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

When I arrived at Zhao Guanlan's residence, the urgent report from the West Soup Dishes Shed was already laid out on the table.

The paper was rough, with mud stuck to the edges, as if it had been snatched from someone's hands.

Zhao Guanlan's expression was more somber than usual.

He glanced at me, offered no pleasantries, and simply said, "Seventeen refugees from Jiangbei have arrived outside the city."

I asked, "Which prefecture?"

"Yong'an County".

"According to the Ministry of Revenue's edict, the relocation of disaster victims in Yong'an County has been completed."

Zhao Guanlan nodded the urgent report.

"Therefore, according to the records, these seventeen people should not exist."

I looked at that piece of paper.

People who shouldn't exist are often the ones who die the most.

The urgent report was brief.

This afternoon, seventeen refugees stormed into the West Soup Hall, claiming to be disaster victims from Yong'an County in Jiangbei, begging their way to the capital. The soup hall manager initially refused to accept them, saying that the list of disaster victims from Jiangbei had already been settled, and these people did not have household registration cards and could not fraudulently claim government-issued soup.

The two sides then got into an argument.

An elderly woman fainted on the spot.

Someone shouted, "The Ministry of Revenue says we're full, but we've almost eaten all the grass on our graves."

This sentence was written at the end of the urgent report.

The handwriting is a bit shaky.

Zhao Guanlan looked at me and said, "Shen An, this case is different from the Yongning River case. The river case investigated silver, stones, and accounts. The disaster relief case investigates people. With so many people involved, it's easy for things to get chaotic."

I said, "Are you afraid I'll mess things up?"

Zhao Guanlan did not deny it.

"Qian Rong has just died, and everyone in the court is watching you. You are to marry a princess in ten days. At this time, if something happens to the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites will be watching you, the Ministry of Revenue will be implicated, the Secretariat will be watching you, and the Qingliu faction will be criticizing you. What's more troublesome is that if the disaster victims become unruly, no one will care about the authenticity of the account books; they will only ask why the court is letting them go hungry."

He paused.

"The first one to be pushed forward will be you, the one who was ordered to investigate the case."

I sighed.

"Your humble servant understands."

Zhao Guanlan frowned.

"What do you understand?"

"If I investigate this case well, I'll offend the Ministry of Revenue. If I investigate it poorly, I'll offend the disaster victims. If I investigate it too quickly, the court officials will say I'm causing trouble. If I investigate it too slowly, the deaths will be blamed on me."

I thought about it and added another sentence.

"In short, it's all my fault."

Zhao Guanlan was momentarily speechless.

He picked up the teacup, the lid touching the rim.

"You're quite open-minded."

I am very sincere.

"It's not that I'm easygoing, it's that I've seen a lot."

He was silent for a moment, then pushed the urgent report to me.

"Go to the Ministry of Revenue first thing tomorrow morning. Don't rush to the outskirts of the city. There might be someone pushing people into the capital to help them."

I nodded and accepted it.

It was already dark when I left the Censorate.

Dusk fell quickly in the capital, and the distant palace walls were tinged with a dark red by the setting sun. Street vendors had packed up half their stalls, and the old man selling hot pancakes stacked the last few pancakes in his bamboo basket. The aroma of the pancakes mingled with the cold wind and wafted into my nose, as if reminding me that I hadn't had a proper meal all day.

Ah Liu followed behind me, his eyes constantly drifting towards the hot pancake stall.

I glanced at him.

"Want some?"

Ah Liu immediately shook his head.

"In no mood."

I said, "Even the coroner from the Ministry of Justice could detect the sound of you swallowing just now."

Ah Liu gave an awkward laugh.

I took out a few copper coins and tossed them to him.

"Buy two."

Ah Liu's eyes lit up immediately.

"Young master, you are such a kind person."

"Stop talking nonsense, give me one."

He ran off to buy some pancakes, and soon returned with two hot pancakes, stuffing one into his own pocket and handing the other to me.

I took a bite.

It was a little hot, the edges of the pancake were crispy, and it was filled with scallion oil.

When people eat hot food, they have a brief illusion that the world is not completely bad.

However, this illusion usually doesn't last long.

As soon as I returned to my house in Chengpingfang, I saw that the courtyard was piled high with red boxes.

It was blindingly red.

It's like someone turned the entire mansion into a funeral hall in advance, only using the wrong colors.

When the gatekeeper saw me return, he hurried over to greet me.

"Young master, the people from the Ministry of Rites came this afternoon, bringing the wedding invitation, wedding dress fabric, ceremonial guard roster, and a few other items sent by the princess's residence."

The hot pancake in my mouth suddenly didn't taste good anymore.

Ah Liu, on the other hand, immediately perked up.

He rushed into the yard with the remaining half of the pancake in his arms, but stopped abruptly after taking only two steps.

"Young master, are we supposed to pay for all these boxes?"

I looked at him.

"So now you're afraid of money?"

Ah Liu looked very serious.

"It's not that I'm afraid of money, it's that our household doesn't have any money to give me."

That makes a lot of sense.

I walked into the courtyard.

Red chests stood side by side, their lids sealed with official seals from the Ministry of Rites. Two embroiderers and a head maid stood nearby, who immediately greeted me with smiles upon my return.

"Lord Shen is back. This servant has been ordered by the Ministry of Rites to take your measurements. The wedding attire cannot be delayed; the ten-day deadline is tight, so we must finalize the measurements tonight."

I paused in my steps.

Tailor-made?

I subconsciously touched my cuff.

The short blade is sheathed and placed against the inside of the forearm.

Cool, quiet, with a restrained edge.

This knife came with me to the capital; it was originally intended to kill the emperor.

Now that I haven't managed to kill the emperor, I'm going to wear wedding clothes and marry his daughter first.

The absurdity of the world is such that even a theatrical troupe probably wouldn't dare to fabricate such a story.

The old woman smiled and said, "Please, sir."

I laughed too.

Thank you for your trouble.

When living in Beijing, there are three types of people you absolutely cannot offend.

First, those close to the emperor.

Second, the accounting office.

Thirdly, there are the nannies who handle wedding arrangements.

The first two types will allow you to die knowing why, while the last type will make living more troublesome than dying.

Ah Liu winked and made faces at me, as if reminding me of the knife.

Of course I know about knives.

The problem is, the nanny has already sent two embroiderers over with measuring tapes.

They need to measure the shoulders, arms, waist, and sleeve length.

Sleeve Length.

I sighed softly to myself.

The marriage hasn't even taken place yet, and they've already started checking my sleeves.

I reached out and pressed my sleeve, saying gently, "I've been busy at the Censorate all day, and I'm covered in dust. Let's take your measurements tomorrow to avoid soiling your wedding dress."

The old woman's smile remained unchanged.

"You jest, sir. The Ministry of Rites is pressing us hard, and the Princess's residence is also asking questions. Your status is too high; we cannot afford to delay."

Am I of noble birth?

How can I, a man who was ordered by his father to kill the emperor, who was used as a pawn by the emperor, and who will be married to a princess who doubts me in ten days, be considered noble?

What is noble are these ropes on my body.

Each one is edged with gold.

Just as I was thinking about how to escape, Ah Liu suddenly pounced on me.

"Ouch!"

He slipped and crashed into a red box, sending half a hot pancake flying. It landed right at the old woman's feet.

Oil splattered on the corner of the box.

The old woman's expression changed.

Ah Liu lay on the ground, his face contorted with grief: "Granny, please forgive me, I deserve to die. I got so nervous the moment I saw this red box. This is the first time our young master is getting married, and it's also the first time I've ever served someone at their wedding. I was so flustered and clumsy."

I glanced at him.

Not bad.

Although this kid is a coward, he can sometimes be useful.

As expected, the old woman didn't bother measuring me; she went to check the box first.

I took the opportunity to step back half a step, and with a flick of my fingers in my sleeve, I slid the "Return to Sheath" into a hidden pocket under my wrist.

This is a hidden pouch that I sewed by hand before I went to Beijing.

Shen Lie taught me.

He said that you should hide your knife where others think you can't.

At that time, I thought this sentence referred to the palace gate.

Looking back now, even the wedding night counts.

I had just hidden the knife when I heard footsteps outside the door again.

Qiu Tang has arrived.

She was wearing a light blue dress today, holding a thin book in her hand, and her expression remained very composed. After entering, she first bowed to me, then looked at the red trunks in disarray in the courtyard and Ah Liu on the ground.

Ah Liu is still lying down.

Seeing Qiu Tang looking at him, he immediately got up and patted the corner of his clothes.

"Miss Qiutang, I'm just testing the floor tiles to see if they're slippery, so our young master won't slip and fall on our wedding day."

Qiu Tang asked calmly, "Have you figured it out yet?"

Ah Liu nodded seriously.

"slip."

Qiu Tang said, "Then eat less fried dough."

Ah Liu choked.

I almost burst out laughing.

Qiutang handed me the thin booklet in her hand.

"Lord Shen, this is the wedding list that His Highness sent me. The one from the Ministry of Rites was too complicated, so His Highness shortened it. You can just use this one to make your notes."

I took it.

The booklet was not thick, the edges of the paper were cut very neatly, and the handwriting on it was clear and clean, obviously written by someone close to Xiao Lingyi.

I flipped through it and glanced at it.

The time for the wedding procession.

The direction for the wedding ceremony.

Route into the government building.

The order of expressing gratitude in the palace.

The guards at the princess's residence were replaced.

It even clearly states when I should stand, when I should kneel, and when I shouldn't look around.

It sent chills down my spine.

This is hardly a wedding preparation list.

This is the escort route.

I couldn't help but ask, "What else did His Highness say?"

Qiu Tang looked at me.

"His Highness said that Lord Shen has been working hard on the case recently, so the wedding should be done in a way that saves money."

I felt a slight sense of relief.

Although Xiao Lingyi doesn't believe me, at least she's not the type to cause trouble.

Qiu Tang paused for a moment, then said, "However, there are a few places that cannot be omitted."

I asked, "Which places?"

"They expressed their gratitude in the palace, performed the nuptial ceremony, and entered the bridal chamber."

My fingers holding the booklet stiffened slightly.

Qiu Tang acted as if she hadn't seen it and continued, "His Highness also said that the cuffs of the formal dress would be narrowed."

I looked up.

"Narrow it?"

Qiu Tang calmly said, "The sleeves of the wedding dress are too wide, making it easy to hide things."

The courtyard suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Ah Liu looked down at the ground.

The old woman pretended to inspect the box.

Even the sound of the wind blowing through the red silk seemed quite sensible.

I looked at Qiutang.

Qiu Tang was looking at me too.

She didn't laugh.

This shows that the statement was not a joke.

Xiao Lingyi knew.

Or rather, she had at least begun to suspect my sleeve.

At the end of the first volume, she sent someone to tell her to hide the knife.

I initially thought it was a reminder.

In retrospect, that was a warning.

I remained respectful on the surface.

"Your Highness has considered everything carefully."

Qiu Tang said, "His Highness also said that Lord Shen should memorize the wedding ceremony well."

Why?

"Because on the wedding day, the entire court will be watching. If the etiquette is wrong, some will laugh. If the steps are wrong, some will suspect. If the sleeves are not right, some will investigate."

I understand.

Some people will try to manipulate the wedding arrangements.

It's not Xiao Lingyi.

It was someone else.

The Ministry of Rites, the Secretariat, the Accounting Committee, and even Xu Sandao.

A wedding is not a joyous occasion.

It was a day when everyone could openly and honestly watch me.

I asked, "Did Your Highness say anything else?"

Qiu Tang was silent for a moment, then lowered her voice.

"His Highness said that if the knife must be hidden, it should be hidden deeper than the tent."

I looked at her.

She bowed.

"The message has been delivered; this servant will take her leave."

After Qiu Tang left, the courtyard became lively again.

The nanny urged them to take the measurements, and the embroiderer picked up the measuring tape again. Ah Liu, with a long face, tried to wipe the corner of the box that had been stained with oil cakes clean, but the more she wiped, the more obvious it became.

Standing among the red boxes, I suddenly felt like I wasn't the groom.

It was like a stolen item that was inspected in turn by the Ministry of Rites, the Princess's residence, the Emperor, Shen Lie, and the Accounting Committee.

After finally managing to get away with the measurement, it was almost midnight.

The wedding dress fabric was taken into the west wing.

Ah Liu was carrying a pile of red silk, walking very carefully, afraid of stepping on any piece of cloth and not being able to afford to pay for it.

I went into the study, closed the door, and the first thing I did was take out my dagger.

The "Return to Sheath" blade is only forearm length long, with a dark, unadorned body.

It's not like a famous sword.

It's more like a piece of night that's been sharpened.

I placed it on the table and looked at it for a long time.

Who was this knife originally intended to kill?

The answer is too simple.

It's so simple I dare not say it out loud.

The emperor knew part of it.

The princess guessed part of it.

My father waited for me to finish everything.

I'm in the middle, like a piece of paper being pulled by three parties at the same time. If I keep pulling, it will tear sooner or later.

Two soft knocks suddenly came from outside the window.

It wasn't a knock.

It's a knock on the window.

One long and one short.

My eyes darkened.

This is the code from Manager Chen's side.

I blew out half a lamp, walked to the window, and pushed it open a crack.

A tiny wax pellet rolled in.

There's no one outside.

Only the night breeze blew across the courtyard wall, and the shadow of the old locust tree in the corner swayed, as if someone had just left there.

I picked up the wax pellet and crushed it.

Inside was a very thin strip of paper.

There were only two lines of text on the paper.

The master asked, "Where is the missing page in the southwest?"

The three swords ask, "When will the sword be drawn?"

I stared at the note, my fingertips growing colder and colder.

The Ministry of Revenue case had just been opened, and the wedding was only ten days away.

The princess has her eye on my sleeve.

My father also asked me about the knife.

Ah Liu asked softly from outside the door, "Young master, are you asleep?"

I placed the note on the lamp and watched it burn to ashes little by little.

"no."

"Shall I make your bed?"

I glanced at the short blade on the table and said softly, "No need."

Making the bed is useless tonight.

Because I know very well that from the moment Qian Rong died, I have not been able to sleep soundly.

Moreover, Xu Sandao was asking when the sword would be drawn.

He won't just ask once.