Chapter 248 In the King of Hell's Palace, it's all the same.
Although the sun is strong in the twelfth lunar month, it cannot warm the body.
When the carriage passed through Zhaoyang Gate, the procedures for entering the palace were checked three times, taking almost the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
The newly appointed female officer of the Golden Guard patted Jin Shu's arm and back while respectfully whispering a thank you to her.
Looking at her youthful face, which she had never seen before, and seeing her smiling face, Jin Shu nodded and offered her most sincere wishes.
"Once the door to women's officialdom was opened, many girls with special skills and who were unwilling to submit to fate regarded you as a hero."
As Li Jin spoke, he gestured for Zhou Zheng to wait for them there.
“Your Highness is the real hero,” Jin Shu laughed. “It wasn’t me who debated with the crowd in the Taiji Hall.”
"But if we lose, you'll be the one who loses your head." Li Jin looked at the magnificent Taiji Hall, pondered for a moment, and then turned and walked along the palace wall toward the Cold Palace.
"You asked me earlier why we didn't arrest her." He walked in the shadows beneath the crimson palace walls, the smile fading from his face. "It's not the right time yet."
Li Jin took care of Jin Shu's pace, walking at a leisurely pace.
The winter wind was biting cold. He glanced at Jin Shu's clothes, frowned slightly, and took off his black cloak.
He raised his hand, brushing it over Jin Shu's head. As she stared blankly, he continued speaking while lowering his head and tying a knot with his slender fingers.
“Su Wanying has done many shady things for the Crown Prince.” He fastened his belt and smiled slightly. “And right now, we don’t have any evidence that directly points to the Crown Prince.”
Jin Shu looked at the black cloak she was wearing, which carried a faint sandalwood scent and still retained the warmth of Li Jin's body.
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Does Your Highness want Miss Su as bait?"
Before he finished speaking, Li Jin took out a hand warmer from his sleeve and put it into Jin Shu's hand.
"If she doesn't act as bait, she'll only become meat on the prince's chopping board."
After saying that, he turned around with satisfaction and continued walking towards the Cold Palace.
Holding the warm hand warmer, Jin Shu paused for a moment, then exclaimed, "Hey, how come you have a hand warmer in your pocket?!"
Li Jin laughed and changed the subject: "Since the Mid-Autumn Festival, Eunuch Chen and I have been secretly investigating the poisoning incident together."
“No poisons are allowed to remain in the palace, and arsenic, which is both poison and medicine, is an absolute red line,” he said. “No one in the Imperial Hospital dares to hide it; it would be a matter of life and death.”
A chill emanated from the white jade ground. Li Jin gently tugged at Jin Shu and pushed her towards a sheltered corner.
“But the methods used in the harem have always been sordid.” Li Jin paused, glancing at Jin Shu, “Therefore, the arsenic poisoning my mother was either secretly kept by the concubines or brought in from outside the palace.”
He stepped over the threshold and continued deeper into the inner palace via a small path at the edge of the palace.
Prince Jing, who was previously ignored even when standing inside the palace, now occasionally encounters eunuchs even when walking along this secluded path, who rush to exchange a few pleasantries with him.
As a result, Jin Shu was also frequently complimented, which she found quite uncomfortable.
Until they passed through another mottled door, the people who had been bowing every ten steps earlier vanished in the blink of an eye.
The dilapidated palace walls and the faint sounds of weeping and shouting made Jin Shu turn around and look at the door, feeling as if she had stepped from the human world into hell.
Seeing that no one was around, Li Jin continued, "As you can see, although the screening for entering the palace wasn't as strict before, not just anyone could come in."
“Eunuch Chen investigated for three months and followed Su Wanying three times before confirming that she was the one who poisoned her.” He took a deep breath. “My mother is unwell, and my father secretly arranged for the imperial physician to deliver medicine to her every day.”
"She then secretly went to the Imperial Hospital and put arsenic into the earthenware pot where her mother was decocting medicine."
A strong wind rose and howled past.
Along the path leading to the Cold Palace, a whistling sound rushed towards the two of them.
Li Jin almost instinctively turned around, stood in front of Jin Shu, grabbed the hem of her cloak with both hands, and wrapped her up like a dumpling.
He remained expressionless, as if he were doing something trivial, and only released his grip after the wind had passed.
“Arsenic has a strong smell. She mixed it into the medicine, and Granny Xi couldn’t tell the difference, which is why she succeeded a few times.” Li Jin glanced at Jin Shu’s flushed cheeks out of the corner of her eye and smiled slightly.
He turned and continued walking, but he didn't hear Jin Shu's footsteps following behind him.
A moment later, he turned around with his hands behind his back, raising an eyebrow at Jin Shu's lowered head.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
After a while, Jin Shu, who had calmed down under the sunlight, looked at his face and pursed her lips into a straight line.
She pondered for a moment, then, with a shifty gaze, hesitantly said, "Your Highness should be careful."
She said, "You are a member of the royal family, a nobleman, while I am just a lowly coroner who deals with the dead..."
As Li Jin's figure drew closer, Jin Shu's voice grew softer and softer.
She raised her hand, coughed lightly twice, and said in a serious tone, "Men and women should be different; they should not touch each other."
Li Jin, standing in front of her, stood with his hands behind his back, his tall figure less than a foot away from her.
Li Jin deliberately raised his hand to his ear, bent down with a puzzled look, and asked, "What did Shu'er just say?"
Seeing him bend over, Jin Shu tilted her head back in surprise: "I said, people shouldn't touch each other!"
"Oh!" Li Jin stopped, straightened up, and nodded with a knowing look.
He looked around, frowning with some embarrassment: "Isn't that a bad idea?"
Jin Shu paused, not understanding what he meant.
Li Jin smiled slightly, raised a finger, gently lifted her chin, and kissed her lips lightly, leaving her looking surprised.
In that instant, the only sound in the world was Jin Shu's heartbeat.
This unexpected and sudden event left her stunned.
Li Jin, however, seemed to be pushing his luck and, not yet satisfied, even added a bit more force.
Jin Shu snapped back to her senses, her eyes widening, and then shoved Li Jin. Her face flushed red, and she raised her arm to cover her cheek, staring incredulously at his slightly mocking expression.
Li Jin laughed, his eyes curving into crescents, and sighed with his hands clasped in his pockets: "Oh dear... If you, sir, are not responsible for flirting with members of the royal family and nobles, you might have to spend several months in jail."
Jin Shu was stunned.
Her cheeks, which had been flushed just moments before, suddenly cooled down: "Who flirted with you!"
Li Jin looked around, raised an eyebrow and asked in confusion, "Besides you and me, is there anyone else here?"
"I……"
Before Jin Shu could finish speaking, he was forcibly interrupted: "Think carefully before you speak, sir. Falsely accusing members of the royal family or nobles is an even greater crime. In that case, even I won't be able to find any reason to get you out of trouble."
After saying that, seeing Jin Shu standing there looking both embarrassed and angry, Li Jin raised his hand with great satisfaction and tucked the stray hairs from her forehead behind her ear.
He turned around nonchalantly and headed towards the Cold Palace, saying as he walked, "So what if I'm a member of the imperial family? So what if I'm just a lowly coroner?"
He laughed: "As you once said, we are all flesh and blood with only one life. In the underworld, we are all the same."
Watching his retreating figure, Jin Shu pursed her lips, hugged the hand warmer in her hands, and pondered for a long time with her eyes lowered.
Her hands clenched even tighter.
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