Chapter 48 A Link Across Time and Space

“I know Your Highness is looking for this, and I believe that Your Highness will find me sooner or later.”

She smiled and said, "I have waited for Your Highness for six years, and I have finally been able to see you."

Li Jin paused for a moment when he heard the words "six years." He narrowed his eyes and stared at the Buddhist chanting in front of him.

She pursed her lips, then downed the wine in her cup in one gulp: "Your Highness, His Highness the Crown Prince is innocent."

Li Jin remained outwardly calm and composed, but inwardly a raging storm was raging, engulfing him and suffocating him.

The case from six years ago remains a mystery to this day.

The Ministry of Justice did not include it, the Six Doors did not record it, and all the details and all the evidence were said to be kept in the Imperial Study.

It was forbidden to discuss this among the officials and the general public. Therefore, before Li Jin met Shen Wen, he only received many strange and unusual versions of the story.

It wasn't until later, when he invited Shen Wen, who was known as "omniscient," into the Six Doors, that he learned the general outline of the whole incident through tireless collection and organization.

"Six years ago, in the sweltering summer, His Majesty went to the summer palace to escape the heat, while His Highness the Crown Prince was ordered to handle state affairs and did not leave the palace at all," Fan Yin said. "During that time, the Crown Princess was pregnant, and I went to her residence every day to keep her company, so I knew the inside story."

"But from some unknown day onwards, rumors began to circulate throughout the capital that His Highness the Crown Prince was planning a rebellion." As she said this, a disdainful smile appeared on her face.

"They said His Highness secretly sent two cartloads of armor to the young general stationed at the imperial palace." She bit her lip and took a deep breath. "Then, in order to stabilize the entire court, His Highness prepared to prove his innocence and went to the imperial palace empty-handed."

"After that..." she said, clenching her fists tightly, her lips opening and closing, but she remained silent for a long time.

After that, Li Mu did indeed go to the imperial palace alone, and on his way there, he was caught red-handed by the current Crown Prince, Li Jing.

Li Mu did not meet the emperor of Great Wei, the chosen one Li Yi. Instead, after waiting seven days for an audience, he was suddenly labeled a traitor who attempted to force the emperor to abdicate.

Outside the palace, a small army appeared out of nowhere, carrying Li Mu's banner, and forced the emperor to abdicate and relinquish his imperial power.

All information and news about this matter were erased in a strange way.

Despite investigating for so long, Li Jin still couldn't figure out the process of this coup.

Who was it, and what kind of force led them to force Li Mu to abdicate? And why was Li Mu arrested before the coup? To this day, Li Jin still has no answers to these questions.

All that remains is the tragic ending: Li Mu is dead, and the Crown Princess and her unborn child are missing.

“At the time, Her Highness the Crown Princess was with me the whole time. Three days before the incident, people from the General’s Mansion rushed over and secretly informed Her Highness the Crown Princess that something bad was going to happen, and told her to pack her bags and flee overnight.”

Fan Yin paused for a moment: "It is said that a man named Lin Zhongyi brought two carts of armor to give to the young general, but the young general sensed something was amiss and did not accept them. After that, this Lin Zhongyi went to find a man named Yang Qingyun and never returned."

As Li Jin listened to her, her fingertips gently tapped on the table.

The part that Fan Yin was describing at this moment was exactly the piece of the puzzle that Li Jin had not been able to obtain for six years.

Lin Zhongyi and Yang Qingyun—this was the first time he had heard of two additional people involved in this case.

"What do you remember?" Li Jin asked after a long while.

Ke Fanyin shook her head: "That's all the news related to His Highness the Crown Prince."

She took a deep breath: "That night, the Crown Princess was unwilling to leave. She firmly believed in His Majesty's wisdom, that His Highness was not a villain who was trying to force the emperor to abdicate, and that everything would turn out well and things would get better."

"but……"

Fan Yin paused for a long time, looking at the wine cup in front of her, neither sad nor happy, only feeling that fate was playing tricks on her.

“I was terrified at the time, and I also had my own selfish thoughts. I thought that if His Highness fled, I could go with him and it would be much safer. So I tried my best to persuade her to leave first for the sake of the child, to lay low for a while, and to come back after everything has settled down.”

"In the end, for the sake of the child who was already six or seven months pregnant, the Crown Princess made up her mind and hurriedly left before dawn."

As she said this, her gaze glazed over as she stared at Li Jin, and she laughed self-deprecatingly.

As she laughed, she could no longer control her suppressed emotions and covered her face, bursting into tears.

Inside the house, the sounds of weeping made Jin Shu and Zhou Zheng hesitate as they looked at the tightly closed door.

Standing to the side, He Lin frowned, pursed her lips, and went downstairs to pour a cup of tea for each of them.

After calming down a bit, Fan Yin wiped away her tears and continued, "But how easy is it to escape? The Crown Princess had just left when the Crown Prince's residence was surrounded. When the Crown Princess saw this, she gave me some money and told me not to follow her and to find another way to make a living."

“She said that if we followed her, we might both die if we died, but if we were separated, one of us would survive.” Fan Yin gritted her teeth, trying to control the churning pain in her heart, and took a deep breath. “She said that as long as we survive, we will definitely be able to wait for Your Highness Prince Jing to return, and everything should still have a chance to turn around.”

Before her sat Li Jin, unsure of how to respond to her heart-wrenching words.

He looked at the blue and white porcelain wine cup, at the small square table in front of him, at the smoke from the incense burner in the room, and at the sunlight falling on the Buddhist chanting, while burying himself in the shadows.

He knew, he knew how much Li Mu's family needed him under those circumstances.

He knew perfectly well that all of this was deliberately arranged, deliberately chosen, and deliberately occurred at a special time when he was quelling the war and unable to extricate himself.

He had tried to resist, even attempting to turn the tide. So, risking certain death if exposed, he donned a black cloak and rode back through the night.

However, the northwest border is remote, and despite trying every possible method, it still took seven days to get there.

Seven days later, when he arrived in the capital, everything had changed. Li Mu was suffering torture in the imperial prison, and the Crown Princess Cen was missing.

For the first time, he felt how insignificant he was, unable to think of any solutions when faced with such a predicament.

Looking around the capital, apart from his maternal grandfather General Xiao's family, there was no one he could trust.

But now, with Consort Xiao banished to the Cold Palace and General Xiao barely able to protect himself, he has no choice but to go to them.

Standing alone on the seemingly peaceful Zhuquemen Street, Li Jin looked at the magnificent imperial city before him and felt a longing for power and control that he had never felt before.

A prince who led troops into battle and made great contributions was completely unaware that his brother was plotting a rebellion.

Everything skipped over him; it was as if someone had blindfolded him and covered his ears.

He knew that if Li Mu could achieve such a feat, one day when it was his turn... if he didn't do something now, he would probably repeat the same mistake as his brother.

Everything had to be shattered and swallowed. If the emperor didn't speak, he couldn't ask; if the emperor didn't tell him, he couldn't know.

Otherwise, not only would they fail to save Li Mu, but they would also get themselves caught in the crossfire.

If he were also caught red-handed, wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone for the person who orchestrated this whole treasonous case?

If he were also imprisoned and lost his status and voice, who would be able to help Li Mu seek justice, now or in the future?

In the late summer of the 203rd year of the Great Wei Dynasty, Li Jin, who was a "God of War" general just the day before, swallowed a pain that ordinary people could not swallow and endured an endurance that ordinary people could not endure.

He turned around, pulled up the hood of his black coat, and left the capital without a word.

Whether now or then, Li Jin clearly knew what she could do and what she should do.