Chapter 42 The showdown.

Li An looked calm and was not frightened. He spoke softly, "I don't understand what your Majesty meant by this. I wonder what my question is?"

Emperor Qing glanced at Li An, picked up the feather arrow, raised the longbow, pulled the bowstring, and prepared to shoot.

Li An stared at the floor with his eyes squinted, as if the person being pointed at by the arrow was not himself.

This is what Eunuch Hou saw when he returned to the room!
He was secretly surprised and took a step back, watching everything in the field. Once there was any unusual movement, he would call on the guards on both sides to go out and capture Li An.

Just when the atmosphere was about to explode, Emperor Qing spoke up: "Sir, of course there is something wrong! I wonder who exactly is he?"

"Aren't I just me? My name is Li An. Your Majesty knows me. I'm just a fortune teller." Li An replied with a smile.

Whoosh!
The feather arrow brushed past his side face and shot towards a piece of armor behind Li An!
Ding!
The arrow penetrated three points into the armor!

Emperor Qing shook his head, seemingly dissatisfied with the result. Li An stood aside, unmoved.

"You first appeared at the beach of Danzhou Port. No one knew where you came from. Your past seemed to be blank, as if you appeared out of thin air!"

Emperor Qing continued, "Then he went to the Fan Residence. Was he trying to get close to Fan Xian?"

Li An knew that Emperor Qing had more to say, so he did not speak in a hurry, but remained silent. He was secretly surprised that Emperor Qing's control over the empire had reached an exaggerated level, and he investigated him so carefully!

"After that, you became famous for your physiognomy and greed! But I know that this appearance is just your disguise, and you have some unknown purpose!"

"What if I really love money?" Li An said with a smile.

Emperor Qing shook his head and said, "Let's talk about your martial arts. When I first met you, you were still hiding something. At such a young age, your cultivation level is above the ninth rank. It's really shocking!"

Li An cupped his hands and said, "It doesn't matter what level of cultivation I have. I'm just a physiognomist and I have a few tricks to protect myself."

Surprisingly, Emperor Qing seemed to agree with Li An's words.

"You are from the Far North!?"

Facing Emperor Qing's sudden question, a professional smile appeared on Li An's lips again. Silence was the imperial study today.

Looking at Li An's mysterious expression, Emperor Qing became more certain of his own judgment: "Since you said you are a pure fortune teller, then answer a few more questions for me."

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"Tell me what my purpose is. Tell me from beginning to end."

"From the beginning to the end? That's a long time."

Emperor Qing waved his hand and told Eunuch Hou to serve tea. He smiled and said in a gentle tone, "It's okay, sit down and talk slowly, I have plenty of time."

Li An was not polite either. He sat on a stool brought by a guard, looking like a storyteller about to start. After bowing to Emperor Qing to thank him, he started telling the story from the beginning.

"Let's first confirm the first point. This Fujiko Kyo is your Majesty's man, right?"

Emperor Qing nodded upon hearing this, raised his teacup and started drinking.

"This man is good at using hidden weapons and poisons, but he is chivalrous and kind-hearted. His Majesty then placed him in the Overwatch Council and asked him to wait for an order, an order to go to Danzhou and assassinate Fan Xian."

Li An also took the teacup and took a sip. He found that the tea was indeed good. He smacked his lips and continued, "Let's not worry about who issued this order or whether His Majesty was there. After Fujiko Kyo received the order and went to Danzhou, he naturally couldn't poison Fan Xian, who was trained by Fei Jie. So he used a marriage contract to force Fan Xian to come here. The reason for this is nothing more than some political struggles."

"And Fan Xian has to investigate the truth on the one hand, and because of the engagement on the other hand, naturally he has to follow Your Majesty's wishes." "Interesting, go on." Emperor Qing looked pleased, as if he had met a soulmate.

"After arriving in Beijing, the action arranged by the eldest princess to slander Fan Xian's reputation was something Your Majesty had not expected, and it also made Your Majesty furious." Li An continued.

Emperor Qing became interested: "Oh? Why should I be angry?"

Li An shook his head: "This move will damage the reputation of the royal family, and it will also disrupt His Majesty's plan to let Fan Xian show his talents."

"Fan Xian's talent? Why should I let him display his talent?" Emperor Qing pretended to be stupid and showed a puzzled expression.

Li An explained: "Even the princess knows that the book "Red Mansion" was written by Fan Xian. Your Majesty can find out the details of even the common people, so he naturally knows Fan Xian's true talent. After that, Fan Xian participated in the poetry meeting and became famous, so it was natural for him to enter the officialdom."

Li An paused for a moment and added, "Of course, even if there was no poetry gathering, Your Majesty would have other ways to make Fan Xian famous."

"However, Your Majesty did not expect that Fan Xian would be very resistant to this marriage, which led to the case of Fan Xian's night attack on Guo Baokun, in order to discredit himself and cancel the engagement. However, Your Majesty's two princes were not easy to deal with. The Crown Prince took the opportunity to make trouble for Fan Xian. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Your Majesty stepped forward to help Fan Xian resolve the crisis in the government office."

At this time, the smile on Emperor Qing's face no longer existed.

Eunuch Hou, who was listening to the conversation between the two, wanted to bury his head in the ground, he was terrified.

Li Anke didn't care what Emperor Qing looked like, and kept saying, "Letting Fan Xian come to the capital was a bait prepared by your majesty for the nobles in the capital. After all, the position of the inner treasury is something that people envy. Afterwards, although things had some twists and turns, they still ended up on the track set by your majesty."

"Finally, there is the Niulan Street assassination case. If Your Majesty really wanted Fan Xian to stay out of it, why would he let a person without any official position to track down and arrest Northern Qi spy Si Lili? Your Majesty wants to see how capable Fan Xian is at handling matters."

"Moreover, this assassination also provides His Majesty with a very useful excuse."

"That's right." Emperor Qing exhaled, looked at the lake outside the door, and sighed: "This assassination case gave me an excuse. There must be a reason for the war between two countries. This is the reason I prepared for Northern Qi!"

"But, excuses are easy to find. Why would I have to make so many arrangements and come up with such a roundabout reason to send troops? Sir, can you tell me why you must let Fan Xian enter the officialdom?"

Emperor Qing found the key to the matter. All these events were arranged with Fan Xian as the center.

As he waited for the answer from the person in front of him, Emperor Qing felt a tightness in his heart.

When he heard his further question, Li An's face turned dark and he was speechless.

The two looked at each other, feeling a little nervous.

Li An did not rush to answer, but turned his head to look at the eunuch Hou who was standing next to the armor and the guards. His meaning was self-evident.

Although Li An did not answer him, Emperor Qing already got the answer he wanted.

He really knew! Fan Xian was his child!

The hand holding the teacup tightened slightly, and Emperor Qing was deep in thought.

"Sir, have you ever calculated whether you can walk out of the palace after saying these words, regardless of whether they are right or wrong?"

The voice faintly entered Li An's ears, making him slightly angry.

Come on, let’s show our cards! Brother Crow is in power, so he wants to overturn the table, right?

"Of course it can."

(End of this chapter)