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

Chapter 59 After the Bell Tolls

The bells finally rang from the clock tower.

It wasn't struck according to the rules.

It was the old monk Huiming who swung the wooden club and struck it solidly.

thump—

The bells rang out.

It made my ears ring.

Feng Baoquan immediately squatted down, covering his head, muttering, "It's over, it's over, now the whole temple knows."

I thought to myself, "That's good to know."

Those who commit murder in the shadows fear the light most.

The worst thing about grabbing a certificate at night is the noise.

As soon as the bell rang, lights began to illuminate various parts of Ci'en Temple.

The monks awoke with a start, and footsteps, shouts, and the sound of wooden doors opening came from all directions.

The man in gray was clearly in a hurry.

Yan Xiaoyi blocked the three downstairs, wielding his short stick with impenetrable skill.

He's usually so lazy he looks like he hasn't slept in three days, but when he actually takes action, he's frighteningly steady.

One person tried to jump over him and rush down the stairs, but he struck him on the back of the knee with his stick, causing him to kneel down.

"What are we going up there for?" Yan Xiaoyi asked. "There's no food up there."

I dragged Feng Baoquan back upstairs.

Huiming stood beside the bell, panting heavily.

After all, he's getting old, and it's not suitable for him to do things like ringing bells to save lives often.

I asked, "Master, can you still strike it?"

Huiming glanced at me.

"Lord Shen, this humble monk is not a hammer."

"Knock one more time, help!"

Huiming sighed and bumped into it again.

thump—

The second bell rang, and there was commotion outside the temple.

The man in gray finally realized he couldn't delay any longer.

One of them pulled a tinderbox from his pocket.

My eyelids twitched.

Here we go again.

If this group of people were to open a shop, it should be called "A Fire".

The man wanted to light the tarpaulin under the stairs.

I raised my hand and smashed the incense ash jar on the table.

The jar shattered, and incense ash covered his face.

He choked and had to back away.

Huiming felt heartbroken seeing this.

"That's the finest sandalwood ash."

I said, "I'll pay you back later."

"Who will pay?"

"The imperial court."

The way Huiming looked at me was as if he were looking at someone who was good at defaulting on debts.

The gray-clad man was blocked by the incense ash, and the tinderbox failed to light.

Taking advantage of the situation, Yan Xiaoyi rushed up and kicked him down the stairs.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining two immediately retreated.

They came quickly, and they left quickly too.

Yan Xiaoyi chased after him to the door and quickly returned.

"Two escaped, and one was caught."

"Alive?"

"Alive, but with poison in its mouth."

I immediately said, "Remove your jaw."

Yan Xiaoyi glanced at me.

"You're getting more and more skilled now."

"They trained me."

Downstairs, the gray-clad man was pinned down by Yan Xiaoyi; his jaw had been dislocated, and the poison sac in his mouth had been removed.

When I came downstairs, his eyes were filled with malice, as if he wanted to tear me apart with his gaze.

I squatted down and asked, "Who sent you?"

He doesn't speak.

His jaw was removed, and he can no longer speak.

I realized I asked that question too early.

Yan Xiaoyi put his chin back in place.

The man groaned in pain but remained silent.

Huiming walked over and put his hands together in prayer.

"Benefactor, monks are compassionate and advise you to suffer less."

The man in gray sneered.

"Bald monk, you won't live past tonight either."

Huiming's face darkened.

"Lord Shen, please ask."

I looked at the man in gray.

"Did Ji Qing send you?"

He did not answer.

"Still the Qian family?"

Still no answer.

I rephrased the question.

"Were you the ones buying the paper?"

The man in gray's eyes flickered.

enough.

I continued, "What message did that person leave behind?"

The man in gray shut up.

Huiming said in a low voice, "He said that after the accounts were cleared, the temple would also be clean."

A chill ran through me.

This isn't a business transaction.

It is a threat.

If Ci'en Temple were to hand over paper, the temple would be unclean.

Even if Ci'en Temple doesn't hand over the paper, it may not be clean.

The rules of the accounting meeting are very simple.

Anyone who gets into debt will eventually be held accountable.

I looked at the man in gray.

"Aren't you afraid your net will burst?"

The man in gray finally spoke.

"Shen An, do you think you've won just because you got half a piece of paper?"

"At least the fact that you came to steal it proves it's useful."

He stared at me, then suddenly smiled.

"Paper is useful, but people are useless. Can you protect the paper, but can you protect the people?"

I know what he's talking about.

Liu Laoqi.

Qian Fu.

Manager Lu.

Feng Baoquan.

Xiao Xiu.

Bai Lao embroidery.

Every single person is evidence.

Everyone has a weakness.

I stood up.

"take away."

Yan Xiaoyi handed the man over to the temple's martial monks and the Censorate's officers who had followed him.

That's right.

The envoys from the Censorate also arrived.

They were people sent by Zhao Guanlan to follow behind.

The old censor is definitely reliable.

He said that sending fewer people doesn't mean he really has no backup plans.

The head constable, panting, said, "Lord Shen, Lord Zhao has ordered me to provide backup."

I nodded.

"Return to the Censorate."

Huiming suddenly said, "Lord Shen."

I turned around.

The old monk looked at the receipt in my arms.

"This humble monk has something to say."

"Please speak, Master."

"This half-piece of paper was hidden in the temple for three days, and more than one group of people came to ask about it."

A thought struck me.

"Who else?"

"A man in a gray robe."

A gray-robed tent-bearer!

I immediately asked, "When?"

"Last night, he asked me, 'If anyone takes the receipt, remember to remind them.'"

"What?"

Huiming said, "The receipt is only half the story; the other half isn't in the inner treasury, it's with the person."

I frowned.

"On a person?"

Huiming shook his head.

"This humble monk will only relay the message."

Who exactly is the man in the gray robe?

He gave me the key to the old warehouse, pointed to the iron workshop, pointed to Ci'en Temple, and now he's reminding me, through Huiming, that the receipt is only half complete.

This person has been pushing me forward.

But he never shows his full face.

Does he want me to find out the truth, or does he want me to take down some people for him?

I wrote that sentence down.

The other half isn't in the inner treasury, it's in the person.

Who is this person?

Feng Baoquan?

Ji Qing?

Qian Rong?

Or is he another person in the fourteenth carriage of the Guang character who has not been discovered?

Feng Baoquan huddled against the wall, his voice trembling.

"Lord Shen, I... will I survive?"

I looked at him.

Whether you live or die depends on whether you can finish your sentence.

He had a long face.

I already said it.

"Go back to the Censorate and write your confession again."

"What if you finish writing?"

"Go to the main hall."

Feng Baoquan was on the verge of tears.

"I have never been to the Golden Palace in my life."

"I never imagined I would bring mud to court."

Yan Xiaoyi added, "And they even crawled through dog holes."

I look at him.

Huiming looked at me.

Feng Baoquan also looked at me.

I sighed.

"This will not be written into the confession."

When we returned to the Censorate, the sky was already turning gray.

Of the twenty-four hours, less than six remain.

Ah Liu stood guard at the door. As soon as he saw me come back, he looked at me first, and then at the person in my arms.

"Did you get it?"

I nodded.

He breathed a long sigh of relief.

Where are they?

"I got it too."

When Feng Baoquan was helped out of the car, A Liu looked at him, then looked in the direction where Manager Lu and Qian Fu were.

"I feel like our Censorate is turning into an inn."

I said, "We'll only cater to people who are about to die."

Ah Liu immediately shut up.

Zhao Guanlan took the receipt, glanced at it, and then had someone bring him the old pages of the Ministry of Works' official register.

Two sheets of paper were placed side by side on the table.

The red label reads:

Transfer to Yongfeng Third Container House, temporarily stored in the inner warehouse.

The torn page of the receipt reads:

...Yongning replenishment, received...

Half a seal is pressed next to the broken character.

Feng Baoquan knelt down and signed the document.

The confession was written very clearly.

No materials have been received in the inner warehouse.

No cashier received.

Ji Qing, holding an old document from the Imperial Secretariat, forced him to stamp the receipt.

He deliberately covered it off-center, tore off half a page, and hid it in the bell tower of Ci'en Temple.

After reading it, Zhao Guanlan finally said:

"It's a closed loop."

Yes.

It's a closed loop.

The Ministry of Works' treasury funds were approved by Qian Rongzhu.

Yongfeng Three-Counter Silver Cleaning.

Qian Fu recorded Qian Pi.

Lu's Pharmacy used silver notes to supply poison.

Internal warehouse receipt proves that the item is not registered.

Feng Baoquan proved that Ji Qing forced the cover.

This chain of events finally managed to drag Qian Rong from being "negligent" to being the "mastermind".

At least in the Yongning case, that was enough.

Before I could even catch my breath, Lu Huaizhou strode in from outside.

"Lord Shen, Qian Cheng has shown up."

I looked up.

"Where?"

"The Qian family sent a confession, saying that Qian Cheng was forced to confess by the Censorate and escaped back to the Qian family tonight. In his confession, Qian Cheng claimed that Lord Shen forged notes and forcibly withheld silver notes, intending to frame Vice Minister Qian."

Ah Liu was so angry that his face turned red.

"How dare he say that!"

I'm not surprised at all.

The Qian family indeed washed away the offerings.

Zhao Guanlan asked, "What should we do?"

I looked at the red slips, receipts, money for the deputy clerk, and Lu the pharmacist's confession on the table.

"Let him speak."

"let?"

"right."

I picked up the broken jade coin.

There was blood on it.

"The more Qian Chengyue said he was forced, the more he had to explain why he took the back gate token of the Qian family and the banknotes involved in the case to Yongfeng, and why he wrote the confession immediately after escaping back to the Qian family."

I looked at Lu Huaizhou.

"Lord Lu, can you write a memorial?"

Lu Huaizhou's eyes lit up.

"meeting."

"It is written that Qian Fu concealed witnesses involved in the case and forced them to recant their testimonies."

"it is good."

Zhao Guanlan said, "The twenty-four hours are almost up."

I nodded.

So I'm not waiting anymore.

I sealed the evidence piece by piece.

Qian Fu's confession.

Lu's confession.

Feng Baoquan's confession.