Before evacuating from Kyoto, Si Lili deliberately disguised his men as bandits and hid them outside the city to hide from others. Naturally, everyone was happy to avoid doing anything.

Seeing that Fan Xian was willing to let him go, the manager breathed a sigh of relief and gave a signal to his subordinates to respond. As soon as he clapped his hands, he heard a soft sound of armor coming from all around. When he looked again, dozens of armored black cavalry came out of the jungle.

One of them had blood stains on his body, and a murderous aura rushed towards his face.

"Black Cavalry!" Si Lili's face changed drastically and he said bitterly, "You don't keep your word!"

Fan Xian did not expect that there would be such a group of people in the jungle. He frowned slightly and said, "They were not sent by me."

A man walked out from among the black knights. He was wrapped in iron armor and his appearance could not be seen clearly. He saluted Fan Xian and said, "Fan Tisi, the dean knows that Si Lili is ambushing a large number of masters here, so we have been specially sent to meet him."

"The director of the matter in Kyoto already knows about it, and he will send you a message."

"Me?" Fan Xian glanced at the black knights around him and snorted without saying a word.

"He lets you go and do it. Even if the sky falls, he will help you hold it up." The black knight noticed the wariness in Fan Xian's eyes and couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, and his tone also sounded a little worried.

"Doing it by letting go means...you all listen to me?" Fan Xian couldn't figure out what this sentence meant, so he tried, "Then what if I let Si Lili go?"

The black knight paused and took half a step back. The black knights surrounding him also dispersed to make way for Si Lili.

"It seems that you really listened to me." Fan Xian smiled vaguely, turned to look at Si Lili, and his tone became a little lower: "Run away, run away as far as possible, and never return to Kyoto again."

."

Lin Gong died and Si Lili fled.

Kyoto is now in chaos.

For Zhou Ji's sake, it's better to put this case to rest as soon as possible.

……………………

Just as Fan Xian said, whether Cheng Jushu assassinated Fan Xian and was killed in reverse, or Lin Gong died in a courtyard outside the city, it had already caused an uproar in Kyoto.

The two incidents were originally unrelated, but with the publicity of thoughtful people, a unified saying gradually spread among the streets:

Both of these things were done by Northern Qi!

For a time, people were agitated and talk of the Northern Expedition became very popular.

Inside the palace.

Emperor Qing closed the memorial, turned to look at Hong Sixiang, and asked, "Have you seen Cheng Jushu's body?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have seen this." Hong Sixiang bowed and said respectfully: "It is true that the death was caused by a long-handled weapon, as the inspection committee said, and the murder weapon was consistent with the giant crossbow arrow at the scene."

Emperor Qing raised his head and glanced at Hong Sixiang, interrupting: "That's not what I'm asking."

"The old slave is terrified." Hong Sixiang bent his back a little more and continued: "Cheng Jushu had a stern expression when he died. There was no warning, as if he was attacked from behind, and he would be killed with one blow."

"Sneak attack from behind...Kill with one blow..." Emperor Qing muttered, "If it were you, could you do it?"

"Cheng Jushu is an eighth-level master of the Northern Qi Dynasty." Hong Sixiang's expression stiffened and he was silent for a moment. "If I hide in the dark and take advantage of him unprepared, I am 80% sure that I can do it."

"Eighty percent...that means the person who made the move is no less than ninth grade." Emperor Qing took the secret letter from Eunuch Hou and saw words such as 'unidentified metal', 'suspected firecrackers' and 'peculiar devices'.

His expression suddenly condensed, and he threw the secret message into the charcoal stove with a bang. Under the rising firelight, his expression flickered, making it impossible to see through his thoughts.

"Where is Zhou Ji now?"

Hong Sixiang replied: "I heard from people in the inspection agency that he went out of the city with Fan Xian this morning."

"Then don't worry about it for the time being!" Emperor Qing pondered for a moment and said loudly: "Inform the inspection agency to tell the world that the real culprit in Lin Gong's death is found, and it was Lang Tao, a ninth-level master of the Northern Qi Dynasty!"

Hong Sixiang resigned.

Emperor Qing waved his hand to signal Hou Eunuch to come forward, and said in a hateful voice: "Northern Qi Dynasty sent Lang Tao and Cheng Jushu to assassinate the heirs of our most important ministers! This is too much! Go to the Lin Mansion to visit Prime Minister Lin for me and tell me what I want."

"As long as Prime Minister Lin opens his mouth, I will mobilize the strength of the whole country to expedition to the north of Qi to avenge him!"

...

Prime Minister Lin sent Eunuch Hou away at his residence. He couldn't help but look miserable and overturned the table.

"Prime Minister... what are you doing?" Staff member Yuan Hongdao came from outside the door. Seeing the scene in front of him, he hurried forward and asked, "I saw someone coming from the palace just now. I don't know why?"

"What's the matter? What's the matter!" Lin Xiang raised his head and stared at Yuan Hongdao, his bloodshot eyes turned red, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty just 'granted' a murderer to my son."

Yuan Hongdao glanced around and signaled to Prime Minister Lin to be careful. If such complaints were spread outside and people would add fuel to the fire, it would be a big trouble.

Lin Xiang took a few deep breaths, controlled his emotions a little, and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Yuan, how did the thing I asked you to do at the inspection institute go?"

Yuan Hongdao shook his head and said with shame: "Yuan went against the request of the prime minister and failed to see the relics of the second young master."

"Are you not even allowed to take a look?" Lin Xiang's eyesight went dark. He could barely control his emotions and lost control again. He swallowed the blood that rushed to the corner of his mouth and said in a hateful voice: "The more you don't let me investigate, the more it shows that Gong'er

There is something else strange about his death.”

"Don't worry, Prime Minister Lin. I still have news from my side."

"According to the concierge who escaped from the other courtyard, the second young master brought back a shoulder-high iron box that day. It was slightly wider at one end and narrower at the other. It was shaped like a coffin and had mysterious cloud patterns on the surface." General Yuan Hongdao said.

Lin Xiang helped him sit down and said carefully, "There is only one person in Kyoto wearing a sword case of this shape."

"Zhou Ji..." Lin Xiang murmured.

As the prime minister of the dynasty, he also had some knowledge of current affairs in the dynasty. He knew that Zhou Ji was not because Zhou Ji was a good friend of Fan Xian, but because Zhou Ji provoked the ninth-grade swordsman Xie Bi'an on the spot during the poetry gathering in Prince Jing's Mansion.

It was because of that provocation that this unknown person came into the eyes of everyone.

"Where was Gong'er when he was killed yesterday?" Lin Xiang asked anxiously.

"He rushed from the east of the city to Niulan Street to kill Cheng Jushu. He rushed all the way and passed through the mansions of many officials. Many people saw it." Yuan Hongdao said with a bitter smile: "After killing Cheng Jushu, he also killed Fan Xian.

He and the injured guard were sent back to Fan Mansion and never came out again."

In other words, Zhou Ji didn’t have time to commit the crime?

"Regardless of whether he had time to commit the crime or not, Gong'er's death must be related to him!" Lin Xiang's eyes narrowed, he slapped the case and stood up, "Let's go, follow me to Fan's Mansion!"

"But your Majesty..." Yuan Hongdao hesitated.

"Wan'er and Fan Xian are engaged. Now that Fan Xian has been assassinated, I, as Wan'er's father, should pay him a visit." Lin Xiang's eyes were red. His words were meant to be gentle and gentle, but to him, they were a precursor to a bloody storm.

.

"If Zhou Ji is in Fan Mansion, then I will confront him face to face."

"If he is not in Fan Mansion..."

Lin Xiang said nothing more. Only Yuan Hongdao behind him could see the traces of blood seeping out of his clenched fists.

…………
Chapter completed!