although his way of showing concern was to use a fire poker to bolster his courage.

When I returned to Chengpingfang, Ah Liu was indeed still waiting at the alley entrance.

He was still holding that same fire poker.

Seeing me return, he immediately came to greet me: "Young Master, you weren't beaten, were you?"

I glanced at him.

Are you disappointed?

"No, no," he quickly shook his head. "Who came?"

"Xu Sandao".

Ah Liu's face turned pale.

"Third Master is here?"

"Um."

"What are you doing here?"

"persistently urge."

Ah Liu stopped talking.

I walked into the courtyard and looked up in the direction of the palace.

Of course, you can't see anything through the layers of eaves.

But I know that the person I'm going to kill is sitting in that palace.

Now, the question is no longer whether I can get close to him.

Someone who really wanted to kill him came up behind me.

My inspection department.

The search was conducted by the Zhou family.

How to deal with the princess.

He was on guard against Gu Xingzhi.

We still need to stop Xu Sandao from actually touching the palace.

I suddenly feel a little nostalgic for the day I first arrived in Beijing.

At that time, I thought that assassinating the emperor was the hardest thing I would ever do.

I only realized now that it might have been the simplest one.