Chapter Seven: Father-in-law, You Are Playing with Fire...
Li Yunjie gazed intently at the refined scholar before him for a long while.
Beneath the calm and indifferent expression, he recognized a resolve to die with honor.
“It’s the temperature,” Li Yunjie finally spoke after a prolonged silence.
“There are impurities in cinnabar ore, among them silicon dioxide—sand and stone.”
“Sand is a covalent crystal with an extremely high melting and boiling point.”
“To remove it completely, one must use the Incineration Technique.”
“At least the peak cultivation of the fourth rank is required.”
Though the explanation was shrouded in mystery, a faint smile still appeared on Zhou Jingzhi’s face.
A sense of relief, yet also regret.
“Zhou Jingzhi,” Li Yunjie suddenly said sternly, “at present, only I can guarantee your life.”
“I ask you just once.”
“Have you been coerced by someone?”
As he spoke, Li Yunjie cast a sidelong glance at Zhao Heng behind him.
The implication was clear.
Li Yunjie’s question was not without cause.
In his memory, Zhou Jingzhi was by no means an evil man.
Whenever the Imperial Academy did good deeds or made donations, Zhou was always at the forefront.
Such a heinous act did not align with his character.
“I appreciate your consideration, Young Lord Li,” Zhou Jingzhi finally replied, after a long pause.
“All the crimes are mine alone!”
“My great endeavor is unfinished, my heart is heavy with shame—I cannot live on in disgrace!”
With those words, Zhou Jingzhi suddenly summoned all his inner energy.
As blood seeped from the corner of his lips, he severed the meridians throughout his body.
His upright form lost all support and collapsed to the ground.
With his final breath, Zhou Jingzhi struggled to raise his hand, as if reaching for something, but after several attempts, he abandoned the effort.
His lips parted, and with a faint breath, he uttered, “Your unfilial son,” before departing this world forever.
Li Yunjie looked down at Zhou Jingzhi’s corpse, his heart awash with complex emotions.
“To die rather than yield—he was a true man.”
“A pity he took a life…”
Li Yunjie’s words left He Xumin at the case table in a daze. “Murder? Whom did he kill?”
The Grand Justice at his side whispered, “Two guards of the Prince of Qiyang’s household.”
Enlightenment dawned on He Xumin.
He coughed lightly to mask his awkwardness. “Of course, I knew that.”
Hearing the commotion behind him, Li Yunjie gave a cold snort.
Indeed, who would care about the lives of two mere guards?
Dead is dead.
With Zhou Jingzhi’s suicide, the case was drawing to a close.
He Xumin glanced back at Zhao Heng, whose defeat was etched across his features, and sighed inwardly.
He struck the wooden gavel upon the desk and declared calmly, “Since the culprit has paid for his crime, this case is hereby concluded.”
With that, attendants carried Zhou Jingzhi’s body from the court.
——
When the aftermath was finally cleared away and before He Xumin could depart, Grand Justice Xu Changfeng suddenly rose.
He bowed to Li Yunjie and said, “Young Lord Li, your merit in solving this case will be reported to His Majesty.”
Then, turning to He Xumin, he smiled thinly. “At that time, I trust you will make a truthful report, will you not?”
Now that victory and defeat were clear, He Xumin read the situation well.
Though reluctant, he could not refuse.
He nodded with a forced smile, murmuring, “Of course, naturally.”
Behind him, Zhao Heng stood up in anger, his dragon-embroidered robe swishing furiously.
Fueled by rage, he strode quickly, eager to leave this “battlefield.”
“Your Highness!”
Unexpectedly, Li Yunjie appeared in his path and stood at his side.
“Do you not wish to know how I discovered Zhou Jingzhi was the true culprit?”
Zhao Heng glared at Li Yunjie, murder in his eyes.
“I must thank Your Highness!” Li Yunjie continued, unbothered. “Had you not come in person today, I might never have considered it.”
“Your Highness has long regarded the academy as a thorn in your side, desperate to root it out.”
“With the downfall of Taihu Academy, those who stand to gain most are you and the Imperial Academy.”
“Among Your Highness’s many followers, quite a few hail from the Imperial Academy, do they not?”
“What a coincidence—Zhou Jingzhi, expelled from Taihu Academy, was one of them.”
Every word stabbed at the heart, and Zhao Heng’s veins bulged with fury.
His fists clenched, his robe billowed without wind.
In the blink of an eye, Bai Xue drew her sword, vowing to take Li Yunjie’s head then and there.
“Stand down!”
Although he was enraged, Zhao Heng retained a sliver of reason.
To kill someone in the Ministry of Justice—especially the heir of Beiling and the prime minister’s son-in-law—would only invite censure from Su Ming before all the court officials.
The cost was too great.
“I never expected such ability from you, Young Lord Li,” Zhao Heng ground out. “I must see you in a new light.”
Li Yunjie bowed with feigned humility. “Your Highness flatters me. I am unworthy!”
He turned to He Xumin and declared loudly, “I ask Lord He to report truthfully to His Majesty.”
“It was His Highness who assisted me in solving the case!”
Hoist with his own petard, Zhao Heng trembled with rage.
If not for the presence of witnesses, he would have devoured Li Yunjie alive.
Under heaven, only his imperial father and now Li Yunjie dared speak to him thus.
“Young Lord Li!” Zhao Heng almost pressed his face to Li Yunjie’s. “Our days are not yet over!”
With that, he flung his sleeves and strode away.
“Your Highness, show some self-restraint!”
Li Yunjie’s tone was angry—a warning, and a reminder.
With Zhao Heng’s departure, the grand joint trial came to an end.
The crowd before the court slowly dispersed.
Li Yunjie let out a long breath, feeling as though he had survived a great calamity.
He stepped up to Su Ming, bowing respectfully. “Thank you, Father-in-law, for your assistance.”
——
“If not for the Starshifting Talisman from Taihu Academy, this case would never have been resolved so smoothly.”
Su Ming glanced at Li Yunjie and smiled lightly. “It was nothing.”
“But there is one thing I still don’t understand,” Li Yunjie continued. “Taihu Academy is far away in Qiongzhou—how did you obtain that Starshifting Talisman?”
Su Ming was taken aback; Li Yunjie was clearly probing him.
“Are you suspecting me, then?”
Li Yunjie, after all, was a top graduate of the police academy.
He was always sensitive to any unreasonable detail in a case.
For instance, last night Su Ming had given Li Yunjie a complete Starshifting Talisman.
The timing coincided exactly with the case reaching an impasse.
“I wouldn’t dare,” Li Yunjie laughed it off. “Pure curiosity.”
“Curious, are you?” Su Ming’s brows rose, and his gaze grew playful.
With that, he drew a thick bundle of talismans from his sleeve.
“Mere talismans—they’re nothing to me.”
“Headmaster Gong Qingfeng of the academy is a good friend of mine. It’s no surprise he’d gift me a few talismans, is it?”
Li Yunjie stared at the thick volume of “Taihu Academy’s Complete Collection of Talismans” in Su Ming’s hand.
He couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.
Talismans that were worth their weight in gold in the martial world—this old fox had dozens at his fingertips.
It was truly astonishing.
It seemed he had been overthinking things. So Li Yunjie reassured himself.
“In honor of your merit in solving the case,” Su Ming saw through Li Yunjie’s caution, waved grandly, and said, “this book of talismans is yours.”
Li Yunjie, delighted, accepted the book. “Since Father-in-law is so generous, I won’t stand on ceremony!”
“But let me remind you,” Su Ming’s tone turned serious, “now that you’ve offended the Crown Prince, your peaceful days in the capital are over.”
“I know,” Li Yunjie replied indifferently. “When the soldiers come, I’ll meet their blades; when the water rises, I’ll build a dam.”
All this talk of soldiers and water—Li Yunjie hadn’t really thought that far ahead.
He’d provoked Zhao Heng just now simply because he couldn’t stand him flirting with Su Qingmeng right in front of him.
There are things a man can endure, and things he cannot.
Su Ming patted Li Yunjie’s shoulder. “If the Crown Prince makes things difficult for you, I will help you.”
The kindly, gentle tone was a far cry from the sly old fox who yesterday had wanted his head.
Li Yunjie felt a little dazed.
This old man who yesterday wanted him dead—how come he suddenly seemed so amiable?
There must be a catch...
Li Yunjie sensed a hint of danger.
“Father-in-law, as Grand Chancellor, isn’t it improper to oppose the future heir to the throne?”
Judging by Su Ming’s attitude toward Zhao Heng today, Li Yunjie was almost certain the old fox was not of the Crown Prince’s faction.
Su Ming was silent for a moment, a flash of murderous intent in his eyes.
“If the heir is without virtue, he can be abolished!”
A chill shot down Li Yunjie’s spine.
Father-in-law, you’re playing with fire...