Chapter 7: The Wind Rises at the End of the Pimpernel

Inside the room, the officials were gathering to look at the residence newspaper, which clearly stated all the things that happened in the north, whether from the point of view of timeliness or richness of information, it was much more appealing than the newspaper that came out of the palace, not to mention that what was written on it was also the news of Qing’s victory. Fan Xian bitterly smiled as he pulled out the crumpled newspaper from his pocket, and after saying sorry in his heart to old Mr. Pan Ling, the great calligrapher of the Clerical Pavilion, he resumed his seat at his own table and began to drink his tea.

The bystanders were gleefully speaking about the war, and no one noticed his quietness; instead, Lord Shaoqing looked at him with a slight smile and signaled for him to come out. Fan Xian walked out of the door with some trepidation and came to a secluded spot. This place was already deep in the courtyard, resting on a stone table and two stone chairs. Lord Shaoqing gestured for him to sit down, and then asked with a smile, “Everyone is happy, but Jun sits alone in silence, I wonder why?”

The young minister’s name was Ren Shao’an, and he was a popular man back then, but after marrying a county princess, he had been climbing up the ladder of the Taishang Temple, which was somewhat the same as the situation Fan Xian was facing today. Fan Xian didn’t confirm whether Lord Ren’s heart was broken about something, so he had to come and pull himself together, so he didn’t feel good about replying, and only said with a faint smile, “It’s a natural thing for the court to win this battle, so it’s not much of a surprise.”

“Why is a natural thing?” Ren Shaoqing asked curiously.

Fan Xian really didn’t have any insight into military affairs, so he could only shrug and said, “His Majesty is wise, the soldiers are dedicated, and Northern Qi is weak, so it’s natural to win the battle.”

Ren Shaoqing looked at him with a smile and said, “I just remembered that this time, the two countries are fighting again, but it has nothing to do with the assassination of Lord Fan.”

Fan Xian was stunned, and only then did he remember that one of the excuses for Qing to send troops to fight Qi and aid Zhao this time was that Northern Qi assassins had infiltrated Qing’s Kyoto with the intention of murdering the minister’s son. Thinking of those withered bones on the riverbanks above the northern border, and the empty women in the boudoirs of the various states and counties waiting for a good man’s wife, Fan Xian, for some unknown reason, felt a bit blocked in his heart. Sighing, he said, “Soldiers are ferocious weapons, and the sages are not allowed to use them.” He knew that although Qing had been in peace for more than ten years, the spirit of martial arts in his bones had not faded, so he paid close attention to covering up anything on weekdays, but in front of Ren Shaoqing, thinking that it was just a casual conversation, he casually said something.

Ren Shaoqing seemed to appreciate his remark and nodded: “Even so, this time there is a lot of land gained, and Qing has several years of peace, so it’s worth it.”

Fan Xian was not a sour pacifist and acknowledged this fact with a smile. Ren Shaoqing added, “Though the battle credit goes to His Majesty the General, the imperial court has been secretly planning for this matter for two months, so it’s quite exhausting.”

Fan Xian immediately tasted something else in these words, knowing that Lord Shaoqing was saying that the civilian system in the court had also contributed a lot to the war effort. After all, Fan Xian had had two lives of experience and knew that fighting a war was ultimately about logistics, so he said sincerely, “All the adults in the court also deserve great credit.”

Ren Shaoqing smiled with satisfaction, then said, “Lord Chancellor and you are about to become son-in-law, if you have free time, you still need to go up to the mansion more often to pay your respects, it’s only appropriate.”

“This is natural. Thank you for reminding Lord Young Secretary.” A cold sweat ran down Fan Xian’s back, he was about to marry Wan’er, but he hadn’t visited his future in-laws yet, this was really a bit untenable, it was just …… that this should be a bright and honorable interaction between the Lin House and the Fan House, so why would Ren Shaoqing want to talk to himself in private.

Fruit otherwise, Ren Shaoqing said softly, “Teacher wishes you to go and sit in the Xiangfu alone, and doesn’t want to startle too many people.”

Fan Xian fearfully led the way.

On the second day of the court, there were all flattering words, the military was rewarded a lot, and the four departments of the Supervisory Yuan were also rewarded by an explicit decree because of their good intelligence. However, to everyone’s surprise, the Minister of the Ministry of the Household, Sinan Bo Fan Jian, said that the victory, thanks to the Prime Minister’s exhaustive efforts, first state affairs and then family affairs, logistics, food and grass, really a great success. The ministers clamor, did not understand the original political rivals, why today so harmonious, but a thought of the marriage of the two families, suddenly suddenly realized.

More unexpected in the back of the crowd, originally has been the chancellor of the Ministry of Rites Secretary Guo Youzhi but spoke out against how how. The most unexpected is …… Chen Pingping went to the court, when His Majesty asked, he sat in a wheelchair and whispered four words: “Prime Minister hard.”

So far, the political enemies who had been using the matter of Wu Boan’s collusion with Northern Qi to keep attacking the chancellor were quiet all of a sudden, and His Majesty the Emperor decreed that he should be consoled, and Lin Ruofu was able to regain his footing. And the dynasty and the countryside were rumored that the chancellor had fallen to the second prince because of his marriage with the Fan family. The Second Prince, who was originally completely unassisted in the dynasty, had instantly become a hot figure.

No one knew that behind all these great events, in fact, it was just a casual conversation between the depressed Ren Shaoqing of the Taishang Temple and the Taishang Temple’s eighth-ranked Conciliator under the courtyard wall.

By selling himself to his old husband once, a great deal, Fan Xian’s heart felt slightly more secure, although still very afraid of the chancellor to find out that Lin Er Gongzi was killed by his own shouting, but it was not like in the first two months that always avoided.

The temple’s duties do not need to go every day, only a ten days to go to the dawn on the good. This day afternoon Fan Xian rode in a carriage to the royal courtyard.

Now that his marriage to the girl in the compound was well known throughout the capital, and because of the Fan family’s generosity, the guards were turning a blind eye to the situation. Fan Xian and his sister walked inside together, not in the mood to look at the wildflowers and weeds in the garden, but just following the stone path towards the small building. Fan Ruo Ruo was a bit surprised, “Brother is quite familiar with the path here.”

Fan Xian smiled faintly and said, “I have a good memory, it’s not like you don’t know.” In his heart, he laughed secretly, he would walk in and out of this garden two or three nights out of ten, so it was really hard for him not to be familiar with it.

Unfortunately, according to the rules, he the future county princess son-in-law still can’t see Lin Wan’er in the courtyard, had to sit downstairs to drink tea, Ruoruo went up alone. He is not in a hurry, anyway, night and day can see the fiancée, not in a hurry. After a while, two people came down, and when he saw the girl behind Ruo Ruo, Fan Xian’s eyes lit up. The girl’s eyes were clear and bright, and her eyebrows were slightly thick, but she didn’t look rude, instead, she was very spirited, and she was the only daughter of Ye Chong, the governor of Kyoto, Ye Ling’er.

When Ye Ling’er saw a strange man waiting downstairs, she was slightly surprised. Fan Xian already smiled and rose to greet her, arching his hand and saying, “Miss Ye, it’s been a long time.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Fan Xian knew that something was wrong, when he saw Ye Ling’er on that day, he put on makeup and used the identity of a doctor, but today, he was clearly identifying himself as a visitor to the courtyard, and when he opened his mouth and said that he hadn’t seen her for a long time, he was afraid that Ye Ling’er would become suspicious.

Out of his expectation, Ye Ling’er just looked at him faintly, curtsy a blessing said: “See Fan Gongzi.”

Seeing that she knew her identity and was not surprised by what she had said earlier, Fan Xian knew that Wan’er must have told this bosom friend about their relationship, and smiled and said, “Thanks to the company of a girl, Wan’er is not bored on her deathbed, and Fan Xian would like to thank her.”

Ye Ling’er said with a cold expression, “Mr. Fan is polite.”

Seeing that this woman didn’t seem to like him very much, Fan Xian wasn’t too annoyed, he didn’t think that with his pretty face, he could make all the women in the world hold an innate fondness for him, so he just smiled faintly, bowed again, and turned to Ruo Ruo and said, “How’s the matter of the questioning going?”

Fan Ruoruo guffawed and said, “You’re in a hurry for this. Sister Lin said ……”

Fan Xian suddenly waved his hand and smiled, “A little something in your own home, it’s better to go home and talk about it.”

Ye Ling’er burst into a rage at these words, thinking that this Fan Xian was indeed a narrow-minded person! The meaning of these words was too obvious, meaning that the affairs of the two Fan Lin families didn’t need more involvement from her own family name, Ye? She said angrily, “Mr. Fan, don’t be too deceitful in what you say and do.”

Fan Xian was stunned, thinking where did this come from, why is this Ye girl so grumpy, with some inexplicable annoyance in his heart, he was too lazy to care about her, and holding his sister’s hand, he walked outside the mansion.

Walking to the outside of the courtyard, Ye Ling’er also went out of the mansion with the maids and subordinates, and looked at Fan Xian pulling Fan Ruo Ruo’s hand, and laughed coldly.

Fan Xian didn’t understand, still holding Ruo Ruo’s slightly cold little hand and waiting for the carriage to come over, but Ruo Ruo’s face became a little embarrassed, it’s true, it’s not common to see siblings as intimate as them in this world, and Fan Xian doesn’t pay attention to this very often. Looking at his sister’s expression, Fan Xian finally figured it out, thinking how that woman always pestered himself, between him and Ruo Ruo is naturally bright and clear, so instead, he was particularly angry, turning back to Ye Ling’er and asked with a frown, “Miss Ye, is it true that you don’t have an adult at home to discipline you, so you wander around Kyoto and Dingzhou every day?”

Ye Ling’er didn’t realize that her unintentional sneer had provoked such a vicious verbal attack from the other party, and angrily scolded, “Who did you say has no upbringing?”

“Who said that?” Fan Xian smiled gently, “No one here seems to have said that.”

Seeing him play the rogue, Ye Ling’er was even more furious and yelled, “Then you’re still strolling around Kyoto every day, you’re about to get married, but you still don’t have a proper form, and I haven’t seen you go to the Taishang Temple a couple of times, do you also have no adults at home to discipline you?”

Fan Xian’s temperament is gentle with a few hints of killing, but more is wilting bad, knowing that if he is not angry, the other side will be more angry, so more gentle, said: “I came to visit my fiancée, in the sense of reason is reasonable. Miss Ye befriends my Wan Er and visits from time to time, I have already thanked you, I just hope you can pay attention to your words and stop trying to stir up the relationship between our own families.”

Ye Ling’er was so angry that her lips were trembling, and when she heard the other party play this trick again, she hated it and said, “With a dude like you, I don’t know what Wan’er sees in you.”

Fan Xian sighed and said, “Where am I a dude?”

Ye Ling’er said hatefully, “You’re not good at writing, you’re not good at martial arts, and you’re not good at being a playboy?”

Fan Xian smiled shamefully and said, “I hate boasting, but it is rumored in the capital that I am a good writer and a good martial artist, and that I am able to write poems in seven steps and kill people in seven steps, so I am a little bit fluttery, and I am thankful for being awakened by the girl’s words today.”

Seeing him make a gesture, Ye Ling’er only thought of the other party’s talent name, so angry that she stomped her feet, not knowing what to say, and suddenly will be so rosy that the thin lips a bite, hand holding on the waist side of the knife, after a few times of thinking, finally removed the knife, threw in the land in front of Fan Xian, let out a thud of a crunching sound.