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

Qingfeng Live Warehouse.

The name sounds like a place for storing grain.

In reality, people are saved.

The living in the dead's tent.

Yong'an was responsible for killing them off in his writing.

The Rothschild Grain Company was responsible for transportation.

When it reaches Qingfeng River Works, Qingzhou Saltworks, or Qingxia Transfer Route, it will be renumbered and used again.

No household registration will be issued.

Names are not recorded.

It is not considered corvée labor.

Not considered a slave.

Because they no longer exist in the imperial court's records.

If a person doesn't exist, then there's no need to pay wages.

There's no need to report it even if he dies.

If they escape, they can no longer go into the city to file a complaint.

They were not slaves.

At least not on the books.

This is much easier than using slaves.

The bamboo skewers that Feng Laoqi handed over belonged to tonight's batch.

There are thirty-six characters in the character "甲".

There are thirty-six people.

Location: Beihe Work Shed, Qingfeng County.

The time for the change of fortune is Hai hour (9-11 PM).

It is now past 5 PM.

It takes two hours by fast horse from Yong'an to the border of Qingfeng County.

We can catch up.

But we can't all leave.

Yong'an just opened its warehouse.

Sun Jing had not yet fully spoken.

Seventy-two people need to be reinstated, receive medical treatment, and be protected.

The two people behind the stone gate cannot be left unguarded.

Xiao Lingyi looked at the bamboo slips.

"I will remain in Yong'an."

I asked, "Your Highness, would you like to stay?"

"Go to Qingfeng."

"Lady Wang wants me to follow the grain route."

"That's why we should go even more."

She looked up at me.

"Just because she wants you to investigate, does that mean you won't investigate?"

"no."

"Then let's go."

She paused.

"I will guard the stone gate."

I know she stayed behind not just to guard the goal.

There is another layer.

If it really is my mother behind the door.

Xiao Lingyi was the last person she should have faced alone, but also the most suitable person for her.

The late empress's daughter.

The wife of Shen Lie's son.

The old debts on both sides are intertwined on her body.

"Don't open the door."

I said.

"I know."

"If they say something behind the door..."

"Write it down."

"If someone breaks into the warehouse..."

"Take it down."

"If Your Highness is in danger..."

Xiao Lingyi looked at me.

I stopped in time.

She asked, "Why did you stop talking?"

"I recall that Your Highness does not like others to make arrangements for you."

"It's good to know."

She handed me the sheath.

"Take it with you."

I didn't answer.

"I did not bring it with me when I left the capital."

"Someone has already played that role for you once."

"There's no point in hiding it anymore."

That makes a lot of sense.

Even the fake Shen An knew that I had a knife hidden in my right sleeve.

If I were to pretend to be without a knife, I would seem somewhat outdated.

I tied the sheath back to my right arm.

The scabbard pressed against the old wound.

Some pain.

It also makes people sober.

Gu Xingzhi is still chasing after Madam Wang and has not yet returned.

Yan Xiaoyi had rested for less than an hour.

I asked him if he could still run.

He leaned against the pillar with his eyes closed.

"cannot."

"Then you stay."

"You can run."

This person is consistently lazy.

I took Yan Xiaoyi, A Liu, Bai Zhi, and six guards to Qingfeng.

The Song physician must remain in Yong'an.

He glanced at Ah Liu.

They threw over two packets of medicine.

"One packet to stop the bleeding."

"A packet of antidote."

Ah Liu caught it.

"Lord Song, how should we divide it?"

"It says so above."

"I can't read."

Physician Song remained silent for a moment.

Finally, tie the hemostatic medicine with a red string.

The antidote is tied with a white rope.

"Don't get it wrong."

Ah Liu said earnestly, "If you're nervous, you might not be able to tell the difference between red and white."

The physician Song gave Yan Xiaoyi the hemostatic medicine.

The antidote was given to Angelica dahurica.

You're empty-handed.

Ah Liu felt slighted.

I think Physician Song has finally learned how to use people correctly.

Before setting off, I went to see Sun Jing.

He was locked up in a cellar.

The food was inspected by Physician Song.

Water too.

Even the bowls were watched over by the imperial guards.

If the accounting committee wants to cut off the tail again, it must first become a grain of rice.

I placed the bamboo skewers from Qingfeng Live Granary in front of him.

When Sun Jing saw it, his eyes visibly narrowed.

"What is this?"

"You know better than I do."

"This humble official is unaware."

"Qingfeng Live Warehouse"

"The people who died in Yong'an are transferred to a new batch every three months."

"Thirty-six tonight."

Sun Jing shut up.

I sat down in front of him.

Why did the seventy-three men from Yong'an remain?

"have no idea."

"Because we need corpses."

Why did others take it?

"have no idea."

"Because as long as you're alive, you can still work."

"Sun Jing".

"Your accounts are good."

"Dead people receive food."

"Living people doing work."

"One life, making money from both ends."

His lips twitched.

"I didn't make that decision."

Finally, they stopped saying they didn't know.

I asked, "Who made that decision?"

"Old practice."

"According to tradition, they wouldn't write the bamboo slips themselves."

"Luo's Grain Store"

"Who?"

"The people who come in each batch are different."

"How do you recognize it?"

"Half a grain token."

"Blue brand?"

He did not answer.

I said, "You're only responsible for killing people off?"

Sun Jing slowly raised his head.

"The county can only manage the county's accounts."

"Once the person leaves the county, it's none of my business."

It's the same old routine again.

Each person is only responsible for a small section.

I nodded.

Who will pick up the ship in Qingfeng?

"I don't know the name."

"identity."

"General Office of River Engineering".

"What about Qingzhou?"

"Saltfield accounting office".

"Qingxia?"

Sun Jing averted his gaze.

"Qingxia is not a living warehouse."

"What is that?"

"Central Warehouse".

Those two words silenced the room for a moment.

Yong'an writes about dead people.

Both Qingfeng and Qingzhou used dead people.

Qingxia then summarizes.

People, food, silver, old military tokens, and military dispatches from the Southwest all eventually headed there.

I asked, "Out of 412 people, how many went to Qingxia?"

"I can't remember."

"Angelica dahurica can help you remember."

His expression changed slightly.

"At least one hundred."

"What about those who are still alive?"

"have no idea."

How many of you do you hope will live?

Sun Jing remained silent.

He didn't care.

For him, once the person was sent out of the county, they had already disappeared from the account.

It's not his responsibility where he dies.

I'll take back the bamboo skewers from tonight.

"Sun Jing".

"We're going to Qingfeng now."

"If one of the thirty-six men is missing, you will have one more debt."

He suddenly laughed.

"Lord Shen can't catch up."

Why?

"The time for changing one's luck is not the Hai hour (9-11 PM)."

I stopped.

"When?"

"Youzheng."

It's long past noon now.

The time on the bamboo stick is fake.

Another invitation specifically for those investigating.

"Which road should we take?"

Sun Jing shut up again.

I didn't press them for answers.

Because Bai Zhi was already calling me from outside the door.

She found a master list of live warehouses in the hidden compartment of Sun Jing's private account.

It's not a person's name.

It refers to quantity.

Yong'an wrote about the deaths of 412 people in the past year.

Seventy-three remained in the old warehouse.

The remaining 339 people were divided into three groups.

Qingfeng River Workers: 126 people.

Qingzhou Saltworks, 104 people.

Qingxia Transfer Station, 109 people.

There is no name after each person.

Only the discounted price is available.

A strong, middle-aged man loses three bushels of grain per month.

A middle-aged woman can only afford two bushels of grain per month.

An old man with a stone.

The child is half a stone.

Ah Liu turned pale after reading it.

"They're calculating people's pay based on grain rations?"

Bai Zhi said, "It's not based on grain."

"It's calculated based on how much grain and silver one person can earn for them each month."

Living people are not people.

It's a grain sack that can do its own work.

There is one more column at the end of the summary table.

loss.

Qingfeng River Works, 23.

Qingzhou Saltworks, No. 17.

Qingxia Transfer Channel, blank.

What does "loss and damage" mean?

A-Liu asked.

No one answered.

He understood it himself.

died.

Ran.

He was too sick to work.

Both are called losses.

The records don't specify where they were buried.

It will only be deducted from the amount of grain to be converted in the following month.

I looked towards Qingfeng.

If those thirty-six people have already set off tonight, they may not necessarily go to the river engineering project.

Madam Wang knew we would check the bamboo slips.

She might change her route at the last minute.

Bai Zhi pointed to the very bottom of the master table.

"Here is a new record."

The character "甲" has thirty-six parts, but it does not belong to Qingfeng.

After the undercarriage was removed, a small shoe fell out first.

The shoes were only the size of a palm.

Not the group of people we have today.

The sole of the shoe has a crookedly written "杏" (apricot) character.

Lin Huan stared at it for a long time.

"In the previous batch, there was a six-year-old girl named Xing'er."

"Where to send it?"

"have no idea."

When he said he didn't know, he didn't lower his head again.

Bai Zhi sealed the shoes in a separate bag.

Live warehouses cannot be inspected on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis.

A shoe, an old piece of clothing, half a dry biscuit—these could all be names that someone's name was never completely erased from memory.

I had someone add a separate column next to the shipping list: personal belongings.

Ah Liu asked, "You even remember worn-out shoes?"

"remember."

Is it valuable?

"She's valuable to the people who are looking for her."

Turn straight to Qingxia.

The person who handled the matter had a name written in the column.

Du Cheng.

Du Cheng died of plague in the fourteenth year of Chengxi.

The holder of the first genuine old account card.

He is not only still alive.

It's still on today's shipment list.

The cart carrying the thirty-six dead bodies had already set off for Qingxia an hour ahead of schedule.