Chapter 91

Gao Zhen looked at Prince Rui, who had failed his defense, and shook his head.

Yesterday, the King of Chu said they had found a witness from King Huan’s side. It was Ji Yanming who had noticed something was wrong and arranged for the witness to hide in King Huan’s mansion.

Gao Zhen was surprised. Important witnesses weren’t silenced and ended up in Ji Yanming’s hands.

The King of Chu said, “You don’t understand. This is all coincidence.”

They had given the witness and family testimonies to the Dali Temple and invited Mr. Yan, known for his “Iron Painting and Silver Hook” handwriting, to deduce the truth.

Shi Zongnian had planned to get Ji Yanming to sign blank papers, which he could later use against him.

Ji Yanming had heard from Xie Huaian about Mr. Yan, who was not only good at writing but also at imitating handwriting. He was Xie Huaian’s calligraphy teacher, so Ji Yanming knew Mr. Yan could help in case of trouble.

Ji Yanming didn’t fall for Shi Zongnian’s trap.

They tampered with the seal and used a fake one, and Mr. Yan wrote the name. It was announced to the public, and Mr. Yan himself was confused about why Shi Zongnian used it.

Even if the secret letter was true, the seal and signature were invalid.

Ji Yanming defended himself well.

The King of Chu had the same question as Gao Zhen: “Why didn’t you arrest Pang Lu?”

Shi Zongnian had confessed everything and felt hopeless.

He had asked Prince Rui about Pang Lu’s disappearance, but Prince Rui said it wasn’t him. So, Shi Zongnian thought no one else killed Pang Lu.

They both asked each other if they had done it but didn’t trust each other.

They didn’t consider that Ji Yanming might be protecting Pang Lu as a witness.

So, the witness was finally handed over by King Huan.

It was clear that the alliance between Shi Zongnian and Prince Rui was fragile.

According to the law of Great Zhou, being an accomplice was a lighter crime, so Shi Zongnian said it was Prince Rui who had ordered him.

But the emperor wouldn’t believe that it was a coincidence. Prince Rui had a history of placing Qin Run in the Hanlin Academy, so it was natural for the emperor to believe that Prince Rui was involved.

Prince Rui’s bad luck continued.

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Ji Yanming had a relatively good time in the Dali Temple while waiting for trial. His room was clean, with proper furnishings, and the temperature was comfortable. But he was alone most of the time. The mute servant brought him food three times a day.

The only difference was that Lord Xu, the Minister of Dali Temple, received instructions from the Luo family to take special care of the guards and sent him books to pass the time.

Ji Yanming was a quiet person and felt no issue with this kind of life. He had been living like this for years and never felt bored.

It was only when the sun rose over the gate of Dali Temple that he realized how bright the sunlight was outside.

Even more dazzling than the sunlight was the girl who had been waiting for him by the carriage early in the morning.

Tao Sheng, wearing a dress embroidered with Suzhou-style peonies, trailing on the ground.

Ji Yanming walked forward and was about to speak, but Tao Sheng gently shook her right index finger to her lips, signaling him to wait and talk later.

The Dali Temple was not far from Ji’s house. After a short while, the carriage stopped outside the house.

When they returned home, they found that everyone was gone, only Mother Tang and Xiao Feng came out to greet them.

Tao Sheng counted on her fingers for Ji Yanming. No one knew whether Ji Yanming would come back today. His father Luo Xiu went to work in the Ministry of War as usual, his younger brother went to school as usual, and his younger sister went to Hanguang Temple with her mother and aunt to pray for him, so they were not here.

Tao Sheng now had many questions for Ji Yanming: “Should we talk at your place, or mine?”

When referring to Ji Yanming’s place, she meant the study in his front yard, where the two of them often listened to the zither and talked.

If they went to Tao Sheng’s place, though she had her own study, it could also be considered her boudoir^[1]refers o the private room..

Tao Sheng thought Ji Yanming would suggest going to the study in the front yard, as they usually did, but Ji Yanming said, “Let’s go to your place and talk.”

Tao Sheng just wanted to know the truth quickly and didn’t notice the strange tone in Ji Yanming’s words: “Okay, let’s go to the back and talk.”

Today’s conversation was confidential, so Tao Sheng dismissed the servants early and poured tea for Ji Yanming herself.

“When did you realize something was wrong with Mr. Shi?”

Ji Yanming had actually started planning when the other party asked him for an autograph and had kept this in mind.

“Come to think of it, it was you who reminded me,” Ji Yanming said.

Later, after Ji Yanming joined the Hanlin Academy, he saw Shi Zongnian working there, and suddenly remembered the night before the provincial examination, when Tao Sheng took him out of the Shi family’s house and placed him in the Luo family’s house. He had done well in that exam and topped the list.

Ji Yanming always felt there was a sense of destiny, and after seeing Shi Zongnian, he began to feel uneasy.

He approached Shi Zongnian to investigate whether he was truly suspicious and what the issue was, and he actually found out.

It was when Ji Yanming discovered that Shi Zongnian had instructed his students to cheat in the imperial examination.

With such a thorn in his heart, Shi Zongnian would act sooner or later, so Ji Yanming had to be on guard.

Later, Shi Zongnian took a blank piece of paper and asked him to sign and seal it, trying to set a trap for Ji Yanming, but Ji Yanming tricked him instead.

Therefore, the person who took the initiative this time was not Shi Zongnian, but Ji Yanming.

Just a few days ago, Ji Yanming hinted to Shi Zongnian that he had seen a young man claiming to be Mr. Shi’s disciple. He looked very familiar, as if Ji Yanming had seen him during the provincial examination that year.

Now Ji Yanming was a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Justice, and handling cases was his main responsibility. After Shi Zongnian went back, he became more and more fearful. In addition, Prince Rui urged him to act, so Shi Zongnian planned to use the case of the crown prince’s treason to drag Ji Yanming down.

However, the situation turned around in a few days, and it was Prince Rui and Shi Zongnian who were dragged down instead.

Tao Sheng was fascinated by the story: “So it was my cousin who chose this time to take action?”

“Now is indeed the best time to act against King Rui,” Ji Yanming said.

What Prince Rui had done to Tao Sheng on her way north was truly terrible. Ji Yanming’s patience with Prince Rui had reached its limit, and he did not want Prince Rui to have a chance to appear in front of Tao Sheng again.

Shi Zongnian was just a minor character who abused his power for personal gain. He wasn’t worth investigating specially.

But King Rui was different.

Ji Yanming chose to use himself as bait this time, hoping to make a big deal out of it and let the emperor see that Prince Rui was not honest. Deep down, Prince Rui had hidden motives, was used to pretending to obey while secretly disobeying, and forming cliques for personal gain.

Before the incident of Qin Run helping Prince Rui alter the list was over, Prince Rui started tampering with the officials of the Hanlin Academy. To the emperor, this was a sign of disrespect.

After the crown prince’s incident, this was what the emperor cared about most.

Now the emperor’s anger toward Prince Rui had not subsided, and Prince Rui’s actions made the emperor feel threatened, fearing that he might lose his position as prince.