There is a god in the sky

Chapter 128 The Strange Case of Fuchunju 26

"I advise you not to make any big moves, otherwise the silver needles inside your body will accelerate the depletion of your vital energy," Shen Lan warned him.

"What kind of hidden weapon is this?"

"It's just a few silver needles with anesthetic. They mainly work on acupoints. Why don't you feel it? Can't you lift your right hand anymore?"

Manager Zhen raised his hand with difficulty, and just when Shen Lan thought that the other party was having some reservations, he suddenly shouted angrily and slashed at Shen Lan with a boning knife.

Shen Lan noticed the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth and thought to herself: He really is a battle-hardened warrior, ruthless enough to himself.

Shen Lan kicked up a basket from the ground to block it.

The basket was instantly split in two.

With that kind of strength, if Shen Lan hadn't had confidence in her silver needles, she would have thought he was completely unaffected.

Behind him was a solid wall, and Steward Zhen was clearly exhausted after his slash.

Good sign! If he were to slash me again, I would be seriously injured even if I didn't die.

The other person walked heavily towards her.

Shen Lan squatted down, grabbed a handful of sand from the ground, and threw it out.

This time, the other party knew it was a feint and instead of dodging, they sped up and walked forward.

He didn't expect that a strange smell would hit him the moment the sand fell.

Immediately afterwards, liquid splashed onto his face, accompanied by a stinging sensation.

"Ah..." he screamed in agony, covering his face with his hands.

Shen Lan was glad that she had brought enough equipment with her when she went out, otherwise she would definitely be the one who died in this battle tonight.

The liquid she threw out was sulfuric acid, which she had specially made for self-defense.

Shen Lan leaped high into the air, forcefully plunging a sharp knife into the top of the other person's head.

With a twist of the wrist, screams erupted, then subsided.

Footsteps approached her, and Shen Lan's nerves tensed up. Instinctively, she drew her knife and shot it at the other person.

"Clang!" The dagger was blocked.

Shen Lan turned around and saw Sui Ying standing behind her.

She felt as if all her strength had been drained away, and slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Brother Suiying, it's so good to see you!" These were the last words Shen Lan uttered before she closed her eyes.

When she woke up again, she found herself lying in a room in the backyard of the government office, with Xuan'er sitting beside her mending her clothes.

She shielded her eyes from the light with her hand.

The intense sunlight swept away the weariness of last night's life-or-death struggle in the alley.

She sat up and asked Xuan'er, "Are Lord Xiao and the others alright?"

"Sister, you're awake!" Xuan'er put down her things and ran over, then said in a tearful voice, "The adults are alright. Brother Suifeng was injured, and Brother Suiying carried you back."

"I know, I'll thank him properly later."

A knock came at the door, clearly Xuan'er's voice had alerted the people in the courtyard.

"Please come in." Shen Lan pulled on her coat from the side.

Xiao Ji pushed open the door and entered, followed by Fu Qingyan, walking quickly to the bedside.

His gaze fell on Shen Lan's face, and then he asked with concern, "How are you? Where does it hurt?"

Shen Lan moved her hands and feet, shook her head and said, "It's okay, there's nothing that hurts too much."

Her wounds were all bandaged up, probably with the best wound medicine, so she felt almost no pain.

She hurriedly said, "My lord, the person sent to kill me last night was the Princess Consort's men, she..."

Xiao Ji reached out to stop her and told her some good news, "The Princess Consort has turned herself in."

"What? How could she?"

She thought this woman was going to wage war against the government.

After all, given her status and the resources and connections she has, it would be too easy for someone to protect her.

They only need to put forward a scapegoat to perfectly cover up her crimes.

Moreover, she didn't personally handle those cases, so it would have been too easy for her to get away with it.

Why did she turn herself in?

Xiao Ji looked at her with heartache, "You killed two people last night. They were both personal servants of the Princess Consort. She can't deny that."

"If you weren't so capable, you'd be the one lying in a coffin right now."

Xiao Ji couldn't imagine how he would explain to Old Daoist Wei if Shen Lan died here.

Fu Qingyan hurriedly added from the side, "My cousin also encountered an assassin last night. If Suiying hadn't arrived in time, the two of them would probably be dead."

Shen Lan: "By the way, how are the two of them?"

Xiao Ji shook his head and said, "It's alright, don't worry."

Fu Qingyan secretly pinched Xiao Ji's arm, and the latter visibly flinched.

"Hmph! My cousin only injured his arm, but it was a long cut. Sui Feng was injured more seriously. Prince Zheng sent five doctors to treat him, so his life was not in danger."

Shen Lan secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

This was really close.

Fu Qingyan was furious. He was kept at the Prince Zheng's mansion, enjoying a life of luxury, while his cousin and the others were out there facing life and death.

He felt he was incredibly disloyal.

"How will this case be judged?" Shen Lan asked, concerned about this.

Xiao Ji's expression was rather unpleasant.

“Those who died were all people from the Prince’s mansion. As long as Prince Zheng and the young prince do not pursue the matter, the princess will be fine.”

Fu Qingyan chimed in, "It's their own family's case, yet they're troubling outsiders to investigate. Now everyone in the Zheng Prince's mansion is ashamed and will definitely protect the Princess Consort."

This made them feel like they were doing something pointless.

"Alright, it's good that everyone's safe. Can we set off soon?"

Shen Lan wanted to leave. The bureaucratic atmosphere in the Tanzhou government made her very uncomfortable.

Perhaps because this was the fiefdom of the King of Zheng, the government officials followed the King's lead.

With less autonomy, officials have become slow and perfunctory in their work.

"Yes, we'll set off tomorrow. The bandits we asked the authorities to investigate are probably nowhere to be found."

They originally came ashore to catch thieves, but instead of catching them, they almost lost their lives.

Fu Qingyan moved in to live with Xiao Ji.

He was very talkative, chattering away in Shen Lan's ear all day long, mostly talking about gossip from the Zheng Prince's mansion, which made Shen Lan feel less bored.

"Princess Zheng is truly a fairy-like figure; you can't tell she's already forty. I've heard she's devoted to Buddhism and eats vegetarian food every day, a completely different personality from Prince Zheng."

"Oh, right, I also met the person my sister sent. He told me that my sister has persuaded the emperor not to revoke my title of heir apparent, but on the condition that I return to Bianjing before the end of the year."

Shen Lan calculated the days and figured that as long as everything went smoothly on the road, she could still arrive before the New Year.

"Your sister loves you very much."

Although Shen Lan had never met the favored Consort Li, she could deduce from Fu Qingyan's few words that she was a smart and beautiful girl.

"Yes, my cousin was right to scold me back then. I don't care what happens to me on my own, but I still have my mother and sister. They can't be laughed at because of me."

Shen Lan asked with a smile, "It's good that you can understand. It's not that you have to fight for this position, but that this position doesn't just belong to you alone."

Although Shen Lan had been an ordinary citizen in both her lives, she knew that the more prestigious one's background, the more interests were involved.

Fu Qingyan is the future Marquis of Pingyang. His loss of this status means that his mother will have to bow down to the concubine, and that his sister may face falling out of favor.