My wife, Wei Gui, was 1.9 meters tall and fought against the Tang dynasty for the throne.

As soon as Li Ju sat down in the duty room of the Water Conservancy Bureau, Du Chen pushed the door open and came in.

"Your Majesty, the imperial envoy has arrived. The Emperor's decree of bestowal of honors, and—" He paused, "the Censorate's inspector has also arrived."

Li Ju raised his head, his expression unchanged: "Inspector?"

"People from the Censorate. They say they're here on imperial orders to verify the battle report from Liyang, the number of casualties, and the grain reserves." Du Chen lowered his voice. "They don't seem to have good intentions."

Li Ju leaned back in his chair and remained silent for a moment.

"Send Changsun Wuji here."

Before long, Changsun Wuji pushed open the door and entered, bowing and saying, "Your Excellency."

Li Ju looked at him and said, "The Censorate has sent people to verify the battle reports, grain reserves, and troops. Draft a report and make all the necessary preparations."

Changsun Wuji's expression hardened, and he said in a low voice, "What does the Imperial Supervisor mean...?"

"The accounts must be balanced, everyone must be present, and the granaries must be full. Everything that should be there must be there, and everything that shouldn't be there—" Li Ju looked at him calmly, "so that no one can find out."

Changsun Wuji cupped his hands in greeting: "Your subordinate understands."

Du Chen said, "I will prepare the account books. The list of casualties, the loss of military equipment, and the expenditure of food and provisions will all be matched up one by one, and no flaws will be found."

Zhang Yi poked his head in from outside the door: "My lord, is there anything we should do at the river embankment camp?"

"Yes," Li Ju said. "Go back to Liyang and reorganize all the organization, roster, and weapons of the forging battalions according to the normal organization. Yuchi Gong's forging battalion is just an ordinary river embankment battalion in appearance, with nothing special about it."

Zhang Yi nodded: "This subordinate understands. I have already had Yuchi Gong replace all the weapons at the Forging Battalion. Those that are too conspicuous have been put away."

Li Ju nodded.

"And another thing," he said, looking at Zhang Yi, "is to make your lies sound believable. Answer whatever the censor asks. Don't say too much, don't say too little, and don't panic."

Zhang Yi replied, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, I am not good with words, but I will answer whatever you ask and will not say anything more."

Changsun Wuji, Du Chen, and Zhang Yi went off to make preparations. Li Ju sat alone in his duty room, deep in thought with his eyes closed.

Yang Guang's suspicions began after the Battle of Liyang.

What he needed to do was to ensure that the censors could not find anything and to suppress Yang Guang's suspicions.

At noon, the angels arrived.

The one who announced the imperial edict was a close attendant of Yang Guang, surnamed Huang, with a high-pitched voice and quite a grand entrance.

An incense table was set up in the main hall of the Water Conservancy Bureau, and Li Ju led the officials to kneel in obeisance.

"Li Ju, the Director of Water Conservancy, has rendered meritorious service in guarding Liyang, protecting the granary city, and ensuring the smooth flow of grain transport. He is hereby specially granted five hundred bolts of silk, ten jars of imperial wine, and promoted to Duke of Wu'an County."

Du Chen, the Assistant Director of the Water Conservancy Bureau; Wang Yu, the Magistrate of Zhujin; Zhang Yi, the Magistrate of the River Administration; and Changsun Wuji, the Military Advisor, were each awarded one hundred bolts of silk and promoted one rank. Yuchi Gong fought valiantly in defending the city and was awarded the rank of Colonel, while still leading the Forging Battalion.

The remaining meritorious soldiers shall be rewarded according to precedent. So be it!

Li Ju kowtowed: "Your subject, Li Ju, thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!"

With a smile, Eunuch Huang handed over the imperial edict: "Supervisor Li, His Majesty values ​​you highly. His Majesty even applauded the victory at Liyang in Zhuojun."

Li Ju received the imperial edict and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, I am filled with trepidation. I have relied entirely on Your Majesty's divine might and the soldiers' valiant efforts."

Eunuch Huang nodded and stepped aside.

A middle-aged man in a scarlet official robe walked out from behind, his face stern and his eyes sharp as knives.

"Supervisor Li, I am Zheng Kuan, a Supervising Censor of the Censorate. I have been ordered to verify the battle report of Liyang, the grain reserves, and the number of troops." He cupped his hands in a respectful but not arrogant manner. "I would be grateful if Supervisor Li could grant me this favor."

Li Ju returned the greeting: "Imperial Censor Zheng is too kind. The entire Directorate of Waterways will naturally cooperate."

Zheng Kuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall.

"Then let's begin."

The first step in the verification was to check the ledgers.

Du Chen carried a thick stack of documents onto the table, arranging them neatly.

Zheng Kuan sat down and began turning the pages one by one, his brows furrowing more and more tightly.

"Supervisor Du, is it true that the defending troops suffered 3,000 casualties in the Battle of Liyang?"

Du Chen's expression remained unchanged: "Reporting to Imperial Censor Zheng, the number of three thousand is the reported figure. The actual number of dead was over 1,200, and the number of wounded was over 1,800, totaling three thousand. The account books contain details of casualties for each unit, which Imperial Censor Zheng can verify one by one."

Zheng Kuan flipped through a few pages and then asked, "What about the losses on military equipment?"

"A total of 4,200 items of bows, crossbows, swords, spears, and armor were lost." Du Chen opened another document. "Of these, more than 3,000 were damaged on the battlefield, and more than 1,000 were lost during transport. The details are here."

Zheng Kuan looked at him for a moment, then closed the ledger: "No problems for now."

The second stop was the armory.

Wang Yu led Zheng Kuan into the armory of the Imperial Water Conservancy Bureau. Swords and spears were neatly arranged, and armor was stacked in orderly fashion. Zheng Kuan casually pulled out a sword and examined it; the blade was sharp and gleaming.

"Wang Jinling, the battle report says that the weapons have suffered heavy losses, so why are there still plenty of swords and spears in the armory?"

Wang Yu remained calm and cupped his hands in greeting: "Imperial Censor Zheng, the weapons lost were those damaged on the battlefield. The ones in the armory are replacements issued by the court. Weapons are different from people; swords and spears don't go hungry. Battle reports show the losses, while the armory shows the new supplies; there's no contradiction."

Zheng Kuan glanced at him and put the knife back on the shelf.

The third stop was Hediying.

Zhang Yi led Zheng Kuan on a tour of the camp. Soldiers were drilling, the sounds of clashing swords and shouts of battle mingling together. Zheng Kuan walked to the edge of the drill ground, watched for a while, and asked, "Zhang Heshu, where is the Forging Battalion?"

Zhang Yi pointed to a group of soldiers training on the east side of the drill ground: "That's them. They're all big and strong, good fighters on the battlefield."

Zheng Kuan walked over and examined the soldiers' weapons. Heavy swords, iron hammers, thick shields—sturdy enough, but not excessive. He nodded.

Do you have a roster?

Zhang Yi handed over a roster. Zheng Kuan flipped through it, page by page. Names, hometowns, ages, and enlistment dates were all complete, and there was nothing unusual about it.

He returned the roster to Zhang Yi: "No problems for now."

The fourth stop was the granary.

Zheng Kuan entered Liyang Granary. The grain sacks were stacked neatly, from the ground all the way to the roof. He casually opened a few sacks; the rice was new and had no musty smell. The figures in the ledger matched the actual inventory.

He then went to the dock and inspected the fleet of ships escorting the grain transport. He checked the number of ships, the grain transport records, and the grain allocation slips one by one.

Du Chen followed behind, saying nothing. He answered whatever Zheng Kuan asked, neither hasty nor arrogant.

In the evening, Zheng Kuan returned to the duty room of the Water Conservancy Bureau and sat opposite Li Ju.

Li Ju personally poured a cup of tea and pushed it towards him, saying, "Imperial Censor Zheng, you've worked hard. After three days of investigation, is there anything amiss?"

Zheng Kuan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and put it down.

"Supervisor Li, I am here on official business to investigate." He looked at Li Ju. "The battle reports are flawless, the account books are flawless, the granaries are flawless, and the troops are flawless. I cannot find any problems."

He paused, his gaze deepening: "But that doesn't mean there aren't any problems."

Li Ju remained expressionless, cupped his hands, and said, "Imperial Censor Zheng is astute. The entire Imperial Water Conservancy Bureau obeys His Majesty's orders without question. If there are any oversights, please point them out, Imperial Censor."

Zheng Kuan looked at him for a moment, then stood up and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture: "Supervisor Li, you flatter me. Since there is nothing amiss, I will report back to His Majesty as such."

"Imperial Censor Zheng, please wait."

Zheng Kuan turned around and strode out of the duty room.

Li Ju saw him to the door and watched his figure disappear into the twilight.

Du Chen came out from next door and whispered, "Your Majesty, he's gone."

"I'm leaving." Li Ju turned around, walked back to the duty room, and sat down.

Du Chen followed him in and closed the door.

"He looked at the ledgers and didn't find any problems," Du Chen said. "But this man is not simple. His statement, 'Not finding any problems doesn't mean there aren't any,' was a test for the supervisor."

Li Ju nodded: "I know."

Du Chen remained silent for a moment, then cupped his hands in greeting and withdrew.

Li Ju sat alone under the lamp, took out the jade from his bosom, and held it in his palm.

Since the censor couldn't find anything, Yang Guang had no reason to take action against him. But he knew this was only temporary.

Yang Guang's suspicious nature will not disappear; it will only remain dormant.