Chapter 281: The Jiaofangsi Murder Case

Princess Lin'an hadn't slept well for several days. She had been thinking about how to ask Li Changan for the second half of The West Chamber in a decent manner.

But after thinking about it, she just couldn't find an appropriate way to do it. After all, she couldn't let outsiders know that she was reading a banned book.

She was not sure now whether Li Changan gave her The West Chamber intentionally or unintentionally.

Of course, Lin'an could pretend that she had not read it, and then go and question Li Chang'an why there was a banned book among the books given to her.

But if that happens, she might never see the second half of Romance of the West Chamber.

If she directly asked for the second half of the banned book, wouldn't it be too shameless? Where would the princess's dignity and authority be?

"Oh... it's so difficult."

When Princess Lin'an was in a dilemma, a palace maid brought a message, "Your Highness, Li Chang'an has started selling calligraphy and paintings."

In order to improve his literary and artistic ranking and make money and accumulate wealth, Li Changan started auctioning calligraphy and paintings again.

Princess Lin'an was disappointed when she heard this. No matter what calligraphy and paintings Li Changan sold, he would never sell The West Chamber.

"Forget it... I'm going all out. I'm going to catch Li Changan this time!"

Having made up her mind, Bian Bian once again went to Li Changan's door.

This time, she did not pursue the fact that Li Changan did not come to greet her, but went straight to Li Changan's study.

"Humph!"

Princess Lin'an threw The West Chamber on Li Chang'an's desk with a cold face, looking extremely majestic.

"I can't believe that Mr. Li Changan, who is famous in the capital, actually wrote a banned book."

Li Changan ignored Bian Bian's cold pretty face, but picked up the book and flipped through it. This book was new when it was given away and no one had read it.

But now, the book was obviously a little loose, and the page about the affair between a man and a woman was a little worn out.

"Um……"

Li Changan smiled but did not laugh out loud, giving face to Biao Biao. After all, young girls are all young.

Lin An blinked her beautiful peach blossom eyes unconsciously and said unnaturally, "Li Changan! What are you laughing at? I haven't read this book."

Li Changan kept flipping through the book. She was very nervous, but she quickly regained her confidence. As long as she refused to admit it, no one would dare to say that she had read it.

"I originally wrote this for Lingyue to pass the time, but I accidentally put it together with the book for the princess. I won't make this mistake again."

Li Changan said this with a half-smile, and Princess Lin'an felt inexplicably disappointed, but she still continued to perform according to her pre-made plan.

Princess Lin'an put on a righteous look and said, "Mr. Li, you actually wrote a forbidden book to a maid. Do you know that this is against etiquette?"

"Really? Then it's better to burn the second half of the book I just wrote."

Li Changan ignored Princess Lin'an's surprised look and wonderful expression when she heard this, and shouted to the outside of the door, "Lingyue, come here."

After Xu Lingyue came in, Li Changan took out a brand new book from the bookshelf behind him and handed it to her, "Princess Lin'an has ordered that you can't read this book anymore. Burn it immediately."

"Yes, yes, yes! Sir."

Xu Lingyue was extremely nervous. After all, Princess Lin'an looked unhappy when she came in. She took the book without hesitation and walked out of the study in small steps.

"Hey who! Wait a minute!"

Princess Lin'an was anxious and started shouting without thinking.

When Xu Lingyue heard that Lin'an was anxious, her whole body shook violently. She turned around, lowered her head and confessed to Princess Lin'an.

"Your Highness, Lingyue is wrong. Lingyue will never read this kind of book again."

Lin'an looked at Xu Lingyue's nervous expression, as if she had committed a serious crime, and her face couldn't help but blush. After all, she had read many more banned books than Xu Lingyue.

"Lingyue, right? Put the book on the table first. This is not your fault. It's all your fault that Mr. Li didn't follow the rules. You all go out first. I'll have a good talk with Mr. Li."

Afterwards, Xu Lingyue and the palace maids left the study, leaving only Princess Lin'an and Li Chang'an in the room.

"Cough cough!"

Princess Lin'an held the shelf, coughed twice, and her mind was racing with thoughts on how to bring the book back to the palace safely.

But to her surprise, Li Changan picked up the book and walked straight up to her.

"Li Changan, what are you going to do?"

Li Changan walked closer and closer, and Princess Lin'an subconsciously stepped back nervously until she had nowhere to retreat and her back hit the wall.

The two people were facing each other, their breathing could be heard and their eyes met.

"You! Be bold!"

Lin'an could feel that Li Chang'an was staring at his face unscrupulously, without any respect at all.

She had never felt this kind of gaze from a man before. After all, no man would ignore her identity like this, which made her very uncomfortable.

Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, and her breathing became rapid due to nervousness. She could even hear her own heartbeat.

Princess Lin'an couldn't help but feel a little dazed at this moment. She wondered if this was also the feeling when the men and women in the banned books got close to each other.

"I am the princess, please step back..."

Princess Lin'an's words came to an abrupt end, because Li Chang'an gently put the book into her hand, and then whispered into Princess Lin'an's earlobe, "Don't let others see it."

These words blew onto Lin'an's fair and delicate earlobe. The man's unique breath made her shrink her neck. Her whole body couldn't help but tremble, and her breathing seemed to stop.

Then, Li Changan's handsome face, with a smile on his face, gradually retreated.

Lin'an felt his cheeks getting a little hot. He hurriedly stuffed the book into his sleeve and walked out in a hurry.

"Li Changan, you must not tell anyone about what happened today!"

"What's the matter?" Li Changan asked harmlessly.

Lin An covered his feverish face with his hands and was suddenly speechless. "Books, books."

"Your Highness, please wait a while before going out. It may be inconvenient to go out now."

Lin'an guessed that his face must be very red, and it would be really embarrassing to go out like this.

Li Changan counselled, "Actually, these books are nothing. I don't know why they are banned. Men should get married when they are old enough, and women should get married when they are old enough. If they love each other, they should have the freedom to get married."

Lin'an sat back down, trying to forget the blushing and heart-pounding feeling she had just had, but after seeing what had just happened, she became bolder.

"Li Changan, I'm telling you, from today on, we are grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

But if my father knew that you gave me the forbidden book, I would be scolded at most, but you would lose your head. "

After this incident, Lin'an completely regained her cute and adorable nature, without even a trace of princess airs left.

"Your Highness, this means I am guilty of the same crime as Henghui."

Hearing Henghui's name, Princess Lin'an pinched her waist and stood up, "Henghui is innocent!" "If you ask me, there is nothing wrong with eloping. The mistakes are Pingyang and Henghui who are too stupid. If they eloped with someone like you, who can harm them?"

Lin'an said this without even thinking about it, and it was obviously a well-thought-out opinion on her part.

"Princess is right. It is Pingyang and Henghui who lack the ability to protect themselves."

Hearing Li Changan's affirmation of her opinion, Princess Lin'an immediately smiled, feeling that she had found a soulmate. Her charming peach blossom eyes were watery and full of charm.

"So you agree with me too! When I first saw you, I thought you were a good person. Now it seems that I have excellent taste!"

"The matter of the banned book is a secret between the two of us. Don't worry. As long as you don't offend me, I will keep it a secret for you."

"Especially Huaiqing, you must not let her know that she has loved bullying me since she was a child!"

Before he knew it, Lin'an had started talking and couldn't stop chattering.

"Li Changan, I'm leaving now. I'll come and play with you later."

Lin'an herself didn't know why, but she was in a particularly good mood today. If she had known it would be so easy to get the second half of the book, she would have come to her house a long time ago. Why would she have to wait so long?

On the carriage back to the palace, Princess Lin'an held her chin with her hands, a smile on her lips, recalling the feeling of blushing and heartbeating just now.

She touched her earlobe again and fanned her ears with her hands, but there was no tingling or itchy feeling, but it was very comfortable.

Since it cannot be copied, I can only savor it over and over again. This feeling is actually more interesting than reading a storybook.

That night, Princess Lin'an finished reading the story of the West Chamber.

To her surprise, after writing The West Chamber, there was the beginning of another story, called The White Snake is Imprisoned in Leifeng Pagoda Forever.

But she soon got angry because after she saw the scene where Xu Xian bought realgar wine, there was no more story!
Late at night, Princess Lin'an lay flat on the bed, her peach blossom eyes wide open, her mind in a mess.

Sometimes it was the plot of Romance of the West Chamber, sometimes it was the story of White Snake, and sometimes it was a scene of Li Changan talking in the ear.

In short, Bian Bian's happy and peaceful life was completely disrupted by Li Changan, and she has never slept well since then.

Li Changan also received a piece of news that Fuxiang from the Jiaofangsi was going to comb the cage.

In the original novel, when Xu Qian'an had sex with Fuxiang for free, Fuxiang had already been receiving customers for more than a year. Although Fuxiang was just a corpse under Ye Ji's control, Xu Qian'an still happily worked as a corpse driver for several years.

Fuxiang's beauty and charm should be similar to those of Si Lili and Yu Youwei. This kind of woman is both gentle and beautiful and talented. She is indeed unique and charming, making people unable to stop.

Li Changan had already made up his mind that he must go to the tea party for Su Long, and once he was in charge of Fu Xiang's tea, no one else would be able to sleep with this courtesan anymore.

The so-called tea party requires writing poems and essays, and Li Changan has too many brothel poems by Liu Sanbian in his mind, as well as countless obscene lyrics and songs. From this point of view, combing the cage for the courtesan Fuxiang is also an opportunity to become famous.

However, just two days before Fuxiang's combing cage was completed, Yang Yan came to the door with a serious look on his face.

Over the past three months, in addition to Fa Hun, Li Changan also captured a top-level fourth-rank thief for the night watchman.

Wei Yuan was quite considerate. He would not bother Li Changan unless there was a major case. However, he often came to Li Changan for tea and talked attentively about the great achievements of the Shanhai Campaign that year.

"Brother Li, this matter is a bit tricky. In just one month, five women have been killed in the capital."

Li Changan had never set up any intelligence agency in his life, nor had he paid special attention to news from the capital, but the fact that the five women were murdered was suppressed, which seemed very impressive.

Yang Yan continued, "They were all virgins in their teens, with first-rate looks and figures, but they all died tragically, with their blood and essence sucked dry. It looked like a powerful sorcery."

There are demons and monks in this world, so it is not surprising that there are evil spells. However, it takes a lot of courage to do this in the capital.

"The most recent woman who was murdered was the courtesan who was about to be married off by the Imperial Music Bureau. Because something happened to the courtesan, a new courtesan was replaced."

Li Changan said, "You guys kept this matter very secret, and the Jiaofang Bureau didn't release any information at all."

Yang Yan said, "The Jiaofangsi is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, which is the imperial court. Once this matter gets out, who would dare to go to the Jiaofangsi?"

"So you're sure you can find him when you come to me this time?"

Yang Yan said, "The sorcerer from the Imperial Observatory helped to check and said that the murderer's aura is still near the Jiaofangsi, and he is expected to target the courtesan in the Jiaofangsi."

"Moreover, the women who were killed before were all top-quality Taoist furnace tripods, and the courtesan who is about to be combed is also a top-quality furnace tripod."

Li Changan was secretly shocked. The courtesan who was about to be combed out of the cage was Fuxiang. Could it be that the murderer's target was Fuxiang?

But Fuxiang is the soul of a nine-tailed fox. Ordinary flower thieves are no match for her. If anyone dares to steal Fuxiang, they will be killed.

However, Ye Ji, like Xue Ji, who goes by the alias Xiao Yuenu, is definitely a top-grade cauldron and is very likely to become a target.

"Now the new oiran is about to be combed, the murderer should be taking action."

Yang Yan was stunned for a moment and said, "I didn't expect Brother Li to also pay attention to the news about the courtesan Shu Long. We think this is the case, so we would like to ask Brother Li to help us catch the murderer."

The Jiaofangsi was not far from Li Changan's residence, and it was very convenient to go back and forth. Li Changan immediately agreed and went to encircle and suppress the flower-stealing thief at night.

Late at night, in the Meiying Pavilion of the Jiaofang Bureau.

Fuxiang had just finished playing a song and her beautiful eyes were staring at the empty courtyard in a daze, while faint sounds of joy could be heard coming from the girls' room.

She knew everything about the murder of the courtesan two days ago, and now she is the next target.

The fourth-rank demon Ye Ji is not afraid of any flower thief. In this world, the fourth-rank is already very powerful.

But she was worried that the flower-picking case would attract night watchmen and sorcerers. If they got deeply involved, their identities might be exposed.

She stayed in the Beijing Jiaofang Bureau to gather intelligence and had a mission. It would be very difficult if she was exposed.

The fox demon was very sensitive and she knew that there were several fourth-rank masters near the Music Bureau tonight.

"You damned flower thief, you actually set your sights on me. I don't know whether you have good taste or not."

"This body is beautiful, but it is not something that can be eaten casually."

Just as she was about to get up and go to bed, a stealthy figure emerged from the floor.

The black shadow laughed sinisterly twice and pounced towards Fuxiang.

Seeing that the black shadow was about to grab Fuxiang's neck, Fuxiang also circulated his Qi to prepare for counterattack, but heard a faint voice coming from outside the window.

"Get out of here, demon, and come before me."

The next moment, the man in black stood still, and the beautiful Fuxiang suddenly appeared outside the room.

Fuxiang found herself looking into the eyes of a handsome man, and it was obvious that this man was using the power of words to bring about her.

"Eh? Girl, are you a demon?"

Li Changan asked knowingly, and Fuxiang subconsciously wanted to attack Li Changan, but then several golden figures suddenly appeared around him.

All these figures rushed into his room, obviously going to catch the flower thief.

Fuxiang was horrified because Li Changan had seen through her identity.

Just when she was about to run away, she suddenly heard Li Changan say, "Girl, you don't want others to know your identity, do you?"

Fuxiang reacted instantly. The night watchman who could make his words come true and who was a fourth-grade cultivator could only be one person, Xue Ji's lover Li Changan!
Could it be... that Xue Ji sold me out?

(End of this chapter)