The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

When the steward stumbled back to the Duan residence, Duan Xi was already under house arrest in his study. The constables from the Provincial Surveillance Commission guarded the door of the study, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving.

The steward crawled in and out through the dog hole in the backyard and then climbed in through the small window of the woodshed, thus avoiding the eyes and ears of the constables.

When Duan Xi saw him return, a glimmer of hope suddenly appeared on his previously ashen face. He grabbed the steward's wrist and asked urgently, "What did Young Master Li say? Did he agree to help me? Has he already sent someone to the capital to lobby?"

The butler kept his head down, not daring to look him in the eye, his voice hoarse and trembling: "Master, Young Master Li said... he said he can't risk the entire family to save someone who is already doomed."

"He told you to put your mind at ease, to admit the guilt you should have admitted, to take the responsibility you should have taken, and not to implicate those who shouldn't be implicated."

Duan Xi's hand froze in mid-air, and the color drained from his face instantly.

He slowly released his grip on the butler's hand, staggered back two steps, and slumped into the chair behind him. He remained silent for a long time before suddenly throwing his head back and bursting into laughter.

The laughter was dry and shrill, like an old wolf howling at an empty mountain after being cornered by a hunter.

He laughed at himself for actually believing Li Shaoyuan's nonsense.

She believed he would lend a hand in times of crisis, and that he would help her out of consideration for the years she had worked so hard for him.

In the end, he was nothing more than a pawn discarded on Li Shaoyuan's chessboard.

Use it and throw it away without even blinking.

"Okay, okay, okay." He said "okay" three times in a row, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth. "Li Shaoyuan said not to involve people who shouldn't be involved. The 'people who shouldn't be involved' he was referring to was himself."

"He thought I would obediently confess my crimes, take all the blame, and then commit suicide in the Ministry of Justice prison out of fear of punishment."

"Let him continue being a pampered young master with nothing to his name? Let him dream on!"

Seeing the master's state, the butler was so frightened that he quickly stepped forward to support his arm, his voice trembling with tears: "Master, please don't be like this. If you get sick from anger, our Duan family will really have no hope left."

Duan Xi waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need to worry, then stood up shakily and walked to the desk, taking out a brass key from deep inside the drawer.

The key was hidden in a compartment of the drawer; it was his last safeguard, left just in case.

He opened the hidden compartment at the bottom of the bookcase, where a dozen or so account books and a thick stack of letters were neatly arranged.

He picked up the top ledger and flipped through it, his voice eerily calm: "These are the accounts of the salt and iron business that the Li family has handled in Jiangxi over the years through me."

"I remember clearly how every penny came in and went out."

"These are handwritten letters between Li Shaoyuan and me. He thought he was being discreet, but these written words are irrefutable proof."

"This is a detailed list of military equipment purchased by the Li family in Jiangxi through Zhao Huan of the Ministry of Works. The imperial military funds were diverted by them to smuggle salt and iron."

"If these accounts were handed over to Xu Jie, the Li family would be in serious trouble."

The steward grew increasingly alarmed as he listened, and asked in a trembling voice to whom the master intended to give these things.

Duan Xi took everything out of the hidden compartment, divided it into two portions, carefully wrapped them in oiled paper, and said in a resolute voice, "Give one portion to Xu Jie."

"Tell him about the dealings between Li Shaoyuan and Zhao Huan, and how the Li family smuggled salt and iron in Jiangxi through the Ministry of Works' procurement of military equipment."

"Tell him how much money the Li family pocketed from the imperial court in the warhorse trade in the northern border."

"Send another copy to Wangjiang Tower and give it to Li Shaoyuan, along with a message: 'I have served him for many years, and in the end he discards me like a worn-out shoe.'"

"I have no other request but that he safely escort my family out of Jiangxi."

"If he refuses, the first copy will be sent to the capital immediately. I've already exhausted all other options; I'll fight to the death, and no one will get away unscathed!"

The steward nervously accepted the two oil paper packages. After hesitating for a long time, he asked in a low voice whether he should also tell Xu Jie about the arrangements that Young Master Li had made for him in prison.

Duan Xi remained silent for a long time, then said in an extremely weary voice, "No need, that's not his fault, that's my fate."

"He told me to make arrangements in prison, but I refuse to die. I want to go to the capital alive, stand alive in the courtroom where the three judicial authorities will jointly try me, and personally confess every single good deed that Li family has done over the years!"

The steward accepted the order and left. Duan Xi sat alone behind his desk, gazing at the old locust tree outside the window, its branches rustling in the spring rain. Suddenly, two streams of tears rolled down his old eyes.

He spent over a decade navigating the political landscape of Jiangxi, bringing down countless people in the process.

In the end, however, he was defeated by a young deputy inspector.

What's even more ridiculous is that it wasn't his opponent who pushed him off the cliff, but the person he trusted most.

"Li Shaoyuan, do you think I, this old pawn, am useless now?"

"But there's a path for those who are abandoned: the path of abandonment is to let you taste the bitterness of abandonment."

He closed his eyes and said nothing more; only the sound of spring rain tapping on the windowpane remained in the study.