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

The little beggar ran very fast.

He runs even faster than Ah Liu.

Yan Xiaoyi took only half a step forward before I stopped him.

He glanced at me.

"Don't chase?"

"Don't chase."

"The person who delivered the cards might know something."

"He may not know more than the cards."

Yan Xiaoyi thought for a moment and then withdrew her foot.

"That's true, chasing after kids is a hassle."

I looked at the charred wooden plaque at my feet.

The wooden sign was small, with its edges scorched by fire, and a line of small characters engraved on the front.

Liu Laoqi, a traveling caravan owner.

Ah Liu bent down, picked it up, blew off the dust, and handed it to me.

"Young master, is this a person's name?"

"It should be."

"The one inside the fire?"

I didn't answer.

But I already had the answer in my heart.

The corpse in the old warehouse, wearing old cloth shoes and with rope marks on its hands, didn't look like an official or a clerk, but more like a laborer driving a cart.

If Liu Laoqi is a member of the carriage and horse company.

Why did he die in old warehouse number 37?

Very simple.

He used to drive a carriage for others.

I saw something I shouldn't have seen again.

Zhao Guanlan walked to my side and asked in a low voice, "What brand?"

I handed him the wooden sign.

He glanced at it and frowned.

"A carriage and horse stable?"

"Three carriages passed by the old warehouse in the south of the city half an hour ago," I said. "Perhaps... someone reminded me."

I almost blurted out Xu Sandao's name.

Fortunately, my tongue was still inside my mouth.

Zhao Guanlan glanced at me but didn't press me about the "someone".

Those who can rise to the position of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief in the Censorate at least know when to ask questions and when not to ask them.

He returned the wooden sign to me.

"Do you want to check now?"

I glanced at Warehouse No. 37, which was still smoking.

"If we don't go now, all that will be left by dawn will be clean tents."

Zhao Guanlan remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll leave some people here to seal off the fire."

"Where are the people from the Ministry of Works?"

"Retreat three zhang (approximately 10 meters)."

Zhao Guanlan spoke very calmly.

Zhou, the official in charge, was very indignant.

He stood not far away, his face gloomy, his sleeves covered in dust, looking like an oil lamp that was about to burn out.

I walked over and bowed to him.

"Master Zhou, you've had a good night."

Chief Zhou looked at me coldly.

"Lord Shen is certainly very busy."

"I'm a low-ranking official with a lot of responsibilities, there's no way around it."

"You broke into the warehouse in the middle of the night, collected evidence at the fire scene, and even stopped the Ministry of Works from putting out the fire. You need to explain all of these things tomorrow."

I smiled.

"Don't worry, Master Zhou, I will write the memorial."

His eye twitched.

I added, "It's written very clearly."

His expression turned even uglier.

Sometimes, a folding tool is better than a knife.

The knife can only cut one person.

If a folded paper is handed to the right person, it can keep a group of people awake at night.

When we left the old warehouse, the fire was not completely extinguished.

Zhao Guanlan sent two Censorate officers to accompany me.

They said it was to assist in the investigation.

I know he was afraid I'd die on the way.

The emperor fears my death because I am not yet the bait to catch all the fish.

Zhao Guanlan was afraid I would die, probably because he had already realized that if the fire tonight wasn't thoroughly investigated, the Censorate would be severely punished by the Ministry of Works tomorrow.

It's still hot.

The carriage and horse shop in the south of the city is not far from the old warehouse.

The southern part of the city had a lot of goods transport, so naturally there were many carts and horse-drawn carriages. There were those who hauled timber, those who hauled charcoal, those who hauled grain, and those who hauled corpses—each had their own trade.

The wooden sign didn't indicate which company it belonged to.

But there are quite a few people in Nancheng who know the name "Liu Laoqi".

Ah Liu went to the alley entrance and bought two hot steamed buns.

It's really hot this time.

As he ate, he asked the old lady selling the pancakes for directions.

He ran back shortly afterward.

"Young master, I found out. Liu Laoqi works at Shunfeng Carriage Company, specializing in driving at night. The old lady said he's honest and tight-lipped, but he likes to gamble a little."

Where is the ride-sharing service?

"Turn left ahead, the place with two broken car wheels hanging at the door is it."

Yan Xiaoyi rubbed his eyes.

"Can you hurry up? I'm so sleepy I could see my ancestors."

Ah Liu asked curiously, "What did Brother Yan's ancestors look like?"

"have no idea."

"Then how did you see it?"

"I made it up in my dream."

I didn't want to listen to them talk about their ancestors, so I lifted my foot and walked forward.

The ridesharing company is indeed easy to recognize.

Two old car wheels hung by the gate, one crooked and the other cracked. The gate was half-open, and from inside came the sound of horses snorting and people cursing in hushed tones.

This kind of place is bustling during the day and not quiet at night either.

People traveling by carriage often leave in the middle of the night and return in the middle of the night, so the lights in the carriage and horse shop are not all turned off.

As soon as I arrived at the door, a waiter came out to greet me.

"Gentlemen, hiring a car?"

I didn't say anything.

Ah Liu took a step forward and straightened his back, just like I did.

"The Censorate is investigating the case."

The waiter's face changed instantly.

He turned around and tried to run inside.

Yan Xiaoyi reached out and hooked him back like a chicken.

"Why are you running?"

The waiter, with a mournful face, said, "I didn't run away; I went in to call the manager."

I said gently, "Then call it that."

The waiter glanced at Yan Xiaoyi's hand gripping the back of his collar.

"Is that what you call it?"

Yan Xiaoyi let go.

The guy scrambled into the yard.

A short while later, a plump shopkeeper came out wearing an overcoat, his hair was still messy, and he forced a smile on his face.

"Gentlemen, what brings you here in the middle of the night?"

I said, "Fire and Wind."

The fat shopkeeper's smile froze.

"Is Liu Laoqi here?"

The moment those three words were uttered, the courtyard fell silent.

The horses in the stable were still chewing grass.

But no one spoke.

The fat shopkeeper's eyes flickered.

"Liu Laoqi? He... went out on a trip."

"Where to?"

"How would that scoundrel know? He drives the night carriage; he leaves whenever there's a passenger."

"Does the carriage company not keep records of carriages used for transportation?"

"I will remember, but tonight was just so hectic..."

I looked at him.

The fat shopkeeper's voice grew softer and softer.

Ah Liu, munching on a steamed bun beside him, whispered, "Young master, what he said is even more unreliable than the Ministry of Works' accounts."

The fat shopkeeper's face jiggled.

I walked into the courtyard.

There were six or seven carriages parked in the courtyard, two of which had wet wheels, as if they had just been washed.

I crouched down and touched the wheel.

The water is new.

The mud wasn't washed off.

There was still some black mud stuck in the seams of the wheel spokes.

The mud along the old canal in the south of the city is this color.

I stood up and looked at the fat shopkeeper.

"Did this car just come back from the old canal?"

The portly shopkeeper hurriedly replied, "The south city is all muddy; how can you see clearly?"

"The axle oil is new."

"The carriage shop needs to be oiled all year round."

"The horse's belly smelled of kerosene."

The fat shopkeeper fell silent.

I walked to the stable.

One of the gray horses had its head down, grazing, its hind legs still trembling slightly, as if it had just run a long road. The edges of its hooves were covered in black mud, and there were still some burnt grass clippings stuck in the crevices of its horseshoes.

I reached out to touch it.

The gray horse suddenly snorted.

Ah Liu was so startled that he jumped back, almost dropping the steamed bun in his hand.

"Young master, be careful, might it bite?"

Yan Xiaoyi said lazily, "Horses don't bite smart people."

Ah Liu breathed a sigh of relief.

The gray horse lowered its head and snatched the half-eaten pancake from his hand.

Ah Liu was stunned.

Yan Xiaoyi added, "It might think you don't count."

I suppressed a laugh and continued watching the horse's hooves.

That's right.

This horse has been to the old granary.

And he just got back not long ago.

I asked the portly innkeeper, "Who hired those three cars tonight?"

The fat shopkeeper immediately shook his head.

There were no three cars.

I looked at him.

Are you sure?

"Sure."

I nodded and said to the Censorate officers who had followed me, "Seal the gate and check the accounts."

The fat shopkeeper's expression changed.

"Sir! This is a small business; it can't afford to suffer losses!"

"Even the dead can't withstand much stress," I said. "Old Liu is probably already dead."

Upon hearing this, the fat shopkeeper's face drained of color.

The faces of the cart drivers in the courtyard also changed.

Someone instinctively looked towards the corner.

I followed his gaze.

A row of wooden signs hung in the corner.

Each wooden plaque is engraved with the driver's name and the vehicle's number below it. When a vehicle departs, the driver takes a plaque; when returning, the plaque is hung up.

I walked over.

There was an empty space among the row of wooden signs.

The following is engraved below the empty space:

Liu Qi, Ding Che.

Liu Qi.

Liu Laoqi.

I took out the charred wooden plaque that a beggar had given me by the fire and placed it next to the empty space.

They are the same size.

The hole positions are the same.

Even the areas of wear on the back are the same.

Ah Liu whispered, "Young master, is this his license plate?"

I nodded.

"Someone took his cards from here and then brought them back to me."

The chubby shopkeeper wiped his sweat.

"Perhaps Liu Laoqi lost it himself."

"Throw it outside the old warehouse fire site in the south of the city?"

"this……"

I ignored him and turned to walk to the counter.

Account books were placed on the counter.

The fat shopkeeper tried to stop him, but Yan Xiaoyi glanced at him and he immediately withdrew his hand.

I opened the account book.

Tonight's driving log is indeed very clean.

She was as clean as a newlywed bride who had just put on her red veil.

The entry for Liu Laoqi reads:

At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), charcoal was delivered to the East Market.

I asked, "Did Liu Laoqi go to the East Market tonight?"

The fat shopkeeper nodded reluctantly.

"Yes, to deliver charcoal."

"Where's the charcoal?"

"It's been sent."

Which one in Dongshi?

"Well... the guests were in a hurry at night, so I didn't write it down in detail."

I looked down at the account books.

The ink on the two characters “戌时” is darker than the surrounding characters.

The two characters “东市” have slightly heavier strokes.

More importantly, the back of the paper is slightly bulging, as if it had been scraped and then rewritten.

I gently scratched it with my fingernail.

The paper surface is fuzzy.

Ah Liu came over.

"Change it?"

I said, "Mm."

The fat shopkeeper's face turned completely pale.

I turned to the previous page and found that the other two cars also had problems.

A letter was sent to deliver timber.

One wrote to send old iron.

The time is all after 7 PM.

The license plate numbers are connected.

Ding chariot, Wu chariot, Ji chariot.

Three cars.

Xu Sandao didn't lie to me.

"Who told you to change the accounts tonight?" I asked.

The fat shopkeeper knelt down with a thud.

"My lord, I truly had no idea it involved murder!"

I didn't say anything.

Since he mentioned "murder," it means he knew that Liu Laoqi would not be coming back.

The portly shopkeeper kowtowed as he said, "I'm just running a business. Someone gave me money to hire three carts to move a batch of scrap materials from the old warehouse. I figured the old warehouse is often used, so I didn't dare ask any questions."

"Who gave you the money?"

"A man wearing official boots."

Again, official boots.

I asked, "What does it look like?"

"It was dark at night, and he was wearing a hat, so the little man couldn't see his face clearly."

"sound?"

"Looks like someone who's been to school, and isn't old."

A scholar in a gray robe?

No.

wrong.

The gray-robed man in the clock tower, who wants to hand over the accounts to me, might not necessarily hire a car in the middle of the night to clear out the accounts and silence me.

In the capital, there are as many educated people as grasshoppers in autumn who know how to get things done.

Don't rush to combine them into one person.

"Where's the money?"

The chubby shopkeeper hesitated for a moment.

Yan Xiaoyi took a step forward.

The fat shopkeeper immediately pulled a small cloth bag from under the counter.

I opened it.

Inside were several ingots of broken silver.

Silver is not rare.

What's unusual is that one of the silver ingots has a stamp on the bottom.

Ministry of Works Treasury Silver.

I picked up the silver ingot and handed it to the fat shopkeeper.

"You're saying you don't know?"

The fat shopkeeper was sweating profusely.

"Sir, I truly didn't know this money couldn't be accepted! The Ministry of Works often hires carriages from here, who knew..."

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

I laughed.

"Does the Ministry of Public Works often hire cars from here?"

The fat shopkeeper wished he could bite his own tongue off.

Ah Liu whispered from the side, "Shopkeeper, your mouth isn't really suited for lying."

The fat shopkeeper knelt even lower.

I asked, "Has Liu Laoqi returned?"

The fat shopkeeper did not answer immediately this time.

His eyes darted around, as if searching for a phrase that would save him from certain death.

I have limited patience.

"There's a body in the fire. It has old cloth shoes, rope marks on its hands and feet, and its right hand is clutching a tattered tent. If it's Liu Laoqi, and you keep it from him now, you'll be an accomplice in silencing him. If it's not Liu Laoqi, and you tell him now, you might still save his life."

The fat shopkeeper shuddered.

"They haven't come back," he said in a low voice. "Of the three cars, only two have returned."

Which vehicle didn't return?

"Dingche"

Liu Laoqi's car.

My heart sank.

"Where are the people who came back?"

"Old Ma of the Wu Chariot and Crippled Sun of the Ji Chariot have returned."

"Where is he?"

The fat shopkeeper dared not speak.

I looked toward the stable.

There is a small hut at the innermost part of the stable, with the door bolted from the outside.

Yan Xiaoyi walked over and kicked the door open.

Two screams came from inside.

The two rickshaw pullers were tied up inside, their mouths stuffed with cloth, their faces bruised, looking as if they had just run back from the gates of the underworld.

Ah Liu quickly went over to help them untie themselves.

One of the lame men, who had just regained his speech, cried out, "Sir, spare us! We didn't kill Seventh Brother! It was them! They're the ones who kept Seventh Brother alive!"

I crouched down to look at him.

"Who?"

Sun the Cripple stammered, "There were men wearing official boots and two men in gray. They made us move boxes. Old Seven glanced at the papers inside the boxes, and they grabbed him."

"What's in the box?"

"A tent...it looks like a tent, and there are a few iron parts too. I didn't see it clearly, I really didn't see it clearly."

"Where did you move to?"

Sun the Cripple shook his head.

"We only moved the old warehouse out and loaded it onto the third cart. The Ding cart didn't come back to the guild with us; it went towards the inner city."

I frowned.

"Isn't Ding's cart Liu Laoqi's cart?"

"Yes. But the person driving the carriage is no longer Lao Qi."

"Who is it?"

"The man in gray."

Inner city direction.

My heart skipped a beat.

After the contents of the old warehouse in the south of the city were cleared out, they were divided into two groups.

The two empty cars returned to their original positions, pretending nothing had happened.

The third vehicle, carrying something truly deadly, went to the inner city.

What's inside the inner city?

Ministry of Works.

Qian Rongfu.

Entrance to the inner library.

There are also a bunch of people I can't afford to mess with right now.

Suddenly remembering something, Sun the Cripple hurriedly said, "Before Lao Qi was subdued, he secretly threw the license plate to the little beggar at the alley entrance. He said that if the old warehouse caught fire, he should give the plate to the official who shouted the loudest for fire."

I was taken aback.

Ah Liu looked at me with a complicated expression.

"Young master, it turns out that shouting loudly still has an effect."

I'm not in the mood to laugh.

Liu Laoqi knew he might not survive.

He doesn't know me.

But he heard someone shouting for help to put out a fire.

The fact that he was still able to hand out the cards at that time shows that he wanted others to know that he had been there and that he hadn't died for no reason.

I suddenly remembered the charred hand in the fire.

He clutched the scraps of paper bearing the "money approval" document tightly.

Fang Yuanshi is like that.

Liu Laoqi was the same.

These insignificant people, powerless and without influence, died like grass.

But before they died, they all wanted to stuff a blade of grass into the fire, hoping the fire would burn those who were meant to be burned.

I stood up and looked at the fat shopkeeper.

"The Censorate will take away tonight's account books, silver, and two coachmen."

The fat shopkeeper collapsed to the ground, too afraid to resist.

I looked at the two coachmen again.

Which road did the cart take?

Old Ma said, trembling, "West of the inner city, across Anren Bridge."

"and then?"

"Then we were sent back."

Sun the Cripple added, "But I noticed that the cart tracks veered northwards."

What's to the north?

The portly shopkeeper whispered, "That's...that's the back alley of Minister Qian's residence."

The room fell silent.

Ah Liu swallowed hard.

"Minister Qian?"

He didn't say the whole thing.

But everyone knows who he's talking about.

Qian Rong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works.

I looked down at the silver ingot bearing the Ministry of Works' stamp, and then I remembered the "money approval" on the tattered paper.

Money approved.

The back alley of Minister Qian's residence.

The fish finally revealed half of its scales.

Yan Xiaoyi leaned against the door, unusually not yawning.

"Lord Shen, shall we continue the investigation?"

I glanced at him.

He asked the question lightly, but the meaning behind it was profound.

Once you trace back this far, you're no longer dealing with insignificant figures like Manager Zhou, Manager Tao, or the manager of the carriage and horse shop.

Further ahead was Qian Rong, the Vice Minister of Works.

A high-ranking official of the third rank in the imperial court.

The emperor ordered me to investigate the Yongning case, but he may not necessarily want me to kick down Qian Rong's door right now.

My father wouldn't like it if I were to investigate the palace routes and instead badmouth high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Works on behalf of the emperor.

The princess wanted to investigate the Imperial Treasury and the late empress's old case, but the princess's residence could no longer act openly at this time.

It seems like I can only rely on myself.

And the temporary guard next to him who always seems to want to sleep.

I closed the ledger.

"We will not investigate the Qian family."

Ah Liu breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Xiaoyi raised an eyebrow.

I continued, "Check the carriage first."

Ah Liu's anger flared up again.

"Didn't Ding Che go to the back alley of Qianfu Mansion?"

"So we need to find a car first."

People can lie.

Officials can deny it.

The car won't.

Once we find the cart, we can find out where it finally stopped, what was on it, and who wiped away the tracks.

Just as I finished speaking, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from outside the carriage yard.

A constable from the Censorate strode in, his face grim.

"Lord Shen, Lord Zhao sent me to report."

"explain."

"The body found at the old warehouse fire site... has been recognized."

My heart sank.

"Is it Liu Laoqi?"

The constable shook his head.

"no."

Everyone in the room was stunned.

Not Liu Laoqi?

Where is Liu Laoqi?

The constable took a breath and whispered:

"The body belonged to the guard of the old warehouse of the Ministry of Works."

"Liu Laoqi has disappeared."

"Furthermore, another piece of vehicle panel was found in the fire scene, with words written in blood on it."

I asked, "What character?"

The constable glanced at me.

"The Qian family mansion."

The night breeze blew in through the courtyard gate.

A page of the ledger on the table was blown open.

Looking at those two words, I suddenly felt that tonight's fire hadn't burned nearly enough.