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

It was already night when they returned to the princess's residence.

The main hall was brightly lit.

Xiao Lingyi changed out of her court robes and sat behind the table.

There are three things on the table.

Clear old accounts and genuine plaques.

Wang's Southwest Grain Transport Commissioner

And return to its sheath.

Ah Liu and I entered the room, and when he saw the knife on the table, he immediately stopped in his tracks.

He looked at me.

Let's take a look at Xiao Lingyi.

Finally, he cleverly covered his stomach.

"Young master, I suddenly remembered that there is ginger soup simmering in the kitchen."

"When did you learn to make ginger soup?"

"Learn now."

He turned and ran.

It runs very fast.

In this situation, he could at most leave one more person kneeling.

Once the door closed, only Xiao Lingyi and I remained in the main hall.

I stood there for a while.

She pointed to the chair.

"sit."

I sat down.

The wound on my shoulder, inflicted by a stone from the south of the city, had just been dressed, and it still hurts with the slightest movement.

But now she's crying out in pain, like she's playing the victim.

Xiao Lingyi wasn't buying it.

If she's going to eat, she'll probably let me finish explaining the bill first, and then let Physician Song treat her.

The sheath lay across the table.

She had taken this knife from the bed frame on their wedding night.

That night, I confessed that the knife was originally meant to kill the emperor.

They also acknowledged that the order was related to the southwest.

But I didn't tell her that Shen Lie was my father.

I thought that by saying less, I could save her from committing a crime.

It was later proven that those who concealed their debts always liked to decide for others what they should know.

Wang Song was like that.

Even the emperor was like that.

I wasn't much better off.

Xiao Lingyi spoke first.

"On our wedding night, I return the sword to you so that you can decide for yourself whether or not to draw it."

"I'm not asking you to hide your identity in the Golden Palace."

I lowered my head.

"I am guilty."

"You have already admitted it today."

"You can recognize it again."

"Pleading guilty is cheap."

She said this for the second time today.

It's clear she's genuinely dissatisfied.

I asked, "What would Your Highness like to hear?"

"truth."

"Let's start from the beginning."

I looked at the sheath.

Some things, the longer they are kept hidden, the shorter they seem when spoken aloud.

"I am Shen Lie's son."

"My mother died early, and my father raised me in the Southwest Army."

"I'm not good with a sword, nor am I good at leading troops."

"My father thought I was the least conspicuous person to come to Beijing."

Xiao Lingyi said, "He's mistaken about that."

I sighed.

"I agree."

He was summoned by the emperor on his very first day in the capital.

The official appointment was made the following day.

The marriage was arranged on the third day.

If this is considered inconspicuous, then my dad probably has his own understanding of the word "low-key."

Xiao Lingyi did not laugh.

I had no choice but to continue.

"My father's original order to me was to get close to the emperor, find out the routes to the palace gates and the inner court, and find an opportunity to assassinate him."

"Xu Sandao is in charge of providing backup."

"There are still several hidden agents in the southwest of Beijing."

"Which ones?"

I recited them one by one.

Tea shop in the south of the city.

The stables outside the old laundry bureau.

The contact point that Ci'en Temple once used.

There are two other places where I only know the secret marks, but I don't know who specifically handled them.

After listening, Xiao Lingyi pushed the paper over.

"Write."

I picked up my pen and wrote it all down.

She then asked, "Why did your father insist on killing the Emperor?"

"Southwest China cut off from military supplies."

Famine.

"The imperial court launched a crackdown."

"There are also some old stories that he never wanted to talk about."

Do you believe him?

I put down my pen.

This question is more difficult to answer than the one in the Golden Hall: "Will you still obey your father's orders?"

Because the father is not Wang Song.

He didn't only show me the face of a bad person when I was young.

He taught me to read.

He taught me how to read the military rations accounts.

When I was a child, I had a fever, and he stayed by my side for three nights.

He did indeed shove a knife into my hand and tell me to kill someone I'd never seen before.

"I used to believe."

"And now?"

"Believe some things."

"There are some accounts that need to be checked."

Xiao Lingyi looked at me.

"What if it's discovered that Shen Lie also used living people in his accounting?"

"Check accordingly."

"If you want to take him?"

I tightened my grip on the pen.

"Investigate first."

She didn't let me go.

"And then what?"

I looked up.

"Take what you're entitled to."

These words were spoken very softly.

It weighs heavily on my heart.

Xiao Lingyi neither agreed nor disagreed.

She simply folded up the list of secret agents in the southwest that I had just written and placed it under the real card.

"You said in the golden palace today that your father's command has not changed."

"Yes."

"What was Shen Lie's most recent order?"

"My father's orders remain unchanged."

"Only four characters?"

"There's one more thing."

"explain."

"On the wedding day, she entered the palace, three steps from the emperor. Unable to find the old tent, she resorted to bloodshed."

Xiao Lingyi's eyes turned cold.

When did you receive it?

"Before the wedding."

"Why don't you say so?"

"At that time, the Ministry of Rites, the Qinghe Granary, the sick clothes, and the Changning Side Hall were all entangled. I fear that if I were to reveal this, Your Highness would immediately have to choose between me and Your Majesty."

"So you chose the one I don't know for me."

I couldn't refute it.

She asked, "Shen An, do you think that as long as the reason is good enough, concealing something doesn't count as deception?"

"I might have thought so before."

"Now?"

"Now I think he's like Wang Song."

Xiao Lingyi finally raised her eyebrows.

"You're good at criticizing yourself."

"The main reason is that Wang Song has already been arrested, so they're just borrowing him for free."

She chuckled softly.

Just once.

But I saw it.

After laughing, she looked back at Guiqiao.

"You have concealed your identity from me."

"Father also kept it from me."

"One of you is afraid that I will be implicated, and the other says it's for the sake of the court."

"In the end, everyone thinks that I can only be arranged by others."

Her voice was very flat.

The fact that it was so flat made me even more hesitant to interrupt.

"After my mother died, everyone wanted to turn me into a knife."

"Father wants to use me to keep an eye on you."

"Wang Song wants to portray me as a traitor."

"Shen Lie probably also wants to use me to get you closer to the Emperor."

"And you?"

I looked at her.

"I initially considered using marriage to enter the palace."

This is the truth.

It doesn't sound good.

But today she wants the truth.

Xiao Lingyi did not get angry.

"And then?"

"Later we discovered that Your Highness's path was not easy to take."

"It's just difficult to walk?"

"And they're easy to die from."

She looked at me coldly.

I had no choice but to take it seriously.

"Later, I didn't want to use it anymore."

Why?

The answer was on the tip of my tongue, but I suddenly found myself unable to say it.

Saying you like it is too mild.

Talking about trust sounds like something out of a courtroom.

I thought about it.

"Because His Highness will be standing in front of the soup kitchen."

"I will personally review the register of the dead."

"The palace gates will be sealed off for Aunt Sun's sake."

"They also discovered the knife hidden by me on our wedding night, but did not immediately hand me over."

"I don't know what this means."

"But I do not wish for Your Highness to die on anyone's orders."

The room was quiet for a while.

Xiao Lingyi asked, "Does that include your orders?"

"include."

"Then remember that."

She pushed the sheath in front of me.

"The knife is yours."

"I will not accept it for you."

"We won't decide for you when to pull it out."

"But from this day forward, if you continue to conceal anything related to the case, my father's orders, or my father's safety, I will not wait until the case is closed."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"Waiting for your burial."

I nodded seriously.

"it is good."

"You're not going to defend yourself?"

"I am in the wrong."

"You're getting more and more sensible."

"When you're facing a knife, you grow faster."

She stopped laughing.

But his eyes weren't as cold as they had been before.

I picked up the sheath.

The scabbard was cool.

She returned it to me on our wedding night.

I paid it back again today.

The first time was because she didn't know who I was.

The second time was after all identities had been revealed.

These two times are different.

"If anything in the future relates to the case, my father's orders, or Your Majesty's safety, I will speak first."

Xiao Lingyi asked, "What if it's too late?"

"Protect Your Highness first."

"I am not someone who hides behind you."

"I understand."

"Then why protect me first?"

"Because His Majesty has Gu Xingzhi."

"My father had Xu Sandao."

"If I do not protect Your Highness, it will make me look useless as the prince consort."

Xiao Lingyi looked at me for a moment.

"You can't even say three serious sentences."

"I am afraid of being serious for too long."

This time she actually smiled.

It's very light.

Ah Liu's voice came from outside the door.

"Young master, the ginger soup is ready."

He paused.

"Can we go in now?"

Xiao Lingyi said, "Go in."

Ah Liu pushed the door open and came in, first looking at the table.

The knife is still there.

People are still alive.

He visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't make the ginger soup.

You can tell just by smelling it.

Ah Liu couldn't brew something that looked like medicine.

He put down the tray and handed over a sealed box.

"Miss Qiutang said that the Wang family's caravan intercepted another letter."

The sealed box is opened.

The letter paper was the same as the one from the Wang family's west courtyard; both were from the Luo family's grain shop in Jiangbei.

There is no recipient.

There was no signature.

The seal was a broken orchid.

The letter contained only one sentence.

Your son has finally become a knife.

I stared at that line of text.

The handwriting is not the father's.

My father writes heavily, and when he finishes a stroke, it looks like he's chopping someone.

The characters are thin and steady, with a slight upward curve at the end.

Like a very patient person, watching others gradually fall into the trap.

Xiao Lingyi asked, "Who wrote it?"

"have no idea."

"to whom?"

"Judging from the words, it seems to be addressed to Shen Lie."

Why was it left in the Wang family's motorcade?

"Because the person who wrote the letter knew that Lady Wang would be traveling along the southwest grain route."

Bai Zhi was also called in.

She had seen the paper, ink, and wax seal.

"The paper came from Jiangbei."

"The ink contains pine soot from Sichuan."

"The letter was not written in the capital."

"It should be delivered to Madam Wang from the southwest at the latest ten days ago."

Ten days ago.

At that time, Wang Song had not yet handed over the seal of office.

My identity has not been made public.

But the other party has already written:

Your son has finally become a knife.

This means that someone in the southwest already knew that the emperor would reveal my identity.

They also knew that Wang Song would fall.

I suddenly remembered what Wang Song had said before leaving the palace.

The Southwest is missing more than just a knife.

We still lack a route for grain to reach Beijing.

Lady Wang fled to Qingxia.

The silver in account B was written as grain from the southwest.

My father ordered me to kill my father.

These things may never have been three separate lines.

Instead, it's a line.

Xiao Lingyi placed the letter next to the real card.

"Shen An".

"exist."

"Are you still hiding it?"

I wrote down all the secret markings of the Southwest Grain Transport Route that I knew on paper.

"No more for now."

"temporary?"

"I fear there are things I am unaware of."

She nodded.

"Then let's investigate together."

Ah Liu stood to the side and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, will the young master kneel again tonight?"

I turned around.

"You're very concerned?"

"The kitchen said the ginger soup doesn't taste good when it's cold."

Xiao Lingyi picked up her bowl.

"Let him sit down and drink."

Ah Liu beamed with joy.

"Your Highness is wise."

I think this kid switched sides a bit too quickly.

But ginger soup is indeed very bitter.

I took a sip and looked at the three things on the table.

Genuine.

Southwest Letter.

Return to its sheath.

After tonight, everyone in the capital will know that I am Shen Lie's son.

Wang Song has fallen.

Lady Wang fled.

The Southwest Grain Transport Route has already been activated.

The emperor placed me before all the civil and military officials and said he only trusted me.

Xiao Lingyi returned the knife to me, saying that one should ask oneself questions before sheathing it.

My father did not write.

But someone spoke up for him.

Your son has finally become a knife.

I was ordered to enter the capital, and all I needed to do was find an opportunity to kill one person.

The more accounts are investigated, the harder it is to remove the knife.

Because I finally know.

When drawing a sword, one cannot simply ask who gave the order.

The question remains: who will die after the knife falls?

I sheathed the scabbard and put it back into my sleeve.

The sword has not yet truly been sheathed.

Father is already waiting for it in Qingxia.

This time, I don't want to just follow orders.