Chapter 197 The Chessboard Suddenly Disrupted
There are too many coincidences in this case.
Li Jin glanced at his face, sneered, and flung the fan in his hand, waving it rapidly.
If it wasn't the Crown Prince, and it wasn't Song Zhen, then only one person remained in Li Jin's mind.
The emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty, his father was Li Yi.
No wonder that when Li Jin lost his composure in front of the Emperor in the Imperial Study and argued with Xu Weiyou, Li Yi only gave him the word "insolence" and then turned the page.
“In this capital city, there is not only the Crown Prince, not only Prince Jing…” Song Zhen’s smile deepened.
And the emperor.
Li Jin understood what he meant.
And this is the only conclusion that fits the current situation.
His true identity was that of a eunuch's coachman. He was able to withstand the pressure from the crown prince and transport the box away. He controlled Li Jin's movements and, in broad daylight, right next to him, deliberately crashed into the Grand Tutor's carriage.
Only the emperor could have orchestrated this series of events.
Li Jin narrowed his eyes slightly, glancing at Song Zhen's face, and deliberately asked, "Who gave you the thing?"
He was asking about the map and letter found at the scene.
Song Zhen looked slightly surprised, a hint of confusion in her expression: "There's something else?"
His reaction was different from what Li Jin had expected.
After pondering for a long time, Song Zhen shook his head: "I don't know what it is, but it is certainly not me."
He chuckled: "Although from Your Highness Prince Jing's perspective, you have many cases on your hands, and it seems that I, Song, am behind them all. I will not refute that."
“As Your Highness said, Song’s family is wealthy and powerful, and he is in the Crown Prince’s camp. It’s impossible for him not to lend him a hand.” He took a sip of strong tea to moisten his throat. “But Your Highness cannot conclude from this alone that Song has orchestrated such a grand scheme.”
At this point, Song Zhen sighed, "I, Song Zhen, truly do not yet possess that ability."
At this point, Li Jin said no more. Looking at this "other self" before him, who was like a mirror image, he admired Song Zhen's meticulous thinking and extraordinary courage, but also developed deep doubts about his true purpose.
It's obvious which side benefits more: helping the unfavored Prince Jing of the Great Wei, who has no backing, or helping the Crown Prince, who has gained power.
But Song Zhen seems to have made an unusual choice in this matter, regardless of cost or consequences.
Unless Li Jin is senile, no one would believe his nonsense about "doing business".
But if not for doing business, then what was his motivation?
The moment he handed over the jade flute he always carried to Li Jin, he had already given Li Jin his biggest weakness, his head and his life.
He helped him with utmost sincerity, but what was he after?
After Li Jin left, He Lin looked at the strong cup of tea in front of Song Zhen, and without saying a word, poured it out.
As she brewed fresh tea, she coldly remarked, "Strong tea is bad for your health."
Song Zhen, holding a calligraphy brush, chuckled softly upon hearing her complaint: "A dying man can drink to his heart's content."
But then He Lin slammed the freshly brewed tea down in front of him, her voice filled with anger: "Sir won't die." After saying that, she stared at his surprised face and added, "I said, sir won't die."
She glanced at Song Zhen's delicate face, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Song Zhen, whose heart was pounding under that intense gaze, raised his hand to cover his lips and coughed lightly to change the subject: "Cough cough, I won't die anytime soon." He said, "After all, it's only the sixth case."
He avoided He Lin's gaze and said with a smile, "Besides, I haven't settled your affairs yet, and I don't have the courage to bravely face death."
Upon hearing this, He Lin's anger intensified. She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and looked at Song Zhen's still indifferent face, feeling endless sorrow in her heart.
“I will stand with my husband through thick and thin,” she said. “I will not abandon him.”
After saying that, she couldn't stay in the room for even a second longer.
Watching her departing figure, Song Zhen raised her hand and rubbed her forehead.
Now is not the time for sentimental attachments.
He needed to act quickly to reorganize the entire plan, which had been nearly ruined by the emperor's interference, and to connect the dots between what was not originally the sixth case.
There was a half-written secret letter on the paper in front of him. After thinking for a while, he added a sentence.
He needed to know what crucial thing Li Jin had obtained.
Looking at the pigeons flapping their wings and taking flight, Song Zhen somewhat understood Yan Zhao's feelings.
Just as Yan Zhao criticized him, saying that his kidnapping of Jin Shu was nonsense, he now felt that the person on the dragon throne in the Taiji Hall was even more nonsense than him.
However, thanks to him, although Li Jin suspected him, he was unlikely to be able to find any fault with him for the time being because of the phrase "digging his own grave".
That way, he'll still have time.
Zhou Zheng caused a disturbance at the Ministry of Justice for three days, which triggered a relapse of Xu Weiyou's old headache, causing him to miss two days of court sessions.
Li Jin simply used the excuse that "there is a shortage of manpower, and we are indeed incompetent. Without a coroner, our abilities are questionable, and we cannot solve the case" to push the case of the Vice Minister of Works to the Ministry of Justice through Li Yi.
Looking at his increasingly clever son, Li Yi gave him a severe scolding, his voice audible even outside the Taiji Hall.
However, what he said were all trivial matters that did not address the root of the problem. He was reprimanded, but it was as if he had not been reprimanded at all.
This scene in the Imperial Study made the Crown Prince, who was standing to the side, look extremely ugly.
His fist clenched even tighter.
Less than two days after the Ministry of Justice took over the case, they sent out two robbers to take the blame.
Jin Shu, who had spent four or five days memorizing "General Treatise on Drugs and Poisons" at Yan Zhao's house, finally caught his breath and stood at the door of the coroner's office with dark circles under his eyes.
Before they could even step inside, they heard Li Jin's voice behind them: "Sir, please come with me to the Grand Tutor's residence today."
Jin Shu turned around and looked at Li Jin's familiar smiling face behind the maple leaves that were already faintly turning red.
Looking at Li Jin, dressed in a light gold outfit, standing on the corridor, she smiled as always.
Her heart, which had been hanging in suspense for several days, finally settled down.
Perhaps guessing what she was thinking, Li Jin deliberately looked troubled: "Fortunately, sir, you didn't get involved in this case. Those assassins were really difficult to deal with."
These words made Zhou Zheng, who was standing next to him, widen his eyes in surprise.
Li Jin leaned against a red pillar in the corridor with one hand, rubbing his back with the other, and sighed with a wry smile.
Jin Shu paused, "Your Highness is injured?"
She was a little anxious and quickly took two steps forward.
Seeing her worried expression, Li Jin chuckled.
Under Jin Shu's utterly astonished gaze, he laughed heartily and strode forward.
Jin Shu was stunned, looking at Zhou Zheng with one eyebrow raised and the other lowered: "There really is an assassin?"
Zhou Zheng was completely bewildered. He shook his head, then quickly nodded, stammering, "I guess...?"
After saying that, feeling guilty under her probing gaze, Zhou Zheng quickly followed.
He didn't understand; he only felt that his prince's homosexual tendencies were becoming increasingly serious.
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