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

The Xuanzheng Hall was quiet while the Imperial Guards searched the carriage.

It was so quiet it made me want to sneeze.

Unfortunately, no one dared to.

Deng Huai knelt in the hall, the blood on his face had congealed, his forehead was blue, and he looked as if his bones had been removed.

Just now, when he was beating the drum to appeal for justice, he was able to speak eloquently and logically.

But now they don't say it.

What a person fears most is not having nothing to say.

It's like suddenly realizing that all the things you've prepared are no longer needed.

Zheng Huaien stood not far behind him, his face calm.

I have to admire him.

Even when the iron box was almost found, he was still standing firmly.

If it were Ah Liu, he'd probably be confessing to stealing snacks when he was a kid by now.

Ah Liu whispered behind me, "Young master, is the iron box really in the carriage?"

"uncertain."

"what?"

I whispered, "It's just a ruse."

Ah Liu's eyes widened in surprise.

"A scam?"

"Um."

"What if we can't find it?"

"Then let's think of another way."

Ah Liu almost burst into tears.

"Young master, is this how you gamble in the Golden Palace?"

I looked at Deng Huai.

"It's not gambling."

"What is that?"

"He was scared."

When Deng Huai heard the words "iron box," his first reaction was not anger or defense, but to look at Zheng Huaien.

This proves that the iron box is genuine.

He did indeed lead them.

As for where I am now, I don't know.

But when people are afraid, they will reveal their way out.

The emperor sat on the dragon throne and did not urge him on.

Pei Shen stood on the left, his expression gentle.

Grand Secretary Wang had his eyes closed, as if he were tired.

Zheng Huaien appeared calm.

Xiao Lingyi stood next to me.

She didn't ask me if I was sure I could find the iron box.

She just stood there.

This puts me at ease more than anything else.

About half a cup of tea later, footsteps were heard outside the hall.

Gu Xingzhi returned in person.

He was holding an iron box in his hand.

Very small.

The box has black iron edging, copper buckles, and a little mud on the corner.

When Deng Huai saw the iron box, he collapsed to the ground.

Ah Liu whispered behind me, "It really is!"

I also breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, I wasn't very steady either.

It's just that it can't be shown.

After serving as an official for a long time, you'll find that often people don't stand up straight because they have confidence, but rather they stand up straight so that they look confident.

Gu Xingzhi presented the iron box.

After inspecting the seal, Wei Zhi said, "Your Majesty, the box is intact and has not been opened."

The emperor looked at Deng Huai.

"Is this box yours?"

Deng Huai's lips trembled.

"No...no..."

Gu Xingzhi said coldly, "It was found in the hidden compartment of your carriage."

Deng Huai immediately changed his story: "This humble subject knows nothing! It must have been Shen An who sent someone to put it in!"

Ah Liu whispered, "He's really busy; everything is put out by the young master."

I didn't say anything.

The emperor said, "Open."

The iron box was opened.

There are three things inside.

A stack of tickets.

A thin booklet.

There is also a small seal.

Wei Zhi first took out the bottom ticket.

The Ministry of Revenue's Zheng Fang approved the medicine voucher.

The total amount of rice coupons in the granary.

Ci'en Temple Water and Land Merit Transfer Ticket.

Each one was tied up according to the month, with neat edges, clearly not put together at the last minute.

Bai Zhi was summoned to the palace to examine the accounts.

She only flipped through a few pages before her face darkened.

"It's true."

The emperor asked, "How do we determine this?"

Bai Zhi said, "The paper, serial number, tear, ink, and sewing thread of the bottom ticket are all correct. In particular, the rice coupon stub matches the piece of stub in Ding Mancang's stomach."

She pieced together the section of the base that had been taken from the dead man's stomach.

The tear is perfectly sealed.

The expressions of many people in the hall changed.

This is stronger than any testimony.

The dead cannot forge a tear for Shen An.

Bai Zhi continued flipping through the papers and took out another medicinal ingredient voucher.

"This one also matches the gap in the medicine tent at the South Medicine Shelter."

Physician Song took it and looked at it.

"The drug name, dosage, and batch number are consistent."

I looked at Deng Huai.

He was unable to speak.

Next up was that thin booklet.

Wei Zhi handed it to the emperor.

The emperor opened the book, but after reading only two pages, his gaze darkened.

Then, he handed the booklet to Wei Zhi.

Wei Zhi read aloud:

"For each disaster victim in Jiangbei, one dou of rice will be donated, one dose of medicine will be given, and one tael and seven mace of silver will be donated for meritorious deeds on land and water."

"The elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled will be penalized for three reasons."

"Transfer of young and middle-aged people will be noted separately."

"Those who die of illness, whether on land or water, will not be given rice."

"Those who can bear witness, enter the robe of meditation."

"The quiet clothes conceal the sky."

The hall was deathly silent.

As I listened to these words, I suddenly felt a chill in my stomach.

A mouthful of people.

They call people by a name.

Like grain, like livestock, like things that can be easily converted into cash.

Ah Liu asked softly from behind, "Young master, what does 'still clothes cannot see the sky' mean?"

I did not answer.

He already understood.

It's just that people sometimes don't want to understand.

Wei Zhi continued reading.

"From March to May of the seventeenth year of Chengxi, the list of disaster victims in the three prefectures north of the Yangtze River totaled 1,327 people."

"Actual grain distribution: 20%."

"Convert to silver, thirty percent."

"Merit, two-tenths complete."

"Resting quietly in the medicine shed, 10%."

"The remaining two-tenths are floating tents."

Grand Secretary Wang opened his eyes.

Pei Shen's gentle expression faded slightly.

Zhao Guanlan clenched his fist.

Xiao Lingyi's face was frighteningly cold.

The emperor remained silent.

The less he spoke, the lower the atmosphere became in the hall.

Wei Zhi turned to the last page.

The last page only has a few lines.

During the disaster relief efforts in Jiangbei, it is imperative to ensure that no starving corpses are brought to the capital.

Once the roster is full, the grain will be replenished later.

If disaster victims arrive in the capital, they will be provided with soup kitchens, medicine kitchens, and temples for recuperation.

The signature was not given.

There is only one private note.

Zheng Huaien.

The hall seemed to have been emptied of sound.

All eyes were on Zheng Huaien.

Zheng Huaien finally raised his head.

He did not kneel.

The fact that this person still doesn't kneel down at this point shows that they still have a path in their heart.

The emperor slowly asked, "Zheng Huai'en, what do you have to say?"

Zheng Huaien bowed.

"I am guilty."

Ah Liu was taken aback.

I looked at him too.

He admitted it?

wrong.

As expected, Zheng Huaien continued, "I am guilty of oversight."

I sneered inwardly.

Again.

Zheng Huaien's voice was calm and steady: "This thin book does indeed contain my private notes. However, my private notes were lost half a month ago. I originally thought it was just the loss of my household seal and did not pay much attention to it. Now it seems that someone had premeditatedly stolen my private notes, forged account books, and framed me."

Deng Huai suddenly looked up.

He probably didn't expect that, at this point, Zheng Huaien would still try to distance himself from the situation.

Zheng Huaien looked at Deng Huai with a pained expression.

"Deng Huai, why are you like this?"

Deng Huai's lips trembled.

"Vice Minister..."

"I have treated you well."

Zheng Huaien sighed, "If you embezzled the relief funds, the law will deal with you. Why did you steal my private records, forge accounts, frame your superior, and falsely accuse Lord Shen? Your beating of the petition drum disrupted the court and almost misled His Majesty into being deceived by treacherous people."

That's a brilliant move.

I almost wanted to give it a thumbs up.

Deng Huai was originally a pawn that he pushed out to turn against me.

Now that irrefutable evidence has been found, he immediately turned Deng Huai into the main culprit for printing false accounts and framing both sides.

He was still simply negligent.

They almost became victims themselves.

Deng Huai's face turned deathly pale.

"No...it wasn't me..."

Zheng Huaien looked at him.

"Now that things have come to this, who else are you going to implicate?"

Deng Huai trembled all over, looking at Zheng Huaien, and suddenly seemed to understand something.

I was abandoned.

It has been completely abandoned.

He originally thought that going to the palace to beat the drum for petitioning was a job arranged for him by Zheng Huaien.

But Zheng Huaien didn't offer him a way out.

This is the last pot.

Deng Huai suddenly laughed.

The laughter was awful.

"Zheng Huaien, do you want me dead?"

Zheng Huaien frowned: "Deng Huai, you must not be presumptuous in the imperial palace."

"presumptuous?"

Deng Huai suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot.

"I ran errands for you in Jiangbei, I arranged rice coupons for you, I delivered mourning clothes for you, I cleansed your body for you, I even wrote the deeds of the dead for you! And now you're accusing me of printing false accounts?"

Zheng Huaien's face finally darkened.

"Nonsense."

Deng Huai laughed loudly.

"Mad? I should have gone mad a long time ago!"

He suddenly kowtowed deeply to the emperor.

"Your Majesty! This humble subject is guilty! This humble subject is greedy for life and cowardly, and helped Zheng Huai'en fabricate disaster relief, falsify accounts, and create false records! But the mastermind was not this humble subject, but Zheng Huai'en! It was Zheng Huai'en, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue!"

Zheng Huaien shouted sternly, "Deng Huai!"

Gu Xingzhi stepped forward and gave Zheng Huaien a cold look.

Zheng Huaien, shut up.

Deng Huai seemed to have finally had a layer of skin peeled off, and his whole body stopped trembling.

He knelt in the hall, his voice hoarse.

"The disaster situation in the three prefectures north of the Yangtze River is real, but the number of disaster victims reported by the Ministry of Revenue is false. There are real disaster victims, and there are also fake disaster victims. Zheng Huai'en told us to fill in the list of dead people, runaway households, and empty households, and to overreport the relief funds."

"After the money came in, part of it was used to buy grain as a token, part of it was converted into rice coupons, part of it was donated to Ci'en Temple for merit, and part of it went into Yongfeng Bank."

Yongfeng Bank.

The name appeared again.

The emperor's gaze grew even colder.

Deng Huai continued, "The sandbags in Qinghe Granary weren't replaced by Lord Shen; we prepared them long ago. When the grain arrives, only the top layer is pressed down, and the bottom is filled with sand. If anyone checks, we use the merit donation rice account to cover it. If no one checks, we clean the ashes at midnight and burn the rotten rice, fake bags, and diseased records together."

"The medical records at the South Pharmacy were also based on a template provided by Zheng Fang. Albizia julibrissin and datura powder were used to induce a stupor in the disaster victims. Those who could wake up were written as resting, and those who could not were written as dying from illness."

"The people imprisoned in the woodshed of Ci'en Temple are famine victims who knew the whereabouts of the real grain. If Lord Shen had arrived half an hour later, they would all have been burned to death."

The hall was getting colder and colder.

It's not the wind that's cold.

It's because people's hearts are cold.

Zheng Huaien stood there, his face ashen.

But Deng Huai no longer cared about him.

Once a person knows that he is going to die, he will no longer be afraid of the person who was going to kill him.

Deng Huai suddenly turned to look at me.

"Lord Shen."

His voice was terribly hoarse.

"You guessed it. Zheng Huaien sent me to beat the petition drum tonight. He said that as long as I turn against you, he can protect my wife and children."

I frowned.

Where are your wife and children?

Deng Huai smiled.

Tears streamed down my face.

"In the underground warehouse of Qinghe Charity Granary."

My heart sank.

"Not here."

He froze.

I said, "Seven people were rescued alive from the underground warehouse, but there were no women or children."

The expression on Deng Huai's face crumbled little by little.

"No?"

"no."

He stood frozen in place, as if he had been slapped in the face.

Then, he slowly turned his head and looked at Zheng Huaien.

You lied to me.

Zheng Huaien closed his eyes.

"madman."

Deng Huai suddenly lunged at him.

But before he could even touch Zheng Huaien, he was pinned down by the Imperial Guards.

He struggled on the ground, crying out like a wild beast.

"You lied to me! Zheng Huaien! You lied to me!"

The sound echoed in the Xuanzheng Hall.

No one speaks.

I stood there, and suddenly I felt no sense of victory.

Because this is not a victory.

In this utterly rotten game, a piece that has been used to death finally realizes that it hasn't even touched the chessboard.

The emperor finally spoke.

"Zheng Huaien".

Zheng Huaien knelt down.

"Your subject is here."

Do you agree with what Deng Huai said?

"I do not agree."

Zheng Huaien's voice remained steady.

"Deng Huai falsely accused me out of fear of punishment, but I do not admit it."

The emperor looked at him.

"Where's the tent in the iron box?"

"Forgery".

"What about your personal notes?"

"Lost".

"Where are the medicine coupons, rice vouchers, and donation ledgers?"

"The lower-ranking official borrowed a name."

"Qinghe Granary, Ci'en Temple, Nanyao Shelter, the underground warehouse—the evidence is overwhelming, both physical and witness testimony. Why don't you admit it?"

Zheng Huaien lay prone on the ground.

"I failed in my duty and am guilty. But I cannot and dare not admit to the crimes of embezzling relief funds and harming disaster victims."

It's so hard.

It's really hard.

Looking at him, I suddenly understood why he was able to become the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Such people are not without fear.

Knowing when to be afraid is useless.

As long as he doesn't confess, Deng Huai's testimony will be seen as an attempt to frame him.

The iron box is false evidence.

Private notes are lost.

The entire case still needs to be heard.

There were delays even in the first trial.

If you delay, you can turn things around.

The emperor was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked at me.

"Shen An".

"Your subject is here."

Do you have any more evidence?

I glanced at Zheng Huaien.

He remained kneeling.

But I know he's listening.

I slowly said, "Yes."

Zheng Huaien's shoulders stiffened almost imperceptibly.

The emperor asked, "What proof?"

I looked up.

"Zheng Huaien said that the private record was lost, but I do not understand seals."

"Zheng Huaien said the account books were forged, but I dare not say that I can identify all the handwriting in the world."

"But there is one person who can testify whether Zheng Huaien actually wrote that accounting book."

Zheng Huaien finally looked up.

I looked at him.

Angelica dahurica.

Bai Zhi walked out of the crowd.

She held the thin book in her hand, her eyes as cold as frozen abacus beads.

When Zheng Huaien saw her, a hint of contempt flashed in his eyes.

"The daughter of a sinful accountant?"

Bai Zhi smiled.

"Minister Zheng, you finally admit that you know my father."

Zheng Huaien's expression changed.

Bai Zhi turned to the last page of the booklet and pointed to a very fine mark.

"This is not a normal accounting method."

"This is the story of the Bai family's downfall."

I looked at Zheng Huaien.

"Minister Zheng."

"In the fourteenth year of Chengxi, your accountant was named Bai Song."

Bai Zhi's voice was very soft, yet it sounded like a knife striking an account book.

"That is, my father."

"He taught you this bookkeeping method before he died."

She looked up at Zheng Huaien.

"This booklet is not just your personal journal."

"The accounting methods used here are ones you learned yourself."