Chapter 102 Murder and Body Concealment, Doing Whatever One Pleases

Liu Qi's words failed to enrage Li Jin, but they did leave Jin Shu speechless: "You!"

Seeing that she was angry, Li Jin suddenly raised his hand and blocked Jin Shu's way.

The warning look cast from below made Jin Shu swallow her anger in an instant.

She bit her lip, looked at Liu Qi, and squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: "...Do you think the Six Doors can be dealt with by ten thousand taels of silver?"

Li Jin was taken aback.

Liu Qi was also taken aback.

Seeing Jin Shu's genuinely angry expression, he laughed: "I didn't expect the Six Doors to have such a big appetite!"

Realizing that she had lost control of her emotions and almost ruined everything, Jin Shu took a deep breath and took another step back, standing behind Zhou Zheng.

She lowered her voice and leaned close to Zhou Zheng, saying, "Lord Zhou, you have to stop me."

Zhou Zheng nodded and whispered in response, "If you get agitated again, I'll knock you out with a chop to the neck."

One sentence calmed Jin Shu's anger by half. Seeing his serious expression, which didn't seem like he was joking at all, she raised her eyebrows and quickly waved her hands and shook her head: "There's no need for that, there's no need for that!"

But Zhou Zheng's face was full of righteous indignation: "It's nothing, it only took a blink of an eye, it doesn't hurt."

"It hurts when I wake up, Lord Zhou." Jin Shu frowned and sighed.

The few words exchanged behind him made Li Jin, who was sitting there already burning with anger, burst into laughter.

He turned his head, looked at the two people behind him, and glared at them with disdain.

Fortunately, the effect was good. Seeing Li Jin smile in relief, Liu Qi truly believed his nonsense and grinned as well, looking like "we're all on the same side." He waved his hand and said, "Then it's twenty thousand taels of silver!"

"That's quite magnanimous." Li Jin put on a show of brotherly affection, closed his fan, leaned forward, and asked, "Then tell me, why did you kill him? There must be a reason, right?"

"Explain in detail, so I can fake it and get around it."

At this point, Liu Qi pulled up a chair from the side and sat down directly in front of Li Jin, mimicking his posture of leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, saying with disdain, "It's not a big deal."

“Just a few days ago, the two of us went to the Grand Tutor’s residence.” As he spoke, Liu Qi spat out a word. “The Grand Tutor gave us a few questions, saying they were about current events in the world, and asked us to share our opinions.”

"Su Ziping, the son of a mere merchant, actually dared to speak eloquently in front of the Grand Tutor, spouting nonsense about continuing the lost learning of the sages and bringing peace to the world."

Liu Qi sneered, glancing at Li Jin: "You and I are both from the capital. Although I am not related to the imperial family, we are both of impeccable lineage. I and the Grand Tutor's son are brothers who have eaten together and studied together. What is Su Ziping compared to us!"

"With such a paltry skill, you dared to show off your meager abilities in front of the Grand Tutor, and even gained his favor." He paused, then added, "Pah! What a load of rubbish!"

Before him, Li Jin still smiled radiantly. He nodded and asked with a light laugh, "So, you killed him?"

But Liu Qi chuckled, looking proud, and patted his chest: "Killed him."

He showed no remorse whatsoever; instead, he displayed an air of glory, showcasing his achievements to everyone before him: "How can someone who is so dishonest be allowed to stay by the Grand Tutor's side? Just thinking about it makes me feel disgusted."

Hearing his words, Li Jin sat up straight and took a deep breath: "How did you manage to put the Gelsemium elegans in the medicine packet?"

“That’s easy.” He laughed. “You can rest assured when the prince is in charge.”

Seeing Li Jin's slightly cold face, Liu Qi thought he didn't believe him, so he quickly said, "Oh, actually, it was the apprentice who dispenses medicine at the pharmacy where that guy usually gets his medicine. I gave him more than ten taels of silver. He just 'coincidentally' misread the medicine, 'coincidentally' his hand trembled, and 'coincidentally' put in Gelsemium elegans instead."

Liu Qi grinned and clicked his tongue: "Just like that, he died!"

Glancing at his face, Li Jin nodded knowingly: "Then what about hiding the body?"

At this point, Liu Qi paused noticeably, a look of doubt crossing his face: "It's strange, really. After he took the medicine, he didn't go to class that day. I was afraid that things would be exposed, so I also told the teacher that I was sick and went to his dilapidated shack in the South Prison."

“He was already dead by then.” Liu Qi sneered. “This man was always dishonest. We all knew he stole things and even buried a box in the yard to hide it.”

“I just went along with it, dumped all the random stuff out of his box, and put him in there.” He smirked. “I just don’t know which bastard dug up someone who had been dead for two days and hung him up. When I heard about it, I was shocked. I thought he had come back to life.”

Looking at his smug expression, Li Jin took a deep breath after a long while and said, "Alright, I understand."

He waved his hand: "You can go now."

That appearance, naturally, stunned everyone in the room except Zhou Zheng.

Even Chen Xi, who had been standing to the side for a long time, was a little unsteady. He was about to step forward with a look of surprise when he saw Zhou Zheng raise his hand and block him.

Chen Xi looked utterly puzzled. He pursed his lips and, ignoring Zhou Zheng's attempts to stop him, took half a step forward: "Your Highness Prince Jing!"

He was stunned and shocked, unable to understand why he would do this, and why he was so different from the Prince Jing, Li Jin, whom his father had written about. They were like two completely different people.

Li Jin didn't turn around, pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and waved to Liu Qi: "Let's go."

Liu Qi hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and gave a cheerful bow: "To be honest, Your Highness, I hid the body, but when I came out, that brat Fandi saw me..."

"I will handle this; you don't need to worry about it." Li Jin lowered his finger, glancing at Liu Qi's fawning smile.

As if he had been reassured, Liu Qi couldn't help but beam with joy, bending over at a ninety-degree angle and grinning from ear to ear: "Thank you for your trouble, Your Highness Prince Jing."

The etiquette was much more standard than when they arrived.

Watching his arrogant departure, Chen Xi pursed her lips, nudged Zhou Zheng's arm, and kept her gaze fixed on Li Jin's profile: "Your Highness, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Qi, who had just stepped out of the door, was struck unconscious by a palm strike from Bai Yu, who appeared out of nowhere and was wearing a mask. He lay motionless on the ground.

Bai Yu took down the rope hanging behind him, snorted coldly, and quickly tied Liu Qi up.

This scene stunned Chen Xi, who was still inside the room wanting to argue her point.

"Take him to Feng Chao and have him sent to the imperial prison to be properly treated," Li Jin said coldly, looking at Liu Qi on the ground.

Jin Shu, who was already used to this kind of unexpectedness, couldn't help but utter two words: "scheming."

Li Jin glanced at her, not angry at all, and smiled faintly as she turned her gaze to the extremely anxious Chen Xi: "Lord Chen, where is Fan Di?"

Chen Xi was taken aback.

“This case is not over,” Li Jin said.

Beside him, on the page about Fan Di that Shen Wen had been searching for all night, were four clear and distinct words: No such person found.