The sixteenth day of the second month, afternoon, the Hall of Literary Splendor.
Spring sunlight slanted into the hall.
A volume of the Emperor's Model, written by Emperor Taizong of Former Tang, lay open on the desk beneath a paperweight. The tea had been replenished three times and had gone cold.
Crown Prince Jiang Heng sat behind the desk, his eyes fixed on the book.
Just then, Bao De entered to report, "Your Highness, the Junior Director of Palace Affairs requests an audience."
"Oh?" Jiang Heng looked up, his face brightening. "Then hurry and invite Zi'an in!"
Having received permission, Wei Nisheng hurried inside and bowed. "Your servant pays his respects to Your Highness."
"Sit, Zi'an." Jiang Heng indicated the chair beside the desk. "I have something to ask you."
"Please speak first, Your Highness."
"There is no hurry." Jiang Heng smiled. "You speak first, Zi'an. You do not look well."
Wei Nisheng fell silent for a moment.
"Your Highness," he began, "I did indeed come today to report a matter to you."
"What is it?"
"The case I have been investigating has yielded results."
Wei Nisheng recounted the full sequence of events, point by point: the Stone Record's ledgers had been scraped and burned.
The sole witness, He San, had been taken from Shuntian Prefecture's prison by Shen Yi for questioning and had implicated Censor Luo Wenjin.
Since Jinghe Year Thirteen, Luo had accepted over eight thousand taels of silver from the Stone Record, carrying messages to various upright officials on its behalf and greasing the wheels.
Luo Wenjin had served as the intermediary for all the Stone Record's private salt and hidden fields dealings along the Ganning route.
"We have all three: testimony, accounts, and physical evidence," Wei Nisheng said. "But the witness, He San, died suddenly of