Inside the main hall of the general's mansion, Mu Jin had tea served to her.
Mu Jin thought to herself that Li Yansong's timely appearance this time must mean he was in cahoots with Zhang Zheng, the Salt and Iron Commissioner of Heyang.
Mu Jin pretended not to know: "Prefect Li, what brings you to my general's residence?"
Li Yansong said, "I have disturbed Miss Mu today; this is truly impolite."
"Prefect Li, you're too kind."
Li Yansong smiled and said, "Half a month ago, the magistrate of Sishui reported to me that ten vicious bandits had escaped from prison and were heading towards the capital. Sishui is under my jurisdiction, and I cannot shirk my responsibility for this incident. I immediately followed the bandits to the capital, but I never expected that they would actually run to the General's Mansion, causing Miss Mu to be frightened. It is truly my fault."
Mu Jin feigned surprise and asked, "How did Prefect Li know that the bandit was in my general's mansion?"
Li Yansong chuckled and said, "I have only just arrived in the capital when I saw the General's Mansion searching the entire city for the assassin. The description of the assassin's appearance by the searchers matches the description of the bandit who ran out of Sishui."
Li Yansong picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at Mu Jin.
"I have also heard that a man in black has been tied up and left at the entrance of the General's Mansion. I wonder if Miss Mu could hand him over to me? Otherwise, if those vicious and hungry bandits accidentally injure you, I would be guilty of an even greater crime."
Mu Jin feigned surprise and said, "Even the fact that the bandit was abandoned at the gate of my General's Mansion by Prefect Li is known. This is even faster than the efficiency of the government offices in the capital."
When Li Yansong heard Mu Jin say that, a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face, and he smiled.
"Perhaps I was lucky, but a yamen runner passing by the General's Mansion saw the gatekeeper carrying a man in black who was bound hand and foot. He looked like the bandit who went missing in Sishui, so he reported to me and came to arrest him. Miss Mu, could you please return the bandit to me so I can take him back to Sishui to be imprisoned?"
Li Yansong put it euphemistically, but he was afraid that if they arrived late, the assassins would reveal their secrets.
Mu Jin lowered her eyes, looking nonchalant. She held a cup of tea in her hand and gently scraped the tea leaves with the lid, neither drinking nor answering Li Yansong's question.
Seeing that Mu Jin did not reply, Li Yansong became a little anxious: "Miss Mu?"
Hearing Li Yansong's call, Mu Jin looked up, but her gaze only briefly swept over Li Yansong's hand holding the teacup.
Li Yansong was wearing an imperial green thumb ring on his hand, which was of very high quality and obviously very valuable.
Mu Jin did not answer Li Yansong's question, but instead looked up and met Li Yansong's eyes with a half-smile.
“Prefect Li’s thumb ring is really beautiful. Before, when my father and I were shopping at a jade shop, we saw one that was not even half as good as yours. When we asked the price, it was three thousand taels. My father didn’t even want to look at it and just dragged me away. If you didn’t know better, you would think that a first-rank official like him didn’t even have as much salary as a sixth-rank prefect.”
Upon hearing Mu Jin's words, Li Yansong's expression changed. Did Mu Jin mean that she coveted his ring, or did she mean that he accepted bribes and made ill-gotten gains?
This thumb ring is from Nanyang, given to him by Zhang Zheng. It's worth ten thousand taels of silver and can't be bought in Dongyue Kingdom. He has always cherished it. Mu Jin's words left him speechless for a moment.
"Prefect Li, could you tell me where I can buy such a fine-quality thumb ring? My father is far away on the border. He has worked hard for the people and the country of Dongyue his whole life. As his daughter, I just want to buy him a good thumb ring to show my respect."
Upon hearing Mu Jin's words, Li Yansong couldn't help but smile awkwardly.
“My wife encountered a merchant being robbed before, and her guards helped her out. To thank my wife for saving his life, the merchant gave her this ring. My wife is ignorant and doesn't know whether this thing is valuable or not. When the merchant said it was only worth a few dozen taels of silver, my wife saw that she couldn't refuse, so she spent a hundred taels of silver to buy it for the merchant.”
Hearing Li Yansong say this, Mu Jin couldn't help but smile insincerely and say, "Is this Prefect Liu always so lucky?"
Upon hearing Mu Jin's question, Li Yansong gave an irrelevant reply: "Miss Mu, it's already this late, I don't need to disturb you any longer. As for the bandits......"
Seeing that Mu Jin only smiled and didn't speak, and didn't respond to his words, Zhao Yansong figured that Mu Jin wanted the kickback. He gritted his teeth, took the ring off his hand, and handed it to Mu Jin.
“Since Miss Mu likes this thumb ring, then take it. Such a fine thumb ring would be much more suitable for General Mu than for me.”
"How could I possibly accept that?" Mu Jin said, immediately taking the ring Li Yansong handed her, covering her wide smile as she spoke.
Although Li Yansong said he would give the ring to Mu Jin, he thought that a woman like Mu Jin, who lived in the inner quarters, would not dare to accept a valuable gift from an official.
But Mu Jin surprised him by accepting his ring so happily. He was truly heartbroken. Such a fine ring was hard to buy again, even with money. But once a gift is given, it's like water spilled on the ground.
Li Yansong, seething with anger, grinned and said, "Miss Mu, now that you've accepted this ring, could you take me to bring back that escaped fugitive?"
Mu Jin smiled and said, "Of course."
After Mu Jin finished speaking, she stood up, told Eleven to lead the way, and gestured for Li Yansong beside her to follow.
"Prefect Li, please!"
Seeing Mu Jin's grinning face, Li Yansong suppressed his anger and followed Mu Jin and Eleven to the front courtyard of the General's Mansion.
When Li Yansong arrived at the front yard, he saw nine corpses neatly arranged on the ground, covered with white cloths. He was startled and immediately went over.
When Li Yansong removed the white cloth covering the nine men in black and confirmed that they were the ones who had tried to assassinate Mu Jin, he felt a sense of relief. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he immediately stood up, turned around, and asked Mu Jin.
"No, there were ten bandits in total. Even if they were all killed by the guards of the General's Mansion, where is the last one? Where is the bandit who was dragged into the General's Mansion by the guards this morning?"
"What are you saying, Prefect Li? There were nine assassins who came to my general's mansion last night. Eight of them were killed by my general's guards. The last one was brought to the general's mansion by that nameless knight this morning. When I tried to interrogate the assassin about why he killed me, I didn't expect that the assassin had poison in his mouth. Before I could ask him why he assassinated me, he foamed at the mouth and died. That scene really scared me to death."
Hearing Mu Jin's hypocritical words, Li Yansong realized that he had been completely manipulated by Mu Jin ever since he entered the General's Mansion. The woman in front of him was not a cowardly woman from the inner quarters; she was clearly a venomous snake who devoured people.
Even the King of Yun was divorced by this woman before him, how could he think of her as an ordinary woman?
Just as he was getting angry, he heard the gatekeeper of the General's Mansion report that Zhao Wude, the Prefect of the Yamen, had received a notice from the General's Mansion to come and arrest the assassin and bring him back to the Yamen for questioning.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
