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

Wang Heng wrote seventeen entries in his account.

More than anyone else.

It wasn't because she did everything alone.

It's because she lived a long time.

I've handled a lot of cases.

Old clothes from Ci'en Temple.

Luo's Grain Transport Route.

Yongfeng Cabinet B.

Lan Yi changed her name.

Qingxia fake army.

The fake Shen An.

Fake Zhaoning.

Materials for opening a warehouse by three parties.

Gu Qinghe was transferred.

Zhaoyue was imprisoned.

For each one, she only acknowledged the part she had done.

No one acknowledges Wang Song.

They did not identify Luo Qingniang who was missing a finger.

This is actually more believable.

She paused when she wrote about Gu Qinghe.

"July 30th of the fourteenth year of Chengxi."

"I have been ordered by Wang Song to go to Qingxia."

"Named as a transferred witness."

"In reality, it's about taking her away from Shen Lie."

The mother asked, "Did you know back then that the dream-locking drug would be used for eleven years?"

"have no idea."

"How long are you planning to stay?"

"One month."

Why did it become eleven years?

"The first month."

Wang Song said to wait until the political situation stabilizes.

"The third month."

Pei Shen began investigating forty-one people.

Wang Song said we can't release it.

"The second year."

"Shen Lie sent people to look for him."

"We've moved to a different location."

"The third year."

"Gu Qinghe's body can no longer function without medication."

"The fifth year."

"Half of those who knew are dead."

"The eighth year."

"I dare not release it anymore."

"The eleventh year."

Wang Heng looked at me.

"You've arrived."

There was not a single eleven-year order.

The only solution is to wait an extra month each time.

Everyone says it's more dangerous to release it now.

In the end, it was as if no one had ever truly made a decision.

Bai Zhi wrote this down in its entirety.

The mother asked, "Where is Zhaoyue?"

Wang Heng said, "It wasn't originally in the plan."

Zhaoyue raised her eyes.

"I know."

Why were you also imprisoned?

"She saw me administering medicine to Gu Qinghe."

Wang Heng said, "You even recognized that I was wearing the Qing Dynasty clothing from the Imperial Wardrobe."

"I can only take it with me."

Zhaoyue asked, "Do you regret it?"

Wang Heng remained silent.

"Is regretting it useful?"

"It's no use."

"Then don't say it."

Zhaoyue was colder than her mother.

My mother would urge me to finish writing it.

Zhaoyue didn't want to hear about emotions.

As long as it's the truth.

Wang Heng finally signed and affixed his seal.

Seven tents became eight.

No verdict was reached.

There was no forgiveness.

First, separate each person from the overall situation.

Who did what?

What was the result?

There are still areas that haven't been investigated.

The emperor ordered that three copies of the eight account pages be made.

A copy is reserved for the Emperor.

A document from the Censorate.

A copy was made public outside the Xuanzheng Hall.

Pei Shen asked, "To make it all public?"

The emperor looked at me.

I said, "Part of the facts will be made public."

"The reasons have also been made public."

"Pending investigation" should be written as "pending investigation".

"Temporary code names will be used for individuals whose names have not yet been verified."

"We can't write down our deductions as final decisions just to speed up the process."

The emperor said, "Do as instructed."

The copying began quickly outside the hall.

The original copy is still in the hall.

In the end, only the letter written to Xiao Lingyi remained.

Everyone saw it.

Xiao Lingyi finally picked it up.

The envelope had no private seal.

There is only one left-hand fingerprint.

The Empress Dowager pressed down on her last day.

Zhaoyue said, "I wrote the characters for you."

"Every single sentence was read aloud to the Empress."

She nodded.

"Finally, press your fingers."

Xiao Lingyi opened it.

There was only half a page of paper.

After reading the first line, tears streamed down her face.

There was no sound.

It only appears on paper.

She immediately raised the letter.

I won't let my tears soak through the words.

I stood to the side.

It says above:

Orders and ceremonies.

Your mother can no longer teach you.

It's a very ordinary sentence.

She is more like a mother than someone who wrote a letter in blood.

Xiao Lingyi continued reading aloud.

"My mother spent her whole life checking accounts."

"In the end, he still put many people into his own tent."

Some might say, "I died for the country."

"Some people might say that I was killed by your father, the emperor."

"Don't believe everything."

"I want to save the people of Jiangbei."

"I also want to protect my reputation."

"I want to investigate the Wang family."

"I also want your father to listen to me."

"It's not that I'm without selfish motives."

The emperor in the hall closed his eyes.

Xiao Lingyi's voice trembled slightly.

Keep reading.

"If someone uses my death to avenge you in the future."

Don't listen.

"If anyone uses my name to make you contend for the throne."

"Don't listen to it either."

"The throne is not something to be given to the dead."

The two former officials of the Secretariat in the hall bowed their heads at the same time.

It had been rumored among members of the imperial family for some time.

The emperor is seriously ill.

The late empress's old case has been reopened.

Zhao Ning should oversee the state.

If the emperor is ultimately proven to have killed the late empress.

The throne should be given to the daughter.

The late empress blocked this road eleven years ago.

It was to prevent the dead from becoming the imperial edict for usurping the throne.

Xiao Lingyi continued reading:

"You are not the Queen Mother's sword."

"It wasn't your father's sword."

"Don't be the knife of the Shen family father and son."

I stood to the side.

I feel like I was casually written down.

My mother glanced at me.

It's like you're not innocent.

The letter continues:

"The knife only asks who to kill."

"People should ask questions first."

"Who is still alive?"

"Who doesn't have a name?"

"Who goes hungry?"

"Who can't speak?"

"If everyone says it's for your own good."

"Let them put the tent in the light first."

"It can't be released."

"Then don't take the knife for them."

Xiao Lingyi paused for a long time after reading this part.

The emperor opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Is there anything else?"

The last few lines:

"Your father makes mistakes."

"I'm also afraid."

"I fear the country will fall into chaos."

"Afraid of losing the throne."

"I'm afraid that if I admit my mistakes, I won't be like an emperor anymore."

"You can ask him."

"You don't have to forgive."

"But don't just kill him."

"After killing him."

"Many people will exonerate him."

The emperor's fingers trembled slightly.

I suddenly understood that sentence.

If the emperor dies at the hands of the fake Shen An.

All past grievances will be written as traitors and regicides.

The emperor's responsibility for sealing the tent, administering the wrong medicine, and indulging Wang's concubine would be washed away and he would be portrayed as a victim after his death.

The dead are most easily portrayed as pure.

Such is the nature of a good person.

Bad people are the same.

The last sentence:

"Orderly ceremony."

"The last thing the Empress Dowager wanted to do."

"It's not about killing anyone."

"It's to stop you from living for the dead."

Xiao Lingyi finished reading.

The paper trembled slightly in her hand.

Zhaoyue knelt on the ground.

It's not about kneeling before the emperor.

It was about that letter.

"These were Her Majesty's last words."

"There was no blood oath."

"His Majesty was not instructed to seal the tents."

"nor was His Highness appointed as regent."

"And no one was allowed to kill the emperor."

The emperor asked, "What about that line: 'If I seal the tent again, she will die with her eyes open in disgrace…'"

"Fake."

Zhaoyue said, "Your Majesty wouldn't write it like that."

Why?

She knew it before she died.

"Does a person die with their eyes open in peace?"

"It is most easily used by the living to relay orders."

The emperor leaned back on his throne.

Her face was very pale.

He had waited eleven years for this sentence.

The accounting department will know what he's afraid of.

I also know what he wants to hear.

As long as the fake blood letter is delivered to him after the third dose of the Brightening Decoction.

He may be trying to prove that he will no longer close the accounts.

Instead, they issued an urgent edict to seal the tent.

People are not always deceived by their weaknesses.

They were deceived by the very things they wanted to correct.

Xiao Lingyi put the letter back on the table.

"Father."

"Um."

"This is not a will."

"I know."

"It's not that Mother Empress asked me to forgive you."

The emperor looked at her.

"I know that too."

"Your subject will not forgive."

"Can."

"But I will investigate thoroughly."

"it is good."

"We've found out what you're responsible for."

"I will take responsibility."

Xiao Lingyi asked, "How can I bear it?"

The emperor remained silent.

After acknowledging the debt.

It was bound to come to this eventually.

It doesn't end just because I was wrong.

It's not just about signing a piece of paper.

How should the emperor's crimes be judged?

Who can make the judgment?

abdicate?

Reduction of power?

Publicly admitting guilt?

Compensation for Jiangbei?

Pursue former officials?

Each one is crucial.

This cannot be determined in half an hour today.

However, we can no longer use the excuse of difficulty in determining the outcome to delay for another eleven years.

The emperor said, "In three days."

He saw it.

"It's not a ban."

"It is time to summon the court for a meeting."

"Witnesses include members of the imperial family, the Six Ministries, the Censorate, people who have returned to their hometowns in Jiangbei, and military personnel from the Southwest."

"Come on, everyone."

The mother asked, "Is Shen Lie coming?"

The emperor looked at her.

"Does he dare?"

The mother said, "He dares to fight."

"They might not dare to enter the palace."

The emperor actually smiled.

"Then let him send someone."

I asked, "What's the court meeting about?"

"Let's discuss three things first."

The emperor asked, "How can we replenish the six thousand shi (a unit of grain) in Jiangbei?"

"How can we hold those responsible accountable for keeping the books closed for eleven years?"

"Am I still suitable to use the imperial seal alone?"

Everyone in the hall looked up.

The third item is too heavy.

The emperor did not mention abdicating.

It only discusses whether it is suitable to use the seal alone.

This is the most substantial part of imperial power.

Can the seal still be affixed by one person?

It's more important than verbally admitting guilt.

Pei Shen said, "Your Majesty."

"Once this proposal is put forward..."

"The whole world will know that the imperial power is in doubt."

The emperor looked at him.

Eleven years ago.

"You said the same thing."

Pei Shen remained silent.

"So let's open it first this time."

The emperor said, "Resume control."

His mother looked at him for a long time.

"You've learned a little."

The emperor asked, "Gu Qinghe."

"You will attend the court assembly?"

"Come."

"In what capacity?"

"The person in charge of grain accounts in Jiangbei."

"Shen Lie's wife?"

"Need not."

"Shen An's mother?"

"No need."

The mother said, "That's a good name."

An urgent report suddenly came from outside the Xuanzheng Hall.

Not in the palace.

From the southwest.

The messenger carried Xu San's sword and arrow.

He did not invoke his father's command.

He was not referred to as the young master.

The envelope read:

To Gu Qinghe personally.

The mother saw the words.

I didn't answer immediately.

First, let Bai Zhi test the paper.

Southwest Military Paper.

Tiger-seal wax.

The delivery route is complete.

There is no character for "rubbing".

The letter was written by the father himself.

There are only three lines.

You have already left the house.

Seven days later, Qingxia opened its military tent.

Xiao Jingheng dared to open the court tent.

I dare to drive mine.

The title "Madam" was not used at the end.

They didn't say they'd come back.

Only Shen Lie is mentioned.

After reading it, the mother handed the letter to the emperor.

The emperor asked, "Is he coming to the capital?"

"I'm not coming."

"Scared?"

"not necessarily."

The mother said, "He wants the imperial court to go to Qingxia."

I looked at my father's letter.

The emperor opens the court tent.

Father opened the military tent.

One is in the Xuanzheng Hall.

One is in Qingxia.

Neither side was willing to step into the other's territory first.

But they all put out their accounts.

This is already a step further than it was eleven years ago.

The emperor said, "Let him open it."

The mother asked, "Isn't His Majesty afraid that the Southwest Army will find out that he ate the famine relief grain from north of the Yangtze River?"

"Afraid."

"Still allowing it?"

"If my tent is opened..."

"His cannot be hidden either."

I put the letter away.

"Then it will be seven days."

Pei Shen said, "If we open tents in both locations at the same time, there won't be enough time for messages to travel back and forth."

"Therefore, we cannot rely solely on news."

Bai Zhi has already taken out the paper.

"Original documents are listed for both the court tent and the military tent."

"Three mutual verification stations were set up in the middle."

"Qingzhou".

"Yong'an".

"Qingxiakou."

"The catalog is changed every half day."

"Keep the original intact."

"Only the new page and witness signature will be sent."

Pei Shen looked at her.

"Is seven days enough?"

Bai Zhi said, "Add money."

I said, "Report to the public account."

The emperor asked, "Where will the public funds come from?"

Bai Zhi thought for a moment.

"Xue Jiu also owns two plots of land."

I think Xue Jiu is in Qingxia even though.

I've already started to feel sorry for them.