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

The next day, I went to the Ministry of Works.

Before we left, Ah Liu asked me, "Young Master, are we going to investigate corrupt officials this time?"

I thought for a moment: "Nominally, yes."

"But what's the reality?"

"Actually, I went to see who wanted me to become the fourth censor to die."

Ah Liu silently put down the pancake he had just picked up.

His appetite has noticeably decreased recently.

This is not a bad thing for me.

After all, rice is not cheap in Beijing.

The Ministry of Works was located in the southeast of the Imperial City, and it was far more imposing than the Censorate. The Censorate's gate exuded a menacing aura, as if anyone who entered would be struck by a knife first. The Ministry of Works, on the other hand, had wide gates, high walls, and even the stone drums at the entrance were polished to a shine, giving it a very wealthy appearance.

That's normal.

The Ministry of Works was in charge of all engineering projects in the country.

Repairing rivers, building dikes, constructing bridges, and repairing palaces—all of these require money.

If a government office that is in charge of spending money appears too poor, it will seem dishonest.

I handed over the document from the Censorate. The guard at the door glanced at it, then looked at my official robes, his expression somewhat subtle.

I'm very familiar with that look in my eyes.

It's like a restaurant owner seeing a well-dressed but unfamiliar customer; he wants to welcome him in, but he's also afraid the customer won't pay after eating.

A short while later, a middle-aged man with a round face came out.

He was in his forties, dressed in the uniform of a Ministry of Works official, and had a very amiable smile.

As gentle as a bowl of cooled sweet soup.

"Lord Shen, I've heard so much about you."

I cupped my hands in greeting: "And you are, sir?"

"Your humble servant is Zhou Yan, the Chief Clerk of the Waterway Department of the Ministry of Works."

Chief Clerk Zhou smiled even more warmly: "Lord Shen entered the Censorate yesterday and is here on duty today. He is truly diligent. Those whom His Majesty values ​​are indeed different."

That sounds like flattery.

But as soon as the words "His Majesty values" came out, the way the clerks from the Ministry of Works looked at me changed.

I sighed inwardly.

The emperor's words, "Of all the officials in the court, I only trust you," proved to be very effective.

It's so useful that everyone wants to stay away from me.

Manager Zhou personally led me to a side hall.

The tea was served very quickly.

The snacks were served very quickly.

There are no ledgers.

I picked up the teacup and smelled it.

Good tea.

It's much better than that chipped teacup in the Censorate's duty room.

Ah Liu stood behind me, staring intently at the pastries on the table.

I coughed.

He immediately lowered his head, pretending to be a proper follower.

Zhou, the steward, sat opposite me and said with a smile, "Lord Shen, please have some tea first. The old files from last year regarding the Yongning River are in the warehouse. They were just sorted out recently, so it will take some time to retrieve them."

I asked, "How long will it take?"

"If it's quick, it'll be today; if it's slow, it'll be tomorrow."

It takes a day to retrieve an old ledger from the storeroom.

I took a sip of tea.

It's really good.

"It's alright," I said. "Lord Zhou, please take your time."

Zhou, the steward, smiled even more deeply: "I am deeply grateful for Lord Shen's understanding."

For the next half hour, he talked to me a lot.

Scenes and sights of Beijing.

The old stories of the Censorate.

Which high-ranking officials lived in Chengpingfang?

He even went so far as to ask about my marriage to Princess Zhaoning.

The Yongning River was not mentioned at all.

I'm not in a hurry.

I responded to whatever he talked about.

He said spring comes early in the capital, but I said spring comes even earlier in the southwest.

He said the Ministry of Works had many complicated affairs, and I said that every government office had its own difficulties.

He said Princess Zhaoning was renowned for her virtue, and I said Your Highness was upright and prudent.

When I mentioned the words "dignified and composed," Ah Liu coughed softly behind me.

I suspect he was reminded of how the princess came to interrogate me yesterday.

Zhou, the steward, probably didn't understand and just continued to laugh.

When he laughed, I glanced at the screen behind him.

There is someone behind the screen.

It's very quiet.

But I could see a glimpse of a garment peeking out from under the screen.

He wore a blue official robe; he was not a clerk.

Whenever Chief Zhou got to a crucial point, his eyes would glance slightly towards the screen.

It floats very fast.

But I saw it.

The person in this side hall who truly wants to hear what I have to say is not Steward Zhou.

I took another sip of tea.

It seems the Ministry of Works' tea wasn't wasted.

Half an hour later, the account book still hadn't arrived.

Chief Clerk Zhou said apologetically, "Lord Shen, we're still searching in the storeroom. Perhaps we could stop here for now, and once the account books are complete, I'll personally deliver them to the Censorate?"

I put down my teacup.

"Alright."

Chief Zhou personally saw me out.

When I walked down to the corridor, I saw a duty roster posted on the wall.

The list of personnel from the River Conservancy Department who handled the repair of the Yongning River last year is written above.

I didn't stop walking, I just glanced at it out of the corner of my eye.

On the third line of the list, one name was crossed out with ink.

It was applied very heavily.

But it's not so heavy that it's completely undetectable.

His surname is Fang.

The second character of the name sounds like "far".

I've made a note of it.

As they left the work area, Ah Liu finally couldn't help but whisper, "Young Master, what exactly are we investigating today?"

"Check the tea."

"what?"

"The tea from the Ministry of Works is really delicious."

Ah Liu looked completely bewildered.

I glanced back at the gate of the Ministry of Works.

"It was so good that they would rather drink with me all morning than let me see the account book."

Ah Liu then realized: "They don't want to pay?"

"It's not just that I don't want to."

"What is that?"

"It was all planned from the beginning not to give it to them."

Ah Liu's face slowly wrinkled: "Young Master, I don't understand what you're saying."

"It would be strange if you could understand it."

He retorted, "Then tell me."

I got on the donkey cart and lifted the curtain to look outside.

"First of all, it's not like Steward Zhou only found out I was coming today. He even prepared tea and snacks."

"Perhaps it's because they are hospitable."

"Secondly, the old files were just sorted out recently. The Ministry of Works usually sorts out old files at the end of the year or during handover. Now, it's neither a holiday nor a festival, so why is the Yongning River case being sorted out?"

Ah Liu thought for a moment: "A coincidence?"

I glanced at him.

He immediately shut up.

"Third, there are people behind the screen in the side hall who are obedient and of high rank. Manager Zhou is just a tea server at the front desk."

Ah Liu took a breath: "Then who's behind me?"

"I don't know for now."

"What should we do then?"

"First, check the name that was crossed out."

Back in Chengpingfang, I sent Ah Liu to do some errands.

Ah Liu has one advantage.

Although he's a chatterbox, timid, and eats a lot, he's very good at gathering information.

He could easily sneak into places like teahouses, foot inns, pancake stalls, and carriage shops more easily than I could.

I asked him to check if there was anyone in the Ministry of Works' Waterway Department whose surname was Fang and whose given name contained the character "Yuan".

When Ah Liu heard that it wasn't about killing anyone, he immediately perked up.

"Don't worry, young master, I know how to do it."

"Don't make too much of a fuss."

"clear."

"And don't overeat."

He paused, then said, "That's hard to guarantee."

I looked at him.

He immediately changed his tune: "I guarantee it."

After Ah Liu left, I returned to my study and opened the case file that the emperor had given me.

The repair of the Yongning River channel cost 43,000 taels of silver.

The accounts are written very neatly.

Stone materials, timber, labor costs, transportation costs, and food rations for river workers—everything is accounted for.

beautiful.

She was as beautiful as the girl described by the matchmaker.

Everything about it is so good that it makes people hesitant to believe it.

When my dad taught me how to read accounts, the first thing he didn't say was to look at the numbers.

He said, "A messy account doesn't necessarily mean there's something fishy going on; but an overly clean account definitely means there's something fishy going on."

I was only twelve years old then, and I asked him, "Why?"

My father said, "Because real accounts are made by people. People can make mistakes, omit things, overcharge or undercharge. Only fake accounts are as clean as a dead person's face."

The case file in front of me now looks just like a dead person's face.

As I was looking, I heard footsteps outside the door.

Ah Liu is back.

He ran rather fast, and was panting as he leaned against the doorframe as he entered.

"Young Master, we've found it."

I looked up and said, "Speak."

"In the Ministry of Works' Water Conservancy Department, there is indeed a man surnamed Fang named Fang Yuanshi."

Fang Yuanshi.

I repeated the name in my mind.

Where are they?

Ah Liu swallowed hard.

I took sick leave before the Lunar New Year and haven't been back since.

"Where are you staying?"

"It's all gone."

"When did you move?"

"The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, around the eve of the Lunar New Year."

I put down the case file.

The twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month.

A clerk in the Ministry of Works suddenly fell ill before the New Year, his family moved out, and his name was crossed out from the duty roster of the Waterway Bureau.

If this matter is without fault, I can believe right now that the emperor truly only trusts me.

"What else did you find out?"

Ah Liu's expression turned a little pale: "His neighbor said that Fang Yuanshi left in a very hurry."

How urgent?

"We bought all the New Year's goods, but the pork was still hanging under the eaves. The next day, the person was gone, but the pork was still there. Later, it went bad, and the neighbors complained about the smell, so they asked someone to throw it away."

The room fell silent.

A person who is about to celebrate the New Year would not hang the pork they bought under the eaves and then disappear with their whole family overnight.

Unless he wasn't moving.

It was about escaping for one's life.

Ah Liu asked in a low voice, "Young Master, does Fang Yuanshi know something?"

"He was a member of the River Conservancy Bureau, and he was crossed off the list, so of course he knew something."

"Where is he now?"

I looked at the case files on the table.

"have no idea."

"So how do we investigate?"

I closed the case file.

"First, check if he's still alive."

Ah Liu's face turned pale.

He probably finally realized that this wasn't a matter of a simple account.

This is a question where the person may already be dead.

I stood up and walked to the window.

It was already dark in Chengpingfang, and someone had lit lamps in the alley. Two gatekeepers stood guard at the entrances, their shadows stretched long by the lamplight.

I was thinking yesterday that the emperor had given me a cage.

Only today did I realize that I wasn't the only one in this cage.

There's also an account that's been handled too meticulously.

A name that has been crossed out.

A clerk who fled on New Year's Eve.

And three censors who had already died.

Gu Xingzhi said the case wasn't big.

In retrospect, he was right.

The case is indeed not very big.

It just happened to be big enough for another one of me to die.