When the spring thunder of the twenty-first year of Wanli exploded, Shen Xitang's embroidered shoes were stepping upon the blue bricks of the Shuntian Prefecture yamen. Rainwater streamed down the silver-threaded borders of her Flying Fish Garment, pooling into dark red puddles beside her feet—rain undeniably mixed with blood.
Xiao Heng's scabbard flipped open the curtain of the side hall, and the stale stench of blood rushed over them. Three corpses were neatly laid out on the cypress wood platform, and on the missing right index finger of the corpse on the far left, a jade thumb ring was conspicuously worn.
"Does Lord Thousand-Householder recognize this item?" Shen Xitang's armor scraped against the neck of the corpse. "This is the dragon-patterned emerald tribute from the Ryukyu emissary last year, which ought to have been sealed away in the Ministry of Revenue warehouse."
Chapter 136