That day, Ji Yunshu packed her things and moved to Bamboo Stream Garden.

Jingrong also shamelessly packed his own things and moved over with her.

Of course, Wei Yi followed along too.

It was practically a family migration!

Now, almost everyone in the capital had their attention focused on the Linjing Case that Ji Yunshu was working on.

The younger ones just treated it as watching excitement, wanting to see what heaven-defying abilities this Magistrate Ji possessed that she could actually identify people who had been burned to death fifteen years ago (another year had already passed) through bone examination and portrait drawing.

The older ones were genuinely curious. After all, the fire at Duke Yuguo’s mansion back then had caused a sensation throughout the entire capital. Now, after so many years, an order had been issued to reopen the case, which clearly meant there must be a big story within. Therefore, everyone was curious whether the incident back then was man-made or a natural disaster.

In any case, they pulled out their stools and set out their melon seeds.

Waiting for news!

And Ji Yunshu, being watched by countless pairs of eyes, spent almost all day moving between two points—the hall where the coffins were kept and the study.

She almost never left Bamboo Stream Garden.

She devoted herself wholeheartedly to this case.

In half a month, she completed several more portraits.

Only the last seven remained!

It was getting closer and closer…

Of course, Jingrong wasn’t idle either. Besides attending court, he secretly sent people to investigate the events of that year. He started by investigating the Ministry of War, wanting to know who had given the order to transfer the guards from Duke Yuguo’s mansion back then, hoping to trace whose order that person had received.

Was it Duke Yuguo’s order?

Or someone else’s?

But the answer was—that person had long since died!

The lead was broken, impossible to trace. In short, all the people related to that night… were dead.

And the remaining guards from Duke Yuguo’s mansion didn’t know the truth either. They only knew that upon seeing the command token, they had to obey. They hadn’t questioned it at all.

So now the only lead was the sole survivor from Duke Yuguo’s mansion.

Jingrong’s investigation yielded no results. Whenever he had free time, he stayed at Bamboo Stream Garden.

Recently leisurely, he enjoyed his freedom. When he was in a good mood, he would teach Wei Yi to read and learn.

That boy learned extremely fast!

On this day, while Ji Yunshu was concentrating on studying skeletal remains in the study, he found a book and tossed it to Wei Yi.

“Come, come, come. Today this Prince will teach you The Art of War.”

Straightening his attitude, assuming the proper posture.

Wei Yi was stunned. He flipped through the book in front of him a few times, seeming to truly read attentively, except his brow furrowed—he probably didn’t understand it very well.

Jingrong smiled and drew the book from his hands, saying seriously: “Listen well. The content in The Art of War is very miscellaneous, and there’s a lot of it. It’s understandable if you don’t understand it clearly. However, with this Prince here, you just need to study diligently, and this Prince will teach you diligently. But before you master it, you must first memorize the Thirty-Six Stratagems. What exactly are these Thirty-Six Stratagems? You need to…”

“I know.” Wei Yi answered eagerly.

“You know? Have you read this book?”

“I just looked at it.”

“How much did you just look at?”

Wei Yi’s calm eyes gradually lowered, his features revealing intelligence. He said seriously: “The first stratagem is Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Sea, the second is Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao, the third is Kill with a Borrowed Knife, the fourth is Wait at Ease for the Exhausted Enemy, the fifth is Loot a Burning House, the sixth is Make a Sound in the East then Strike in the West, the seventh is Create Something from Nothing, the eighth is Openly Repair the Gallery Roads but Secretly March to Chencang, the ninth is Watch the Fire from Across the River, the tenth is… the thirty-sixth is Retreat is the Best Strategy.”

He rattled off all Thirty-Six Stratagems.

Not a single word wrong.

Jingrong was stunned, shocked, incredulous: “After just looking at it a few times, you’ve memorized it all. Wei Yi, do you know that no matter how intelligent a person is, even Yunshu couldn’t be as remarkable as you.”

He truly had no more words to describe it.

Wei Yi didn’t care about his shocked expression, but very seriously replied: “No, the smartest person in this world is Shu’er.”

His gaze was firm.

Brooking no argument.

Jingrong met his clear eyes, knowing that if this boy became even smarter in the future, he himself wouldn’t measure up to him.

Their gazes met.

Wei Yi said, “Actually, we’re very similar.”

“Similar?”

“Our eyes. Our eyes are very similar.”

Hmm?

Jingrong looked carefully and had to admit it was indeed so.

Jingrong silently said in his heart: Wei Yi, of course we’re similar! You and I both have imperial blood flowing through our veins.

“Can you tell me what ‘Openly Repair the Gallery Roads but Secretly March to Chencang’ means?” Wei Yi asked.

Interrupting his thoughts.

“Of course.”

Jingrong flipped to the section on that stratagem. His well-defined fingers tapped on it as he explained to Wei Yi: “Simply put, this means that in order to achieve a certain purpose, one conceals their true intentions behind actions that don’t arouse suspicion, so people cannot detect them.”

“What about ‘Remove the Firewood from Under the Cauldron’?”

Jingrong was full of patience. He flipped to that section and said: “The meaning of ‘Remove the Firewood from Under the Cauldron’ is that some things cannot be openly sabotaged but must be done secretly. There are two layers of meaning here. The first layer refers to when two sides are in battle—if necessary, one can make secret plans to sabotage the enemy camp or disturb the enemy’s morale. This is a strategy. The other layer has a pejorative meaning, darkly referring to certain people playing dirty tricks in secret, and thus being called petty people.”

Detailed explanation.

He was very much like a teacher.

Wei Yi listened very seriously, nodding frequently to indicate his understanding.

“Anything else you don’t understand?”

“I understand it all now.”

“Good. Then I’ll sit here. You look through it carefully yourself. If there’s anything you don’t understand or any characters you don’t recognize, ask me anytime.”

“Mm.”

Wei Yi read the book very seriously.

This Art of War was very thick, with much content that was also miscellaneous.

An ordinary person might need to spend a very long time to comprehend it all, but—

Wei Yi only needed three days.

He memorized it all.

He also thoroughly understood all the meanings within.

He said that after reading all this, he had become a general and could go to battle to fight enemies.

Jingrong praised his fighting spirit, saying that perhaps in the future he really could go to the battlefield and use what he learned from The Art of War to kill a few enemies.

He even happily ran to tell Ji Yunshu.

Ji Yunshu was wearing gloves examining bones in the hall. She had just reopened a coffin and had someone take out the skeletal remains. She was holding a skull, carefully examining it from left to right when she suddenly caught sight of Wei Yi coming in. She quickly put down the skull in her hands.

Worried that boy would be afraid!

Who would have known—

“I’m not afraid.” Wei Yi shook his head.

Ji Yunshu: “You’re not afraid anymore?”

He walked over. “I remember Shu’er said that what’s frightening in this world are the living, not the dead, much less skeletal remains.”

“That’s right. If you don’t fear the living, what’s there to fear from the dead?” Ji Yunshu smiled, but noticed what he was holding and asked: “What are you holding?”

He quickly brought it out, extending it forward.

“The Art of War.”