Chapter 185 The Day of Success, the Day of Farewell
On the way back to Beijing, the plains were vast and the fertile land stretched for thousands of miles.
Inside the carriage, their eyes met, and they felt extremely awkward.
"Pei Yide of the Ministry of Revenue is still far inferior to Xu Weiyou of the Ministry of Justice."
Upon hearing this, Jin Shu was taken aback.
Li Jin smiled faintly and used the handle of her fan to lift a corner of the carriage curtain. The autumn sun, gentle as golden silk, cast shimmering spots of light inside the carriage in the blink of an eye.
“Pei Yide has failed to clean up Yang Qingyun’s mess over the years, so the Crown Prince may not know about this.” He glanced at Jin Shu out of the corner of his eye, “That’s why he sent his elite assassins.”
After he finished speaking, Jin Shu was stunned for a moment before she began to ponder what the man in front of her had just said.
She thought that Li Jin would definitely dig deep enough today to find out who she was going to give the gift to.
I prepared a whole bunch of excuses last night, but it seems I was just being cynical.
“Your Highness has gained a great deal from this trip to Shengzhou.” Following Li Jin’s train of thought, she held up a finger, “Five living assassins of unknown origin.” She held up another finger, “and six assassin corpses with plum blossom tattoos.”
“Exactly.” Li Jin crossed his arms and nodded. “The third one is the mechanism box left by Yang Qingyun.”
"And there are also the extra accounts in Lord Yun's study." Jin Shu raised his hand, pondered for a moment, "Compared to the shrewd and calculating Ministry of Justice, which has only ever harassed the Six Doors from the periphery, the Ministry of Revenue is indeed impatient."
Li Jin laughed and flicked his fan: "Just like you and me, the cases that the Ministry of Justice faces every day are full of deceit and intrigue, with falsehoods and truths intertwined. Xu Weiyu has been in charge of the Ministry of Justice for sixteen years. By simply copying his methods, he can also turn the Six Doors upside down."
"And the Ministry of Revenue..." He shook his head, "land, people, money and grain, tribute, the matters under its jurisdiction, compared to the Ministry of Justice, have far fewer opportunities to come into contact with fraud and scheming."
At this point, Jin Shu glanced at Li Jin with some disbelief: "Your Highness, could it be that you knew the Ministry of Revenue was impatient, and that's why you deliberately came to Shengzhou?"
Li Jin raised her eyebrows, a slight smile playing on her lips, but did not respond.
After Jin Shu was taken by Song Zhen to perform an autopsy on Lin Zhongyi's case, she felt it was inappropriate to use that case to gain access to the Ministry of Justice.
"Song Zhen said that the Crown Prince's net is so powerful that if one thing is pulled, the whole thing will be affected. If his henchmen cannot be uprooted at the same time, then even if the Six Doors kill a thousand enemies, the Prince will suffer eight hundred casualties himself."
“Therefore, simply knocking on the door of the Ministry of Justice is clearly not enough.” Seeing that Li Jin remained silent, she explained her deduction in detail.
“What Song Zhen thought of, the Prince naturally thought of too. It just so happens that a case has occurred in Shengzhou at this time. Many houses and streets have been built in Shengzhou before, so the Ministry of Revenue is very important in Shengzhou. Even Yun Jianlin has to give way to it.”
"The prince saw this as an opportunity and deliberately came with me, making the Ministry of Revenue feel uneasy and forcing them to take the initiative in a short time. With an imperfect plan, he left behind a more suitable stepping stone than the Lin Zhongyi case."
The car quieted down a bit, and Li Jin rhythmically swayed the fan in his hand.
"Mr. Jin has been hiding his 'naiveté' for so long, and has been 'indifferent' for so long. Is he just going to let it go like this?"
Jin Shu scratched her ear, somewhat reluctantly saying, "It's only for Your Highness."
Li Jin suddenly stopped fanning herself, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Why?"
Why?
Jin Shu glanced at him, swallowing back the words "You are a special person," and instead said something less pleasing: "Your Highness has treated me well, and I cannot be an ungrateful person who turns a blind eye to your kindness."
"Jin Shu doesn't have the same background as the prince, nor does he have the power of Lord Yun in this prefecture. The only things he can do to help the prince, besides his two swords, are his still-sharp brain."
At this point, she took a deep breath: "Does Your Highness still remember the argument we had in the courtyard a few months ago?"
"The prince said, if sacrificing yourself can bring peace and prosperity to the world, then you are willing to lie at the entrance of the Hall of Supreme Harmony for all eternity, becoming the cornerstone of this lasting peace."
She laughed: "Besides her hands that can examine corpses, Jin Shu really has no other skills to help Your Highness."
"But if it serves as a stepping stone for lasting peace, although it may not be as square as Your Highness's, I reckon it can still elevate the word 'peace' a little bit higher."
The sounds of horses' hooves and wheels could not drown out the pounding of Li Jin's heart.
He gazed at Jin Shu's face, watching her genuine smile from the bottom of her heart. In his heart, the hard shell that he had built up over the years of supporting himself alone cracked open.
Overwhelmed by emotions that seemed capable of moving mountains and filling seas, he covered half his face, lowered his eyes deeply, and took deep breaths.
It seemed that only such force could quell the turmoil within him and withstand the overwhelming desire that threatened to engulf him like a landslide.
After a long pause, Li Jin's Adam's apple bobbed, and he chuckled softly, "Bean sprout."
Jin Shu's smile froze instantly.
“You little bean sprout, don’t cause any trouble for the craftsmen.” He smiled slightly. “If I fail one day, sir, forget about this stone. It would be better to take your money and run for your life.”
These words were half sincere and half joking.
But to his surprise, Jin Shu nodded solemnly and then said something he never expected: "Your Highness will not lose, but when Your Highness succeeds, it will be the day Jin Shu takes his leave."
Li Jin was stunned.
Face to face, no more than half a meter apart.
Her smile, her tone, her gaze and the rhythm of her breathing... Li Jin couldn't find any trace of her joking, and he gripped the fan even tighter.
“When Your Highness achieves your goal, there will be no need for Jin Shu to stay here. The world is vast, and I want to travel around.”
He knew that as she walked, she would disappear from his sight and slip away from his grasp without a trace.
but……
Li Jin paused for only a moment before nodding with a smile: "On that day, I will definitely personally see you off, sir."
Seeing his nonchalant demeanor, Jin Shu felt a surge of gratitude. She was completely unaware that this man had already planned out the rest of the scheme in an instant.
The fact that she was disguised as a man has not yet been exposed. If she is about to leave, Li Jin will close the door and personally pin the label of deceiving the emperor on her.
She couldn't leave, so he wasn't in a hurry at all.
At that moment, Li Jin's charming smile, the kind only a severely cunning and ruthless person could possess, caught Jin Shu's eye. She gasped and instinctively waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "No, no, no! Your Highness will surely be busy with official duties and unable to attend in person, so there's no need for Your Highness to personally see me off!"
If he does go ahead with it, judging from his appearance, it seems he won't be able to leave!
"What are you saying, sir?" Li Jin leaned forward, his eyes slightly narrowed. "Sir, you are a meritorious official of the Six Doors, one of the Eight Shadows. How could I not personally handle such a matter of retiring to your hometown!"
"Sir, you are trying to make me appear unrighteous and immoral!"
Jin Shu's lips twitched, vaguely feeling that this conversation had happened just yesterday.
But Li Jin didn't stop there. He smiled even more brightly: "It's because of your loyalty and righteousness that we have a group of brothers who would risk their lives for you. So if you want to prepare a Mid-Autumn Festival gift for someone you respect, I should do my best to help you. Don't you agree?"
Jin Shu's eyes widened.
Goodness, after going around in circles, it turns out this was where she was waiting.
She was filled with admiration and amazement, nodding sincerely, avoiding Li Jin's trap, and said decisively: "That's not right!"
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