Awan twisted Fang Zilan's sleeves uneasily, making her chuckle softly, "No need."
"Are you afraid that you won't be able to come back, so you have to go alone?" Awan had no intention of letting go. Fang Zilan gently patted the back of her hand and said firmly: "No, you can stay at home safely. I will return."
"I don't believe it." Awan glared at Fang Zilan fiercely, "You used to say this before every mission, but..."
"But don't I come back every time?" Fang Zilan interrupted Awan lukewarmly, but she didn't care and continued, "But you come back bruised and bruised every time. This time, I I want to be with you."
"What can you do?" Fang Zilan looked at the stubborn man in front of her silently. She subconsciously bit her lips and whispered: "I'll help you with the autopsy."
Hearing this, Fang Zilan was stunned for a moment, "I was joking to tease you."
"I know." Awan nodded, and Fang Zilan looked down at her, "You know that and you still say that?"
"I'm serious." Awan looked straight into Fang Zilan's eyes, "I know you all treat me as a child, but I have done such things as harming people, and I can try doing an autopsy."
Fang Zilan couldn't refute Awan's words, she just felt like they were stuck in her throat. After a while, she softly said, "You don't have to force yourself."
"It's not forced." Awan pretended to smile lightly, "Let's go quickly, don't keep Lord Zhong Yao waiting too long."
"Okay." Fang Zilan was dragged out of the house by Awan and warned: "If you can't hold it anymore, stop."
"I know." Awan curled her lips, "Fang Zilan, you are too wordy."
"Am I nagging?" Fang Zilan looked at the people beside her who were chirping indifferently, and suddenly felt a little more at ease in her heart.
The two of them exchanged words with each other and soon arrived at the lobby of Zhizhou Mansion.
Zhong Yao was sitting in the hall, with his wife and government servants standing aside. The corpses of several Shangguan women were parked in the center of the hall. They were all covered by white cloth, and their true faces could not be seen.
Fang Zilan and Awan stood at the foot of the hall, and the entire court was extremely silent for a moment.
Fang Zilan glanced at everyone in the hall one by one, her eyes finally fell on Zhong Yao, and raised her voice: "I wonder why Mr. Zhong summoned me?"
"The lower official summoned Mr. Fang to come here to ask Mr. Fang to identify them. Are these corpses in the hall people of Mr. Fang's house?" Zhong Yao sat upright, but spoke respectfully.
However, Fang Zilan didn't even raise her eyelids and said, "Since Mr. Zhong invited me to come, it must be the case."
"It's just..." Fang Zilan paused as he spoke, "Master Zhong only needs to send someone to the house to inform him about such a trivial matter. Why did he summon me to court? Could it be that these people died strangely?"
"Irrespective of the reason for the death of these people, I would like to invite Mr. Fang to come here, because human life is of paramount importance and we cannot be careless." Zhong Yao looked serious and said in a deep voice: "It is the law of our capital that murder must be punished with life. "
Fang Zilan nodded thoughtfully, "In that case, has Master Zhong found out the cause of death of these people?"
"The cause of death has been found out, but the murderer has not been found." Zhong Yao's voice was a little lower. "These few people worked in Mr. Fang's house during their lives. If they want to investigate, they need Mr. Fang's consent."
"If Mr. Zhong wants to investigate, he will investigate. I will fully cooperate." Fang Zilan looked easy to talk to, and Zhong Yao's expression changed almost imperceptibly.
Fang Zilan smiled cynically, "Does Mr. Zhong have anything else to do? If nothing else, I'll leave first."
Zhong Yao stood up, walked to Fang Zilan, and whispered: "Forgive me for talking too much, Mr. Fang would be better off confirming the identity of the deceased."
Fang Zilan raised her eyebrows. She knew that Zhong Yao had never been a mother-in-law. He repeatedly asked her to confirm the identity of the deceased. Is there something wrong with these corpses?
Thinking of this, Fang Zilan smiled, walked to the corpses, leaned over and lifted off the white cloth covering one of the corpses.
Zhong Yao walked to the other side of the corpse the moment Fang Zilan leaned over, blocking the view of the people watching the excitement outside the hall.
However, Fang Zilan only opened a corner and couldn't help but take a breath of cold air when she saw clearly. Awan even turned sideways and couldn't bear to look directly.
"I've met him, Master Zhong, what else do you want to say to me?" Fang Zilan stretched out her hand to cover the white cloth tightly, stood up straight and looked at Zhong Yao steadily.
"Your Majesty, Sir Fang." After Zhong Yao finished speaking, he made a gesture of invitation in a neither humble nor overbearing manner.
Fang Zilan said nothing and left.
Just when she passed by Zhong Yao, his fluttering words of caution fell on her ears.
Fang Zilan didn't react at all, and left the courtroom calmly under various looks.
The people of Yanzhou crowded around to watch Fang Zilan, the Lord of the North, who came out of the court, but she had a calm and relaxed expression, as if she had just returned from an outing, which made the onlookers feel resentful.
There was no excitement to see, and the people watching were naturally ready to disperse.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, a woman suddenly rushed out of the crowd, stopped in front of Fang Zilan and Awan, pointed at Fang Zilan's nose and cursed, immediately attracting everyone's attention.
"What did my official do, and you want to kill him and silence him!" The woman said as she stepped forward to pull Fang Zilan's sleeves, but she calmly avoided her.
Fang Zilan took a few steps back and stood still, then said in a cold voice: "Who is your official? What does it have to do with me?"
"My official is the housekeeper of your house. I thought that being an errand in the adults' house would be a good job. Who would have thought that I received the bad news of my official's death early this morning, and I didn't even have time to see him for the last time!" The woman said As he spoke, he became more emotional and burst into tears. While crying, he shouted for Fang Zilan to pay for his life.
"Do you know what it is to falsely accuse an official of the imperial court?" Fang Zilan sneered and suddenly raised her voice, "You said that your official is the steward of my house, but I saw him just fine when I left the house. How dare you talk to me now? Should I go back home and meet him?"
"I..." The woman seemed not to have expected that Fang Zilan would say this, and suddenly froze on the spot.
Fang Zilan took advantage of the situation and took two steps forward, grabbing the woman's arm, "You don't dare, I dare. I've always liked the beauty of adulthood. Since you want to see your family members so much, how about you go back to the house with me?"
The woman seemed to be stimulated and shook her head violently, "I won't go! Let me go!"
"You're such an interesting person." Awan sneered and stood up from the side, "You were the one who said that Mr. Fang killed your officials. Now Mr. Fang wants you to see his officials to prove your innocence. You can't say it. Or you. In that case, please ask all the fellow villagers and elders passing by to bear witness, can we go to Lord Zhong Yao’s court to explain it clearly? "
