I'm really not an old sword

Tamamonomae subconsciously wanted to erase the concept of "surrender", but before she could move, Lin Qingsu's devilish whisper sounded behind her again.

"Give them to me, and I promise to return them to you safe and sound when the cooperation is over."

"Or would you rather die in glory than live in disgrace, and plan to bring your fellow tribesmen with you in exchange for my miserable life?"

Tamamonomae's expression changed and he felt extremely regretful.

If she hadn't underestimated him at the beginning, she would have had dozens of ways to kill him.

If she could kill him before Tail was caught, she could still help them escape even if she was discovered.

Even if her tail was caught, if it weren't for the damned sharpness of this man's sword, if it weren't for her serious injuries that affected her physical strength...

However, all the ifs were wiped out with the reality that he could really cut off one of his tails.

Tamamonomae didn't dare to gamble.

Qingqiu was destroyed, and the once prosperous Qingqiu fox clan was left with only her and her sisters. Even though they were stupid, she didn't want to abandon them.

They are the last relatives he has in this world.

"I promise you."

Tamamonomae seemed to have used up all her strength, and her tail, which had been taut all the time, drooped down weakly and landed in Lin Qingsu's palm.

"Then I wish us happy cooperation."

Lin Qingsu smiled and pinched her tail.

The place that had never been touched by anyone except herself was being kneaded wantonly by a man. A tingling sensation spread throughout her body. Tamamonomae moaned subconsciously, then quickly closed her mouth and said viciously.

"If anything happens to them, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, I will... fight to the death to kill you!"

......

When Lin Qingsu returned to the central palace, the lights were on.

Countless members of the Fujiwara clan and the palace's warriors and Onmyoji surrounded the place in three layers inside and outside, making it impossible to get in or out.

Lin Qingsu revealed her identity and was quickly brought in.

Fujiwara no Yoshiko and Fujiwara no Akiko were no longer in the house. The maid said they were placed in another room to rest.

Fujiwara no Michinaga was standing at the crime scene with several samurai and onmyojis. When he saw Lin Qingsu, his frown gradually relaxed.

Lin Qingsu talked to Fujiwara no Michinaga about what happened tonight.

He made a concession and concealed what happened between him and Tamamonomae, saying only that he was tracking the murderer. Finally, he chased him to Feixiangshe and found that the murderer was the little white fox raised in the yard of the demon concubine, and he brought back the blood-stained hair.

Onmyoji has the ability to trace back to the origins.

But it's just evidence of hair and blood, which can be said to exist or not.

However, combined with the charred corpses whose identities could still be identified, with Fujiwara no Michinaga's ability, he would definitely make his good nephew and son-in-law bleed profusely, so Lin Qingsu could be considered to have done his job.

Otherwise, if he always caused trouble, even if Fujiwara no Michigami said, "I can protect you in any case," Lin Qingsu still felt that it was not safe.

The thing you can't trust the most is a man's mouth.

And the effect is very good, as can be seen from the smile in Fujiwara no Michinaga's eyes.

"You did very well."

After handing the blood-stained hair of the white fox to the Onmyoji for disposal, Fujiwara no Michinaga tried his best to suppress the corners of his mouth that could not help but turn up.

Originally, he didn't have much hope that Lin Qingsu could deal with the demon concubine. He was more concerned about winning over the general Minamoto no Raikou and taking the trial and error approach of trusting it.

I didn't expect that he would get such a big surprise on the first day.

Not only did it cause his daughter to completely break up with his good son-in-law, but it also helped him find an excuse to attack his good nephew and good son-in-law. In comparison, the dissatisfaction of provoking the Emperor in public during the day and causing him, an outsider, to be labeled as a "troublemaker in the harem" had long disappeared.

"I've already issued search warrants for your teacher in various locations. I believe we'll have some clues soon."

"Thank you."

"No need to be so formal."

Fujiwara no Michinaga pondered for a moment, feeling that this kind of cooperative relationship wasn't a good one, and then asked, "What do you think of my daughter Akiko's appearance?"

Lin Qingsu was startled. Her first reaction was that Fujiwara Akiko had told Fujiwara Michinaga that she wanted to have a child with him. She subconsciously glanced at the Onmyoji and samurai in the room.

Even if they are your confidants, you can't say this to their faces, right?

However, no matter how much she resisted, Lin Qingsu couldn't refuse him in person, or say something like "Your daughter really doesn't meet my standards for choosing a partner", so she could only bite the bullet and praise him.

"She is so beautiful that she can make fish sink to the bottom of their chests and geese fall to the ground. She is truly a rare beauty."

Fujiwara no Michigami laughed triumphantly.

"I have a daughter, Yanzi, who is as pretty as Zhangzi, but not as strong-willed as Zhangzi. She is gentle and charming. I have long heard of Mr. Lin's great name. If Mr. Lin doesn't mind, why not take her as a concubine?"

Lin Qingsu breathed a sigh of relief.

I just don't think Fujiwara Akiko is crazy enough to tell her father such a thing.

Wait, why does the name Yanzi sound so familiar?

"Excuse me, how old is your daughter this year?"

"Eleven years old," Fujiwara no Michinaga said, "about the same age as Akiko when she entered the palace. In another year or two, she'll be able to continue the family line for you, Master."

Taking a concubine at the age of eleven and giving birth to a child at the age of twelve?

You are really cruel.

Lin Qingsu didn't care about the envious and horrified looks from others. As a modern person, she didn't understand the meaning of Fujiwara no Michinaga's "engagement".

He just thought about how old she was, about eleven years old, and the image of an elementary school girl popped up in his mind, and he immediately felt a chill in his heart.

Just as I was thinking about how to refuse, Fujiwara Akiko's voice suddenly rang out at the door.

"Father."

Fujiwara Akiko stood at the door in a court dress.

"You don't have to make the decision on Mr. Lin's marriage. I have my own ideas."

Michigami Fujiwara was stunned, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Lin Qingsu became a little strange.

Fujiwara Akiko whispered to Lin Qingsu, "Mr. Lin, Murasaki Shikibu and I can't sleep. Could you come and keep watch for us?"

This time, not only Fujiwara no Michinaga, but the attendants also looked a little strange.

Although there was news that 'Lin Qingsu and Fujiwara no Nakagami' were having an affair,' they all knew that it was just a rumor spread by Xian Guang and Yi Yi to suppress Fujiwara no Michinaga. Apart from anything else, how could Lin Qingsu have had an affair with the Nakagami in less than half an hour after entering the palace?

And now, upon hearing that Lin Qingsu was back, the frightened Empress immediately ran over from afar to confront her father in person for him and invited him to accompany her?

Thinking of the ages of the eldest daughter and the youngest daughter, Lin Qingsu followed Fujiwara Akiko without hesitation.

Along the way, we saw many samurai who were temporarily brought in by Fujiwara no Michinaga to keep watch.

Follow Fujiwara Akiko to a secluded courtyard.

There was no one in the courtyard, as the view was blocked by a two-meter-high wall. Fujiwara Akiko walked to the door of the house, stopped, and turned to look at Lin Qingsu.

"Do you want to marry my sister?"

"I'm not interested in girls under eighteen."

"Murasaki Shikibu is seventeen."

"Under sixteen."

Fujiwara Akiko said with great interest, "I am exactly sixteen years old this year."

"I like seventeen."

Fujiwara Akiko didn't argue, smoothed her hair, and said thoughtfully: "So you like Murasaki Shikibu?"

Lin Qingsu glanced at the door behind Fujiwara Akiko.

After that, there was a faint breathing sound. It was Fujiwara Akiko. Although Lin Qingsu didn't quite understand why Fujiwara Akiko was so kind and concerned about Fujiwara Akiko's affairs, he might as well take this opportunity to explain things to her.

"I don't deny that."

The breathing that was being suppressed behind the door suddenly became disordered.

"For an unmarried woman like her, the only wish is to have a status. Even being a concubine would make her very happy."

"Probably know."

Fujiwara no Akiko looked unhappy.

"If you know that, why don't you take her as your concubine?"

"I'll be working with your father to complete it. I'll be leaving soon."

The disordered breathing behind the door suddenly stopped, and Fujiwara Akiko looked at him in astonishment.

"That's why I rejected you."

Lin Qingsu said, "After I finish my cooperation with your father, I don't know when I will leave. So if you want to have children, you should find another job and don't bother me."

"Then why did you touch Noriko?!" Fujiwara Akiko's expression became more and more unfriendly.

That silly girl Fujihara even told her this?

Lin Qingsu pressed her nose and sighed: "Because I am sure I will meet her again in the future."

"future?"

"A lifetime, probably a few hundred years after her death."

A look of curiosity appeared in Fujiwara Akiko's beautiful eyes.

Lin Qingsu didn't say anything more.

Seeing this, Fujiwara Akiko didn't think about the 'future' she was very curious about. Instead, she thought for a moment and asked, "After you left, did you ever think about how Noriko would survive?"

"If she's willing, I'll give her to Minamoto no Raikou."

"You asked her to help you raise a woman?"

Fujiwara Akiko smiled confidently and said softly, "Do you think there's still room for cooperation between you and me?"

Seeing Lin Qingsu looking at her in confusion, Fujiwara Akiko asked, "Have you ever seen the real Minamoto no Raikou?"

"The real Minamoto no Raikou?"

"Minamoto no Raikou wrote to me saying that you helped her defeat her 'Aramitsu', right? So you should have met that 'her', right?"

"I've seen it."

Not only have I seen it, I was almost raped.

Fujiwara Akiko's smile grew even more charming. "Then let me be frank with you. The real Minamoto no Raikou is actually a combination of the Minamoto general you saw. The Minamoto no Raikou you saw was actually the Minamoto no Raikou who, with the help of Abe no Haruaki, cut off his dark side, leaving only the righteous Minamoto no Raikou."

"And with your help, the two of them merged into one again, becoming the true Minamoto no Raikou."

"Then do you think, with that person's personality, that he would tolerate his beloved child having another woman? And then the child would just walk away and bring the thieving cat home to let her raise him?"

Lin Qingsu frowned deeply.

He learned about the news that Fujiharako was most likely Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote "The Tale of Genji" an hour or two ago.

It was also at that time that I confirmed that she really liked me.

Then he was attacked again and had a battle of wits and courage with Tamamonomae. His mind was now preoccupied with how to deal with Tamamonomae, so he had no time to think about what to do with Fujimoto after he left.

There's nothing wrong with handing it over to Minamoto no Raikou.

But after hearing what Fujiwara Akiko said, he also felt that it was not very reliable.

In fact, if she had helped Fujiwara no Michinaga finish her work and given all his rewards to Fujiwara no Ariko, it would have been enough to ensure her a life of wealth and luxury. However, Fujiwara no Ariko was different from Minamoto no Raikou. Before she became a Heroic Spirit, she had no ability to protect herself, and she was soft-hearted and easily bullied.

I will always feel uneasy if I don't leave him to someone capable to take care of him.

"What do you want to say?"

"The previous promise still stands, and after you leave, I can help you protect Zezi. I will take care of her as if she were my own sister. I think you can trust me completely."

Lin Qingsu recalled Fujiwara Akiko's behavior when the banshee attacked.

Between life and death, a person often behaves most instinctively.