In the summer of the fourth year of the Qingli period, there was a loud noise like thunder in the sky. It was a big star that was seen in the suburbs of Kyoto and fell into the Lin family manor.

Instantly everyone near and far could see the flames, which illuminated the sky. The shock was felt over a hundred miles away, and the emperor also heard it. He was shocked and sent the Supervisory Council to investigate. They saw that all the fences of the Lin family were burned, and the fire in the garden was still not extinguished, and it was too hot to approach.

The Censorate urgently reported the incident to the emperor, who was moved by the might of heaven and the inability of human power to control it, so he called it a punishment from heaven. He ordered the Honglu Temple to prepare for the relevant matters urgently, intending to burn incense and bathe in three days and enter the Qing Temple to offer sacrifices to heaven.

…

…

That night, in Fan Mansion, Kyoto.

Fan Xian paced back and forth in the room, looking a little anxious.

Suddenly, the bedroom window opened quietly, and two figures emerged from it and landed lightly in front of the window.

Fan Xian immediately turned around, saw the two familiar faces, and strode forward.

"Brother Mu, Uncle Wuzhu, you are finally back!"

"Do you know what happened outside the city today? A meteorite suddenly..."

Before Fan Xian could finish his words, Wu Zhu put the body down from his shoulders.

Fan Xian stopped and looked at the unconscious man at his feet and asked in amazement: "Who is he?"

Wu Zhu said slowly: "The second son of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Lin Gong."

"...Second brother-in-law?!" Fan Xian was full of surprise and couldn't help asking, "Why did you tie him up and bring him back?"

Wu Zhu said calmly: "He is the mastermind behind the Niulan Street assassination."

These words were like a bolt from the blue, causing Fan Xian to stand there in a daze, motionless for a long time.

After a long while, Fan Xian asked in a difficult tone, "What do you mean?"

Yamu walked out from behind Wu Zhu and explained softly, "On the surface, Wu Bo'an is wavering between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, but in fact, he has already secretly joined his old friend from his youth, the current Prime Minister Lin Ruofu."

"The real murderer you found out from Si Lili is actually a staff member of the Prime Minister's Mansion."

Fan Xian came back to his senses, suppressed his shock, frowned and asked, "How did you know such a secret news?"

Yamu sighed and said, "Of course I saw it with my own eyes."

Wu Zhu nodded and said, "I got Wu Bo'an's name today, so I went to investigate and found that he was picked up by the Xiangfu's convoy in the early morning and sent to a manor outside Kyoto."

"I came to the bookstore to look for you, but was stopped by Mu Ya. He said he wanted to go with me, and I agreed."

"Then we went to the manor, where we met Wu Bo'an and Lin Gong..."

Fan Xian was still immersed in the shock of 'my second brother-in-law wanted to kill me' and did not connect this matter with the meteorite.

He quickly asked, "What about Wu Boan?"

Wu Zhu said calmly: "He's dead. I killed him."

Yamu added: "And it's not just Wu Boan. All the security forces in the manor were killed by the fifth brother. Now, except for the second son Lin Gong under your feet, no one knows about this."

Wu Zhu glanced at him and emphasized: "I said, I only killed Wu Boan, they wanted to block the way, don't blame me."

Yamu shook his head and said, "Everyone serves his own master. I don't blame you."

As the two were talking, Fan Xian seemed to suddenly remember something. He widened his eyes and looked at them in disbelief.

"Wait... wait!" Fan Xian swallowed his saliva and asked with difficulty, "Is the manor you are going to owned by Lin Gong, and is it only about 18 miles away from Kyoto?"

Wu Zhu nodded and said, "That's right."

Fan Xian's eyes widened immediately: "What's going on with that meteorite?!"

He saw the secret report from the Supervisory Council and felt the strong shock, and he was almost going to the scene to watch it in person.

So he was very sure that the meteorite incident was true, and from Wu Zhu's description, the place where it fell seemed to be the manor they were heading to!

Facing Fan Xian's nervous and puzzled gaze, Wu Zhu was silent for a long time and slowly shook his head.

“…I don’t understand it either.”

Yamu coughed twice and said seriously, "We killed Wu Bo'an in that manor and took Lin Gong away. Not long after we left, we found a meteorite flying from the sky and falling right in the center of the manor."

Fan Xian's eyes widened: "Is it such a coincidence?"

Yamu nodded and said, "Yeah, I was also shocked at that time."

Fan Xian stared without saying anything for a long time. Deep in his heart, he felt a sense of collapse that he was not sure whether it was shock or comedy.

"...The Great Meteorite Technique, right? What Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu?"

Fan Xian couldn't help but complain.

Yamu looked at his expression and calmly changed the subject, "Apart from the incident itself, this is also a good thing for us."

"According to my observation, the meteorite was quite large. After it fell, the entire manor was razed to the ground. All traces were destroyed. No one can know what happened in the manor."

"Even if you decide to kill Lin Gong now, no one will ever associate it with you."

As soon as these words were spoken, Fan Xian was successfully diverted from the topic.

"Kill Lin Gong?" Fan Xian was stunned for a moment, frowned and asked, "Why should I kill him?"

Wu Zhu said calmly, "Because he planned the Niulan Street assassination case, and because he wanted to kill you."

Fan Xian's face changed slightly, and he finally began to focus his thoughts back on this shocking truth.

The person who wanted to kill him was not the crown prince, nor the second prince, but his second brother-in-law...

Now Fan Xian was in a dilemma.

He originally wanted to do as Wang Qinian advised and severely punish the spokesperson of the mastermind before tracking down the real mastermind to show that he was not someone to be trifled with.

But now, Wuzhu and Yamu actually brought the mastermind directly to him.

Although there are still some doubts about the mastermind behind the assassination, based on Wu Zhu's description of the scene, this person must be the one who directly planned the assassination.

"How come he is Wan'er's brother..."

Fan Xian looked at the unconscious Lin Gong on the floor with a sad face. He was torn between his conscience and his desires, not knowing how to deal with the situation.

Seeing this, Yamu sighed inwardly and said, "Fan Xian, how about this? We lock him up first. You think carefully about whether to let him go or kill him tonight. We'll give you a definite answer tomorrow."

“…Alright.”

Fan Xian nodded slowly, his heart still conflicted.

Wu Zhu turned around, picked up Lin Gong, and left the room with Ya Mu.

In the dark night, the two stood on the roof of Fan Mansion.

Wu Zhu said coldly, "I have long said that Fan Xian cannot make a decision, and taking Lin Gong away will definitely be a failure."

Yamu glanced at him and said, "Don't worry, wait two days and see if it's a failure."

Wu Zhu looked at him silently without answering, then turned around and left with Lin Gong.

…

…

At the same time, Prime Minister Lin Ruofu entered the palace overnight to meet the emperor.

"Minister Lin, I won't say anything more. Just take a look for yourself!"

As he spoke, Emperor Qing handed the memorial from the Supervisory Council to Lin Ruofu.

Seeing this scene, Lin Ruofu's heart skipped a beat and he had a bad premonition.

Then he kowtowed to thank the emperor for his grace, then took the letter with both hands and read it with a slightly gloomy face.

The content of the memorial was very long. To put it simply, the Supervisory Council discovered the truth about Wu Bo'an's assassination plan and followed the trail to the manor on the outskirts of Kyoto.

However, at this time, the manor had been destroyed by a meteorite, and all traces had been violently buried. Even a professional organization like the Supervisory Commission could not find any clues or traces from the scene after the meteorite crash.

However, the Supervisory Council still discovered the disappearance of Lin Gong, the second son of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Combined with the ownership of this manor, the Supervisory Commission reasonably inferred that Lin Gong might have been buried under the meteorite together with Wu Boan...

Seeing this, Lin Ruofu's fingers holding the memorial trembled.

But soon he calmed down, finished reading the rest of the content, and then closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, Lin Ruofu's face had become expressionless, as if he had turned back into the powerful Prime Minister Lin.

"Your Majesty!" Lin Ruofu knelt on the ground and saluted. His movements were vigorous and powerful, as if he was not affected by the pain of losing his son at all. "Wu Bo'an colluded with the Northern Qi spies and assassinated the son of an important official of the court. He deserved this punishment from heaven."

“…”

Emperor Qing sat on the dragon bed, glanced at him, and said lightly: "What about your son?"

Lin Ruofu replied without changing his expression: "My son is young and ignorant, and he has always liked to make friends with knights, so he has been influenced by a lot of chivalrous spirit."

"From what I have seen, maybe Wu Bo'an deceived me with his words, and out of a sense of loyalty, I helped him escape from Kyoto!"

"Oh?" Emperor Qing raised his eyebrows and asked with interest, "So you don't know about it?"

Lin Ruofu said solemnly: "If I knew, it would be impossible for Wu Bo'an to escape from the capital, and it would be even more impossible to place him in the manor under the name of the Lin family as proposed in the memorial."

"Well, that makes sense."

Emperor Qing nodded, looked at him with a half-smile and said, "You old fox, although you are a bit cunning, you are always experienced and smooth in doing things. It is impossible for you to make such a mistake."

"It seems that Lin Gong and Wu Bo'an did this without telling you..."

Lin Ruofu's eyes moved slightly, and he immediately knelt on his knees and kowtowed deeply in worship.

"My son has been wronged and deceived. Your Majesty, please understand!"

“…”

Emperor Qing frowned, looked at Lin Ruofu's kneeling back and said calmly: "Are you trying to make me deceive the heavens and absolve your son of guilt?"

Lin Ruofu crawled on the ground, without raising his head, and replied: "I dare not, but the dead are the most important, and the matter of heaven's punishment has not yet been determined. I beg Your Majesty to keep the dead taboo so that I can send the child to heaven in peace."

"What a definite conclusion!"

Emperor Qing sneered: "Lin Ruofu, for the sake of your son, you dare to disrespect even the heavens?"

Lin Ruofu did not reply, but seeing that he was still crawling on the ground, it seemed that he had responded silently.

Emperor Qing narrowed his eyes, looked at him for a while, and suddenly sighed and said, "Okay, get up!"

"I will have the Overwatch Council continue to investigate your son's case. Don't be too sad, and don't rush to hold a funeral. The Overwatch Council has not yet found your son's body at the site where the meteorite fell. Maybe... he's not dead yet!"