Chapter 254 He's nothing but a hypocritical bastard.
Inside the carriage, Jin Shu saw Li Jin with his arms crossed, a dark expression on his face, staring intently at her.
Feeling uneasy and guilty, she looked away, gazing at the bustling scene of the capital city outside the carriage curtain.
As the year draws to a close, heavy snow falls, but the streets and alleys are bustling with activity.
The cries of vendors filled her ears, and her eyes were filled with colorful banners. Through the hazy mist emanating from the street stalls, she saw a magnificent dynasty rising to power.
This is both the mundane world of everyday life and a primordial paradise.
After a long while, Jin Shu pursed her lips.
"I know Your Highness's intentions." She glanced at the children on the street who were happily chasing the snow with candied hawthorns in their hands, her voice carrying an ambiguous and doting tone.
“But Your Highness can trust me a little more.” She turned her head slightly and met Li Jin’s eyes. “Your Highness traveled thousands of miles to Dingzhou to find me. Isn’t this the very moment you were looking forward to?”
Snowflakes fluttered down as the car slowly came to a stop in front of the Song residence.
Almost simultaneously, Song Zhen's carriage also slowly came to a stop.
Li Jin stood in the heavy snow, staring blankly at Song Zhen, who then smiled and gestured for him to enter.
“You knew I was coming,” Li Jin asked.
Song Zhen nodded, smiling faintly without responding.
The Song family mansion, which had just been attacked by assassins the night before, still had the undisposed corpse lying in the courtyard outside the study.
Li Jin glanced at the marks on the assassin's back from the double swords, then looked back at He Lin, who was standing next to Song Zhen.
He stood in the heavy snow, hands behind his back, and gave a cold laugh: "Is this game of chess to your liking, Young Master Song?"
Seeing Li Jin's solemn expression, He Lin subconsciously placed her hand on the hilt of the twin swords behind her back, watching Li Jin's direction warily.
In the courtyard, a strong wind blew, and the cold was biting.
Song Zhen's smile vanished, and he turned his head to the side, saying, "No." He glanced at He Lin, "You are no match for him."
After saying that, he looked at Li Jin's face and said, "...The outcome is still undecided, so it's too early to talk about whether it suits my taste or not."
He smiled faintly, his green robe billowing in the wind and snow. He was five meters away from Li Jin, who was dressed in black, yet they seemed to be separated by three realms.
One is in the distant heavens, the other in the frigid hell.
After a long pause, Li Jin's gaze sharpened further. He chuckled softly, "Song Zhen, you've used the entire royal bloodline as pawns. Have you considered the consequences?"
But then Song Zhen burst into laughter: "Having dared to play this game, I've already disregarded life and death."
He smiled as he looked at Li Jin: "Your Highness Prince Jing is a king, a prince with status and power, a prince who is high above all others, the God of War of Great Wei, someone who, even if he loses everything, the Crown Prince cannot bring himself to harm you!"
Song Zhen's lips trembled slightly: "But I am not."
His smile faded, and he glanced at Li Jin with a bitter smile: "I have no status, no power. Even if I know who my enemy is and where the murderer is, I don't even have the strength to raise my sword and kill him."
“When he drove me to the brink, no one could give me the justice I deserved.” Song Zhen bit her lip, glaring fiercely at Li Jin’s face. “Sometimes I’m really jealous of you. You have everything, but I have nothing.”
Amidst the heavy snow, Song Zhen took a deep breath.
He was somewhat dazed, looking at the large snowflakes, the assassin's corpse lying on the ground, and Li Jin standing in front of him.
The anger that had been suppressed in his heart for too long, like a wild beast being released, swept over his entire body.
In the cold wind, Song Zhen suddenly raised his hand, pointing it directly at Li Jin's forehead. He gritted his teeth and roared, "What a coward! Six years ago! Why didn't you just lead the army to force the emperor to abdicate! You could have saved the crown prince, saved the world, and saved so many people!"
He revealed a mocking expression, tilting his chin up and looking at Li Jin with disdain: "Are the reputation of loyalty and righteousness, the praise of benevolence and filial piety, more important to you than the lives of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess?"
He roared, "He's nothing but a hypocritical bastard!" His voice grew louder, "Bastard!"
After saying this, Song Zhen's eyes reddened in the heavy snow.
He looked at Li Jin: "You clearly, you clearly came back!"
He took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions: "You clearly saw him!"
Li Jin remained standing with his hands behind his back, gazing at Song Zhen's distraught appearance from the snow.
Snowflakes fell on their shoulders, soon covering them with a thin layer.
His gaze, passing through the slowly falling snowflakes, settled on the jade pendant at Song Zhen's waist.
The faintly visible character "Cen" on the broken jade pendant, now only half intact, sent a shiver down Li Jin's spine.
The Cen family of the capital, the maternal clan of the Crown Princess Cen, suffered a devastating fate overnight due to a wrongful treason case six years ago.
No one survived.
Seeing Li Jin staring intently at the jade pendant, Song Zhen chuckled softly and took a deep breath.
“Back then, I saved the life of the only son of the Song family. At the time of the incident, he happened to be a guest in the mansion.” He pursed his lips. “This fool changed into my clothes, wore my belt, and locked me in the secret passage of the Cen family.”
He glanced at the snow, lowered his eyes, and said, "It was five days later when his father found me in the secret passage."
"Only then did I realize that he had died for me." Song Zhen raised his foot and kicked the assassin on the ground hard. "From then on, there was no Cen Zhen, the young master of the Cen family, only Song Zhen, the adopted son of the Song family."
He looked at Li Jin, accusing him and lamenting, "Prince Jing, Li Jin, the entire Eastern Palace family, the Cen family household, all added up, more than two hundred lives have been lost!"
Li Jin remained silent, staring blankly at his face.
After a long while, Song Zhen took a deep breath, chuckled dryly, and shook his head.
"What does Your Highness think I should do?" Li Jin suddenly spoke up. "Abandon the border, withdraw the army, hand over the hundreds of thousands of people in the three cities to the Xiongnu, and then force the emperor to abdicate?"
"How could I not want to save them?" His eyes darkened. "When I rushed back, it was already seven days later."
He took a deep breath: "The border is far away, and I cannot save them, but I can save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the three cities."
Li Jin glanced at Song Zhen's face: "If I were you, what would you have chosen six years ago?"
How to choose?
There is no choice at all.
Six years ago, Li Jin was faced with a dead end that left him with no way to move.
He exchanged the tiger tally for the hope of enduring hardship and reversing his verdict in the future.
If this step is not taken, Li Jin will never be summoned back to the capital, will forever remain on the frontier until he dies in battle and grows old, and will never see the hope of his injustice being redressed.
How could Song Zhen not know?
He understood things better than Li Jin, and he was more desperate than Li Jin.
It was clear that everything was a conspiracy, and what was truly devastating was that Li Mu and Cen Shi hadn't managed to leave Li Jin any pawns at all.
Li Jin had no choice.
Either survive and wait for an opportunity to overturn the verdict.
Either we bear the eternal infamy of being traitors and die together.
The anger that Song Zhen had suppressed for six years was released the moment it was vented, and he felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from his heart, making him feel much lighter.
When he looked at Li Jin, he no longer put on that cunning businessman's airs and became much more natural.
He chuckled softly and flicked his sleeve: "I know you had no choice..."
Before he could finish speaking, Li Jin coldly interrupted, "But now, you have a choice."
Song Zhen paused, looking at him in surprise.
"Song Zhen, do you really know what kind of consequences you are facing?"
He sensed the hidden meaning in Li Jin's words and paused for a moment.
"Do you really control everything?" Li Jin raised his chin slightly and narrowed his eyes. "You're just like the Crown Prince; you haven't personally participated in a single thing."
Song Zhen was stunned. He widened his eyes and turned around abruptly to look at He Lin standing behind him.
[Author's Note]
[Dear friends, I have a high fever today and need to go to the hospital. There will be only one update today.]
[It's so difficult to see a doctor when I have a fever right now. I don't know if I'll be back this afternoon. If my fever breaks when I get back, I'll try to finish a chapter tonight.]
Thank you everyone for your understanding.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
