Jin Han's face turned grim.
Never in his wildest imagination had he expected someone to see through every bit and piece of his plans and trace him to the hideout he had prepared.
He murmured slowly, "There is a traitor!"
Jin Huang chuckled. "Isn't that obvious?"
Everything in this world is probabilistic. Whether it is information, your own deduction, or even the future, they are all probabilistic.
No matter how smart a person is, he can never pinpoint the exact hideout of someone like Jin Han. They can only guess within a set of possibilities.
Jin Han glanced at Jin Huang and asked calmly, "Why are you here? What do you want from me?"
Jin Huang smiled and said straightforwardly, "I want the proof—the proof of Jin Wei murdering our honorable father!"
Jin Han was shocked.
This was information only a few people knew!
Jin Wei could never kill Jin Haoran alone. He must have needed helpers.
But why? Didn't he have sufficient influence?
No!
The moment Jin Huang informed Jin Haoran about Jin Wei's involvement with demons, Jin Haoran suppressed Jin Wei's influence completely. He pulled his strings and cut down his various important connections.
Only a father knows his son best!
Only an ambitious person can understand how far another can go for his ambitions!
Jin Haoran was ambitious, and so was Jin Wei. Both understood each other's thoughts well.
Thus, Jin Wei collaborated with Jin Han.
Why Jin Han?
Because he needed Jin Han to eliminate all his traces of treason.
Jin Wei had sufficient troops. There was nothing Jin Haoran could do about it without an excuse, or it would have made it too obvious that there was something wrong with Jin Wei.
Jin Wei could easily deploy them, but he needed military orders for that.
To do so, he had to finish the paperwork in the Ministry of War. Without permission from the Ministry or the King himself, no one could deploy soldiers anywhere.
Jin Han had strong connections with House Rong, which was deeply involved with warfare and the Ministry of War.
Jin Han helped Jin Wei in obtaining the military orders, but he also secretly kept proof of Jin Wei's involvement. He removed the related papers from the Ministry but preserved them for himself, to be used as evidence against Jin Wei if necessary.
But he would never admit that.
He immediately thought of a solution. He was already shocked—because she knew about it.
There were two possibilities here. First, she knew everything. Second, she had guessed everything.
If it was only a guess, then she must still have doubts, and his surprised expression would confirm it. He hoped it was the second choice and immediately made a counter.
"How is this possible? How could Jin Wei be involved in killing His Majesty?"
Yes—he pretended as if he was shocked by the claim that Jin Wei killed him, not that Jin Huang knew about it!
However, all of this was pointless.
Jin Huang smiled and said calmly, overturning Jin Han's worldview:
"Father wasn't killed by Jin Wei. I was the one who used Jin Wei to kill Father!"
She continued, "Whether it was your collaboration with Jin Wei, Father suppressing Jin Wei, the other five princes collaborating to kill you, or your plan to fake death—everything was directed by me!"
Jin Han couldn't speak for a moment. He was afraid. Afraid her words were true. He didn't question her first, because her presence here at this moment was enough proof.
If she hadn't planned all this, how could she know about his hideout?
Jin Han paused, then asked, "Why? Why did you kill Father? You were known for being kind! Then why?"
Jin Huang glanced at Jin Han and said in a calm yet cold tone, "Father was unworthy. He didn't care about his subjects. He was too ambitious despite being unworthy. He waged wars regardless of the situation, even when the dynasty suffered, even when people didn't have grains to eat—he didn't care. Taxes were too high, pushing commoners into corners. How many civil strifes erupted in the past 15 years? At least hundreds, across different regions, all forcefully suppressed."
Jin Han nodded thoughtfully. He sighed. "I never thought someone like you could take such a bold decision."
"It's all about what is right and what is wrong. Father was in the wrong, and he had to be punished. For any person, righteousness should come before kinship."
She walked forward as she continued, "I witnessed countless people suffering during the time I served as Prime Advisor. I saved funds and helped those in need, yet Father always used most of the savings on military troops."
Jin Han argued, "Aren't they putting their lives on the line to protect us?"
Jin Huang glanced at him and laughed with disdain. "What about the people dying without food or shelter?"
"If the subjects of a dynasty themselves are dying, what use is there in wasting resources to protect it? A king is meant to serve his subjects—the subjects are not meant to serve the king."
Jin Han fell silent. His ideals didn't align with hers. He was ambitious like his father.
He changed the topic and asked, "How did you use Jin Wei without him even realizing it?"
Jin Huang replied, "I can tell you, but I need the evidence."
Jin Han nodded. "It is with Lao Song."
Lao Song was his personal bodyguard, a Rank 4 mid-stage Warrior.
Jin Huang nodded. "Alright."
Saying that, she turned back and looked at the sky. It was about to get dark.
She said, "It all began when Father asked me to be the Prime Advisor of the Golden Crow."
Jin Han was shocked just from the first statement. 'How could she make such a plan? She was only five back then!'
"From the moment I was born, I had exceptionally high perception. I could even perceive my soul, though it was more of a false perception since I couldn't use it. I had yet to awaken my Spiritual Imprint."
Only after awakening your Spiritual Imprint can you cultivate your soul. This was common knowledge.
"I could easily sense the blood energy of demons. The more blood they consumed, the stronger the blood energy around them became. Even if they hid it with Secret Techniques, I could still perceive them."
No matter how good a Secret Technique is, unless it is Rank 9, it cannot completely conceal all traces.
"I discovered Eldest Brother Jin Wei's involvement with the demons."
This shocked Jin Han even more, as he had been completely unaware of it!
She continued, "I collected evidence regarding that as well. He attacked me using demons multiple times. It's just that the evidence wasn't suitable. Even Father knew, but he helped him erase all the traces."
Such news would have easily caused civil strife on a massive scale.
"So, I created a plan—to force Jin Wei to take action personally. An action that could be exposed without causing public outrage against the Jin family, while also eliminating Jin Wei."
"I had connections with the military through General Shi even before I became Prime Advisor."
"General Shi was my teacher. I visited him personally before leaving Golden Crow Kingdom three years ago."
"I told him His Majesty had asked me to create a plan—a plan to win over the large resource point near Golden Valley."
Golden Valley lay in the southwest border of the Golden Crow Kingdom, bordering Wu Dynasty. It was named for its wealth—mountain ranges filled with resources, spiritual medicines, spirit ores, and a great river teeming with fish, crabs, and snakes.
It was the greatest resource point in the Northern Continent after the forbidden land at the border of Wu, Shu, and Wei dynasties. But unlike the forbidden land, Golden Valley was much easier to explore.
"I told him that, along with two other generals, he must fake death in a battle with Wu Dynasty about two and a half years later. I didn't know how long my journey would be, but I knew I must return within three years. So I chose two and a half years."
"I infiltrated Wu Dynasty with a hidden identity. Using a concealment technique, I entered their military with the help from a planted spy."
When it comes to dynasties, every single one of them plants spies against the others. Even kings know this, but rooting them out is impossible.
"I fed the spy false information so that he would follow my instructions. I revealed a weakness of Golden Crow Kingdom."
"Wu Dynasty had a deep feud with Golden Crow ever since Father became king. They would never let an opportunity slip. But they weren't stupid—they would verify the information. I had already instructed General Shi to create the weakness on a specific date."
"After that, I didn't need to intervene much. From Father's and Brother's personalities, I knew exactly how things would unfold. By then, Father would have already suppressed Eldest Brother to the point of suffocation. He would definitely seize this chance to strike."
"But it wasn't easy to use the opportunity, since he had to go through the Ministry of War—and only you could help him. I knew this would happen eventually. That's why I bribed and threatened Lao Song's son!"
She smiled. "Lao Song was too loyal. I wasn't stupid enough to approach him. I didn't even ask his son to betray you. All I asked was for him to reveal one piece of information—that someone was planning to kill you. At the same time, I used him to subtly manipulate Lao Song into believing the only way to save your life was to hide away."
"It wasn't hard. I only needed him to realize how strong the threat was. A threat even he couldn't stop! To make it real, I created the actual threat. Lin Zhi had business circle connections. He had advisors too. Three years ago, I understood his ambitions—he would surely seek capital and join the throne struggle. I had already prepared a trap for him once he sought help from his connections. I gave him a brilliant idea—to use all the princes and take loans together. We would erase his name from the loans but keep the others burdened. Under that crushing debt, they would be reduced to commoners, while Lin Zhi partook in the chaos. But before that, they would try to kill you! On the surface, you seemed easier to kill than Jin Wei. But in reality, Jin Wei was the easier target."
"Lao Song's son made him believe that if you didn't hide, both you and his family would die for failing to protect you. Everyone loves their kin."
"Lao Song ultimately decided to help you plan! He was the one who gave you the idea of faking your death. But the rest of the steps—all the next actions—were decided by you."
"Given your status, you wouldn't personally search for a hideout. I was sure you would ask Lao Song to find one. So I prepared a ready-made hideout and used his son to guide him to it, while I stayed out of sight."
"There was a chance his son might fail. But when the threat of death lingers, even an ordinary man can achieve extraordinary feats."
"I know you are curious about my next actions."
Jin Han immediately felt uneasy.