Chapter 291 The Grand Finale (Part Two)
Everything proceeded as planned.
On the morning of the 19th, Jin Shu was awakened by the sound of firecrackers outside the Crown Prince's residence.
She took off the Six Doors black robe she had worn for a year and left the jade pendant of the Shadow on the table, along with the large coroner's plaque.
Jin Shu put on the men's clothing she had prepared earlier, tied her hair into a bun, and turned her head to see Li Rong already waiting at the door, grinning.
He was wearing the same unremarkable coarse cloth garment he had worn a year ago when he came to the capital with Prince Jing.
Perhaps it was the peaceful and tranquil life of that year that made the boy, who looked a little thin at the time, exude an extraordinary temperament from the inside out.
Jin Shu pursed her lips, overwhelmed with emotion.
"If we don't take a carriage, we need to hurry today and get to the small county under Jinzhou Prefecture by tonight."
She slung her bundle over her shoulder and, before leaving the room where she had lived for several months, glanced at another jade pendant placed on the table.
Prince Jing's jade pendant.
Its warm, translucent white color, intricate carvings, and long golden tassels, like a whirlpool, drew her gaze.
Taking just this one item as a souvenir is perfectly fine.
After all, the Great Wei no longer has Prince Jing.
Jin Shu stood there, carefully picking up the waist pendant, her fingertips gently caressing it, her cheeks bathed in a golden sunlight.
Her face showed relief, reluctance, longing, and hope.
Li Rong and the others were in the courtyard. He glanced back at the figures on the eaves and, as planned, raised his hand and coughed lightly a few times: "Sister, if we don't leave now, it will be too late."
Jin Shu snapped out of her daze for a moment, then somewhat embarrassedly put the jade pendant into her bosom.
"It's a bit of a pity," she said with a smile as she came out. "The gold and silver jewels bestowed by the Emperor were snatched away by someone else."
But Li Rong frowned, raised his hand and wiped the tip of his nose: "It's like the sun has risen in the west." He laughed, "Someone took so much of your money, and you didn't even hold a grudge!"
Under the sunlight, in the courtyard, Jin Shu looked up at the clear blue sky and watched the clouds drift by in the wind.
She turned around in the hazy light and looked at Li Rong behind her, smiling expectantly: "Giving it to the whole world is not a bad idea."
She was talking about the rewards, and also about the man she couldn't let go of.
Jin Shu has seen far too many partings.
She was too clear-headed, so clear-headed that she knew the impermanence of life, and that gold, silver, jewels, fame, and fortune were ultimately just external things.
She has witnessed too much death and seen too many stories of people being blinded by love and trapped by money, and she has come to realize that human nature is multifaceted and no one can define anyone else.
Good and evil, jealousy and greed, joy, anger, regret and hatred—these are the characteristics of all people in the world, and also the entirety of the lessons that all people in this world will learn in this life.
Just like the world, only after the storm has passed can we see the true rainbow.
If my disappearance can contribute even a fraction of a second to the early appearance of this rainbow in the world, then perhaps in that fraction of a second, countless holy spirits can be saved, and more people can be allowed to bask in the glory of fairness and justice.
Even if it meant disappearing, Jin Shu wouldn't hesitate to give her life for it.
What she wanted was an unprecedented golden age.
What she wanted to see was a peaceful and prosperous world.
Only Li Jin, who embodies equality for all beings and brings fairness and justice to every ordinary person, can achieve all of this.
The only one capable of managing all of this is the current crown prince, who knows how to use people effectively and firmly binds the hearts of the people to the world.
And she could only push him to his current height.
And that's all she could do to accompany him.
On the outskirts of Beijing, wildflowers bloomed in profusion. The two strolled along, stopping occasionally, as if they had returned to a bygone era.
After leaving the city gate to the west, we encountered sugar-blowing craftsmen along the way.
So the two of them, one big and one small, each holding a small sugar figurine, walked along the mountain path, chatting and laughing.
Along the way, they encountered a storyteller at a post station, who happened to be telling the story of Jin Shu disguised as a man.
"This renowned coroner, disguised as a man, possessed keen insight and sought justice for the deceased..."
"With her identity exposed and execution imminent, the head of the Six Doors is as anxious as an ant on a hot plate..."
"Who would have thought that he would risk his life single-handedly to engage in a fierce debate with civil and military officials in the court and among the common people..."
"The snow fell heavily, and the blood of the fallen seemed to bloom like a magnificent flower beneath the palace gates..."
Although many love stories were fabricated, those fragments still evoked Jin Shu's memories.
As she listened, she laughed along with the storyteller.
As I laughed, the laughter stopped.
Stunned, tears began to flow.
She thought she could let go, but it was just wishful thinking.
The two people who were once traveling happily now walk side by side in silence.
Seeing her distraught appearance, Li Rong raised his hand and coughed lightly, deliberately saying, "Actually, it's better that you left."
He sighed: "The reason he doesn't come to see you is not just because he's busy, nor is it just because he doesn't want to approve your resignation."
Upon hearing this, Jin Shu gave a somewhat dejected smile: "It's alright, it's all in the past."
"He is to be betrothed."
Li Rong didn't stop: "The other party is the granddaughter of the Great General, and in a way, she is General Xiao Chen's cousin."
The once warm breeze, for some reason, now only lightly brushed against Jin Shu's cheek, yet made her feel exceptionally cold.
Looking at the worried young man before her, she forced a smile, gently stroked his forehead, and said without any emotion, "It's a good match, and we should offer our blessings."
After saying that, she shook off her previous gloomy state, changed the subject, and began to ramble on about famous mountains and rivers without stopping for a moment.
Such unusual nagging would make anyone feel sorry for her.
"Aren't you curious about who that woman is?" Li Rong abruptly interrupted her, looking at her with pity.
"Does it matter?" Jin Shu smiled faintly, without saying anything more.
Li Rong, on the other hand, suddenly stomped his foot angrily, looking very annoyed. He grabbed her, lowered his head, and strode forward quickly, as if he wanted to run.
He stopped abruptly when he could vaguely see the government's Wuli Pavilion about five miles outside the capital.
The seven-year-old boy turned around angrily, his gaze burning as he stared at Jin Shu's bewildered face: "Sister, the world belongs to the world. You have done everything you could for the world. You have a clear conscience."
“But,” he said, “have you ever considered that the world might also hope for a happy ending for you?”
He released Jin Shu's hand, took a step back, and stood with his hands behind his back: "Why do you feel that if you can't help, you don't deserve to stand by his side? Have you ever thought that if it weren't for you, he might already be dead in Li Jing's assassination attempt?"
Li Rong hissed, looking at him with a disappointed expression: "Is there something wrong with you? You pushed this man to the top, you can't let him go, and you just walk away like that, handing him over to another woman?"
This string of inexplicably mature words came crashing down on Jin Shu's face, leaving her momentarily bewildered: "You..."
"What do you mean, 'you'? Grandfather said all the children in the Li family are like this." After saying that, he sighed, grabbed Jin Shu, made her face the direction of Wuliting, and pushed her forward from back to front.
While pushing, he complained, "My royal uncle is getting married, not looking for an ally. If we're talking about any kind of assistance, who can be stronger than the Prime Minister?"
"According to your theory, the Imperial Uncle might as well be a homosexual, then he would be absolutely invincible!" He snorted coldly and let out a long breath.
Jin Shu, who was being pushed forward by him, had no time to refute what he said when she saw that particularly familiar figure in the Wuli Pavilion.
Under the eaves of the pavilion, Li Jin smiled gently, her eyes like crescent moons, leaning against a red pillar, tapping her palm with a black fan.
Jin Shu was stunned.
"The coroner is in high spirits, hiking such a long way, is it a picnic?" Li Jin's smile deepened, and that dazzling light made Jin Shu unable to open her eyes for a moment.
Before she could answer, Li Jin leaned to the side and looked at Li Rong behind her, adding, "If it's not an outing... then it's to kidnap the prince, right?"
Upon hearing this, she waved her hands repeatedly:
"A picnic!"
"Kidnapping!"
in unison.
Behind him, Li Rong rushed to Li Jin's side in a few steps: "Uncle, please be wise! It's a kidnapping!"
Li Jin nodded in deep agreement, then raised an eyebrow at Jin Shu's stunned expression and said casually, "Holding a member of the royal family hostage is a capital offense punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family..."
She understood; this was another trap set by Li Jin.
Jin Shu sighed deeply, her lips pressed into a straight line. She pointed in the direction of Li Jin and Li Rong, and after a long while, she finally blurted out, "Li Jin, you're ruthless!"
After saying that, she glared at him resentfully: "I heard that His Majesty has already bestowed a marriage upon His Highness the Crown Prince, so why is Your Highness still so insistent?"
Seeing this, Li Jin still smiled, showing no anger or annoyance whatsoever.
He slowly walked forward, using his fan to lift Jin Shu's chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. Then he leaned forward, smiling as he asked, "So, Shu'er, are you prepared to defy the imperial decree?"
Disobeying the imperial decree?
He leaned close to Jin Shu's ear and whispered, "You can't go anywhere now. The whole world knows that you are my Crown Princess, Li Jin's Crown Princess."
As soon as he finished speaking, the imperial edict made of golden silkworm silk landed steadily in Jin Shu's palm.
Not far away, Song Zhen, who was observing all of this, put his arm around He Lin beside him, and they smiled at each other.
In the autumn of 211 AD, Crown Prince Li Jin was married.
Rumors circulated that after being betrothed, the bride would frequently try to escape by climbing over the wall.
Perhaps it was because the current Crown Prince Li Jin had a famous confidante in the Six Doors, who disguised herself as a man.
The Xiao family girl, who accepted the Emperor's bestowed marriage, knew she was insignificant compared to him, but she could not disobey the Emperor's will. So she had no choice but to use this method of climbing over the wall to run away, hoping not to break up the lovers.
However, things didn't go as planned, and he always managed to get caught red-handed under the wall.
After the marriage, she was mostly depressed, so much so that she would often sit in the East Palace, holding her lower back and sighing with a resentful expression, until the sun was high in the sky.
Thus, these became the palace secrets passed down orally by storytellers and endured through the ages.
In 216 AD, Li Yi died, Li Jin ascended the throne, and Lady Xiao became empress.
These palace secrets were passed down with even greater fervor over the next century.
Having learned from the lessons of that deposed concubine who wreaked havoc in the harem and whose son harmed the royal bloodline, the wise and benevolent Emperor Taizong reigned for forty-six years and had only Empress Xiao in his harem. Truly, it was a lifelong, devoted relationship, a love that transcended the limitations of being separated.
"But who knows, perhaps it was because he still cherished the memory of his confidante disguised as a man that Emperor Taizong was so diligent in his duties, and the Great Wei dynasty was transformed under his hard work."
"Only then did the Yongming Prosperity, which is recorded in history and praised by the world, come to be!"
[Author's Note]
Thank you all for reading and your enjoyment. The main text of "The Female Coroner of the Great Wei Dynasty" is now complete!
[Sprinkle with confetti!]
The following updates will provide some background information and some...you know what I mean, bonus content after the marriage!
Thank you again for reading and your support!
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