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

Duan Xi's suicide note was taken back to Wangjiang Tower by Eagle Elder.

Li Shaoyuan sat by the window of the private room on the third floor and read the suicide note from beginning to end, using the twilight filtering in from outside.

He flipped through the account books and letters in the two bundles of oil paper, skimmed a few pages, and a faint, cold smile appeared on his lips.

He gently placed the suicide note on the table, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and spoke casually as if he were commenting on a newly served dessert: "That old fox Duan Xi, even on his deathbed, he still tries to be cunning."

"The suicide note said he confessed to the crime, but there were many blanks between the lines. It only said that he abused his power for personal gain, but did not say where the money went."

"They only say he failed the emperor's grace, without mentioning who he was working for."

"If this kind of suicide note were presented, Xu Jie would know immediately that there is a mastermind behind it all. This is not an attempt to cover up for the Li family."

"He's gambling with the lives of his entire Duan family. Does he think I, Li Shaoyuan, am someone to be trifled with?"

He folded the suicide note again and placed it under the teacup, then turned to Elder Ying and gave him a few instructions.

Eagle Elder clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, then turned and disappeared into the night.

At the third watch of the night, Duan Xi sat motionless in his study, like a clay or wooden sculpture.

The tea in front of him had long since gone cold, and on the wall hung his official robe, worn smooth from over a decade of wear, which he had worn for more than a decade. On the corner of the table rested his private seal engraved with the word "Ruyi" (meaning "as you wish").

He didn't know if Li Shaoyuan would keep his promise after Eagle Elder returned, so he could only gamble with this deliberately left-blank suicide note.

It's a gamble that Xu Jie can see the clues in this, and a gamble that the court can trace the clues to Li Shi from the blank spaces in the will.

If they win the bet, the Duan family might still have a glimmer of hope.

If he loses the bet, it's his own sin, and he has to bear it all alone.

As he was thinking, he suddenly heard a very faint groan from the backyard, followed by silence.

He suddenly stood up, and the study door was pushed open from the outside.

It wasn't Elder Ying who walked in; it was Li Shaoyuan himself.

He changed into a moon-white brocade robe, with a jade belt around his waist.

Holding two bundles of account books and letters wrapped in oil paper, he walked in with a smile, as if attending an ordinary dinner party.

Old Eagle followed behind him, carrying a lantern. The lantern's light cast their shadows on the wall, making them appear to grow longer and shorter.

Duan Xi's pupils constricted sharply, and he instinctively took a step back, his voice hoarse and terrified: "Young Master Li, what brings you here? Didn't Elder Ying say that as long as I confessed, you would let the Duan family go? I've already confessed, I've confessed everything, what more do you want?"

Li Shaoyuan did not answer.

He walked to the desk, gently placed the account books and letters down, then slowly sat down in the chair, looked up at Duan Xi, and softly asked in an extremely gentle tone, "Duan Xi, do you know where you went wrong?"

Duan Xi was taken aback. Li Shaoyuan didn't wait for his reply and continued in his gentle voice, "Your mistake wasn't greed. Greed is human nature, and I don't blame you."

"Your mistake wasn't being stupid. You did everything you did for the Li family in Jiangxi all these years, and you did it all very well."

"Your mistake was being greedy for life and afraid of death, that you thought you still had a way out, and that you still tried to threaten me with these pieces of waste paper when you clearly had no way out."

"You think that by deliberately leaving things blank in your suicide note, Xu Jie will investigate the mastermind behind this for you?"

"You think that just because your stewards and cronies deliver evidence to Xu Jie, he can help you bring me down?"

He pulled out the suicide note from under the teacup, shook it gently in his hand, and then slowly tore it in half, then into four pieces. The paper pieces fell like snowflakes to Duan Xi's feet.

His voice remained gentle, yet it was as gentle as a blade slicing through silk, each word cutting to the bone: "What is Xu Jie? He's just a fourth-rank deputy inspector. He was able to investigate cases in Jiangxi because someone tacitly approved of him."

"Do you really think he can touch the Li family? I will find out who is behind Xu Jie sooner or later, but you, Duan Xi, will never have the chance to see it."

Duan Xi trembled violently, then knelt on the ground with a thud, gripping the edge of the table tightly with both hands and screaming hoarsely, "Young Master Li, you promised to spare the Duan family! You said you would spare my family as long as I confessed! You can't go back on your word, you..."

Li Shaoyuan suddenly stood up, took two steps to Duan Xi, bent down close to the tear-streaked face, and whispered in an almost whispered voice, "You just said that I went back on my word?"

Duan Xi trembled all over, his lips quivering as he couldn't utter a word.

Li Shaoyuan straightened up and said coldly, "Duan Xi, you were the one who tore up the contract first."

"Those account books and letters were things you shouldn't have kept in the first place."

"Not only did you keep it, you also had it sent to Xu Jie, into the hands of my rival."

"Why are you pretending to be innocent or acting pitiful?"

His voice grew colder as he spoke, "You ask about the Duan family? Let me tell you, your two stewards and trusted confidants who delivered the message have already gone before you."

"Old Master Ying did it himself, so there was no pain. I also had someone send a pot of calming tea to your one-year-old grandson. He drank it and fell asleep, never to wake up again."

Duan Xi was struck dumb, frozen in place, uttering a whimper that sounded inhuman.

He pounded his forehead against the ground with all his might, making a loud thud, and pleaded hoarsely, "Young Master Li! Young Master Li! It's all my fault! Kill me! Kill me!"

"Please, spare my little grandson! He's only just turned one year old. He doesn't understand anything. He's innocent!"

"I beg you, I don't want anything anymore, I'll give you anything, please spare his life!"

"I'm kowtowing to you, I'm kowtowing to you..."

Li Shaoyuan looked down at the old man, who was crying and had bloody marks on his forehead.

After a long silence, she slowly squatted down, took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, and handed it to him.

He spoke the coldest words in an extremely gentle tone: "Innocent? Back then, when you gave me the daughter of the head of the household administration department in Nanchang Prefecture as a concubine in order to curry favor with the Li family, that daughter of the head of the household administration department was innocent too."

"Later, the person in charge refused to cooperate with you in forging the land deeds, so you had his legs broken. He was innocent."

"You've ruined so many families over the years, and those people were all innocent."

"Why didn't you kneel down and beg for mercy back then? Why didn't you say they were innocent?"

"Duan Xi, you've lived for over sixty years, and you still don't understand this principle."

"If you don't cut the weeds at the root, they'll grow back in the spring breeze. The roots of the Duan family must be severed. Guards, escort Lord Duan on his journey."

Eagle Elder silently stepped forward, took out a white silk ribbon from his sleeve, and handed it to Duan Xi.

Duan Xi collapsed to the ground, staring at the white silk ribbon and then at the spotless boots in front of him, before suddenly throwing his head back and bursting into laughter.

The laughter was more grating than weeping, echoing in the empty study like a dirge rising from a grave: "Li Shaoyuan, do you think that by killing me, by slaughtering the entire Duan family, your Li family can rest easy?"

"You're wrong! You underestimate Xu Jie, and you underestimate the people behind Xu Jie!"

"One day, your Li family will be wiped out just like you killed me today!"

He gritted his teeth, wrapped the white silk around his neck, gripped both ends tightly with his hands, and closed his eyes.

The following morning, servants in the Duan household found Duan Xi hanging himself in his study.

The bodies of his butler and two close family members were also found, all of whom died by hanging.

On the same day, Duan Xi's wife, son, and one-year-old grandson were found to have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning in a side room of the villa; the cause of death was suffocation from charcoal fire.

The coroner of the Nanchang Prefectural Government wrote in the autopsy report.

"Suspected suicide out of fear of punishment; a suicide note has been submitted."

This case has now been settled and will be recorded in the annals of history.

All that remains is the cold, hard sentence: "Duan Xi, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi, committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

Less than half a month after Duan Xi's death, the Ministry of Personnel issued a transfer order.

The position of Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi was taken over by a newly appointed official.

For his meritorious service in handling cases, Xu Jie was retained as the Vice Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, specializing in criminal cases and impeachments.

Meanwhile, construction quietly began on Li's warehouses in Ganzhou and Jiujiang, and the canal transport cooperation agreement, formally established by the Nanchang Prefectural Government, was also successfully approved.

Standing in front of the carved wooden window on the top floor of Wangjiang Tower, looking at the cargo boats shuttling back and forth on the Gan River, Li Shaoyuan picked up the wine pot and poured himself a cup of wine.

His personal bodyguard appeared silently behind him and whispered that Elder Ying had escorted Duan Xi's confession back to the capital overnight.

Zhao Huan has also made arrangements, and all purchase orders related to the Li family have been destroyed.

Li Shaoyuan nodded and then asked how the Duan family's assets were being handled.

The guard replied that the Duan family's several properties in Nanchang Prefecture had been confiscated by the Nanchang Prefecture government in accordance with the law.

Duan Xi's share in the salt and iron business has been taken over by several local businesses according to the previously drafted agreement.

The owners of these businesses are all from the Li family.

Li Shaoyuan nodded slightly and slowly poured the remaining wine from his cup out the window.

The amber-colored liquor dispersed in the air, fell into the rolling Gan River, and was instantly swallowed up.

He said calmly, "Duan Xi did a lot of things for the Li family when he was alive, and he continued to do things for the Li family even after he died."

"He has devoted himself to the cause until his dying breath."

He placed the wine glass on the windowsill, turned and walked downstairs, leaving behind his final instruction.

Prepare the horses; we'll return to Jinyang tomorrow.