In the early morning of the next day, before he could be arraigned, Li Shengxuan heard a report from the prison guard saying that five girls had committed suicide out of fear of crime.
"Kill yourself out of fear of crime?" Xia Houzhang couldn't help but be stunned after hearing the news, while Li Shengxuan just calmly asked the guard to hand over the confession he found. After reading it carefully, he concluded calmly: "The one who did it yesterday The girl is the mastermind, and the other four are also accomplices. Since everyone is dead, let’s end this matter.”
When the guard heard what Li Shengxuan said, he knew how to deal with it. He agreed and went down. Xia Houzhang on the side frowned, "Your Majesty, do you really believe that they committed suicide out of fear of crime?"
"She did it." Li Shengxuan just answered lightly, "She said she would deal with it."
Deal with it cleanly? Xia Houzhang couldn't help but feel the hair on his back stand up. Five lives had been taken in one night, and he had done so neatly. Who could be so cruel and ruthless?
Suspense flashed through Xia Houzhang's heart, and then he spoke quietly, "Your Majesty, although Fang Zilan's move helped your Majesty solve the problem of the Empress Dowager, yesterday she casually took out a dagger and stabbed herself. No hesitation. It would be better for Your Majesty not to keep such a person around."
Li Shengxuan looked at the confession on the table and said with a smile: "What she can take out is not just a dagger? With her ability, it is not difficult to take a person's life even if she has nothing. What is she going to do? , let her be for now."
"But the lives of those five girls..." Xia Houzhang was about to say something, when he saw Li Shengxuan turned sideways and looked back at him, and immediately stopped and said no more.
Li Shengxuan turned around and saw Xia Houzhang's stunned face. He thought he didn't believe it, so he smiled slightly and said, "If you don't believe it, you can ask her in person later."
"His Majesty summoned her?" Xia Houzhang answered smoothly. Li Shengxuan still just smiled, "He didn't summon her, but she will definitely come."
As if to prove Li Shengxuan's words, after a while the two of them heard rustling sounds coming from the imperial study room. When they looked up, they saw that Fang Zilan was already standing in front of them.
"Did anyone see you coming?" Xia Houzhang asked first, and Fang Zilan's lips curved slightly, "Of course not."
Xia Houzhang hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't hold it back, "Those five girls..."
"I killed him." Fang Zilan admitted simply, but Xia Houzhang was stunned.
"Well done, thank you for your hard work." It was Li Shengxuan who spoke. He looked at the person in front of him quietly, as if he wanted to see something from her face.
Fang Zilan felt a little uncomfortable when he looked at her, "Why does your Majesty look at me like this?" Li Shengxuan just shook his head and said nothing.
Li Shengxuan still remembers Fang Zilan's appearance when he stepped forward to kill Shangguan Yun that day in the Wind River Valley. When killing, he raised the knife and dropped it so neatly, but then the hand holding the dagger was hidden in his sleeve and trembling uncontrollably.
When she said she was a killer, he had always been doubtful. Killing people ruthlessly was just commonplace, and he would not end up like her after killing one person. But now she kills five girls whenever she says, with a calm look on her face. All of this is happening Reminding him that she in front of him was indeed the killer Zi Xiu.
"Now that the matter has been settled, I would like to talk to His Majesty about the reward mentioned before." Fang Zilan's voice suddenly sounded, making Li Shengxuan come back to his senses, "I remember you said that I want a place that belongs to you. .”
"Not bad." Fang Zilan nodded and waited for Li Shengxuan's next words, "Is Miss Fang satisfied with Xiu Guiren's rank?" Hearing this, Fang Zilan couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, "What does your majesty mean?"
"Whether she is related to the Fang family of the Prime Minister's Palace or not, the girl's surname is Fang after all. I already have a queen named Fang, so I can't have another woman named Fang above the rank of concubine." Li Shengxuan thought for a while and explained. Sentence, "The only thing I can grant you is the position of nobleman."
"Did your Majesty misunderstand something?" Fang Zilan said coldly, her expression completely different from before. And Li Shengxuan was also startled, "Miss Fang doesn't want the position of nobleman?"
"The place I'm talking about is not a place in the harem." Fang Zilan looked at the person in front of her steadily, clenching her fists, "What I want is a place in the court."
Li Shengxuan didn't react for a moment and repeated her words in a murmur, but couldn't help but laugh out loud in the middle of the repetition.
"Miss Fang, do you know what you are talking about?" Li Shengxuan looked at Fang Zilan in front of him carefully, but there was no smile on her face, "I know."
"You are a woman..." Xia Houzhang couldn't help but interjected, but was interrupted by her, "What about women? Could it be that women can only serve the king in the harem and raise heirs, and cannot stand in the court? ?"
She spoke loudly, but she knew very well that the answer given by Li Shengxuan would not satisfy her. No wonder Li Shengxuan and Xia Houzhang looked strange when she proposed the reward that day. They both regarded her as a woman who wanted to climb the dragon and follow the phoenix.
This makes sense. Li Shengxuan's ambiguous attitude towards her, whether it was the time when he escaped in the carriage, or the words he meant in the Royal Garden yesterday, were all just bribery of a woman.
"As a woman, standing above the court?" Li Shengxuan confirmed again, and Fang Zilan nodded again, "It's not that there is no precedent. I will not embarrass Your Majesty."
"Are you talking about Xiahou Yunzhao?" Li Shengxuan said the name subconsciously, his expression a bit colder, "What kind of status is Xiahou Yunzhao? What qualifications do you have to compare with her?"
"Status cannot be compared, but what Xiahou Yunzhao can do, I can also do." Fang Zilan's eyes showed indescribable determination, "I would rather be shrouded in horse leather on the battlefield than wait to grow old in the harem."
"You are so brave!" Li Shengxuan shouted softly, but she didn't take it seriously at all. "Since I dare to come to discuss remuneration with His Majesty, I am fully prepared. I heard that war has broken out again in the north, and the Huangfu family The Shangguan family is only obedient, and no aristocratic family in the north is available..."
"Shut up!" Li Shengxuan interrupted her abruptly, but he knew very well in his heart that what she said was the truth. The Jin people in the north had always been a serious problem for the imperial court. Now that he had just ascended the throne, the imperial court was not stable and he did not dare to mobilize all the troops from other places. Pingbei border. At this juncture, neither of the two aristocratic families in the north were willing to step forward. He actually couldn't choose a capable and trustworthy coach to go on the expedition.
"Why don't the Huangfu family and the Shangguan family refuse to go to war? Don't you know the reason?" Li Shengxuan looked even colder, but Fang Zilan was still undaunted, "Because I killed Shangguan Yun. This matter started because of me, why didn't Your Majesty let me end?"
"Miss Fang!" Xia Houzhang scolded: "Don't be aggressive!"
"Your Majesty does not agree, just because the name of the woman who can stand up in the court with her military exploits is Xiahou Yunzhao, right?" Fang Zilan ignored Xiahou Zhang's words and continued talking to herself, "If that woman is not named Xiahou , Your Majesty will definitely agree to my request."
"Miss Fang, please be careful what you say." Li Shengxuan stood up and walked to Fang Zilan, "Don't think that because you have helped me, I don't dare to kill you."
"I didn't think so. This is a transaction between His Majesty and I, so I ask His Majesty to honor his promise and give me the due reward." Fang Zilan met Li Shengxuan's eyes without giving in at all.
"Transactions should be based on reciprocity. I don't think you can get such a reward for what you do." Li Shengxuan did not let go. This was expected by Fang Zilan, but Li Shengxuan had no idea what her mentality was. Standing in front of him, no matter what method she uses, she must make him agree.
"The emperor's promise is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold? Since your majesty has promised me, you can't go back on it. Otherwise, if the incident of the edict spreads, I'm afraid your majesty's position will not be so stable." Fang Zilan looked solemn, and Li Shengxuan's face became more and more ugly. "Are you threatening me?"
"I don't dare to do this." Fang Zilan said, clenching her fists a little tighter, "I just want your Majesty to know my determination and my determination to never give up until I achieve my goal."
"You will never give up until you reach your goal. Do you really think that I will be afraid of you?" Li Shengxuan smiled coldly. Xia Houzhang on the side took a step forward and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down!"
As soon as Xia Houzhang finished speaking, he saw Li Shengxuan pull out his sword with his backhand. This sudden change caught him off guard. The next second, the sword in Li Shengxuan's hand was pointed directly at Fang Zilan's throat. It would kill her by just a hair, but she remained motionless, not even frowning.
"It's not that I think it is, but His Majesty is indeed afraid." Fang Zilan showed no fear, and every word was very clear. "If Your Majesty was not afraid, I would have been a dead soul under this sword, and I would have no chance to speak. Since Your Majesty has hesitated, You might as well give me this opportunity. Xiahou Yunzhao can no longer become the sword in His Majesty's hands, but I can. If we can't pacify the Northern Territory, I will raise my head and see you."
"That's what you said." Li Shengxuan said and stabbed the sword in his hand. Xia Houzhang had no time to react. He saw the sword nailed on the territory map not far behind Fang Zilan. It is the land of the north.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Fang Zilan knelt down on one knee, cupped his fists and saluted.
Li Shengxuan did not look at her. His eyes fell on the territory map behind her. "Don't thank me in a hurry. What I want is not only to quell the chaos in the north."
Hearing this, Fang Zilan couldn't help but look up at Li Shengxuan, but saw that the expression on his face was as fierce as ever. She heard him say: "What I want is Chakel's head, so that the Jin people can no longer cause chaos. "
What Li Shengxuan wants is much more difficult than pacifying the chaos in the north. Fang Zilan couldn't help but sigh secretly. When Li Shengxuan was the king of Xiang, he fought so many times with the leader of the Jin people, Chakel, but he failed to kill Chakel. It was enough to see that This person is cunning.
Even as the killer Zixiu, it would be difficult to do this task, let alone take his head on the battlefield. But this was the only chance she had from Li Shengxuan, which meant that she could only succeed but not fail.
Fang Zilan heard her voice, slowly but firmly, "Since this is your Majesty's request, then I will definitely comply with your Majesty's wishes."
Li Shengxuan looked down at the man kneeling straight in front of him, reached out and took out half of the tiger talisman from his arms, "Get ready, go order the troops tomorrow, and we will set off soon."
