Chapter 201 Too Cruel
Yuan Hongdao replied.
"I have met him and asked him about it, but he has never told Fan Xian the name of the Second Young Master."
Lin Ruofu asked in a deep voice.
"Are you telling the truth?"
Yuan Hongdao replied.
"I used some tricks, but she never changed her mind."
Lin Ruofu thought about it and asked again.
"Why do you think she didn't tell Fan Xian?"
Yuan Hongdao said bluntly.
"This matter is very relevant. I think she wanted to use this to buy a chance to escape. Besides, when Fan Xian interrogated her, she had no official position, so it was unreasonable for her not to say anything."
Lin Ruofu said thoughtfully.
"If Fan Xian didn't know about this, he would have no reason to attack Gong'er."
"Exactly!"
Lin Ruofu suddenly had an idea.
"Mei Cheng'an told me today that even if Fan Xian knew, he would have no reason to kill Gong'er. Do you think so?"
"this…"
Yuan Hongdao observed Lin Ruofu's expression.
"He should have told the Prime Minister the reason."
Lin Ruofu said.
"Two points. First, Gong'er only planned it and didn't really do anything to him. Second, Fan Xian and Wan'er love each other, and he knows that Gong'er and Wan'er have a deep relationship. Do you think what he said makes sense?"
Yuan Hongdao thought about it.
"That makes some sense!"
Lin Ruofu stopped talking, his eyes flickering, and it was unknown what he was thinking. After a long time, he looked at Yuan Hongdao.
"Please, sir, go to the East Palace again and inform the Crown Prince of the result."
Yuan Hongdao nodded.
"It's what I should do."
Lin Ruofu added.
"Also, regarding Fan Xian's matter, please convey my opinion to the Crown Prince."
Yuan Hongdao took two steps forward, walked in front of Lin Ruofu, and whispered.
"Please speak, my Lord!"
……
At the other end of the study, Fan Xian and Lin Dabao were sitting together on the steps, looking up at the sky in a daze.
Lin Dabao suddenly asked.
"Why do you think the sky is blue?"
Fan Xian replied casually.
“Because the sea is blue.”
Lin Dabao thought about it and then asked.
"Then why is the sea blue?"
Fan Xian patiently explained.
"Because the sunlight shines into the sea water, it turns blue."
Yuan Hongdao, who quietly walked to a place not far from the two of them, seemed to be thinking about something after hearing Fan Xian's answer.
Lin Dabao is curious about the baby's possession.
"Then, then tell me, why isn't the water in the pool blue?"
Fan Xian looked at him without hesitation.
"Because the water is shallow!"
"That's actually the truth!"
Yuan Hongdao on the side sighed.
Fan Xian and Lin Dabao looked over when they heard the voice. Fan Xian didn't recognize him, but Lin Dabao exclaimed and stood up, so Fan Xian hurried to follow.
Yuan Hongdao smiled and finished what he had just said.
“Shallow water is not blue.”
Lin Dabao walked up to him and bowed in a formal manner.
"Hello, Mr. Yuan!"
Yuan Hongdao smiled very cordially and bowed in return.
"Hello, Dabao!"
Fan Xian also bowed to him.
Yuan Hongdao looked at him and praised him.
"Mr. Fan is well-informed and knowledgeable. He deserves respect."
Fan Xian said modestly.
"It's all nonsense, sir, please forgive me for making fun of you."
Yuan Hongdao smiled and bowed.
"The Prime Minister is waiting for you in the study!"
After saying that, he turned and left.
Fan Xian watched his back as he walked away. As he watched, he suddenly remembered something important and turned to look at Lin Dabao.
"Where is the study?"
"I know! Come on, I'll take you there!"
With that, Lin Dabao pulled Fan Xian along and left.
In the study, Lin Ruofu was sorting out the calligraphy works left by Lin Gong when he was a child. From a distance, he heard Lin Dabao calling "Dad" and "Dad" non-stop.
Lin Ruofu turned his head to look at the door, quickly rolled up the paper and placed it on the bookshelf, then turned and walked towards the door.
After walking a few steps, Lin Dabao came in with Fan Xian.
Seeing Lin Ruofu, Lin Dabao let go of Fan Xian, hopped forward a few steps, and asked for credit with a smile on his face. "Dad, I brought Fan Xian to you!"
Fan Xian immediately stopped and bowed to Lin Ruofu.
Lin Ruofu looked at him for a few seconds, then looked at Lin Dabao and spoke softly.
"Dabao, go outside and play by yourself for a while. I have something to talk to him about."
Lin Dabao looked at Fan Xian and asked Lin Ruofu.
"Dad, then, when will Erbao come home?"
Lin Ruofu's eyes darkened when he heard this and he remained silent.
Lin Dabao was very sensitive. Seeing Lin Ruofu's expression, he thought he had said something wrong and murmured softly.
"Dad, Dabao is out."
After saying that, he turned around and trotted out of the study.
Fan Xian felt somewhat worried and looked back at him.
Lin Ruofu spoke.
"Dabao had an illness when he was a child, and he became like this after he recovered. Although he has grown up, his mind is like that of a child."
Fan Xian listened quietly.
"Wan'er, she has been unable to return home, and she has contracted tuberculosis. If it weren't for Mei Cheng'an's medical treatment, her health would not have improved day by day."
Fan Xian spoke.
"I also know a little bit about medicine. I will definitely cure Wan'er of this disease in the future."
Lin Ruofu glanced at him, turned and walked towards the bookshelf, and Fan Xian hurriedly followed.
"All the expectations and hopes of the Lin family in the future are on Gong'er."
Lin Ruofu picked up a piece of paper from the bookshelf and continued as he opened it.
"He has been shouldering the pressure of inheriting the Lin family since he was young. He has not lived a happy life, but he has never complained or felt wronged!"
Looking at the four large characters "All Birds Return to the Forest" written on the spread-out paper, Lin Ruofu introduced them to Fan Xian who was standing beside him.
"This is what he wrote when he was a child. At that time, I often talked to him about how the six ministries and civil and military officials in the court were like flocks of birds, noisy and quarrelsome, endless."
Lin Ruofu took a deep breath.
"If our Lin family wants to continue its inheritance, we must find the root from this chaos of birds and elephants!"
Fan Xian took the paper and read it.
"All the birds return to the forest! Second Young Master, you want the Lin family to rule the court forever."
A trace of pity flashed across Lin Ruofu's eyes, and he turned and walked towards the other side of the bookshelf.
"Although the handwriting is a little poor, it still has some heroic spirit. The tone is arrogant, young people are always like this."
After expressing his feelings, Lin Ruofu picked up two rolled-up pieces of writing brush and ink and handed them to Fan Xian.
"Well, these were also written when he was a child."
Fan Xian opened it and took a look. The iron pen and silver hook looked really good, and he couldn't help but sigh.
"The Second Young Master's handwriting when he was young was much better than Fan Xian's."
Lin Ruofu's eyes were blank, as if he was lost in some memories, and he continued to speak to himself.
"I, Lin, have experienced three ups and downs since I started my career. Even when I was put on death row, I never despaired, until last night... when I heard the news of his death."
When saying the last sentence, Lin Ruofu looked at Fan Xian.
Fan Xian was also a bachelor, so he put down Lin Gong's calligraphy works and raised three fingers.
"I swear, I had no knowledge of the Second Young Master's death. If I tell even a single lie, I will let Prime Minister Lin punish me. I will not complain even if I am cut into pieces!"
Lin Ruofu's eyes flashed.
"The Niulan Street case was committed by Gong'er. He wanted to kill you!"
Fan Xian didn't play dumb.
"I heard about it this morning. After seeing the Second Young Master's calligraphy and hearing about his ambitions, I realized how arrogant he is. Although I didn't know his identity when we had that conflict, I'm sure he would find it hard to accept it. I can understand that he wants to kill me! But..."
Lin Ruofu said in a deep voice.
"Just what?"
Fan Xian said.
"Just from the Second Young Master's style of doing things, it's normal for him to bring his men to the Fan Mansion to seek revenge on me. This kind of conspiracy and revenge is really not like the Second Young Master's style."
Fan Xian's words were very tactful, implying that Lin Gong was a reckless man who acted impulsively and radically, and that he didn't have the brains to set up such a scheme.
Even Fan Xian, who had only met him once or twice, could tell what kind of character Lin Gong had. How could Lin Ruofu not understand him? He knew him too well, so after hearing what Fan Xian said, Lin Ruofu was stunned for a moment.
It's not that he couldn't think of it, but the prince told him that Lin Gong believed that all this was his doing, so Lin Ruofu didn't think much about it. Now that he thinks about it, there is indeed something strange.
"go on!"
These thoughts suddenly occurred to Fan Xian. He organized his thoughts, thought for a while, and then continued.
"It's not surprising that the Second Young Master was able to lead people to capture Cheng Jushu, but it's strange how he knew Cheng Jushu's location. The Supervisory Council asked Cheng Jushu, he was captured not far from the northern border, and he was hiding in secret, so how did the Second Young Master know his specific location accurately?"
"Also, Si Lili, how did the Second Young Master get in touch with Si Lili, the Northern Qi spy? Even if he accidentally discovered Si Lili's identity as a spy, how did he know that Si Lili had the token, and how did he know that the token could command Cheng Jushu?"
"I don't know the Second Young Master, but you know that he has the ability to do all this and get in touch with the top leaders of Northern Qi without your help?"
Lin Ruofu stopped talking and fell into deep thought.
Fan Xian continued as he thought about it.
"I don't know what you think, but I always feel that there is an invisible shadow behind the Second Young Master. That person has tremendous power, and he is constantly providing various assistance to the Second Young Master.
I even felt that the whole plan might have been thought up by that shadow on behalf of the Second Young Master. That person also wanted to kill me, but didn't want to do it himself, so he pushed the Second Young Master to the front.
If he gets rid of me, he will achieve his goal, and if anything unexpected happens, he can let the second young master take the blame.
Now that an accident has happened... that's not right, why would he kill the Second Young Master? Wouldn't it be better to keep him to take care of the problem... what good would it do him to kill the Second Young Master?"
Lin Ruofu stared at Fan Xian silently, without saying a word to interrupt his thoughts.
Fan Xian continued to think and speak.
"After I tried Si Lili at night and killed the Second Young Master, all the blame was pointed at me. Everyone suspected that I was the one who killed the Second Young Master. Yes, yes, that's right!
Killing the Second Young Master at this time would not only put the blame on him, but also make everyone think that he was the man behind the scenes and that everything was planned by him.
All the suspicion of murdering the second young master was brought to my head, making me face the accountability of the two major forces of the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Lin.
He hides perfectly behind the scenes, killing two birds with one stone, no matter what he does, he will not lose out! Wonderful! Oh no, this guy is too vicious! "
……
(End of this chapter)
