Chapter 214 leaves Li Jin with the biggest flaw.
Chang'an City, Yongxing Ward, the residence of the Grand General of the State.
Zhou Zheng and Jin Shu drove their carriage, not stopping at the main gate, but instead going through the alleyway at the street corner and turning to the inconspicuous back gate.
Since the Li Mu case six years ago, when Li Jin returned the Tiger Tally, the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies and General of the Cavalry has remained vacant.
The responsibility of guarding the frontier and deploying troops fell on the shoulders of Young General Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen, who is two years younger than Li Jin, is equally skilled in military strategy and tactics, having studied under the same master as Li Jin.
Because of his blood relation with Consort Xiao, he was always the person Li Jin trusted most.
As if anticipating that Li Jin would come from the back door, Xiao Chen, who had only arrived in the capital the night before, paced back and forth by the back door. Hearing the sound of the carriage, he hurriedly went out to greet him.
"You've finally arrived." Xiao Chen stepped forward, skipping all the usual courtesies, and embraced Li Jin, patting him hard on the back.
"I heard you were in the capital, dressing yourself up as a playboy who frequented brothels and listened to music. I didn't quite believe it. But seeing you dressed so flamboyantly today, you really do have some style."
Before Li Jin could respond, Xiao Chen peeked out and turned to see Zhou Zheng rushing over again. He gave Zhou Zheng a hug and patted his back repeatedly with his large hands.
Finally, seeing Zhou Zheng's disgusted face, he laughed and said, "Old Zhou, you've been keeping such a straight face all these years. Be careful no girl will ever take a liking to you."
Then, as expected, the gaze fell on Jin Shu.
Xiao Chen hesitated for a moment, then laughed even louder: "Those who can be brought here are brothers who have risked their lives for me! Come! Let's get acquainted! I am Xiao Chen!" As he spoke, he stretched out his arms and approached Jin Shu step by step in her astonished gaze.
Suddenly, with two sharp "snap" sounds, Xiao Chen hissed and quickly pulled his arms back, turning his head with a grimace, looking at Li Jin holding the fan behind him with a puzzled expression.
Those two blows just now landed precisely on the numb tendons in Xiao Chen's elbows, and for a moment he couldn't lift either of his arms.
Before him, Li Jin held a fan in one hand, pointed at Jin Shu's cheek behind him, and said coldly, "Don't touch this person."
Xiao Chen raised an eyebrow: "Why?"
Li Jin's face darkened, and he solemnly declared, "She's one of my people."
Five words, pronounced clearly and accurately.
Jin Shu was stunned.
Looking at Li Jin's serious expression, her heart skipped a beat.
After uttering such an ambiguous remark, the man seemed to have no intention of explaining himself. He flicked his fan open and began to wave it gently.
Xiao Chen looked surprised, glancing back and forth between her and Li Jin several times before finally asking, "So you really have homosexual tendencies?"
These words, spoken in front of both of them, were particularly suffocating for Jin Shu.
Li Jin chuckled lightly and nodded dismissively: "Yes, homosexuality."
Upon hearing this, the small backyard fell into a deathly silence.
Xiao Chen froze, his body losing all color, becoming as white as paper.
Jin Shu was petrified, and cracks appeared on her forehead.
Only Zhou Zheng remained expressionless and calm.
Jin Shu vaguely remembered how Xiao Chen and Li Jin's conversation veered back to serious matters.
She and Zhou Zheng waited together outside the main hall of the General's Mansion, the sunlight shining on them, comfortable and warm.
But her eyebrows were like a knot that couldn't be untied no matter what she did.
Inside the room, Li Jin glanced at her back as she sat on the steps, holding a cup of tea in his hand, and gently blew away the foam.
“I found Lin Zhongyi and Yang Qingyun,” he said. “One was poisoned to death, and the other was buried a few years ago.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen nodded and said, "Li Jing has always been like this, so it was expected."
After speaking, he hesitated for a moment before asking, "The chain is incomplete now. Even if we point the finger at him, he has countless reasons to defend himself." Xiao Chen pursed his lips and frowned. "Are you really going to take action now?"
Li Jin put down his teacup and nodded: "I've been on the periphery of the case all along, and the evidence we're missing now is something that can't be obtained by being on the periphery."
He paused for a moment: "I need the Dali Temple to reopen this case, and I need to legitimately obtain the only remaining case file from the Imperial Study."
He spent six years preparing on the periphery of the case before finally finding a genius "corpse whisperer." It took him another six months to uncover the numerous pawns on the Crown Prince's side.
What remains is no longer something that can be obtained by piecing together evidence bit by bit from the outside and waiting for the other party to slip up.
The missing piece in that chain is the most crucial evidence that could determine Li Jing's life or death and influence the future of the nation.
If you can't get directly involved in that case, you'll never get it.
Xiao Chen remained silent for a long time: "Will His Majesty allow you to investigate?" He said, "After all, His Majesty's mistakes were also involved at the time. If you reopen this case, it would be tantamount to trampling on the Emperor's dignity. Those old stubborn people in the court and the country will probably not give in easily."
Li Jin smiled faintly and said calmly, "My father was not in the capital at that time."
His words startled Xiao Chen, who then suddenly realized what he meant and laughed, saying, "Well, it's a real loss that we can only stay in the capital for three days this time and won't be able to see Li Jing's distorted face with anger."
In order to circumvent imperial power and achieve a swift victory, Crown Prince Li Jing specifically chose the day when Li Yiyuan was at the imperial palace to strike against Li Mu.
He never dreamed that this incident would become the biggest flaw he left in Li Jin's mind six years later.
With the emperor away from the capital, how can the actions of a prince who stirs up trouble be considered the emperor's fault?
"What exactly happened that day?" Li Jin asked.
Xiao Chen, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, looked at the two people at the door and raised his chin slightly: "Can you really trust me?"
He was asking about Jin Shu.
Li Jin nodded: "Applause."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen sat up straight and took a deep breath.
“That night, it happened to be my guard. At that time, Lin Zhongyi, a local official from Binzhou, was carrying two carts of armor, covered with several layers of hemp cloth, trying to transport them to the imperial palace.” He paused. “I asked him to produce a pass, but he produced a letter from Li Mu instead.”
Li Jin paused, "A souvenir?"
“Hmm,” Xiao Chen said. “The letter says: ‘Urgent supplies.’ It means there wasn’t enough time to declare them.”
“But Li Mu has never had such a problem before. After reading the letter, I became suspicious. I said I wanted to open it for inspection, but Lin Zhongyi suddenly got angry, jumping up and down and accusing me of ruining His Majesty’s important plans and saying that if I ruined them, I would lose my head.” He chuckled as he said this, “After hearing this, I immediately detained him and his carriage and imprisoned them in the dungeon of the imperial palace.”
Having fought alongside Li Jin to guard the frontier, Xiao Chen, who had survived countless battles and bloodshed, was unlikely to be intimidated by Lin Zhongyi's stingy and impulsive manner.
He decisively apprehended Lin Zhongyi, and then uncovered the burlap covering the carriage.
What came into view were two trucks full of armor.
The sight of the palace, the armor, and Li Mu's letter immediately made Xiao Chen realize that something had happened in the capital.
But what he didn't expect was that before he could figure out a solution, Lin Zhongyi, who was locked in the dungeon, disappeared.
The two armored vehicles, along with Lin Zhongyi himself, disappeared right under the noses of the 800 Golden Guards.
“But that night, only one person went to the dungeon,” Xiao Chen said in a deep voice.
He glanced at Li Jin with a serious expression, dipped his hand in the water in the teacup, and wrote two characters on the black lacquered octagonal table.
A stern edict.
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