Chapter 450

Xiao Yin finished speaking and walked over to Li Ruoxi, who was standing to the side; Li Ruoxi was already dazed this time.

The three people opposite her were like immortals fighting; she could barely understand what they were saying.

No matter who it was, as long as she could avenge her father and clear his name, making the Duan family pay the price.

"Prince!" Gu Kang slowly rose to his feet, raising his hand to block Xiao Yin's path.

When he called him brother-in-law, his face still held a hint of gentle smile; when he called him Prince, that smile carried a chilling coldness.

Xiao Yin stopped in his tracks, coldly staring at Gu Kang.

Gu Kang sighed, then softened his tone a bit: "Brother-in-law, Miss Li Ruoxi, you cannot take her away."

Xiao Yin's eyes flickered; Gu Kang hurriedly explained: "Brother-in-law, if Miss Li Ruoxi's case is not submitted this time, it will likely become a cold case forever."

"I know you want to help Miss Li Ruoxi clear her name when you submit the Qi Sha Gu case, but have you considered..."

"The Qi Sha Gu case cannot possibly be retried while the emperor is alive!"

Gu Kang lifted his gaze, staring fixedly at Xiao Yin before him, and said word by word: "Even if the crown prince ascends, or the Sixth Prince ascends, a retrial would still be impossible!"

First release website htt

Xiao Yin's eyes flashed slightly, and the aura about him suddenly turned a few degrees colder.

Gu Kang seemed not to feel the chill from Xiao Yin, and said slowly: "If we set aside the Qi Sha Gu case and just talk about the Pingcheng case, Miss Li Ruoxi's grievance could be redressed within a month or so."

"If we bring the Qi Sha Gu case along, her father's wrongful conviction will never see the light of day in this lifetime!"

"Because the imperial clan does not allow any blemish on its name!"

Li Ruoxi suddenly stepped back, ending up standing beside Gu Kang.

If she still didn't understand, she'd be a fool; she knew Prince Rui was also helping her seek justice, and it was obvious that Gu Kang's method was faster.

Xiao Yin's face darkened slightly; he suddenly pointed at Gu Kang, then looked toward Li Ruoxi on the side and said: "If you follow him and handle this case, do you know what you're up against?"

"Your case is tied to the Qi Sha Gu case, so you're merely a witness; but your father's past ordeal as a grain transport official framed by others will also be retried—yet the trial concerns Qi Sha Gu, so torture won't be inflicted on you."

"But if you now go and sue the officials yourself, accusing the Duan family of their actions in Pingcheng, you will be opposing Empress Dowager Ning'an, accusing the Third Prince, and you will be the primary plaintiff."

"In a civil suit against officials, whether justified or not, you first get beaten with the cangue, and only by staying alive can you continue the lawsuit."

"The various torture devices in the Ministry of Justice's great prison might have to be endured one by one; Empress Dowager Ning'an has controlled the inner palace for many years—how could she not want to preserve even a scrap of the Duan lineage? As for you, this key figure, she could pinch you to death as easily as crushing an ant!"

"Have you thought all this through?"

Xiao Yin said this, and Li Ruoxi's face paled a little; she understood what he meant.

These days she also runs several shops in Yunzhou, living comfortably; her only regret is that she ruined her health years ago and cannot bear children.

Fortunately, her husband Zhang Liang didn't say anything; instead, he doted on her even more, saying that if they remained childless, they could adopt a few kids, who would be just as much their own when raised.

But once she sues the Duan family over the Pingcheng land-clearing case, she may end up with no place to bury herself.

Actually, the Li family now has only her left; when the incident occurred years ago, she was still an innocent girl unaware of the world.

She could completely let it go, return to Yunzhou and be her own boss lady.

Or she could wait a bit longer for Xiao Yin to help her overturn the case.

Yeah, just wait a bit more, wait a bit more; Li Ruoxi lowered her head and gave a bitter smile.

When she lifted her head again to look at Xiao Yin and Gu Jiu Ling, her gaze was unprecedentedly firm.

She has waited long enough—truly long enough.

Even now she can dream of the scene when officials ransacked her home as a child, and the female relatives of the Li family kneeling on the execution ground to watch the punishment.

She saw her father's head roll to the executioner's feet, her mother on the road of exile being seized by several officials…

Her beautiful, kind mother died alive before her eyes, stripped naked.

Her elder brother studied well; at seventeen he had already become a xiucai, his handwriting excellent, preparing to go to the capital for the exams in half a year—but because torture had robbed him of speech, before death he bit his middle finger till it bled and, on the execution ground, wrote in his own blood: "Injustice! Injustice! Injustice!"

Those three bloody characters! No longer the elegant brushwork of before, only chaos remained.

Her younger brother was beheaded at the age of five.

Her elder sisters who were still alive all died in the frontier…

Li Ruoxi's eyes gradually flushed red; she lifted her head and stared fixedly at Xiao Yin: "Thank you for the reminder, Prince. Even if the road ahead is a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, an abyss of ten thousand zhang, I will still give it a try!"

Gu Jiu Ling opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing; safety and revenge—she could not choose for this poor woman.

To be born human is to undergo a bitter cultivation; everyone has their own karmic bond.

Xiao Yin said slowly: "Take care!"

He turned to look at Gu Jiu Ling: "Jiu Ling, let's go back."

Gu Jiu Ling nodded, followed Xiao Yin out; outside the stars were sparse and bright, a chill surged, and Gu Jiu Ling couldn't help but shiver.

Xiao Yin stopped, took off his own cloak, and draped it over Gu Jiu Ling's shoulders.

"I'm not cold, I'm wearing a cloak too!" Gu Jiu Ling said hurriedly, but Xiao Yin tightly wrapped the cloak around her and whispered: "Be good, add another layer."

Gu Jiu Ling lifted her gaze to Xiao Yin; his face at this moment was somewhat stern.

"Prince..."

Gu Jiu Ling didn't know how to comfort the man before her; she knew that Qi Sha Gu was a knot in Xiao Yin's heart, like a nightmare that clung to him like a shadow.

This time, with the Duan family's downfall, Xiao Yin wanted the Qi Sha Gu case to surface, no matter what, there must be an accounting.

Investigating in private and investigating openly still differ somewhat.

"It's fine," Xiao Yin said, ruffling Gu Jiu Ling's soft hair bun, "I'm fine."

He sighed, turned, and took Gu Jiu Ling's hand as they walked forward.

After a long while, his clear, cold, frost-like voice slowly came through.

"That position, I, the Prince, also want to contend for it!"

Gu Jiu Ling's steps halted instantly at that spot.

Gu Jiu Ling looked ahead at the tall man standing before her.

If someone else said that, it might sound ambitious, but coming from Xiao Yin's mouth, it actually made Gu Jiu Ling feel waves of heartache.

She gripped Xiao Yin's hand tightly: "Don't force yourself."

Xiao Yin sighed and gave a bitter laugh: "Yeah, if in this world one could avoid forcing oneself to act and simply follow one's own wishes, that would be the best."

"But some things just have to be done."

Only Gu Kang and Li Ruoxi remained in this room.

Li Ruoxi suddenly knelt before Gu Kang, lifted her head and stared at him: "Sir Gu, it was my fault before; I accept any beating or punishment, leaving it entirely to your disposition. I only ask that you help me redress my grievances—tell me to do anything and I'll do it."

Gu Kang's brows knotted tightly as he leaned in, pinching Ruoxi's cheek and sneering: "Really? You'll do anything?"