Chapter 41 Do you want to stab me?
After asking, the two stepped into the hall and walked forward.

Along the way, the eunuchs who led the way kept their heads down and walked quickly with light steps, so the two of them had to quicken their pace to keep up.

From the outside, I couldn't tell what was going on inside the palace, but once I got inside, I found the space was so huge. I didn't see Emperor Qing right away, but instead I turned left and right along the corridor, and after a while, I came to a room with very good lighting.

Of course, although it is called a room, its area is large enough for the entire working class family to stay together for decades.

Outside the door, Fan Xian saw Gong Dian and was very surprised. He quickly asked the eunuch beside him.

The eunuch replied, this is the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, the commander of the Palace Department. Fan Xian then realized that the nobleman in the Qing Temple that day was most likely the Qing Emperor. Although he had heard rumors that Li An had met the Qing Emperor, he did not expect that it was his first day in Kyoto.

Moreover, that day, Li An seemed to have said that this was his destination. He had made up his mind to meet Emperor Qing from the beginning. Thinking of this, Fan Xian tilted his head and glanced at Li An.

Li An had a blank expression on his face and nodded to Gong Dian at the door.

The eunuch stopped here and said, "You two can go in."

Li An and Fan Xian looked at each other, nodded, and said loudly: "I, Li An (Fan Xian), request to see Your Majesty."

In the imperial study, Emperor Qing had already been waiting for Fan Xian's arrival. This was the first time that the two father and son met.

This time, he did not hide and observe Fan Xian, but sat on the couch to develop his new arrow.

"Come in!" The voice of Eunuch Hou came from behind the door.

After the door opened, the two entered the imperial study. Unlike the others, they looked around the room with curiosity. The four walls of the room were filled with bamboo slips and scrolls. The light was good, but many candles were still lit.

In the middle of the room, there is a stove with charcoal burning.

The imperial study occupies a large area, with sword-wielding guards standing on both sides, making it look extremely majestic.

"I, Li An, greet your majesty!"

"I am Fan Xian, a humble citizen. I greet His Majesty!"

The two of them spoke in unison, but they both bowed instead of kneeling.

Eunuch Hou looked up at Emperor Qing and reminded Li An and Fan Xian to kneel down and salute, but was interrupted by Emperor Qing's wave of his hand.

"Fan Xian, Mr. Li, do you two want to kneel down?"

Emperor Qing looked up and smiled at the two of them. Without stopping for a moment, he had already assembled a feather arrow.

Li An remained silent, as if he hadn't heard anything. Fan Xian subconsciously replied that he didn't want to.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to kneel." Emperor Qing said gently.

The two bowed again and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Qing nodded and said to Fan Xian, "Fan Xian, are you feeling better?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I'm fine now. That day, thanks to Mr. Li who saved me, I'm fine now." Fan Xian whispered, with a hint of fear in his voice, sounding heavy.

At the same time, he also felt deep anger and frustration in his heart. It seemed as if an invisible giant hand was controlling everything in Kyoto, making it hard to breathe.

And Li Ang standing aside was really almost out of breath!

It wasn't that he was silent, but since he entered the imperial study, he had been firmly locked by some invisible auras. The pressure was so great that Li An had to guard his mind and resist it, and the hem of his clothes fluttered without wind.

"Mr. Li is really a genius. He happened to be at the scene at that time and saved Fan Xian's life, which prevented the tragedy from happening!" Emperor Qing said softly, as if to make a conclusion about the matter. Li An remained silent, and his face looked even gloomier.

Eunuch Hou shouted in a low voice: "Mr. Li!"

Emperor Qing waved his hand and said in a more serious tone: "Sir, you are a strange man, you must not be rude!"

Eunuch Hou knelt down hurriedly and said in a panic, "I deserve to die! Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Qing snorted coldly: "Get up."

Eunuch Hou stood up upon hearing the voice, stepped aside, and said nothing more. He thought to himself: Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger.

"I am sorry for the inconvenience."

Li An answered, cursing in his heart at the same time, what a good way of using force first and courtesy later, one plays the bad guy and the other plays the good guy.

Emperor Qing nodded, as if he didn't care, and turned to Fan Xian and asked, "Did you find out anything?"

"All the clues point to Northern Qi. Now all the people who knew the truth are dead. The only suspect is Si Lili, the courtesan of Zuixianlou. It is said that she has escaped from Kyoto." Fan Xian replied.

He was also somewhat disheartened after learning that Si Lili had fled Kyoto. He didn't know whether this matter was really related to her, or whether she was implicated and felt the crisis and therefore chose to flee Kyoto?

"What do you want to do after that?"

Fan Xian did not say that it was a big shot in the capital who secretly joined forces with Northern Qi to kill him. He was just angry about all this. Thinking of the few times he had interacted with Si Lili, she did not seem like an ordinary courtesan, so he was more inclined to believe that she had revealed his whereabouts.

"I want to capture Si Lili, bring her back to Kyoto, and find out everything."

Emperor Qing sighed when he heard this: "Zhu Ge from the Supervisory Council reported that he had already found out Cheng Jushu's background, and released Cheng Jushu just to take advantage of the situation. Now you have killed him and ruined his plan. What do you have to say?" He asked Fan Xian, but his eyes were fixed on Li An.

After hearing this, Fan Xian did not make any excuses and waited for the rest of the story.

Li An curled his lips, but his eyes were directed towards Emperor Qing.

You can't hide the look in someone's eyes that wants to kill you.

Emperor Qing was secretly angry about what his sister Li Yunrui had done, but he still felt that it was insignificant. Instead, he was slightly happy about the Northern Qi people involved in this matter. But Li An understood that the person Emperor Qing wanted to kill the most was not the forces behind Li Yunrui, but himself!

Li An in front of him should know everything behind the scenes and his own layout, which makes the cunning Emperor Qing feel uneasy, as if all the secrets have been exposed to the world. Not only that, Li An's martial arts are also very strange. I don't know if he is hiding it intentionally or for other reasons. If it wasn't for saving Fan Xian this time, how could his ninth-rank strength be exposed to the world?
"You were wrong to kill someone in the street, but you have to understand that Cheng Jushu is just a Northern Qi man. Killing him is fine. This is the pride of us Qing people! Let this matter end with you capturing Si Lili!"

"Your Majesty?" Fan Xian's face was full of surprise, and he understood what Emperor Qing meant.

The first point is that Fan Xian was charged with murder in the street, which was forgiven. The second point is that he heard that Emperor Qing had told him to arrest Si Lili and not to continue the investigation. How could this be possible?
"Fan Xian killed a powerful enemy in the street, so he is specially appointed as the Assistant Law Officer of the Taichang Temple. Go and catch the criminal as soon as possible!" Emperor Qing said in a tough tone, but he actually used such an excuse to give Fan Xian an official position.

Fan Xian looked helplessly at his 'father' in front of him. Just as he was about to thank him, he heard the voices of the Crown Prince and the Second Prince asking for a meeting outside the door.

Emperor Qing snorted coldly, "I haven't done anything yet, but you have come to my door! Fan Xian, please leave." He turned to Eunuch Hou and ordered, "Tell them that I don't want to see them at this moment. Let them go back to their own houses and both of them face the wall for three days. If I find out about it again and anything out of the ordinary gets out, I will punish you severely!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." After saying this, Eunuch Hou didn't even dare to breathe, and hurried out to convey Emperor Qing's oral order.

Seeing this, Fan Xian could only helplessly follow Eunuch Hou and retreat. Before leaving, he glanced at Li An worriedly, and after catching his gaze, he felt a little relieved and turned to leave.

"Next, it's Mr.'s question!"

Emperor Qing had a serious expression!

(End of this chapter)