Inlaid With Jade - Chapter 19

Chapter 19 
What a deep love and mutual affection!
  
When Li Heming returned to the imperial prison, He San was looking for him due to the confession he had just obtained from the trial. The prison was damp and cold, and one could feel the blood putty accumulated over the years when stepping on the ground—the wailing and screaming continued day and night. People without courage would not be able to survive even an hour here. 
  
Li Heming took the confession, which was not even four thin sheets of paper. He glanced at it roughly and asked He San, “Did they confess everything?” 
  
“They did, but –” He San looked strange: “But the problem is that they didn’t confess anything useful. Previously, we thought this nest of traitors was tight-lipped and refused to say anything because they were covering up the mastermind. But, after being tortured, they still didn’t tell anything. They were cowardly and didn’t look like the courageous people who would assassinate the Emperor.” 
  
Li Heming seemed to have known the result long ago. He walked towards the prison where Wang Changzhong was and said: “They are just a cover.” 

He San didn’t understand and thought for a moment before asking: “What do you mean?”

Li Heming explained: “The Imperial Guards arrested countless traitors. When have you ever seen such traitors with lax self-control? They are just an excuse made by Wang Changzhong to give the embezzled money a reasonable place. It will only take less than two years of your salary to support this group of people.”
  
He San didn’t understand and thought for a while. He San calculated the money he got every year and compared it with the vast amount Wang Changzhong had embezzled. He was stunned momentarily: “Then, the millions of taels embezzled by the Ministry of Revenue have disappeared without a trace?”

Li Heming returned the confession to He San: “It won’t disappear out of thin air.”

He San rolled up the confession and put it away. He then asked hurriedly, “Then should we submit this confession?” 
  
“Keep it for now.” 
  
“Okay.” He San agreed. Then he remembered something: “Oh, there is one more thing.” 
  
“Speak.” 
  
San was very eloquent when discussing serious matters, but now he was hesitant: “The man you castrated on the mountain that day couldn’t stand the torture, and he tell something, and it was related to… Miss Lin.” 
  
Li Heming paused and looked at him sideways. When He San saw Li Heming’s expression, he felt nervous and didn’t know how to start. He stammered: “In the stone house that day, Miss Lin told him you were deeply in love with her.” 
  
After hearing this, Li Heming was silent for two seconds, staring at He San and repeating the four words: “Deeply in love?” 
  
He San’s Adam’s apple rolled: “Yes, deeply in love.” 
  
Li Heming tapped the sword handle with his fingers, retracted his gaze, and continued walking forward as if nothing had happened: “What else did he say?” 
  
He San glanced at Li Heming’s expression: “He also said that Miss Lin said that you and her — mutually in love.” 
  
Confessions under torture were generally accurate. This statement sounded unreliable, but it was probably true. Li Heming could probably guess why Lin Yu told the rebel this: nothing more than to delay time and a last resort to save her life. 
  
Usually, she retreats when she sees him, but she has learned to use his bad reputation to save her life behind his back. It’s really a deep and mutual love. 
  
Seeing that Li Heming remained silent, He San carefully asked him, “Leader, I didn’t ask anyone to note this. Should I write it in the confession?” After speaking, Li Heming looked at him as if he were an idiot. 
  
Seeing this, He San immediately shut up. 
  
It seemed that it was not. 
 
Winter chill swept through the long street, and the plum blossoms in the city gradually revealed their buds. Yang Jinming’s mother came to visit Mother Lin on this day under the pretext of giving flowers and mentioned that Yang Jinming was interested in Lin Yu. 
  
Mother Lin was satisfied with Yang Jinming as a son-in-law, but Lin Yu thought he was too young, so she hid in the courtyard with the excuse of being sick and did not go to the hall. 
  
Mother Yang gave a sandalwood plum tree, saying it was transported from Xiangyang to the capital by water. The sandalwood plum tree was considered the best winter plum tree; it blooms early and has a strong honey fragrance; giving it as a gift was considered generous.
  
When Wenzhu sent someone to move the flowers into Lin Yu’s yard, the branches were already full of yellow flowers, and the rich fragrance flowed into the room with the wind. Lin Yu looked up from the book, looked out the window, and asked Zelan: “Where does the fragrance come from?” 
  
Zelan put down the crooked embroidered purse in her hand, unsure whether it was a mandarin duck or a water duck, and went out to ask. After a while, she came in angrily, holding Wenzhu’s ears: “Miss! This kid took the initiative to move the flowers sent by Madam Yang into your yard!” 
  
“Let go, let go! It hurts, Zelan!” Wenzhu covered his ears and cried. He tilted his head to explain to Lin Yu in the chair: “Miss, I didn’t. Madam asked me to put the flowers in your yard.” 
  
Lin Yu asked Zelan to let him go, got up, and went outside: “What flowers?? It smells like wintersweet. ” 
  
Zelan’s hand was strong, and Wenzhu rubbed his ears pitifully, saying, “It’s wintersweet. It’s called sandalwood plum or bell-shaped plum. I don’t know, but it sounds very precious.” 
  
Lin Yu stood at the door and looked at the more than one-meter-tall wintersweet tree in the yard. She frowned and said, “We can’t have it. Ask Mother to return it.” 
  
Wenzhu was sometimes intelligent and stupid. In confusion, he asked, “Why, Miss? It smells so good, stronger than ordinary wintersweet.” 
  
Zelan kicked him angrily, saying, “Do you listen to Young Lady or Madam? Go to Madam’s yard to serve her tomorrow.” 
  
These words were heavy; he was accused of being unfaithful. Wenzhu asked no more questions and hurriedly asked someone to carry the tree out again. Not long after Wenzhu left, the doorman of the Lin Mansion hastily delivered a letter to Lin Yu. 
  
Today was a busy day, and there was no quiet for a moment. Lin Yu put the book away, thinking she might be unable to read it today. She asked the servant, “From who?” 
  
The servant replied, “I don’t know. It was sent by a child, saying it was from a stranger.” 

Stranger?
  
Lin Yu was startled and looked down at the intact lacquer seal on the letter. She breathed a sigh of relief and said to the servant, “Thank you.” 
  
She glanced at Zelan. Zelan saw this and skillfully took money from her purse as a reward. The servant happily took the money and left. 
  
After the people left, Lin Yu hurriedly opened the letter. When she saw its content, her expression suddenly changed. 
  
Seeing that her face was not right, Zelan asked, “What’s wrong, Miss?” 
  
Lin Yu said nothing. She threw the letter into the stove and burned it, saying, “Go and ask someone to prepare the carriage.” 
  
Zelan asked blankly, “Where will we go?” 
  
Lin Yu pursed her lips, “…Li Mansion.” 
  
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