No. 1 Girl in the Imperial City

Chapter 462 Bad luck!

The atmosphere in Fangfu's study room was not as friendly as it was at the pier outside the city, on the contrary, it was a bit rare and dignified.

Fang Changyun stared coldly at Cao Mian who was sitting on the side, and after a while he gritted his teeth and said, "Cao Mian, what do you mean!"

Cao Mian frowned slightly, as if Fang Changyun was dissatisfied with such a gaffe, but his face remained calm.

"Why are you so anxious to get angry?" Cao Mian said calmly after taking a sip of tea.

Fang Changyun was more than anxious to get angry, he almost wanted to shoot the case.

Just looking at the calm and calm Cao Mian in front of him, he couldn't hold back his anger after all, and said, "Shouldn't I be in a hurry? Don't you know how much our Fang family has lost during this time, Mr. Cao? Is that kid surnamed Dongfang from Where did it come from? Shouldn’t Brother Cao give me an explanation?”

Cao Mian slightly raised his eyebrows and said, "Explain?"

Fang Changyun sneered and said, "That kid won't show up early or late. Your son showed up right after he arrived in Shangyong. How dare you say that it has nothing to do with your Cao family?"

Cao Mian said: "Brother Fang, if Jie'er's letter is correct, your son died at the hands of that young man last year. Was it your Fang family who messed with me or my Cao family? Yingzhou Island has changed hands."

Fang Changyun sneered and said: "All the people sent by the Fang family were wiped out, and what happened is naturally your son's final say."

Cao Mian was not angry either, he stood up and said calmly: "It seems that Brother Fang just wanted to lose his temper with me, since that's the case, we can talk after you calm down."

Seeing that he really wanted to leave, Fang Changyun was a little anxious, and said angrily: "Your Cao family is powerful now, and I can't afford to mess with you. At worst, let's break up!"

Cao Mian frowned slightly, and looked back at Fang Changyun who was full of anger.

To be honest, Fang Changyun has never been a good partner, but he didn't have to choose at the beginning.

The previous head of the Fang family had no ambitions, he just wanted to guard the Fang family and become the local emperor in Yingzhou.

The original next heir of the Fang family was shrewd, tough and hard to control. Only this Fang Changyun was ambitious and not too shrewd, so Cao Mian chose to cooperate with him.However, over the years, Fang Changyun's temper has been grumpy and suspicious. If Cao Mian hadn't helped him, the court might have discovered that something was wrong.

If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to make too much noise and there was no reliable candidate, Cao Mian really wanted to change the head of the Fang family.

Cao Mian sighed and sat back down again.

"Brother Fang, you also know that what you are doing now is not good, so let's stop making trouble."

Only then did Fang Changyun restrain his anger, and snorted softly: "If it wasn't for your Cao family's mistakes, why would you be caught by a kid of unknown origin?"

Cao Mian rubbed his brows, and said a little tiredly: "That young man of unknown origin is not the point. The war in the northwest ended earlier than we expected, and the regent is still in power. Don't you understand what happened in the past half a year? He It is time to clean up the court. We all underestimate this prince. He is not only good at fighting. Neither Xie Zhang nor Ruan Ting are his enemies. Once the rectification of Shangyong is over, you say he will make the next move Where are you going to stretch it?"

Fang Changyun was silent, he naturally understood what Cao Mian meant.

The rectification of the court is completed, and the next step is naturally the place.

For example, the pirates along the coast, such as Yingzhou who have been ignoring the court these years.

Fang Changyun took a deep breath and said: "Xie Yan is brave and good at fighting, and the Zhen Guo Army under his command is invincible. There is also the Ding Guo Army under Luo Yun's command, which is also a battle-tested cavalry. If you go head-to-head with them, you are sure to have a chance of winning ?”

Cao Mian smiled lightly and said, "Brother Fang, the Zhen Guo Army and Ding Guo Army are indeed fearsome, but the question is...how many people can they recruit? The southern border needs people, the northwest needs people, and the Gaoyu people are not cheap." Lamp. The people they can use are at most the less than [-] troops currently stationed in Shangyongxiu."

Fang Changyun wanted to say, that's a lot.

But facing Cao Mian's smiling eyes, he swallowed those words involuntarily.

"Is the Cao family really ready for the hasty uprising now?" Fang Changyun asked.Rebellion is a matter of losing one's head, not just for fun.

Cao Mian said leisurely: "Even if I'm not ready, I have to do it now. The Empress Dowager passed away, and the Regent suddenly ordered me to go back to the funeral. I always feel a little uneasy."

Fang Changyun suspected that Cao Mian was a guilty conscience, but he could understand it consciously.

If he had planned to rebel for more than ten years, he would not dare to go back to Shangyong by himself.

Fang Changyun snorted softly, and said, "Forget it, you have been preparing for so many years just waiting for this day. Now there are [-] soldiers and horses on the island, and there are many people from the rivers and lakes recruited this year. You can do it this time." take away."

"Thank you." Cao Mian nodded and said, "How many people have dispersed over the years?"

Fang Changyun thought for a while and said, "There are about [-] people, what? Are you going to call them all back?"

Cao Mian shook his head and said, "No, let them attack the coastal areas with all their strength."

Fang Changyun nodded, and was about to ask again when there was a rush of footsteps outside the door, both of them immediately stopped talking.

The people outside the door couldn't wait to report, they stood at the door and hurriedly said: "Report to Patriarch, Commander Fang was killed."

There was silence in the study, and it took a while to hear Fang Changyun's voice, "Come in."

The person standing outside the door opened the door and went in, not surprised to see the gloomy face of his Patriarch.

The man saluted the two of them respectfully, and stood in the middle of the study, not daring to speak.

Fang Changyun said impatiently: "Why did you die in just a while? How did you die?"

The steward said: "He died in an alley next to the Red Silk Restaurant, and was found by a drunk. He was stabbed in the heart and throat, and there were no other injuries. The body has been brought back."

Fang Changyun snorted in displeasure, and said impatiently: "Let Huo Shan go and see, don't they have a good relationship?" He passed his birthday tomorrow, but died today. Isn't this a bad luck for him?

Fang Changyun's heart trembled, Fang Yuan is not an ordinary person, killing him at this time is someone deliberately provoking? !
Thinking of this, Fang Changyun became even more angry, and said sharply: "Tell Huo Shan, I must find the murderer!"

The manager hurriedly nodded yes, and hurriedly backed out.

There were only two people left in the room, Cao Mian asked: "Fang Yuan Huo Shan, are you the two people from the Zhen Guojun who took refuge in you back then?"

Fang Changyun nodded, and said angrily: "What a waste!"

Cao Mian narrowed his eyes slightly, and said: "If he can achieve the position of commander, I'm afraid he is not completely useless. He was suddenly killed at this moment, didn't you think of something?"

Fang Changyun was taken aback, his face suddenly changed slightly, "You mean... the Zhen Guojun found out that they had betrayed?"

Cao Mian said: "It's not impossible. It's a miracle that the Zhen Guojun didn't find out for so many years."

Fang Changyun immediately became a little nervous, and said: "If so, the court..."

Cao Mian sighed and said, "Regardless of whether the imperial court discovered something or not, there are many nights and dreams. Originally, I thought that the imperial court would not have time to control us for at least three to five years. We still have at least one year to prepare calmly and beat him up at that time." I was caught off guard. But the matter at Yunhai Academy has always made me feel uneasy, and now a descendant of the previous dynasty has appeared out of nowhere, I am afraid that if it continues, our preparations over the years will be in vain."

Fang Changyun nodded, stood up and said coldly: "No matter who killed Fang Yuan, he is still on the island now! I don't believe it, I can't find him!"

In a remote courtyard on the other side of the Fang mansion, Fang Yan waved his hand to signal the people who came in to report to back down.

When he was the only one in the room, there was a complicated look on his calm face.

He raised his hand and took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and unfolded it. On the paper was a rubbing pattern.

It is two inches square, with complicated patterns and a square character in seal script.

As a son of the Fang family, Fang Yan naturally knew what it was.

He lowered his eyes and pondered for a while, then stood up and threw the paper into the incense burner in the corner of the study, and watched the paper burn completely in the incense burner before turning around.

"Come here." A moment later, two men who looked like guards opened the door and came in, bowing to obey the order.

Fang Yan looked sideways at the two of them, and said calmly: "Go and say something to Third Uncle. After the welcome banquet tonight, I will go to pay his respects to the old man."

"Yes, son."

On the other side, Huo Shan received the news of Fang Yuan's death, and his mood was also very complicated.

He guessed who killed Fang Yuan almost immediately, and couldn't help thinking in his heart, if his response that day was slightly wrong, would it be him who is lying here now?

The body of the listing was placed in a remote and uninhabited small courtyard in the northwest corner. This place is far away from the main courtyard in front, and it will not hinder the happy event in the past few days.Although the adopted son was killed the day before the birthday banquet, it was bad enough for the Patriarch of the Fang family.

Huo Shan stood in front of Fang Yuan's corpse, his eyes were still wide open, as if he was dying.

Huo Shan stepped forward and raised his hands to cover his eyes, and it took him a while to close them.

Looking at the blood hole in the corpse's heart and the knife in the throat, Huo Shan turned his head and asked the people next to him, "Are there any witnesses?"

The person standing next to him shook his head and said: "In broad daylight, there are no people in a place like the Red Silk Pavilion, but someone saw Commander Fang go there, but no one saw how he died, and no one saw him. Who is the murderer?"

Huo Shan said: "Fang Yuan went to the Red Silk Pavilion on a temporary basis, obviously he was followed by someone. Ask someone to check again, is there any suspicious-looking people nearby at that time?"

The people standing beside were a little distressed, and couldn't help but said: "Recently, there are a lot of outsiders in Yingzhou City, especially those... If you say that there are many people who behave suspiciously, how can we investigate?" The homeless people in the surrounding small countries are not very rule-abiding.

In the eyes of ordinary people in Yingzhou, they are probably suspicious people.

Huo Shan glanced at him coldly and said, "Go and investigate!"

"Yes."

"Wait!" The man was about to turn around and leave when Huo Shan suddenly stopped him.

Huo Shan stared at the corpse for a while, and suddenly tore Fang Yuan's skirt from him.Below Fang Yuan's collarbone, there is a dark green mark.

Both of them were taken aback for a moment, and the people next to them asked suspiciously: "What is this? Commander Fang even got a tattoo?"

Huo Shan said coldly: "This is the emblem of the former royal family." Didn't the Zhen Guojun do it?Why did the other party leave a mark?Deliberate provocation?Huo Shan was puzzled.

"I'll report to the Patriarch first." Huo Shan turned and walked out.

When the Fang family was making a big fuss in Yingzhou City because of Fang Yuan's death, Luo Jun was sitting in the teahouse listening to books with his chin resting on his hands.

After all, Yingzhou is different from the Central Plains, and even the books in the teahouse are different. Luo Junyao listened with gusto while eating melon seeds.

Qin Yao'er also listened with great interest, eating melon seeds more vigorously than Luo Junyao.

It wasn't until there was a noise downstairs, followed by the sound of a group of people's footsteps going upstairs, that the guests upstairs noticed that they were all looking towards the stairs.

Qin Yao'er leaned on the window and took a look, then turned her head and said to Luo Jun, "There are a lot of people coming outside."

Luo Jun glanced lazily, and said, "It's none of our business."

really?
Soon, several people dressed in Fang's bodyguard costumes came up, and the leader glanced at all the guests upstairs, and asked, "Is there any suspicious person coming in and out here today?"

The shopkeeper of the tea house who followed came up with a bitter face, and said: "My lord Mingjian, you can see that the people who can enter and leave our shop are all serious customers, and the younger two generations have been doing business in the city. How dare you take in bandits?"

Although the shopkeeper explained repeatedly, the man still ordered the people around him to search carefully every room in the teahouse.

He himself was standing in the lobby on the second floor, his eyes sharply scanning every guest sitting upstairs.If anyone feels suspicious, he will step forward and question him harshly.

Not only this teahouse, but the entire street was full of guards from the Fang family at this time. Obviously, all shops, inns and even residential buildings along the street had to be strictly inspected.

Although the guests were dissatisfied, they also knew that Fang's family had the final say on Yingzhou.

Of course the locals dare not provoke the Fang family, even less so the outsiders.After all, he is alone and weak on an isolated island far away from overseas. If someone is accidentally thrown into the sea, he can only accept his fate.

"What do you guys do?" The leading man walked to Luo Junyao's table and asked casually.

He didn't think that the two little girls in their teens would have anything to do with this matter, but only asked a question when he saw that the two little girls were not accompanied by their father, brother or elders.

Luo Jun smiled and said: "I came here to play with my brother, and my brother went to discuss business today. Uncle, what happened?"

The man didn't answer, just said: "Two little girls, don't run around."

Luo Jun said: "I didn't run around, we stayed in the inn next door."

"The team is upright, there is no suspicious person inside!" The person who went to search the private room came back and reported.

The man nodded, glanced at the guests upstairs, and said in a deep voice, "Come back!"

Seeing this group of people go downstairs and leave, everyone upstairs was relieved, and soon started discussing noisily again.

With such a big battle, it was obvious that something happened in the city.

Luo Junyao leaned against the window and watched those people leave the teahouse and continue to walk forward, obviously they wanted to continue to search other places.

"Yao'er, what do you think of them?" Luo Junyao asked softly.

Qin Yao'er said in a daze, "Ah? What's the matter?"

Luo Jun shook his head and did not answer her.

These people are obviously not ordinary guards, they are infinitely close to regular soldiers and horses, which can be heard from their titles to the leaders.

In terms of individual strength, they are naturally not as good as the elite Zhen Guojun and Ding Guo Jun, but if they are placed in the Wuwei Army, they are not too bad.

And these people are obviously not natives of Yingzhou, they can only be sent to Yingzhou from other places.

Crowds are useless, if you want elite soldiers, you must train them.

There is always the danger of being discovered when training troops in the Central Plains. It would indeed be a good idea to send people to Yingzhou for training.

(End of this chapter)