Under One Person: Starting from the Inheritance of Gods

Chapter 401 Shadow: This is a huge black pot, I can't carry it!

Lin Gong's death, in some ways, was exactly what Emperor Qing wanted, especially since he died at the hands of a grandmaster swordsman.

According to Fan Xian's account of the assassination attempt on Niulan Street, including Si Gu Jian, there are now two grandmasters of swordsmanship.

Furthermore, since Fan Xian was in the Kyoto government office when Lin Gong died, and there were many witnesses, the blame for Lin Gong's murder was naturally shifted to the Grandmaster who assassinated Fan Xian.

As for the reason!
Chen Pingping had already made his choice. Lin Gong was involved in the Niulan Street case, and perhaps he knew the true identity of that hidden grandmaster. Therefore, the newly promoted grandmaster killed Lin Gong to silence him.

In other words, both Fan Xian and Lin Gong were victims, but Fan Xian was lucky enough to survive the attack of a Grandmaster, while Lin Gong was not so fortunate.

Of course, Lin Ruofu couldn't just trust Chen Pingping so easily.

He still has two suspected targets.

Fan Xian!

And Meng Fan!
Fan Xian was suspected because he learned from a Northern Qi spy that Lin Gong was the mastermind behind the Niulan Street case. Perhaps out of revenge, Fan Xian killed Lin Gong.

However, there is a prerequisite: Fan Xian needs to hire a Grandmaster to help him.

Coincidentally, Meng Fan was a Grandmaster and had a good personal relationship with Fan Xian.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Inside the Lin residence, candlelight flickered.

Lin Ruofu sat alone at his desk, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the celadon teacup. The tea in the cup had long since cooled, reflecting his slightly distorted image.

Outside the window, the bamboo shadows swayed gently, their rustling sound like fine stitches, tightening the tangled mess in his heart.

He suddenly raised his hand and slammed the teacup down.

The porcelain base struck the sandalwood with a crisp "crack." Tea splashed out, leaving a dark stain on the table, much like the blood that had seeped onto Lin Gong's clothes that day.

“Master.” Yuan Hongdao’s voice came from outside the curtain, carrying a deliberate tone of caution.

Lin Ruofu's fingertips trembled slightly as his sleeve swept across the water stains on the table: "Come in."

Yuan Hongdao lifted the curtain and entered, bringing in a wisp of night breeze.

He noticed the water stains on the Prime Minister's sleeve, his eyes flickered slightly, but he only presented the secret report in his hand: "The testimonies from Zuixianju are all complete. The poet was having a banquet and composing poems on the first floor at 3:45 PM that day, and it didn't end until 7:00 PM."

"During the banquet, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies accompanied the guests, and the waiters came in and out to refill the wine no less than ten times."

Lin Ruofu took the secret report, the pages rustling in his hands.

He stared at the densely packed ink characters and suddenly felt that the strokes were jumping, like countless mocking faces.

"Where's Fan Xian?"

"Still in the government office."

Yuan Hongdao said in a low voice: "Many officials and yamen runners in the capital city witnessed that Fan Xian was still busy with those case files that day and did not leave the capital city at all."

The candle flame popped loudly, and Lin Ruofu's shadow flickered on the wall.

He raised his hand and pressed his temple, where a vein was throbbing. All the evidence was airtight, as if someone had prepared an impenetrable defense, waiting for him to verify it one by one.

Could it be that Lin Gong was really killed by that newly promoted Grandmaster?

"What a perfect... flawless."

He squeezed out those words through gritted teeth, then suddenly slammed the secret report on the table and let out a cold laugh.

The pages rustled open, revealing the last page with bright red fingerprints—the testimonies signed by the officials and literati who had attended the banquet that day. The vermilion was as vivid as blood in the candlelight.

Yuan Hongdao lowered his head and remained silent. He saw the Prime Minister's hand pressing on those fingerprints, his pale knuckles gradually turning bluish-white, as if he wanted to grind those red marks into his bones and blood.

The night wind swept through the hall, carrying the damp chill unique to early spring. Lin Ruofu suddenly felt a tightness in his chest; the tangled mess had finally become a knot.

He looked out at the dark night and vaguely saw Gong'er with her hair tied up. The boy held up his sword, turned around and smiled at him, and the hair ribbon fluttered in the wind like a butterfly breaking free.

"check."

Lin Ruofu could almost hear his own hoarse voice, "Continue investigating Si Gu Jian."

"Also, I want to know why Gong'er is so determined to kill Fan Xian, and who exactly is instigating him behind the scenes!"

Yuan Hongdao bowed in agreement and gently closed the door as he left. Silence returned to the study, with only the candle wax falling silently, forming a hideous mass on the bronze lampstand.

Lin Ruofu was left alone by the candlelight, shed two lines of tears without realizing it.

The pain of losing a child in middle age is excruciating!

Besides Lin Ruofu, Fan Xian also took over the case of Lin Gong's murder.

After all, he is now the Assistant Prefect of Kyoto Prefecture, responsible for investigating and arresting thieves and apprehending criminals. In the end, the case returned to Fan Xian's hands after going around in circles.

However, after examining the wound, Fan Xian's expression turned strange; it was clearly different from what Wu Zhu had said!

According to what Wu Zhu said before, he should have killed Lin Gong, but now the wounds clearly don't match up.

Just when Fan Xian was completely baffled, he finally noticed a subtle difference in the wound, because it had been re-treated.

Anyone who has studied coroner's work or forensic medicine knows that the main difference between injuries to the living and injuries to the dead lies in the physiological reactions and wound characteristics.

Wounds sustained before death may show blood clots and blood infiltration because living organisms have the ability to coagulate; while wounds sustained after death only show blood deposition in the livor mortis area, with no coagulation reaction at the wound site.

Before death, due to muscle elasticity, the skin and tissues at the wound edges will contract and evert due to muscle elasticity; after death, the wound tissues are loose and the wound edges are neat, and the tissue contraction is different in the two cases.

From the perspective of inflammatory response, local wounds before death will show immune responses such as redness, swelling, and leukocyte infiltration, while wounds after death will not show such responses.

There are many other similar issues.

Although the wounds of Lin Gong and his other guards looked very similar to the wounds they had sustained before their deaths, they were ultimately different.

It is likely that after Wu Zhu killed Lin Gong, someone else took action against these "corpses" in a very short period of time.

and……

Fan Xian smelled a special poison from the corpses, a poison known only to his master Fei Jie and a few close disciples.

Because this poison was only mildly toxic, it could stimulate the body to activate itself. Fei Jie was always traveling around, eating and sleeping outdoors, and had a good appetite, so he used this poison to preserve meat.

Fei Jie then used its properties to develop a pill that temporarily enhances strength, which can be considered as part of his three strengths.

"Dynamic Powder!"

Fan Xian muttered to himself, uttering the name.

At the same time, Fan Xian became increasingly certain that the person who cleaned up Wu Zhu's mess was definitely from the Supervisory Council, and most likely from the Third Bureau, or perhaps it was instructed by Chen Pingping himself.

Fan Xian looked at Lin Gong's corpse with mixed feelings. After much consideration, he ultimately chose to bury the truth in his heart.

Sometimes, concealing the truth is a way to solve the problem.

At the same time, he looked at the files on the table and suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly, "Am I not one of them too?"

(End of this chapter)