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

Chapter 9 The First Time Someone Tried to Kill Me

I read the "Yongning Prefecture Gazetteer" that the princess sent me three times.

Not because it's well-written.

It was because the ink line was drawn too accurately.

The land route from Hengshan to Yongning River is eighty li, with no waterway.

This sentence seems ordinary, but when placed next to the Ministry of Works' account books, it becomes extraordinary.

The account book stated that the stones were made of Hengshan bluestone, but the transportation cost was so low that it wasn't even enough to cover the cost of livestock feed. The riverbank was paved not with bluestone, but with rough stones randomly quarried from the northern hillside.

The account books, the river embankment, and the local gazetteer—when paired together, the Ministry of Works' fraudulent accounts were exposed.

Ah Liu, standing beside me watching me flip through the book, couldn't help but ask, "Young Master, is the princess helping us?"

She said she just randomly found it.

"This is way too casual."

"So she didn't just do it casually."

Ah Liu stroked his chin and said seriously, "Then why did she help you? Could it be that she has a crush on you?"

I looked up at him.

Ah Liu immediately changed his tune: "I was just making it up."

"Think about your life before you spout nonsense next time."

"clear."

I closed the "Yongning Prefecture Gazetteer".

I still can't figure out why the princess handed me this book.

She didn't believe me, yet she gave me clues.

This doesn't seem like helping.

It was more like a test.

Let's see if I can continue investigating along this line.

It also depends on how far I investigate, and whether I reveal anything I shouldn't.

Just then, Manager Chen arrived.

He didn't go through the main entrance.

At times like these, the more he avoids the main entrance, the more I feel there won't be good news.

Manager Chen entered the study, glanced at the account books and local chronicles on the table, and then lowered his voice: "Young Master Shen, there is news about Fang Yuanshi."

I looked up: "Where is he?"

Manager Chen remained silent for a moment.

Anling County.

My heart sank.

"Alive?"

Manager Chen did not answer immediately.

That's the answer.

He took a piece of paper from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

"On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, a male corpse was pulled from a ditch outside Anling County. Officially, it was recorded that he was from out of town, had accidentally fallen into the water, and was unclaimed, so it was temporarily stored in a mortuary."

Ah Liu took a quiet breath beside him.

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, around the time of the eve of the Lunar New Year, Fang Yuanshi and his family disappeared.

On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, the man died in Anling County.

Two days.

The distance from the capital to Anling is not short.

Traveling in the dead of winter, without luggage or New Year's goods, they died in a ditch.

This is not moving.

This is a case of trying to escape but failing.

I asked, "Are you sure it's him?"

Manager Chen said, "It's probably him. The age, build, and the mole on his chin all match. It's just that the body has been lying around for several months, so the face is hard to recognize. Our people didn't dare to disturb the mortuary and only took a look from afar."

"What about your family?"

"We haven't found anything yet."

I tapped my fingers lightly on the table.

Fang Yuanshi is dead.

But his family members disappeared.

This suggests that he may have handed over something before he died.

Original pages of the account book?

transcript?

Or is there evidence that can identify the person behind it all?

Looking at the old accounts from the Ministry of Works on the table, I suddenly understood why the people from the Ministry of Works were in such a hurry to clean up the traces.

Because Fang Yuanshi didn't simply know that there was a problem with the accounts.

He probably knows where the real money went.

Ah Liu asked in a low voice, "Young Master, shall we continue the investigation?"

I glanced at him.

That's a very good question.

A case involving an altered page in an account book can be investigated.

A case involving shoddy workmanship by the Ministry of Works can also be investigated.

But once a dead person is found, the nature of the case changes.

Dead people can't talk.

Those who cause death will continue to kill.

I paused for a moment, then said, "Investigate."

Ah Liu's face fell.

I continued, "But we can't just check the accounts."

"Where to?"

Anling Mortuary

Ah Liu's face turned pale instantly: "Young Master, are you going to see a dead person?"

"Fang Yuanshi is the first survivor in this case."

"But he's already dead."

"That's why we need to watch it even more."

Ah Liu probably didn't understand what he meant.

But he understood the words "mortuary" and that made him feel really bad.

Shopkeeper Chen whispered a reminder: "Young Master Shen, Anling may not be safe."

Is Beijing safe?

Manager Chen fell silent.

I put the paper away: "Leave the city first thing tomorrow morning."

Manager Chen glanced at me: "What about the master..."

I knew what he was going to say.

My father wasn't concerned about the Ministry of Works, Fang Yuanshi, or the dead.

He only cares about when I make my move.

I said, "Tell my father that I am getting close to the emperor."

Manager Chen frowned: "Investigating the Ministry of Works, is that considered getting close to the Emperor?"

"The emperor ordered me to investigate the Ministry of Works. If I complete the task well, he will naturally see me again."

That sounds reasonable.

It's at least more reasonable than "I'm busy solving cases for the emperor right now, I don't have time to kill him."

After Manager Chen left, it was almost dark.

I originally planned to go to Anling the next day.

Not long after, news came from Luo Wanqian's side that someone from Anling Mortuary had recently inquired about the unidentified corpse, and the accent sounded like that of someone from the Ministry of Justice.

Ministry of Justice.

Those two words made me change my mind.

If we wait another night, the body might not still be there.

I immediately stood up: "Ah Liu, prepare the car."

Ah Liu was taken aback: "Now?"

"Now."

"Isn't it tomorrow morning?"

"The dead wait for no one."

Ah Liu said with a mournful face, "The dead don't wait for anyone, he's not going anywhere."

"The living will help him pass away."

Ah Liu shut up.

We didn't disturb the gatekeeper; we just went out through the back door.

But not long after leaving Chengpingfang, I felt something was wrong.

The alley was too quiet.

Evening in the capital shouldn't be this quiet.

Especially in places like Chengpingfang, although not as bustling as a market, there should still be sounds of carriages and horses, servants, and shouts from restaurants in the distance before closing time.

At this moment, only the soft sound of wheels rolling over stone slabs could be heard.

I raised my hand and pressed down on Ah Liu's shoulder.

Ah Liu immediately froze.

"Young Master?"

"Slower."

He slowed down the donkey cart.

Just then, a series of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from the other end of the alley.

It's not a horse.

It's a mule.

I looked up and saw a cargo cart rushing in from the alley entrance.

The truck was piled high with stones.

The mule seemed startled; blindfolded, it charged towards us like a madman.

The alley is very narrow.

There are walls on both sides.

Ah Liu was so frightened that he dropped the reins.

"Young Master!"

The moment I saw that car, my body acted before my mind.

Mistake.

The life-saving method that Xu Sandao taught me.

He said that if someone like me were to encounter a true master, I wouldn't even be able to fight back; I'd be lucky to dodge the first blow.

I didn't like practicing martial arts when I was a child, but I did learn this footwork very seriously.

Because it doesn't need to win.

Only use the immortal.

I grabbed Ah Liu and shoved him toward the wall.

My shoulder slammed into the wall, and the pain made my vision go black.

The cart brushed past us, and the stones on it tumbled off with a crash, hitting the bluestone ground and sending fragments flying.

A stone grazed my right arm, tearing my sleeve instantly, and blood seeped out.

The donkey was so frightened that it brayed and almost broke free from the cart frame.

The cart rushed to the end of the alley and crashed hard into the low wall.

With a loud bang.

The stones were scattered all over the ground.

The entire alleyway finally came back to life.

Some people peeked out, some exclaimed in alarm, and some shouted from afar that something had happened.

Ah Liu sat on the ground, his face as white as if he had just been pulled out of a noodle vat.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

I stood up, clutching my right arm.

"He's not dead."

"Is this what you call 'nothing's wrong'?"

"Not dead means you're alright."

I walked over to the scattered stones, squatted down, and took a look.

Grayish-white.

Rough surface.

It has a loose texture.

I gently scratched it with my fingernail, and a white mark appeared.

Rubble.

It's exactly the same as the one on the Yongning River embankment.

Ah Liu saw it too, his voice trembling: "Young Master, this stone..."

"It looks familiar."

"Is this coming for us?"

"What else? Deliver building materials?"

Ah Liu stopped talking.

I stood up and looked towards the alley entrance.

The driver had vanished.

The mule was blindfolded, the axle was loosened beforehand, and the stones were piled too high. As soon as it was placed at the entrance of the alley, the cart would rush straight through the narrow alley.

The arrangement wasn't very clever.

But it's enough.

Because this alley is narrow.

Because Ah Liu is the only person I have with me.

Because they knew I would come out through the back door.

This last point is the most crucial.

How did they know when I left home, which route I took, and why I changed my destination to Anling at the last minute?

Just then, a calm voice came from the shadows at the alley entrance.

"Lord Shen."

I looked up.

Gu Xingzhi stood there.

He wore a dark blue, narrow-sleeved robe, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and his expression was as indifferent as if he were just passing by to watch the spectacle.

When Ah Liu saw him, he almost jumped up from the ground.

I looked at Gu Xingzhi: "Lord Gu is here too?"

"Just passing by."

He said those two words without any sincerity.

I looked down at my wound, then at the pebbles scattered on the ground.

"The streets of Beijing are quite lively."

Gu Xingzhi looked at me.

"Lord Shen, please be more careful when you walk in the future."

"Was this an accident?"

"There are many unexpected events in the capital."

He paused for a moment, then said, "It's just a bit unexpected; it came at the perfect time."

I didn't speak.