Chapter 99

Chang Fu glanced at Lin Nanqi and stammered, "Just say what you want to say."

Lin Nanqi nodded: "It's not that I'm holding you back, but I'm afraid you can't bear the injuries on your body."

As he spoke, Lin Nanjie looked at him with pity in his eyes.

"You have never seen the methods used by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court. The officials use a variety of interrogation methods. You are weak and have lost too much blood..."

Chang Fu's face turned pale instantly: "No, that can't be, didn't you hand over the blood letter in front of the emperor?"

Lin Nanjie sighed: "That being said, the civil and military officials will not assume that you are innocent just based on a letter written in blood."

"You are still not cleared of suspicion."

"Suspect?!" Chang Fu exclaimed in shock, "Why am I still a suspect? I didn't do anything!"

Lin Nan lowered his voice and pointed out: "You don't understand this. Anyone who is related to the case is a suspect."

Chang Fu's black triangular eyes looked around randomly: "Well, then I'd better recuperate first."

Lin Nanqi smiled with concern: "That's right. Once you get well, maybe the truth will come out. You can stay at my house and rest assured. I will take care of everything for you."

Chang Fu said cautiously, "Hey, thank you, sir."

Lin Nanjie asked Li Dai to send someone to guard Chang Fu, walked out of the west room and went around to the backyard.

There is a small garden in the backyard, which is not very complicated. Lin Nanjie sometimes comes here for a stroll after dinner.

At this moment, he stood on the cobblestone path in the backyard, turned around, and looked around. There were walls all around, and the roots of the walls had been cleared of trees. Outside the yard were tall green trees, and the green trees were dense and shady. It was a normal scene to see.

Lin Nanqi walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, walked to the foot of the wall, and stopped under a large tree with lush branches and leaves. Suddenly, he shouted to the top of the tree: "Is there anyone there?"

There was no one in the air to respond, only two pairs of mandarin ducks flying overhead.

Lin Nanjie was not discouraged and continued to shout, "Brother Dark Guard?"

Still no one answered.

When Lin Nanjie was about to shout for the third time, someone patted his shoulder from behind.

Lin Nanqi was startled and jumped three feet away. Looking back, he saw a man in simple clothes standing in front of him.

This man was eight feet tall, of ordinary appearance, with a resolute and calm expression. He stood in the small back garden, unmoved by anything.

Lin Nanjie asked tentatively: "Brother Dark Guard?"

The man clasped his hands together and gave Lin Nanjie a standard salute: "My name is Jing Zhu. Jing means to chase, and Zhu means to chase."

"Brother Jingzhu."

"I don't deserve it!" Jing Zhu took a half step back and saluted with his fists.

“…”

Lin Nanqi was not discouraged: "Where did Brother Jing come from?"

Jing Zhu pointed outside the courtyard and to the dormer window on the neighboring yard.

Lin Nanjie:?

Jing Zhu's dark face turned slightly red: "The attic is abandoned, so it's a good opportunity to hide."

Lin Nanjie suddenly realized what was going on and asked, "Then why isn't your outfit black?"

Jing Zhu looked puzzled: "Why do you have to wear black? It's too conspicuous."

Lin Nanqi slapped his thigh and said, "That makes sense!"

The more common it is, the less noticeable it is, just like a drop of water falling into the sea, and the sand returning to the dust, making it hard to find.

Jing Zhu didn't know why Lin Nanjie was so excited, so he clasped his fists and asked, "What do you want me to do, sir?"

Lin Nanjie approached and asked in a low voice, "Have any suspicious people appeared near the house in the past two days?"

Jing Zhu nodded: "Yes."

Lin Nanqi blinked and muttered to himself: "As expected, who are these people?"

Jing Zhu: "Lian Jiazi, a group of people were hovering nearby the night before yesterday, and they didn't leave until Chang Fu was rescued by the mansion."

"Yesterday during the day, a group of people pretended to be vendors and investigated the mansion. At night, two groups of people were watching nearby and kept an eye on the movements in the mansion. There were five of them in total, two of whom were good at martial arts."

"Five more people were added today."

Lin Nanjie was stunned, his eyes gradually emitting burning gazes: "So amazing? Even a few people know about it?"

Jing Zhu thought for a moment and said, "It's my job."

Lin Nanjie thought for a moment and said, "I came here for Chang Fu."

Jing Zhu nodded.

Thinking about what Jing Zhu had just said, Lin Nanjie suddenly said, "Today's manpower has doubled, but we have to take action tonight."

Jing Zhu: "Your Excellency is very smart."

Lin Nanqi couldn't help but ask again: "How many of us are there?"

Jing Zhu answered honestly: "Three people."

“Three people?!”

Jing Zhu said: "It is enough to protect you."

Lin Nanjie's handsome brows wrinkled slightly: "You can't just protect me, you can't let Chang Fu get away."

Jing Zhu nodded: "Your Excellency is right. Don't worry. Let's protect him together."

Lin Nanjie sighed again: "There are so many capable people around the emperor."

Jing Zhu blushed again: "Thank you for the compliment, sir. I am still far from it."

Lin Nanjie paced back and forth for two steps: "I think there will be a fierce battle tonight. Brother Jing, you must take people to protect Changfu and don't let him escape. I will go back and ask Uncle Li to arrange for the servants in the mansion to pay attention to the movement at night and be ready to fight at any time."

Although Jing Zhu was puzzled, he still obeyed the order and returned to the dormer window without anyone noticing. He wondered, "Three people are enough, why go to all this trouble?"

After Lin Nanjie finished explaining everything to Jing Zhu, he felt a little relieved.

I am in the light, and the enemy is in the dark.

The enemy could secretly let Chang Fu lie wounded at the door of his house. Then they could get Chang Fu out and say that he was severely tortured in his house and directly file a complaint with the Dali Temple.

Then the dirty water will splash a lot.

Lin Nanjie returned to the front yard and found Li Dai. He walked around the three courtyards and said as he walked, "It's too conspicuous to go through the door at night, and there will definitely be noise when the door is opened. Just leave one person to report the news."

"Send more people to watch the courtyard near the west chamber. Thieves will definitely attack tonight."

Li Dai listened and took notes. After Lin Nanjie finished speaking, he said, "Don't worry, sir. I will arrange it right away."

"By the way," Lin Nanqi added, "the emperor seems to have sent a lot of fruits and a large box of crabs. Let's prepare a sumptuous dinner to whet the appetites of the brothers in the mansion. Let's open a few jars of the wine that my uncle sent and let the brothers enjoy themselves."

Li Dai was stunned for a moment, then reacted and lowered his voice to ask: "Sir, are you trying to let the other side relax their vigilance?"

Lin Nanjie nodded: "Not bad, the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon, and we will give everyone a holiday to go home and reunite. Have fun in advance, and be careful not to drink too much."

Li Dai smiled, with wrinkles on the corners of his eyes: "Don't worry, sir, the little ones know what's going on."

Lin Nanqi waved his hand again to let Li Dai come closer, and whispered: "You have to help me invite a few distinguished guests."

Li Dai was puzzled: "Do you still want to invite guests? The food at home may not be enough, we need to go buy some more."

Lin Nanjie: "No need to buy, guests don't leave meals."

Li Dai's eyes widened: "Ah? On an empty stomach!"

Lin Nanzhen smiled and said, "I invited them to watch a play, not to have a meal. Oh, remember to go through the back door, don't let anyone see you."

Lin Nanjie reported the list of distinguished guests to Li Dai. Li Dai's expression changed, and he finally sighed: "I will definitely live up to your trust."

Seeing the sun setting, Li Dai went to invite people first, and then quickly went down to tell the servants to guard every important place. Tonight, eat first, and after eating, be sure to be alert. He also told the kitchen to prepare good wine and good food, and get ready for the show tonight.

Lin Nanqi stood in the corridor with his arms crossed.

He looked at the seemingly peaceful mansion, but in fact it was full of dangers. His eyes passed over the eaves, the corridors, the courtyard walls, and finally stopped at the west wing. His eyes lit up and he waved his sleeves: "Exciting!"

The setting sun, the moon rises above the branches.

A crab feast was held in the Lin Mansion with great excitement.

Lin Nanzhen peeled a female crab. The crab was very fat and had a lot of crab roe. As soon as the shell was opened, the delicious flavor of crab meat and crab roe wafted out. Lin Nanzhen used a small spoon to scoop out the crab roe and eat it.

He told Li Dai that he didn't need to serve him. Li Dai's room and the brothers underground were in a noisy and lively mood.

The noise lasted until the moon was at its highest point before they dispersed, supporting each other.

All the lights in the entire Lin Mansion were turned off. Everything was silent except for two lanterns at the door of the mansion, illuminating the rich and majestic words "Lin Mansion".

A dozen men in black climbed in one after another from the west wall of the Lin residence. They were extremely agile and jumped into the high wall under the cover of night.

The leader whispered, "Search separately and bring Chang Fu out tonight."

The rest of the men in black followed the order and dispersed like a tide, searching for Chang Fu.

The Lin Mansion was completely dark. The three-courtyard complex was neither big nor small. A group of men in black were searching everywhere in it as if they were in an empty space.

In the silent atmosphere, there was suddenly a sharp sound of porcelain breaking.

"Sweet nut!"

The ten men in black had excellent hearing ability, and they all froze when they heard the sound.

Which one of his kung fu was not good enough and exposed his tracks?

The leader gritted his teeth and said, "No matter what, keep searching!"

The rest of us searched with gritted teeth.

"That sound seemed to come from the west room. Could it be Chang Fu informing us?"

The leader nodded solemnly: "That makes sense, let's go and take a look."

The two arrived at the west room. The yard was very quiet, as if everyone was drunk and asleep. Only rustling sounds came from the west room. The two looked at each other and said, "This is it!"

The two men moved swiftly and agilely, pushing the door open silently. They saw a person sitting on the bed in the dark room, whose figure looked very much like Chang Fu.

The two were overjoyed and rushed into the west room.

In an instant, a huge net dropped from the sky and trapped the two people tightly.

"Oh no! We've fallen into a trap!"

Jing raised his head one by one, and two of his men immediately tied them up tightly.

The leader's face suddenly changed. He couldn't let everyone die here, so he shouted out of the window: "There's an ambush! Run!"

In the quiet and gentle moonlit night, no one paid any attention.

Hearing that all the thieves had been caught, Lin Nanjie immediately got up from the bed, put on his clothes, and went into the west room with a candlestick in his hand. Looking at... the thieves all over the floor, he actually felt like he had nowhere to go.

"They caught them all?" Lin Nanjie exclaimed in amazement.

Li Dai: "Not one is left behind!"

Lin Nanqi looked around again: "Where's Brother Jing?"

Li Dai raised his finger and pointed toward the sky.

Lin Nanjie looked up and saw three people sitting on the wide beam.

There really are three.

Li Dai said with a smile: "To capture a thief, you must first capture the leader. Lord Jing directly captured the assassin leader. The remaining eight people are not worth mentioning."

The leading assassin was so angry that his face turned red: "Kill me if you want, why humiliate us!"

Lin Nanjie was in a good mood. He took the candlestick and came closer to look at it. He smiled and said, "Why do you have to shout and kill all day long? I am kind-hearted and soft-hearted. How could I kill anyone?"

"Not only that, if you are willing to answer my questions, I will reward you handsomely!"

The assassin leader: "Dream on! We would rather die than surrender!"

Lin Nanjie: "It is said that the most loyal assassins would put poison in the gaps between their teeth so that they can bite it open and commit suicide. So why don't they just die?"

Assassin leader: “…”

Is this polite?!

Lin Nanjie thought: "Could it be that the balance has not been paid?"

The assassin leader suddenly raised his head and looked at him in disbelief: "How did you know?"

Lin Nanjie looked at him in bewilderment and touched his nose guiltily.

I am just making a random guess.

Lin Nanjie straightened his face and said, "You sneaked into my house tonight just to take Chang Fu away?"

The assassin leader: "No, we are here to kill you."

Lin Nanjie crossed his arms in front of his chest and said, "Whose assassin would choose the west chamber over the main chamber to kill the master? Don't say you suddenly thought that I was drunk and went to the wrong room."

The assassin's face was all blue. Is this possible?

“I have nothing to say!!!”

"Then I'll say it for you!!!" Lin Nanjie frowned and pointed at his nose and cursed, "You guys first beat Chang Fu so badly that he was covered in wounds and threw him at the door of my house, pretending to be bullied and beaten in Huaiqing Mansion. Do you think I can't see it?"

The assassin leader was stunned and gritted his teeth without saying a word.

Lin Nanjie snorted coldly: "Do you think I have only been in the court for a short time and cannot see these things? It takes at least half a month to travel from Huaiqing Prefecture to the capital by official road. Even if you take a carriage, it will take eight or nine days. In the current weather, if you don't treat it within eight or nine days, you will have pus and ulcers."

"You want to kidnap him now because I haven't handed him over to the Ministry of Justice yet, so you are doing it."

"Why are you in such a hurry to hand him over to the Ministry of Justice? Do you want to use him to bite me back?"

"Or you kidnapped him and beat him up until he was on the verge of death, then used the same old trick again, saying that I wanted to silence him because I was afraid he would tell the truth. He tried his best to escape and went to the Ministry of Justice to accuse me of accepting bribes, colluding with gangsters, and shielding criminals. That's true and it's not true!"

A group of assassins were horrified: "!!!"

The assassin leader's voice trembled: "You, how do you know?"

Lin Nanqie smiled wryly and said, "So, I guessed it right again."

The assassin leader was sweating profusely, his face was broken, and he said in a lost voice: "You guessed? How is it possible! You are not a Daluo immortal!"

Lin Nanjie bent down and half-crouched, his handsome eyes staring coldly at the assassin: "You went to such great lengths to frame me. I want to know who the scapegoat is that you used to trap me."

"I consider myself a kind person, always doing good to others, never offending anyone, and I have no profit to gain from it, yet you have framed me in every possible way."

"Who is behind you and wants to harm me? Or is there someone else?"

Lin Nan spoke every word with a clatter. Suddenly, he looked at the assassin with a searching look, slowly raised his hand, and covered the lower half of the assassin's face: "I was just saying that you look particularly familiar. I remember that you were among the assassins who tried to kill the emperor and me that night."

The assassin leader looked pale.

Lin Nanqi withdrew his hand and stood up:

"That's perfect. I will hand you over to the Emperor tomorrow."

"You are the assassin who killed the emperor, and now you are trying to frame me. It is obvious that your target is not me, but the emperor."

“Then the thinking becomes clear.”

"You are not trying to frame me, you are trying to frame the current emperor!!!"

The assassin's head collapsed completely, his face turned pale and his eyes were lifeless.

Li Dai clapped his hands and said, "Good! Your Excellency is right!"

Standing outside the west wing were Cai Yuanli, Zheng Yongnian, and Wang Wenhe.

Cai Yuanli was so choked by Lin Nanjie's logic that he was speechless.

Is this ok?

It seems... it works!

It's so logical, who can refute it?

Zheng Yongnian raised his head silently and sighed.

Why didn't such a talented person go to the Ministry of Justice?

There was no forced confession, no torture, and yet you managed to get the truth out of him?

Wang Wenhe: "My Lords, what do you think?"

Cai Yuanli rolled his eyes and said, "I am hungry. I need to eat my fill so that I can have the energy to deal with this ridiculous matter tomorrow."

Zheng Yongnian also said: "I smelled the aroma of crabs all night, but I just watched the show and didn't eat a single bite."

Wang Wenhe laughed loudly and said, "It's your fault!"