Waaah, I'm being forced into loving my yandere wife's brain.

Lin Zhiyao's vision blurred.

Did Shen Jin poison her father?

"You're talking nonsense."

Lin Zhiyao shook her head. "If Shen Jin really wanted to silence me, why would he spare my life? Besides... Father has been retired for many years; how could he possibly have obtained such confidential information?"

This question is direct and hits the nail on the head.

Wang Bo's anxious expression faltered slightly, but it quickly transformed into a deeper sorrow.

He sighed, took out a thinly folded old piece of paper from his pocket, revealing half of a dark red seal, which was the official seal of the Ministry of War.

"Miss, please look at this."

Wang Bo lowered his voice, which trembled slightly, and said, "Although you have been dismissed from your post, your old subordinates have not all left. Uncle Zhao works in the Ministry of War, do you remember him? He has been secretly keeping an eye on the court's movements for you, which is why he noticed the correspondence between Shen Jin and the Northern Di envoy."

Lin Zhiyao's head was spinning.

She remembered Uncle Zhao.

She was tall and thin, with deep laugh lines at the corners of her eyes when she smiled. Every time she came to the Lin residence, she would bring a small bag of maltose candy.

She let go of his hand in a daze.

In her confusion, she didn't notice Wang Bo's strange expression.

"My lady, this old minister risked his life to enter the palace to take you away. Shen Jin must want to find out the whereabouts of the secret letter through you..."

Lin Zhiyao snapped out of her daze. "But I don't know anything about any secret message..."

Wang Bo interrupted with heartbreaking pain, "You don't know, but Shen Jin doesn't know that you don't know! If you stay here, Shen Jin will kill you sooner or later. What kind of thing wouldn't a person like him do? Miss, come with me quickly, today is our only chance! The Prince of Jin's men are waiting for us outside."

Lin Zhiyao closed her eyes briefly and whispered, "Okay, I'll go with you."

What happened next happened as quickly as a dream: Qingwu was knocked unconscious, they arrived at the side gate, got into the carriage, and then…

The carriage was suddenly stopped by a man in black. Before Lin Zhiyao could even see who it was, a hand reached in, grabbed her wrist without a word, and dragged her out of the carriage.

"Hmm!"

Lin Zhiyao staggered off the carriage, looked up, and saw several unfamiliar faces dressed in black tight-fitting clothes. The leader had a long sword at his waist, and the scabbard was engraved with an emblem she had never seen before.

"Uncle Wang—"

Lin Zhiyao turned around, but her breath caught in her throat. She saw that Uncle Wang's face was calm to the point of being indifferent, clearly indicating that he had expected someone to stop the car here.

"Miss Lin."

Wang Bo raised his eyes, perhaps out of consideration for their past relationship and wanting her to die knowing the truth, and finally revealed everything, "Your father was indeed poisoned to death, and you did indeed accidentally learn of evidence of someone colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, but the person who poisoned him was not Shen Jin, but Prince Jin. Now, you are what Shen Jin cares about most, so His Highness Prince Jin needs you to cleanse the court of corrupt officials and rectify the situation."

"you--"

Lin Zhiyao struggled to back away, but her wrist was firmly gripped by the man in black. Tears welled in her eyes. "Let me go!"

"Miss Lin, His Highness Prince Jin requests your presence." The man in black remained motionless.

Two other people came forward, grabbed her arms on either side, and lifted her up, dragging her deeper into the alley.

Lin Zhiyao's feet left the ground, and one of her embroidered shoes came off, revealing her ankle covered in a white sock.

next second.

Warm blood splattered onto Lin Zhiyao's cheek.

She suddenly opened her eyes wide and saw that the hand holding her arm had been severed at the wrist.

Then, she was pulled into a strangely familiar red-clad embrace.

No one saw when Shen Jin arrived, nor did anyone see how he moved.

A flash of red before his eyes, and the man in black screamed and fell backward, blood gushing from his severed wrist, splattering all over the ground.

The other two drew their swords at the same time, but Shen Jin dodged the first sword strike by turning his body to the side. He then grabbed the second man's wrist with his other hand, twisted it, and with a crisp crack, the man's sword flew out of his hand and embedded itself in the crack of the alley wall, buzzing incessantly.

It happened in just a few breaths.

Three men in black robes lay sprawled on the ground, their wails echoing through the narrow alley.

Lin Zhiyao never saw Shen Jin's expression. She only saw him swiftly and decisively cripple the man, kick aside the sword sheath that was in the way, walk to the man in black, and see the insignia.

"I was just thinking..."

He spoke, his voice laced with laughter, even a little lazy, yet it inexplicably gave off an eerie feeling, "Who dares to be so bold as to steal someone right under my nose... Ha, so it's a dog from the Prince of Jin's mansion."

Shen Jin released his hand that had been pressing on the back of Lin Zhiyao's head.

Lin Zhiyao was finally able to see his expression. She saw him slightly curving his thin, crimson lips as he gazed at her, but the smile clearly didn't reach his eyes, like a thin layer of frost on a blade.

"I……"

Lin Zhiyao hesitated for a moment before Shen Jin immediately interrupted her.

"Shhh."

Shen Jin gestured for her to be quiet, then bent down slightly to pick up the embroidered shoe that she had dropped during her struggle. He said in a soft voice, "Yao Yao, why are you being so naughty? You forgot to put on your shoes again."

Shen Jin put Lin Zhiyao on the horse.

The coachman had his throat slit by some unknown person and died beside him. The horse paced back and forth, looking rather uneasy.

In a sea of ​​blood.

Shen Jin helped Lin Zhiyao put on her elegant little embroidered shoes in a light purple color, embroidered with twin lotus flowers.

He held her slender, fair ankle tightly in his large hand, looked up, and used his thumb to wipe away the drop of blood that belonged to someone else from her cheek.

The wiping was very light and slow, like wiping dew off a flower petal.

Lin Zhiyao didn't know why, perhaps fear was belatedly rising up, or perhaps it was an inexplicable sense of grievance, or some other emotion that she couldn't quite distinguish.

Lin Zhiyao's eyes welled up with tears, and hot tears instantly fell onto the back of his hand.

Shen Jin paused slightly.

Then he gently cupped half of her cheek, wiped away her tears, and pulled Lin Zhiyao into his arms, letting her forehead rest against his chest, allowing her tears to soak through.

Shen Jin pressed the back of her head and said softly, "If you're scared, don't look."

After saying this, he casually tossed the sword forward without holding Lin Zhiyao's hand, pinning the terrified and trembling Wang Bo to the ground inside the carriage.

Lin Zhiyao only felt a whooshing sound in her ear, and then, all was silent.

The three people on the ground had already lost consciousness due to excessive blood loss.

Shen Jin pressed his palm against the back of her head, holding her even tighter. "Your father was poisoned by the Prince of Jin. He realized your father was unreliable, and keeping him around would only expose more problems."

Lin Zhiyao trembled in his arms, and an uncontrollable sob escaped her throat.

She clutched the fabric of his shirt tightly, her nails almost digging into the bright red cloth. Her head was buried, her shoulders trembling, and her sobs muffled against his chest, like a frightened little animal.

Shen Jin did not continue speaking.

He lifted her up with one hand, stepping over a mess of broken limbs as he stood up. Backlit, his face was extremely gloomy.

"Take them to the dark dungeon."

Shen Jin left a sentence behind and walked out of the alley without looking back.

Lin Zhiyao nestled in Shen Jin's arms, her face still wet with tears. Her cheek pressed against the warm fabric on his shoulder, where she could smell his cold yet intense scent of agarwood.

She had her eyes closed.

They heard Shen Jin's footsteps, slow and steady, treading across the bluestone slabs.

The distant sound of the wind, the cries of vendors at the morning market, and the stench of blood behind me all seemed blurred and distant, as if separated by a film of water.

Only the one pressed against her cheek.

His heartbeat, clear and inescapable, was distinct and unmistakable.