Chapter 12: Fujiko Kyo and the Red-Armored Knight
In Danzhou City, Fujiko Kyo came to a restaurant and stayed there.

He was sweating profusely, but he was still asking about the young master of the Fan family among the crowd, because he would be meeting this young master Fan soon.

Listening to the drinker's evaluation of Fan Xian, he shook his head, dispelled these distracting thoughts, and remembered the mission of this trip.

According to the order of the Earl, the red-armored knight came to take this young master without status back to the capital. However, he had received a secret order from the Overwatch Council to take the young master's life. He decided to give priority to the secret order of the Overwatch Council. After all, he was a member of the Overwatch Council and the mission must be completed. After thinking about it, he rushed to the Earl Sinan's Mansion in a corner of Danzhou Port.

At this time, Fan Xian, who was sixteen years old, sat silently in front of the gate of Fan Mansion, looking at the raindrops falling from the sky with deep eyes, as if he was looking for an answer or expecting something.

Suddenly, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came from the end of the street, breaking the tranquility in the rain. Judging from the sound, this was obviously not a small group of people. Fan Xian looked up and saw a patch of red floating on the road in the distance, like red waves surging in the rain.

"Red-armored Knight! Master Fan, the Red-armored Knight you mentioned is here." A passerby ran in the rain, hiding from the rain while shouting to Fan Xian.

"Here they come!" Fan Xian took a deep breath, feeling mixed emotions. He had not expected Li An's calculations to be so accurate. The so-called red-armored knights were the personal troops of Emperor Qing. However, part of this personal army had been lent by Emperor Qing to the current Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Fan Xian's nominal father - Si Nan Bo Fan Jian.

The atmosphere in the main hall of the Fan Mansion was solemn.

Fan Xian knelt on the ground, facing the old lady who was sitting right above him, with a worried look on her face. The scissors in the old lady's hand slid silently on the red paper, as if cutting off endless worries.

The scene at the gate of Fan's house added to the tense atmosphere. Many horses stopped at the gate, each of which was covered with red armor, and a group of soldiers in red armor stood beside them. They stood firm in the rain, as if they were an unshakable red army.

Several soldiers walked into the main hall and saluted in unison, saying, "Greetings, old lady, and hello, young master!" Although their voices were firm and powerful, the old lady only glanced at them and continued to cut the red paper in her hand. Fan Xian also tacitly did not mention the red-armored knights at the door, as if they did not exist.

Fan Xian bowed respectfully to the old lady and said, "Grandson, I greet you, Grandma." The old lady nodded and motioned for him to stand up, then began to eat. At this special moment, the two seemed to have reached a tacit understanding, using their ordinary daily lives to counteract this inexplicable atmosphere.

······Things had not changed at all. The old man who usually delivered food to the Fan Mansion had died, and the entire Fan Mansion was shrouded in poison. Fortunately, Fan Xian had learned the true teachings of his master Fei Jie, and had reached the level of perfection in identifying poisons and using medicines. Therefore, he was not affected by the poison. He could tell at a glance that the bamboo shoots were poisonous, and he ate all of it.

Afterwards, Fan Xian found out through investigation that someone had replaced the original food delivery person today. He decided to go to the old man's home in person to conduct an in-depth investigation.

However, as soon as he entered the old man's house, an assassin suddenly rushed out, catching Fan Xian off guard and he could only hastily defend himself. The two of them were instantly involved in a fierce battle. It turned out that the assassin was Fujiko Kyo who was ordered to assassinate Fan Xian.

In the courtyard, Fan Xian and Fujiko Kyo exchanged several moves. Although Fujiko Kyo's strength was far inferior to Fan Xian's, due to Fan Xian's lack of actual combat experience and Fujiko Kyo's sneak attack, Fujiko Kyo was able to struggle for a few more times before being subdued by Fan Xian. However, Fan Xian did not kill him, but pointed out the doubts in the secret order to Fujiko Kyo. The two therefore decided to work together to investigate the matter, but they wanted Fujiko Kyo to fake her death before they could investigate.

At the same time, the housekeeper who colluded with the assassin was also arrested. He was forced to kneel on the ground and faced the accusation. He confessed that he was instructed by the second wife of the Fan Mansion in Kyoto to assist the assassin in murdering Fan Xian.

After listening to the housekeeper's confession, the old lady nodded with a half-smile and said, "Yes, for the sake of the Fan family, we can't be soft-hearted." Then she leaned on her crutches and slowly ordered the servants, "Break his legs, and then throw him on a fishing boat and he won't have to come back for the rest of his life."

When the housekeeper heard this, he felt a chill in his heart and shouted that he did this for the sake of the Fan family. However, no one paid attention to his explanation.

Then the old lady ordered the housekeeper to be expelled from the house and sent to a ship to never return. However, all this was seen by Wu Zhu, who found time to kill the housekeeper who left the city. When the old lady and Fan Xian learned about this later, they both realized that Li An's previous prediction had come true again. So they took Li An's words more seriously, but I won't go into details here.

After this series of events, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became quiet. The old lady looked at Fan Xian and asked, "If this was really arranged by Liu Ruyu, what would you do?"

After a moment's thought, Fan Xian replied, "I will tell them that I have no intention of competing for the Fan family's property." The old lady shook her head and said, "People need to learn to be ruthless! How can I feel at ease with you doing this?" Fan Xian lowered his head and said nothing, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

After a long while, the old lady sighed, walked to Fan Xian's side, looked up at him, and said earnestly: "You heard it before, your father asked you to go to Beijing." She gently placed her hand on Fan Xian's, "Do you want to go?"

"Yes." Fan Xian answered honestly, his eyes full of anticipation, "I have lived in Danzhou since I was a child, and have always wanted to go out and see the world." "Oh? You don't want to bother with an old woman like me anymore?" The old lady asked with a smile.

Fan Xian quickly held onto the old lady's arm and said in an exaggerated tone, "How could that be! Grandma, why don't you come with me to Kyoto!"

The old lady shook her head calmly, took Fan Xian's hand, and patted it slowly: "I am old, and my body can't stand the bumps on the road. It's better for you to stay in Danzhou."

Fan Xian smiled slightly: "Then I will go to Kyoto to take care of everything, and I will come back to see you as soon as I have time!"

"So when do you plan to leave?" asked the old lady.

Fan Xian hesitated for a moment and said, "Tomorrow."

After saying this, he knelt on the ground and bowed deeply. After standing up, Fan Xian suddenly rushed to the old lady, hugged her head and kissed her.

The old lady was stunned for a moment. Before she could open her mouth to scold her, Fan Xian turned around and ran back to his room and started packing his luggage.

The old lady slowly touched her forehead and smiled happily.

The next day, just after dawn, there were already crowds of people outside the Fan Mansion. The leader of the red-armored knights came over and asked respectfully, "Sir, shall we set off?"

"Let's go." Fan Xian said in a deep voice.

Following Fan Xian's order, the convoy slowly set off.

At this time, Li An had changed into light clothes and came to the front of the convoy.

Seeing this, the leader drew out his long sword and tried to block Li An's way. Fan Xian at the side quickly explained: "This is the person who came to the capital with me."

Upon hearing this, the soldier put away the long sword in his hand and stepped aside to let Li An come over.

Li An walked forward and looked at the box in Fan Xian's hand with a complicated expression.

"This is the box my mother left for me. I can't open it. Brother Li, are you interested in helping me take a look?"

Li An shook his head and said, "I'm not interested. Since it's for you, there might be some private things in it. I'd better not explore it." Fan Xian smiled when he heard it, knowing that Li An might know something. But since he didn't say anything, Fan Xian didn't ask any more questions.

Fan Xian looked at Li An and understood that according to his rules, if he wanted to delve deeper into certain things, he would have to pay a price. So he pointed to the carriage next to him and invited him, "Brother Li, if you don't mind, come ride in this carriage with me."

Li An heard this and nodded slightly, accepting the proposal: "Thank you very much, sorry to trouble you."

Then, the two of them got on the carriage together.

The carriage team set off under the leadership of the red-armored knight, and the carriages of Fan Xian and Li An followed closely behind. The entire team slowly drove away from Danzhou City and headed towards the distant Kyoto. As time passed, the silhouette of Danzhou City gradually disappeared on the horizon.

　Is there anyone here? I don't want to write alone, it's okay if someone scolds me. The author is so lonely~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)