Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"What, not planning to eat it while it's hot?"

Seeing Jiang Shangxian's outburst, Shen Lang remained unfazed and casually uttered a few words.

"I'll take advantage of you, my foot! Sigh!"

Jiang Shangxian pushed Shen Lang aside, carefully examined Xia Xiaoling's body, and then shook his head.

"What a pity, such a beautiful young woman is gone just like that. Oh well, she's dead, but it's a shame my private stash of money is destined to be lost..."

After composing himself, he turned to Shen Lang and said, "Now that we've gathered all the intelligence, what are you planning to do?"

Shen Lang opened the door to the secret room and glanced at the night view outside the window.

"Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night."

……

Outside the incense shop, in a dimly lit corner, a figure stared intently at the shop.

The darkness completely obscured the man's face, making it impossible to discern his expression.

"It's almost 3 AM..."

Chen Anning sighed, knowing that the assassination attempt on Shen Lang might have failed, and was about to turn and leave.

But just then, candlelight was lit inside the incense shop.

"Ok?"

Chen Anning looked on suspiciously, and instinctively wanted to go closer to investigate.

But when I took that step, I hesitated a little.

He wasn't sure if the person inside was Xia Xiaoling; if not, he would be exposed.

So he continued to observe carefully from the shadows for a while.

About half a cup of tea later, Chen Anning vaguely saw a figure hanging a lantern outside the incense shop.

"call……"

Seeing this, Chen Anning finally breathed a sigh of relief; this was the secret signal he had agreed upon with Xia Xiaoling.

So he quietly stepped out of the darkness and strode towards the Dyeing Fragrance Workshop.

Little did he know that the moment he stepped out of the darkness, several disguised members of the Jingwei Division had already locked their eyes on him.

Chen Anning cautiously entered the incense shop.

Upon entering the room, I saw Xia Xiaoling sitting with her back to me in a shopkeeper's chair.

"Xiao Ling."

He called softly.

"Is it done?"

There was no response.

Chen Anning took two more steps toward where Xia Xiaoling was.

Suddenly, a strong sense of unease washed over me.

"Not good."

His keen senses made him instinctively turn around and walk out of the neighborhood.

Suddenly, a cold voice came from behind.

"Mr. Chen, now that you're here, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Anning closed her eyes in despair.

He took a deep breath and slowly turned around to look at Shen Lang, who was fiddling with spices.

"Hehe, I'm so stupid. How could the Emperor of Great Chu be an ordinary person?"

Chen Anning chuckled self-deprecatingly, then walked over to Xia Xiaoling's body, glanced at it, and shook his head.

"Lord Zhenguo, my name is Chen Anning, I greet you."

Shen Lang looked at Chen Anning expressionlessly, then slowly said after sizing him up, "Mr. Chen, you should know..."

"Tell me everything you know, and perhaps I might consider sparing your life."

Chen Anning: "The Duke of Zhenguo is joking. Since the Duke of Zhenguo was able to find this place..."

I realize I have no chance of escaping. Spare my life? Ha! I dare not even hope for that.

Shen Lang smiled slightly: "Since Young Master Chen is so straightforward, then I won't hide anything from you."

You are indeed going to die, but your sister in Mingzhou will survive. Just the crime of assassinating the current emperor's son-in-law...

Even if your sister survives, she will be sent to a brothel to serve customers.

You wouldn't want your only family member to end up like this, would you?

Chen Anning's pupils shrank: "Don't touch my sister, this has nothing to do with her."

"From the moment you decided to attack me, neither you nor anyone around you were innocent, Mr. Chen."

All I can do is ensure your younger sister's financial security for the rest of her life; the rest is up to you to decide.

With his weakness exploited, Chen Anning really wanted to die right then and there.

But the thought of his younger sister being controlled by Shen Lang... what if...

"Have you thought it through? My patience is limited, and I don't have time to waste here with you any longer."

"Then promise me you won't hurt my sister."

"You can keep dragging this out, I'm not in a hurry."

With that, Shen Lang gave a cold laugh, casually pulled up a chair, and sat down in front of Chen Anning.

"Speak, tell me everything I want to know."

Chen Anning: "I only know about the salt tax, that..."

Shen Lang raised his hand to stop him from saying what he was about to say: "That's not what I want to know."

Chen Anning was taken aback: "Duke Zhenguo, what exactly do you want to know?"

“The number of registered households in various parts of Jiangnan has decreased by 30%. I want to know where these registered households have gone.”

Chen Anning was shocked: "Duke Zhenguo, how would I know?"

"No rush, you can take your time to think about it."

Shen Langman said casually.

"If you don't want to talk, you can commit suicide as a response. I won't care. After all, things I don't know will be dug out of your sister's mouth."

Chen Anning's eyes widened: "I told you, this has nothing to do with my sister! She knows nothing about it!"

Shen Lang said nonchalantly, "That depends on whether you cooperate or not."

"Liu Wu had already thoroughly investigated the salt tax case; the entire Suzhou officialdom was implicated."

Now, all I want to know is why the number of household registration cases in Jiangnan has decreased so drastically?

Chen Anning fell silent.

Shen Lang's methods were far beyond his imagination. Unfortunately, although he had anticipated the situation, he couldn't help but follow a good-for-nothing like Chang Benchu.

Having come to this point, all he wanted was for his sister to live peacefully, and he dared not have any more unrealistic hopes.

"The main reason for the lack of registered households in Jiangnan is that powerful families have taken over the land cultivated by farmers."

During this period, I compiled a ledger detailing the land acquisitions of major families in Jiangnan over the past twenty years, which I secretly hid in a hidden compartment in the brick wall of my home.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang immediately raised his hand.

Upon seeing this from outside the door, Jiang Shangxian immediately said to a group of his subordinates, "Go quickly and verify the facts. Be sure to find the evidence of the crime for me."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, the subordinate immediately disappeared into the darkness.

Inside the room, Shen Lang continued to ask, "What exactly is your relationship with the Suzhou aristocratic families?"

"Twenty years ago, Mingzhou was hit by a flood, and all the land in my family's house was submerged."

My family moved to Suzhou to seek refuge, and during that time we were fortunate enough to receive a full meal from the Minister.

"After that, my father always told me that the Minister was the savior of my Chen family, and that I should never forget the kindness of that meal."

After my father died, my younger sister and I depended on each other for survival.

I had hoped to serve the governor-general at his office, but unfortunately, due to my humble origins, my wish was not fulfilled.

"Therefore, I turned to General Chang, who had a close relationship with the Minister."

Becoming his advisor is another way to repay Minister Zheng.

"Liu Wu, the Inspector Liu, was imprisoned because I asked General Chang to suggest it to Minister Zheng."

Unfortunately, the minister did not immediately execute Liu Wu.

Furthermore, the imperial court reacted swiftly, dispatching the Duke of Zhenguo to take over the case so quickly.

"What surprised me even more was that the Duke of Zhenguo took control of the Suzhou camp immediately."

"Without the support of the army, the Suzhou officialdom is like a lamb to the slaughter, destined to be purged by the Duke of Zhenguo sooner or later. In order to prevent the Minister from being implicated..."

That's why I took the risk and wanted to get rid of the Duke of Zhenguo, so that I could protect his family.

After speaking, Chen Anning felt the oppressive atmosphere in his heart dissipate considerably, and his breathing became much easier.

Now he realized that compared to Zheng Bisheng and others whom he had barely met, his younger sister was the one he cared about the most.

"The person who assassinated the Duke of Zhenguo tonight was also a backup plan I've kept over the years."

It was all to prevent the situation in Suzhou from spiraling out of control one day, so we could make a final, desperate stand. But alas…

Shen Lang shook his head: "Should I say you're grateful, or that you're foolish?"

Fortunately, you had a backup plan, which saved you some reputation.

After saying that, Shen Lang slowly stood up, walked to Chen Anning's side, bent down, and said to him.

"But have you ever thought about why, after that natural disaster, your family's farmland never returned to your own hands?"

Perhaps the family you're willing to die for has already seized your land, and your family, Chen Anning, is among those whose household registration is incomplete?

Chen Anning's pupils contracted, and as he looked up, he felt a sudden tightness in his chest.

Looking down, he saw that a dagger had been plunged into his chest, yet he miraculously felt no pain.

"You... uh..."

Xia Xiaoling told me that she has always loved you, and you shouldn't have let her down.

Before she died, I promised you that you would be together forever, so go down and join her.

After saying that, Shen Lang unfurled his cloak and strode over to the Dyeing Fragrance Workshop, waving to Wang Rui.

"Duke Zhenguo".

Wang Rui hurriedly stepped forward to receive orders.

"Notify the Jingwei Division to go to Mingzhou City and eliminate Chen Anning's sister, Chen Wanying. Remember to do it quickly."

"what?"

Wang Rui was dumbfounded; this was far too ruthless.

"What, can't you bring yourself to do it?"

Shen Lang's eyes turned cold: "To cut the weeds, you must nip them in the bud. I don't want to keep this menace around to threaten His Majesty. Bring me her head."

Wang Rui pondered for a moment upon hearing this, then nodded emphatically.