Su Jin didn’t know whether she had truly slept that night.

In her half-dreaming, half-waking state, she recalled three years ago when she had just been promoted to Assistant Censor-in-Chief and was writing her first memorial for the first time—

Afraid of making mistakes, she had hesitated outside Liu Chaoming’s office for half a day before knocking and asking softly, “Are you busy, my lord?”

Liu Chaoming was annotating a case file with his brush and didn’t look up: “Speak directly if you have something to say.”

The Su Jin of that time was still inexperienced; whenever she needed to ask for something, she would first build up to it.

“The Jingzhou case has been fully reviewed. I plan to submit the memorial to the Emperor’s desk tomorrow. This is my first time writing a memorial, and I’m afraid of making errors that would disgrace the entire Imperial Censorate. Could I—” she paused, “have you review it first, my lord?”

Liu Chaoming still didn’t look up, finishing a line with his brush before saying blandly, “Leave it there.”

So Su Jin carefully placed the memorial on his desk and returned to her own office.

Less than a quarter-hour later, a junior clerk knocked on her door: “Lord Su, Lord Liu has ordered me to return your memorial to you.”

Su Jin still kept that memorial to this day.

The annotations in blue ink had the elegance of bamboo and frost in their characters, with incisive and penetrating language that could perceive subtle details others couldn’t detect.

Even after they later parted ways in the Censorate’s secret chamber, their positions diverging in opposite directions, in Su Jin’s heart she always regarded Liu Yun as her model, believing that to be a person and an official, one should be like him.

She recalled her own thunderous declaration in the secret chamber: “What I want is righteousness.”

That statement had truly awakened the entire room filled with firelight.

This was the first time she began to question Liu Chaoming, believing he shouldn’t have framed the Shen household, shouldn’t have used cruel torture on the criminals in his hands, forcing them to confess those secrets he shouldn’t ask about but wanted to know.

And now, as Su Jin held Zhu Nanxian’s kill-without-mercy secret edict and began contemplating how to assign Liu Chaoming some so-called “treasonous conduct,” she suddenly began asking herself over and over: Where is the righteousness I wanted?

Liu Yun had served as an official for over a decade, devoted his heart and exhausted his efforts for the people’s livelihood and the state, answering to heaven above and the common people below, to the point that she couldn’t find a crime punishable by death, and had no choice but to make an issue of the Annan merchant case.

But how was what she was doing today any different from Liu Yun’s framing of the Shen household in the past?

If Liu Chaoming’s mistake was merely that he supported Zhu Yushen, then to take a step back, Zhu Yushen had guarded the borders for over a decade, countless times risking his life for home and country—was he wrong?

If they didn’t fight or struggle, did they deserve to have their fiefs reduced, be stripped of office, be crowned with “baseless” charges and end up separated from their heads?

Yes, Zhu Yushen had ambitions to seize power.

But Zhu Jingyuan’s imperial throne was won through conquering the realm. In the late Han, Cao Mengde monopolized power, conquered Wu and destroyed Shu to establish Wei; Sima Yan forced Cao Huan to abdicate and established Jin; Emperor Taizu of Song donned the yellow robe through a mutiny at Chenqiao—who didn’t have ambitions to seize power? Which emperor’s realm came truly clean?

Historical records only distinguish victors from losers.

Su Jin thought that perhaps some matters were never black and white, perhaps certain circumstances and disputes, positions and slaughters, never had an absolute “righteousness.”

Just like now, she held a sharp blade, her back to a cliff, with only three words on the path ahead.

Kill without mercy.

Kill without mercy by any means necessary, at the end of one’s road.

Su Jin couldn’t remember when she had awakened. By the time she came to her senses, she had been lying on the bed with her eyes open for quite some time.

Beneath her was completely soaked—clearly not a nightmare, yet she had broken out in a cold sweat.

Su Jin sat up and called for Tan Shi twice. Tan Shi pushed open the door: “Why is my lord up at this hour? It’s only the third watch.”

Su Jin said, “I trouble Sister Tan to heat water for me to bathe—I’ve broken out in a sweat.”

Having sweated in the middle of the night, even if she wanted to bathe she could heat the water herself, but Su Jin feared catching a chill before her sweat dried. The next few months were a matter of life and death; she dared not fall ill at such a time.

A’Fu, resting on the wooden perch, also woke at the sounds, preening his white feathers with his small beak, his round eyes staring intently at Su Jin.

Before long, Sister Tan had the bath ready.

Su Jin carried the wooden perch with A’Fu to outside the screen. As she carried him, A’Fu hopped twice on the crossbar, calling out as if to curry favor: “Your Highness, Thirteenth Highness.”

Su Jin couldn’t help but laugh.

When Zhu Nanxian had picked up A’Fu outside the Third Prince’s mansion and given him to her, he had thought it was a migratory bird. Only after A’Fu had grown and developed white feathers did they discover he was actually a rare white parrot.

Thinking about it, Zhu Jiyou had been fond of collecting rare and curious things in his time; this bird’s parents should have originally belonged to his household.

A’Fu was extremely intelligent. Seeing Su Jin smile, he hopped twice more and called out: “Your Highness, Your Highness.”

Su Jin ignored him, settling him in place and going inside to remove her clothes.

The bathwater was still steaming slightly, hot enough to sting. As Su Jin submerged herself completely in the water, A’Fu was still outside calling repeatedly “Your Highness” and “Thirteenth Highness.”

Who knew what had gotten him so excited.

But thinking of her contemplations in the dream moments ago, the smile on Su Jin’s face gradually faded.

Liu Chaoming’s words from the secret chamber resurfaced by her ears.

—”I’d also like to ask, when the scholars rioted, where was that righteously indignant Su Shiyu?”

—”Your grandfather was Chancellor Xie. You personally witnessed the tragic state when chancellors were abolished. Do you want to help someone like Zhu Minda rise to power and let the slaughter of meritorious officials and scholars happen again?”

Listening to these repeated calls of “Thirteenth Highness,” Su Jin couldn’t help sinking herself lower.

The moment the bathwater covered her ears and nose, she suddenly felt Liu Chaoming was right.

Her position had never come from a choice made after careful consideration, but from selfish motives, from her feelings for Zhu Nanxian.

But what if there were no Zhu Nanxian? How would she choose? Would she follow Liu Chaoming’s position? Or comply with the court situation like most officials? Or stay away from the conflict?

Su Jin didn’t know.

Nor did she think her choice based on selfish motives was wrong. No one was a saint; everyone had likes and dislikes, loves and hates. Her unhesitating, unwavering stance wasn’t solely based on the word “love”—whether as a person or as a ruler, Zhu Nanxian had never disappointed her.

Su Jin just suddenly became curious: if her choice of position could be called hasty, then how did someone as wise and self-disciplined as Liu Yun make his choice? How long had he deliberated before making his choice?

She didn’t know if she would still have a chance to properly ask him.

She only knew she couldn’t lose.

Just as Su Jin emerged from the bath, she heard Tan Shi knocking at the door outside: “My lord, there’s someone outside claiming to be Lord Zhai from the Imperial Censorate here to visit you.” Then she muttered, “Coming in the middle of the night.”

Su Jin said, “Have him wait in the main hall.”

This was what she had instructed today—whenever they found leads in the Annan merchant case, no matter when, no matter where she was, they must report to her immediately.

When Su Jin emerged from her room again, she had already changed into her official robes. Tan Shi, seeing this, said, “Is my lord going to court already?”

Su Jin nodded: “Yes, today the Fourth Prince and Fourth Princess are entering the capital. I’ll go early.”

Reaching the main hall, she had Zhai Di follow her onto the carriage before asking, “Is there news?”

Zhai Di took out a sealed letter from his breast: “News from Jiujiang Prefecture. Does my lord remember when you sent back the account books of Annan merchant cargo to the capital, and Lord Shen investigated for half a year without finding any leads?”

“I remember. Qingyue said it was because once those tens of thousands of taels of silver flowed into Great Sui, they became untraceable.”

“Later, when we finally traced it to a clerk under Jiujiang Prefecture connected to the Annan case, just as our people arrived, this clerk was assassinated by Lord Liu’s people.”

At that time, Liu Yun’s people had been only half a step faster than Shen Xi’s agents, and it was precisely because of this that Shen Xi discovered Liu Yun’s involvement.

“After that clerk was assassinated, his household scattered and fled. Though several were later captured, most had never even been to Lingnan. Not until last month did the Jiujiang Prefect send word that they had caught the clerk’s former personal attendant. Though this attendant knew nothing of the Annan affair, he knew of a Lingnan merchant who had been in close contact with the clerk. Just a few days ago, this merchant was captured and is now being interrogated.”

When Zhai Di finished speaking, Su Jin had also finished reading through the letter in her hand.

Zhai Di asked, “My lord, now that we’ve found this Lingnan merchant and confirmed he’s connected to the Annan cargo case, shall we use him as a witness to convict Lord Liu?”

Su Jin flipped through several pages of the letter again, frowning: “This merchant says he doesn’t know Liu Yun?”