Stacks of registers piled high on the desk.

Minister Sun smiled and said, “Grand Commander, please take your time reviewing them. This humble official won’t disturb you any longer.”

Grand Commander Luo smiled and nodded. “Minister Sun, please do as you wish.”

After Minister Sun departed, Grand Commander Luo’s smile faded as he stared at the stacks of registers, his eyes flickering.

These registers were divided according to the five districts—east, south, west, north, and central. Each district was further subdivided by ward.

Grand Commander Luo fell silent for a moment, then reached out to pick up one register and began leafing through it.

Year Wuchen, seventh day of the seventh month, mao hour. Whenever he came across a woman born at this hour, he recorded her name on white paper in black ink.

Each name written on the white paper represented a girl who had just turned seventeen.

Grand Commander Luo’s heart was heavy as he wrote down these names. When he picked up the Western District volume and opened to the section containing the Luo residence, he saw Luo Sheng’s birth date written there clearly: Year Wuchen, seventh day of the seventh month, mao hour.

Grand Commander Luo stared at that line of small characters, his chest surging with heated blood.

After an unknown amount of time, he silently pressed this register beneath several others and picked up the one he had been reviewing earlier to continue.

Time passed bit by bit. The pile of reviewed registers grew thicker and thicker, while the pile of unreviewed ones remained even larger.

Minister Sun walked in, chuckling. “Grand Commander, it’s already noon. Why don’t you take a rest and we’ll have a meal together?”

Grand Commander Luo hesitated briefly, then closed the open register. “Very well. My eyes have gone dry from all this reading.”

Minister Sun glanced at the registers covering the desk and clicked his tongue inwardly.

The Grand Commander truly was undaunted by this task. If it were him looking through so many registers, his head would be splitting.

Considering Grand Commander Luo’s status, it wouldn’t do to simply make do at the ministry office. Minister Sun brought Grand Commander Luo to a restaurant near the ministry.

It was mealtime, and the restaurant was quite lively.

After drinking two cups of wine and chewing on braised beef, Minister Sun remarked with feeling, “Speaking of which, the braised beef at a certain tavern still has the best flavor.”

Though Grand Commander Luo’s mood was oppressed, hearing these words he couldn’t help but smile. “Does Minister Sun often visit my daughter’s tavern?”

Minister Sun laughed awkwardly. “Occasionally, just occasionally.”

He would like to go often, but where was the money?

Thinking of the Black Shop’s prices, Grand Commander Luo completely understood Minister Sun’s embarrassed smile and said with a laugh, “Once I’ve finished this busy period, I’ll treat Minister Sun to drinks there.”

Minister Sun’s eyes lit up as he thanked him from the bottom of his heart. “Then I must thank the Grand Commander.”

Previously Minister Zhao had treated him to one meal, but he hadn’t eaten his fill.

Hehe, it seemed his luck had been pretty good lately.

Thinking this, Minister Sun opened up the conversation. “Grand Commander, how can you possibly review so many registers by yourself? Why not assign a few subordinates to help?”

“The fewer people who know about certain matters, the better. Though the registers are numerous, spending a day or two will surely be enough to finish reviewing them.”

Hearing Grand Commander Luo say this, Minister Sun tactfully didn’t press further and raised his cup. “The Grand Commander truly works hard. This humble official toasts you.”

“It’s my duty. I should be the one thanking Minister Sun for his assistance.”

The two men exchanged pleasantries, and the atmosphere at the drinking table became quite lively.

Just then, a commotion came from outside.

“What’s that sound?” Minister Sun gripped his wine cup and instinctively looked toward the window.

Grand Commander Luo set down his cup and frowned. “It sounds like gong beating.”

Gong beating?

Minister Sun’s heart jumped as he quickly stood and moved to the window to look outside.

Grand Commander Luo also walked over.

The two were in a private room on the second floor. Through the open window, they could see people running back and forth—some carrying water buckets, some beating copper gongs—a scene of chaos and panic.

“It seems there’s a fire somewhere.” Minister Sun stroked his beard.

Grand Commander Luo said urgently, “This area is quite close to all the ministry offices. Let’s go down and take a look.”

Minister Sun immediately agreed. “Let’s go see.”

In broad daylight, whose house had caught fire? How careless.

The two hurried down to the street and followed the crowd forward, immediately spotting the place billowing black smoke.

Minister Sun froze.

If he wasn’t mistaken, that appeared to be the Ministry of Finance—it really was the Ministry of Finance!

After a brief moment of shock, Minister Sun took off running.

He had come to watch the excitement, never imagining that the fire would be at his own ministry.

Grand Commander Luo suppressed the delight in his eyes and quickly followed.

The Ministry of Finance was already in complete chaos, with many commoners flooding in to help fight the fire.

“What happened?” Minister Sun roared.

A bailiff said with a pale face, “Reporting to Your Excellency, there’s a fire at the Second Hall. The cause is still unclear at present.”

Hearing it was the Second Hall, Minister Sun couldn’t be bothered with more questions and hurried over.

The Second Hall was where they handled official business daily. If it burned down, that would be serious trouble.

When he arrived, Minister Sun couldn’t help but freeze.

What was once a solemn and dignified place now billowed with black smoke, the fire势 terrifying.

“How could this happen, how could this happen…” Minister Sun muttered, completely unable to accept the fact that their office was burning.

“Oh no!” Grand Commander Luo’s face changed drastically as he rushed toward the flames.

A bailiff quickly grabbed Grand Commander Luo. “Grand Commander, it’s dangerous inside. You mustn’t go in!”

Grand Commander Luo roared angrily, “Let go! There are important things inside!”

The bailiff looked helplessly at Minister Sun.

Minister Sun came to his senses and quickly tried to stop Grand Commander Luo. “Grand Commander, with this blaze, if you go in you won’t be able to come out. You mustn’t be impulsive!”

Grand Commander Luo smiled bitterly. “Minister Sun, you know—those registers are still inside—”

“There’s no helping it now. How could such a thing happen?” Thinking of the consequences, Minister Sun covered his face and wept.

Seeing Minister Sun cry, Grand Commander Luo couldn’t very well insist on rushing into the inferno. Instead, he consoled him. “Minister Sun, don’t cry. Fires are the hardest to control. This isn’t your responsibility…”

News of the fire at the Ministry of Finance spread quickly.

Emperor Yong’an didn’t see the Minister of Finance who had come to the palace to plead guilty, but first summoned Grand Commander Luo.

“What happened?”

“This subject and Minister Sun were just having our meal when the Ministry of Finance caught fire—”

“What about the household registers?” Emperor Yong’an wasn’t interested in hearing irrelevant details and asked directly.

Grand Commander Luo looked utterly alarmed. “The fire started at the Second Hall, which happened to be where this subject was reviewing the registers. Those registers were all destroyed… Your Majesty, this subject believes the fire at the Ministry of Finance is suspicious. I fear someone did this deliberately!”

Emperor Yong’an naturally thought the same, and even harbored a trace of suspicion toward the subject pleading guilty before him. Hearing these words, he temporarily suppressed his doubts and said with a dark expression, “Effective immediately, the Jinlin Guard and the Ministry of Justice will jointly investigate the fire at the Ministry of Finance. You must get to the bottom of this matter for me!”

“This subject receives your command.”

Grand Commander Luo returned to the Grand Commander’s residence and sat down on the low couch in his study, letting out a long sigh.

He had managed to muddle through for now. As for whether things would eventually reach the worst possible outcome, he would just have to wait and see.

The moment Lin Teng learned of this matter, he went to see Luo Sheng.

“Does Miss Luo know about the fire at the Ministry of Finance?”

Luo Sheng nodded slightly. “I know.”

Lin Teng fell silent for a moment, then probed carefully. “I heard that at that time, your honored father was at the Ministry reviewing registers—”

Luo Sheng smiled. “Because that person issued a new order, saying they had made an error before. What truly needed to be resolved were women born at the mao hour on the seventh day of the seventh month in the year Wuchen.”

Before Lin Teng could feel angry, he heard the young woman before him say lightly, “I was born at that time.”