Imperial Husband Chapter 74

"Young master, my apologies."

Zhou Yunting did not expect him to be so decisive about seeking death, and his mood immediately sank.

"It's alright. He told us everything we needed to know before he died." Li Jin shook his head and instructed, "Yunting, to avoid disturbing the people of Liujia Village, you go and deal with him first."

"Yes, young master."

Zhou Yunting nodded in assent, then carried the man's body away.

Ying Yuan frowned slightly and said, "Li Jin, since the key lies with that scar-faced man, we should return quickly to question him thoroughly."

"There is no hurry." Li Jin turned around and smiled at Ying Yuan. "Physician Shi is still... entertaining them. It will likely take a while. We should wait until Physician Shi has finished his... entertainment before going over."

Back in the palace, Li Jin had witnessed how terrifying some of the things Shi Weixu developed could be. That was precisely why Li Jin had specifically asked Shi Weixu to stay behind alone to deal with them.

In other words.

The person they captured and brought here was merely a decoy. Li Jin's true target was always the scarred man. After all, someone who could overhear such a secret message—that their backer was a prince—must hold a position of some significance with the 'master' he served.

Of course, the so-called 'traitor' singled out by those ruffians also gave Li Jin an unexpected pleasant surprise, saving him a lot of trouble.

Ying Yuan sat down on a nearby chair. "A-Jin, I've deliberately maintained a low profile in the palace all these years. I never imagined someone would exploit my identity to perpetrate such atrocities that violate all moral principles. I just don't know who behind this."

The 'who' Ying Yuan referred to was precisely one of his half-brothers.

What a clever scheme. Once crimes like oppressing and arbitrarily killing innocent commoners spread, Ying Yuan, the 'Seventh Prince' who is supposedly the mastermind and also not favored by his father, the Emperor, will certainly be unable to escape the Emperor's thunderous wrath.

"Because you are the Seventh Prince."

Li Jin succinctly summarized it with one sentence.

The imperial family is the most merciless. Being a prince with inheritance rights is the original sin.

"Yes, I am the Seventh Prince." Ying Yuan laughed self-deprecatingly, then curled his lips into a smile. "But A-Jin, 'courtesy demands reciprocity'. Since a 'certain' brother of mine has given me such a grand gift, how can I not return the favor properly?"

[礼尚往来 (lǐ shàng wǎng lái): lit. courtesy demands reciprocity; fig. social or diplomatic interactions should be mutual, with favors or gifts reciprocated.]

Before being adopted by Gu Rushuang, Ying Yuan was already a wolf cub. How could he possibly remain passive after suffering such a great hidden loss?

"Good."

Seeing the familiar determined glint in Ying Yuan's eyes that had been absent for so long, Li Jin instinctively reached out and gently stroked his hair.

Ying Yuan offered no resistance, his face instead revealing complete contentment.

After enough time had passed for an incense stick to burn,

Li Jin judged that the light was fading and it was time, so he and Ying Yuan returned to the room where Shi Weixu was.

Creak.

Li Jin pushed the door open and saw the scarred man pleading tearfully, "Spare me... please spare me... I'm willing... willing to cooperate, I'm willing to help you, I beg you, spare me."

"Third Young Master, Seventh Young Master, you've come."

Shi Weixu greeted Li Jin and the others with a beaming smile, which sent chills down the spines of the ruffians present.

Li Jin smiled back. "Physician Shi, are they... well?"

"They've said all that should be said." Shi Weixu pointed cheerfully at the scarred man. "And this one was quite straightforward, he just agreed to help us. He said tonight is one of the days they transport the grain."

It was clear.

These men seemed to have been frightened by something terrible, their faces all deathly pale, muttering pleas for mercy.

Li Jin clasped his hands. "Thank you for your help this time, Physician Shi."

"Third Young Master, there's no need to be so polite." Shi Weixu returned the gesture as he spoke. "By the way, regarding the medicinal pills Physician Wang gave me previously, I accidentally lost them yesterday, so I prepared some new ones for you, Third Young Master. I hope you don't mind?"

"Naturally not. I trust Physician Shi's medical skills."

"With your word, Third Young Master, I am reassured."

___

That night.

Li Jin, Ying Yuan, and Zhou Yunting, according to plan, changed into the clothes of the scarred man's subordinates. They waited with the scarred man for the people coming to receive them. Ping'an, who had no martial skills, and Shi Weixu stayed behind to guard the place.

"Honored Sirs, if he isn't going, what should I do if the poison acts up?" The scarred man, seeing that Shi Weixu, who held his life in his hands, wasn't joining the operation, was instantly terrified, his face turning pale.

At the same time.

The scarred man's belly actually began to ache gradually, immediately causing cold sweat to break out on him from fear.

Seeing the scarred man's poor complexion, Li Jin immediately tossed a black pill to him. The scarred man caught it and swallowed it immediately, and the pain in his belly was promptly relieved.

Li Jin then looked at the scarred man. "As for the medicine, Physician Shi has already entrusted it to me. As long as you cooperate, you will be fine."

For someone like the scarred man, who was prone to betrayal, and since he was also from the enemy's side, Shi Weixu simply used medicine to control him, ensuring he wouldn't dare have second thoughts.

"Yes, yes..."

The scarred man nodded repeatedly, nearly dropping to his knees in gratitude toward Li Jin.

Thump. Thump.

Everything happened fast.

The tightly closed door of the secret room suddenly transmitted a series of knocks, instantly drawing the attention of Li Jin and the others.

The scarred man swallowed hard, walked up to the door, and rhythmically knocked five times. After a moment, the person outside also knocked five times.

"It's done. They will open the door soon."

The door mechanism was designed to only open from the outside, leaving those inside completely unable to open it. Furthermore, the master behind the scarred man was extremely cautious, even requiring contact parties to use coded signals to verify each other's identities.

Creak.

Just as the scarred man said, the door soon opened. A middle-aged man dressed in ordinary commoner's clothes walked up to the scarred man first and asked, "How much grain is there this time?"

The scarred man pointed at the grain piled to the side and said with an ingratiating smile, "It's all here."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man turned to examine the neatly stacked bags of grain. He then drew a dagger from his waist, approached the grain, and slit one of the bags. The grain inside immediately came spilling out from the cut.

"Very good." The middle-aged man, seeing the high quality of this batch of grain, nodded with satisfaction. He then called his men from outside to come help move the grain.

In a short while.

The bags of grain were carried out by the middle-aged man's men.

The scarred man suddenly shouted at Li Jin and the other two, "Why aren't you three coming over quickly to help!"

"Yes."

Li Jin and the others immediately responded in lowered voices and joined the team carrying the grain away.

The exit of this door led to an inconspicuous spot outside the village. To smoothly transport the grain, the middle-aged man had brought several horse-drawn carts and had people load the grain onto them to be taken away.

This showed how thorough these people's preparations were, having even prepared an underground secret room.

The middle-aged man, sharp-eyed, noticed the scarred man's poor complexion and asked suspiciously, "Huh, why does your face look so bad?"

As soon as these words were spoken.

The hands of Li Jin and the others carrying the grain tightened slightly.

The scarred man also stiffened, then laughed it off, "Hahaha, it's all because of an illness I had a few days ago."

"Illness?" The middle-aged man was clearly skeptical. He then looked the scarred man up and down with a strange expression before smiling meaningfully, "You couldn't have... overdone it?"

The scarred man immediately replied, "You know, so you shouldn't spread it around."

"You dog, quite the player." The middle-aged man heavily patted the scarred man's shoulder. "But later, when you go back to report to the master, don't collapse from exhaustion. The master isn't as easy-going as I am."

"Wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare..."

The scarred man laughed awkwardly, secretly sighing in relief.

Every time the grain was transported, the scarred man would follow along to report important recent events to the master he served, so that the master could grasp the overall situation.

After roughly one shichen (2 hours), they finally finished loading all the grain onto the carts. Everyone then boarded the carts and set off for the destination.

Because his life was still in Li Jin's hands, the scarred man didn't dare to be too far from Li Jin. So, he simply had Li Jin ride in the same cart with them. Ying Yuan and Zhou Yunting rode in another cart.

Ying Yuan initially disagreed when the scarred man came to ask Li Jin to ride in a different cart. After all, no one knew if this was a trap. Perhaps the scarred man had already told the middle-aged man about them controlling him.

However, Li Jin used his eyes to stop Ying Yuan, telling him not to act rashly. Only then did Ying Yuan let the scarred man take Li Jin away.

"Why did you suddenly have him ride with us?" The middle-aged man looked at Li Jin with a gaze full of both doubt and disdain, as if he felt Li Jin wasn't qualified to ride with them.

The scarred man laughed, "He handles matters quite well, so I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce him to the master."

"Tch." The middle-aged man clicked his tongue. "With his seemingly frail and delicate appearance, what great use could he be? Be careful that after you introduce him to the master, he ends up dragging you down instead."

No sooner had he spoken than the middle-aged man abruptly lashed out with a kick aimed directly at Li Jin.

Li Jin remained composed. Despite being kicked so unexpectedly, he did not fall over and remained sitting silently to the side, just as when he first entered.

"Oh, quite skilled, aren't you?"

The middle-aged man was startled.

His strength was originally greater than the average person's. A sudden kick like that would have been hard for even the scarred man to withstand. Yet Li Jin not only withstood it but remained completely unmoved, which completely exceeded the middle-aged man's expectations.

The scarred man scratched the back of his head and gave a simple, foolish laugh. "Yes, he learned martial arts from someone when he was younger, so his skills are quite good. That's why I wanted to introduce him to the master."

"Then you're really lucky, finding such a promising seedling."

After learning that Li Jin possessed some skill, the middle-aged man's look of disdain immediately turned into jealousy, mixed with wariness towards the scarred man.

"Just a coincidence, merely a coincidence."

The scarred man pretended not to understand the underlying meaning in the middle-aged man's words and gave a foolish laugh.

Li Jin, sitting to the side, quietly observed the two of them.

Although Li Jin hadn't spoken with the middle-aged man, judging from his conversation with the scarred man, it was clear there was significant discord between them.