Chapter 2: Scrambling for the Road

Just as these nobles in the legation each had their own thoughts, the caravan had already arrived at the last post station on the outskirts of Kyoto, not to be shifted by human will. Looking at the ceremonies and formations set up there, Fan Xian sighed, and had no choice but to put off the issue of Miss Shen until after he entered the capital. If only in his thoughts, this woman is absolutely no need to stay, just that Miss Shen has a friendship with that great princess, and Prince Xiao Yan seems to have some hidden apologies for her.

At this time, there have long been the Ministry of Rites and the officials of the Honglu Temple Taichang Temple waiting here, looking at the delegation’s caravan slowly over, each organized clothes, the Princess of Northern Qi will welcome off the car, so respectful. Fan Xian’s eyes turned, beckoned to Gouda, let him lead two tiger guards to go to the princess’s car car firmly guard, must not give these courtiers to find out the fact that there is a woman in the car.

In fact, with his current position of power, there was no need to be so careful.

“Lord Fan has had a hard journey!”

“Lord Fan’s trip has greatly grown the country’s prestige, His Majesty is very pleased, this time when he returns to the capital, I’m afraid that he will immediately be reappointed to another position, right?”

“Old Hu is wrong in saying this, Lord Fan is now ……”

In a burst of light and fluffy horse’s ass compliments, Fan Xian entered the post station surrounded by all the officials. The princess of Beiqi was resting in the inner room, and the ceremony of welcoming the main envoy seemed a bit more grand, and those who didn’t know Fan Xian’s identity must have been puzzled as to why those ministers in the court of the Qing state would be so respectful of such a young middle-ranking official.

Fan Xian’s face was full of smiles as he raised his hands in return to the officials around him, and in his heart, he couldn’t say that he was tired of it, but only felt slightly anxious. He glanced around and realized that most of these officials who had come to greet him knew each other, some of them were his own colleagues when he was in the Taishang Temple, some of them were nominal subordinates of the Honglu Temple when they were negotiating with the Northern Qi, and only those officials from the Ministry of Rites had a hint of fear in their deference. He understands what this is the reason, after all, Guo Youzhi is considered to be his own hand to make a stink to get down.

Butt just sat on the chair, tea only a sip, he opened his mouth and asked: “This next is a what is the constitution? There is no decree in the palace, when can the mission enter the capital?” Not waiting for the officials to answer, he snatched the first to mock himself, “This official as a proper ambassador, but still somewhat unclear about this due process.”

The officials of the Ministry of Rites managed to get a chance to get close to him, how could they miss it, a member of the foreign ministers hurriedly responded, “Don’t worry, Lord Fan, all the ceremonies and rituals have been arranged by the Ministry of Rites, and the palace had made arrangements before the head, and it has been in place for a long time.”

Another subordinate of the Honglu Temple said: “His Majesty knows that the mission officials have been away from home for a long time, homesickness, so did not give an explicit decree, but only oracles to let the mission into the capital, the adults into the capital, first go to the palace …….”

Before the words were finished, an official wearing the official uniform of the fourth grade walked in from outside, and the officials in the room hurried to meet him. Fan Xian fixed his eyes on it and greeted it with a smile, saying with a pat on the other’s shoulder, “Lord Ren, why are you here as well?”

The visitor was Ren Shao’an, the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, a protégé of Fan Xian’s father-in-law. Seeing that Fan Xian was safe and sound, Ren Shao’an was also at peace with himself, and said with a bitter smile, “The Princess of Qi has come to marry, what a great event this is, and if I, the drudge of the Taishang Temple, don’t come, I don’t need to be senated by the imperial historian of the Duzha Academy, and I have no choice but to ask for my resignation.”

Fan Xian smiled, but in his heart, he was somewhat puzzled. Knowing that the envoys would be arriving today, why did this young minister come so late? After greeting the officials in the room, he pulled Ren Shao’an to the door and asked, “What’s going on here?”

Ren Shao’an knows that although this brother in front of him is young, but his temperament is soft wrapped in steel, in Kyoto for a year will be so many things, toppled so many officials, really do not know whether to say, but the chancellor of the Lin Ruofu has already retired to his hometown, Lin’s lineage of the disciples, now in the capital can only rely on the Fan House. Considering both sides, he could not help but hesitate a bit and said, “Lord Fan, what is the matter of the question?”

Fan Xian stared into his eyes and asked, “I’m not a fool, the mission returned to the capital, what kind of thing is this. When we left the capital, the court of Northern Qi should know the specifications of the court, a princess in the mission, how to welcome all these sesame officials, where did Xinqi things go? And those ministers of the Ministry of Rites? Princess to marry, at least the palace should also send some of the old grandma it, you are the people of the Taishang Temple, is the Royal these things, I do not ask you to ask who?”

Ren Shaoan smiled bitterly and said, “Today …… is really not coincidental, Xin Qimo went over there, and those big old men from the Ministry of Rites also went over there, Fan Xian you don’t blame my brother for me, I can rush over here, and it’s also considered to have offended that side.”

“Which side is that side?” Fan Xian was slightly surprised.

Ren Shao’an continued with a bitter smile, “The Grand Prince is also returning to the capital today, and is stationed at a camp less than three miles away from you, so it’s too much of a coincidence that the people from the Ministry of Ceremonies, the Privy Council, and the Ministry of War are all waiting over there, so naturally, this side of the legation is a bit quieter.” After saying these words, he continued, “Fan Xian, your friendship with me is here, and I’m not afraid to explicitly say that you are also a crystal-hearted character, do you really care about these superficial ceremonies?”

Fan Xian also realized what was going on, smiled and shook his head, “I just want to hurry back to the capital, but after all, the princess is a princess, if the court treats her slowly, causing the world to talk about it, it’s not beautiful.”

He finally understood at this time, why come to meet the specifications of the press corps to be much weaker, after all, there is a bit of military power of the great prince, those courtiers naturally want to live there surging, even if it is patting the horse’s ass, but also have to pat the ass of the high horse – he waved his hand to stop the explanation of Ren Shaoan, curiously asked: “the beginning of the year The decree was written with the understanding that only when the autumn is deep and the grass is long will the Grand Prince lead the army back to the capital, it’s only the beginning of the fall, how come he’s back?”

“It says that the Empress Dowager wants her eldest grandson.” Ren Shaoan let out a meaningful laugh, “So he took off early, the west road army was stationed there in Dingzhou, and this time, the Great Prince led two hundred of his own soldiers back to the capital.”

Fan Xian shook his head and rebuked, “Those officials of the Ministry of Rites don’t know if they have learned to be stupid from the Guo family, with the legation entering the capital and the prince returning to the palace, with so many people, don’t they know to make arrangements. On the road to pass a letter, no matter which way, drag on a day or two and is not impossible to do, this is good, are crowded in this road outside the city. How to do?”

“The Ministry of Ceremonies and the Honglu Temple sent you a letter all the way, saying to let the delegation slow down, who would have thought that the delegation on the road actually did not rest for a day, directly back to the capital, which was crowded into a pile.”

Fan Xian hemmed and hawed and didn’t say anything. The delegation sped back to the capital in a thousand miles, which was originally his intention.

“Rong Yirong, when the arrangements are made, the legation will enter the city the day after tomorrow, what do you think?” Ren Shaoan glanced at him with some caution, not knowing how long this one had been in the Supervisory Academy, whether he had inherited Dean Chen Pingping’s arrogance that no one looks at, and added: “The new Minister of Rites is too embarrassed to come here to the legation, so he asked me to pass on a message.”

“Damn it, I’m in a hurry to go home and hug my wife!” Fan Xian was familiar with him and spoke with a bit more abandon, laughing and scolding, “Still waiting for two days, beware that when you come to the mansion in the future, the one in my house will punish you.”

Ren Shao’an was sweating, of course he knew what kind of character Fan Xian’s family was, although he was sickly all the time, but his background was incredibly deep.

Fan Xian didn’t want to fight with the great prince he had never met before about these things, and he wasn’t qualified to fight with anyone, smiled and patted Ren Shao’an’s shoulder, saying, “Don’t worry, I won’t make it difficult for you.” A little deliberation, said, “I’ll go to report to the princess, lest people’s young couple did not meet, Mr. suspicion. Those of us who are courtiers will have to explain.”

Ren Shaoan’s jaw dropped as he watched Fan Xian walk towards the room where the princess was temporarily resting, thinking, “What kind of game are you playing? What if you don’t say anything and drag on for two days? If the princess is a person who refuses to lose the upper hand, this explanation of yours will only become a provocation.

How does he know, Fan Xian this wilting guy, is simply in a hurry to go home, as for the great prince and the great princess how to fight, he can not bother to care.

Ren Shaoan is outside wiping sweat waiting, found to play outside the post station and ran in a wiping sweat of the fourth grade officials, that official back has been soaked, this early fall heat, he ran both ways, really some loss. The person who came in was none other than Honglu Temple’s Young Secretary Xin Qiji, when he saw that Ren Shaoan was here, he arched his hand and said in a lowered voice, “You came quite early.”

Ren Shao’an knew that the other party was a close friend of the Eastern Palace, and was not how close, but after the prime minister’s departure, the officialdom had already assigned Ren Shao’an to Fan Xian’s faction, and there was no affinity for a few of the imperial princes, so the two of them got acquainted a bit these days, and laughed and scolded, “Lord Fan is here, and if I don’t come, I’m going to be counted by the young lady. It’s you, you’ve always been close to him, why did you only come at this time, beware that he will fall on your face later.”

Xin Qi Zu was slightly stunned, said with a bitter smile, “Lord Fan is not this wayfarer.” Thinking of today’s absurdity, he couldn’t help but laugh at himself and said, “The Grand Prince and the envoys arrived outside the capital at the same time, I see, not to mention those people in the Ministry of Ceremonies who don’t know how to make arrangements, even the ministers of the three courtyards, six ministries, and four temples, are all a bit confused, in the end, which side should be greeted first?”

As soon as these words were uttered, Ren Shaoan and Xin Qishu were quiet at the same time, and the scene appeared a bit weird, and only after a long time did the two of them coughed twice. The reason for this was because they realized that their conversation just now had actually put the importance of the Grand Prince and the mission on the same level of consideration, could it be that …… after Fan Xian took charge of the Supervisory Academy and had a generation of literary fame, he could actually vaguely compare his status with that of an Emperor in charge of the military?

Xin Qimo shook his head and put this somewhat absurd idea behind his head, but clearly knew that since the officials were so embarrassed, they had subconsciously placed Fan Xian in an extremely high position. Rightly so, seeing as how that Lord Fan had been in the capital for just over a year, it was indeed a bit surprising that he had come up with so many things. Although it was said that there was also a princess from a foreign country in the embassy, the true thoughts of those officials were naturally that they wanted to flatter the Fan family and the Supervisory Yuan.

“Lord Fan …… didn’t see me earlier and didn’t say anything, right?” Xin Qimo asked carefully.

Ren Shaoan shook his head. Xin Qimo was slightly at ease, smiled and said, “In fact, as a matter of sense and reason, the Grand Prince arrived first, I always have to pay my respects for the Eastern Palace, after all, Lord Fan is a courtier, he has his own score.”

“I don’t have any score.” Fan Xian walked all the way over and greeted Xin Qimo, “Thanks to you drinking with me with a quickness, calling me brother and brotherly cordiality, I’ve been out of the country for a few months, and you didn’t even come to welcome me. Anger, anger, haha.”

Said angry, but is laughing. Xin Qishu smiled somewhat helplessly, was about to say something, but saw Fan Xian face full of gentle smile, said softly: “In the case of reason, you are the Honglu Temple young secretary, the main foreign affairs, do not come to pick up the embassy, but ran to pick up what the great prince, is it that you are also ready to go to the Privy Council to seek a counselor to do it?”

This is plain, but reveals a hint of displeasure.

Xin Qimo was slightly stunned, thinking that Fan Xian shouldn’t be someone who cared about this matter, much less be so foolish as to show his displeasure on his face.

Fan Xian arched his hand at these two great officials of the young and powerful faction of the court, straightened himself up, and said, “The legation will be entering the capital today, so the two ministers should make arrangements, and if you can’t find anyone over at the Ministry of Ceremonies, you guys go and find them.”

There was a buzzing sound! The heads of the two young ministers were suddenly huge, how could they not imagine that Fan Xian would have this much guts to fight with the Grand Prince over the Dao! It was just that the palace seemed to have forgotten about this matter, and there was no decree at all, and if the legation wanted to rush into the capital, rules-wise, there wasn’t much of a problem.

The problem is …… that side is the great prince ah!

Ren Shao’an coughed twice and glanced at Fan Xian, wanting to remind him that after all, Xin Qimo is the crown prince’s disciple, so don’t show such disrespect to the grand prince in front of him. Fan Xian, however, accepted all of his “winks” and said with a smile, “It is Her Highness’s wish that the envoys enter the capital first. You go to arrange it, the great prince side well …… let them wait.”

After saying these words, he threw his sleeve out of the post, commanded the mission subordinates to start preparing for the matters of the capital, threw down the room behind the two jaw-dropping lesser secretary adults, thinking what kind of person is this ah? Even dared to fight with the great prince of the road! Xinqi things face expression change constantly, finally a clenched teeth said: “anyway, the palace also has no say, this thing I do not care!”

Ren Shaoan curiously said, “Where are you going if you don’t care? You don’t care about the ceremony of the envoy’s entry into the capital, beware that others will report you.”

Xin Qimo laughed and said, “I don’t care about the Grand Prince’s side, anyway, this is my duty, even if the Grand Prince is not happy, I also have an argument, I follow the delegation to go …… On the contrary, it’s you, the Taishang Temple manages the royal family of the clans, this is His Majesty’s son on one side, and on the other side, it’s His Majesty’s future daughter-in-law, you’re going to manage Which side?”

Ren Shaoan cursed him countless times in his heart, but after all, he had a close relationship with Fan Xian, so he could only shake his head and rush towards the Grand Prince’s side, going to let the Ministry of Ceremonies prepare, at the same time, he intended to turn around a bit in front of the Grand Prince, not knowing that what would actually happen on the only official road outside the city gates in the meantime.

Getting on the carriage, looking at Yan Bingyun, Fan Xian shook his head, ”You will stay out of sight, once you enter the capital, Lord Yan will send someone to pick you up. Remember not to let others know about you until you have been debriefed.”

Nodding slightly, Yan Bingyun suddenly spoke, “What’s there to fight for? The others are after all the Grand Prince, His Majesty’s son, what qualifications do you have to compete with him? You are not a stupid person, how could you do such a stupid thing?”

“The emperor’s son?” Fan Xian sat beside him, waiting for the caravan to depart, and said with a smile, “Is this thing rare? Besides, it’s not that I’m going to fight him, but a certain nobleman is going to fight him.”

Yan Bingyun didn’t understand, Fan Xian laughed: “The little two haven’t even met yet, so they’re going to start grabbing the right to speak in the family in the future, that princess highness is a light nature, but as soon as she heard that the grand prince was going to enter the city ahead of him, her willow eyebrows went up and she stood with her mouth open in Hedong…….This woman, ah, really can’t understand it! of.”

“East of the river? What river?” Yan Bingyun reprimanded: “This matter is not you from the provocation. I just don’t understand, before even returning to the capital, you have to tear your face off with a grand prince, what on earth were you thinking.”

“Excellent, it seems like you’re starting to think things through for me as your superior.” Fan Xian said bitterly, “I really didn’t provoke the princess, really. Who knew that this quiet Princess Her Highness even believes in the east wind overpowering the west wind.” This was from the eighty-second chapter of the Stone Records, which hadn’t even been written yet, and Fan Xian was only referring to it vicariously, but in his heart, he was slightly pleased that he was really anxious to go home, and the reasoning was just as simple as that.

“As for why I want to offend the Grand Prince, the reasoning is very simple – it will be very difficult for me to find such an opportunity as today, an opportunity to show that I dislike the Grand Prince immensely.”

“Why?”

“Even though you’ve been in the north for a long time, I’m sure you’ve learned many things about me from the legation in these days.” Fan Xian looked at Yan Bingyun.

Yan Bingyun nodded.

“How is my relationship with the Eastern Palace?”

“On the surface, it looks like there’s some strife, but in reality, the Crown Prince holds you in very high regard, including the matter of the Chun Exam where he was taking care of you, and later on, in the matter of the envoys, he also took extreme care of you, and showed you quite a bit of favor.”

“Not bad, so I also have a lot of return to the Eastern Palace.” These words were about things in the Chun Exam malpractice case, and Fan Xian didn’t give Yan Bingyun a clear explanation, continuing, “And I’m friends with Prince Jing, who was sent …… by the Second Prince, so my relationship with the Second Prince isn’t too bad either.”

Yan Bingyun immediately understood why Fan Xian wanted to offend the Grand Prince.

“My relationship with the Eastern Palace and the Second Prince are both good, and if my relationship with the Grand Prince is also good in the future ……,” a self-deprecating smile appeared on Fan Xian’s face, “Ask a young man with the Supervisory Court and the Inner Treasury in his hands, and at the same time What exactly does this young man want to do when he makes friends with the three emperors at the same time? Will those ladies in the palace look at me favorably?”

Today, the outside of Kyoto city was in chaos, the only deep palace that had the ability to calm down this kind of commotion, but there was no decree that came out late, so it was that a group of officials were sweating and cowering, standing in front of the city gate, looking at the two columns of procession that were traveling far away from each other above the official road, and kept cursing their mothers in their hearts, cursing Fan Xian’s mother– the mother of the grand prince was his majesty’s woman– and that was something that one didn’t dare to curse. The Grand Prince’s mother was His Majesty’s woman, and he didn’t dare to scold her.

The soldiers of the Grand Prince are all tough soldiers from the western sands, seeing this broken envoy actually dares to steal the road with the Prince, they have long been furious, only the military discipline under the jurisdiction of the Grand Prince is extremely strict, so they have been enduring. Watching the delegation of the seemingly endless number of carriages slowly traveling past them, in that crowd of cavalry, one of the great prince’s tares couldn’t help it and rebuked: “Where did the courtiers come from, don’t know the rules at all, are they looking for death!”

The teams on both sides stopped at the same time, and the atmosphere between the scenes was incredibly tense.

Fan Xian dismounted from the carriage, straightened his clothes in an extremely pretentious manner, and bowed distantly to the imperial prince’s carriage that was faintly visible over there, saying, “My humble servant Fan Xian, I pay my respects to you, Your Imperial Highness.”

“Fan Xian? You are Fan Xian?” A majestic voice came from over there, slightly scornful, “I didn’t think that the man Chen’er had promised to be her husband would be you, daring to fight with the prince over the road, your guts are considerable, but you’re just a bit too stupid.”

Fan Xian smiled faintly, said very respectfully, “I don’t dare to grab the road with your highness, just ……”

Before the words fell, from the exceptionally flashy carriage behind him came the calm and confident voice of the Grand Princess of Beiqi, “This palace is a soft and weak woman, traveling all the way south and far, could it be that the Grand Imperial Household is determined to keep me outside the city for a few more days?”

The Grand Imperial Prince’s own soldiers froze, seeming to remember at this moment that there was another honorable figure inside the legation, a woman who in a few more days would be the Grand Imperial Princess, the main mother of these people themselves.

Fan Xian glanced at the Grand Prince’s cavalry, thinking that this was a family matter, so he would stay out of it.