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

Chapter 179 Two Batches of Account Clearance Plaques

When Sun Ajin was brought back to Mingde Hall, it was already dawn.

She hadn't finished changing out of her wet clothes, her wrists were marked with two deep red welts from the rope, and her complexion was terrible. The physician, Song, had initially refused to let her enter the palace, saying that she had just been pulled back from the dead by the old ditch, and if she were to go through this ordeal again, she might not be able to survive a second time.

Sun Ajin only said one sentence.

"If this old servant doesn't go, they will speak for the dead."

After cursing for a while, Physician Song finally had a soft chair brought over and forced her to drink a bowl of medicine so bitter it could open the eyes of the dead.

Ah Liu smelled the odor and quietly took two steps back.

I saw it.

He explained, "Young master, it's not that I'm afraid of hardship, it's just that I'm making way for Aunt Sun."

That makes a lot of sense.

The more reasonable his argument is, the more terrified he is.

Inside the Mingde Hall, the inventory plaques found in the princess's treasury were placed side by side with the first plaque from the old box in Changning on the table.

The two plaques are similar in size, made of the same wood, and even the blue patterns on the bottom of the plaques are almost identical.

What's truly different is the word.

The first one only had three characters written on it.

Settle old accounts.

The second one had seven characters written on it.

Settle old scores and stabilize the court.

Seven characters is four more than three characters.

The number of dead was more than four.

Bai Zhi measured the edge of the plaque with a fine ruler and then used a lamp to shine light on the wood grain from the side. She hadn't said much since entering the hall; her eyes were bluish, but her hands were very steady.

"The same batch of timber."

She turned the two cards over so everyone could see the growth rings on the back.

"They are both old elms from the Nanling Mountains, with fine grain and reddish heartwood. The first one was taken from the east side of the heartwood, and the second one is next to it; even this wormhole can be connected."

She put the two cards together.

The wormholes were indeed connected in a line.

Someone whispered, "The same piece of wood?"

"Same material."

Bai Zhi then tapped the bottom edge of the second card with her fingernail.

"But they weren't made by the same group of engravers."

"The first one has its top and bottom edges flush, with a two-tenths gap between the blue pattern and the inscription. The second one has its bottom edge thinned by one-tenth, and the blue pattern is also pressed down by half a tenth."

Why?

An official from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices asked instinctively.

Bai Zhi glanced at him.

"In order to insert the four characters 'An Chaogang' as an extra word."

The hall fell silent.

The person who falsifies accounts is most afraid of being told that he even knows exactly where to put the extra four words.

Qin Shangyi knelt before the table, staring at the first card for a long time.

Her fingers trembled slightly.

"This was ordered by Her Majesty to be made in Changning Palace."

Xiao Lingyi asked, "How much did you do?"

"Twelve."

"What will it be used for?"

"Inspect the old accounts in the internal treasury."

Qin Shangyi said in a low voice, "When Her Majesty discovered that there were several discrepancies in the conversion of old silver in the Imperial Treasury, border army pay, and local relief funds, she ordered people to make tokens. The holders of the tokens can access the old clothes, medicines, and the Imperial Treasury's records stored in Changning Palace."

"You are only allowed to settle accounts, but you are not allowed to arrest people."

"And killing is strictly forbidden."

Her voice was hoarse when she spoke the last few words.

The emperor, seated at the head of the table, did not interrupt.

Xiao Lingyi then asked, "Who received the first batch of twelve?"

Qin Shangyi closed her eyes and began to announce her name.

Aunt Zhaoyue.

One white pine tree.

Gu Xingzhi.

One Han Shangfu from the Shangyi Bureau.

Liu Shen, a member of the Imperial Medical Academy.

An old archive room of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

The remaining six were distributed to the people in charge of the inner treasury, medicines, old clothes, and documents in Changning Palace.

Qin Shangyi added, "The first batch of cards cannot be used alone."

I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Her Majesty has set the rules. The holder of the token can only access the old files that he or she has handled. If the medicine files, clothing files and the inner treasury accounts need to be checked against each other, both tokens must be present at the same time, and the holder must also leave his or her name and time in the supplementary register of Changning Palace."

Bai Zhi immediately opened the first batch of old books.

Sure enough, there were two marks in each entry.

Zhao Yue and Bai Song checked the old clothes account.

Han Shangfu and Liu Shen discussed the medicinal ingredients.

Gu Xingzhi was only responsible for submitting the documents and never touched the main text of the account books.

I'll take a look at the second batch of license plate collection lists.

There is no supplementary register.

There are no double cards.

There wasn't even the licensee's real name.

The first batch of cards was to prevent auditors from abusing their power.

The second batch of cards was used to prevent the spread of the virus, but it was later discovered that someone had actually given the order.

They used the same cards as the late empress, but first removed all the rules that allowed for accountability. Someone is already dead.

Someone is missing.

Over eleven years, someone managed to erase their name completely from the palace register.

Gu Xingzhi took out a small cloth bag.

Inside was a blackened corner of a plaque.

"The one I had back then was returned to Changning Palace after the palace was sealed in the fourteenth year of Chengxi. Later, it was found among Zhaoyue's relics, and only this corner remains."

I placed the burnt black card next to the first real card.

The wood grain, paint color, and blue veining gaps all match.

The first batch of cards is not a legend.

They really did exist.

They were indeed cleared out one by one.

The emperor asked, "What about the second batch?"

Qin Shangyi did not answer immediately.

She looked at Pei Shen.

Pei Shen stood to the side of the hall, still wearing the official robes of the Vice Minister of the Chancellery. His sleeves were neatly trimmed, and his expression was calm, as if the old canal, the false confession, and the two sets of clear account signs were all separated from him by a thin layer of paper.

Sometimes the paper is thinner than the wall.

With a gentle poke, you can see what's hidden inside.

Pei Shenxian spoke first.

"The second batch of materials was obtained from the old treasury of the Secretariat, and the Imperial Academy made the plaques."

"Wang Song is in charge of the arrest."

"Your subject receives the warrant."

Bai Zhi turned the second batch of registration booklet to the back.

"The first batch of tokens did not have numbers because they only circulated within the Changning Hall. The second batch, however, had an additional set of issuance numbers."

She pointed to a few very faint characters on the edge of the book.

"户、太、尚、医、内、中".

Ministry of Revenue, Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Bureau of Imperial Clothing, Imperial Medical Academy, Inner Court, Secretariat.

Each token corresponds to a government office and has three columns: receiving the token, transferring it, and returning it. Strangely, the column for receiving the token is clearly written, the column for transferring it only records a code, and the column for returning it is completely blank.

"Not a single one has been returned?"

"It's not that there isn't one."

Bai Zhi said, "From the very beginning, we were never prepared to let them come back."

I looked at Pei Shen.

The first batch of cards is for opening accounts; once used, they should be archived.

The second batch of cards seemed to have been deliberately scattered into the Six Ministries and the Inner Court. Whoever received a card only needed to complete their part before passing the card to the next person.

The last card ended up in someone's hand.

He didn't even know who killed him. He made it very clear.

There was no detour.

This actually makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

Pei Shen usually speaks a single sentence that can make people ponder for three days. Today, he only used three sentences, which shows that he knows there's no room for maneuver.

Xiao Lingyi asked, "Who gave you permission to take it?"

"Grand Secretary Wang."

Who changed the inscription on the cards?

Pei Shen remained silent for a moment.

"The Central Secretariat has reached a decision."

"Who in the Secretariat would discuss this?"

"Grand Secretary Wang, Zheng Huaien, Zhou Bingli, and your subject."

A very soft inhalation came from inside the hall.

Pei Shen continued, "At that time, the late Empress's investigation of the accounts had already involved military pay, the imperial treasury, and the regents. The Secretariat believed that simply writing 'clearing old accounts' would allow those holding the license to disregard the political situation and arbitrarily search through the accounts."

"So we added 'An Chaogang'."

I asked, "It sounds like this is adding a new rule to the accounting process?"

"Yes."

"And then?"

Pei Shen looked at the second card.

"Later, license holders no longer just transferred files."

"Start sealing off the premises, transferring personnel, and deregistering the files."

"Later, someone used it to send orders."

"What order is being given?"

"Qing people".

When he uttered the last two words, Sun Ajin's hand suddenly gripped the edge of the chair.

I turned the second card over.

There is a very light layer of dark red on the back, which has seeped into the wood grain.

The Song Dynasty physician examined it.

is blood.

I don't know whose it is.

It's unknown how many hands this plaque has passed through.

"The survivors of the Yicang, the patients of the Nanyaopeng, the disaster victims of Ci'en Temple, Han Shangfu, Aunt Zhaoyue, Qian Rong, and Zheng Huai'en."

I read out the names one by one.

"Someone transferred money."

"Someone wrote about illness."

Someone delivered clothes.

"Someone has sealed the door."

"Someone is only responsible for putting the medicine where it should be."

"Someone is only responsible for delivering the right document to the right person."

"In the end, the person died, and the debt was gone."

"Everyone can say they didn't kill anyone."

Pei Shendao said, "I was not involved in this year's Jiangbei disaster relief project."

I believe you.

He looked up at me.

I said, "Because you were only responsible for that small section from eleven years ago."

"Minister Pei, your greatest strength is that each of you is only ever responsible for a small section."

"In the end, no one has hands stained with blood."

"There are only dead bodies everywhere."

No one in the hall responded.

The accountant will not cry, nor will she plead for justice.

But it will remember every hand that reaches out to it.

Gu Xingzhi presented the old records of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

The end of the book had been scraped and baked, but a few fragments of characters could still be discerned.

king.

Zheng.

week.

Cao.

冯。

Liu.

Qin.

Han.

Bai Zhi compared line by line with the old official records.

Wang Song.

Zheng Huaien.

Zhou Bingli.

Cao Heng.

Feng happy.

Liu Shen.

Qin Zhao.

Han family.

Some people are dead.

Some people are in custody.

There are two other people who have not yet appeared in public.

Liu Shen.

Feng happy.

Sun Ajin suddenly spoke.

"The Empress said something when she made the plaques."

Xiao Lingyi walked to her side.

"What did you say?"

"Settling old scores is to help the living understand life."

Sun Ajin raised her head, tears streaming down her wrinkled face.

"If someone uses old grievances to pressure a living person, that's not settling accounts."

"It's murder."

Xiao Lingyi did not cry.

She reached out and separated the two cards.

A narrow work surface seemed to separate two completely different paths.

One path must bring old scores to light.

Another approach, using the term "court authority," is to suppress the living back into darkness.

The emperor looked at Pei Shen.

"Besides getting your license, what else did you do back then?"

Pei Shen knelt down.

"I have delivered a draft of an old edict to the Changning Palace."

"What edict?"

"Please have the late Empress temporarily relinquish the authority to audit the Imperial Treasury, with the Secretariat, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices jointly reviewing the accounts."

Xiao Lingyi's gaze fell on him.

"Did Mother give it to you?"

"no."

"So you sealed off the palace?"

Pei Shen did not answer.

Not answering is already the answer.

Each person still only does a small part.

Pei Shen sent a letter.

Wang Song supervised the plaque.

Zhou Bingli inspected the sample.

Feng happy sealed the door.

Liu Shen delivered the medicine.