CHAPTER 578: CHAPTER 562: A PERILOUS PROMISE (ADDED UPDATE)

Judge Zhong spread out the hidden weapons he had found and placed them on the table.

There were fifteen strands of silver wire, eight sharp knife blades, twenty vein-cutting spring devices, and more.

Every piece of the hidden weapon was stained with blood.

Lin Yi felt a chill in his heart as he realized that the wounded guards had all suffered for their beloved Queen.

"Order to be given that all those who entered the Qiankun Palace today for inspection and were injured are to receive

taels of silver as compensation, to be deducted from my salary."

Upon hearing this, Judge Zhong was so moved that he knelt down before Lin Yi and said gratefully, "My lord Lin, on behalf of all the soldiers who were injured today, I thank you."

Half an hour ago, when people first started getting injured, everyone’s emotions became very unstable, full of complaints.

What was supposed to be a job inspecting the scene of the case became a new crime scene, with some people nearly losing their lives.

But Judge Zhong calmed everyone, saying that they could take their time to inspect carefully, ensuring their own safety was the priority.

He had promised that if anyone was accidentally injured, the Ministry of Justice would compensate them with five taels of silver.

So when Lin Yi mentioned

taels of silver, Judge Zhong was extremely relieved from the bottom of his heart.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi became intrigued.

"Little Zhong, how dare you, a mere judge, promise a compensation of five taels of silver per injured person under your command? This surely isn’t allowed by the Ministry of Justice. Have you discussed this with the president of the Court of Judicial Review?"

"Aren’t you afraid the Ministry of Justice won’t pay, and you’ll have to cover the cost yourself?"

Judge Zhong lowered his head in shame; indeed, it was a move of desperation.

"To be honest, the president of the Court of Judicial Review acted as if he was mute, turning a blind eye to the injuries of his subordinates."

"To solve the case quickly and improve efficiency, I had no choice but to take risks."

Of course, I was going to report this to you afterward, and if you disagreed, I would repay them slowly from my salary.

Lin Yi was very satisfied with Judge Zhong’s courage and decisiveness.

’Such talented and responsible imperial officials are truly the wise ministers of my dear wife, the Queen.’

’The position of the president of the Court of Judicial Review is not even worthy of him. Once this case is resolved, I’ll arrange for him to be an Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Justice to help share some of my burden.’

"You have indeed taken a bold risk, but rest assured, you are a talented and capable figure that I have handpicked. Just proceed with the case."

"If you encounter obstacles, I will help you sort things out."

"This case concerns the safety of His Majesty, and those injured were shielding His Majesty from disaster, so they rightfully deserve compensation."

With Lin Yi’s support, Judge Zhong felt even more confident. He then took out a manuscript from his bosom with a secretive look as if he had discovered something new.

"Lord Lin, these are—"

Before Judge Zhong could finish, Lin Yi suddenly stretched out his hand to stop him, interrupting him.

"You’re trying to bribe me with a silver note? Take it back; I do not accept such practices."

What? A silver note? But these are clearly important manuscripts, Lin Yi might have mistaken them? Or perhaps something was wrong with his eyesight?

No! Lin Yi was hinting at something!

Judge Zhong then looked into Lin Yi’s eyes and suddenly understood.

The next second, Lin Yi discreetly pulled out a small piece of paper from his bosom and handed it to Judge Zhong without attracting any attention.

Judge Zhong was slightly startled, and just as he was about to open it, Lin Yi gestured with his hand and looked to express that there were people around.

Realizing the need for secrecy, Judge Zhong had no choice but to make conversation on other topics, waiting until there was no one around before he quietly opened the note.

"Beware of walls with ears, meet tonight at the third watch at the General Mansion."

The phrase "walls have ears" sent a chill down Judge Zhong’s spine, and as he surveyed the guards coming and going around him, he finally realized that he himself was in danger.

Seeing that Judge Zhong remained silent for too long, Lin Yi stood up and returned to the deadly Hidden Weapons.

He spoke aloud on purpose.

"Now with His Majesty critically ill, even if he wakes up, we don’t know if he will be able to get through tomorrow smoothly. This case in the Qiankun Palace needs to be thoroughly investigated, starting with these Hidden Weapons."

"We must find out who is skilled in using these Hidden Weapons. We can’t rush to close the case just to satisfy the Holy Decree before His Majesty moves in after the holiday."

Clearly, Lin Yi intended to slow down the pace, giving the old eunuch a chance to slip up. If he rushed things, the old eunuch might make a move on Judge Zhong.

"This official obeys," Judge Zhong nodded, signifying that he understood Lin Yi’s intentions.

Lin Yi walked around the Qiankun Palace while listening to Judge Zhong’s work report.

It turned out that these Hidden Weapons could not only be placed on tables, chairs, books, but also on the beams and floors.

In short, every conceivable and inconceivable place to hide Hidden Weapons could be found within the Qiankun Palace.

This prompted Lin Yi to pay close attention. He remembered that when he first entered the Qiankun Palace with the young Emperor, the young Emperor was sitting on the Dragon Chair without any issues.

But just within a few short days to install so many Hidden Weapons, and to do so in the dark, was no easy feat.

At this thought, Lin Yi suddenly remembered the Infrared Life Detector he had previously bought, which also had monitoring capabilities – perhaps there could be some discoveries made from there.

’Right, I should find that big guy first, connect it, and see what has happened in the Qiankun Palace these past few days.’

All the bad and anxious things these past days seemed to have conspired together and descended upon him all at once.

Lin Yi was so busy that he had even forgotten about the Infrared Life Detector.

But it didn’t matter, as long as the Infrared Life Detector was still there, he could check the monitoring to find out what happened clearly.

There was still an hour before the return of the head of the Ministry of Justice, so Lin Yi decided to go back to the Imperial Study Room to check the Infrared Life Detector monitoring before returning.

Half an hour later, Lin Yi returned to the Imperial Study Room. The young Emperor had already fallen asleep, Ying Yi was watching from the rafters, and Keke and Luoluo were inseparably guarding by the Dragon Couch.

Seeing the young Emperor’s sleeping figure, Lin Yi couldn’t help himself and leaned in to steal a kiss before reluctantly heading to the surveillance room to check the monitoring.

But to Lin Yi’s surprise, he could only view the monitoring from the first day; the subsequent data was blank.

If the monitoring data couldn’t be found, it meant that the Infrared Life Detector wasn’t working properly.

That big guy was bought from the Nine-Eyed Mall, so it couldn’t possibly have quality issues; could it have been sabotaged by someone?

With that thought, Lin Yi hurried back to the Qiankun Palace, planning to retrieve the Infrared Life Detector to see if it can be fixed and reused.

After such a back and forth, Lin Yi did not feel tired, but when he heard servants say the head of the Ministry of Justice had fainted several times while running and his eight concubines had all run out to cheer him on the streets,

’Hehe, fainting from just a bit of physical labor, yet he dares keep eight concubines, isn’t that just a complete waste of those girls’ time,’ Lin Yi thought.

’No matter, I excel at caring for women. Now that I’m aware of this, I shall seek justice for the eight sisters and make sure to assign more physical tasks to the head of the Ministry of Justice in the future.’

’Fatties have potential, I’ll help him lose weight with a massage, ensuring the eight sisters can lead a happy life.’

Lin Yi thought about the future punishment for the head of the Ministry of Justice, and he couldn’t help but feel excited.

... End of Chapter ...

ps: Third additional Chapter!