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

I froze for a moment.

She continued, "If you sense anything is wrong, come back immediately. Fang Zhou is important, but the living are more important than the debts left behind by the dead."

This doesn't sound like something a princess would say.

It sounds like human speech.

I smiled and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, I value my life above all else."

She said calmly, "If you truly valued your life, you wouldn't have investigated this place."

I couldn't refute it.

This is the second time today.

It seems that it's best not to boast when you're out and about.

The carriage continued towards Ci'en Temple.

The two riders behind were still hanging there.

The distance just seems to have gotten a little closer.

Ci'en Temple is built on a hillside in the southern suburbs, with a long stone staircase in front of it. Today is the anniversary of the late empress's death, and the temple cleared out all visitors early, leaving only the monks and a few pre-registered worshippers.

As soon as the princess's carriage arrived, the abbot personally came out to greet her.

The bell rang three times.

Deep and lingering.

After getting out of the car, Xiao Lingyi showed no airs of a princess. She washed her hands, offered incense, and kowtowed, each step steady and deliberate.

I stood at the back of the crowd, head down, trying my best to look like an accountant.

Ah Liu stood next to me and whispered, "Young Master, when are we leaving?"

"wait."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Until everyone thinks we're still here."

Ah Liu's face became even more tense after hearing this.

After a while, Qiutang came from the side corridor, holding a book of merits in her hands.

She stopped in front of me and said, "Accountant, His Highness has instructed you to go to the backyard to verify the number of lamps offered."

I bowed my head and responded.

"Yes."

I followed her into the backyard.

Ah Liu instinctively wanted to follow.

Qiu Tang turned to look at him.

"You stay."

Ah Liu paused in his steps.

He looked at me.

I said, "Be good."

"Young Master..."

"Keep an eye on the incense and candles."

His lips twitched, probably feeling that he had been demoted from a personal servant to a mere incense and candle guard.

Qiutang led me through the side corridor.

Along the way, there were two maids, a young novice monk, and three guards from the princess's residence. It seemed like a normal trip to the backyard to check accounts.

When they reached the release pond, Qiutang stopped.

Bamboo grows by the pond, its shadow falling on the wall and swaying gently in the wind.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw what appeared to be a movement behind the bamboo shadows.

He is not a monk.

His steps were too steady.

I didn't turn around.

If the people from the princess's residence want to follow, then let them follow.

What I lack most right now isn't trouble, but someone to take the fall for me.

Qiu Tang pointed to a small door behind the pond.

"Go out from here and walk southwest along the dirt road. After three miles, you'll reach Zhao Family Village."

I nodded.

"If Lord Shen does not return in half an hour, the carriage will return to the city as usual," Qiu Tang said.

I see.

They didn't wait for me.

That's how you make it clean.

"Please thank Your Highness for me."

Qiu Tang glanced at me.

"Her Highness said she doesn't want to hear thanks."

"What does she want to hear?"

"She wants Lord Shen to come back alive."

I froze for a moment.

Qiu Tang had already turned and left.

I stood in front of the small door and touched the lime powder in my arms.

For some reason, I suddenly felt that this thing was quite heavy.

Outside the small gate is a narrow dirt road.

The weeds on both sides were very tall, and the spring wind rustled through the grass blades.

I walked very fast.

But not running.

If a person starts running in the wild, they won't be able to run when they really need to later.

This is what my dad taught me.

He taught me a lot.

Observe the people, the accounts, the route, and the escape route.

They didn't teach me how to survive between the emperor and him.

After walking less than half a mile, a slight noise suddenly came from behind.

I stopped.

The sound of grass still lingers.

The sound of the wind is still there.

It's like there's nothing there.

But the most dangerous thing in this world is often "like there is nothing at all".

I bent down, picked up a pebble from the ground, and casually tossed it into the grass to my left.

The stone landed on the ground.

A wild rabbit was startled out of the grass.

not human.

I had just breathed a sigh of relief when I suddenly heard footsteps from my right rear.

It's very light.

But it shouldn't be.

I turned around.

A man in gray stood ten paces away.

He was in his thirties, with an ordinary face. So ordinary that you could forget him after just one glance. He was of average height and build, neither fat nor thin, and carried a short knife.

The knife was ordinary.

It's so ordinary, like something you'd just buy at the market.

The more ordinary something is, the more troublesome it becomes.

Because if such a person kills you, no one will even know what he looks like.

I sighed.

"I knew today wouldn't go so smoothly."

The man didn't speak.

He took a step forward.

I took a step back.

"Friend, let's make a deal," I said. "If you're going to rob me, I don't have any money. If you're going to rape me, this desolate place isn't suitable. If you want my life, can you tell me who sent you? At least I can die knowing why."

He remained silent.

well.

professional.

I hate my major the most.

The next moment, he moved.

The short sword was aimed straight at my chest.

I dodged to the side, and the blade grazed my clothes, tearing a gash in my coarse brown blouse.

Although the clothes are old, they were at least a gift from the princess's residence.

My heart ached for it.

But it only hurt for a moment.

Because the second cut has already come.

I stepped back and almost slipped on a patch of wet mud.

The man in gray pressed forward.

If this strike lands squarely, I can go directly to see Buddha today and ask him in person whether the incense at Ci'en Temple is truly effective.

I did not withdraw.

I raised my hand and tossed the paper package in my arms toward his face.

The lime powder was thrown out.

The man in gray reacted very quickly, immediately closing his eyes and turning his head to the side.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

The powder still covered half of his face.

He groaned and his steps faltered for a moment.

I turned and ran.

He ran very decisively.

beat?

I'm not Xu Sandao.

I ran forward, and soon I heard the sound of someone chasing me from behind.

The fact that this person could still chase so fast even with lime in their eyes shows that they must have practiced.

This also shows that he is very sincere in wanting to kill me today.

There was a grove of low trees ahead.

I rushed in, circled around using the shadows of the trees, and then suddenly crouched down.

The man in gray followed them in.

He had just passed by me when I kicked a dead branch next to me.

The dead branches rolled out sideways.

That's not a good move.

But when people are chasing someone, they are most likely to look ahead and least likely to look down.

The man in gray swayed slightly, but did not fall; he merely staggered.

But that's enough.

A cold shout suddenly came from outside the woods.

"Who is it?"

Two guards from the princess's residence rushed in from outside the dwarf forest.

really.

The person in the bamboo shadows is not my imagination.

Without hesitation, the man in gray turned and left.

One of the guards drew his sword and stopped him.

The three exchanged blows quickly.

It was so fast that even a layman like me could only see a flash of the blade before the gray-clad man was stabbed in the shoulder.

But he didn't linger in the fight. Using the force of his injury, he flipped backward out of the bushes and disappeared into the grass in the blink of an eye.

The guards must pursue.

I immediately shouted, "Don't chase them!"

They stopped.

I leaned against the tree trunk, panting, feeling as if my lungs had been ripped out, washed, and then stuffed back in.

A guard asked in a low voice, "Lord Shen, are you injured?"

"no."

I glanced down at the torn hem of my clothes.

"The clothes are damaged."

The guard didn't laugh.

The people in the princess's residence were indeed not very fond of smiling.

The other person squatted down and picked something up from the ground.

"Lord Shen."

I took it.

It is a small section of the broken copper clasp of a scabbard.

Just now, when the gray-clad man was slashed in the shoulder by the guard and turned to leave, the copper buckle must have fallen off his body.

The brass buckle was small, with polished edges and a barely visible fine line engraved on it.

It's not a pattern.

Like the serial number left when a workshop ships a product.

I held it tightly in my hand.

This is enough.

Everything that has been used by people has a source.

As long as there is a source, it can be traced.

I asked, "Do you recognize that person?"

The guard shook his head.

"I don't recognize him."

"What's the approach?"

He thought for a moment and said, "Unlike ordinary martial arts practitioners, their swordsmanship is too uniform, as if they have received standardized training."

Unified training.

These four words are much more troublesome than "江湖杀手" (Jianghu assassin).

Hitmen in the underworld take money to do their jobs; all they need to do is find the buyer.

A person who has received standardized training is often not backed by an individual, but by a single hand.

A bigger hand.

I tucked the brass button into my sleeve and said, "Thank you both."

The guard said, "His Highness ordered that if Lord Shen senses anything amiss, he should immediately return to the temple."

"That was definitely not right."

"Is Lord Shen still going?"

"It is precisely because this is not true that it suggests Fang Zhoushi might actually be ahead."

The guard frowned.

I know they want to stop me.

But they cannot go too far from Ci'en Temple.

The princess's residence can secretly protect me for a while, but cannot openly accompany me to Zhao Family Village.

Otherwise, if someone sees her, Xiao Lingyi will be dragged down with her.

I straightened my clothes and said, "You two should return to the temple. If I am not back within half an hour, tell His Highness not to wait for me."

The guard looked at me and finally whispered, "Lord Shen, be careful."

I smiled.

"I've always been very careful."

I felt guilty saying that.

Zhao Family Village is smaller than I imagined.

A dozen or so households are scattered on the hillside. At the village entrance stands an old locust tree, under which two elderly people sit basking in the sun. There are dogs in the village that bark at strangers, their barks drawn out.

I did not ask Fang Zhoushi directly.

A man from out of town came into the village and immediately started asking about widows and children; it didn't sound like he was investigating a case, but rather like he was collecting a debt.

I first bought a bowl of water at the village entrance.

The water seller was a lame woman, in her forties, with a rough face from the wind and cracked hands.

I gave her two copper coins.

She glanced at me.

"The guest is going to Ci'en Temple to offer incense, but has taken the wrong route?"

"I'm a bit lost." I smiled. "I heard there's a family around here who makes paper offerings. I'll ask them for the temple."

She paused for a moment as she took the money.

Very subtle.

But I saw it.

"Paper offerings?" She looked down and carefully put away the copper coins. "The village is poor, nobody knows how to do that."

"I must have misheard you."

I picked up the water, took a sip, and turned to leave.

She suddenly asked, "Are you looking for someone surnamed Fang?"