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

I originally thought I could sleep for two hours.

As it turns out, I overestimated my fate.

I had barely returned to the princess's residence and had only drunk half a bowl of ginger soup when I collapsed onto the couch.

Ah Liu tucked me in, muttering, "Young master, you should sleep. If the sky falls, I'll hold it up first."

I was so sleepy I could barely keep my eyes open, but I still couldn't help asking, "Can you manage?"

Ah Liu paused for a moment.

"If you can't hold on, at least shout."

I think that's fine too.

At least he shouted it out loud.

Xiao Lingyi stood outside the screen and instructed Qiu Tang, "No one is allowed to disturb him for the next two hours."

Qiutang responded.

I vaguely thought that the Princess's residence was indeed more reliable than Chengping Ward.

In Chengpingfang, if Ah Liu says not to disturb, others might ask who Ah Liu is.

At the princess's residence, Xiao Lingyi said no one was allowed to disturb her. Even if the emperor came, the gatekeeper would probably ask first: "Is Your Majesty in a hurry?"

Of course, I didn't dare say those words out loud.

Even as I fell asleep, my mind was still racing.

Zheng Huaien was taken into custody.

Deng Huai's attempt to retaliate failed.

Qinghe Yicang was closed.

The general register of Ci'en Temple has been obtained.

The patients in the southern medicine shed are not yet fully awake.

Bai Zhi needs to investigate the old accounts from the fourteenth year of Chengxi's reign.

Pei Shen was dragged out of the shadows.

The old treasury of the Imperial Secretariat has been exposed.

The late empress's old clothes are still in the black wooden box.

This string of things was like a string of abacus beads, clicking and rattling in my head.

I finally fell asleep.

Then, less than half an hour later, Ah Liu woke me up.

He stood by the tatami mat, his expression as if he had just been pulled out of a well.

"Young master."

When I opened my eyes, my first thought was to kill someone.

Of course, that's just a thought.

After all, I even have some difficulty sitting up.

"Has the sky fallen?"

Ah Liu shook his head.

"no."

"Then why did you call me?"

"I think it's a little worse than the sky falling down."

I sat up; my head still felt a little heavy.

"explain."

Ah Liu swallowed hard: "Zheng Huaien is in the inner prison and wants to see you."

I froze for a moment.

"He wants to see me?"

"Um."

"What did he say?"

Ah Liu pulled a slip of paper out of his sleeve.

The note was sent by the Imperial Guard.

There is only one sentence above:

If you call Shen Anlai too late, Bai Song's account will be ruined.

I instantly snapped out of it.

Bai Song.

Bai Zhi's father.

Old accounts from the fourteenth year of Chengxi.

Zheng Huaien, this fox with a broken tail, was indeed not completely dead.

I got up and dressed, still feeling a little dizzy.

Ah Liu quickly helped me up.

"Young master, would you like to sleep a little longer?"

I look at him.

He immediately changed his story: "I was just talking nonsense."

Xiao Lingyi's voice came from outside the screen.

"I will go with you."

I looked at her.

She had changed into casual clothes, and her hair was simply tied up in a bun, showing that she had no intention of resting at all.

I asked, "Is Your Highness asleep?"

"no."

Why?

She said calmly, "I can't sleep."

That was so honest that I didn't know how to respond.

I thought for a moment and said, "I haven't had enough sleep either."

She glanced at me.

"I can tell."

Ah Liu whispered, "Young Master's face looks like he just crawled up from the underground warehouse again."

As I fastened my belt, I said, "Ah Liu."

"exist."

"Starting today, you're going to tell less truth."

Why?

"It hurts people."

Ah Liu, shut up.

When Qiu Tang came in, she was holding a small box in her hands.

"Your Highness, it was sent from the palace."

Xiao Lingyi took it and opened it.

Inside was a temporary waist tag for entering the prison.

It was given by the emperor.

That was fast.

It seems that Zheng Huaien's request to see me is not just a matter of the inner guards sending a message.

The emperor knew it too.

I suddenly felt that His Majesty was like someone sitting in the dark reading accounts.

He might not help you with the calculations.

But if you move a bead incorrectly, he will immediately look up.

The inner prison was located in the northwest corner of the palace.

After passing through the princess's residence, one must re-enter the palace.

In the car, Ah Liu held my dry clothes and pills, looking miserable.

"Young master, why are you going to jail so often on your second day of marriage?"

I leaned against the car wall, closed my eyes, and said, "This means my married life is fulfilling."

Xiao Lingyi glanced at me.

"Are you feeling smug?"

"no."

"Sounds like it."

"I am simply exhausted."

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly handed me a small porcelain bottle.

"Awakening Pill".

I took it and smelled it.

The spiciness is so strong it's giving me a headache.

"Is this going to be another tranquilizer?"

Xiao Lingyi said coldly, "If you can still fall asleep now, that's quite an achievement."

I ate one.

It was so bitter it made my tongue numb.

Ah Liu looked at me with a complicated expression.

"Young master, you now smell your medicine before taking it."

"nonsense."

I swallowed it.

"These past two days, medicine in the capital has been more dangerous than a knife."

Xiao Lingyi remained silent.

She lifted the carriage curtain and looked outside.

News of the Qinghe Granary had already begun to circulate in the streets.

Some say that the prince consort opened the granary at night and dug out half of it filled with sand.

Some say that Princess Zhaoning personally distributed grain, and the disaster victims knelt on the ground.

Some people say that a living person was burned in the woodshed of Ci'en Temple, which angered Buddha so much that he lost his gold paint.

Ah Liu listened very attentively.

"Young master, is the last one fake?"

I said, "Not necessarily."

Ah Liu stared wide-eyed.

"Is the paint on the Buddha statue really chipped?"

"The backyard of Ci'en Temple was burned so badly, it's normal for some paint to chip off."

Ah Liu thought it made sense and nodded.

Xiao Lingyi suddenly said, "The news spreads very quickly among the common people."

"Someone deliberately spread this rumor."

"Who?"

"They might be people who want to protect us, or they might be people who want to put us in a very difficult position."

She looked at me.

I continued, "Once the Qinghe Granary opens, the disaster victims will know that the grain has been embezzled. Once this news gets out, the Ministry of Revenue will not be able to suppress it. But the faster it spreads, the harder it will be for the court to handle the situation tomorrow. Grand Secretary Wang and his group will say that public sentiment has been incited and that the Censorate's investigation has caused a major upheaval."

Xiao Lingyi said, "So they will use public opinion to suppress others."

"right."

I sighed.

"When the people criticize corrupt officials, they say the people's will is terrifying. When the people criticize the royal family and the court, they say someone is inciting unrest. They get to say whatever they want."

Ah Liu was indignant upon hearing this.

"So what do we do?"

I looked at him and said, "Let them not have time to talk."

"How can I give it to them?"

"Continue the investigation."

The inner prison was quieter than the Ministry of Justice's prison.

It was so quiet it didn't seem like someone was being imprisoned, but rather like a secret was being kept inside.

The stone walls were thick, the iron gates were heavy, and inside there was no stench like in a typical prison, only cold.

A cold that seeps into your bones.

Gu Xingzhi was waiting for us at the door.

When he saw me, he first looked at my face.

"Is Lord Shen still able to walk?"

I said, "If Commander Gu wants to carry me on his back, it's not impossible."

Ah Liu looked terrified.

Gu Xingzhi glanced at me.

"Looks like we can still walk."

This person doesn't take a joke at all.

It's so boring.

Gu Xingzhi led us inside.

"Zheng Huaien spoke half an hour ago, saying he only wanted to see you and the princess."

I asked, "How is he?"

"Very stable."

"They're already in the inner prison, how can they be considered safe?"

Gu Xingzhi said, "Those who are truly afraid of death will actually find peace once they enter the inner prison."

I understand what he means.

Once a person who is afraid of death realizes that panicking is useless, they will start to consider ways to survive.

Zheng Huaien is calculating right now.

In the deepest part of the prison cell, Zheng Huaien sat on a low couch.

He wasn't wearing shackles, only his hands were chained.

He was treated quite well in the inner prison.

After all, he had not yet been convicted and was still a court official who had risen from the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Upon seeing us enter, he even stood up and bowed to Xiao Lingyi.

"Your Highness."

Xiao Lingyi looked at him coldly.

"Zheng Huaien, you want to see Shen An."

Zheng Huaien smiled slightly.

"I also wish to see Your Highness."

I looked at him.

"Is Minister Zheng asleep?"

He asked, "Is Lord Shen asleep?"

"He slept for half an hour."

"Then Lord Shen is more fortunate than I am."

"I don't think this is a blessing."

He smiled.

"Being able to sleep is a blessing."

That sounds like something a dying man would say.

But there was no death in his eyes.

I sat down opposite him.

"Speak. Where is Bai Song's tent?"

Zheng Huaien looked at me.

"Lord Shen, don't you ask me why I'm telling you?"

"unimportant."

"Very important."

He clasped his hands together, and the chains rattled softly.

"Because if I don't tell you, Pei Shen will find it first."

My brow twitched.

Pei Shen.

It's Pei Shen again.

Xiao Lingyi said, "You set fire to the Secretariat in the Golden Hall, and now you say Pei Shen will find the account. Zheng Huaien, do you want us to investigate him or not?"

Zheng Huaien smiled.

"Your Highness has a good question."

He looked up at the dim light on the cell ceiling.

"I want to live."

These three words are very honest.

His honesty made me feel a little uncomfortable for a moment.

Zheng Huaien continued, "Shen An, I admit to negligence, to misuse of the seal, and to embezzlement by my subordinates. Your Majesty can kill me or spare my life. But if Pei Shen takes over Bai Song's old accounts, I will certainly not live."

I asked, "Why?"

"Because I wasn't the only one in Bai Song's old camp."

He looked at me.

"And the old treasury of the Imperial Secretariat."

Xiao Lingyi's eyes turned cold.

"What about the late Empress's old clothes?"

Zheng Huaien paused for a moment.

"Yes."

The atmosphere in the cell suddenly became heavy.

I looked at him.

"You knew all along that old garment was at the Qinghe Granary?"

"I know part of it."

"What do you mean by 'part'?"

"I knew that there was an old palace item hidden in Qinghe Granary that shouldn't have been there, but I didn't know it was the late Empress's sick clothes."

You can't believe everything you hear.

But it's not necessarily all false.

Zheng Huaien has already reached this point; there's no need for him to continue pretending in everything.

He would tell part of the truth in exchange for survival.

The question is, which part is true?

I asked, "Where are Bai Song's old accounts?"

Zheng Huaien did not answer directly.

He said, "In the fourteenth year of Chengxi, Bai Song checked my old grain accounts and found that a set of 'disaster account calculation methods' had been transferred from the old treasury of the Secretariat."

Bai Zhi mentioned the ending last night.

Now, Zheng Huaien explains the folding method.

I frowned: "What is the disaster relief accounting method?"

Zheng Huaien said, "It wasn't originally intended for embezzling silver."

"What will it be used for?"

"During times of war, it is necessary to quickly count the number of disaster victims, military households, fleeing households, and deceased households to facilitate the imperial court's allocation of grain."

He paused.

"Later, someone discovered that it was possible to switch between living, dead, and absconded households."

A chill ran through me.

Once the household registration is changed, the person can become an account.

The dead can receive food.

A living person can be written as dead.

Those who escape can disappear.

Once this falls into the hands of corrupt officials, it becomes a tool for murder.

Zheng Huaien looked at me.

"Bai Song discovered that this calculation method had been altered to embezzle grain tax. He wanted to report it."

"Then he died."

"right."

"Who killed him?"

Zheng Huaien remained silent.

Xiao Lingyi said coldly, "Zheng Huaien, stop testing our patience."

Zheng Huaien looked up.

"I didn't kill him with my own hands."

"But you know who killed him."

He looked at Xiao Lingyi.

"The person who killed Bai Song back then later joined the Imperial Wardrobe."

Shangyi Bureau.

Xiao Lingyi and I looked at each other at the same time.

Qin Shangyi.

Aunt Sun.

Han Shangfu.

Old palace needle.

The Queen's hospital gown.

The threads suddenly became tangled together.

I asked, "Who?"

Zheng Huaien said, "Qing Gu."

"Who is Qing Gu?"

"A former employee of the Imperial Wardrobe, who later changed his name."

A thought struck me.

"Qin Shangyi?"

Zheng Huaien shook his head.

"It's not Qin Shangyi."

He lowered his voice.

"Qin Shangyi was merely the one who kept the clothes. The one who actually took the old clothes and old accounts was Qin Zhaoyue."

Xiao Lingyi's expression changed.

I looked at her.

"Does Your Highness know them?"

Xiao Lingyi's voice was very soft.

"There was once a female official in the Empress Dowager's palace named Aunt Zhaoyue."

Zheng Huaien said, "She's not dead."

I asked, "Where is she now?"

Zheng Huaien looked at me and said, word by word, "The back mountain of Ci'en Temple, Zhaoyue Nunnery."

well.

The Ci'en Temple incident is not over yet.

I almost burst out laughing.

This temple has a wide range of businesses: burning offerings on the front mountain and hiding old friends on the back mountain.

Zheng Huaien continued, "Bai Song's old accounts are not in the Ministry of Revenue, the Secretariat, or the Qinghe Granary."

"At Zhaoyue Nunnery?"

"right."

He looked at me.

"But Pei Shen's men also know."

When will you go?

"This afternoon."

I calculated the time.

It's less than two hours until afternoon.

That bastard.

He deliberately prevented me from sleeping and even deliberately timed it off.

I got up.

"Minister Zheng, if you're lying to me..."

Zheng Huaien smiled.

"Lord Shen, it won't do me any good to lie to you now."

"You tricked me into going to Zhaoyue Nunnery, so that Pei Shen and I would run into each other. Wouldn't that be beneficial for you?"

He stopped talking.

really.

This person, even when telling the truth, also sets a trap for others.

Xiao Lingyi turned and left.

I followed.

Just before I was about to leave the prison, Zheng Huaien suddenly called out to me.

"Shen An".

I turned around.

He sat in the dimly lit cell, half his face in light and half in darkness.

"There is a page in Bai Song's old account book that records the late empress leaving the palace in her sick clothes."

Xiao Lingyi stopped in her tracks.

Zheng Huaien said softly, "If that page falls into Pei Shen's hands, you will never see the original account again."

Why?

Zheng Huaien looked at us.

"Because Pei Shen knows more about accounting than I do."