"Master, you..." Fang Zilan couldn't help but blush as she looked at his hand that stopped in mid-air and then lowered it. The sentence "Why bother lying to me" was not uttered after all. Such a man could make her shake to this point.
Even she herself couldn't tell whether she was the ancient Fang Zilan at this moment or the herself who wanted to persevere.
"Why are you crying?" Ji Ningtian sighed, brushed her cheek with his fingers, and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, "It's all my fault, Lan'er, please don't cry, okay?" He looked soft and spoke softly. , seems to be a whisper with a lover.
But Fang Zilan knew very well that there was a thorn in her heart as early as the moment he sent her out. I couldn't pull it out, I could only make myself bleed, but I couldn't tell him.
"Young master asked Chakel to come here, is it really for me?" Fang Zilan let Ji Ningtian wipe her tears, but looked at him steadily, and nodded at him, "The desert in northern Xinjiang is extremely dangerous, if Zha Keer ran away, I am afraid that my Lan'er will suffer a lot, and I can't bear to do it."
Fang Zilan's heart skipped a beat. Ji Ningtian said it was for her, but he was afraid it was just to kill people and silence them forever to avoid future troubles. Clever words and seductive words, nothing more than that. She thought like this and said softly: "Thank you, sir."
Her voice was polite and distant, which made Ji Ningtian pause in his movements, "Lan'er?" His tone was a little more uncertain, but she was stunned, "What's wrong, Master?"
"You haven't said thank you to me for a long time." Ji Ningtian looked at Fang Zilan with increasingly sharp eyes. The almost scrutinizing gaze made her a little uncomfortable, but it just warned herself that this is his original appearance, don't Deceived by those gentle appearances.
But speaking of it, it has indeed been a long time. Since her mother passed away that year, she seemed to have never said thank you to him again.
She had always thought that she and him were equal to each other and there was no need to say thank you. However, now that she thought about it, it was just her wishful thinking and naive thinking. No matter who fell into the hands, she was just a pawn that could be used.
"After taking Chakel's head, I will return to the capital to restore my life. Li Shengxuan will not break his promise and will grant me the position of Duke." Fang Zilan changed the topic and looked away from Ji Ningtian, "I promised you, Master. Things will definitely be done.”
"Okay, I believe you." Ji Ningtian said, taking out a letter from his arms and placing it in front of Fang Zilan, "Take this and bring it to Li Shengxuan along with Chakel's head."
"What is this?" Fang Zilan hesitated and did not reach out to take the letter.
"Evidence that the Shangguan family is collaborating with the enemy." Ji Ningtian said casually, but Fang Zilan felt like a stone was pressing on her chest and she was out of breath, "The Shangguan family is collaborating with the enemy?"
"Without this, no matter how good Li Shengxuan's promise is, he will not really give you the position of Duke." Ji Ningtian's lips curled up slightly, "How many times have the nine Dukes changed over the years? If you want to be as high as a Duke, You have to step down others and let you take their place.”
"Is this letter a forgery?" Fang Zilan looked at Ji Ningtian in disbelief, "The collaborators are obviously us."
"Silly girl." Ji Ningtian smiled and shook his head, "Zhuge Yu has been staring at this matter. He will definitely want an answer this time. If he doesn't push Shangguan's family out, he will decide what to do after he returns to Beijing. I will hand you over without hesitation."
"But..." Fang Zilan was about to say something, but was interrupted by Ji Ningtian, "No but, the Shangguan family has been declining in the north over the years, and that's when Shangguan Yun took refuge with the Empress Dowager with the intention of killing Li Shengxuan. But Shangguan Yun is dead, and the Shangguan family now only has Shangguan Jing and his illegitimate son Shangguan Min. If you don’t replace them, do you still want to replace the group of well-established high-ranking families in the capital? "
"Shangguan Min is Shangguan Jing's illegitimate son?" Fang Zilan repeated this sentence blankly, but Ji Ningtian snorted coldly, "Lan'er, you still think too well of people. Shangguan Jing is a magnanimous general on the battlefield. That’s true, but how would you know what dirty things were done behind the scenes?”
"What does this mean?" Fang Zilan felt that her voice was shaking a little. Ji Ningtian continued unmoved, "I know that you have been secretly investigating Shangguan Min's origins in private, but everyone told You are the child picked up by Shangguan Jing, right?"
Fang Zilan nodded blankly, and Ji Ningtian said quietly: "As Shangguan Jing, even if he has an illegitimate child, it's not a big deal. What's more, Shangguan's family is very thin, and others don't talk much. But he doesn't even have an illegitimate child. I don’t dare to admit it, Lan’er might as well guess why?”
"Is it because of Shangguan Min's mother?" She asked tentatively, and a flash of approval flashed in his eyes, "Lan'er is still so sharp. You guessed it right, Shangguan Min's mother is the daughter of Huyan Khan. "
"What?" Her eyes were round and her face was obviously shocked, which made him laugh involuntarily.
"Years ago, when Huyan Khan was still alive and Li Shengxuan's father, Emperor Tai'an, was in power, not long after the Li family took over my Ji family temple, the world was still not peaceful. All the nine princes were dominating and doing things in various places. As the overlord of one party, it is not surprising that Shangguan Jing snatched a foreign woman, but he did not expect that this woman would be the daughter of Huyan Khan."
Ji Ningtian said eloquently, "Shangguan Jing never expected that for this woman, the Jin people attacked repeatedly, so he had to let her go back. Who would have thought that this woman would be pregnant when she went back? Shangguan Jing wanted to It will cost a lot of money to bring the child back."
"What's the big price?" Fang Zilan couldn't help but ask, but Ji Ningtian gave it up and said, "Lan'er wants to know, why don't you read this letter yourself."
After much hesitation, she finally couldn't hold back and took the letter in his hand. The moment she unfolded the letter, she could hardly believe her eyes, "Shangguan respects him..."
"He found hundreds of virtuous women and gave them to the Jin people in exchange for his sons." Knowing that she couldn't say anything, he continued on her behalf, "Those women naturally died in the hands of the Jin people."
She knew what would happen to a weak woman with no strength in the hands of a golden man, but she didn't expect that Shangguan Jing would do such a thing to get her son back.
"Why didn't Shangguan Jing send troops to get his son back?" She asked casually in a moment of anger.
Ji Ningtian shrugged, "Maybe Shangguan Jing was unlucky. At that time, Dajing was at war with the Miluo Kingdom and had mobilized troops from the north. He certainly didn't dare to send troops rashly."
Fang Zilan held the letter in her hand tightly, her voice trembling with anger, "Then he shouldn't..."
"What shouldn't it be?" Ji Ningtian's voice was a bit colder, "After all these years, Lan'er, can't you still see through it? These so-called dignitaries in the capital are all demons who care less about human life. As long as they can sit back and relax, others' What does life and death have to do with them? Those women are nothing more than ants in Shangguan Jing's eyes. If they can exchange for his sons, what will happen if a few of them die?"
"Anyway, he will accidentally step on a few ants while walking, and he will die anyway. Why not come back with another son, right?" Fang Zilan's face turned pale.
She knew from the beginning that everyone was a pawn in the game of power, and they were insignificant ants in the eyes of the powerful. But now that she was deeply involved in the whirlpool of power and had to step on other people's corpses to get to the top, she still couldn't. Yes.
"Lan'er, you will do the same in the future." Ji Ningtian said, holding Fang Zilan's hand, with a serious expression she had never seen before, "For what you want, you can sacrifice anyone, including me."
"I won't!" She denied it flatly, but she felt that she was so guilty. Unknowingly, she was the one who treated human life like an ant, but she still tried to deceive herself and others. It was really ridiculous to say it.
"When people go to high places, if you really want to reach the peak of power, you will inevitably hurt others. Today is the Shangguan family, and tomorrow it may be the Zhuge family. Lan'er, you have to think clearly about this path you choose. From that moment on, there was no turning back.”
Ji Ningtian patted Fang Zilan's hand gently, as if to comfort her and more like to let her take care of herself. How could she not know that there was no turning back for her from beginning to end, but this was the entire Shangguan family.
"Then the rest of the Shangguan family..." Fang Zilan hurriedly opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted again by Ji Ningtian, "Lan'er wants to say that they are innocent?"
She nodded, but saw him reveal a mocking smile, "Those women were very innocent when they were sent out."
"You know it's not the same thing..." She hurriedly denied it, but she couldn't even come up with any words to defend herself. The voice in her heart told her that what he said was right, the law of the jungle was the law of the world.
"Lan'er, I know you can do it." After Ji Ningtian said this, he let go of the hand that had been holding her. Just like every time she went on a mission before, he would tell her that she could do it.
"They will find themselves here soon. I can't stay any longer. You must take care of yourself." He patted her shoulder as he said, "See you in the capital."
She didn't react and just lowered her head. He didn't care and turned around to leave. He knew that some things could only be faced by her alone.
"Young Master." The woman in red who had been guarding behind the stone house from beginning to end came out of the darkness. It was Wu Qing. She cupped her fists and saluted, "All the people led by Chakel have been dealt with."
"Okay." Ji Ningtian looked indifferent, Wu Qing hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is she okay? My subordinates heard that she was injured when she saved Shangguan Jing before, and was punished by Zhuge Yu with fifty military rods... "
"Lan'er is fine." Ji Ningtian interrupted Wu Qing coldly, "I said, you don't need to worry about Lan'er's affairs, and don't say unnecessary words to her."
He said the last sentence so seriously that Wu Qing felt a chill running down her spine, "My subordinates know. It's just that the young master doesn't think that she seems to have changed since she came back from the last time she fell into the water. She has become..."
Wu Qing didn't say anything, and Ji Ningtian said, "You've become weak, haven't you?"
"Yes." Wu Qing answered affirmatively, and Ji Ningtian just smiled coldly, "The last thing a sword should have is weakness."
