Chapter 198 First Meeting with Lin Ruofu
"Send Xie Lulang out of the palace!"
Seeing that Emperor Qing suppressed his anger and ordered everyone to leave, Eunuch Hou, who was already sweating profusely, quickly responded.
"Xie Lu Lang, please!"
Fan Xian bowed and walked out decisively. He didn't know whether this plan would be successful or not, so he decided to give it a try first.
However, before he could take a few steps, he was stopped by Emperor Qing.
"Fan Xian."
Fan Xian stopped and turned to look at Emperor Qing.
Emperor Qing didn't look at him. He walked slowly from the front of the table to the back, talking as he walked.
"Since you entered the palace, you seem to be sincere and open, but in fact, every word you say is a pretense."
As he spoke, Emperor Qing sat down, picked up an arrow shaft on the table, took out two arrow feathers and measured them on the arrow shaft, while continuing to speak.
"Are you trying to give me the impression of a loyal subject?"
After hearing this, Fan Xian's eyes began to roll around. He was not surprised at all that Emperor Qing could see through his thoughts, but the question was whether he should answer and how to answer.
Just when he was struggling with this issue, Emperor Qing let him off the hook and waved his hand at him.
"Go down."
Fan Xian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, bowed again, then turned around and followed Eunuch Hou out.
Hearing the footsteps gradually fading away, Emperor Qing couldn't help but stand up and walk outside the table to glance at Fan Xian's back.
Fan Xian came out of the imperial study and stopped to look back at the imperial study after crossing the threshold, sighing.
"Your Majesty is truly unpredictable! To be honest, your last sentence scared me so much that my back is soaked!"
Eunuch Hou had wanted to complain for a long time, but when he heard what he said, he could no longer hold back.
"Oh, Master Fan, I've been sweating profusely since you first spoke. From now on, you should be more careful when you speak!"
Fan Xian felt very guilty. He had let himself go a little just now. He felt embarrassed for having frightened Eunuch Hou like this, so he quickly agreed.
"Yes, yes, yes, we should be more careful."
As he said this, he supported Eunuch Hou's shoulder.
"let's go."
Eunuch Hou sighed and continued to walk out with Fan Xian.
Just after An Sheng took two steps, Fan Xian started to cause trouble again.
He felt that many people must be paying attention to the news about the Imperial Study, and the movement at the door of the Imperial Study could easily spread.
Emperor Qing did not cooperate with him in the imperial study, so he was ready to act again and did not want to miss this great opportunity.
Fan Xian even deliberately raised his voice to greet his eunuch.
"Hey, then who in the Overwatch Council informed the Crown Prince?"
Eunuch Hou almost cried after hearing Fan Xian's question. Why did it come again? He gestured excitedly with his hands.
"Oh my god, I dare not talk about the prince even if I have the courage of heaven!"
Fan Xian blinked, hummed, and pulled Eunuch Hou to continue moving forward.
Just as Eunuch Hou wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, Fan Xian started to embarrass him again.
"Just tell me quietly. I won't tell anyone else."
Eunuch Hou's old face instantly wrinkled into a bitter gourd. He stopped and knelt down in front of Fan Xian with a plop.
"Oh, I'd better kneel down for you. Just now you..."
Fan Xian had already achieved his goal, so he quickly interrupted him.
"Okay, okay, I won't ask any more questions! Why are you kneeling?"
As he said this, he bent down and helped him up.
Eunuch Hou's voice was filled with tears.
"You're frightening me to death, ouch."
……
Mei Cheng'an arrived at Prime Minister Lin's residence and went directly to the study under the guidance of a servant.
White banners have been hung at the gate and in the courtyard of Prime Minister Lin's mansion. Naturally, the servants in the mansion were no exception and all changed into plain clothes. The atmosphere in the mansion was still quite depressing.
This heavy atmosphere made Mei Cheng'an feel uncomfortable all over. He just wanted to deal with Lin Ruofu quickly and leave.
In the study, Mei Cheng'an saw the powerful minister Lin Ruofu up close for the first time. While the servant who led the way was reporting, Mei Cheng'an calmly looked at Lin Ruofu who was sitting in front of the chessboard.
Well, there was no sign at all that his son had just died. He was still wearing casual clothes, his hair was combed meticulously, his face was calm and his mind seemed to be on the chess game, and there was no sign of sadness.
Lin Ruofu waved his hand to signal his servants to retreat. After placing a chess piece, he raised his eyes and looked at Mei Chengan.
Seeing this, Mei Cheng'an hurriedly took two steps forward and bowed.
"Greetings, Prime Minister Lin."
Lin Ruofu looked at him for a few seconds, then suddenly pointed at the seat opposite him and asked.
"Can you play chess?"
Mei Cheng'an put down his hands, looked at the chessboard, and nodded slightly.
"I know a little bit."
After saying that, he knelt down on the cushion, observed the current situation of the chess game, stretched out his hand, picked up a white piece and placed it on the chessboard.
Lin Ruofu stared at the chessboard and said, "I heard about you treating Wan'er. Wan'er's condition has improved a lot in the past few days. Speaking of which, I haven't thanked you yet."
Mei Chengan said modestly.
"It's just a small favor. I don't deserve even a word of thanks from Minister Lin."
Lin Ruofu shook his head slightly when he heard this, and said while pressing down the chess piece in his hand.
"Gong'er has always loved his sister. After hearing that you cured Wan'er's illness, he was very grateful to you and said that he would find a suitable time to come and thank you. It's a pity..."
Mei Cheng'an was silent for a moment and then uttered four words.
"Mr. Lin, please accept my condolences!"
Lin Ruofu glanced at him and sighed.
"I was so busy with state affairs that I neglected to discipline Gong'er. If he did something wrong, he should be punished. I will not protect him.
But he should be punished by the laws of Qing Kingdom, not by a certain person! What do you think? "
I think? I don't think so. It's none of my business!
Mei Cheng calmed down and nodded.
"What Minister Lin said is true."
After many twists and turns, Lin Ruofu finally got to the point.
"You cured Wan'er and have done a favor to my Lin family. I don't want to embarrass you. You just need to tell me whether Si Lili betrayed Gong'er to Fan Xian the night before last."
If this isn't a dilemma, then what is?
Mei Chengan smiled bitterly.
"Minister Lin, it's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I really don't know what happened that night..."
He told Lin Ruofu what he had said to the prince with a slight modification.
"This is what happened. This is about the death of the Second Young Master. I dare not hide anything. I hope Minister Lin will understand."
Lin Ruofu kept staring at Mei Chengan's eyes the whole time, and a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes after he heard it.
"In that case, if you want to know the result of the interrogation that night, you have to ask Fan Xian himself."
Mei Cheng'an said.
"I'm afraid so. Of course, if you can get the emperor's order, you can go directly to the Overwatch Council and ask Si Lili."
Lin Ruofu said.
"I have already sent someone to Si Lili's place. As for Fan Xian..."
Lin Ruofu paused as he spoke, because he felt that Mei Chengan's reaction was not normal, which made him feel very strange.
"Aren't you friends with Fan Xian? You don't seem to be worried about him at all."
Mei Cheng'an was stunned for a moment. It seemed that he had sold Fan Xian too thoroughly and aroused suspicion. His mind raced and he thought of a suitable reason.
"Because I don't think the second young master's death has anything to do with him."
Lin Ruofu raised his eyebrows.
"Oh?"
Mei Chengan explained.
"I didn't want to say it, but since you asked, I'll speak frankly. Let me make it clear that I'm not trying to defend Fan Xian, I'm just speaking the truth.
In fact, I think it’s meaningless for you to worry about whether Si Lili said anything about the Second Young Master!
Even if she really gave away the Second Young Master, so what? You have to know that the Second Young Master had been out of town for a whole day!
Because Fan Xian spent the entire next day with us on an outing and did not leave halfway. Lin Wan'er can testify to this!
So if he wants to kill someone, it can only be done at night!
Let’s not talk about whether Fan Xian was able to leave the city after we parted that night. Even if he could chase me out of the city, then what?
How did he know where the Second Young Master was? He couldn't have predicted it in advance. How could he have sent someone to keep an eye on the Second Young Master before Si Lili was caught? Do you think it's possible?
Well, even if he really catches up with the Second Young Master, given the strength of the guards around him, do you think he has the ability to kill so many people without any harm?
Well, even if he didn't do it himself, there is a top master hiding beside him who can easily kill so many people.
The man had already been killed, so why did he have to specially notify the Supervisory Council to collect the body, especially after he had just conducted a night interrogation of Si Lili?
Is he afraid that his life is too safe and secure, so he has to create a huge trouble for himself to feel at ease? Is this reasonable?
The most important thing is, the Second Young Master did not actually attack Fan Xian, and he is the princess's biological brother. Fan Xian cares so much about the princess, do you think he would really kill the Second Young Master without an attack being launched?
You wouldn't really believe the rumors out there and think that he is a brainless reckless man.
In short, if we insist on treating Fan Xian as a murderer, there are too many unreasonable things.
Of course, these are just my personal thoughts. I know Fan Xian so I don't think it's him. You don't know him so it's normal to doubt him, so you should investigate."
After speaking a long paragraph in one breath, Mei Chengan felt satisfied with his complaints and had complained about everything he wanted to complain about.
The reason why he felt so at ease complaining was because he didn't think it was Wu Zhu who was behind it this time.
In the play, Wu Zhu took action because Fan Xian wanted to break into the Lin Mansion and kill Lin Gong in order to repay Teng Zijing.
Wu Zhu couldn't bear to see him struggling and in pain, so he knocked him out and took action for him.
But in this life, these conditions no longer exist. Mei Cheng'an did not think about Wu Zhu. He suspected that it was really someone in the palace who did it this time.
After hearing Mei Chengan's words, Lin Ruofu fell into deep thought.
Mei Cheng'an had said all he wanted to say and didn't want to stay any longer, so he stood up and said goodbye. Lin Ruofu did not stop him.
……
the other side.
As soon as Fan Xian left the palace, he went straight to Prime Minister Lin's residence. After all, Lin Ruofu was also his future father-in-law, and the relationship between father-in-law and son-in-law was quite important.
As for the Crown Prince, he didn't even consider it. After all, he had just put a lot of pressure on the Crown Prince in front of the Emperor. It would be awkward if the Crown Prince got the news while he was explaining something to him.
Not long after walking on the street, Fan Xian met Teng Zijing who came to look for him. After asking, he found out that it was Fan Ruoruo who was waiting for him at home and sent him over because she was worried.
……
Chapter 2 A little later
(End of this chapter)
