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

Before the original edict of regicide arrived in the capital, Wang Heng prepared a final page for her mother. It wasn't an order. It was an answer. Four answers. Shen An was a fabricated figure created by the Wang family. Shen Lie's edict of regicide remained valid. Xiao Jingheng murdered the late Empress. Zhao Ning should assume the regency.

None of the four sentences were entirely fabricated. That's what's troublesome. I was indeed trained by the Wang family, and I even killed people for them. The original copy of my father's decree to kill the emperor does exist. The emperor failed to fulfill his responsibility to stop the late empress from taking the second and third doses. And Xiao Lingyi was indeed the emperor's only daughter, and the late empress's child.

Wang Heng didn't need to fabricate four lies. She only needed to present four true stories in the most convenient positions, and then let her mother choose one. Because Gu Qinghe was now perfectly suited to be believed. She had been written as dead for eleven years. Her books had been sealed. She had lost her son. She had kept silent for the late Empress.

Many people in Jiangbei recognize her. Someone who has suffered so much can easily have their opinion, "I think," taken as "that's the truth," by others. When her mother saw that page, she only asked, "Can we not answer according to her questions?"

I said, "That's how it should be." She took a blank piece of paper. The first sentence was about me. Shen An was once used by Wang and killed people according to Wang's orders; there are existing birth, growth, long-term behavior records and a lot of old evidence, which are enough to prove that he is not a substitute for Shen An created in recent years. Wang created three other Shen An lines, namely Seventeen, Shiping, and Shenlu, which are not enough to erase the existing Shen An.

After writing it, she added a sentence: "Shen An's mistakes are another matter." I felt a little uncomfortable looking at it. "Mother." "What?" "You don't have to write the last sentence." "Why?" "Didn't it already say—" "Have you ever killed anyone?"

"...Killed him." "Then keep him." Ah Liu lowered his head, suppressing a laugh. I decided to involve him less in family affairs from now on. The second sentence refers to the father. The original document of the order to kill the emperor in the nineteenth year of Chengxi exists; it is a historical fact. Whether it is still valid is not up to Gu Qinghe to decide. Shen Lie issued the order, and Shen Lie should bear the responsibility; whether it is terminated today should be recorded separately by the military command.

She wouldn't defend him. Nor would she tear him apart. She wrote the third sentence the slowest. Wang Heng's answer was only four words: Xiao Jingheng killed the Empress. Her mother paused for a long time. Finally, she wrote: Xiao Jingheng bears established responsibility for the Empress's medication during her illness, the controversy surrounding the imperial communication and the discontinuation of medication; there is currently no evidence to prove that he issued a clear order to kill the Empress. Gu Qinghe neither forgave the Empress nor demanded Xiao Jingheng's execution in the Empress's name.

In the court hall, someone couldn't help but ask, "Madam Gu, don't you hate her?" The mother looked up. "I used to hate her." "And now?" "Not entirely." "Then why don't you take revenge?" The mother retorted, "Just because I've suffered, does that give me the right to decide how others should hate?"

The man fell silent. "The late Empress said to stop," her mother said. "I'll keep track of the stop for her. She didn't say who to kill, so I won't add to it." These words brought tears to Xiao Lingyi's eyes. She quickly lowered her head, not letting anyone see her for long. The fourth sentence: "Regent Zhaoning."

Mother wrote the fastest. Disagree. The old official of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs' face changed. "Why?" "Her mother's death doesn't automatically mean she gained power." "But the princess—" "Her participation in the investigation doesn't mean..." "She is His Majesty's daughter."

"Then we'll discuss it according to the rules of inheritance." "Madam Gu doesn't want her daughter—" The mother glanced at him. "She's not my daughter." The old official was taken aback. The mother pointed to Xiao Lingyi. "She has her own mother." The court fell completely silent. I thought about those words for a long time afterward.

The mother didn't place herself in another mother's position just because she had guarded the late Empress's tent and shielded Xiao Lingyi from a knife. Some relationships aren't something you can gain by doing more. Xiao Lingyi walked up to her mother and bowed. Her mother simply nodded.

Neither of them cried. Wang Heng's four-page answer sheet was placed aside. It wasn't burned. Because if it were burned, future generations would only see the mother's final answer, not the question she had refused. After the court session ended, the emperor met with his mother alone.

The door wasn't closed. I, Xiao Lingyi, and Jiang Bei were all outside as witnesses. The Emperor asked, "You won't forgive me?" My mother replied, "Which matter is Your Majesty referring to?" "The Gu family." "I am not her." "Jiang Bei." "We'll talk after the grain is repaid." "You yourself."

The mother was silent for a moment. "I was written as dead for eleven years. It's not something that can be forgiven with a simple apology." The emperor nodded. "I know," the mother said, looking at him. "Knowing doesn't equal doing anything," the emperor nodded again. "I know," Ah Liu sighed softly outside the door, "Your Majesty is very good at knowing now."

I stepped on his foot. When my mother came out, Xiao Lingyi escorted her to the steps. The two of them did not talk about the late Empress again. My mother asked, "When will the next batch of grain supplies arrive in Yong'an?" Xiao Lingyi replied, "In three days." "Who will escort it?" "One person each from the Jiangbei Guild Hall and the Ministry of Revenue."

"Enough." Not every meeting has to revolve around a dead body. That afternoon, the original Qingxia document arrived in the capital. An iron box. Four locks. My father himself came. He didn't see the emperor first. He saw me first. His first words were: "What did your mother write?"

"I didn't kill anyone for you." My father glanced at me. "I didn't ask that." "Then what did you ask?" He was silent. I suddenly realized that what he really wanted to ask was whether my mother had protected that old decree for him. But he himself felt that this question was awkward.

I pushed the iron box in front of him. "Father." "Hmm." "Open tomorrow." "And then?" "You decide for yourself whether to write those two words or not." He stared at me. "You want me to write them?" "Yes." "Because of the Emperor?" "Because of me."

This time, the father did not ask any more questions.

The day the original edict of regicide was opened, the imperial council hall wasn't full. My father said it wasn't necessary. The emperor actually agreed. I think these two finally reached a tacit understanding on one thing: neither wanted too many people to see the foolish things they'd done in the past. Four keys unlocked simultaneously.

There were only three things in the iron box. The original edict. A rubbing of the tiger seal. Two explanatory pages added later. The original edict was more ordinary than I remembered. The nineteenth year of Chengxi. Shen Lie ordered Shen An to enter the capital. Within three months, he waited for the opportunity to assassinate Xiao Jingheng. There were no words written in blood. There was no mention of "for the sake of all living beings".

The reasons were in the military tent, five in total. The last one contained only two words: personal vendetta. The emperor, upon seeing this, sneered. "You recognize him quite well," the father said. "It is." "Then why send your son?" "If I raise an army, many will die."

"Does his death not count?" This was a question my mother had asked before. It felt strange to hear it coming from the emperor's mouth now. My father glanced at me. "It does." Just one word. He wouldn't have said that before. The first supplementary page after the original decree was written by my father later: No soldier from the Southwest may use their military name to carry out orders on behalf of Shen An.

The second document is my refusal to comply. Shen An refused to carry it out. The refusal will not be transferred to another party. Neither document addresses the most crucial issue: the original order is still alive. As long as it still bears the inscription "Order Shen An," someone else can always create another Shen An.

That's how Shi Ping came to be. The same goes for Seventeen. Even Shen Lu might have been shoved into one of those doors. After reading it, Father didn't write anything for a long time. I didn't urge him. The Emperor spoke first: "Reluctant to part with her?" Father looked up. "If Your Majesty wishes to die, I can write something else."

"You try it." The two of them started again. I moved the tea a little further away, just in case someone smashed the cup. My mother didn't come. She said she hadn't given the order, nor was she the one who wanted to stop it, and she didn't need to stand by and give my father the courage. This made my father even more silent.

Finally, he took a new sheet of paper himself. He didn't cross out the old decree. He didn't burn it. The old decree remained as it was. The new page was titled: Execution Terminated. The first line read: "The decree issued by Shen Lie in the nineteenth year of Chengxi regarding the assassination of Xiao Jingheng is a historical fact preserved, but the responsibility for issuing the order is not absolved due to termination."

The second line reads: "From this day forward, this order has no binding force." The third line reads: "Shen An is not permitted to execute this order, nor is anyone in the Southwest Army permitted to execute it. Anyone who has used the identities of Shen An, Seventeen, Shi Ping, or Shen Lu is also prohibited from executing this order." Shi Ping watched for a while from the side.

"There will be others." The father frowned. "You like picking words?" "That's what I taught before." "Then tell me." Shi Ping pointed to the last line. "Write 'anyone.'" The father glanced at him, and indeed changed it. No one may use this old order as the source of a new kill order.

After writing it down, my father stamped it with the tiger seal. The military clerk signed it. The witness from Jiangbei signed it. I also signed it. The emperor, standing beside me, suddenly asked, "Should I sign it?" My father said, "This isn't your order." "But I'm the one who should be killed." "So you are the victim, not the one who gave the order."

The emperor seemed very uncomfortable with not having a signature on an important document. Finally, Bai Zhi added a column for him: "I have already acknowledged this." The emperor was even more displeased upon seeing this. "Only 'I already acknowledge this'?" "Does Your Majesty intend to agree to be spared execution?"

Ah Liu buried his face in his sleeves. I felt like he was suffocating. After the new page was finished, Father didn't breathe a sigh of relief. He stared at the old order. "Shen An." "Hmm." "What if you had really killed him back then?" We've never seriously discussed this question.

I thought about it for a long time. "I might run." "Run where?" "Run out of the palace first, then we'll think about it." My father frowned: "I'll ask what happens next." "Then probably back to the southwest." "And then?" "You raise an army?" "Possibly." "Then many will still die."

My father fell silent. I suddenly smiled. "So your method of 'fewer deaths' back then might not have been so ineffective." He looked at me. "Hmm." Another word I rarely heard from him before. Admitting he didn't know the outcome was harder than giving the order.

After the order to kill the emperor was terminated, no one applauded. There was no sense of relief at having avenged a great grudge. There was simply one more page in the military tent. From this day forward, this sword could no longer be shoved into anyone's hands under old orders. As for why Father gave the order, what the emperor had granted, how the grain from Jiangbei was transported, and how Mother had been written dead eleven years ago, all of that remained.

Termination isn't erasing. It just means stopping the killing. When Wang Heng heard the news, she laughed in prison. "Shen Lie will stop too?" "Yes," I said. "Then do you still need me?" she asked strangely. As if a person only has something to live for if they are needed.

Her 180-day review is underway. The death sentence was not carried out. Nor was a pardon. Her crimes are being broken down one by one: identity fraud, detention, hiding people, using the body of a dead person to issue orders, and using correction pages to transmit secret codes. Some things that were originally attributed to her, after investigation, were found not to be hers and were crossed out.

Some newly discovered cases were attributed to her, so they were added to the list. Wang Heng disliked this practice. She preferred a grander name: the Wang family mastermind. Or Zhou Qi. As long as the name was prestigious enough, many details wouldn't need to be questioned. "What was the final sentence?" she asked.

"It's not over yet." "Will I die?" "Maybe." "Do you want me to die?" I looked at her. "Sometimes." "And now?" "I hope it's not because I want to." She smiled. "You're becoming more and more like Gu Qinghe." My mother happened to be passing by the door and paused.

"Don't blame me for his troubles." Wang Heng's smile froze for the first time. I was in a good mood. When I was released from prison, A-Liu asked, "Young Master, the order to kill the king has been suspended, is it almost over?" I looked up at the sky. "Almost." "Really?" "At least one less knife."

"Then what's left?" "People." The knife stopped. People always have to start living their own lives.