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

When Xu Sandao said, "Tonight, let's go to the palace," his tone was very calm.

Ping didn't go to the palace as he said, but rather to the tavern next door to buy a bowl of hot soup.

I looked at the thin knife in his hand, and then at the rusted iron fence at the entrance of the old ditch.

The northwest corner of the palace was very dark.

The old laundry room's ruined walls were covered with withered vines, and the dark top of the wall pressed down like a dead man's shroud in the night.

In the distance, there are patrol lights from the Imperial Guards.

There was a man named Xu Sandao nearby.

I was caught in the middle, and suddenly I felt that I was probably destined to be incompatible with doors for the rest of my life.

City gate, palace gate, old gate, dog hole, window, ditch.

Good people use the front door.

I'm almost too old to even walk through a door anymore.

I whispered, "No."

Xu Sandao looked at me.

"What did you say, young master?"

"I will not enter the palace tonight."

The thin knife in his hand paused for a moment.

The two hidden agents from the southwest also looked over.

Yan Xiaoyi stood behind me without saying a word.

I could feel his hand already on the short stick.

Xu Sandao smiled.

That smile held no warmth whatsoever.

"Young Master, what is the purpose of your summons to the capital?"

"Killing the emperor."

"Now the door is right in front of you."

"This is the wastewater ditch of the old laundry department, not the gate of the emperor's bedroom."

"Once you're in the palace, you'll always find your way."

I looked at him.

"and then?"

Xu Sandao frowned.

I continued, "You went in, used gunpowder to break the lock, attracted the imperial guards, killed a few palace servants, broke through a few old corridors, and then were blocked by Gu Xingzhi. You died, the secret agents in the southwest were exposed, and Shen Lie entered the capital ahead of schedule. The Qingzhanghui said in court that the rebels in the southwest had sneaked into the palace at night with the intention of assassinating the emperor. The Yongning case, the old accounts of the military pay in the southwest, and the old case of the late empress were all covered up by the phrase 'rebels assassinating the emperor.'"

Xu Sandao's face darkened.

"Young Master is now very good at thinking about the Emperor's needs."

A pang shot through my heart.

That's not a nice thing to say.

But I knew he would think that way.

Xu Sandao is not Ah Liu; you can't coax him with hot pancakes.

He is Shen Lie's blade.

The knife is most afraid of its owner's children starting to reason with it.

I said, "I'm not thinking for the emperor, I'm thinking for my father."

Xu Sandao sneered: "If the master were here, this door would already be open."

"That's why my dad can't be here."

Upon hearing this, Xu Sandao's eyes suddenly turned cold.

The two hidden agents beside him also changed their expressions.

Yan Xiaoyi took half a step forward.

I raised my hand to stop him.

can not fight.

Not at least not now.

I looked at Xu Sandao and said, word by word, "My father is innocent. But if he leads his troops into the capital before the old scores are cleared, his injustice will be covered up by new blood. At that time, the Great Liang will only remember the rebels in the southwest who broke into the palace at night, and no one will ask who embezzled the military pay back then."

Xu Sandao tightened his grip on the knife.

"What has the young master discovered these past few days?"

"It was discovered that the military pay in the Southwest was insufficient that year."

His eyes widened in surprise.

"real?"

"real."

"Where's the bill?"

"The missing page is sealed in the palace, and two pages have rubbings in the Censorate. The last page has not yet been found."

Xu Sandao stared at me, as if he wanted to dig out the truth from my face.

I continued, "We also found out that the late Empress investigated this matter back then. Aunt Lan might not be dead. Eleven years ago, Ji Qing used an old document token with the character 'Wei' to open the night gate of the old laundry bureau and sent out a body garment."

"A shroud?"

"right."

"Whose?"

"Nominally, it belongs to Aunt Lan."

Xu Sandao fell silent.

Although he didn't understand court politics, he did understand the clothes of the dead.

People in the martial arts world understand.

A person who appears to be dead is often more dangerous than a living person.

He looked at the old ditch.

"So this road is real?"

"It might be true."

"Then why not go in?"

"Because someone deliberately let you know it's true."

That's the most troublesome part.

Artificial baits are not scary.

Real bait is what's truly dangerous.

The account settlement was handed over to the secret agents in the southwest, and it wasn't a completely fake road.

Instead, it's a path that does indeed lead to an old case.

As soon as Xu Sandao makes a move, he will link the old case with the assassination attempt.

By then, who will be able to distinguish between auditing accounts and treason?

Xu Sandao asked in a deep voice, "What does the young master intend to do?"

"Only the well where old clothes were kept will be inspected; the inner palace will not be entered."

"Go into the ditch, not the palace?"

"right."

"What if the underground passage is passable?"

"I'm not leaving."

He smiled.

"Does the young master think I'll listen?"

I laughed too.

"Of course you won't."

His laughter stopped.

I said, "So I'm not asking you to listen, I'm telling you. If you go to the inner court after passing the Old Clothes Well tonight, I will call the Imperial Guards."

Two hidden southwest lines are rising simultaneously.

Xu Sandao's blade also turned slightly.

Yan Xiaoyi drew his short stick half an inch from its sheath.

The night breeze seemed to stop abruptly.

Xu Sandao looked at me, his voice as low as if he were sharpening a knife.

"Young Master, are you going to sell me?"

I said, "I'm going to stop you."

"What's the difference?"

"Selling you out means letting someone else kill you. Stopping you means preventing you from going to your death."

"But you can call for the inner guard."

"right."

I looked at him.

"Because if you rush in, you won't be the only one to die."

Anger finally appeared in Xu Sandao's eyes.

"Whose side are you on?"

This problem was bound to come sooner or later.

I just never expected that it would be asked outside the palace walls, in front of the old ditch, and under Xu Sandao's blade.

I paused for a moment.

"I am Shen Lie's son."

Xu Sandao's gaze softened slightly.

I continued, "That's why I can't stand by and watch him be used as a tool."

He was startled.

I said, "I come from the Southwest, so I can't watch the old grievances of the Southwest be burned away by a stupid assassination. I am here to kill the emperor, so I know better than you that the assassination of the emperor cannot be done by relying on an old ditch handed to you by someone else."

Xu Sandao remained silent.

I showed him the copy of Shen Lie's reply that I had hidden in my sleeve.

"I have already written to my father. Within three days, I will give him a full account of the situation. If he goes to the capital now, he will be turning old debts into new crimes."

Xu Sandao took it, glanced at it, and his expression darkened further.

"How dare you speak to the master like that?"

"I didn't dare when I was a child."

"You dare now?"

"You're about to die, so be brave."

Yan Xiaoyi laughed rudely from behind.

Xu Sandao did not laugh.

But he finally lowered the knife by an inch.

"Only investigate the old clothing well?"

"Only investigate the old clothes well."

"Not entering the inner palace?"

"Not allowed."

"What if there are clues down in the well?"

"take away."

"What if we encounter the Imperial Guards?"

"hide."

Xu Sandao said coldly, "Young Master is very familiar with this now."

I sighed.

"There's nothing we can do; a lot of people are hiding lately."

Xu Sandao stared at the mouth of the old ditch.

The iron fence had been pried open halfway.

With a little more effort, it will go in.

A low voice from the southwest behind him said, "Master Sandao, the patrolman is almost back."

Xu Sandao finally nodded.

"Go in."

I said, "Let's make this clear first."

He looked at me.

"Until the old clothes well."

Xu Sandao sneered.

"Don't worry, young master. If I want to enter the palace, I'll knock you out before you call the imperial guards."

That doesn't sound like a guarantee.

It's more like a threat.

But that was the biggest concession he could offer.

Yan Xiaoyi asked me in a low voice, "Really going in?"

"Go in."

"Didn't you say you wouldn't go to the palace?"

"Entering the ditch doesn't count as entering the palace."

"Save those words for Gu Xingzhi."

I suddenly felt a headache.

If Gu Xingzhi sees the letter I left and doesn't see me return within half an hour, he will definitely bring his guards to arrest me.

In other words, I only have half an hour.

Within half an hour, you have to investigate the old clothes well, stop Xu Sandao, find clues about the old document tablet, and you can't be pinned down in the ditch by the inner guards on the spot.

I'm finding my job as an official to be more and more enjoyable.

It smells like a stinking ditch.

Xu Sandao's men pried open the iron gate.

A damp, rotten smell wafted over.

I almost took a step back.

Yan Xiaoyi glanced at me.

"Master Shen, are you afraid of the smell?"

"I'm afraid of dying."

"This smells like a dead person?"

"Like a lot of dead people."

Xu Sandao was the first to crawl in.

Yan Xiaoyi is the second one.

I'm the third one.

Before going in, I glanced back at the black walls of the palace.

The high walls remain silent.

But I always feel like there are countless eyes watching from behind the wall.

I whispered, "Let's go."

It was very dark in the old ditch.

The sound of water was very soft.

The mud underfoot was as soft as a tattered tent.

As soon as I stepped in, my boot sank in half an inch.

It's a real shame that Ah Liu isn't here.

If he were here, he would definitely say:

Young master, you're not just investigating a case, you're being swallowed by it.