Fang Zilan lowered her head and looked at the ground, and said calmly: "I couldn't guess this. Your Majesty, please forgive me for being stupid."
"Fang Zilan, I remember you once said that you are the independent killer Zixiu." Li Shengxuan looked at the person in front of him steadily, his expression dark and unclear, "Are you related to the Ghost Sect?"
Fang Zilan raised her eyes slightly and met Li Shengxuan's eyes. She hesitated for some reason, and there was a voice in her heart saying not to lie to him. But her reason told her that when it came to her identity, she could never tell the truth.
"It doesn't matter." Fang Zilan heard her own voice and said word by word: "Since he is an independent killer, he will not take orders from anyone except his employer."
Hearing this, Li Shengxuan chuckled, "Am I your employer?"
"It used to be." Fang Zilan said directly without hesitation: "When I was the Duke of Beiguo, the deal with His Majesty was already concluded."
"In that case, how about I negotiate a new deal with you?" Li Shengxuan looked a little more serious, and Fang Zilan was silent for a moment. "If it were Zi Xiu from before, he might agree. But Fang Zilan in front of His Majesty will not agree."
Li Shengxuan's eyes were heavy, "You don't even ask me what kind of deal I'm talking about, so you're going to reject me?"
"There's no need to ask." Fang Zilan said with a determined expression, "In the past, Zixiu never took her life seriously, whether it was other people's or her own. So as long as the conditions were negotiated, she would complete the task at all costs. But in front of His Majesty Fang Zilan not only values his own life, but also values something more than his life. I can no longer negotiate a deal with His Majesty."
"That's all." Li Shengxuan looked relieved, "It's getting late, please step back."
"Yes." Fang Zilan responded and stepped back. Li Shengxuan looked at her back and couldn't help but think, what is the thing she values more than life?
Fang Zilan came out of the palace and was thinking about the assassination of King Rong'an along the way. She had some clues, but there were many doubts about the matter, and she still needed someone from the underworld to answer her questions.
Thinking of this, Fang Zilan quickly walked into the palace. Vice General Cao in the courtyard was pacing back and forth. When he saw her coming back, he hurriedly greeted her, "Boss, His Majesty called you into the palace. What happened?"
"It's nothing." Fang Zilan shook her head, and was about to hide the matter, but suddenly a thought occurred in her mind, and she suddenly raised her voice and said: "Old Cao, Mo Han said he was going to Suzhou a few days ago. I asked him You pick a few guards to follow you, you picked them all yourself, right?"
"Yes." Vice General Cao nodded, "When we first selected the generals to protect our family, the people who came directly from the guards of the camp on the outskirts of Beijing were not weak in martial arts. Not to mention that I gave Mr. Mo a The guards I have chosen are all first-rate and powerful, more than capable of dealing with ruffians, thugs, and bandits."
"That's good." Fang Zilan deliberately raised her voice: "I heard that the southeast has been uneasy recently and there are killers from the Ghost Sect. Your Majesty summoned me to the palace just to talk about this."
Awan heard the noise and just came out of the front hall when she heard Fang Zilan's last words and couldn't help but repeat them, "Ghost Gate Killer?"
Her voice was neither loud nor quiet, but it was just enough for Cong Rong and Xiao Xuan'er in the hall to hear clearly.
Cong Rong's face turned pale, "What killer?"
Xiao Xuan'er didn't speak, she just looked at Cong Rong quietly for a while and then said: "Miss Cong, don't be afraid, Master Fang is talking about official business."
This sentence reached Awan's ears like a reminder. She calmed down, walked to the courtyard and tugged on Fang Zilan's sleeves. She yawned and said, "What time is it now? Is there anything official that we can't talk about tomorrow? Let’s go and go back to the room to sleep.”
Fang Zilan understood and allowed Awan to drag her to the backyard. She didn't forget to turn around and tell Deputy General Cao to rest early.
When the two returned to the room, Awan couldn't help but ask: "You said there is a ghost killer haunting the southeast. What do you mean?"
Fang Zilan put her chin on her hand and said slowly: "King Rong'an was assassinated. He wrote a memorial and arrived in Beijing, saying that it was the Ghost Sect killer who did it."
A Wan's expression was stern, "Could it be that you said before that King Rongan knew about the Ghost Gate and the Hidden Sword Villa, and used this to test you? These lies made the young master murderous?"
Fang Zilan was amused in her heart, but considering that Awan didn’t know that King Rong’an had colluded with the Guimen, it was normal to have such thoughts, and she immediately said seriously: “No, King Rong’an has a high position and is a relative of the emperor. Unless absolutely necessary, the young master will not kill him."
"Why is that?" Awan was confused, "Not to mention that the Guimen assassin failed to assassinate King Rongan and also exposed his identity. How can there be such a careless killer in Guimen?"
"Yes." Fang Zilan said with a half-smile but not a smile: "If there was, the young master would have killed him hundreds of times without anyone else taking action."
Awan frowned slightly, "You mean, all this is intentional?"
"It's hard to say." Fang Zilan calmly said: "But since it is related to the ghost gate, then naturally the people involved need to know more about the truth."
"Don't say I didn't remind you." Awan looked at Fang Zilan helplessly, "Young Master said he didn't want to see you, and you can't do it without an order..."
She suddenly stopped mid-sentence and blinked before continuing: "You don't want me to..."
Fang Zilan stared at Awan with a smile, staring at her until her heart went crazy, and simply stamped her feet and said: "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"
"Just be as usual, don't do anything more." As soon as Fang Zilan finished speaking, Awan's eyes widened and she said in disbelief: "What did you say?"
Seeing this, Fang Zilan stretched out her hand and pinched Awan's face, and laughed out loud, "What do you think I meant when I said those words in the courtyard just now? Just wait and see, within ten days, someone from the ghost sect will take the initiative to come Find me."
"Is this called luring a snake out of its hole?" Awan asked doubtfully, and the smile on Fang Zilan's face faded a bit.
She could not tell anyone that Li Shengxuan's doubts and temptations began from the moment she entered the palace. Now, any trouble in her house cannot escape Li Shengxuan's eyes. If she has any contact with the ghost gate at this time, her lies will be exposed in an instant.
Seeing that she didn't respond, Awan waved her hand in front of her eyes, "Isn't it?"
Fang Zilan did not answer, but instead said: "Awan, from now on, you are just the medical girl in my house, my sister. Whether it is the ghost gate or... Wen Ya, it has nothing to do with you. You can understand What do I mean?"
Awan was stunned for a while, then murmured: "I understand."
In the next few days, everyone in the house was as usual. Fang Zilan was busy with official duties and left early and came back late. Awan would hang out with Xiao Xuan'er or Cong Rong when she had nothing to do. Occasionally, accompanied by Deputy General Cao, she would go to the government office to deliver a meal to Fang Zilan.
That afternoon, when Awan and Vice General Cao returned home after delivering meals, they saw a series of stippling symbols on an inconspicuous place beside the outer wall of the mansion, with a small sun wheel symbol at the end.
Vice Admiral Cao didn't notice, and Awan pretended not to see it, and told Fang Zilan about it that night.
After hearing this, Fang Zilan said thoughtfully: "It seems that the assassination of King Rong'an is not simple. The snake is about to come out of its hole."
