Chapter 236 Three Months Ago, Even the Most Precise Plans Can Have a Flaw
The East Palace has been infested with rats for several days.
There was public outrage outside the palace for several days.
Shen Wen and Bai Yu returned from Dingzhou at breakneck speed, bringing back not only a thick stack of case notes and protective books, but also several unexpected people.
Li Jin stood in the courtyard of the Six Doors, looking at Liu Cheng'an, the prefect of Dingzhou, whom he hadn't seen for half a year, and was stunned for a moment.
He originally thought that Liu Cheng'an would choose to remain aloof in this matter in order to protect his wife and children, but he did not expect that Liu would ignore the advice and go to the capital in person.
Besides him, there was also the magistrate of Linyang County and Du Jin, the prefect of Yizhou.
“There are still two months until the end of the year.” Li Jin narrowed his eyes slightly. “It would be inappropriate for the three of you to travel to the capital together.”
Liu Cheng'an frowned and bowed, saying, "Your Highness Prince Jing, the three of us have all benefited greatly from Mr. Jin's superb corpse-speaking skills. Now that he is in trouble, it is really difficult for us to stay out of it."
"That's right." Du Jin was still as timid as when they first met. When he saw Li Jin, he was very submissive and hid behind Liu Cheng'an.
But he was the first person to agree with Liu Cheng'an.
“Although Mr. Jin has no direct contact with my Yizhou on a regular basis, but…” Du Jin glanced at the Lin Yang County Magistrate beside him, “she has long been famous throughout the prefectures under my jurisdiction.”
Du Jin pursed his lips, his fingers fidgeting with the back of his hand, and he mumbled words, "This, this, this good reputation, has absolutely nothing to do with whether you are a man or a woman..." He frowned, shook his head, and said, "It has absolutely nothing to do with whether you are a man or a woman!"
Li Jin looked at the group of people in front of him, waving the fan in his hand repeatedly.
He pondered for a long time before slowly speaking: "You gentlemen are all local officials, and your status and position are quite different from mine." As he said this, his gaze fell on Du Jin's face, "especially Lord Du."
Du Jin's face turned pale, and he gave an embarrassed grin.
“This move will inevitably backfire,” Li Jin laughed. “Lord Du came to the capital precisely to seek peace for his family, didn’t he?”
Seeing that Li Jin had seen through his thoughts, Du Jin was somewhat discouraged. He frowned, dared not say anything more, and could only sigh.
"I am not afraid of getting myself into trouble."
Suddenly, Liu Cheng'an's voice grew louder. He stepped forward and bowed even deeper: "Jin Shu was promoted by me personally, and now she is my adopted daughter. If we are to talk about the crime of deceiving the emperor, which warrants the execution of nine generations of her family, I absolutely cannot avoid it." He said, "If you can use the loyalty of my Liu family for three generations and my bloodline as a bargaining chip to persuade His Majesty to reconsider and show leniency, I am willing to give it a try."
His words immediately made the atmosphere in the courtyard of the Six Doors heavy.
Even Li Jin was stunned. He knew that Liu Cheng'an had come with determination, but he did not know that he had come with such determination.
Li Jin quickly raised his hand to help up the "Judge Liu" from Dingzhou: "Lord Liu, you flatter me."
He said, "His Majesty is wise and powerful, and fair in his heart. He would never be so hasty as to take Jin Shu's life."
Du Jin wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve: "That's right, Lao Liu, you're too hasty. You've raised this to such a high level all at once, I don't even know how to respond."
"Shut up." Liu Chengan turned around and glared at Du Jin. "You usually act like a coward, trying to be fair to both sides and not offend anyone. Now that things are urgent, you're still stirring things up. You really have nothing better to do!"
Du Jin, who had been rebuked, gave a dry laugh, pursed his lips, and took a small step back.
Seeing this, Li Jin chuckled and said, "Let's talk as we walk, gentlemen."
In late autumn, the wind was strong and fierce in Chang'an.
Inside the six doors, ginkgo leaves fell like rain, turning the ground into a golden expanse.
These past few days, Li Jin has unusually changed into a black court robe embroidered with cranes, walking alongside Liu Cheng'an as he listens to him recount some strange things that have happened recently.
"At that time, after receiving Your Highness's secret order, I set about making two false identities for Jin Shu, one male and one female, as Your Highness instructed," Liu Chengan said. "But not long after, I received another secret letter from Lord Yan Zhao."
He paused, glancing at Li Jin, who had slowed his pace beside him: "In Lord Yan's secret letter, he instructed me to destroy all the records related to the Jin family."
"When did this happen?" Li Jin asked.
About three months ago.
Three months ago… Li Jin lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment: “Around the time of the Mid-Summer Festival?”
“That’s right,” Liu Cheng’an said. “I felt something was amiss, so I verbally agreed and then hid the original document.”
As he spoke, Liu Cheng'an took out two letters from his pocket. One was a letter in Yan Zhao's own handwriting, and the other was a part of the records of the Jin family that Yan Zhao wanted to destroy.
“At the beginning of this month, Lord Yan and several spies from the Ministry of Justice ransacked my government office’s archives, turning it upside down, and even seriously injured my archives clerk.” He sighed, “Judging from Lord Yan’s appearance, he doesn’t seem to be faking it.”
At this moment, Bai Yu, who was not far behind Li Jin, poked his head out and said, "Your Highness, Lord Yan did indeed personally hand me this letter. He also specifically instructed that it be delivered to Lord Liu by someone trusted by the Shadows."
As he spoke, he pointed to a totem with half a shadow in the lower right corner of the letter.
All letters handled by the henchmen were meticulously recorded, detailing their origin and destination on the other half of the paper bearing the seal.
"The Mid-Summer Ritual..." Li Jin looked at the two envelopes in his hand, the fragmented clues in his mind like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
After Liu Cheng'an and his entourage left, Li Jin sat alone at his rosewood desk, gazing at a thick stack of case notes and clutching the letter of the imperial edict.
Seeing that the letter was indeed written in his own hand, requesting that all records related to the Jin family be destroyed, Li Jin felt more and more that the origin of the whole matter might be further back than he had guessed.
Logically, if it were just about erasing Jin Shu's existence, all that would be needed would be to destroy the corresponding records. Why then should the entire Jin family be wiped out as well?
And the Zhongfu ritual...
Li Jin frowned, put down the letter in his hand, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and tried to recall exactly where the problem had started.
During the Zhongfu Festival, Li Qian insisted that Jin Shu be her bodyguard. The three of them went to Xiangji Temple on the outskirts of Beijing and encountered the murderer who poisoned his parents-in-law and nephew.
Li Jin paused slightly.
Xiangji Temple, the monks, the marriage lamp, and Yan Zhao's fury upon his return...
He understood.
It turns out that his luck that day, his recklessness, and the lotus lantern he spent a fortune to obtain that day...
From the moment it was lit, it had already handed the crown prince his biggest weakness.
Despite his meticulous planning, he made a fatal mistake and stumbled into such an obvious trap!
How could Crown Prince Li Jing, who was in charge of the entire Zhongfu Festival, possibly leave several highly respected elders from Xiangji Temple there!
On this important day of offering sacrifices to heaven and praying for blessings, knowing that Li Qian was going to take Jin Shu to Xiangji Temple the next day, how could he let real monks stay there?
Li Jin looked up at the sky and sighed, taking a deep breath.
I see.
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