Chapter 287 A Great Cause for the Ages in a Peaceful and Prosperous Era
Seeing that he had failed to rob Prince Jing while trying to take advantage of the situation, and had even lost ten taels of silver in the process, he realized that his attempt to rob Prince Jing had backfired.
A puff of white smoke rose from Jin Shu's throat, making him look pale. He put on a mournful face and waved his hand, saying, "I'm not playing anymore!"
She looked at Li Jin's outstretched hand with a pained expression, and then fumbled in her pocket to pull out ten taels of silver.
It's unbelievable! This person is so drunk he's practically staggering around, how come he's not dizzy at all?
As she paid, she pouted and complained indignantly, "Everyone else gets drunk and becomes intoxicated, how come Your Highness's mind is so clear?"
Li Jin glanced at her and snorted coldly, "I'm really into it right now."
After speaking, his gaze fell on Su Siyuan's face, which was flushed red.
Su Siyuan was utterly bewildered by his ambiguous glance.
Having received ten taels of unexpected wealth, Li Jin weighed the silver in his hand and looked with satisfaction at Jin Shu's resentful face.
"You should go back now. There are two adults here. Shu'er, you should go back and rest early."
Upon hearing this, Jin Shu showed no hesitation whatsoever. She quickly gathered up the cards on the table, turned around, and left.
Su Siyuan, however, kept stopping him: "Don't be in such a hurry, Mr. Jin. This killing is quite interesting. Let me take it back to the Dali Temple and make a replica!"
With a snap, Li Jin slapped his outstretched wrist with his fan: "Is the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review quite free?"
Su Siyuan hissed and rubbed his wrist, shaking his head with a grimace: "Very busy, extremely busy, no more, no more copying, Mr. Jin, Happy Lantern Festival, get some rest."
Only after Jin Shu left, looking as if she had suffered a massive hemorrhage, did Li Jin raise her hand, pinch the bridge of her nose, and rub it up and down a few times.
"Is Lord Su feeling dizzy?" he asked meaningfully without opening his eyes.
Su Siyuan blinked and shook his head, saying, "I'm not dizzy."
Li Jin pursed her lips, glancing at his face with obvious disdain, and after a long while said, "...to make a long story short."
He was afraid that the man in front of him might be aroused and lack self-control, and might make a move on someone.
Su Siyuan pondered for a moment, then stopped smiling and took a large box from Zhao Chengping.
"The case of Crown Prince Li Mu being wrongly accused six years ago, including all the details, witnesses, physical evidence, and confessions, is now complete." He nodded, straightened his arm, and presented it to Li Jin.
The box contained a thick stack of case notes.
All the autopsy records were written by Jin Shu herself over more than ten days, stroke by stroke.
All the testimonies were recorded by Su Shangxuan and Zhang Xin during their tireless interrogation throughout the night.
Seeing Li Jin pick up the summary and carefully flip through it, Su Siyuan hesitated for a moment before adding, "But..." He pursed his lips, "Some of these things involve Lord Yan, and some things even involve His Majesty."
Li Jin remained silent, not even raising his head, which puzzled him. So he tentatively added, "Moreover, after being falsely accused of treason, his actions over the past six years have also involved Prime Minister Song..."
Li Jin understood what Su Siyuan meant.
If we really dig deeper, half of the entire Wei royal family would be implicated.
Especially the current emperor, and Song Zhen, who treats the world as a chess piece.
As he flipped through the pages, he kept glancing at Su Siyuan out of the corner of his eye.
"You've been at the Dali Temple for so long, do I really need to tell you how to handle things?"
Upon hearing this, Su Siyuan smiled and leaned forward cheerfully: "Well, Your Highness will always be the master. There are some things that need to be done, but you need to know them beforehand."
Li Jin snorted coldly and said indifferently, "Noisy."
Su Siyuan raised an eyebrow, intrigued: "Hey, this double standard is really not right!" He complained seriously, "When Mr. Jin was here just now, the Prince was full of witty remarks and laughing and talking. Why is it that when it's my turn, he's so stingy with words!"
"Is this the first day you've met me?" Li Jin frowned, looking disdainful.
He reached into the box, took out a case summary with the words "Li Jing" written on it, and flipped through it.
From how he planned to seize the throne, to the specific implementation, how he arranged things and what role he played.
It's all written clearly in the entire case summary.
Seeing his indifferent attitude, Su Siyuan pursed her lips, shook her head, and sighed with great emotion.
The night was deep and the palace was extremely quiet.
Apart from Shen Wen's footsteps on the roof, almost no other sounds could be heard.
After a long while, Li Jin put down the book in his hand and slowly said, "Whether it's Li Jing, Zhao Wencheng and Xu Weiyou, or even Consort Shu and Su Wanying, it's enough to put them to death, frame the prince for treason, and exterminate the royal family."
He glanced at the remaining items in the box beside him and found the one with the imperial edict written on it.
“After the suspect’s death, according to the laws of the Great Wei, he should no longer be held responsible for the case. Considering that he spent his life seeking justice for so many people who died unjustly, you can privately find Lord Yan’s son and pay some silver to the national treasury. That would be reasonable…” Li Jin paused, took the edict in his hand, and looked at Su Siyuan. “As for this, just destroy it.”
Su Siyuan nodded knowingly: "Then I'll rewrite the entire file."
He pondered for a moment and said, "Let's remove the parts about Lord Yan and the Emperor. In Li Jing's case, we'll only investigate the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince on his way to exile, and then ask the Emperor to convict him based on that."
After a long pause, Li Jin shook his head and said decisively, "No."
He said, "The part about the Emperor will be preserved exactly as it was."
Su Siyuan was stunned for a moment, thinking he had misheard: "This... isn't this inappropriate? If this is left behind, it will be a stain on the royal family that will be criticized by future generations for thousands of years!"
By candlelight, Li Jin nodded, looking at Su Siyuan's incredulous expression: "Stay and do as instructed."
At the New Year's Eve palace banquet in the Taiji Hall, Li Yi, in front of all the civil and military officials and their families, tore open the sordid details of the palace intrigues and the bloody battle for the throne.
What stain on royalty could be more tragic or shocking than this?
What he wanted was not to be remembered for eternity or to be praised by posterity.
What he wanted was to be etched into the pillar of shame in history books, to become someone for future generations to learn from.
If Li Yi's aiding and abetting evil is erased from this case file, how will future generations know the origins and the end of this six-year-long miscarriage of justice that nearly shook the foundations of the country?
Wouldn't all of Li Yi's efforts have been in vain?
“The royal family is not a god.” Li Jin lowered his eyes slightly. “Like everyone else in the world, they eat grains, experience the seasons, have emotions and desires, can think, and can make mistakes.”
He smiled faintly: "However, the most precious qualities in this world are all gathered in Father's unparalleled act of abandoning empty fame and willingly serving as a warning to others."
The most difficult thing in the world is not achieving fame and fortune, nor possessing immense wealth, much less wielding power and enjoying boundless glory.
Rather, when standing at the pinnacle, holding the power of life and death over all living beings, one still remembers that one is a human being.
I still remember that I was just like everyone else, with parents and brothers. Before the King of Hell, we were all just ordinary people with only one life.
Still as humble as dust, still as modest as an apprentice.
I still remember that when you do something wrong, you should not only say sorry, but also do your best to take responsibility for and make up for the consequences of your mistake.
This principle, which even a three-year-old child in a common household understands, seems exceptionally precious to those high-ranking officials in the Taiji Hall.
An emperor who threw away all royal dignity just to correct the mistakes he had made six years earlier.
This will inevitably sow the seeds of "to err is human, to forgive divine" in the hearts of all the officials of the Great Wei.
This is the true, lasting achievement in a peaceful and prosperous era.
Li Jin glanced at the booklet in the box with Song Zhen's name on it, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Leave behind everything from these six years that involves Song Zhen."
Looking at Su Siyuan's face, he tapped the table in front of him with his fingertips and said in clear handwriting: "Make three copies, one to be sent to the study, and one to be kept in the secret rooms of the Six Doors and the Dali Temple."
Li Jin paused for a moment: "It will be of great use in the future."
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