"Come to my place for lunch today. You haven't seen Yue'er for a long time."
Just getting rid of those court officials who kept coming up to chat, Lin Zihan hadn't even had time to catch his breath when he heard this.
The owner of the voice was Zhang Chengen, the left prime minister. He and Lu Wenhan, the right prime minister, jointly led the entire civil - official group of the Great Qi.
Lin Zihan, the junior judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature, was a student he had mentored personally and would become his son - in - law in the future.
"Your student understands."
Putting away all the tact he had learned during his tenure outside the capital, the junior judge consciously stepped back a bit and respectfully followed behind Zhang Chengen. As long as the teacher didn't speak, Lin Zihan wouldn't initiate a conversation either. The teacher and the student walked in silence all the way to the palace gate.
It wasn't until the moment before boarding the carriage that the calm look on the left prime minister's face finally cracked, and there was obvious anger in his words.
"You shouldn't have taken this assignment!"
He lowered his voice so much that if Lin Zihan hadn't been helping him into the carriage, he probably wouldn't have heard it.
Shouldn't have taken it?
The carriage of the left prime minister's mansion slowly moved forward. Lin Zihan neatly straddled his horse and consciously followed behind the carriage.
As the junior judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature, his duty was to investigate cases and find the truth. Moreover, he thought that Prince Jing was right. He didn't believe that a sixth - rank lieutenant would flee the battlefield.
Since he didn't believe it, he should find out the truth even more.
The horses' hooves clattered, and Lin Zihan had already made up his mind.
The Zhang Mansion was bestowed by the late emperor and wasn't far from the palace gate. So it wasn't long before the teacher and the student saw the mansion's main gate.
"Miss, miss! Your future husband is here!"
"Shule!"
Hearing the cry of her personal maid, the blue - dressed girl in the boudoir blushed, but there was an obvious smile in her almond - shaped eyes. The blush on her cheeks actually made her gentle face look even more charming.
This was Zhang Lingyue, the second daughter of Prime Minister Zhang, and Lin Zihan's future wife.
"Am I wrong, miss?"
The little maid deliberately asked, "Everyone in the capital knows that you, miss, and Junior Judge Lin of the Supreme Court of Judicature are already engaged."
"Stop talking!"
Zhang Lingyue raised her hand as if to hit her, but Shule quickly wriggled away, leaving her mistress unable to reach her.
"Fine, I'll let you off today. Now go tell the kitchen that I'll cook lunch myself today."
"Got it, miss!"
The mistress and the maid were smiling, completely unaware of the undercurrents surging behind the scenes.
Another day, the emperor officially issued an imperial edict, entrusting the case of Fang Qinhu to the Supreme Court of Judicature, with Junior Judge Lin in full charge.
Lu Yinxi didn't hear this news until the afternoon. After all, being a girl in the inner chambers, the news reached her mansion much later. But she still actively inquired about it.
"Hongmei, do you know what kind of person that junior judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature is?"
"Miss, are you talking about Junior Judge Lin, who is well - known in the capital?"
There were two junior judges in the Supreme Court of Judicature, so Hongmei asked this question.
"Well - known in the capital? He's that famous?"
The girl was a bit surprised. She didn't expect Shang Luoshu to find such a person to handle Fang Qinhu's case.
It wasn't that Lin Zihan was not good, but she thought Shang Luoshu would handle it low - key. She didn't expect it to make such a big stir that even the emperor was alerted.
Hongmei didn't know what was on her mistress's mind and smoothly said, "I've heard that Junior Judge Lin was born into a poor family. His parents died when he was very young. If Prime Minister Zhang hadn't taken a fancy to his talent and lent him a hand, he might have died long ago."
"However, Junior Judge Lin didn't let Prime Minister Zhang down. He studied hard, passed the imperial examinations with top honors, and entered the Imperial Academy. Three years ago, by chance, he solved a major case and was valued by the emperor. So he was promoted to junior judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature out of turn."
"He became a junior judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature at the age of twenty - six. You don't know how many girls in the capital want to marry him!"
Seeing Hongmei chatting happily with her mistress, Hongrui couldn't help but butt in.
"Oh? Tell me more!"
Lu Yinxi couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. She loved gossip.
"Actually, there's not much to say,"
Hongmei took over the conversation consciously. "As soon as Junior Judge Lin won the first place in the imperial examinations, Prime Minister Zhang betrothed his second daughter to him. It's just that they've delayed the wedding because of Miss Zhang's age."
"However, considering Miss Zhang's age, the wedding should be within the next two years."
A talented scholar and a beautiful lady, a poor boy achieving great success. She had heard so many such stories in her previous life.
The gossip was just as she expected. The girl immediately lost interest. Instead, she stroked her chin, thinking about whether she should get close to this Junior Judge Lin.
During the negotiation with Fang Qinhu that day, he had mentioned a person's name, Zhou Kou.
This person was an eyewitness to the Battle of Zongyang. As long as they found him, there was a possibility of overturning the case.
Lu Yinxi didn't know whether Shang Luoshu would reveal the existence of this person to Lin Zihan, so she was considering whether to take action herself.
But how could she smoothly reveal the name Zhou Kou to Lin Zihan?
This was a problem.
Fifty Li outside the capital
The sun was moving westward. A group of soldiers was taking a break beside the official road.
"Sir Zhou, when will this end?"
"Exactly. It's been several days! If they could really catch the assassin, they would have caught him long ago!"
"Who says it isn't? I don't know what General Zhu is thinking."
"An order from a superior is like a mountain."
Facing the complaints of his subordinates, the man who was initially called "Sir Zhou" spoke up silently, with a touch of guilt in his eyes. These people were all implicated because of him.
"Damn it! I really want to throw away this uniform and quit!"
Someone angrily threw the kettle onto the official road.
Sir Zhou silently walked forward, picked up the kettle, and handed it to the man, saying calmly,
"That's it for today. Take a break here. We'll continue tomorrow."
The order Zhu Chengjie gave him was to search every household within a hundred - mile radius of the capital just for the thief who had sneaked into his mansion.
He was a soldier of the Great Qi. He had to obey the general's order, even though it was clearly meant to torment him.
"Idiot!"
A foot suddenly kicked over, hitting Zhu Chengjie hard in the chest. The great force made him roll on the ground several times before stopping.
He didn't dare to cry out in pain or rub his wound. Instead, he crawled back to his original position on his hands and knees and knelt down properly. He even slapped himself on the face voluntarily.
"The prince is right. I'm an idiot. I'm the biggest idiot in the world. But please save this idiot, my lord."
"Once Junior Judge Lin finds out the truth, I'll be a dead man. Your Highness, please save me!"
Looking down at Zhu Chengjie's ugly state, the regent prince just wanted to kick this man one more time and kill him on the spot. But in the end, he managed to hold back.
Zhu Chengjie was still useful. He couldn't die.
"I'll talk to the Supreme Court of Judicature. But have you taken care of everything on your side?"
Hearing this, Zhu Chengjie seemed to have grabbed a lifeline and quickly said, "Your Highness, don't worry. Li and Yang are on our side. They will never leak the secret. The only one we need to worry about is..."
Here, he deliberately paused for a moment, stealing a glance at Shang Mozheng's expression from the corner of his eye. Seeing that he showed no reaction, he continued,
"The only one we need to worry about is Zhou Kou."
Hearing this name, the regent prince couldn't help but close his eyes. It took him a long time to open them.
If possible, he didn't want Zhou Kou to die. This man was a talent. Although he was born of humble origin, Zhou Kou's talent in leading troops to fight was rarely matched by anyone in the entire Great Qi.
However, although a good knife was important, a good knife that couldn't be used by oneself was better destroyed.
"You deal with this Zhou Kou yourself. Don't worry about me."
Understanding the hidden meaning of the regent prince, Zhu Chengjie quickly kowtowed to the ground, gratitude on his face, and there was an uncontrollable look of pleasure on his face.
Zhou Kou, just you wait!