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

On the way back to Yong'an, I didn't say much.

It's not that I'm tired.

The number 3,746 is too large.

Seventy-two people were able to write vividly in front of an old warehouse.

One hundred and twenty-six people were able to verify their names one by one on the high ground of the river embankment.

Three thousand seven hundred and forty-six people were scattered across dozens of counties, villages, river works, salt fields, and grain routes in the three prefectures.

Some people are there.

Some are not here.

Some have changed their names.

Some have even forgotten their original names.

If they were to be investigated one person at a time, Lady Wang could have them killed ten more times in the Qingzhou register.

Bai Zhi rode beside him.

He was holding the real cards and the altered booklet in his arms.

"We can't search them one by one."

I said, "You think so too?"

"Find the accounts first."

"What bill?"

"The three prefectures will not only accept the list of those who died from the plague when they change their registers."

"We also need to collect the land registers of those who have died without descendants, the grain distribution registers for those affected by the epidemic, and the merit registers of temples."

"If the same dead person appears in all three books at the same time, someone will definitely benefit from it."

"Investigate the beneficiary first?"

"right."

Bai Zhi said, "Disperse."

"The silver road won't be too scattered."

"Yongfeng Yigui, Luo's Grain Store, Three Prefectures' Major Grain Merchants, Temple Merit Accounts."

"By focusing on these locations, we can trace where people have gone."

One person, three accounts.

Now we need to use it the other way around.

They used to write the death of a living person using three ledgers.

We then used three ledgers to bring the dead back.

I think Angelica dahurica is suitable for the Ministry of Revenue.

If she were to actually sit inside, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue would probably all be on sick leave.

"Let's go back to Yong'an first."

I said, "Verify Bai Song's letter."

"The issuance of all old records from the three prefectures to the counties shall be suspended."

"Will the county magistrate listen?"

"Sometimes."

"What if they don't listen?"

"seal."

The seals for sealing granaries, granted by the emperor, were no longer used only for sealing granaries.

It can also seal off the county government office.

When we returned to Yong'an, the area outside the city gate was even more crowded than the day before.

News from Qingfeng has already arrived.

Seventy-two people were brought to life in the writing.

One hundred and twenty-six river workers were rescued.

A dead body was dug out from the dike.

The magistrate of Qingfeng County was arrested.

These messages were passed around among different people.

Ultimately, it became what the common people said:

Imperial Censor Shen led the princess to dig up the ancestral graves of the county government.

I don't think that statement is quite accurate.

Xue Zhong's ancestors may not have lived on the riverbank.

But if the people are willing to come, that's a good thing.

The old warehouse has been completely taken over by the Princess's residence.

Two shifts of guards were rotated outside the stone gate.

Five places were sealed with copper pipes.

Only one place was left for medicine delivery.

When Physician Song saw me return, his first words were:

"The person is not dead."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Which one?

Neither of them died.

"Have you woken up?"

"Madam Shen woke up once."

"What about the other one?"

"woke up."

"Did you speak?"

The physician looked at Xiao Lingyi.

She stood in front of the stone gate.

He was still wearing the same dark red, narrow-sleeved coat he had worn when he left Beijing.

It wasn't changed all night.

It has a slightly bluish tint to it.

His expression was calmer than when I left.

"I said so."

I walked over.

"What did you say?"

Xiao Lingyi did not answer immediately.

First, look at the tent pouch in Bai Zhi's arms.

"Did you find the cards?"

"The first one."

Bai Zhi took out the real card.

Then he took out the old letter that Bai Song had written to the Shen family.

Gu Xingzhi has also returned.

He failed to catch up with Lady Wang.

The only place they found was an abandoned post station where she had changed out of her noblewoman's clothes.

The cart tracks continued toward Qingzhou.

Later, it split into three routes.

She clearly knew that Gu Xingzhi would pursue her.

Sufficient detours were deliberately left.

Now the Censorate, the Imperial Guard, and the Princess's Residence are all in place.

The letter can be opened.

Angelica dahurica was tested and sealed first.

Double-lined blue pattern.

The outside line is Bai Song's tail.

The inner thread uses a fine needle knot.

Xiao Lingyi glanced at it.

"Changning Needle Knot".

"The Empress Dowager only used it for secret correspondence within the Imperial Treasury."

The letter is true.

At least the person who sealed the letter knew the late empress's most private sealing method.

Gu Xingzhi cut open the seal.

There are only two pages inside.

The first sentence is:

If Mr. Shen sees this letter, the game of six cards is already half lost.

I frowned as I looked at it.

Bai Song wouldn't even say anything auspicious first when writing a letter.

It's written very clearly in the following text.

The six real cards are not the key to open the door.

There are six mutually certified documents.

Each card corresponds to an original account.

The Shen brand corresponds to the Qingxia grain register.

White tags correspond to Yongfeng silver book.

The blue plaque corresponds to the Qing Dynasty's "Transfer of Personnel" register.

The post station sign corresponds to the Southwest Military Pay Register.

Changpai corresponds to Changning Pharmacy.

The clothing tag corresponds to the late empress's last sick clothes.

Having all six cards together is not about opening a door.

This is to ensure that the six sets of accounts can corroborate each other, and that no single party can falsify them unilaterally.

Yong'an Stone Gate was merely a later reconstruction of a storage area.

The door lock uses a six-slot design.

But the real way to open the door is not in the card itself.

Each of the six accounts had a verification word left at the end.

That is to say-

Even if all six cards are found, the door still cannot be opened without the corresponding original account.

Madam Wang kept saying that the sixth sign should open the door.

She told only half the truth.

Therefore, it is easier to deceive people.

Bai Song wrote again:

I gave the clothing to Feng happy, not because I trusted him.

This is to bind them for their crimes.

Feng Xiruo destroyed the clothing plaque, and the sick clothes and curtains were cut off.

If Feng Xiruo leaves behind the clothing tag, he will eventually have to admit that the sick clothes passed through his hands.

Everyone in Changning Palace may die.

Accounts should not remain in the hands of only trustworthy people.

Trustworthy people die the fastest.

I paused for a moment when I saw this.

This sounds a lot like what Bai Song said.

She also resembles the late empress.

They did not place all their hopes on loyalty.

Loyalty can change.

People are afraid.

will die.

They will be forced into it.

Therefore, evidence must be distributed to people with different stances.

Good people get a share.

Even the bad guys get a share.

As long as both sides are afraid that the other will open the account first, the account has a chance to survive.

The second page describes two people inside the door.

The Shen family.

Shining on the moon.

I looked up at Xiao Lingyi.

Her expression remained unchanged.

But his fingers were already clenched tightly.

The other person inside the door was Aunt Zhaoyue.

In the fourteenth year of Chengxi, on the night the late Empress passed away, Gu Xingzhi allowed her to leave the palace with her clothes box.

She didn't run far.

They hid in the Yong'an Old Warehouse together with my mother.

It was later discovered by Feng happy and Wang Shi.

The two quickly sealed the door.

Six original ledgers and some evidence were left inside the door.

Wang was unable to force the opening.

The only option was to control it from the outside using dream-locking drugs.

Eleven years.

What they were waiting for inside the door was not just six cards.

He is the kind of person who can make all six accounts public at the same time.

Bai Song wrote at the end of the letter:

If the person who comes is a descendant of the Shen family, first verify whether he is willing to save the living people in the tent.

If the visitor is a descendant of Changning, it would be an oversight to first verify whether he is willing to acknowledge the late empress.

If the two men have come only for their mother, do not open the door.

If the two have come only for revenge, the door should not be opened.

After reading it, I felt very uncomfortable.

Even though Bai Song has been dead for so many years, he's still giving me questions behind the stone gate.

Xiao Lingyi asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

"I think Mr. Bai has quite a lot of demands."

He's right.

She took the letter.

"Even when the Empress Dowager checked the accounts, she was unable to save these people."

"She set up the living cell to save witnesses."

"But later, the living were left without a registered residence for many years."

"This should also be noted."

I looked at her.

"Your Highness won't defend the late Empress?"

"If that's the truth, how can we argue against it?"

She answered calmly.

I suddenly understood why Bai Song waited for the two of us.

When I face Shen Lie, it's hard for me to admit that my father might be right.

Facing the late Empress, Xiao Lingyi found it difficult to admit that her mother might have made a mistake.

But if all you want to do is clear your parents' names, then the curtains inside the door cannot be opened.

Because those six accounts will not convict only one party.

It would simultaneously harm the imperial court, the Wang family, and the southwest.

Xiao Lingyi walked to the stone gate.

"Aunt Zhaoyue."

After a long while, an aged voice came from inside the door.

"Your Highness."

Just two words.

Xiao Lingyi's eyes immediately reddened.

But she didn't cry.

"You recognize me?"

"Her voice sounds like an empress's."

The person inside the door took a breath.

"It doesn't seem like it either."

"What's different about it?"

"Even at the very end, the Empress still wanted to take responsibility for everyone."

"Your Highness just said that she was also at fault."

Xiao Lingyi closed her eyes.

"She does have it."

There was no sound from behind the door for a long time.

Then, Zhaoyue smiled softly.

"That's good."

"Your Highness is no longer her weapon."

I stood to the side.

I recall what Sun Ajin said in court.

Zhao Ning is her daughter.

It wasn't her knife.

Now Zhaoyue said it again.

This time, however, it wasn't to shield Xiao Lingyi from others.

It's about enabling her to move forward on her own.

My mother's voice came through as well.

"An'er".

"exist."

"How many did you save?"

"Yong'an Seventy-Two".

"Qingfeng is ninety-four years old."

"Thirty-six more were rescued from the car."

There was a moment of silence behind the door.

"Not enough."

The nascent sense of family reunion that had just arisen in my heart vanished instantly.

She looks a lot like her mother.

When I was little, she would say that I still needed two more lines after I finished writing ten characters.

"There are still 3,746 deaths from the plague in the three prefectures north of the Yangtze River."

I said, "We'll change the book tomorrow."

"Prepare to seal the accounts first, then investigate the individuals involved."

A very soft knock came from behind the door.

a bit.

She agreed.

Zhaoyue asked:

"Whose seal is on the decree for the change of officials in the Three Prefectures?"

"The official seal of the Governor of Jiangbei".

"No signature."

"That wasn't an order from the governor."

I frowned.

Why?

"Fourteen years after Chengxi, the list of deaths from the epidemic in Jiangbei was updated and had to be stamped with the old verification mark from Changning."

"This rule was not abolished after the late empress's death."

"What kind of fortune slip?"

"Two crimson moons".

Bai Zhi immediately pulled out the replacement document.

The corner of the paper is blank.

There is no red line.

There are no double moons.

Zhaoyue said:

"No review approval."

"Old records must not leave the county."

This is an old rule that was left over eleven years ago, and no one has been willing to mention it since.

This is a good opportunity to buy us time.

Before I could even catch my breath, an urgent report came from outside the door.

The Qingzhou Prefecture dispatched three hundred constables.

He held the official seal of the Jiangbei Governor.

They have already headed to Yong'an and Qingfeng respectively.

The command consists of only one sentence.

Before noon, forcibly collect old books.

Those who obstruct are considered to be defiant.