"At first, I just couldn't understand how a person with flesh and blood could die so cleanly."
"So I thought back little by little, and finally, I thought of the Imperial Prison, a problem that we chose to forget."
"Lin Kuang, how did you get out of the imperial prison?"
"This matter should be far less important than magical powers, right?"
"But why is it that Lin Kuang is willing to teach his magical powers but has always avoided mentioning the Imperial Prison?"
"I think it's not that he doesn't want to mention it, but he simply can't come up with a reasonable way to escape from the imperial prison."
"Put yourself in their shoes and imagine that if our Fang family caught someone with supernatural powers like this, we would definitely try to be gentle at first and try to subdue him."
"But as time goes by, they will definitely become tougher, and at the same time, they will be more cautious about his escape."
"If Lin Kuang had a way and a chance to escape from the Imperial Prison, it must have been during the first few years of his imprisonment, not now, more than 20 years later."
"When you think about it this way, everything makes sense."
Fang Lezhong's tone was firm, "It wasn't that Lin Kuang found a way to escape from the imperial prison, but that Emperor Yongtai found a way to force a confession out of Lin Kuang!"
"No, it's not necessarily forced."
Fang Shuyue shook his head grimly, "It could also be a deal."
"cooperate?"
Fang Manxia had just recovered from her shock, and she immediately believed it after hearing this: "Yes! As long as Yongtai tells Lin Kuang that it was our Fang family that leaked the news... Lin Kuang would wish our Fang family would be wiped out for the 20 years of imprisonment."
Fang Lezhong nodded, obviously thinking of this level, "If I'm not mistaken, Lin Kuang used his magical powers as a bargaining chip to ask Emperor Yongtai to help him get revenge."
"There is one more question."
Fang Shuyue suddenly asked, "Even if Yongtai sneaked into the Spring and Autumn Tomb, how did he solve the problem of fake death?"
"There is no basis for this, it can only be pure speculation."
Fang Lezhong was somewhat helpless. "The biggest possibility is that he concealed some of the abilities of his incarnation, and that fake death was a manifestation of this ability."
"Then forget about that for now."
Fang Manxia was eager to try. "If your guess is correct, then he must have used the formless clothes to disguise himself as a member of our Fang family. As long as we call the whole family together to discuss the matter and investigate one by one, we can find him out soon..."
"There's no rush for this."
Fang Shuyue interrupted Fang Manya and motioned to Fang Xianzong, "Go on."
"yes."
Fang Lezhong nodded and continued his analysis.
"After I realized that a member of the clan was replaced by the fake Lin Kuang, I wondered when he replaced the Fang family."
"Was it after Lin Kuang's death, or before?"
"If it's later, then the most likely ones are Fang Jingyan and Fang Letian."
"If it's Fang Letian's case, that shouldn't be possible."
"Because Fang Letian is in the Dharma Realm, even if Dou Tianyuan came, it would be impossible to kill him without causing any noise, not to mention that Fang Jingyan is watching him all the time."
Fang Lezhong said in a deep voice: "The most likely possibility is Fang Jingyan."
"That being said, it's not possible to replace Fang Jingyan in front of Fang Letian..."
Fang Shuyue's eyes turned cold, "Unless Fang Letian has reached some kind of cooperation with him?"
"I've thought about that, but with the Soul Locking Seal, this possibility is unlikely... Just be a little cautious."
Fang Lezhong shook his head. "Then, I thought, if Lin Kuang replaced our Fang family before he died, then when would that be?"
"The first person I thought of was Fang Jingyan."
"According to Fang Letian's description, Fang Jingyan took the initiative to find him in a panic after seeing Fang Xianzong's death. It was then that he coveted the magical power and Lin Kuang died."
"And when Fang Jingyan came out of the ground-level training hall and went to the foot of the mountain to ask to see Fang Letian, he had to pass by the pavilion on the mountainside."
Having said that, Fang Manxia couldn't help but feel puzzled and asked out loud.
"But the pavilion was surrounded by your lightning nets. How did he get out of the lightning nets, kill Fang Jingyan and take his place?"
Fang Manxia finished speaking, and seeing that her brother had no intention of objecting, she continued to add: "If he could ignore the lightning net, why would he have to wait until now?"
"Indeed."
"If he can ignore my lightning net, according to the habits of our Fang family, any member of the family who appears alone outside the mountain may be replaced by him. There is no need to wait for Fang Jingyan."
"But if we do this, we will have to risk the unknown strengths and weaknesses of the enemy and start a large-scale investigation of the entire clan... I am unwilling to do this."
"So, I tried to make sure he couldn't break through the lightning net first, and then look for the possibility of him replacing the tribesman."
“In the end, I actually found it.”
At this point, Fang Lezhong smiled bitterly and slowly uttered three words: "Fang Xianzong."
"Yes..."
Fang Manxia suddenly realized, "You once let Fang Xianzong and Lin Kuang be alone."
"Yes, besides me, Fang Xianzong is the only one who has been alone with Lin Kuang... In order to let the Sixth House take the lead."
Fang Lezhong was extremely depressed. "Now it seems that everything was just the plan of that Lin Kuang. The Fang Xianzong behind was always pretended by him."
"So, you think Fang Xianzong has died a long time ago, and Fang Jingyan, who is said to have discovered Fang Xianzong's death..."
Fang Shuyue slowly said the final conclusion, "Is it the incarnation of Emperor Yongtai?"
"Yes, only in this way can everything be explained."
Fang Lezhong nodded, "If he continues to use the identity of Fang Xianzong, he will soon be unable to refuse the teaching of magical powers, so he chose to let Fang Xianzong and Lin Kuang die at the same time."
"Fang Jingyan!"
Fang Manxia became excited. "Now that we have a specific target, we are more confident. We just need to summon many kinds of thunder to attack and take him down in one fell swoop, and then get the formless clothes from him..."
“No.”
Fang Shuyue interrupted Fang Manya again.
Fang Manxia was stunned.
"The Tianxuan Chronicle passed down by our ancestors does not conceal the past at all. Why? It is to make us, the descendants, remain vigilant against Daqing ."
Fang Shuyue's tone was slightly cold, "Think about it, if he is really Emperor Yongtai, since he dared to enter the Spring and Autumn Tomb alone, he must have prepared some means to deal with possible exposure."
"Brother, you are too cautious."
Fang Manxia did not notice her brother's tone and continued to talk to herself, "Even if Emperor Yongtai is very powerful, so what? He is the only one who is really powerful. If he is really powerful enough to not fear the Fang family, I am afraid he would have taken action long ago..."
"Shut up!"
Fang Shuyue shouted, "Indeed, he remains hidden because he cannot rely on his own strength to deal with the entire Fang family, but have you ever thought about how much it would cost us to control him? And is this price something the Fang family can afford at the moment?"
“…”
Fang Manxia's face suddenly froze, and she stammered for a while, but dared not say anything else.
"If he is really Emperor Yongtai, it is best not to confront him head-on unless it is absolutely necessary."
Fang Shuyue gave the two of them a sidelong glance.
"Are we going to let him stay hidden in the Fang family?"
Fang Manxia asked unwillingly, "He also has the Wuxiangyi that we urgently need..."
"actually……"
Fang Lezhong suddenly spoke up, "There is a way to verify Fang Jingyan's identity. Moreover, if my guess is correct, this method will not be discovered by him... Use the Soul Locking Seal to directly kill the soul belonging to Fang Jingyan!"
Fang Shuyue raised his eyebrows, "Do you know what the consequences will be if Fang Jingyan is not an impostor?"
"If this is the case, the Seventh House will not let me go."
Fang Lezhong nodded.
"You think too simply."
Fang Shuyue looked at Fang Lezhong deeply. "The existence of the Soul Locking Seal not only ensures the cohesion of the Fang family, but to some extent, it is a sword hanging over the hearts of all the Fang family members."
"The reason why our Fang family has been able to maintain its cohesion until now is because the Soul Locking Seal never moves lightly."
"Once it is used without any solid evidence and causes the death of innocent members of the clan, not only the Seventh House, but the entire Fang Family's Twelve Houses and tens of thousands of direct descendants will surely become disloyal."
"If it were a normal time, it would be fine. The Soul Locking Seal could forcibly suppress this matter and let time dilute everything, but now..."
As the patriarch of the ancient clan, Fang Shuyue must look at the overall situation and find the best option for the current Fang family. He cannot listen to the one-sided words of any member of the clan.
After all, the intrigues among the twelve families have never stopped.
"There is one more thing you must not forget."
Fang Shuyue said in a deep voice, "The deceased Fang Xianzong knew that the Spring and Autumn Tomb was about to collapse."
According to Fang Lezhong's inference, if Fang Xianzong knew, then it meant that Emperor Yongtai also knew.
Fang Manxia was shocked. "In this case, shouldn't we kill him as soon as possible?"
"No……"
Fang Lezhong's face looked extremely ugly, and he had obviously reacted.
"Why?"
Fang Manxia frowned.
Fang Shuyue said coldly, "Because the incarnation is a magical power."
"Even the Imperial Prison cannot restrict divine powers, let alone the forbidden coffin."
"Why do you think that the Yongtai Emperor, who is far away in the capital of Daqing, cannot learn about the movements of the Spring and Autumn Tomb through his clone?"
"You think we were the quickest to get the Wuxiang Clothes and then seize Baicao Garden."
"Or is it that Emperor Yongtai is targeting Ji Qingzhi and it would be faster to notify him directly?"
!!!
Fang Manxia finally understood and broke out in a cold sweat.
"Once Ji Qingzhi knows in advance that the Spring and Autumn Tomb is about to collapse, even if we obtain the Wuxiang Cloth from Emperor Yongtai's clone, we will never be able to seize Baicao Garden."
Fang Shuyue continued, "Even the Zheng family and the Lin family are eyeing us covetously and are ready to take a bite at any time."
"so."
"Even if it is confirmed that he is the clone of Emperor Yongtai, we still cannot do anything to him... On the contrary, we have to avoid him as much as possible and not let him see any clues. Let him stay in the Spring and Autumn Tomb safely."
"In this way, at least during the time he still needs to use the Spring and Autumn Tomb, we don't have to worry about anything."
At this point, both Fang Manxia and Fang Lezhong looked dejected, as if they had lost their parents.
Fang Lezhong gritted his teeth for a long while, then suddenly knelt down with a plop: "This is all caused by me, please punish me, uncle."
"Your original intention was also for the family. Moreover, the action of arresting Lin Kuang was discussed by the elders of the clan, so I nodded."
Fang Shuyue waved his hand, and an invisible force lifted Fang Lezhong up. "Besides, this matter is not unsolvable."
"Um?"
They both looked up.
"There are two ways that will not affect our family members and can solve this dilemma."
Fang Shuyue waved his hand confidently, "First, pretend that you know nothing and wait for Li Xiangxue's six-month term to end. Then, arrange for Fang Jingyan to escort Li Xiangxue to meet Ji Qingzhi..."
"Once they start fighting, we will launch a sneak attack..."
Fang Lezhong's eyes lit up, "No! We can pretend to help Ji Qingzhi, and when Ji Qingzhi is unprepared, kill him and seize the cave!"
"The risk is that we don't know whether Fang Jingyan will be interested in Ji Qingzhi. If he doesn't cooperate, or kills Li Xiangxue directly after leaving the Spring and Autumn Tomb, we will lose this important way to plan Baicao Garden... Don't forget, he also knows our purpose of befriending Li Xiangxue."
Fang Shuyue shook his head. "In the eyes of Emperor Yongtai, the threat posed by our Fang family is definitely greater than that posed by Ji Qingzhi. He definitely doesn't want to see our Fang family gain a new cave."
"really……"
The excitement that the two had just felt disappeared completely.
"The second method has a better chance of success, but the losses our Fang family will face may be even greater."
Fang Shuyue continued.
"What is it?"
The two listened attentively.
Fang Shuyue narrowed his eyes: "Find Ji Qingzhi and tell him that Emperor Yongtai has magical powers and his clone is in the Spring and Autumn Tomb!"
"!!!"
Fang Manxia and Fang Lezhong felt their scalps tingling.
"Use the magical power of Emperor Yongtai to lure them, and use the righteousness of the Taiping Dao to suppress them."
Fang Shuyue's tone was extremely deep, "And Ji Qingzhi doesn't know that we are plotting against him, so there is a high probability that he will take the bait."
"Once Ji Qingzhi also enters the Spring and Autumn Tomb..."
Fang Manxia added, "We can completely trap him in the cave and search for Baicao Garden outside at the same time."
"That's right. As for the price I mentioned..."
Fang Shuyue nodded. "As long as Ji Qingzhi enters the Spring and Autumn Tomb, Emperor Yongtai's clone will definitely guess our plan. In order to prevent us from succeeding, he is very likely to join forces with Ji Qingzhi... The good thing is that if Ji Qingzhi is alert and refuses to come, we still have a chance to act according to the first method."
"Brother, what a brilliant plan!"
Fang Manxia sighed sincerely.
"A strange plan is a helpless move due to insufficient strength or insufficient conditions."
Fang Shuyue waved his hand, "What I just said was all based on the fact that Fang Jingyan is the Yongtai Emperor's clone. I hope that there is no such thing as the Yongtai Emperor from beginning to end."
"Because the best and safest way is still to obtain a Wuxiangyi in secret and assassinate Ji Qingzhi."
"So, we have to wait until the results come out from the capital before considering this matter."
As he spoke, Fang Shuyue looked at Fang Manxia: "Any new news?"
"Some."
Fang Manxia replied seriously, "It is now basically certain that Wei Wuxie is Duan Wuxie. The problem is that the son of the Duke of Chengguo doesn't know much, and his memory must have been tampered with. So Leshan is going to the capital in person to capture the Duke of Chengguo."
"Is that so..."
Fang Shuyue thought for a moment and said, "Le Zhong, you should come with us. It would be best if we can get the Wu Xiang Yi. If we can't get it... I will go find Ji Qingzhi myself."
"personally?"
Fang Manxia was shocked, "Brother, you..."
"Don't worry."
Fang Shuyue waved his hand nonchalantly, "I am a fifth-level golden body, and a fifth-level Dharmakaya. My killing power may be slightly inferior to yours, but in terms of survival ability, there are very few people in the world who can surpass me."
That's how it was settled.
at the same time.
Almost at the moment when Fang Shuyue and the others made the decision, Fang Jingyan, who was tempering his body, suddenly .
"Yang Shen is warning you!"
Xu Chong's heart trembled, "My identity is exposed?!"
The moment just now was somewhat similar to the feeling before the alarm bell sounded.
It was just that it appeared extremely suddenly and disappeared extremely quickly, and the alarm did not really sound.
"No, it shouldn't be."
Xu Chong pondered for a moment and shook his head again, "If the Fang family discovered my identity, this feeling would not disappear so quickly... It should be Fang Lezhong. Because Fang Xianzong died, they became hostile to me, but in the end they quickly gave up targeting me."
After much thought, this is the only explanation that makes sense.
Unless the Fang family can create a means to block the induction like the forbidden coffin inside the Spring and Autumn Tomb...to be honest, there is no need for this.
If you really find out his identity, just kill him.
So Xu Chong didn't pay much attention to it and continued to strengthen his body.
“Soon.”
"The golden body turns..."
…
…
Capital city.
In a dark room, the 'bamboo pole' version of Duan Yuanyang looked anxious.
Opposite him sat two old men.
They were Fang Leshan and Fang Lezhong from the Fang family.
"What I mean is, you are sure that your nephew Duan Wuxie and your brother Duan Yuanming are dead, but you don't know at whose hands they died?"
Fang Leshan asked in a deep voice.
"If you tell lies, my Duan family will be extinct!"
Duan Yuanyang immediately expressed his opinion, and said it very straightforwardly, and then immediately changed the subject: "If there is anyone who knows, it must be my father..."
"He knew, but he didn't tell you?"
Fang Lezhong's tone was threatening.
"My Lord, my Lord!"
Duan Yuanyang quickly explained, "You are a great hero of the Taiping Dao, so you may not know much about what is happening in the capital... That old man has always looked down on me since I was born. He only has eyes for his precious second son and precious grandson."
"I know that."
Fang Lezhong stared at Duan Yuanyang closely, "But the problem is, now your brother and nephew are both dead, and you are the only heir to Duke Cheng. He has no choice at all."
"He has no choice?!"
Duan Yuanyang suddenly jumped up, his face full of resentment, "That old guy has too many choices!"
"You two adults may not know how many women there are in Duke Cheng's mansion over the past few years."
"See what I look like now? I'm like a starving refugee!"
"A few years ago, I wouldn't even have been able to squeeze through this door!"
"Guess what?"
"Just to be squeezed dry!"
"My Lords, I have already washed my body once, washed my body once!"
"Although I'm not as strong as you two adults, I can still be considered a master, right?"
"I almost died in a woman's belly!"
As Duan Yuanyang spoke, his resentment faded and he began to cry miserably: "That old man, he drugged me!"
"As soon as I opened my eyes, I drank the medicine, and as soon as I drank the medicine, I lost consciousness... Does he treat me as his son?"
"No! You're treating me like a stud!"
"If it is for the sake of continuing the Duan family's incense, I will just endure it."
"But he's not just doing this!"
"His real purpose is to pass on the title of Duke to another man in the Duan family other than me, bypassing me!"
"Ha! Why did I say that?"
"Because in the past few years, that old guy himself has been surrounded by women!"
Duan Yuanyang was crying and snotting, and he spat fiercely: "Bah! You are such an old and disrespectful person, and you even call me Duke of Ma. You have brought shame upon yourself and everyone in the city knows about it!"
This was such a great output that the two elders of the Fang family were stunned.
After a long while, Fang Leshan finally spoke: "Is he in the Duke's Mansion now?"
Upon hearing this, Duan Yuanyang's expression immediately changed and he smiled.
"It's in the Duke's Mansion, but you'd better wait for me to print it out."
Duan Yuanyang said quickly, "At the level of Duke, the mansion is guarded by magic soldiers built by the Ministry of Works. These magic soldiers have some early warning capabilities. If he escapes, it will be bad. We will all die then. So, we have to think of a way to trick him out, preferably out of the city. This way, we can ensure that this old thief is killed without alerting anyone."
“…”
Fang Leshan was speechless for a while, and said, "Tell me about your plan."
“It all starts with those women.”
Duan Yuanyang's expression was somewhat disdainful and somewhat complacent. "In the past few years, I have at least given the Duan family a few girls, but there has been no movement from him at all. He is such a waste..."
“Get to the point!”
There was already anger in Fang Lezhong's eyes.
For a man who has been instilled with family righteousness since childhood, if he didn't still need to use Duan Yuanyang, he would have wanted to slap him to death right now.
"Uh, yes, yes."
Duan Yuanyang quickly restrained himself, "Anyway, the Duan family doesn't have a third male heir right now. As long as I lie to him that I already have a son outside the city, he will definitely go with me... It just so happens that I sneaked out a year ago and spent a night in a small village sixty miles west of the city."
"That's possible."
Fang Leshan thought for a moment and nodded, "However, if I want to avoid any loopholes, I have to think about it again..."
In this way, the three of them conspired carefully.
Due to the cover-up of the Fang family's hidden power in the capital, no one knew about this meeting.
From the outside, it seemed that Duan Yuanyang, this despicable fellow, had just visited a brothel again and tortured and killed two female craftsmen.
Duan Rufeng also thinks so.
So, as soon as Duan Yuanyang returned home, he was forced to drink a bowl of medicine...
A week later.
Duan Yuanyang, who had lost a little weight again, was able to leave Duan Mansion.
However, this time, he did not stay in the capital to enjoy himself, but took a carriage and left the city with a large group of servants.
After traveling around for half a day, the convoy arrived at the small village that Duan Yuanyang had visited half a year ago.
Soon, a servant rode out on his horse happily and galloped towards the capital.