The former Director of the Ministry of War, now turned fisherman.

All that was missing was a bamboo hat.

Truly ridiculous enough.

Jing Yi walked to his side, hands clasped behind his back, chest thrust forward, like a rooster crowing at dawn.

One sitting!

One standing!

After a long while, Jing Yi gazed at the gradually rising wind on the lake surface, asking, “Director Ji spends all day like this—have you caught any fish?”

Ji Li’s lips curved slightly as he exhaled. “Though fish are scarce here, occasionally one or two bite.”

“Big fish are all in deep water. Small ponds and lakes only have small fish. Even if caught, they’re meaningless.” His words carried deeper meaning.

“That may be so, but the scenery here is pleasant, with mountains and water all around. Staying here long, one’s heart becomes open and joyful. It’s a good place.”

“Then is that stool of yours as comfortable to sit on as the chair of Director of the Ministry of War?”

Of course not!

Moreover, it was rock hard.

Ji Li: “Though the chair is low and small, being able to set it up here at Cheng Lake’s edge could be called a distant water saving a nearby fire.”

“Then is that fishing rod in your hand as useful as a long sword?”

“Though the weight is lighter, fortunately it’s put to use here—not entirely superfluous.”

Hearing this, Jing Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “I didn’t expect Director Ji to be so easily satisfied.”

“It simply depends on the circumstances.” He wasn’t a fool either. The fishing rod in his hand lifted slightly. “Fishing is just to pass the time.”

One sentence after another!

It seemed neither had gained “the upper hand” in words!

Jing Yi was quite patient, his gaze sweeping the surroundings—greenery filling his vision, the view clean.

Indeed a good place.

He opened his lips. “Then Director Ji… truly intends to be like this for a lifetime?”

Gradually getting to the point.

Ji Li moved the thing in his hands, eyes fixed on the water surface, very focused. A trace of a smile slowly spilled from the corner of his lips, though barely visible.

He tilted his head slightly, not responding to his words, but instead changing the topic. “Let’s not speak of me—better to speak of Prince Yi! I hear that because of the dried well case, Prince Yi suffered setbacks, was outmaneuvered by your own people, nearly fell flat, and was even sent by the Emperor to follow the Ministry of Works and Ministry of Finance to resolve the suburban flood disaster. At this time, shouldn’t you be in the suburbs? How do you still have time to come here?”

Was belittling people this way interesting?

Jing Yi didn’t care about his contemptuous words. “After several days apart, Director Ji’s words have truly become much colder! Hearing them makes this prince’s whole body shiver.”

Hehe.

Ji Li: “Now Prince Rong has gained power—the great wind in court will likely blow anew.”

Jing Yi: “This is also why this prince came here to find you!”

Ji Li: “Since that’s the case, why must Your Highness circle around saying so much? Better to get straight to the point and avoid wasting time.”

He was still waiting to fish! Blabbering on and on—scaring all his fish away.

Wasn’t it annoying?

Jing Yi’s eyes deepened, his brow also furrowing involuntarily. Tilting his head to look at him, he only asked one thing: “Are you willing to accept this?”

Unwilling!

He’d never be willing even if beaten to death!

All these years, he, Ji Li, had devoted himself entirely to Great Lin, only to end up dismissed from office in the end. How could he be willing?

Ji Li tightened his neck, eyes narrowing. “The Emperor assigned me the crime of attempting to harm an imperial prince. This crime is indeed established. Being dismissed from office is only natural. However, what Your Highness asks—are you asking if I’m unwilling because I served as Your Highness’s scapegoat? Or unwilling because the Emperor dismissed me from office?”

“You should have been guarding the Ministry of War, holding great power in your hands. But now you hold a fishing rod, waiting here for fish to bite. When will your fish basket be full? Even if it truly fills, it will only be small shrimp and fish, not yet grown. The Director of the Ministry of Justice reduced to a fisherman? Are you truly willing?”

“Being a fisherman for life is better than being reduced to a chess piece, staying in another’s chess bowl for a lifetime!”

Ji Li likened himself to a chess piece, comparing Jing Yi to a chess bowl.

Jing Yi understood the meaning in his words, so he straightened his expression, seriously and clearly telling him, “Ji Li, from the very beginning this prince said—if this prince wins in the future, the Ji family wins. If this prince loses, the Ji family loses. We’re not in a relationship of chess piece and chess bowl, but rather two ends of a rope at a cliff’s edge. If either side lets go, we both die simultaneously. Our relationship… is symbiotic, with no distinction of strong or weak.”

His tone grew heavier, trying to make his words more credible.

Ji Li carefully pondered, saying nothing.

“This prince didn’t come here to watch you fish, much less to appreciate any scenery, but to give Director Ji an opportunity for advancement—an opportunity to be above ten thousand people, below only one person.”

“Advancement?” Ji Li smiled bitterly, lifting his head to look at him. “Has Your Highness forgotten? I’m no longer Director of the Ministry of War. I hold no power in my hands—I’m merely an idle fisherman. Moreover, Ji Huan has gone to the frontier and can’t help Your Highness at all.”

“Director Ji, this prince didn’t come to probe your capabilities. That you could remain in the position of Director of the Ministry of Justice for so many years—you know your own worth.” He looked at Ji Li. “The Emperor has always been wary of you military generals. Now having finally assigned you the crime of ‘attempting to harm an imperial prince’ and dismissed you from office, he naturally won’t restore you to your original position. Now as long as you nod, the realm and rivers of Great Lin will belong to this prince and your Ji family! When that time comes, you and Ji Huan will be great generals holding Great Lin’s military power—wanting wind, getting wind, wanting rain, getting rain.”

Great general!

Ji Li felt somewhat greedy!

Honestly, he truly didn’t want to fish at the lakeside for a lifetime, much less wanted to forever wear the title of “dismissed from office” on his head.

Seeing his hesitation, Jing Yi continued tempting him. “As long as this prince sits on the throne in the future, your sister will be Empress. The realm of Great Lin will belong to the Jing and Ji families. Now, for this prince to seize and replace—it’s nothing more than adding flowers to brocade. If you help, you’ll rise step by step. If you don’t help, you’ll forever be just those few fish in the fish basket, struggling at death’s door.”

Ji Li’s hands stiffened, stunned for a moment.

The fishing rod suddenly moved.

A big fish had bitten!

The fishing rod was pulled up—surprisingly a very large grass carp.

He pulled the fishing line from the grass carp’s mouth, gripping the entire fish tightly in his hands.

Slowly rising.

Then—

With both hands, he threw it.

Tossing this fish caught with such difficulty back into the lake.

The grass carp, having escaped death, darted several times and quickly swam away.

The two men stood at the lake’s edge, their shadows reflected on the water surface.

Faintly wavering.

After a long while, Ji Li opened his mouth and asked, “Then I wonder… where does Your Highness plan to start?”

He agreed!

Jing Yi’s lips curved. “Starting with that Master Ji.”

Eh?

Ji Li was astonished.

Jing Yi: “If not for her, your family’s younger brother Ji Yuanzhi and your grandmother wouldn’t have died. If not for her strategizing at Prince Rong’s side, you and Ji Huan wouldn’t have fallen to your current state. Where the disaster comes from, that’s where it must be rooted out!”

Sinister to the extreme!

A massive conspiracy was beginning…