Chapter 75: Encountering Another Li Jin
The crown prince acted too quickly.
This was something Li Jin had not anticipated.
The case was only halfway through when Jin Shu was targeted by him. Li Jin had no choice but to make arrangements in advance, trying to avoid the Crown Prince and cover for Jin Shu.
Before them, Su Shangxuan and Zhang Xin sat side by side, Zhang Xin's tabby cat still in his arms, lazily turning over.
After a long silence, Zhang Xin finally spoke: "There's no escaping it."
Su Shangxuan also agreed with this point.
"The Crown Prince is meticulous; he will find out about the Master's existence sooner or later."
Li Jin rubbed his temples: "It's not just a matter of time, it's that we already know."
He was certain that the Crown Prince already knew that a Mr. Jin had entered the Six Doors, but he couldn't be sure how much the Crown Prince actually knew about Jin Shu.
"The most important thing right now is to solve the case as soon as possible. His Majesty has only given the sect leader two days, which is very urgent," Su Shangxuan said. "To close the case, I need at least two hours to get the statements."
“I shouldn’t need to handle this case…” Zhang Xin stroked the cat in his arms. “Alright, Sect Leader, you can focus on solving the case, and I’ll go take a look.”
Should we make a trip?
Li Jin looked up, staring at his face, waiting for him to say the next thing.
“I have a few acquaintances who have a good relationship with the Prime Minister. I’ll go and find out what they know.” He chuckled as he finished speaking. “And while I’m at it, I’ll also ask whether the sudden dispatch of Yan Zhao was the Crown Prince’s or His Majesty’s doing.”
After a long silence in the study, Li Jin took a deep breath, stood up, picked up the fan beside him, and nodded, saying, "Then let's do it this way."
The group split into three teams: Su Shangxuan and Shen Wen went to search for Huang Liangping, the son-in-law of the Chen family.
Zhang Xin, on the other hand, managed to find a few "cat friends" to chat about everyday things.
Li Jin, accompanied by Zhou Zheng and Jin Shu, unexpectedly went to Jinhua Tower.
Before Zhou Zheng could even produce the sign for the Six Doors, the waiter at the door smiled and bowed, saying, "Your Highness Prince Jing, please. Our young master has been waiting for you in a private room on the second floor."
Upon hearing this, Li Jin exhaled through her nose, her mood worsening.
It turns out that having your next move predicted is such an unpleasant feeling.
Seeing Li Jin standing in front of her with black smoke billowing from his hair, his "bad mood" and "suppressed anger" practically written all over his face, Jin Shu lowered her voice and leaned close to Zhou Zheng to ask, "Did something serious happen in the palace?"
Zhou Zheng hesitated for a moment, slowed his pace, and nodded: "Something happened, but it's not a big deal. Song Zhen is the real problem."
"Young Master Song?"
“The prince encountered another version of himself,” Zhou Zheng said, then added, “He wished he could erase his existence.”
Jin Shu was taken aback. Erasing his existence? What was going on?
But then Li Jin, who was walking in front, turned around, looking at the two people whispering behind him with one eyebrow raised and the other lowered. He snorted coldly, "When you're talking like this behind someone's back, can you at least keep your voice down?"
"It's not a problem with my voice, Your Highness is too sensitive." Zhou Zheng said with utmost seriousness.
Li Jin was speechless, his mouth opening and closing as he said, "Lord Zhou, I've noticed that you've become increasingly arrogant since Mr. Jin arrived."
Zhou Zheng looked surprised and confused, and asked in astonishment, "What? I feel that as the prince's personal bodyguard, I have always been arrogant."
At this moment, even Jin Shu was stunned: "Lord Zhou, is your definition arrogance?"
"If we're not arrogant, how can we keep the situation in check and protect the prince?"
Li Jin closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose, took a deep breath, and tapped Jin Shu with her fingertips: "You've corrupted her."
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the private room.
Behind him, Jin Shu stood there dumbfounded, her mouth opening and closing, before finally uttering a single word: "Me?"
In the private room, pale yellow curtains swayed in the breeze, and the sandalwood incense burner emitted wisps of smoke.
Beside the square table, Song Zhen smiled and, dressed in a white long robe, bowed with her hands clasped in greeting.
He personally poured the tea and handed it to Li Jin: "First-class Tieguanyin, best enjoyed after the Dragon Boat Festival."
Li Jin sat there for a moment before raising his hand to take the teacup: "Since Young Master Song knows that I have returned, he should also know why I have come."
Song Zhen nodded and smiled, raising her right index finger: "Your Highness has come for two things. First, for Chen Wen's deceased second son, Chen Feng."
He held up another finger: "Secondly, for..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but the direction of his gaze made it clear to Li Jin.
He knew he had come for Jin Shu.
Li Jin's displeasure was written all over his face: "In Young Master Song's opinion, why would I come looking for you after Chen Feng's death?"
Song Zhen nodded and said slowly, "Actually, it's not because of Chen Feng, but because of Chen Wen's son-in-law, Huang Liangping."
“This man is addicted to gambling,” he said, picking up his teacup and gently blowing away the foam. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Jin Shu’s astonished expression.
Song Zhen smiled, glancing at Jin Shu's face, and nodded in acknowledgment: "Don't be surprised. Guilai Pavilion is also a Song family business, a teahouse for playing chess and chatting. People like Huang Liangping, who are rich, have plenty of free time, and are fond of gambling, have always been quite famous in Guilai Pavilion."
His polite manner and the way he spoke to Jin Shu made Li Jin inexplicably unhappy, and her expression towards him grew even colder.
"Young Master Song has been in business for many years, have you ever heard of Chen Feng buying bamboo mats and firewood?" His gaze was cold, leaving Song Zhen somewhat confused.
He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I've heard about it, but..."
Song Zhen rested her chin on her hand, her brows furrowed slightly, her fingertips twirling: "But it was all Huang Liangping's drunken words. He sold worthless goods to Chen Feng, extracting money from Chen Feng so that he could squander it on gambling."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "Oh, and there was another time when he complained about the Chen family during a break from playing chess, saying that if there was one more useless person in the Chen family when dividing the inheritance, he would get one less share."
Song Zhen laughed: "How could a son-in-law who lives with his wife's family be included in the distribution of family property? But this is something I heard with my own ears."
Upon hearing this, Li Jin lowered her eyes and flung the fan away with a whoosh.
In the late spring and early summer afternoons in Beijing, heat waves rise from the ground, a gentle breeze blows, and the wind chimes tinkle.
The interior, however, presents a completely different scene.
Li Jin and Song Zhen are two contrasting characters: one is cold and deep, exuding a low-pressure atmosphere like a chilling wind, while the other has a bright and cheerful smile, like a warm current of sunshine.
Only in front of Jin Shu and Zhou Zheng was it like the confluence of warm and cold air, with a chilling feeling of rolling dark clouds, lightning, thunder, and torrential rain.
Both of them held their breath, not daring to utter a sound, their backs drenched in cold sweat.
Li Jin conveyed with remarkable precision that he disliked Song Zhen completely. This left Jin Shu, who had greatly admired Song Zhen's fluent and composed demeanor, looking rather embarrassed.
In that split second, Li Jin had already grasped eighty percent of the reason for the murder and the motive behind the headless corpse case outside Yanxing Gate.
Now all that's left is to find Huang Liangping and find out exactly what happened that night.
Find out what grudge he held that made him so cruel, stabbing Chen Feng eleven times before slashing his face beyond recognition and finally cutting off his head and throwing it into the culvert.
At this moment, Song Zhen narrowed his eyes slightly: "In that case, let me escort Your Highness to the Return Pavilion."
He paused for a moment, then said, "In the carriage, I can also speak with Your Highness about your second purpose in coming to see me."
The second objective was to find out exactly how much the Crown Prince knew about Jin Shu.
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