Chapter Eighty-Nine: Is My Golden Finger on You?

I am deeply grateful that Your Highness the Second Prince has come so far to see me off, Li Yunjie said with a smile.

“There is no need for such formality, my prince,” Zhao Zhuo replied, clasping his hands behind his back as he walked a few paces ahead. “You are heading north to investigate this case, which is of benefit to me as well. It is only right that I escort you.”

He is quite frank, Li Yunjie thought with a faint sigh.

At the very least, by appearance alone, Zhao Zhuo seemed more like a decent man than Zhao Heng.

After a few courteous exchanges, the two of them took their leave with a bow.

Li Yunjie continued on his way, while Zhao Zhuo continued to escort him from the shadows.

Back in the carriage, Su Qingmeng had her eyes closed, resting, and looked exceedingly weak.

Beside her, Su Xiyan was on the verge of tears, her little face full of worry.

Li Yunjie let out a soft sigh, then took out the medicine bottle left by Gu Xianer and held it out before Su Qingmeng.

“Take it,” he said quietly. “It should not be poison.”

Su Qingmeng’s face was pale as she replied coldly, “How can you be sure?”

Li Yunjie crouched down and leaned toward her. “Then I’ll tell you the truth.”

“Yun Qiwu is, in fact, Gu Xianer.”

Su Qingmeng’s expression froze; clearly, she did not believe him.

How could a dignified third-rank sorcerer, the foremost divine physician of Great Qian, possibly be such a wanton woman?

Seeing her hesitation, Li Yunjie simply tipped out the pill, pinched off a quarter of it, and swallowed it in one gulp.

“What are you doing?” Su Qingmeng frowned, a trace of anxiety showing in her eyes.

“Feeling better now?” Li Yunjie spread his hands. “If I die, you die too.”

“Who wants to die with you...” Su Qingmeng said irritably.

With that, she took the pill.

Li Yunjie smiled faintly and slowly rose to sit across from her. “That’s more like it.”

Su Qingmeng did not respond.

After a short silence, she finally asked again, “How did you know the Second Prince would appear in time?”

“I’m not that capable,” Li Yunjie said as he lifted the curtain and looked toward the flocks of birds rising and scattering over the distant hills and forests. “I only knew someone was there. I just didn’t know it was the Second Prince.”

Su Qingmeng paused, then continued, “In any case, being able to discern that much is beyond the reach of ordinary people.”

“You’re praising me?” Li Yunjie said with a bright smile.

Su Qingmeng had always been proud and aloof; for those words to come from her mouth was no small thing.

She shot him a white glare, which counted as tacit agreement.

“What can I do?” Li Yunjie sighed. “There are too many people in this world who want to kill me.”

“If I had no instinct for danger at all, I’d have died more than eight hundred times already.”

Su Qingmeng gave a soft scoff. “You make yourself sound terribly important.”

Li Yunjie sighed helplessly. “Whose fault is it, if not your father’s, for being so powerful and overbearing?”

“My father?” Su Qingmeng asked, puzzled.

Su Xiyan was puzzled as well, and she clenched her tiny fists and pounded Li Yunjie a few times.

“I used to live quite freely and carelessly. Ever since I got tangled up with your Su family, I have not had a single peaceful day.”

“Your father wanted to bring down the Crown Prince, so he pulled me into his camp.”

“The case of Zhou Jingzhi, the case of the Imperial City Office, the tax silver case—one after another.”

“What’s even stranger is that these cases are all connected by countless hidden threads.”

“You wouldn’t tell me all this was just a coincidence, would you?”

Su Qingmeng’s eyes widened like copper bells, her expression as if to say: If not, then what?

Li Yunjie sighed inwardly.

No wonder she can never get into the Grand Justice Court, with that kind of mind.

“So, you regret it?” she asked.

Li Yunjie shook his head. “No, not really.”

“I’ve known for a long time that all of this was pushed forward by Lord Su.”

“Then why were you willing?” Su Qingmeng pressed.

“At least for now, my goals and your father’s are the same,” Li Yunjie said with easy indifference.

Again he remembered Su Ming’s words: If the heir to the throne lacks virtue, he may still be deposed. Li Yunjie could not help frowning.

“Your father may not be a good man, but for now, he does not seem to be a bad one either.”

After that, silence settled inside the carriage.

Su Qingmeng turned her head away, her expression grave.

Having someone speak ill of her father to her face, she could hardly feel at ease.

Li Yunjie slowly stood, and seeing the color gradually returning to Su Qingmeng’s face, he smiled lightly. “Gu Xianer really does have some skill.”

“Just a few words, and you seem to have recovered quite a bit.”

“Get some rest.”

With that, he lifted the curtain and sat down beside Eleven.

Su Qingmeng stared blankly at the swaying curtain, her expression thoughtful.

“Sir, why aren’t you resting?” Eleven asked as she flicked the whip, sounding puzzled.

“Let her digest it,” Li Yunjie murmured.

Eleven gave an “oh” and cracked the whip again.

“Eleven,” Li Yunjie said, turning halfway around to study her from head to toe, “when did you become so formidable?”

“I’ve always been this way,” Eleven said with a grin. “It’s just that before, whenever I told you, sir, you never believed me. You always said I was boasting.”

As she spoke, her mouth turned down again.

Li Yunjie drew in a long breath, feeling sorry for his former ignorance.

After a moment’s thought, he asked, “That old man you fought just now—he had to be a third-rank expert, right?”

“Yes,” Eleven said with a nod. “That man was slippery as a fish! He came and went like a ghost!”

Her eyes then filled with resentment. “That transfer technique is truly infuriating!”

A moment later, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. “Still, I did cut him once. It was only sword qi, but enough to give him a nasty time, heh heh.”

Eleven spoke with bright excitement, and Li Yunjie listened with open admiration.

“So, what realm are you in now?” he asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

To be able to fight a third-rank master and wound him, she had to be at least third-rank herself.

Eleven rolled her eyes upward and thought for a long time before shaking her head. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Li Yunjie frowned.

Eleven puffed out her cheeks. “It depends on the situation.”

“Only when I sense that sir’s life is in danger does all the true qi in my body surge forth.”

“I’m not sure what realm that is exactly, but one thing is certain: I’ve never met an opponent I couldn’t defeat.”

“As for ordinary times, I can only mobilize part of my true qi—roughly around the fifth rank, I suppose.”

Good heavens.

Li Yunjie sucked in a sharp breath, staring dumbly at Eleven.

So that’s how it is. As a transmigrator, I really wasn’t supposed to get nothing out of this.

Turns out my cheat is with you!

“No wonder you were so calm whenever danger came before,” Li Yunjie said in sudden realization. “So that’s why!”

“In other words, as long as you’re alive, I won’t die?”

His breathing quickened, his heartbeat speeding up as his eyes waited eagerly for the answer he wanted to hear from Eleven.

“In principle, yes,” Eleven said casually, waving the whip with an air of ease.

That was incredible.

Li Yunjie felt his heart swell with delight.

With such a powerful thigh to cling to, would this world not be...

“However.”

Before he could finish imagining it, Eleven spoke again in a low, uncertain voice.

“Recently, I’ve had a strange feeling.”

“What kind of feeling?” Li Yunjie’s heart suddenly sank.

“I feel like some immensely powerful force is quietly awakening,” Eleven said, her expression turning unusually solemn. “So powerful that even I cannot be sure I would defeat it.”

“Is it really that mysterious?” Li Yunjie shrank back a little and frowned. “What force?”

“I don’t know either,” Eleven said, pursing her lips.

When she finished speaking, she raised her head toward the vast sky, lost in thought.