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

No one spoke first.

The guards outside the north gate were ramming the gate.

a bit.

Two times.

Dust kept falling from the wooden door.

Someone on the south side also pushed open the door.

They wanted to rush out.

But what lies outside the door may not be the right path.

It's very likely that another group was waiting to drive them towards the defenders.

I stood on the garment inspection table.

There was only one pen.

"Cao Shun".

The eight men from Qingfeng have already arrived from the outer warehouse.

It's not a military uniform.

"exist!"

"You go first."

"Cao Shun, Liutang Village, Qingfeng County".

"Right shoulder injury from falling rocks from the riverbank."

"My mother at home is Cao Gu Shi."

Angelica dahurica was written down.

"Majiawan, Qingfeng County, Mahuai".

"Old injury to my left leg."

"He has a wife, Liu, and a son and a daughter."

For each name announced, Bai Zhi would take out a Qingfeng reinstatement certificate.

The three seals are verified together.

Their armor, from armor one to armor eight, had already been thrown into the outer warehouse.

But the person did not disappear just because he took off his military uniform.

Suddenly he asked, "If I give my name, will the people outside the North Gate not be killed?"

"It cannot be guaranteed."

"What's the use of reporting this?"

"If they kill Yue Da..."

"The record should then state that Yue Da has been killed."

"If eighty-one soldiers are killed, only one rebel soldier needs to be recorded as executed."

Yue Da looked towards the north gate.

The door slammed shut again.

The latch is cracked.

I continued, "If you take up arms tonight as Shen An's personal guards..."

"Tomorrow anyone can say that you voluntarily opposed Liang."

"If you give your original name first."

"Who forced you to wear clothes?"

"Who is fraudulently claiming your rations?"

"Who wrote you as soldiers?"

"They all have to stay."

"My name is Lu Changgui."

The person in the cubicle who was forced to change his name to A75.

"Yong'an Liuxi Village".

"Nine years have passed since the plague began to strike the tents."

"I have no home."

Bai Zhi asked, "An old injury?"

"One joint is missing from the right index finger."

"I was carrying bags for Luo's grain carts back then, and I got run over by the wheels."

Bai Zhi (白芷) was noted down.

"Chen Erniu of Yong'an".

"Burnt on the left shoulder."

"Mother Chen Zhoushi".

"Two children."

"The older one is called Chen He."

"The younger one is called Chen Miao."

His voice trembled slightly when he spoke of his child.

He doesn't know if his child still recognizes him.

"Zhao Wuhe, Nanxian County, Qingzhou".

"Sun Xiaoqi of Qingzhou Saltworks".

"Yong'an North Township, He Man."

If a person moves between different warehouses, different river workers, and different identities for too long, they may really forget who they originally were.

Angelica dahurica is divided into three columns.

If you can't remember the names, first mention the bridges, wells, parents, scars, and village roads you remember.

The accounts don't need to be finished today.

But we can't just add a bugle call to their writing just to make it look neat.

Outside the North Gate, Ge Tong shouted again:

"The last time!"

"Put down your weapons!"

"Otherwise, we'll break down the gates and quell the rebellion!"

I had Ah Liu climb up the north wall.

Ah Liu looked up.

"Young master, the wall is very high."

"There's a ladder."

"The ladder doesn't look stable."

"Be gentle."

Is this an exaggeration?

"Go quickly."

Halfway up the mountain, the north gate was bumped again.

Ah Liu was pressed against the ladder.

"I suddenly remembered that I haven't collected my monthly salary yet."

"Come down and collect it."

"There are soldiers outside the gate."

"Let's hang the light up first."

I called out to the door, "Captain Ge!"

The banging on the door stopped for a moment.

"Shen An!"

"I am here."

"If you are still an imperial censor acting on imperial orders, come out immediately and be bound!"

"Which imperial decree?"

"Urgent order from the Ministry of War!"

"read."

Ge Tong probably didn't expect me to ask him to read it in public.

A moment later, he read aloud:

"The traitor Shen An secretly colluded with the southwest, seized Qingxia at night, and gathered a righteous army to cause chaos."

"Verified by the Princess Zhaoning Disaster Relief Supervision Office."

"Order Ge Tong, the captain of Qingxia Village, to quell the rebellion immediately."

"The enemy troops must not be allowed to leave the gorge."

I asked, "The date on the cover?"

"Before sunset today."

When will the deputy scribe from the Princess's residence arrive?

"The third quarter of the hour of You (5-7 PM)".

"From where?"

"Yong'an".

I said, "The fastest waterway from Yong'an to Qingxia takes six hours."

"The supplementary divination slip received at 3:45 PM was sent from Yong'an before sunset."

"Commander Ge".

"Can the horses of your Qingxia Village fly?"

No one spoke outside the door.

I continued, "Isn't the lower right corner of the secondary signature marked with a red line and two crescent moons?"

Ge Tongdao: "Yes."

Is the red line above or below the moon?

The relief document Xiao Lingyi used for this trip out of the capital had a red line under two moons.

The divination slip from the former Empress's palace shows a red line above two moons.

Those who know the design may not know that the Princess's residence has changed its usage order.

"Your Excellency."

"Fake signature".

I said, "The current deputy signatory of the Princess's residence is below me."

"If you don't believe me, there are official documents signed by the Qingzhou Governor's Office, the Yong'an County Old Granary, and the Qingfeng Examination Hall."

"It can be verified at three locations."

Ge Tong shouted, "You're stalling for time!"

"Yes."

"Because there are 109 people inside."

"You rammed the door very quickly."

"They were very slow in announcing their names."

The fact that he can still laugh at this point means that he's at least not so keen on taking the knife anymore.

Ge Tong outside the door stopped ramming it.

He said, "Even if there are doubts about the deputy signatory, Shen's flag and the rebel army are both present!"

"The Shen-character flag is new."

"The flag cloth came from the Qingzhou military supply depot."

"847 sets of military uniforms."

"Eight hundred and forty-seven weapons."

"All accounts from Qingzhou's warehouses are available."

"The ticket collection record for Qingxia states that 847 people have arrived."

I said, "The 798 survivors in Qingzhou are still in the relief camp."

"The person you see through the door is not the one in that military register."

"It was used to fill in the numbers."

Ge Tong: "How can I trust you?"

"Open a crack in the door."

"Do not advance."

"Only one literate military officer was brought in."

"Check the accounts in person."

They were discussing in hushed tones outside the door.

Just then, a small flag with the character "Shen" suddenly rose up on the south side of the courtyard.

Someone cut the rope, and the flag automatically flew up.

The sound of bowstrings immediately came from outside the north gate.

"Get down!"

It was an unnamed soldier who fired the shot towards the inside of the north gate.

Someone in the courtyard immediately shouted:

"The imperial court fired the first arrow!"

Once this round of shots is fired, Ge Tong will no longer need to check the accounts.

Yan Xiaoyi leaped onto the roof.

Gu Shisan also moved.

A man in black climbed out from behind the roof and fled towards the south courtyard.

Yan Xiaoyi did not pursue.

Bai Zhi pulled out the arrow and took a look.

"Qingzhou military supplies arrows".

"The arrow's tail is marked with the character '甲' (jia) of the Yimin Army."

In other words, the arrow that was just shot in may not have come from Ge Tong's men.

It is very likely that someone was already hiding outside the north wall, waiting to fire an arrow as soon as the flag was raised.

"Don't fire the arrows!"

"That arrow outside was also given to us by them!"

"What if it really is the defending army?"

"Then please state your name first."

I asked, "What's the name of that arrow you shot?"

"Yue Da".

"Yue Da of Qingzhou Saltworks".

Bai Zhi was recorded in the register.

The bows in the courtyard were laid down one by one.

Suddenly, the sounds of fighting came from outside the North Gate.

Ge Tong roared:

"Take it down!"

Immediately afterwards, two soldiers escorted an archer to the door.

He carried a quiver of Qingzhou military supplies arrows on his person.

The door opened a crack.

He was around forty years old, with a square face and thick eyebrows.

He held the urgent order from the Ministry of War in his hand.

They only passed the documents through the crack in the door.

Angelica dahurica was tested on the paper first.

The military post station paper from the Ministry of War is genuine.

The military post station document is genuine.

However, there is a very faint scratch below the date.

The original date was scratched off and re-dated.

When you shine a lamp on the angelica root...

This is a blank, genuine signature from eleven years ago.

Someone took an old, genuine document and wrote a quelling order for tonight.

"I was almost..."

"Not yet."

I said, "There's still time."

One hundred and nine people are still giving their names.

There are still twenty-two people whose names haven't been mentioned.

Ge Tong asked, "What should be done with these people?"

"First, seal off the military grain supply at Qingxia."

"You shall send troops to guard the granary and forbid anyone from transporting the goods."

"The grain was inspected by Qingxia Village, the Censorate, and the people returning to their registered residence."

"Daily rations."

Those who wish to return to their hometowns should register for a travel permit.

"Those who have nowhere else to go will temporarily stay at Guiming Granary."

"Those who wish to join the army should first be reinstated to their original household registration, and then report according to the imperial court's recruitment laws."

"Guiming Warehouse?"

"The original name of this place."

I said, "The nuclear clothing warehouse should be changed back."

Yue Da suddenly asked, "Where's the meat?"

Bai Zhi's face darkened.

I said, "Once every two days."

"Military rations are tight."

"Deduct it from the fake military pay."

What if the embezzled military funds cannot be recovered?

"Xue Jiu's private assets will be used to cover the costs first."

When the name was announced, a scream came from the South Courtyard.

Gu Shisan chased after the man in black back.

That person walked right into Yan Xiaoyi's hands.

Yan Xiaoyi did not pursue after cutting down the flag.

He went to the South Gate.

I had just climbed over the wall when I was kicked back.

Ah Liu had just come down the ladder when he saw her and backed away.

"Miss Lan?"

"Lan Gu is not a name."

"I know."

"So what's your name?"

Yan Xiaoyi was faster than her.

Bai Zhi took a small piece of black wax from behind her teeth.

It's a throat lozenge.

It will render a person speechless for three days after ingestion.

She didn't even intend to die.

Yan Xiaoyi dislocated her right arm.

Gu Shisan tied her left hand.

"Young Master."

"You will not accept them today."

"They will still ask for a piece of clothing tomorrow."

"At least I won't beg you for anything right now."

"You think they'll live just because you gave them their names?"

"There is no land."

"I have no home."

"No imperial court would acknowledge it."

"The name will only let them know what they've lost."

But not having one doesn't mean you should surrender yourself to a piece of clothing.

I said, "Do you know what we lost?"

"Only now do I know who to ask for it from."

Bai Zhi took a key pouch from the woman's waist, which was missing a finger.

Three warehouse keys.

A medicine cabinet key.

There was also a folded paper hidden inside the key pouch.

The order is not on paper.

It is the complete register of 109 people in Qingxia.

Collect grain.

Military pay.

With this booklet lost, the entire Lan Yi Fang (a clothing workshop) could no longer pretend to be just a tailor shop.

Yan Xiaoyi stepped on the key pouch.

"Don't move."

"Moving the other hand will also mean losing one hand."

Ah Liu whispered from the side, "Master Yan, she was already missing one."

Yan Xiaoyi looked at him.

"It can be even less."

Ah Liu is not going to say anything more.

The 109 names were finally read out.

The original names of the seventy-three people could be matched on the spot with the records to be checked by the three prefectures.

Only some of the old certificates belong to the twenty-six people.

Bai Zhi did not give them pseudonyms.

I am alive.

As the last stroke was made, the gate of Qingxia Village opened completely.

Ge Tong ordered the garrison to retreat ten zhang away.

The people in the courtyard also piled up their weapons in one place.

Gu Shisan remained standing in the shadows, watching.

He only came to my side after the three parties had sealed the complete book of the nuclear garment.

"Lord Shen."

"Xu Sandao has one more thing to say."

Why didn't you say so earlier?

"It depends on whether you want to withdraw your troops first."

"Now you see it?"

"I saw it."

"explain."

It is my father's tiger seal.

True seal.

The other half should be in the hands of the messenger.

Gu Shisan said, "General Shen, please speak."

"You don't have to come."

"But the fate of regicide remains unchanged."

"He only told you about the old story of Qingxia once."

Ah Liu looked at me.

"Young master."

"Um."

"Are you going alone?"

I looked towards the mountain road to the north.

The old post station in Qingxia is located on the mountainside.

Looking up from here, you can see a solitary lamp.

It was as if someone was already waiting there.

"Seal of Authorization".

I said.

"Then I'll decide whether he's my father."

Yan Xiaoyi asked, "What if it's true?"

I touched the half tiger print in my sleeve.

"Then it is even more necessary to test it."

After all, a fake father's order can lead to murder.

The number of people killed by the true father's orders will only increase.