Chapter 61 – A Match in the Palace

“What is it?” Fan Xian knew for sure that things weren’t simple, or else Li Hongcheng wouldn’t be so nervous, but still forced a smile and said, “Your family’s grapevines didn’t fall over as long as they did.”

Strangely enough, Li Hongcheng had long since reached the marriageable age, and for some reason, he had not married a wife.

“No time to tell you naughty jokes.” Li Hongcheng said with a sullen face, “Yesterday there was a murder in an estate at the foot of Cangshan Mountain, and both Wu Bo’an and the prime minister’s second son, Lin Gong, died.”

Fan Xian was shocked and asked, “What?”

Li Hongcheng said, “Not bad, your future second uncle is dead.”

Fan Xian, however, did not think of this complicated kinship up for a moment, and was a little alarmed in his heart.Wu Boan’s death was expected, but …… if it wasn’t uncle who struck but someone who was silencing him, how could it not be that the chancellor’s second son was at stake. Fan Xian has this self-awareness, his own value, today is still far from that second uncle. Since Wu Boan and that second uncle died together, does it mean that the …… person who tried to kill himself last time was the prime minister s old husband?

He did not have any feelings for this wife and brother that he had never met, but thinking about the things that came with it, he could not help but be a little bitter, and after calming down a little bit, he asked, “How did the person die?”

Li Hongcheng will be found in the scene recapitulated to him to listen to, originally to that manor in terms of remoteness, this pile of murder I am afraid to be a long time before it will be found, but did not think that the third day happens to be the mountain order to pass the list of the day, a manor into the manor will see the ground full of corpses, under the great surprise layer to report. Because the dead is the prime minister’s son, and that special identity of Wu Boan, so this news through the Kyoto House and the Ministry of Justice, directly to the palace inside.

King Jing entered the palace today, and when he occasionally heard the news, he asked a familiar eunuch in the palace to send word back.

Fan Xian’s heart fluttered. King Jing should have known that he would be a guest at the royal palace today, and took the risk of having the message sent back, so it seemed that he wanted to inform himself, but just why did the other party think that he would need this message? Seeing his expression, Li Hongcheng lowered his voice and said, “The Supervisory Court is looking for Wu Bo’an, I heard that it has something to do with your last assassination, and this time he died so strangely, so beware of others suspecting you.”

Fan Xian pretended to be startled and waved his hands, “This has nothing to do with me, even the inspection office can’t find him, can I still find him out, if Mr. Chancellor really believes this, will I still be alive in Kyoto in the future?”

Li Hongcheng saw that his demeanor didn’t look like he was faking, and breathed a sigh of relief, “If it’s really you, I can’t help but reevaluate your power, and I’ll have to curry favor with you in the future.”

Fan Xian was now quite familiar with him, and smiled as he scolded, “What kind of asshole argument is this, I just pray that Lord Chancellor doesn’t link his son’s death, with me, and will have to go and burn high incense.”

Li Hongcheng said, “I don’t think so, your explanation just now was very powerful. If Lord Chen couldn’t catch someone, it’s even more unlikely that you would be able to do so when you first entered Kyoto. Even after catching him, it’s unlikely that you’d kill someone indiscriminately just to avenge a personal vendetta and vent your anger.” He looked at Fan Xian and said seriously, “I believe you on this, and I’ll speak for you at father’s place, believing that the Chancellor won’t mess around.”

Fan Xian sighed and said, “I’m just afraid that the chancellor will first have to find a way to explain why the second prince was with Wu Bo’an. You have to know that Wu Bo’an is a character who is linked to the Northern Qi spies, and the charge of treason is a solid one.”

Li Hongcheng nodded and said with slight concern, “It’s just that Lord Chancellor has lost his son in his old age, and after this blow, if he is attacked again by his political opponents through the matter of Wu Bo’an, I’m afraid that his days will not be very good.”

Fan Xian stole a glance at Shi Zi, thinking, “Aren’t the Chancellor’s political enemies you and the Second Prince? Why do you still say so clear and clear and not around the bosom.

After leaving King Jing’s mansion and getting into the carriage, Fan Ruo Ruo noticed that her elder brother’s face looked a bit off and asked with concern: “Is it somewhere uncomfortable? Or did you get too much sun earlier?” Fan Si Zhe also chimed in and sat over, curtly handing Fan Xian the folding fan in his hand.

Fan Xian had some uneasiness in his heart, so he was rather irritable and said impatiently, “Nothing!” After the words left his mouth, he realized that the tone was a bit off, and explained with a bitter smile, “There are some troublesome things that I need to think about more, so you guys leave me alone for now.”

After entering the Fan Mansion, Fan Xian firstly ran to his father’s study, but found that his father was not at home, and could not be summoned to the palace at this time.

He returned to his room somewhat uneasily, and when he sat down at the table, he realized that his back was already soaked. In fact, when Li Hongcheng was recounting the deaths of Wu Bo’an and the second son of the chancellor in the manor, Fan Xian knew who had done it, and there was no one else in the world more familiar with the manner in which Uncle Wuzhu had struck and the traces he had left behind than he was.

After Fan Xian had looked up the name Wu Bo’an in the Heavenly Prison that night, he had known that Wu Bo’an was already a dead man – he just hadn’t thought that Lin Wan’er’s second brother would die along with him.

Although he didn’t know how Five Bamboos had found that Mr. Wu, according to Five Bamboos’ cold and indifferent nature, it was really a normal thing for him to stab to death two of the masterminds who had plotted against Fan Xian in a single stroke. Five Bamboos was a master-level powerhouse, and in his eyes, any son of the Chancellor’s Office might be just as much a flesh and blood as that assassin from Tanyu State who had come to kill himself. As long as Fan Xian would not be implicated, there was never a taboo before Five Bamboo’s brazier.

Fan Xian’s uneasiness lay in the fact that since even King Jing thought he was involved in Lin Gong’s death, what would the chancellor think? He was trying to avenge the killing of his guards that day, and the serious injuries to himself and Tou Zijing, and he had thought that the person behind the scenes might be Lord Chancellor, his future father-in-law, and if that was the case, Fan Xian thought to himself that he would only kill Wu Bo’an as a warning to the other side, but he had not thought that Lin Wan’er’s second brother would just die so neatly, and there were just two sons in the Lin family, and he had heard that the older one still had some problems… …

Thinking of Lin Wan’er, Fan Xian had another headache, even if Wan’er had grown up in the palace and had no feelings for the Lin family, after all, the two sides were relatives of flesh and blood, and this was a fact that could not be torn away no matter what.

He stood up and walked around the table twice, his eyes gradually became firm, he made up his mind, this life can not let Wan Er know about this matter, can not let her know that it is her uncle killed her brother.

The solemn depths of the palace, the world’s most powerful person in the room, but far less than the territory under his jurisdiction that kind of momentum, the incense in the tripod gradually dispersed, leaving only a thick accumulation of ash, the door to the west of the sun shines sideways, those who fluttered the threshold of the willow sheep in the light in the slim countable.

Room paved with light-colored stone tiles, left and right in turn stood more than ten dynasty officials, today is not a formal meeting, so this is not the Taiji Palace, just a side hall, Qing’s great majesty did not sit on top of the high dragon chair, just randomly picked a chair to sit.

The emperor today wearing a water green silk civilian clothes, waist tied with a dragon gold silk belt, black hair bundled tightly, only occasionally in the temples will find a few silver silk. He just casually sat on the chair, a little lower than the courtiers standing around, but the aura was like sitting at the highest end of the world, looking down on the thousands of subjects at his feet.

Today’s state affairs were over, and those who stayed in the room were several old and important ministers.

Chen Pingping was in the first place on the left hand side, sitting in a wheelchair because of her health, so she looked very special, her head hanging down slightly listlessly, as if she was all about to fall asleep. These ministers knew that President Chen, who was His Majesty’s number one close confidant, had once been given an explicit order that he did not have to attend the routine court meetings, but today this meeting was a must.

Chancellor Lin Ruofu was in the first position on the right hand, he also had special treatment today, sitting on a round stool, only his official uniform was a bit long, so he looked a bit funny. This world-famous treacherous prime minister, was born with clear eyebrows and shining eyes, only the slightly white beard revealed his real age, thought that when he was young, he must have been a beautiful man.

Today, his eyes were a bit red and swollen, and his lips were a bit white, so he thought that he had cried earlier.

“Lord Chancellor’s condolences.” The emperor said softly, the room buzzed with echoes, “You and recuperate in the residence for a few days or …… send that child.”

Lin Ruofu stood up, respectfully saluted, choked and said, “The old minister does not dare, the matter of the dog’s son, alarmed His Majesty is already a sin.”

Those several ministers of various ministries also warmly advised the old chancellor how a person’s death cannot be revived.

Lin Ruofu suddenly said in a loud voice, “I dare to ask Your Majesty to decide for the old minister and seek justice for that dead child!” After saying this, he knelt straight down, today at noon learned of the death of his second son, always heart like iron, the chancellor of the Lord also nearly fainted, the so-called white hair to send black hair, where can not stand this kind of emotional shock.

The corners of the Emperor’s lips curved up unnoticed, but no one dared to stare at the face of the Son of Heaven, so no one noticed this small detail. His Majesty the Emperor seemed to be somewhat surprised by the chancellor’s statement: ”Since the day before yesterday after the attack on the Fan family boy, not expected on the side of Kyoto, and then occurred such a murder, this Kyoto Prefecture naturally can not resign from its responsibility, Chancellor Lord rest assured that the oligarchs since I will be heavily punished, to give you an account of the …… each division must grasp the apprehension of the murderer, to the Ministry of Criminal Affairs Mainly, if there is no concordance, President Chen on the side of the command.” Chen Pingping appeared to be asleep, but at this time, she opened her eyes and answered with a smile.

Lin Ruofu’s eyes exploded with two streams of brilliant light, but they faded in a moment, and he kowtowed to the emperor before he stood up under the persuasion of the crowd.

The emperor calmly looked at him, the Qing dynasty is not how to pay attention to the temple before the ceremonial model, the emperor knows that the prime minister of this head is not good to be banned, suddenly frowned and said: “the previous thing, there is the shadow of the northern qi thieves, intends to cause a storm of the imperial court, this time, could it be that the foreign thieves sneak in to do the crime? This side of the ban now is not sparse into this look? Passed down the decree, with the northern three divisions of the good self-check.”

He suddenly sternly reprimanded: “Chen Pingping, your hospital affairs also have to use some heart is, around is not to eat for free! You returned to your hometown to save your family this time, and you insisted on dragging it out for one more month. Do you want the sons and daughters of the ministers in the court to die one by one, before you are willing to come back!”

The son of heaven a fire, the hall are quiet.