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

On the day the emperor left the capital, it drizzled.

The rain wasn't heavy.

It was enough to soften the old ruts on the official road.

This is also enough to make the new tire tracks clearer.

Bai Zhi was very satisfied.

"You can tell if someone changes cars."

Ah Liu was not very satisfied.

"The road is slippery."

"You can tell just by the way someone throws them."

He rides a little better now than before.

At least when the horse stopped, he did not continue forward.

The emperor's entourage originally consisted of twelve carriages.

The procession included: the vanguard, the ceremonial guard, the imperial medicine makers, the imperial meals makers, the eunuchs, the imperial family members, the guards, and the spare carriages.

According to the regulations for the emperor's inspection tours, an additional two hundred imperial guards should be added.

The emperor was beheaded.

In the end, only five cars remained.

A royal carriage.

One vehicle from the Imperial Hospital.

One tent box.

Two vehicles belonging to the internal security force.

Twenty guards.

It was the same as what my father wrote in his reply.

However, the emperor still brought three more secretaries with him.

The reason given was to record the imperial edict.

When the mother found out, she only asked:

"Are they guards?"

"no."

"Then it doesn't count as one of the twenty people."

The emperor agreed.

If the father's side also brings an accountant, a military doctor, and a scribe, then guards are not required.

But everyone has to give their name.

One cannot wear the robes of a civil official and carry a sword.

Nor can one issue orders while wearing a military doctor's uniform.

Before leaving Beijing, the vehicle was inspected at Donghuamen.

The emperor sat inside the carriage.

The curtain has not yet fallen.

The gatekeeper's hand trembled as he held the vehicle inspection register.

He inspected the officials.

The princess has been examined.

The emperor has never been verified.

"Name."

After the captain finished asking the question, his face turned pale.

The emperor looked at him.

"Xiao Jingheng".

"identity."

"emperor."

"Is there any proof?"

The captain's legs went weak.

I almost knelt down.

The mother, sitting in the back car, said through the window:

"That's all."

The captain had no choice but to continue.

"Is there any proof?"

The emperor took out his private seal.

It wasn't delivered directly.

Have Wei Zhijia carry it to the door.

The captain dared not look only at the seal.

It depends on looks.

Look at the hands.

Look at the imperial physician inside the carriage.

Finally, the question is:

"What is the purpose of your trip out of Beijing today?"

The Emperor said:

"Go to Yong'an to verify the grain accounts in Jiangbei, the military accounts in the southwest, and the order to kill the emperor."

Everyone inside and outside the city gate heard it.

This sentence should be written into the vehicle inspection register.

The emperor cannot turn back and say that he was merely on an inspection tour.

The father couldn't say he was just visiting relatives.

I stood to the side and thought this step was very useful.

The emperor replied:

"How much longer do we need to ask?"

The captain looked at the booklet.

"Twenty-nine people accompanied him."

"You need to report your name one by one."

The emperor looked unwell.

He probably discovered for the first time that the most annoying thing about the new rules wasn't that other people were using them.

I need to use it myself too.

Wei Zhijia was the first to report it.

"Wei Zhi".

The captain looked up.

"Which one?"

Wei Zhijia paused for a moment.

My real name is Wei Zhi.

"In the fourteenth year of Chengxi, someone else used my identity."

"Currently handling the daily affairs of the Emperor."

"The case is still under investigation."

He is no longer called A.

But every time I say my name, I have to add a sentence.

This is the price to pay after one's identity has been compromised.

It's not a punishment.

It's a reminder.

The second-ranking eunuch was Gao Fu.

Face verification, hand verification, and place of origin verification.

Gao Fu was not the same Gao Fu who had delivered the urgent leave order.

There really is a Gao Fu in the palace.

The two are twenty years apart in age.

If it weren't for the requirement to keep separate records for people with the same name, the fake Gao Fu could have continued to be used for many more years.

When the officer examined Ah Liu, he asked:

"Name."

"Ah Liu."

"My real name."

Ah Liu remained silent.

"Ah Liu."

"What's your last name?"

"have no idea."

"Place of origin?"

"I don't know."

"Family members?"

"no."

The captain was in a dilemma.

How can I prove that it is me?

Ah Liu thought about it.

"Young master owes me three months' wages."

I looked at him.

"When did I owe you anything?"

"I owed it before."

"It's already been sent."

"That means it was released three months ago."

I don't know how to write "都尉" (duwei).

Bai Zhi said:

"remember."

"He once served as an attendant to Shen An."

"Current monthly accounts."

"I have no memory of my old name."

"Let's keep a temporary record of Ah Liu."

"There is an old bite mark on my left shoulder."

Ah Liu's expression changed.

"Miss Bai."

"You even keep this in mind?"

"Biten by a dog?"

"no."

"What is that?"

He doesn't say.

I do not know either.

The captain had no choice but to write:

Old injury to left shoulder.

The source was declined to be disclosed.

Ah Liu felt this was even more shameful than being bitten by a dog.

The emperor waited in the carriage for a full half hour.

All 29 people were checked before they were allowed to pass.

After the convoy left the city, he asked Wei Zhi to call me to the car.

"Shen An".

"Your subject is here."

"Will this be the procedure every time I leave the palace from now on?"

"During the period of serious crimes."

"Why must I, the Emperor, also be examined?"

"Because someone passed through Weizhi."

"Passing through Zhaoning."

"Also passed through the court."

I said, "His Majesty's status is more valuable."

The emperor remained silent for a moment.

"You are reminding me."

"Could someone also dress up as the emperor?"

Having a face isn't enough.

"But the news of death, the imperial edict, and the imperial seal can be worn first."

The emperor looked ahead at the official road.

"While I was alive, there were those who died in my place."

"If I were truly dead..."

"I wonder how many more emperors there will be."

That's no small matter.

I didn't answer.

After traveling ten miles, the first post station was used to inspect the wheels.

The emperor's carriage axle was engraved with dragon patterns.

The Imperial Medical Academy carved a pestle.

The tent cart is engraved with six lines.

At each pavilion, examine the carving marks, mud imprints, and wax seals.

You cannot change vehicles.

And there can't be an extra box along the way.

The rain stopped in the afternoon.

A group of people appeared by the roadside.

This is not a welcoming ceremony.

It is an account waiting.

They came from three villages near Yong'an.

Hearing that the emperor was going to the old granary, he waited by the official road with old grain coupons and wooden tablets of the dead.

No kneeling.

The new notice is very clear.

Those who petitioned did not obstruct the imperial procession.

There's no need to kneel on the road.

He only left his name at the post station.

An old woman was standing in the middle of the road.

The guards wanted to hurry.

The emperor ordered the carriage to stop.

The old woman held a moldy grain coupon in her hand.

"His Majesty."

"Has the woman's son ever eaten the rations from the Southwest Army?"

The emperor did not answer immediately.

That's the wrong question.

Her son is from Jiangbei.

The question should be whether the Southwest Army ate her son's rations.

The old woman continued:

"That's what the county said."

"The grain was given to the army."

"The army is here to protect us."

"So it doesn't count as a debt."

The emperor looked at me.

I won't answer for him.

The mother's car was also parked behind.

She didn't say anything.

The emperor could only say it himself:

"It's a debt."

The old woman asked, "Who owes it?"

"The imperial court."

"Southwest Army"

"The Wang family who transferred grain."

The emperor paused for a moment.

"And me."

The old woman's ignorance of the emperor was merely a polite remark.

Just ask:

"When will you return it?"

"The first batch of actual grain."

"Enter Yong'an Warehouse within this month."

"How many?"

The emperor looked at the official accompanying him from the Ministry of Revenue.

The official from the Ministry of Revenue immediately replied:

"Three hundred stones first."

The old woman shook her head.

"Our three villages have lost more than 400 shi (a unit of dry measure)."

The official from the Ministry of Revenue said, "This is the first batch—"

The emperor raised his hand.

"Five hundred first."

The official from the Ministry of Revenue's expression changed.

"Your Majesty, the Yong'an granary is currently allocating—"

"First, take out one thousand shi (a unit of dry measure) from the inner treasury."

The emperor said, "I will return my debt first."

The old woman still didn't thank her.

"We'll talk about it once the grain arrives."

The emperor nodded.

"Can."

She made way for her.

There was no shouting of "Long live the Emperor!"

The emperor was not displeased.

At least it wasn't shown.

The car started moving again.

Ah Liu whispered to me:

"Young master."

"Um."

"His Majesty is repaying his debt for the first time."

"People complain that it's not enough."

"normal."

"Will you not want to pay it back later?"

"Then write down today's questions."

Ah Liu nodded.

"Accounts are still better."

"Face changes."

"I can't read."

I looked ahead at the imperial carriage.

The emperor's carriage curtain remained drawn.

He could be seen at every post station along the way.

You can also see that he is still alive.

In the evening, we arrived at the Yong'an boundary marker.

There was another tire track next to the boundary marker.

It's not a car.

It's a horse.

Twenty-seven horses.

The father replied that he would bring twenty guards.

Seven more people.

Upon seeing this, the emperor's first words were:

"Shen Lie has breached the contract."

The mother got off the bus.

I squatted down by the muddy ground and looked around.

"Twenty warhorses."

"Three pack animals carrying tents."

"Two military doctors."

"One horse, three knives."

"The last horse without a saddle."

The emperor asked, "What kind of horse is it without a saddle?"

The mother stood up.

"dark clouds."

"Shen Lie rode it."

The emperor said, "Even those riding horses should be considered guards."

"A horse doesn't carry a knife."

"Can kick."

"If Your Majesty is afraid..."

"Note on the attached page."

The emperor looked unwell.

I feel like my father hasn't appeared yet.

They have already started reconciling accounts.

A wooden stake stands behind the boundary marker.

The father's admission record was hanging above.

Names of the twenty guards.

Seven people who were not guards.

Two military doctors.

There were three accountants.

Xu Sandao.

Shen Lie.

dark clouds.

They even wrote about horses.

The identity column of the dark cloud is:

Old military horses.

Left hind leg injury.

They did not receive military pay.

After reading it, the emperor did not mention seven more people.

Just ask:

Where is Shen Lie?

The father's voice came from behind the wooden stake.

"See you after the test."

He stood ten feet away.

No armor.

No flag was brought.

The horse-slaying sword remained on the other side of the boundary marker.

Only Xu Sandao was behind him.

When the father saw the mother, he didn't move at all.

But the dark cloud took two steps forward first.

His mother looked at him.

The first words after eleven years were:

"Shen Lie".

The father responded.

"Qinghe".

The emperor stood between the two men, slightly behind them.

I stood beside the tent wagon.

Suddenly I realized that what my mother said was wrong.

They are both really old.

But if a fight really breaks out...

It will probably still be very troublesome.