Chapter 107 We could only watch him die
That night, Li Jin did the same, not closing her eyes all night.
Standing in the garden of the Prince's mansion, to the gentle strains of the night, I lowered my eyes and looked at the jade pendant in my hand.
The jade pendant is shaped like a small fish and has golden tassels hanging from it.
Zhou Zheng stood behind him, his brows furrowed: "Your Highness, are you really willing to let the gentleman leave?"
Li Jin paused for a moment in the hand holding the jade pendant, then chuckled softly: "She can't leave."
If a woman disguises herself as a man to enter officialdom, and this is reported to the court, she could be guilty of deceiving the emperor.
This is his strongest card, a card he would never play unless absolutely necessary.
"It's easy to find an army, but hard to find a good general," Li Jin thought, twirling the small fish-shaped jade pendant in his hand and taking a deep breath. Even if he was labeled a villain, he absolutely could not let Jin Shu go.
It wasn't just because she had exceptional professional skills; it was simply that I didn't want to see her leave.
He looked up at the deep blue sky and clutched the small fish jade pendant in his hand.
The next day, Li Jin hesitated for a long time at the door of the coroner's office before turning around and leaving.
He and Zhou Zheng rode through the commotion in their carriage, following the instructions in another letter from Jinhua Tower, heading southeast of Chang'an.
Lin Zhongyi—this was a special name she mentioned to Li Jin when she sat opposite her in the earlier case of Fan Yin.
How Li Mu was framed six years ago remains a mystery to Li Jin to this day. He has only pieced together a few details from the words of the Buddhist monk.
An official named Lin Zhongyi was escorting two carts of armor to deliver them to the young general while the emperor was away for his summer retreat.
Smuggling armor is a serious crime in the Great Wei Dynasty, punishable by death with no upper limit.
At that time, the young general of the Xiao family instinctively sensed that there was a trap, but before he could come up with a countermeasure, Lin Zhongyi handed the armor over to a man named Yang Qingyun outside the palace.
After several maneuvers, Li Mu became the traitor who forced the emperor to abdicate.
In this case, all the evidence and files were destroyed. Li Jin investigated for six years, and those who knew the truth either died or went insane, but he got almost nothing.
The carriage swayed and rocked, and he tapped his palm repeatedly with the hand holding the fan.
I have many concerns, but I have no choice but to take the gamble.
Even if he knew that Lin Zhongyi's matter was likely a trap, since the Crown Prince had already set things up and Li Jin had obtained the letter, he had to go even if it was just for show.
At midday in the capital, the carriage arrived at Shenghua Lane, where Zhou Zheng stopped it in an inconspicuous alley.
Li Jin had just lifted the carriage curtain and hadn't even jumped off when he saw a ragged man running ahead of him, shouting for help.
Three men behind him, some wielding sticks and others knives, shouted for him not to run and pursued him closely.
Li Jin was taken aback and called out, "Zhou Zheng."
Before Zhou Zheng could catch up, a woman in a black robe landed on the roof in front of Li Jin's carriage, raised her hand, and stopped him and Zhou Zheng: "Your Highness, you mustn't."
After saying that, he lifted the black hood that was covering half of his face.
This face clearly resembles that of He Lin, the restaurant owner who took in Fan Yin back then.
Just as Li Jin was wondering what was going on, a scream came from outside, and then there was silence.
Li Jin tried to walk around He Lin, but He Lin pulled out two daggers from behind her, one of which was pointed directly at Li Jin's face.
Almost simultaneously, Zhou Zheng's longsword landed between He Lin's eyebrows, just an inch away from her forehead.
He Lin, however, was not afraid at all. She looked at Li Jin and whispered, "The master was afraid that His Highness had fallen into the Crown Prince's trap, so he specifically asked me to wait here."
She paused, then said, "Your Highness, hurry up and leave. Anyone can find Lin Zhongyi's body, but not you, Prince Jing."
Li Jin paused, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked at He Lin's fierce expression.
"The clue to Lin Zhongyi was given to him by Young Master Song," he asked. "But was the clue deliberately given to Young Master Song by the Crown Prince?"
“No.” He Lin was silent for a moment. “The clues were obtained by the young master at a great cost, but Your Highness, the Crown Prince has far too many spies in the capital.”
Three people, two daggers, and a longsword.
In the dark and secluded alley, Li Jin remained silent for a moment, then cupped his hands in thanks to He Lin: "Thank you, young lady."
He turned and went back to the car, a hint of resentment in his voice, and let out a long sigh: "...go back to the Six Doors via the side road."
Inside the carriage, Li Jin slammed his fist against the carriage wall. He gritted his teeth, suppressing the resentment in his heart.
The crown prince has too many spies; in other words, he arrived too late.
If he were to step forward now, not only would he fail to save Lin Zhongyi, but he would also betray Song Zhen, who was secretly helping him.
Li Jin was put in an awkward position by the Crown Prince's move, and one can imagine his anger.
The intelligence reports from Song Zhen and the Crown Prince were only about 12 hours apart.
No wonder the Crown Prince's men didn't even show their faces in the Imperial Academy case. Compared to the Six Doors intervening to resolve the Imperial Academy case, it was clearly more important to silence Lin Zhongyi.
Li Jin stood with his hands behind his back under the signboard of the Six Doors, letting out a sigh of relief.
No sooner had Bai Yu stepped across the threshold than he rushed out with a dog on a leash. He pointed towards the coroner's office while pulling the dog along, but before he could even open his mouth, he was led out by the dog, who was happily heading out.
Seeing his appearance, Li Jin frowned, glanced at Zhou Zheng with confusion, and hurriedly walked towards the coroner's office.
Does this woman really dare to leave?
Jin Shu was still hesitating about whether to leave or not.
She poured Li Qian a cup of tea, sat down beside her, and glanced at her face, making Li Qian feel uneasy: "You're new here, it's understandable that you haven't seen me before."
She gave a wry smile, picked up the teacup, pinched the lid, and, imitating Li Jin's usual manner, brushed away the foam on the surface of the tea.
"I usually protect the princess in the inner palace and don't come back often." After saying that, he took a sip and started making things up on the spot, "You know Yunfei, right? He's my fellow disciple."
Seeing Jin Shu's uneven eyebrows and disbelief written all over her face, Li Qian had no choice but to put down her teacup and deliberately steer the conversation in a different direction: "I heard you're going back?"
Jin Shu glanced at her, but didn't respond for a long time.
Li Qian put her legs on the octagonal chair, looking like a haughty young master, and waved her hand: "If you don't regret it later, then leave, go far away."
She snorted coldly: "Being associated with the Six Doors is, at least for now, nothing to brag about."
She glanced at Jin Shu out of the corner of her eye, and seeing that she was indeed listening, she said in a serious tone, tapping the table, "You must know the state of affairs in the world. Prince Jing and the Crown Prince appear to be on good terms, but they are actually at odds behind the scenes. If Prince Jing loses..."
Li Qian scratched the base of her neck: "By then, he won't be able to protect himself, and the collapse of the Six Doors will happen overnight."
Upon hearing this, Jin Shu smiled faintly. This girl's features resembled Li Jin in some way. She stared at her for a long time before saying, "He also has a chief coroner."
Even without her, we can still ride the waves and overcome all obstacles.
"The chief coroner?" Li Qian exclaimed incredulously, "This sect leader really didn't tell you anything?"
"Hey, wait a minute, think about it. The chief coroner is already in the Six Doors (a government agency), he can't go anywhere else. So the question is, why would Li Jin go to all the trouble of bringing you all the way from Dingzhou? Is he crazy?"
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