Chapter 234 Upholding Fairness and Bearing the Responsibility of the World
Li Jin stood alone at the door of the study until dusk.
The sky was filled with stars, but the moon was nowhere to be seen.
The prince stopped in his tracks when he lifted the curtain and saw him still standing there.
He chuckled and took two steps forward: "Third brother, don't worry." He said, "Mr. Jin has been settled in the East Palace, where he is well-fed and warmly dressed, which is better than being in prison."
Upon hearing this, Li Jin stared coldly at him, gritted his teeth, and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness, for pleading for Jin Shu."
Outside the palace, the autumn chill was deep. The Crown Prince reached out and patted Li Jin on the shoulder: "If my third brother likes it, how could I not lend a hand?"
As he spoke, he leaned close to Li Jin's ear and lowered his voice: "I had a long talk with Shu'er last night, which really broadened my horizons."
After saying that, he glanced at Li Jin, who was still standing there with his hands clasped and bowing, and turned to leave without expression.
Looking at the white jade floor outside the study, Li Jin closed his eyes slightly, took several deep breaths, and forcibly suppressed the bulging veins.
"Oh, right." But the prince hadn't taken more than a few steps before he turned back.
He deliberately raised his chin, his tone defiant: "Yan Zhao has never been your confidant." He said, "You may be unmatched in leading troops into battle, but in this palace, in the court..."
The crown prince shook his head: "It's not your territory yet."
He stood to the side until Li Jin turned around, and with utmost self-control, put on a charming smile and replied, "Your Highness is right," before he narrowed his eyes slightly, turned around and left with satisfaction.
That night, Li Jin stood alone in front of the study until the lights went out, but he still couldn't get Li Yi's summons.
The palace was quiet and still in the dead of night. Before him were doors that would not be opened for him, and behind him was the empty and deserted Taihe Hall Square.
The moon pressed down on the eaves, revealing only half of its light, while the stars gathered into a river, soaring upwards.
Li Jin's face was buried in deep darkness, the starlight behind him was dazzling, and the tranquil beauty behind him was irrelevant to him.
He clenched his fists, wanting nothing more than to rush in.
I long to lead 100,000 iron cavalry to raze the Eastern Palace and overthrow this cannibalistic system.
I long to question Yan Zhao, to hold a long sword to his neck and ask him if what he taught me over the past six years was merely out of pity.
Or perhaps he simply wanted to witness Li Jin's fall from grace to satisfy the Crown Prince's suffocatingly perverse sense of humor!
He stood there, just like he had six years ago, standing beneath the tightly closed palace gates of the capital.
Amidst the dazzling light, Li Jin, whose face was half-covered by a cloak, looked like a piece of duckweed adrift in a storm, helpless and desperate.
As if time and space had shattered, this moment and that moment were separated by a single line and superimposed on each other.
The difference is that he is now much closer to that lofty throne than he was six years ago, by more than just the distance of the Taihe Hall Square.
If he wanted, he could forcefully push open this door, rush in, and change the world in an instant.
but……
Li Jin finally took a deep breath, took three steps back, cupped his hands, and bowed deeply.
The moment he turned around, he was stunned to see Eunuch Chen standing silently in the main hall square, smiling faintly.
Li Jin said nothing and strode out of the palace.
As they brushed past each other, Eunuch Chen said calmly, "Your Highness just now saved yourself, and also saved Jin Shu."
Li Jin paused.
Eunuch Chen lowered his voice: "His Majesty's decree instructs Prince Jing to just go ahead and do what he wants, without worrying about the future or the consequences, with a fair heart and a sense of responsibility for the world, and to do the right thing in the right way."
After speaking, Eunuch Chen nodded and bowed, then withdrew alone.
Li Jin stood alone in the dark square.
Under the starlight, he slowly turned his head and looked at the study where the lights had been turned on again, with fine beads of sweat seeping out on his back.
He chuckled softly, feeling relieved.
Inside the study, a wisp of smoke rose straight up from a flat incense burner.
Li Yi stood by the carved window, watching Li Jin's departing figure, and smiled slightly.
No one knows a son better than his father, and Li Yi knew perfectly well what Li Jin was planning.
He raised his hand and waved, and all the guards in the hall withdrew.
If Li Jin had actually pushed open that door just now, he wouldn't have died, but he certainly wouldn't have been able to escape unscathed.
Li Yi rubbed his hands together for a while, then glanced at Eunuch Chen and said, "This child has the people in his heart and is flexible and adaptable. Perhaps in the future, he will truly be remembered for all time and be remembered for generations to come."
Eunuch Chen laughed: "It's all thanks to His Majesty's wisdom in giving Prince Jing this opportunity."
Upon hearing this, Li Yi chuckled lightly, put his hands behind his back, and slowly walked towards the dragon throne in the Imperial Study.
“Easy to say.” He turned and sat down. “Women entering officialdom has been promoted since the late emperor intended to do so, and it has been more than sixty years since then. During this period, there was a girl from the Zhao family who disguised herself as a man and became prime minister, and then there was the eldest daughter of the Xiao family who led troops on the battlefield and repelled the Hu bandits three times.”
Li Yi rubbed his temples: "Who among them didn't make greater and more brilliant contributions than Jin Shu? Even so, in sixty years, they haven't been able to take another step forward."
"Those old fogies in the court, one after another, kept saying that the position of Prime Minister is one that both women and men can hold. On the battlefield, women can do it, but men are even better at it." He paused. "And what was the final result?"
He sneered and opened his eyes: "The Zhao family daughter who became the prime minister has become my mother, and the Xiao family daughter who fought against the Hu bandits three times has become my concubine."
Li Yi sighed deeply and slammed his hand heavily on the dragon throne: "This time, I want to see which man in the court has the ability to replace Jin Shu, who can restore the truth, speak for the dead, and whose abilities are praised by even the chief coroner as unparalleled!"
After that night, Li Jin did not appear in the palace for three consecutive days.
He acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to shuttle between the Six Doors and the Capital Prefecture.
Lian Shui, the Crown Prince's personal guard, followed him for many days but failed to discover anything unusual.
The dissolute Prince Jing seemed to have forgotten about Jin Shu's matter, and was so engrossed in the trivial cases of family life in the Jingzhao Prefecture that he couldn't extricate himself from them.
But for the past three days, the Court of Judicial Review has been interrogating Jin Shu, and he has been submitting memorials almost every day.
“That Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Zhao Chengping, and the Prince of Pingyang are shouting every day.” Xu Weiyou, with his gray hair, held a cup of tea. “The Court of Judicial Review acts as if they’ve never seen the case before, insisting on taking it. They say that Jin Shu is a fifth-rank official, and according to the law, he should fall under the jurisdiction of the Court of Judicial Review.”
“The Prince of Pingyang is even more inexplicable. Instead of peacefully raising his flock of pigeons in his residence, he ran to the court to join in the fun and even got into a fight with Zhao Chengping. One wanted to conduct a trial first, while the other said that a trial was a waste of time and it would be better to just execute him.” Xu Weiyou took a deep breath. “With them stirring things up like this, the Ministry of Justice has become passive and can’t say anything right.”
As Crown Prince Li Jing blew on the foam in his teacup, he said in a calm tone, "That Prince Pingyang who raises pigeons..." He snorted coldly, "He has been living in seclusion for many years, and his sudden appearance to stir up trouble must be suspicious."
He pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What about his seriously ill son?"
Xu Weiyou shook his head: "They say he's terminally ill, on his deathbed, and hasn't gotten out of bed for years."
The crown prince glanced at the surface of the teacup, looked at the night sky, and said decisively, "Let's go see his dying only son."
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