The Long-Planned Assassination

"Miss Qinghan, this must be your younger sister, then?"

Jiang Lan's gaze fell upon them, sweeping over Su Family Patriarch Su Changkong before settling on Su Qingyao at his side.

"Yes."

Su Qinghan replied softly, her eyes lowered. The breeze stirred her plain white dress, making her seem exceptionally composed.

Jiang Lan smiled. "If that is so, then I am rather curious. Isn't your younger sister right here? Why were you so certain that I was the one who sent people to abduct her? Could it be that, in your Su Family's eyes, I am just such a scoundrel—one who commits every evil, defies Imperial Power, and tramples the law?"

The expressions of everyone in the Su Family, including Su Changkong, changed. Many were even overcome with panic.

Once that charge was pinned on them, the Su Family would be almost finished today.

Many of them had no idea what had happened at all. Why had Lin Fan, the son-in-law, appeared here and caused such a huge commotion?

Su Changkong forced himself to remain steady and hurriedly explained, "Young Master Jiang, you misunderstand. No one in the Su Family has ever thought so. This is all a misunderstanding."

"Qingyao was actually taken away by a mysterious fairy whose face was veiled in gauze. That fairy possessed formidable strength and happened to pass through Yuyi City. Seeing that Qingyao had excellent bones and talent, she wished to forcibly take her back to her sect for training."

"Later, because Qingyao resisted too fiercely and did not wish to be taken away just like that, the fairy had no choice but to send her back to the Su Family. Before leaving, she also left behind a token, telling Qingyao that she could use it to find her in the future..."

After his explanation, Zhao Tianhe and the others understood as well. This truly had nothing whatsoever to do with Jiang Lan.

He had taken the blame for that mysterious fairy and suffered a disaster out of the blue.

"So we really misunderstood him? That isn't normal..."

Zhao Dieyi was rather stunned as well, finding it hard to believe.

Although she held no favorable impression of Jiang Lan, she was a reasonable person. She knew that in this matter, Lin Fan truly had no leg to stand on.

Though Lin Fan tried hard to remain calm, his expression grew increasingly ugly.

He had clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles had turned pale.

He simply did not believe things could be such a coincidence.

Before Snow Moon Pavilion, Jiang Lan's guards had blocked the way and forbidden anyone from entering. They had even shouted that no one was allowed to disturb their young master's good time...

Wasn't that plainly telling everyone that Jiang Lan was the one who had abducted Su Qingyao?

Could it be that Jiang Lan had done it deliberately?

At this moment, even Zhao Tianhe, who had wanted to protect Lin Fan, fell silent, unable to find anything to say.

Even if he wanted to protect Lin Fan, he could no longer do so. The wind was already blowing too fiercely against them. If he dared say another word, he would likely truly be regarded as opposing the Prime Minister's Manor.

Who would have thought that such a coincidence truly existed? Jiang Lan had only just arrived in Yuyi City, and immediately afterward, the Su Family's second young lady was abducted from the academy.

Jiang Lan's reputation was notoriously foul. Even in Jingyang City, the Imperial Capital of the Great Xia Dynasty, he dared to bully men and women alike, not even putting the imperial relatives in his eyes.

Now that he had come to a little place like Yuyi City, would he not become even more lawless? Wasn't forcibly snatching a young woman perfectly normal for him?

Moreover, Su Qingyao, the Su Family's second young lady, was pure and beautiful, a peerless beauty whose fame had spread throughout several thousand li.

How could people not suspect that he had sent someone to abduct her?

Jiang Lan set down his teacup and rose from the pavilion. A faint trace of self-mockery seemed to surface on his handsome yet somewhat pale face.

"Once a person's prejudice takes root deep enough, does even breathing become a sin?"

"That's because you've done every evil deed..."

Zhao Dieyi's voice weakened at those words, and she stammered a little, unsure how to respond.

Perhaps realizing that she sounded somewhat lacking in confidence, she abruptly lifted her snow-white, slender neck, her tone firming as she said coldly, "Don't even think about whitewashing yourself. In my eyes, you are a shameless, utterly vile villain rotten to the core."

Just moments ago, Jiang Lan had wanted her to accompany him for several days right in front of her grandfather. Yet now, she had inexplicably softened toward him.

Zhao Dieyi wanted to give herself a hard pinch and wake herself up.

Jiang Lan merely smiled indifferently. "Whitewash myself? I am pure as ice and jade, my ambitions soaring beyond the nine heavens. Why would I need to whitewash anything?"

Zhao Dieyi's bright, lustrous eyes were filled with undisguised contempt.

Did he even believe those words himself?

It was one thing to deceive himself, but he still wanted to deceive everyone else?

Just ask around Jingyang City in the Imperial Capital—what young lady would not hurriedly hide at home upon hearing his name, terrified that he might set his sights on her?

Jiang Lan continued leisurely, "As for the matter of me molesting Miss Qinghan, that too is pure fabrication."

"The two of us are innocent and aboveboard, discussing romance and scenery here while sharing tea. Which law of the Great Xia Dynasty have we violated, for this Brother Lin to rush in and immediately try to kill me?"

"I say his anger is false, while his true intention was to assassinate and murder me. My father has spent these years exhausting his heart and soul for the Great Xia Dynasty, baring his heart and pouring out his blood, diligent and devoted—yet he has repeatedly encountered assassins. Though my abilities are far inferior to my father's, I have faced no small number of assassination attempts over the years..."

"Furthermore, I learned from Miss Qinghan that this Brother Lin has lain low in Yuyi City for many years, posing as a worthless son-in-law. In the face of countless insults, curses, contempt, and ridicule, he accepted them all as sweet as honey, never once revealing his true cultivation. What exactly was he plotting?"

"If Uncle Ying had not been secretly protecting my safety, I fear Brother Lin might truly have taken my head today."

At this point, Jiang Lan's tone became somewhat meaningful.

"If all of this is merely coincidence, then I would like to know why, right after I arrived in Yuyi City, the Su Manor's second young lady was abducted? And why did it happen to make everyone think that I was the one who sent people to abduct her? Just in time to give you such a reason to strike?"

"Could it be that if I died by your hand today, then the Su Manor's second young lady would vanish from the face of the earth entirely, leaving the dead unable to testify?"

At those words, even Uncle Ying, who stood before Jiang Lan with his blade held across him, guarding his safety at every moment, froze.

Then, coming back to his senses, a dense killing intent surfaced on his face as he stared fixedly at Lin Fan.

Had Jiang Lan not suddenly said this, he likely would not have realized the many suspicious oddities and coincidences Contains in today's events.

So many coincidences and perfect timings gathered together—it was more than enough to arouse suspicion.

Everyone present likewise changed expression drastically, uncertain and alarmed.