Chapter 52 Undercurrents

Xu Weiyou, Minister of Justice.

He stood there stunned for a moment, then shoved the letter into his pocket and hurriedly stood up: "Oh no!"

Then he turned away from the desk, grabbed Jin Shu, and walked out.

Inside the room, on the rosewood desk, in the hidden compartment at the bottom of the brocade box, the bright red "ten" written inside was exceptionally vivid.

Li Jin never dreamed that the case of Fan Yin and the case of the Fang family in Yizhou would be connected in such a way.

The Fang family case was just the prologue; the Fan Yin case, on the other hand, was the simplest and quickest way for the person who orchestrated all of this to contact Li Jin.

Whether it was Fang Qing or Fan Yin, it was all a scheme to attract his attention and make him observe that there was such a magnificent net spread under the sky of the capital.

If the bird is referring to Xu Weiyou, the Minister of Justice, then would Yang An, who is being escorted back to the capital from Linyang, also have some connection with them? Would he be silenced like Fang Qing, or would he be able to safely reach the capital? These questions have become a huge unknown in Li Jin's mind.

However, before he could even step out of the Six Doors, he saw Feng Chao, the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, rushing over in a hurry.

Seeing his flustered appearance, Li Jin instinctively became alert: "Lord Feng, what's the matter that you're in such a hurry?"

Feng Chao stepped forward and knelt on one knee: "Your Highness Prince Jing, I am incompetent! On the way back to the capital, this disgraced subject Yang An was robbed a hundred li south of the Wei River!"

"What did you say?!" Li Jin's eyes widened as she stared at Feng Chao. "You were kidnapped?"

He kowtowed to the ground, beating his chest and stamping his feet: "This humble official has already ordered the local government to dig three feet into the ground to find out what forces were behind this. Your Highness, rest assured, this humble official will do everything in his power to bring back the culprit Yang An!"

Li Jin took a deep breath, swallowed the emotions churning in his chest, crossed his arms, and stood in front of Feng Chao, pondering for a long time with a somber face.

This was unexpected, yet perfectly logical.

Surprisingly, he didn't expect the other party to resort to such despicable means. In fact, it seemed that this group would do anything to escape punishment.

He knew that Feng Chao wouldn't find any clues. A person who had risen to the position of Prefect of Jingzhao through his own abilities, diligence, and a belief in fairness and justice was no match for this group of shameless and filthy souls.

If they dared to rob an official vehicle, they must have been prepared to make sure that Feng Chao couldn't find a single hair on the ground even if he dug three feet into the ground.

At that time, Yang An's ledger showed many bribes that flowed to the capital, but their final destination remained unknown.

Besides the Grand Tutor Su Yu, whom Yang An himself implicated, he is now almost certain that the name of Xu Weiyou, the Minister of Justice, has also been added to the list.

Both of these men were henchmen of the Crown Prince, serving as his right-hand men in court and among the common people.

After a moment of deep thought, Li Jin said calmly, "Lord Feng, please get up."

He bent down and personally helped the elderly Feng Chao up from the ground. Looking at his anxious and frightened face, he patted his arm without saying anything.

He knew that Feng Chao was no match for them.

After a short while, Li Jin glanced at Jin Shu, took a deep breath, walked past Feng Chao, and continued walking out.

He took two steps, then stopped, turned around and looked at Feng Chao: "Three days ago, I sent the female prisoner to your Jingzhao Prefecture..."

Upon hearing this, Feng Chao cupped his hands and bowed deeply: "Because the evidence was conclusive, His Highness the Crown Prince approved the execution yesterday."

Li Jin was startled: "Yesterday?"

"Yes, His Highness the Crown Prince brought a letter from Lord Lin Yongde, requesting that the case be closed and the defendant executed."

Hearing his words, Li Jin stood at the door in a daze for a long time before finally saying, "I understand. The Crown Prince truly cares about the world."

After saying this, he smiled and bid farewell to Feng Chao, then turned and got into the carriage parked at the door.

Jin Shu tactfully followed behind him and sat in the coachman's seat.

"Come in." Li Jin's voice came from inside the car before it even moved.

She glanced at Zhou Zheng, who sat there motionless, and pointed to herself in surprise: "Me?"

"Who else could it be but you?"

Listening to his complaints from inside the carriage, Jin Shu pursed her lips, got out of the carriage, lifted the curtain, and sat inside.

Before my eyes, Li Jin's bad mood was clearly written all over his face, and he was waving his fan rapidly.

The carriage moved slowly forward. Jin Shu looked at Li Jin, who was staring intently at her face, and her gaze kept drifting to the side.

After a long pause, Li Jin finally spoke: "What do you think, sir?"

After saying that, he added, "In Fang Qing's case, there was a flying knife and the character '序' (xu), while in Fan Yin's case, there was a bracelet and the character '十' (shi). What do you think, sir?"

Jin Shu remained silent for a long time, then took a deep breath: "I think this isn't over yet."

She looked at Li Jin's face, fiddling with her fingers: "The Prince received twelve patterns in total. Considering the current situation, could it be that each pattern corresponds to a person? And both Fang Qing's case and Fan Yin's case contain a word. Does this mean that if the Prince cannot find the clues they want to tell him before them, they will use this method to lure the Prince forward?"

Inside the car, Li Jin's fan, which had been waving rapidly, gradually slowed down, and his gaze towards Jin Shu softened considerably.

“Sir, you are truly a kindred spirit.” He laughed. “If it is as you say, I am not afraid at all. Even if there are still ‘nine’ or ‘eight’, I will gladly accept the challenge.”

"What I'm afraid of is..." Li Jin lowered his eyes and remained silent for a long time after saying this.

What he fears is that innocent people will suffer, that more and more people will be implicated, and that among those people, there might be some of his cherished friends.

Li Jin had a vague feeling that these cases were all guiding him in one direction.

A reinvestigation into the truth behind Li Mu's alleged rebellion six years ago.

It was as if someone had created a grand game of chess, forcing him, compelling him to follow the game's predetermined path, step by step.

If his deduction is correct, then there are at least twelve people and twelve families behind the twelve seal patterns.

Li Jin has reason to believe that they are inextricably linked to the case from six years ago.

Who exactly are these people and what forces have been scheming for so long, all to lead him step by step forward? What are they after?

Li Jin couldn't understand it, nor could she figure it out.

The carriage wound its way through the streets, heading straight for the East Market. It then stopped in front of He Lin's winery.

Unlike a few days ago, the gates here are now tightly closed and the place is deserted.

Li Jin looked at everything in front of him with remarkable calmness, as if he had already expected this outcome.

“From the very beginning, He Lin and Fan Yin were in cahoots.” He walked along the street, tapping his palm with the fan in his hand. “In the best-case scenario, He Lin watched as Fan Yin did everything from the sidelines.”

“It’s impossible that she only saw the carriage when it was closing time.” Li Jin turned around and glanced at Jin Shu as he walked. “It’s also impossible that she left her restaurant for such a long time.”

Li Jin looked up at the golden sky and said, "There is only one possibility: He Lin knew what Fan Yin was going to do from the beginning, or... she knew from the beginning that Fan Yin's ultimate target was me."

“What a pity.” After a long while, Li Jin laughed. “Fan Yin’s testimony completely absolved her of any responsibility. In the current situation, even if we catch her, we can’t convict her of conspiracy.”

In the distance, in a private room on the second floor of Jinhua Tower, Song Zhen watched the three people walk through the street and took a sip of wine from her glass.

Across from him sat He Lin, who had changed her look, with a faint smile.

"Lin Xinran, the young master of the Lin family, has witnessed Mr. Jin's strength. He was stunned by his deductions."

Song Zhen raised her eyes, glanced at He Lin's face, and after a long while, uttered two words: "Not enough."

Seeing He Lin's surprised look, he smiled slightly and said, "Wait a little longer, there's no rush."

After saying that, he glanced at the three people's retreating figures and stuffed the letter in his hand into the envelope.

The yellow envelope had an eagle pattern printed in the lower right corner.

Meanwhile, in the outskirts of Beijing, Yan Zhao stood under the leaky eaves, looking at the charred corpse before him, and pondered for a moment.

"This kind of case should be left to Mr. Jin to handle." He stood up, dusted off his hands, and turned to leave.