#146: Suspicious

Lu Sheng’s expression shifted slightly, but he quickly smiled. “To answer Second Young Master, it rained a few times recently. Perhaps this ledger was placed closer to the window and got damp.”

“So that’s how it is.” With that, Li Shimin handed the ledger back to him. “It’s fine now. Take them all away. As for Wu Laosan, he’ll come to the county office in two days.”

A flicker of relief passed through Lu Sheng’s eyes as he bowed. “Then I’ll take my leave.”

Watching Lu Sheng’s retreating figure, Yunyi thoughtfully said, “Second Young Master, he…”

Li Shimin made a gesture for her to remain silent, then beckoned Duan Zhiming over and whispered a few words. After Duan Zhiming nodded and left, Li Shimin turned to Yunyi. “Do you find Lu Sheng suspicious?”

Yunyi nodded. “Yes. Though I don’t know if dampness would deepen ink traces, his expression seemed uneasy when he spoke. He must be hiding something.”

“I noticed it too,” Li Shimin replied. “That’s why I sent Zhiming to follow him discreetly. Hopefully, we’ll uncover something.” Then, extending both hands toward Yunyi, he asked, “What do you smell?”

After sniffing each hand, Yunyi replied, “One hand has the scent of fresh ink, but the other… I can’t quite tell.”

“That’s correct.” Li Shimin calmly explained, “These two hands touched the ledgers containing Wu Laosan’s information and another book, respectively. The ledger with Wu Laosan’s entry still smells of fresh ink, while the others don’t. Do you know what this suggests?”

Yunyi pondered for a moment before shaking her head. “According to Lu Sheng, that ledger is over thirty years old. How could it still have fresh ink? Unless… it was rewritten recently.”

Li Shimin smiled faintly. “Exactly. Upon closer inspection, there were no signs of tampering, yet the ink smelled fresh and appeared darker compared to the others. This raised my suspicion—perhaps someone rewrote this household registry. Only by doing so could they alter Wu Laosan’s age without leaving obvious traces. However, Lu Sheng has no prior connection with your family. If he did this, he must have been acting under someone else’s orders.”

His words reminded Yunyi of something. “I remember seeing Feng Cheng lurking around the corner when we left the county office earlier. Could this be related to him?”

“Him?” Li Shimin frowned. “He’s just a butcher. How dare he attempt such a thing? Moreover, if discovered, this crime would cost him his head. How could he convince Lu Sheng to help him?”

Yunyi had no answer to this. Li Shimin ordered someone to bring the recent conscription records for soldiers and laborers. The conscription had been ongoing for over ten days, and nearly twenty thousand men had been recorded. While this number wasn’t small, Li Shimin’s brows remained tightly furrowed.

Seeing this, Yunyi softly asked, “Second Young Master, you seem troubled. Is there an issue with the conscription?”

Li Shimin sighed deeply, closing the ledger. “Half the time granted by the court has already passed, yet we’ve only conscripted twenty thousand men—far from enough.”

Yunyi was astonished. “From what I understand, Honghua Prefecture has only tens of thousands of households. After excluding widows, orphans, and the elderly or infirm, conscripting twenty thousand is already commendable.”

Li Shimin bitterly smiled. “Honghua Prefecture has a total of fifty thousand six hundred households. The court demands fifty thousand conscripts.”

Yunyi was stunned by this figure. “Fifty thousand? That… how is that possible?”

“The original demand was eighty thousand. My father repeatedly petitioned, arguing that Honghua Prefecture doesn’t have that many able-bodied men, and it was reduced to fifty thousand. Even so, this number is enough to cause headaches.”

Yunyi struggled to comprehend. “Unless we conscript every man in Honghua Prefecture, it’s impossible to meet this quota. Doesn’t the court realize this?”

“The court doesn’t care about such details. The Emperor is preparing to invade Goguryeo, so the court will do everything possible to gather troops, transport supplies, and recruit laborers for building walls.” He looked at the ledger in his hand. “We have just over ten days left. If we can’t reach fifty thousand, I don’t know how we’ll explain ourselves.”

Yunyi bit her lip, her voice trembling. “The Emperor… does he truly disregard the people’s suffering so much?”

Li Shimin’s expression changed instantly. He glanced around cautiously, relieved to see no one paying attention. Lowering his voice, he scolded, “Such words must never be spoken again. Do you understand?”

Yunyi remained silent, her head lowered. In truth, she didn’t want to ask this question. She had always believed that though her father wasn’t a good parent, he was a capable emperor. But since leaving the palace, everywhere she went, complaints about the emperor abounded. Even the previously peaceful Honghua Prefecture was now seething with discontent due to this conscription.

At that moment, commotion erupted outside. A group of people was brought in by constables. Leading them was none other than Magistrate Qin. Seeing Hongli present, he quickly stepped forward and bowed. “Greetings, Second Young Master.”

“Rise, Magistrate Qin.” Li Shimin observed the dejected figures under the constables’ grip and asked, “What’s going on?”

Magistrate Qin sighed. “It’s the same as before—they tried to sneak out of the city but were caught. According to the law… these three are to be executed!”

His words sent shivers through the trio. The elderly man on the left stammered, “Mercy, Your Excellency! This was all my idea. Punish me alone and spare them. They acted on my urging—they’re innocent!”

“Uncle Fang?” Yunyi recognized the speaker. Without asking, she knew the other two were Aunt Fang and their only son.

Uncle Fang also spotted Yunyi and Li Shimin. Hurriedly, he pleaded, “Meixue, please tell Second Young Master and Magistrate Qin that this was all my doing. Don’t implicate your aunt and Brother Fang!”

Aunt Fang interjected, “No, it was me! I couldn’t bear to part with Ge’er, so I urged them to flee. All the blame lies with me. Kill me instead—it has nothing to do with them.”

“No, it’s my fault!” Ge’er, ever filial, couldn’t bear to see his aging parents die for him. “I was afraid of war and wanted to escape. In truth… my parents tried to stop me at the time.”

In that moment, the three argued over who was to blame, each hoping to save the others.

Though Magistrate Qin felt pity, the law was the law. As a mere county magistrate, he dared not defy it. Sighing inwardly, he waved his hand. “Take them to the execution grounds!”

“Wait!” Yunyi couldn’t bear to see the Fang family executed. She hurriedly intervened. Magistrate Qin frowned, displeased. “This is imperial law. It cannot be violated.”