"Prefect Liu Ang is the mastermind behind this entire scheme."
My voice was quiet, but across the table, Li Jun’s expression darkened.
The evidence we’d gathered these past days all pointed to one man—Liu Ang, Prefect of Danxi. He had colluded with merchants to sell off disaster relief grain under the guise of "tax compensation," lining his pockets while the people starved. Behind him stretched a web of local gentry and military officials.
"How do you plan to take him down? He’s no small fry like Inspector Luo." Li Jun pushed a cup of hot tea toward me, his tone uncharacteristically grave.
"Impeach him," I answered without hesitation.
"Do you have proof?"
I nodded, drawing a ledger from my robes—obtained at great risk from Liu’s former steward. Its pages detailed three years of discrepancies between "granary transfers" and merchant payments, with glaring inconsistencies against official tax records.
"These aren’t just numbers. They’re lives." My voice trembled, but my resolve held. "If we don’t expose him, no one here will dare speak again."
The memorial took all night to draft.
This was my first time composing a full indictment alone—no mentor’s guidance, no safety net. It listed every crime, every embezzled grain, and bore the inked fingerprints of starving villagers.
I knew sending it meant war: against Liu Ang, against Danxi’s entire bureaucracy, perhaps even against factions in Moonlit City.
But I had no regrets.
Three days later, the document reached the City Lord’s office, then the capital. And I—ordered to "remain in Danxi pending investigation"—understood the truth: this wasn’t protection. It was house arrest.
That night, Zhu Yuanzhang’s secret letter arrived.
[ "Your move has stirred the court. Factions are divided. Proceed with caution." ]
I laughed softly, showing Li Jun. "Even he didn’t think I’d go this far."
Li Jun, hammering tent stakes, muttered, "You shouldn’t shoulder this risk alone."
"Then help me carry it," I challenged.
He met my gaze, suddenly solemn. "Fine. Unless you drive me off, I’ll see this through."
I slept by the campfire that night, the ledger beneath my pillow like a lit fuse. Outside, the wind howled. Inside, the lamp burned on.
Seven days later, the capital’s reply came.
Liu Ang was stripped of office and escorted to the imperial prison.
And I—appointed "Imperial Investigator of Danxi"—retained my Bureau of Strategy title but gained independent authority.
From academy scholar to special envoy in two months.
But I knew: this was only the eye of the storm.
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and then Add to home screen.