The Double
Chapter 358 - 127 Retrial

Chapter 358: Chapter 127 Retrial

Prince Cheng looked uncertainly at Jih Heng.

There was no connection between Jih Heng and the Jiang Family—at least none that Prince Cheng’s spies could find a trace of. Yet, at this critical moment, Jih Heng had spoken up for Jiang Li, making the nature of their relationship intriguing.

After a long pause, Prince Cheng laughed and said, "Duke Su seems to be quite the compassionate and delicate soul."

Jih Heng raised an eyebrow, "Of course."

He wasn’t afraid of Prince Cheng. In fact, Prince Cheng indeed dared not do anything to him. Even if he was inwardly uncomfortable, he could only say a few words and could not overstep. Duke Su was both ruthless and cunning, it would be unwise to incur his resentment and provoke him to cause trouble from behind the scenes.

"If that’s the case, I can’t do much to Miss Jiang the Second." Unable to do anything to Jih Heng, Prince Cheng still dared to threaten Jiang Li openly. He said, "It’s just that I don’t know what the outcome of today’s case will be. Miss Jiang the Second seems so confident now, I hope she can still smile at the end." He left with a meaningful remark and a glance at Jih Heng, turning away with a flick of his sleeve.

The smile on Jih Heng’s face lingered. It was unclear whether he was speaking to Jiang Li or to himself, "It seems he has come prepared."

Jiang Li came back to her senses and thanked Jih Heng, "I am once again grateful for your intervention today, Duke."

"You were never so polite in the past." Jih Heng’s ambiguity made Ye Shijie’s gaze unwittingly linger on them.

"Back then, I was compelled by the situation." Jiang Li also smiled, "If I have the opportunity in the future, I will surely express my gratitude one by one."

"Hmm, your words are as sweet as ever." He blinked leisurely and asked, "What will you do now? Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Prince Cheng will definitely meddle in the Xue Family case. Finding Feng Yutang guilty is easy today, but exonerating Xue Huaiyuan will be difficult." His gaze pinned on Jiang Li, his words seemingly unintentional, "The most important thing to you is securing Xue Huaiyuan’s exoneration, isn’t it?"

Jiang Li hesitated. Indeed, merely convicting Feng Yutang was not difficult, as he was a rogue riddled with flaws. Speaking of Feng Yutang alone, the case wasn’t significant enough for Emperor Hongxiao to personally oversee, and even with Princess Yongning involved, the most that could be said was mismanagement in appointments. To unravel the conspiracy around the Xue Family case required exposing Princess Yongning’s deliberate framing of Xue Huaiyuan to imprison him. The "evidence" was solid, and with it already splashed upon the Xue Family, clearing Xue Huaiyuan was indeed challenging.

However, she still had one opportunity. Today’s court session was less a hearing led by Zhou Dezhao and more a "court debate" controlled by her. Emperor Hongxiao, intent on using her as a knife to weaken Prince Cheng, had given her this chance, which she would fully utilize. As long as their final goals aligned, what did it matter if she was used by others?

"He has come prepared, but we are not short on preparations either," Jiang Li smiled and said. "It is an honor for Jiang Li that the Duke is concerned about my affairs."

Jih Heng replied, "You don’t need to flatter me to make me happy, I can’t say an extra word during today’s session. But looking at you, it seems you have a plan to cope. That is good." He continued unhurriedly, "Your life is still in my hands, I certainly don’t want you to be gone before I have the chance to collect my debt. I may not like doing business, but I never make a losing deal."

Jiang Li laughed out loud.

At times, she found Jih Heng’s mood swings unpredictable, as if he always dwelled in the dark depths, making him unfathomable. Yet at other times, she thought despite his disdainful speech he could be quite amusing. Most importantly, he was smart—smart enough to glimpse a corner of her secret, yet he never assumed to probe further.

That was probably his pride, but it also made him respectable.

Even though she knew that the words "gentleman" and "Jih Heng" were originally unrelated.

Ye Shijie observed the familiar way Jiang Li and Jih Heng spoke, listening in silence without interjecting. Jih Heng didn’t seem to mind his presence, either disregarding him or perhaps trusting him because he was Jiang Li’s cousin. However, Ye Shijie harbored great suspicion about the relationship between Jih Heng and Jiang Li.

A Duke and the daughter of the Grand Secretary, with no prior interactions between Jih Heng and the Jiang Family, how could their relationship be so close?

Jiang Li said, "It’s getting late. We can talk leisurely some other day, but there are pressing matters today. Let’s enter the court."