Chapter 24 – King Jing’s Birthday Banquet
“I’m a fool?” Prince Jing looked very seriously into Fan Xian’s eyes, “Please tell me that I really am a fool.”
Fan Xian said very seriously, as he had requested, “I think that in some ways, you really are a fool.”
What Li Hongcheng was talking about was that fingertip of Fan Xian’s that was pointing skyward. What Fan Xian was talking about was the other party’s compulsion to get involved in the war of power between the princes.
The autumn grass in the royal residence was flush and not bleak, but instead spread out on both sides of the road like slightly yellow felt. Fan Xian knew that this was the result of the daily hard work of that King Jing who loved gardening, and pointing to the grass, he said, “See, this is life.”
Li Hongcheng laughed shamefully, “If you’re willing to serve the garden at home every day, I’ll have Lao Er circle a few thousand acres of land in Jiangnan for you.”
Fan Xian shook his head sadly, “I told you, these things are not my idea lately, but you don’t believe me.”
Li Hongcheng had a warm and sunny face, but at this time, he was finally startled by the news and the tips of his eyebrows gradually furrowed. If the recent movements in the court were not Fan Xian being ruthless, but rather His Majesty’s secret idea, then this matter could not help but be a bit ominous, could it be that His Majesty’s favor for the second oldest was no longer as good as it was at first?
Fan Xian glanced at him and said, “Of course, I also have selfish motives, you should know very well that I don’t have any favorites for Lao Er.”
Li Hongcheng frowned and said, “Since you entered the capital, Lao Er and I have been quite courteous to you, of course, I don’t dare to say that it’s wholeheartedly, but at least it should be closer than the East Palace side.”
Fan Xian sneered and said nothing.
The two of them walked side by side towards the royal residence, not going directly to the back garden, King Jing’s birthday banquet had not yet begun. Walking into the hidden study of the World Son, Fan Xian sat down at the table, a hint of chill caught between his brows as he stared at Li Hongcheng.
The servant who had brought the tea retreated, and only the two of them were left in the study.
“Being polite? Letting the Capitol take a shot at me is considered polite?”
Li Hongcheng was slightly stunned, and said with a bitter smile, “The Capitol …… that was auntie’s intention, in fact, you also understand why that was, who made you start secretly investigating those things between auntie and Lao Er as soon as you returned to the capital.”
Fan Xian didn’t pick apart that matter of Oxen Mountain, turning to shake his head and say, “As I said earlier, I have a selfish motive. The reason why I’m investigating the matter between the Eldest Princess and the Elder Elder Elder, you should also understand that the money in the inner treasury was taken away by the two of them, and you’re asking me to take over the empty shell next year?”
Li Hongcheng said, “Anyways, you are also the son-in-law of the eldest princess, she only has one girl like Wan’er, would she still really push you to the brink? Take a step back, it’s always good for everyone to be at peace with each other.”
“One step back is fine.” Fan Xian looked at him and said seriously, “I’m just a little worried about you. I know that the reason why you’re on the second son’s side is because you think that if he becomes emperor in the future, he’ll definitely be more successful than the one in the Eastern Palace, and since he seems to be gentle and kind, you think that the royal family will be more comfortable after he takes over the throne. But have you thought about it, you and I today like this Lao Er Lao Er called, he really became the emperor, will not remember this?”
Li Hongcheng laughed: “Thanks to it coming from your mouth, or else the onlookers would have thought it was a very poorly thought out provocation.”
Fan Xian waved his hand and said, “This is serious talk, so you can just take me as nosy …… I told you in the spring on the banks of the Flowing Crystal River that you shouldn’t get involved in these things.” He looked at Li Hongcheng’s eyes, “I know you’ve done some things, but you’re in the way of King Jing’s identity, and even though there are thousands of lipsticks under your command, you don’t have a single soldier. Not to be arrogant, the power in your hands is not as good as mine, so how can you maneuver around amongst these emperors as you wish?”
Without waiting for Li Hongcheng to reply, Fan Xian stood up and said earnestly, “When I say these words, it actually smacks of some death-seeking narcissism, and perhaps you’ll secretly laugh at me in the bottom of your heart, but since His Majesty has already moved on, I don’t think Lao Er will be having too many good days in the future, so if you can keep some distance, keep some.”
He patted Li Hongcheng’s shoulder and said very earnestly, “Saying this is not for anything else, it’s just for Ruo Ruo.”
Li Hongcheng silently, although expressionless, but deep inside some touch, a moment after the party said quietly: “You do not understand the second, he is actually forced. Besides, I invited friendship with him here, and was always unable to let go.”
Fan Xian shook his head and said nothing.
King Jing’s birthday banquet opened, a large flower round table was set with all kinds of expensive dishes, King Jing was sitting at the first place, his long beard was slightly floating, dressed as a rich merchant, not like a king, not like a flower farmer, but a bit like those salt merchants and royal merchants in Jiangnan, who were too idle to be bored and too rich to be worried.
Seeing his son and Fan Xian walking in side by side, King Jing smiled haha and waved his hand to recruit Fan Xian over, “You give your old son a seat next to me.”
Fan Xian was most afraid of King Jing’s swearing, and sat over with a bitter face, turning his head to find Wan’er looking at him with a cheeky smile, while his sister sat beside Wan’er with a serene face. Thinking that earlier he had shamelessly used Ruo Ruo’s name to temporarily appease Li Hong Cheng’s heart, Fan Xian despised himself deep in his bones. Picking up his wine cup to toast King Jing, he also toasted his father and Liu, who were sitting across from him, before answering the penalty for being late.
The birthday banquet and no one else, is Li Fan two families, but the elders at the table, whether it is the son or Fan Xian, can not help but be a little formal, a table of sumptuous banquet actually ate no flavor.
After three rounds of wine, King Jing was a little unhappy, put the wine pot end to end, said to Fan Jian: “How do you control your children at home, how do you have you here, Fan Xian, a few of them do not dare to speak.”
Fan Jian flicked the silk deer tail chewed, not slow said: “better than you control, at least this official will not be in the face of the children swearing.”
“I fuck you!” King Jing wiped the wine stained on his chin and cursed, “You don’t talk bad about me in front of my daughters!”
King Jing’s Consort had died early, and now there were a few side chambers in the family, but they were not qualified to be at the wine table today. The lower seat sat Roujia county princess and the world son Li Hongcheng, Roujia listened to her father swearing, the little girl secretly raised her head and glanced at Fan Xian, in her heart she was ashamed and angry, she felt so humiliated.
Fan Jian, hearing this, turned his face black and scolded back, “Palm yourself.”
After Wan’er married into the Fan family, it was the first time she had seen the two families sitting in one place, and as she watched the two elders seem to be inappropriate, she hurriedly tugged on Fan Xian’s sleeve, and listening to the eunuch actually letting a hallowed county king slap his own mouth, she couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air.
Fan Xian is used to seeing, also do not care much, strange to say, their father has always been to hold the body of the right, that is, in front of the King of Jing, will show when the night lying in a green house day to fold the branches of the wind flow of the dashing gas to.
King Jing heard Fan Jian want to slap his own mouth, is ready to scold what, suddenly thought of what he said, can not help but ouch, bitter face a smile, actually raised his right hand, in his face gently fan a little bit, but is the snap of some clear sound.
Fan Jian, however, is still unforgiving, holding chopsticks and pointing at his nose, scolded: “Son is almost married to a daughter-in-law, also do not say to repair your mouth!”
King Jing shyly said, “A slip of the tongue.” He glared and swept these juniors through his eyes, and said viciously, “Who didn’t hear that just now.” Then he coughed twice in extreme embarrassment before asking Fan Xian by his side, “Fan Xian ah, how is my mom and mom doing in Tanyu State?”
Lin Wan’er lowered her head to stifle her laughter, then remembered why Fan Shangshu dared to let the king slap his own face, fuck you? His own husband’s grandmother was not an ordinary person, and the king had been raised by that grandmother in Tanyuzhou since he was a child.
Fan Xian bitter face, thought you old life quarrel, why involve yourself, will grandmother’s recent situation slightly said some, but is healthy and so on. With a twinkle in his eye, he said, ”Your Highness, drink drink drink. By the way, you are in Kyoto anyway, nothing, Hong Cheng is also just idle in the capital, or find a time next year, let’s go back to Tanyu State to play some days? The tea trees there are excellent.”
King Jing glanced at Fan Xian, knowing what he meant, and liking him more and more in his heart, he said with a smile, “That’s a good idea, I’ll go into the palace tomorrow and talk to the emperor about going to …… But you won’t be able to go, you’ll have to go to Jiangnan next year.”
Underhand side has been perked ears in listening to Li Hongcheng heart a shock, thought Fan Xian you play this trick really called!
Fan Xian said differently, “Why do you have to go to Jiangnan?”
King Jing scolded, “You’re a kid who’s usually very smart, even the oldest kid has suffered a lot of losses at your hands, why are you so confused at this time? Next year, you’re going to take over the inner treasury, how can you do that without going to Jiangnan?”
Fan Xian rubbed his head, somewhat confused, “Why would I go to Jiangnan to take over the inner treasury?”
King Jing glanced at Fan Jian and said with wide eyes, “I say, Fan Jian, is this son of yours pretending to be stupid or really stupid?”
Fan Jian glared at Fan Xian and said, “I thought that even though this kid doesn’t have great wisdom, he always has some small smarts, but today I realized that he doesn’t even have small smarts.”
Lin Wan Er beamed and said, “Xiang Gong and do not know the inner treasury three major workshops are in Jiangnan …… uncle, you drink your wine to go, old catch these uninteresting things to say what?”
King Jing nearly choked on a mouthful, laughing and scolding said: “Girls extrovert, really so, how I am also your own uncle, how to marry after all towards their Fan family to speak?”
Lin Wan Er smiled and said: “I see uncle you also love my husband, why always say me.”
Li Hongcheng, who was sitting on the lower hand, nodded his head and sighed, looking at Fan Xian who was sitting beside his father, looking at his father’s smiling eyes as he looked at Fan Xian, his heart was filled with jealousy, he and the Second Highness were generally upset, thinking how come his own old man was so fond of Fan Xian? Whose father is this?
The banquet tossed to the end, a few juniors a toast to toast, finally let King Jing drink happy, speak more and more ridiculous up, a time to say that after the marriage of the two families, have to hurry to give birth to a doll, a time to say, wait for Roujia is two years old, simply a brain to marry Fan Xian, so as not to cheapen the other people for nothing.
Ruo Ruo nervously grasped his sleeve, not daring to reply at all. Li Hongcheng’s face was serene, and with a hint of affection in his eyes, he swept his fiancée a few times.
Fan Xian, however, was the most nervous and hurriedly replied back, “What is Ruo Jia’s status, how can she be a youngster for me, Your Highness, you’ve really had too much wine.”
Little Miss Zojia extremely grudgingly gouged out brother Idle.
King Jing was drunk and scolded, “This Kyoto is a water of wangbangs, can I be assured of marrying someone else? What kind of status? Isn’t it just my daughter, is she still not worthy of you?” Turning to Wan Er, he said, “Chen Er, do you have any opinions?”
Lin Wan’er smiled and answered, “I don’t have any opinion, as long as uncle can persuade the Empress Dowager, this matter is finalized.”
The moment King Jing heard the word Empress Dowager, half of his wine sobered up. Thinking of the mother queen must be unable to allow Fan Xian this guy to marry his two granddaughters at the same time, he couldn’t help but curse and say, “We have to think of a way to do this, Roujia this child’s temperament is too soft …… fuck him, not to marry Fan Xian? If you don’t marry Fan Xian, you’ll be giving the girl in the north a free hand. It’s not cost-effective, it’s not cost-effective, Fan Xian was born so beautiful, it’s not cost-effective to cheapen that tigress from the north.”
He looked drunkenly at Fan Jian and said, “What’s the name of that woman in the north?”
Fan Jian was obviously also drunk, hiccuped and said with a slight hint of self-respect, “Haitang. The north side of the saint girl general role, bitter lotus master’s closed disciple. I don’t know how to see my incompetent son.”
Said untalented, but obviously the old man heart is very pleased ah.
When he said this, the whole table laughed, and even the silent Liu couldn’t help but cover her mouth, while Fan Si Zhe and Li Hong Cheng laughed the most exaggeratedly. Fan Xian was the saddest person on the table, he really didn’t expect that after his father got drunk, he would also be such a loose person, and he didn’t think that his father would actually remember Haitang’s name in his heart.
A slight pain on his small arm, Fan Xian’s face remained unchanged, gently grasping Wan Er’s hand, raising a cup with his left hand, he said with a gentle smile, “Drink and drink.”
There was another burst of laughter on the table, and even Ruo Ruo, who had been somewhat inexplicably uneasy, laughed softly.
“That Haitang ……,” King Jing suddenly said, “I’m afraid it’s not Bitter Lotus’ closed disciple.”
Fan Xian had been a bit nervous about the word Haitang, but listening to the latter sentence, he realized that what he had arranged in the first place had finally begun, and that news had begun to spread into Kyoto.
Fan Jian nodded, revealing a puzzled look, “It’s really strange to say that, that Miss Haitang,” he glanced at his own son and continued, “is rumored to be truly heavenly, the youngest one ever to be a master of the ninth rank on the ninth rank, and the people of Beiqi have always said that she’s a Heavenly Veins person …… With such a disciple, what is there for Bitter Lotus to be dissatisfied with, to actually reopen the mountain to accept disciples.”
Shi Zi Li Hong Cheng also knew about this and frowned, “Could it be a conspiracy by the Northern Qi?”
King Jing scolded: “Yin a fart conspiracy, accepting disciples is a conspiracy, could it be that Bitter Lotus eating a meal is also a conspiracy, you don’t think about these things every day, beware of exhaustion and dissipation of the heart! Such a big person, a little bit of interest is not.”
Li Hongcheng muffled to go, Fan Si Zhe on the side of the deeply related to him touched a cup of children.
Fan Jian impatient to see King Jing training son, said, “Although it is unlikely to be any conspiracy, but it is also really strange …… Bitter Lotus closed several months, suddenly said on the enlightenment of the will of heaven, to re-accept two female disciples, but also said what heavenly auspicious …… this Really strange.”
King Jing slowly drink a cup of wine, face cautious color said: “The four great masters, that is the top of the earth’s characters, we know of the three, Ye Liuyun is not accepting disciples of the sprightly people, four Gu Jian collected disciples although less, but the sword hut is wide open, which creates many nine-piece masters of the city of Dongyi, Bitter Lotus national masters in the past have received four apprenticeships, each of which is a stunning generation. ”
Fan Xian thought of Wolf Peach’s soul-devouring scimitar and couldn’t help but nod lightly.
King Jing continued to frown, “But all three of these great masters haven’t opened their mountain gates for many years, and for Bitter Lotus to suddenly take on another disciple at this time is really a major event in the world. Although we these people do not care, but for the world’s martial arts practitioners, this is really a good opportunity, if once you can worship under the Bitter Lotus, martial arts refinement regardless, but also can form a good relationship with the Heavenly Monarchs ……” He sighed and said, “If one is able to draw closer to the Bitter Lotus lineage through the matter of accepting an apprentice, I see that these monarchs in the world are extremely willing.”
Fan Xian showed curiosity and asked, “After all, the Bitter Lotus is the state master of Northern Qi, and accepting an apprentice is thought to be looking for someone within Northern Qi, so what does this have to do with our country of Qing?”
Fan Jian glanced at his son and said, “This time, State Master Bitter Lotus has opened his door widely, so anyone has a chance. Although he is the Northern Qi State Master, but what a supreme position for a Grand Master, if any of our Qing Kingdom’s subjects have the opportunity to worship under his tutelage, I think His Majesty would be happy to see it happen.”
Fan Xian nodded, indicating that he understood, but in his heart, he was thinking of something else – he wondered just how Haitang had convinced that Grand Master, it seemed that this girl family, indeed, was more powerful than he had imagined.
After the banquet broke up, Liu went to the back of the house to talk to the women, the young people went to the lake to drink in the wind, but Fan Sichert swiftly disappeared.
King Jing hand tended the garden garden, he and Fan Shangshu two people lying on top of the bamboo chairs, squinting at the grass without saying a word.
“Fan Xian has …… been a little too fierce lately, you press him.” King Jing’s two eyes clear, Fan Shangshu’s face is quiet, where like the two old drunkards on top of the wine table.
Fan Jian gently hmmm, said, “This child said when he first entered the capital, I can not fully control him.”
King Jing snorted coldly and said, “If you and I don’t control him, do we leave him in the hands of that old cripple? That old cripple, with a belly full of bad water, hell knows what he’s playing at.”
Fan Jian laughed, “The old cripple was also an old man who went out from your house in the first place, otherwise how could His Majesty trust him so much.”
King Jing laughed coldly, “Let you guys toss it around, anyway, after that incident, my heart faded.” He then closed his eyes and said, “This boy, Fan Xian, has a really good heart, I’m only worried that His Majesty has squeezed him too hard, and it will always be hard to clean up in the future.”
Fan Jian sighed and said, “As you know, I have no say in this matter.”
King Jing shook his head and sighed, “Just let these boys have their fun, my brother probably likes to watch this kind of drama.”