Chapter 81 No Regrets, Deadly Greed
Upon hearing that the money was gone, Chen Lan's reaction was unexpectedly strong.
Her lips trembled, and she gritted her teeth: "That bastard! Your Highness Prince Jing, the Six Doors cannot be lenient with people like him!"
After saying that, he even added in a righteous and awe-inspiring manner, "He should be executed as soon as possible to comfort my brother's spirit in heaven!"
He didn't look like a criminal who had just committed murder; he looked more like a hero who was upholding justice.
Not only Li Jin, but also Jin Shu standing to the side and Crown Prince Li Jing, who was slowly drinking tea, all showed expressions of disgust.
That's absolutely disgusting.
Li Jin raised his hand and rubbed his temple: "Killing him is to comfort Chen Feng's soul. What about you?"
Chen Lan was taken aback. After a long pause, she asked with an awkward laugh, "Your Highness, what do you mean by this?"
Then Li Jin spoke calmly: "Where are you, the one who swindled him out of his money and made him resell bamboo mats and wet firewood?"
Chen Lan's face turned pale and then flushed after Li Jin's direct attack on her.
"You said Huang Liangping left with him to see the pharmacy owner... Chen Lan, do you think I'm that easy to fool? Chen Feng, who already loathed Huang Liangping, why would he fight with him during the day, making a scene, and then go to see some pharmacy owner with him at Yanxing Gate that very night?"
“I’m going to teach you a lesson. You’ve been arrogant and domineering in the Chen family for a long time now. Usually, when I teach you a lesson, I just block Chen Feng’s courtyard and curse him. Why did I suddenly go to the Yanxing Gate that day?”
Li Jin gave her no chance to escape punishment, letting out a cold laugh, his tone so cold it seemed to freeze Chen Lan's soul: "Because you didn't just want to teach him a lesson, you wanted to kill him to silence him. Meeting the pharmacy owner was at most a prelude, not a decisive factor."
He narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Chen Lan, the real reason he followed Huang Liangping that night was probably because of you."
Chen Lan, whose back was soaked with sweat, shivered as the night wind blew through her body.
She couldn't come up with any more lies.
The man before her knew everything and understood everything; she had nowhere to run.
Thinking this, Chen Lan felt weak all over and collapsed onto a stone bench.
However… a glint of light flashed in Chen Lan’s eyes. She knew that Li Jin did not have the most crucial murder weapon. Without the murder weapon, there was still a glimmer of hope.
Li Jin is nothing more than someone who thinks he has the whole situation under control!
With a sneer, Chen Lan raised her proud head and looked at Li Jin with a disdainful expression: "That's right, you're right."
That tone, with its contemptuous undertone, was exactly like Huang Liangping's.
"That's right, that's right. I asked Huang Liangping to tell him that I had been robbed at Yanxing Gate and that they should come to rescue me immediately!"
"And then it was me who blindfolded him with that piece of clothing, watching Huang Liangping stab him again and again!"
She laughed loudly, "He's dead, but I'm still not satisfied! I stabbed him again and again!"
Chen Lan raised her hand and brushed a stray hair from her forehead: "That's because he deserves to die!"
At this point, Chen Lan revealed a ferocious expression, raised her hand, and pointed her index finger at Li Jin's forehead: "What a pity, Your Highness Prince Jing! You have no evidence!"
"Witnesses, physical evidence, and confessions," Chen Lan laughed arrogantly. "You don't have any physical evidence against me!"
But Li Jin remained calm, arms crossed, tilting his head slightly: "How do you know there isn't one? What if Prince Ben has one?"
After saying that, he raised the corners of his lips, revealing a cold smile.
Earlier, while Jin Shu was keeping the Crown Prince occupied and Li Jin was focusing the Chen family's attention on this courtyard, Zhou Zheng quietly took a few steps back from a corner of the courtyard and disappeared from everyone's sight.
In a few quick steps, he scaled the rooftop of the Chen family's house and joined the shadows of the "hawks and hounds" who had been waiting there for a long time, wearing masks and watching every move in the courtyard.
"Did you find it?" he asked.
Bai Yu nodded and took out a dagger from his pocket, which was covered in dust and had dried blood that had turned black.
"You would never guess that this thing was under Miss Chen's bed in her boudoir."
He chuckled softly: "She probably felt it wasn't safe in the garden behind the courtyard, so after His Highness came yesterday, she dug it out herself in the middle of the night and hid it in a secret compartment under her bed."
As he spoke, Bai Yu handed several IOUs and an account book to Zhou Zheng.
“Song Zhen is no simple man. He must have deliberately kept Huang Liangping behind. Lord Yingxun is still investigating his background.” Bai Yu paused, then pointed to the IOUs and accounts, “It’s all money that this couple owes the Song family, nearly five thousand taels.”
Five thousand taels of silver is by no means a small sum, even for the family of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.
Zhou Zheng took a deep breath, nodded, and said in a deep voice, "I need the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn."
Bai Yu hesitated: "Half a stick of incense?!"
"Lord Zhou, we found these things only because the Crown Prince's guards had little combat experience and were far inferior to our men." He chuckled twice. "Even so, the area below was heavily fortified, and half an incense stick's time was too long."
Although the prince's guards had never been on the battlefield and lacked practical combat experience, they were able to enter the prince's residence, which at least meant they had passed the theoretical test.
Creating a gap of half an incense stick's time under the noses of this group would be difficult even if Li Jin himself took action.
"It's too long, I'm not sure." Bai Yu frowned and bargained, "Cut it in half."
After thinking for a while, Zhou Zheng crumpled the dagger and the IOU together, tied them tightly with a handkerchief, and put them in his pocket. He said in a serious tone, "If we can't hold on, we'll do something. The prince's mission is important."
After saying that, he turned around and headed towards Chen Wenshu's study, lowering his body and quietly moving over there.
Bai Yu was stunned, staring at his back for a long time before finally letting out a breath.
This person is exactly the same as Prince Jing; one is told to raise dogs, and the other is told to cause trouble.
He sat on the roof and gestured to the others in the shadows beside him.
All that's left is to hope that Zhou Zheng will have a smooth journey and return as soon as possible.
At this moment, everything in the courtyard was proceeding according to Li Jin's plan, step by step.
"What a pity, Your Highness Prince Jing! You have no evidence! You don't have my physical evidence, not witnesses, physical evidence, or confessions!"
Chen Lan's arrogant demeanor was utterly disgraceful to Li Jin: "How do you know she doesn't have one? What if Prince Ben has one?"
He raised the corners of his mouth and glanced at Chen Lan's face.
Behind him, Zhou Zheng, who had somehow returned to the courtyard, stood beside Li Jin, holding a roll of IOUs.
Everyone just watched as Chen Lan's arrogant and domineering demeanor gradually turned into genuine fear.
Seeing her slam her hand on the table and roar, "You actually searched my room?! Despicable!"
It was truly unexpected to hear such words from Chen Lan.
Li Jin raised an eyebrow and sneered: "The more than five thousand taels of silver that you and Huang Liangping owe are something you can't pay back in your lifetime. So you used Huang Liangping's connections outside as an excuse to come up with all sorts of business ideas for Chen Feng, who likes to do business."
“Of course, your goal was the money in Chen Feng’s hands.” Li Jin explained slowly and deliberately, “But later, when you heard that your father Chen An was planning to divide the family property, your plans changed.”
“If Chen Feng were no longer alive, then you and your elder brother Chen Xi would be the ones dividing the family property.”
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