Seeing him looking around, Li Shimin said in a low voice, “Liu Wen may have already discovered something. Tell them to prepare—if Yuwen Zhiji doesn’t act, immediately shoot arrows to kill him. We absolutely cannot let him speak.”
“Yes.” Zhao Jin acknowledged and quietly retreated to the shadows, where Li Shimin had already positioned several archers. The reason for this arrangement was to prevent Liu Wen from saying things he shouldn’t say and ruining their entire plan.
Over there, Li Shimin said again, “Liu Wen, what are you still standing there for? Come over quickly, be careful not to be harmed by Yuwen Zhiji!”
Liu Wen glared at him hatefully, then turned and said, “General, look at them…” He had only spoken a few words when he felt a piercing chill in his chest. Looking down, he saw a steel blade inserted in his chest, and the one wielding it was none other than Yuwen Zhiji.
“I… he…” Liu Wen struggled to voice what he had discovered, but unfortunately, apart from these two meaningless words, he could say nothing else. He fell backward to the ground, his wide-open eyes filled with unwillingness.
Yuwen Zhiji withdrew the blood-stained steel blade and said coldly, “No one can deceive me, Yuwen Zhiji, and live!”
Excellent! Li Shimin said silently to himself, while outwardly displaying a look of grief and rage. “Yuwen Zhiji, what audacity! You dare kill my man! Today, I will definitely take your head!” As he spoke these words, he shouted, “Release!”
With this word, countless large stones rolled down from the slope, striking right into Yuwen Zhiji’s group of soldiers. Many were hit with bloody heads, dodging frantically. The horses were also startled, rearing up and throwing their riders to the ground. The formation was thrown into complete chaos.
Li Shimin waved his hand and said, “Attack! Whoever captures Yuwen Zhiji alive will be richly rewarded!”
Hearing this, and seeing soldiers charging down like evil wolves pouncing on tigers, Yuwen Zhiji, who was already panic-stricken, became even more frightened. He quickly shouted, “Retreat! Retreat immediately!”
His soldiers had long been filled with fear, and hearing this, they quickly fled down the mountain, wishing their parents had given them two more legs.
While Li Shimin led his soldiers in a pretense of pursuing them, Du Ruhui was desperately restraining Pei Qiancheng, “Don’t go after them, or you’ll be in danger.”
Pei Qiancheng struggled forcefully, “He’s only thinking of escape now—this is the perfect opportunity for me to strike. I want to avenge my elder brother. Don’t stop me, let go!”
“Unless you kill me, I won’t let go.” Faced with Du Ruhui’s words, Pei Qiancheng gritted his teeth and said, “Don’t think I won’t kill you. If you continue like this, I really will… kill you!”
Du Ruhui sighed and said, “I understand your eagerness for revenge, but have you forgotten that assassin we saw last time? He must be secretly protecting Yuwen Zhiji right now. Once you go over there, he’ll immediately kill you.” He continued earnestly, “Only by staying alive do you have the right to seek revenge!”
His words made Pei Qiancheng slowly lower the blade in his hand. Gritting his teeth as he stared at Yuwen Zhiji fleeing rapidly below, he said word by word, “One day, I will personally cut off his head to comfort my elder brother’s spirit in heaven!”
After driving away Yuwen Zhiji and his twenty thousand troops, the soldiers cheered jubilantly. They finally no longer had to hide everywhere, constantly fearing for their lives.
While the soldiers went down the mountain to set up camp, Li Shimin brought people to where the prisoners were held. Zhao Jin personally stood guard nearby, and seeing him approach, came forward saying, “Second Young Master, they’re all here. Except for Liu Wen, not one escaped!”
Li Shimin nodded, staring at those few people, his voice slightly trembling as he said, “Speak! Was it you who set the fire?”
Upon hearing this, those few people quickly said, “Second Young Master, you wrong us! Why would we set a fire for no reason? We were just passing by coincidentally earlier. But you—why did you arrest us subordinates for no reason? What did we do wrong?”
Duan Zhihong sneered, “What you did wrong, you know in your hearts. Liu Wen is already dead—do you also want to follow in his footsteps?”
This statement made those few people’s faces turn pale. One of them said, “We never expected Liu Wen would do such a thing. The Crown Prince sent us here to protect the general and the Second Young Master. We never thought he would… sigh, how can he face the Crown Prince by acting this way?”
Yunyi, who had come with Li Shimin, suddenly said, “That fire—was it really not set by you?”
Those few people nodded repeatedly, “Of course not! If there’s any falsehood, let us be struck by lightning and die a terrible death.”
“Good.” Yunyi nodded to Li Shimin and said, “When I was in the palace, Yang Guang once invited a Taoist master of profound magical arts to the palace. I found it interesting, so I asked him for instruction and learned a few small spells. One of them can distinguish whether what a person says is truth or lies.”
Li Shimin vaguely guessed something and said, “Oh? What kind of spell is it?”
“Very simple. Take some stones, cast the spell, and have them each hold one tightly in their hand. If they speak the truth, the stone remains unchanged. If they lie, the stone in their palm will turn black—you can tell at a glance.”
Hearing this, Li Shimin quickly said, “If that’s the case, please cast the spell immediately, Princess.”
“Very well.” Yunyi walked to the side and picked up several thumb-sized stones, holding them in one hand while making hand gestures with the other. She closed her eyes and chanted quietly. After a while, she opened her eyes and said, “It’s done. Let them hold these, and remember to grip them tightly. If they hold them loosely, it won’t work.”
Those few people naturally didn’t want to do this, but facing Li Shimin, they didn’t dare resist and obediently clenched the stones in their hands. After they had gripped them firmly, Li Shimin asked the same question as before. This time, their answers were still the same as before, but their responses were slightly slower, and their gazes flickered somewhat—they looked uneasy.
“Alright, everyone open your hands.” With Yunyi’s words, those few people tremblingly opened their clenched palms. Seeing the unchanged stones in their palms, they all secretly breathed a sigh of relief, saying to themselves that there couldn’t be such a spell—that wretched princess was indeed deceiving them.
Li Shimin looked at Yunyi with puzzled eyes. Since she had arranged this performance, she must have her reasons, but now…
Yunyi saw the doubt in his eyes and smiled slightly. She walked to one of the men and took the stone from his palm, saying coolly, “You didn’t follow my instructions and grip the stone tightly, did you?”
The man’s gaze flickered as he said, “Don’t talk nonsense. I gripped it so tightly just now—look, my fingernails even left marks in my palm.”
Yunyi turned the stone over and said, “If that’s the case, why is this moth’s corpse still intact, with not a bit of it sticking to your palm?”