Fang Xianye was going to go to Jin'an Temple to worship today. He lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and was about to go in, but he stopped. The servant He Zhi standing beside him asked curiously, "My lord, what's wrong?"
He was about to walk over, but Fang Xianye waved his hand to stop him and said, "It's okay."
After saying that, he stepped into the sedan chair and lowered the curtain. He Zhi said in a long tone outside: "Lift the sedan chair."
The sedan chair was lifted up slowly. Fang Xianye looked at the uninvited guest in black clothes and mask in the sedan chair, frowned and whispered, "What are you doing here?"
The man pulled off the black cloth on his face, revealing a young and handsome face, it was Duan Xu.
He smiled and said, "It happened suddenly. Someone is lying in ambush outside the city. Let me ask you, among the four sedan bearers outside, do you have any favorite one that you want to keep to continue to carry your sedan?"
Fang Xianye asked, "What's up with the one in the front left?"
"Okay, I'll protect you later, and I won't deal with He Zhi and him. The one who came to assassinate you was a master from Wensheng Pavilion - that's where Luo Xian used to stay. Although he is not my opponent, I am not sure that I can protect too many people."
"Who wants to kill me?"
"Of course I regard you as a serious threat - my father." Duan Xu smiled and snapped his fingers.
He recently asked Chen Ying to help him look after his father at home. Chen Ying was a careful child with a harmless face. Although he did not have the ability to analyze and reason, he provided a lot of useful clues.
—For example, the housekeeper accidentally mentioned that his father had withdrawn a large sum of money from the warehouse, saying that he would use it to renovate the ancestral home in his hometown, but there was no further movement.
—For example, his father has recently been frequently seeing carrier pigeons flying back and forth, but no one knows where they are coming from.
He followed the clues and found out that his father had finally made up his mind to kill Fang Xianye again - just like he did five years ago, he would hire a killer from Wensheng Pavilion.
Fang Xianye's eyes sank. He thought for a moment and said, "Then I will return home immediately and not leave the city."
"You can't avoid Wensheng Pavilion if it wants to take action. And if it happens again, it won't happen again. Wensheng Pavilion won't accept orders that have failed twice. With my father's personality, he will never expand the scope of those who know about it. He should stop if he fails again this time."
Fang Xianye sneered. As long as he was still alive, his former "father" would not be able to sleep or eat well.
Duan Xu crossed his arms and said, "You have already made a name for yourself. You will face more dangers in the future. You need to pick a few skilled personal guards. Before you find the guards, why don't you take Luo Xian out of Yuzao Tower and let her protect you for a while?"
"No, the court is in a turbulent time recently, and we need Luo Xian's information in Yuzao Tower." Fang Xianye refused immediately. He seemed to have thought of something and said seriously, "I just wanted to find you. There is a change in the Ma Zheng corruption case, and the witness has changed his testimony."
"Sun Changde, the chief clerk of the Imperial Household Department? Could it be that he said that the 3,000 war horses were not idle but really died of the plague?"
"Not only that, he also said that he reported Ma Zheng's corruption case because he was threatened and instructed to frame the Minister of the Imperial Household and the Minister of War. The change of confession should have been instructed by Duke Pei, but I don't know the specific details. Now Sun Changde has arrived at the Dali Temple and is being detained by the Minister of the Dali Temple, Jing Yan, awaiting trial."
"Jing Yan does not belong to any party. He is an upright and honest official. He has been keeping an eye on this matter for a long time. Sun Changde cannot fool him."
Fang Xianye shook his head and said, "You and I both know that Ma Zheng is absolutely corrupt, but part of the evidence in Sun Changde's hands was forged by you. Although Sun Changde doesn't know that the false evidence came from you, Jing Yan will probably find you if he continues to investigate. The truth and falsehood will be intertwined, and things will become complicated at that time."
Duan Xu put his hands together to his lips, folding them carelessly.
When they first discovered Ma Zheng's corruption and the witness, Fang Xianye said that this witness was not reliable and needed to be guarded against. In addition, due to insufficient evidence, they did not expose the matter for the time being.
Even when Shuozhou was recovered, the evidence had not been collected yet, and it was not a good time to bring up the matter, but if this opportunity was missed, the battle plan for Yunluo and Luozhou would fail. Before leaving Nandu, Duan Xu forged a batch of evidence in case of emergency, and then he created a coincidence to transfer this "evidence" to Sun Changde, so that Ma Zheng's corruption case could be exposed and shake the emperor's heart.
At this time, Sun Changde was forced by Pei Guogong to change his confession, which hindered the investigation. These false testimonies also became a big problem.
Duan Xu was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "When an enemy comes, we will fight him with our generals; when water comes, we will block it with earth. My father, Prime Minister Du, and my future father-in-law will not stand by and watch. It is better to muddy the waters."
Hearing the soldiers' inquiries coming from the city gate, Duan Xu stretched and said, "I know what happened. Now? It's more important for me to save you first."
Duan Xu's information was indeed correct. Not long after leaving the city, the sedan chair shook violently, and hurried footsteps and exclamations were heard outside. He told Fang Xianye to stay in the sedan chair, then he covered himself with the curtain and slipped out. The next moment, He Zhi and the sedan bearer selected by Fang Xianye were thrown into the sedan chair. The two were still trembling with fear and wished they could hug each other.
There were chaotic noises coming from outside the sedan chair, the sound of swords clashing, blood splattering, and people falling to the ground, as densely as a violent storm. Fang Xianye could almost imagine the scene outside.
He had never seen anyone who was better at killing than Duan Xu, not even the assassins in Wensheng Pavilion who made a living by killing people. It was hard for Fang Xianye to call it martial arts, because Duan Xu's methods had no routines, no fixed moves, and only took people's lives.
Sometimes he felt that Duan Xu really liked this kind of direct and violent killing.
Five years ago, when Fang Xianye naively set out on the road to Nandu, his servants were slaughtered on the way, and he was being hunted down and about to be beheaded, he met Duan Xu for the first time.
This guy was like a god sent from heaven, killing all the assassins who were originally responsible for the massacre. Fang Xianye clearly remembered that in the bloody setting sun, he covered his left hand that was bleeding profusely, and watched the guy who was covered in blood like a Shura turned his head to look at him, feeling panic and despair.
But the guy walked up to him, squatted down and said lightly - I'm not here to kill you, I'm here to save you.
The man took his hand, bandaged it skillfully, and said with a smile: "Nice to meet you. I am Duan Xu, the Xu from Fenglangjuxu. The one who wants to kill you is my father, Duan Chengzhang."
That was the first time Fang Xianye saw this person whom he had been trying to play using his name for seven years.
A very eccentric person.
Duan Xu brought him to Nandu and had long talks with him all night long along the way.
At that time, the stars were shining brightly. Duan Xu used his sword to poke at the fire, with the firelight reflected in his eyes. He said seriously: I read your article, it is so well written, such words should not disappear from the world. You should do as the ancients said, establish your mind for heaven and earth, establish your destiny for the people, inherit the lost knowledge of the past sages, and bring peace to the world for all eternity.
—I have heard that weapons are ominous tools, not tools for gentlemen. How about I be the ominous tool and you be the gentleman's tool
He Zhi's trembling voice interrupted Fang Xianye's recollection. The young servant huddled up in fear and asked, "That warrior outside is so powerful. Who is he?"
Fang Xianye was silent for a moment, then replied, "A friend."
If they were not like-minded, they would be more like enemies.
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a black-clad assassin fall face down into the sedan chair, with a sword stuck in his chest, looking at him with wide eyes, and dying in the midst of blood. The two guys beside him screamed in fear, and the sedan bearer mustered up the courage to raise his hands to protect Fang Xianye. Duan Xu, who was wearing a mask, stepped on the threshold of the sedan chair and looked at them with a bit of amusement. He bent his legs and put one hand on his knee, and stretched out his other hand to take out the sword on the assassin's chest, wiped the blood off the sword with his sleeve, and then leisurely sheathed the sword, saying, "Kill them all."
Fang Xianye's tense body finally relaxed and he breathed a long sigh of relief, only to hear Duan Xu say, "I have something else I want to tell you. Come out with me for a moment."
After saying that, Duan Xu pointed at the two people beside Fang Xianye and said with a smile: "You two just stay here. I will lower the curtain of the sedan chair later. Don't look at what you shouldn't look at, and don't listen to what you shouldn't listen to. Do you understand?"
The sedan bearer and the attendant looked at each other, hesitant as to whether they could trust this man or not, and also afraid of his sword. Fang Xianye waved his hand and said he would not hurt me, then stepped out of the sedan and lowered the curtain.
There were corpses all over the road outside the sedan door, about a dozen of them, and the blood stained the ground. Duan Xu stood among these corpses leisurely as if he was not surprised. Fang Xianye looked at the sedan, walked a little further away and whispered: "What do you want to say?"
"I have someone I want to introduce to you."
Fang Xianye asked in surprise: "Now? Here?"
Duan Xu nodded, his eyes curved, he took two steps back and called out word by word: "He Simu."
—After you return to the human world, if you encounter any disaster or need any help, just call my name and I will come to you.
Soon after he finished speaking, a puff of green smoke filled the air, and the familiar aroma of agarwood came from it. A pair of light purple embroidered shoes stepped on the blood-stained land, and the girl who appeared had a pale face, willow-leaf eyebrows and phoenix eyes, beautiful and cold.
Is this He Simu's true body
When she saw the corpse on the ground, she turned around, looked Duan Xu up and down, and reached out to touch his shoulder.
Duan Xu hissed softly but did not dodge.
He Simu frowned and said, "Are you hurt?"
Duan Xu nodded, then shook his head and said with a smile: "The injury is not serious, just a few flesh wounds on the shoulder and ribs. Most of the blood is from the enemy. Are you concerned about me?"
He Simu chuckled and said, "If my curse-maker's five senses are damaged, how can he trade with me?"
Duan Xu's eyes moved slightly. He did not continue the topic, but pointed at Fang Xianye and said, "Can you let my friend see your true self as well?"
He Simu turned his gaze to Fang Xianye and snapped his fingers briskly. Fang Xianye, who had originally looked unhappy, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
He was already very surprised to see Duan Xu talking to himself in the air, and at this moment, a girl in red who looked as pale as a dead person appeared out of nowhere in front of him and looked at him coldly.
He didn't know whether this was a dream or reality, and was so shocked that he couldn't speak. So Duan Xu made a simple introduction between the two silent people: "Simu, this is my close friend Fang Xianye. Xianye, this is His Majesty the Ghost King, He Simu."
"Ghost King?" Fang Xianye murmured again.
He Simu ignored him and turned to Duan Xu, asking coldly, "Why did you call me here? I didn't give you this power just to have fun."
"Of course I want to make a deal with you."
"What are the conditions?"
Duan Xu blinked his eyes, smiled innocently, and said, "Come to my wedding. Simu, I want you to come to my wedding as a condition of the deal."