Chapter 245: The Last Lesson of Betrayal
The winter midday sun cast a pale, tinged glow.
The sky had darkened, and the air was filled with a cool, damp scent, as if it were about to snow.
Li Jin and Jin Shu walked side by side, slowly exiting the Tai Chi Gate.
"So, it was Yan Zhao who secretly brought you out of the Eastern Palace behind the Crown Prince's back?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jin frowned and pondered for a moment: "You definitely can't go back to that little courtyard of yours." He said, "You should prepare to move to the Prince Jing's residence."
Jin Shu paused, looking at him in surprise: "That courtyard is no longer habitable, why not just find another one! Now that I'm a woman, living in a prince's mansion is probably too..."
Before she could finish speaking, Li Jin interrupted her.
“Yan Zhao brought you out because, no matter what the final outcome of today’s court meeting is, the Crown Prince has no intention of letting you leave the Eastern Palace alive.” He slowed his pace. “You live alone outside, you don’t know martial arts, and you sleep soundly. Assassins don’t even need to use sleeping incense. They can just push the door open and kill you with one blow. They don’t even need professionals.”
He raised an eyebrow and looked up at Jin Shu: "To protect you alone, at least dozens of the Six Doors' henchmen will have to be sent out."
Li Jin smiled slightly: "You have to investigate a case from six years ago on one hand, and protect you on the other. It might be a bit difficult for you to deal with Bai Yu."
These words were so well-spoken that Jin Shu couldn't find any flaws in them for the time being.
But just now in the imperial court, she was smeared by the Crown Prince, and now she's moved into Prince Jing's residence.
Jin Shu shook her head, looking troubled: "This... Just now in the hall, the Crown Prince was spouting nonsense. He can spread rumors with a single word, but it would take me forever to refute them."
"With such a stain on her record, she left the palace and moved into the prince's mansion..." She pouted and shook her head repeatedly.
Looking at her expression, Li Jin nodded in agreement: "Indeed."
Seeing that he understood, Jin Shu breathed a sigh of relief.
But Li Jin changed the subject: "But I have always been magnanimous and don't care."
Jin Shu paused.
“If Mr. Jin cares so much about this matter, then if he says there was a one-night stand, then I will have one more night than him.”
He laughed, raised his hand and patted Jin Shu's head, as if patting a child.
Jin Shu wanted to argue some more, but then she saw a familiar figure standing outside Jiade Gate.
"Master?"
She was surprised for a moment, then a smile appeared on her cheek.
Yan Zhao had one hand behind his back and the other holding a flat tray.
On the plate, a woman's black robe that had been prepared beforehand, and the Shadow Jade Pendant that Jin Shu had been confiscated, lay there quietly.
Passing through the towering Jiade Gate, Yan Zhao looked at the imposing Li Jin and nodded in greeting.
He was ten meters away from them, yet the words he wanted to say remained unspoken.
Yan Zhao raised his hand and smiled at Jin Shu: "Girl, come here."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a flash of light appeared.
For a moment, he was slightly startled.
Just moments before, Jin Shu was all smiles, but in an instant, her face turned pale.
A long arrow pierced through the clouds, from behind to the front, and pierced Yan Zhao's heart.
He stood there blankly, staggered slightly, and then his mouth filled with bright red blood as he slowly collapsed.
The person who fired the arrows, whose origins are unknown, has vanished without a trace.
Only Jin Shu, who was shouting "Master," and Li Jin, who rushed up to catch him, were clearly reflected in his falling eyes.
These two children have finally grown up.
Jin Shu helped him up and laid him on his side in her arms. Her lips were pale, and she trembled as she repeatedly called out the word "Master".
Li Jin roared, and the Imperial Guards stationed in the capital immediately began searching for the assassin.
Then, he squatted down worriedly, staring at the spot where the arrow had pierced through, unable to utter a single word.
Yan Zhao's usually stern face now wore a warm smile. In front of them, he took out a jade plaque engraved with "Grand Coroner" from his bosom and, with his bloodied hand, placed it into Jin Shu's palm.
A biting wind howled, and the world lost its color.
The icy snowflakes fell like tears from the sky.
“Girl, you…” Yan Zhao called to her, a large patch of bright red blood gushing from his mouth, “This…this is the last lecture.”
He took a deep breath and forced a smile.
Seeing his pained expression, Jin Shu's eyes welled up with tears. She couldn't see Yan Zhao's face or his smile clearly.
She trembled, trying her best to control her grief: "Master, don't say anymore, the imperial physician is almost here, almost here."
Upon hearing this, Yan Zhao shook his head.
He raised his hand and gently patted her arm, his voice weak but exceptionally clear: "You two have completed your apprenticeship."
Now that you've completed your apprenticeship, you'll be able to stand on your own.
Yan Zhao smiled, but his hand slowly fell down, as silently as the falling snow.
Jin Shu could no longer hold back her back pain and shook her head, crying and saying no. Li Jin, standing to the side, remained silent, her eyes filled with a thick layer of frost.
Tears fell onto his cheeks, and what was originally a cold death became warm, like a redemption.
He was proud.
He is also proud.
This final lesson, known as "betrayal," has finally come to an end.
Before the light in his eyes disappeared, he gazed at the color of the sky, as if he had returned to six years ago.
It was on such an early winter day, and it was also such a time of flying snow.
With nowhere else to turn, Prince Jing, Li Jin, slowly walked through this place, returned the tiger tally, and lost everything.
Yet, on a snowy night, he knelt in his courtyard, draped in a snow-covered coat, like a cold stone statue.
"I beg Lord Yan to teach me the art of corpse speech."
In the depths of winter, large snowflakes blanketed the entire capital city in a thick layer of white.
He remained silent, standing with his hands behind his back.
After a long pause, he scoffed, "You think you can overturn the Crown Prince's case by learning a little bit of autopsy skills? Is Your Highness Prince Jing as naive as a three-year-old child?"
He thought Li Jin would give up, but he saw him slowly kowtow to the ground with his almost frozen body.
"Please, Lord Yan, teach me how to overturn my brother's case!"
That was the beginning of everything. Like an inescapable fate, from that day on, Yan Zhao watched over Li Jin from behind.
They acknowledged his ambitions, planned his grand undertakings, and guided him when he lost his way.
"First, you have to survive."
"Secondly, you need to have your own network."
"Third, you must win the hearts of the people."
In the coroner's room of the Six Doors, a wisp of sandalwood incense curls upwards.
Yan Zhao said, "On the day Your Highness wins the hearts of the people, Your Highness will set out on your campaign."
The countless long nights he spent teaching him the art of political maneuvering passed by in a flash, like a revolving lantern in a theatrical troupe.
Regardless of the seasons, the times he spent explaining the principles of checks and balances to him, like scattered stars, converged into a river.
He could hear the deafening roar of countless people outside the palace walls.
He could see the shadows of officials kneeling in submission in the main hall.
Six years have passed, and Li Jin has grown up.
Six years later, Yan Zhao passed away.
Throughout his life, he remained loyal to one person, solely for the sake of peace in the world.
In this life, he followed only one person, solely to protect the peace and well-being of the Great Wei.
Too tired.
He laughed.
I can finally sleep.
At this very moment, the door to the study of the Crown Prince, who was in seclusion in the Eastern Palace reflecting on his mistakes, creaked open.
He didn't look up, but simply asked, "Is it resolved?"
Across from him at the desk, Lian Shui lowered the longbow from his shoulder, cupped his hands, and said, "It's resolved."
The prince picked up his brush, dipped it in the ink in the inkstone, nodded, and said lazily, "Do you know who's next?"
Lian Shui paused for a moment, then nodded and replied, "Yes."
After saying that, he turned around, pushed open the door, and went out.
The snow was falling heavily, but the charcoal fire was burning brightly in the prince's study.
He copied the scriptures stroke by stroke, but every stroke he wrote turned into the character for "death."
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