Chapter 50 – Autumn Forest, Whispers, and Results

Qin Heng was a smart man, otherwise even if his old man’s position in the military was as prominent as it was, it would be impossible for him to burrow into the deliberations under the door at the age of thirty or so, so he stood up calmly, arched his hand at the Grand Prince and Fan Xian, and said, “There are three urgent matters for people, so you guys can chat first.” Without waiting for the two of them to reply, he had already taken extremely steady steps, without leaking half a trace of unusual emotions, and swept through the corners of the hall like a gust of wind, heading straight for the outhouse under the leadership of Chen Yuan’s subordinates.

Fan Xian couldn’t help but smile, thinking of the time when he made a scene at the Ministry of Justice’s office, the young secretary of the Da Lisi, who represented the military to find his own trouble, finally saw the escalation of the conflict, and also fled in urine – it seems that the old Qin family has already studied this trick to the hilt.

The atmosphere between the hall is a bit dull, after all, or the great prince broke the silence, leisurely said: “Qin Heng and I, are fighting to boil out, we are these military temperament straight, so the words are also clear, I do not like to look at the soldiers outside the head, sprinkle blood, Kyoto, inside the dignitaries but each other to denounce, cause the national body is not quiet, make a party dispute, no matter who wins or who is negative, the court will always suffer some loss of talent. The court will always suffer some loss of talent.”

Fan Xian sorted out his lapel and sat for a few breaths of time, seemingly thinking about something, before slowly opening his mouth, his tone couldn’t help but bring a touch of coldness: “The Prince of Harmony’s …… meaning, I do understand, but the cause of this matter, I’m sure you’re also aware of it, generals and soldiers are out for the court. The court knife in the fire to come, is not …… my Supervisory Yuan officials are not also so? I think, the hospital those secret agents in a foreign country to bear the danger, not less than the generals of the Western Expeditionary Army. I am a member of the Supervisory Court, my temperament is not straight, but I am also not a character who naturally likes to play tricks, and if I am asked to go to the north for the court, I think I will be happier …… but if someone comes to mess with me, even if this force comes from within the court, I will not be soft.”

The Grand Prince was silent, suddenly raising his head and preparing to say something.

Fan Xian waved his hand and said, “It’s just a dispute over some interests, and it has nothing to do with something as big as the national body Ning’s violation. I’m the Supervisory Court’s Tisan, if I can’t even protect my own interests, how am I going to prove that I’m capable of protecting the court’s interests? Protect His Majesty’s interests?” He then laughed coldly, “The Grand Imperial Palace also don’t say no matter who wins or loses words, if right now is the other side is aggressive and I’m being beaten without any power to fight back, could it be …… that you are willing to go and be a lobbyist for me?”

The Grand Prince frowned, his already somewhat tanned face looking deeper and deeper, “Fan Xian, you should be clear about your own part, you are a courtier, do things …… in a measured manner.”

These words were actually quite unusual, in the eyes of the princes, Fan Xian’s actions would have been a bit over the top, and as a courtier, the boldness he showed in the incident was a bit too strong. The Grand Prince thought to himself that his reminding the other party of the incident should have been a gesture of goodwill, and it was impossible to even think that Fan Xian, because of his own birth, was exceptionally prickly whenever he heard such words.

“I am a vassal.” Fan Xian stared at the Grand Prince’s eyes, “But in front of my eyes, the so-called difference between a ruler and a subject only lies in the fact that …… the ruler, is the emperor, and the crown prince is the future emperor …… Apart from these two, I think that all of us, including you, are subjects , there is no essential difference.”

The Grand Prince looked at Fan Xian with some surprise, as if he could not imagine that the other party would dare to say something like this, narrowing his eyes, a cold light in his eyes shot out that is hidden, “For the sake of Chen’er, you must be reminded once more, the family affairs of the Son of Heaven, to be involved in too much, in the future, for you, the Fan family, is not a good thing either.”

Fan Xian laughed and said, “The Son of Heaven has no family matters, has the Grand Emperor not understood this?” The Grand Imperial Prince choked on the five words, “The Son of Heaven has no family matters,” and slapped the armrest of his chair in annoyance.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and said in a harmonious voice, “The furniture in the abbot’s house are all antiques, so the Grand Imperial Highness should lighten his hand.”

The Grand Prince froze, and after a moment of silence, he shook his head and said, “Fan Xian, perhaps I have truly underestimated you.”

Fan Xian was slightly startled and asked, “Where did that come from?”

“My ambition lies on the horse, and if the military is going to strike out beautifully all over the world on this big stage, we need a stable rear.” The Grand Prince narrowed his eyes as he spoke, “That’s why many people, including me, believe that the court needs calm. Over the years, I’ve been far to the west, but knew that although there was some unrest in the court, it was always kept within certain parameters …… until you, came to Kyoto.”

Fan Xian shook his head and smiled, not knowing how to answer.

“Your appearance was too sudden, and so was your rise to power.” The Grand Prince looked at him and said, “So sudden that most people in the court were not prepared for it, and you already possessed enough power to break the balance.”

In the end, the Grand Prince stated the centerpiece of the day, “There are a lot of people …… who want you to maintain the balance of Kyoto, rather than sweeping everything away in a wild ride.”

Fan Xian fell silent, knowing that the other party’s words represented not only his attitude, but also that of the vast majority of the military.

He had already taken control of the Supervisory Yuan and achieved a lifetime of literary fame in just less than two years from Tanyu to Kyoto, not to mention the question of whether or not he would be in charge of the inner treasury in the coming year, but let’s just say that with the current strength of his own civil and military skills, he already had the ability to call the shots above the official arena. And this time with the second prince faction of the war, the current tendency to win or lose, so that his strength has been the most fully demonstrated, ask a young minister has the ability to easily combat the emperor, will always let the officialdom above the other forces feel a trace of fear.

The military sent a message for himself to show mercy to the second prince, not as a threat, nor as a defense of the dignity of the Heavenly Family, but as a test to see if he, the one who will take over the Supervisory Yuan in the future, is a character with enough rationality and sincerity to maintain the balance of the Kingdom of Qing, after all, the military has always been good to good to good to the Supervisory Yuan, and it can even be said that how many of Qing’s soldiers who fought on the front lines will live to fight the wars with the the wisdom and temperament of the leaders of the Supervisory Academy, there was a direct correlation.

“Have you ever thought about why I’m fighting this battle this time?” Fan Xian no longer addressed the other party as Your Highness, nor did he take the other party’s reminder to heart, but instead asked this with a smile.

The Grand Prince frowned slightly, he hadn’t thought deeply about this question, and it was only after being asked by Fan Xian that he came to realize that the Supervisory Court had always stayed out of the fights between the princes – thinking of all the possibilities, he raised his head in a sudden manner and glanced at Fan Xian with some surprise.

Fan Xian was slightly stunned, as if he hadn’t expected the Grand Prince to be so illiterate about the shenanigans of the power arena, but a smile still hung on his face, “I’m just going to take out my anger, and at the same time, make certain people sober up a bit.”

After an extremely long silence, the grand prince suddenly twitched his eyebrows, seemed to think of certain things, actually laughed out loud, then said calmly: “My second brother, in fact, is also a bit of a smart person, this time in your hands to eat such a big loss, think also can let him alert alert …… maybe, there will be Some unexpected results.”

Each other are smart people, Fan Xian immediately caught the hidden meaning in these words, and after thinking about it, he said in a harmonious voice: “Perhaps …… there is some coincidence between my humble servant’s intentions and those of you, Your Highness. It’s just that whether or not we can get the Second Highness to obtain that kind of favor will depend on how you persuade him.”

The Grand Prince glanced at him with great interest, seeming to recognize this point and not believing it, and said doubtfully, “This king just doesn’t understand why you are …… so worried about this matter.”

Fan Xian thought to himself, fake is also a few brothers, the old is not easy to be reborn once, could it be that he is still really ready to watch the Xuanwumen staged? But this reason is in any case can not speak, had to play a haha pushed past, and he is still on the big prince heart vigilance, although the court up and down recognized that the prince is the most broad-minded, the only good thing about the martial arts, for the emperor has not been coveted heart …… but after all, it is the thieving emperor’s son, who knows what he really thinks.

“Can spare people and spare people.” The Grand Prince gave Fan Xian a meaningful glance, with his status, it was already quite difficult to come and speak such gesture words on behalf of the Second Prince.

Fan Xian smiled and nodded, knowing in his heart of hearts that he couldn’t possibly drive the Second Prince to extinction, so naturally, he didn’t care about selling this favor. This decision simply has nothing to do with the attitude of the big imperial prince and the military, purely because that His Majesty the Emperor …… in the palace is watching himself.

Big brother is watching you.

Fan Xian gave enough face to the military, the great prince is not good to say anything else, after all, he knows that his second brother is not a vegetarian role, this thing in the end, the Fan family also paid a great price, if a little benefit can not get back, they will not stop – just the thing is finished, the two are not familiar with people sitting in the hall of the Chen Yuan The two people who were not familiar with each other sat in Chen Yuan’s hall and could not find a topic to talk about for a while, making the scene seem a bit cold and awkward.

Qin Heng, especially long, the two sat in a chair, some tasteless drinking tea, suddenly Fan Xian opened his mouth and said: “How is the Grand Princess recently? My humble servant has been busy with his official duties, and has not been able to pay his respects, so I would like to ask the Grand Princess to pay her respects.”

Above the officialdom, the topic of opening is a very learned thing, and Fan Xian naturally had his thoughts when he picked this matter to say. As expected, the Grand Prince said with a straight face, “Your Excellency Fan escorted me all the way to the south, this king would like to thank you.”

This is the great thing about Fan Xian, choosing an appropriate topic to effectively bring each other closer, while still being the kind that makes the other party accept their love, he smiled, humbled himself a few times, and then began to chat with the Grand Prince about the scenery of the Northern Kingdom.

The marriage between the grand prince and the grand princess of northern qi is also scheduled for next spring, nowadays the grand princess basically lives in the palace, and the grand prince has also met a few times, according to the rumors in kyoto, this pair of political marriage of man and woman, seems to be relatively satisfied with each other. Fan Xian was the main ambassador last time, so according to the traditional view of the people of Qing, he was still considered the matchmaker of the Grand Prince.

After a shallow conversation, Fan Xian finally had a slightly changed impression of the Grand Prince, as a prince, but with such a sparse and direct temperament, it was really rare. Perhaps because his birth mother is not very noble, when just a bit of Dongyi City female prisoners of the relationship, the eldest prince does not have the oldest two oldest three and the prince of the kind of power and nobility of the air, but a lot of straight, speak is also forceful and powerful, sound, and do not pay much attention to cover up the work.

No wonder his wife has the best friendship with this prince – Fan Xian thought so, with a smile on his face and the other side of the circle, listening to the other side of the military affairs will be excited, can only sigh in the heart, he has a deep sense of self-awareness, know that he is in the military, there is really no genius, and the other side of this kind of strength to lead the army for several years of characters! Compared to the other party, it is better to be silent.

“Has Lord Fan seen Uesugi Tiger?” A look of languid yearning and a slight hint of admiration suddenly appeared on the Grand Prince’s face.

Fan Xian froze slightly and said, “I seem to have met him from afar in the Shangjing Palace, but it didn’t leave much of an impression.”

The great prince slapped his thigh, looked at him and said hatefully, “Qing doesn’t know people, Qing doesn’t know people, such a great opportunity to make friends, how can I miss it.” The words were not full of pity.

“Oh?” Fan Xian raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, “Why does the Grand Prince think so highly of Uesugi Tiger?”

“A generation of male generals.” The Grand Prince gave a very direct four-word comment, his eyes narrowed, and said in a chilling voice, “Independently holding up the defense line stretching three thousand miles to the north of Beiqi, preventing the barbarians from going south for more than a decade, but also the odd troops repeatedly, directly breaking through a thousand miles of snowy territory, and decapitating thousands of northern barbarians……. Lord Fan may not be aware of the fact that, although the huans and barbarians are all Extremely ferocious, but the western Hu compared to the northern barbarians, or a lot weaker, this king these years in the west to deal with the Hu people, more and more feel that Uesugi Hu in the northern Qi court so unstable situation, but also able to support for so many years, it is …… quite scary.”

“Unfortunately, Uesugi Tiger has already been transferred back to the Shangjing …… Maybe in the future, there will be a chance to meet with the Grand Palace in the sand.” Fan Xian said with a smile.

The great prince’s face surfaced a trace of confident luster, slowly said, “If you can take this male will be used by the court, naturally there are supreme benefits …… not this …… If we really meet on the battlefield in the future, although this king has always admired his people’s art of war is majestic and strange. The strange and bizarre, but there is no need to make a lifetime of learning, and he had a good time around a bit.”

Fan Xian looked at the flavor emanating from the Grand Prince, and was occasionally confused, knowing that what he had learned since he was a child was biased, plus the concepts of his previous life, and he was afraid that it would be extremely difficult to cultivate this kind of passion in the fire of the army.

But he also has his own confidence, said with a slight smile: “Although I have not learned the Uesugi Tiger Art of War, but look at it in the rainy night in the sniping Shen Chong thing, this person really act dare out of the strange front, in the silent place ringing thunderbolt, out of the world’s people do not want to kill the decisive, really is a high person.”

The great prince seems to smile, some bizarrely looked at him, said: “North Qi Zhenfu Division Commanding Officer Shen …… this matter, I’m afraid that with Fan Ti Si can not get out of the relationship it.”

Shen Chong’s death, is Fan Xian and Haitang set the first step in the plan, in fact, there are some people in the suspicion of the role played by the State of Qing in which, but at this time by the eldest prince pointed out, Fan Xian still heart a flinch, smiled and played sloppy: “Your Highness should be clear, our kind of people to do are not allowed to see the light of day … . not as majestic as Your Highness or that General Uesugi, but sometimes, we can do something to help the court.”

The great prince stared at his eyes, suddenly said, “This is why this king said earlier that he had underestimated you …… Although the Uesugi tiger is unbeatable, it is still being carried by the wonderful hands of the Fan Tisi to do back to the puppet …… Lord Fan acted, and it is really …… unfathomable.”

Uesugi Tiger sniped Shen Chong in the middle of the rainy street, the specific things are the Emperor of Northern Qi and Haitang skillfully arranged, but let the world misunderstand that he played a more important role in it, will make his own scary image and the onlookers to their own strength assessment on another level, this opportunity Fan Xian of course refused to miss, shamelessly reserved a smile, actually should be down.

“I’ve heard that …… Lord Fan is a ninth grade powerhouse?” The Grand Prince glanced at Fan Xian, his eyes containing many meanings.

Fan Xian slightly inclined his head and responded with a soft smile, “Your Highness, I have no interest in fighting with you …… Regardless of whether one wins or loses, it’s a loss for the court ah.”

The Grand Prince did not expect Fan Xian to be so cunning, immediately heard his own meaning, and then blocked his own mouth with the same words he used earlier when he said peace, he could not help but feel depressed, he was a good martial artist, of course he wanted to fight with Fan Xian, who had always seldom put up a fight.

“There are many people who want to teach me a lesson.” Fan Xian thought that he might run into that pervert Shadow later, and said with a bitter smile, “Not one more Your Highness, just yawn and let me go.”

The great prince froze again, he has always been cheerful and direct, extremely like to make friends, but after all, as a prince, coupled with several years of military career cast blood kill gas, where many subjects dare and he is comfortable talking, but in front of this Fan Xian, outside the gates of Kyoto, to his own not very respectful, and today in the garden of Chen to talk, but also more than not to be polite, playful laughter and cursing, even seems to be not regarded as a prince.

He took a deep breath and felt that the world was indeed a little different …… at least around this young man called Fan Xian in front of him, the world was already different.

“Lord Fan is interesting to talk to, I like talking to you.” The Grand Emperor looked at Qin Heng finally returning, smiled and stood up, saying, “You give me face, then the matter of the disputed road outside Kyoto let’s write it off, but …… in the future if I want to find you to talk, you can …… Don’t play sick or urinate.”

Fan Xian smiled and made a bow: “I dare not follow orders, the great prince speaks, than those a few people are also interesting.” Those few people were naturally talking about His Majesty’s other princes.

The Grand Prince did not bid farewell to Chen Pingping, he knew that this eccentric dean of the school did not care about these empty rituals, so he and Qin Heng went out of the Chen Garden. Before leaving the garden, Qin Heng whispered something to Fan Xian and set a time to go up to the Qin Mansion on another day.

After getting on the carriage, traveling out of the most heavily guarded section of the mountain road outside of the Chen Garden, and passing through the guards of the Fan Mansion and members of the Inspection Academy’s Qiyan Group who were squatting in the grass like mountain thieves, the Grand Prince lowered the green curtains of the carriage window and said coldly, “Fan Xian, it really is extraordinary.”

Qin Heng smiled and said, “According to father’s meaning, the stronger Fan Xian is, the better …… Otherwise in the future, the Supervisory Yuan will really be run by a loser, and those old men in the Privy Council will only be angry …… Those brothers in our army won’t have a good days.”

The eldest prince nodded, suddenly sighed and said, “Away from the capital for several years, after coming back is really a bit uncomfortable, even easy to talk to no one.” Most of his personal soldiers have been demobilized, and the establishment of the Western Expeditionary Army has also been dispersed, the Ministry of War has transferred another sergeant to drive to the west to garrison the border, he is now in Kyoto, and the situation of that male general in the north is somewhat similar, except that he is after all the Imperial Son, compared to Uesugi Tiger, the treatment and status is naturally too much stronger.

“How was the chat with Fan Tiji?”

“Not bad.” The Grand Emperor said, “Your father should be able to rest assured. Even if President Chen sues for his old age, I believe that with Fan Xian’s ability, the Supervisory Court will still be able to remain as efficient as it is today and strongly support the military.”

Qin Heng shook his head, “I believe this as well, it is just that in my opinion, this Little Lord Fan, is perhaps as good as ever ……”

“Little Lord Fan has a meticulous mind, has traveled widely to exotic countries, his martial arts have reached the realm of the Ninth Grade of Super Strength, and his control of the affairs of the Supervisory Yuan is also incomparably beautiful …… not to forget his identity as a Poetry Immortal, a leader of the literati who can make Zhuang Da Zu gifted a collection of books, but who will in the future become the head of the Supervisory Yuan …… Such a person,” he was filled with an unbelievable look, “has never appeared before, and I think that he will, in the future, go farther than Dean Chen Pingping.”

The eldest prince sighed, “Don’t forget, next year, he still has to take over the inner treasury …… just like this to be placed on top of the wind and waves, to meet the world’s attention and secret cold arrows, I also don’t know what Father Huang is thinking.”

Mentioning His Majesty, Qin Heng was naturally not in a position to answer, the Grand Prince smiled and glanced at him as he continued, “But Fan Xian is still young after all, and compared to Lord Dean, he has one of the most fatal weaknesses, and I think that he himself is very clear about it, which is why he took the opportunity to take advantage of the oldest two’s matter this time to send out his power, to deter the world, and to be the first to protect his own weaknesses. ”

“What weakness?” Qin Heng asked curiously.

“His mind has restraints.” The Grand Prince squinted his eyes and said seriously, “Uncle is different, uncle has no sons or daughters, his parents died early, he has no relatives, he has no real friends, although there are many beautiful people in the garden, he has no woman who is truly beloved, he can really be called a lone tree with one …… Enemies simply can’t find uncle’s The enemy can’t find Uncle’s weaknesses, so how can they defeat him? Fan Xian is different, he has a wife, a sister, a family, and friends …… which are all his weaknesses.”

When Qin Heng thought about it, it was indeed true that throughout the entire country of Qing, all of them did not know who Chen Pingping had really cared about in her life …… except for His Majesty.

“No relatives, no friends, no love, this kind of day …… must not be very good.” After all, Qin Heng is not a bit of an old man, and once he thought about this, he felt slightly gloomy.

“Dean is not easy.” The Grand Prince said with a look of respect on his face, “Fan Xian is still far from reaching this kind of realm.”

In the middle of the Chen Garden, the sound of singing was interspersed with the sound of silk and bamboo, floating in mid-air like feeble clouds in a soft, mushy, and slippery manner. A dozen or so beauties in fancy dress were singing and dancing above the platform in the lake. Chen Pingping, who was sitting on top of a wheelchair, accompanied by Wan’er and Ruo Ruo, was looking at this scene with a face full of enjoyment, and Sang Wen was holding a harp at the moment, playing a tune for the dancers.

What a relaxed and easy life of the princes and lords, on the other hand, in the carriage leaving the garden, those two young men from the Qing military felt very sympathetic towards Chen Pingping’s life.

Fan Xian walked over from the other end, Chen Pingping gently clapped her palms, the song and dance dispersed all of a sudden, and another beautiful person carefully led a few female guests to the back for a short rest. Wan’er knew that Fan Xian must have something to say to Dean Chen at this moment, so she went down under the guidance of that beautiful person, only to glance at Fan Xian before leaving, wanting to ask him how he had talked with his big imperial brother.

Fan Xian smiled and nodded, and after settling his wife’s heart, he walked behind Chen Pingping, consciously placing his hands on the back of the wheelchair, and asked, “Where to?”

Chen Pingping raised her withered hand and pointed to the piece of forest to the east of the garden.

Fan Xian was silent as he pushed his wheelchair that way, and the old and young did not speak. It was still early in the day, but the autumn sun was still cold and clear, shining down from the slanting top of the forest, dragging the shadows of the wheelchair and the person long. The round wheels of the wheelchair squeaked as they ran over the shadows.

“He called you uncle.” Fan Xian pushed the wheelchair and walked slowly through the somewhat sparse leafless fall forest, smiling, “Not afraid that the Duzha Academy will report you? This is a great offense.”

“Are you afraid that the Du Caiyuan will report you? It won’t lose two layers of skin, and if all of the memorials to me are kept, I’m afraid that His Majesty’s Imperial Study Room is already stuffed.” Chen Pingping said expressionlessly, “He called my uncle by His Majesty’s royal permission, no one can say anything.”

“His Majesty’s permission?” Fan Xian was a bit surprised.

Chen Pingping glanced back at him and said indifferently, “Talented Ning was a female captive of the Eastern Barbarians back then, and during that Northern Expedition, His Majesty nearly gave up his life in the mountains and waters of the North, and it was all because of Talented Ning’s careful service along the way that he survived, and only later did he have a great prince.”

Fan Xian had heard this story before, and knew that at that time, when His Majesty was in a desperate situation, it was this withered old man in the wheelchair he was pushing that led the Black Riders to snatch him back from the north. As soon as he made the connection, he understood a little and said, “You are on good terms with Cai Ren Ning?”

“Having fled all the way back, the situation was rather miserable at that time, and the impression left in my mind was more profound, and then the relationship naturally became a bit closer.” Chen Pingping still spoke expressionlessly, “At that time, the situation was such that it was impossible to allow escape with a captive, when Ning Cai Ren was beheaded, I said something, perhaps it was remembering this that she has always been more respectful to me still.”

Fan Xian was happy, “So you are Cai Ren Ning’s savior.”

Chen Pingping closed her eyes and said quietly, “His Majesty was injured at the time, his body was hard as a block of wood, he couldn’t move at all, those things …… of wiping his body, urinating and defecating always had to leave a careful woman to do it.”

“Later I heard that Ning Talent’s entry into the palace also started a storm …… At that time, His Majesty was not yet married, and had to nab an Eastern barbarian female captive into the palace, and the Empress Dowager was very unhappy.” Fan Xian asked, “Did you do her a favor as well?”

Chen Pingping laughed, and the wrinkles on her face became bun skin as she laughed, “When I spoke back then, I wasn’t as powerful …… as I am today It was the young lady who opened her mouth at that time, and Ning Caijian was only able to enter the palace.”

Fan Xian sighed and then said, “So what is the matter …… My old mom likes to insert a hand.”

“She loves to meddle.” Chen Pingping said, suddenly paused, “But …… it’s not really a nosy thing, it always needs her to open her mouth before His Majesty makes up his mind to get married.”

Fan Xian made a face behind him and said, “I’d rather not listen to the romance stories of the older generation.”

“It’s good to listen.” Chen Pingping smiled grimly, “At least you now know that inside the palace, you still have someone you can trust.”

“Talented Lady Ning?” Fan Xian shook his head, “A small favor many years ago, I don’t think the effectiveness can continue until now.”

Chen Pingping said, “An Eastern barbarian woman, with a spirited temperament and a clear distinction between enmity and hatred ……And thirteen years ago to avenge the young lady’s death, she also made a great effort ……It was also because of this that she offended the empress dowager, and was relegated to the position of a talent, and until today are unable to reset.”

“Do you confirm that the Great Hall has no intention of competing for the first wife?”

Chen Pingping said indifferently, “He is a smart person, so at a very young age, he chose to run away. Knowing the son by his mother, the prince educated by Caijun Ning is much more refreshing than the second and the crown prince.”

Fan Xian was silent for a moment before suddenly opening his mouth and asking, “Does Talented Lady Ning know about me?”

“No.” Chen Pingping educated, “All the cards you hold in your hand, you can’t play them all at once, you always have to hide a few in your sleeve.”

“Does Your Majesty …… know that I know?”

“No.”

“Is this a deception?”

“Oh, since Your Majesty didn’t ask, it’s certainly inconvenient for those of us who are subjects to say anything.”

Both the oldest and youngest laughed, smiling like two foxes.

“That’s it for that matter of the oldest two?”

“Did you achieve your goal?”

“A total of seventeen officials were cured, his power in the dynasty cleared up about as much as he could, and I don’t have the ability to get my hands dirty at the Ministry of Appointments and Ministers kind of level.” Fan Xian wiggled his fingers, “The Cui family also lost quite a bit, and according to the news coming from the north, they were forced to spread their arms and legs. It will probably be much easier to chop off their hands.”

“Don’t let others notice that your next target is the Cui family.” Chen Pingping said coldly, “Tomorrow at the court, His Majesty will make a decision. It will be hard for Lao Er to roll over.”

“Will my family have problems?”

“Do you care about that baron’s title?”

“No.”

“Then there’s no problem. Don’t worry, that father of yours is more cunning than anyone, how could he let you suffer.” Not knowing what came to mind, Chen Pingping said sinisterly, “Taking advantage of the fact that I am not in the capital, he called you back from Tanyu …… Ghost knows what he is thinking.”

“That’s my father.” Fan Xian reminded Lord Dean with a bit of a headache.

Chen Pingping patted the armrests of her wheelchair and said mockingly, “That I admit, he’s a really good father.”

Fan Xian was somewhat unhappy to hear such words and fell silent. Chen Pingping didn’t seem to expect this child to have such respect for Fan Jian, and smiled somewhat gratefully as she asked, “What are you doing here today?”

“Bringing my wife and sister to rub it in.” Fan Xian pulled up a forced smile, “By the way, I want them to open their eyes and see the yard of beautiful women that you, a widowed old man, have raised.”

Suddenly not wanting to continue joking with the old man, he asked with a hint of melancholy, “I’ve always had a question I wanted to ask you.”

“Say.”

“Are you …… really a loyal minister?” This question seemed somewhat childishly naive.

Chen Pingping, however, answered cautiously, and only after a long time did she say seriously, “I am loyal to His Majesty, loyal to the Kingdom of Qing …… And you should be clear by now that no matter what you are doing, it is His Majesty who is watching you do it, and it is only when he allows you to do it that you are able to do it… …So to be loyal to His Majesty is in fact to be loyal to yourself, you must remember this and always be loyal to His Majesty.”

Was this loyalty to His Majesty or loyalty to himself? Fan Xian didn’t want to delve any deeper on this issue.

“But you struck too early this time, a bit ahead of His Majesty’s plan.” Chen Pingping closed her eyes and said quietly, “And the style in which you acted was revealed too thoroughly, His Majesty didn’t realize that you had already guessed your own life, and would inevitably be suspicious of you.”

Fan Xian was silent, knowing that this was the biggest trouble this matter would bring.

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” Chen Pingping spoke softly.

Fan Xian then stopped worrying and pushed his wheelchair, walking out of this beautiful yet bleak forest. At this time, the old and young duo were walking towards the west, that is, gradually pulling the shadow behind them away, only that the wheels of the wheelchair could never tear away from the hold of that shadow.

The second day of the court will be held on time, claiming that the illness does not court for several days of Fan’s father and son finally stood to the court above, ready to meet the storm of impeachment and the officials in the court of censure, all inspectorates have been handed up for a long time, the Ministry of households Fan Jian admitted that he was too much, lax in the family education, so that the Fan Sicheng such a son of misdemeanor, Fan Xian also petitioned for a crime, on the hold the moon building murder, admitted that supervision is not strict.

But as for other charges, Fan family is not subject to all, anyway, Yin bad Kyoto prefects, murder in the rain to kill things, the other side simply do not have any evidence, and all the hands and tails are done extremely clean, enough to block the mouth of the long speech officials.

On the contrary, compared to the Fan family’s accusations against the second prince’s side, the other side is a little difficult to cope with, after all, outside the Kyoto Palace murder is one of the eight generals Xie Bian, and Xie Bian finally died in prison, a crime, all pointing directly to the second prince.

What was strange to the courtiers was that the Second Prince’s side of the attack was not ferocious, all the counterattacks were only shallow, and only after a few moments did the people guess that it was thought that the two sides had already reached some kind of secret agreement, in other words, that is to say, the Second Prince had admitted defeat.

His Majesty the Emperor had been sitting in the dragon chair quietly listening, and only when Fan Xian stepped out to plead, would his eyes flash an inscrutable look.

Not long after, after the deliberations under the door and His Majesty’s personal scrutiny, the matter was finally finalized.

The Ministry of households, Fan Jian, teaching his son is not strict, indulging his son in murder, but in view of his many years of hard work, and the first to raise the matter, the punishment is lenient, a three-year salary penalty, cut the knighthood by two grades, and ordered to think about his life behind closed doors.

Supervisory Yuan and the Imperial College Fengzheng Fan Xian, misbehavior, private deployment of the hospital soldiers, although there is on behalf of the younger brother to repent for their sins, but their sins are difficult to forgive, with the removal of the title of the penalty, and charged with revising the Zhuang Mo Han within three years of the gift of the booklet, no error.

The Ministry of Justice has issued an arrest warrant for Fan’s second son, Fan Si Zhe, who is wanted for absconding.

Kyoto prefectural government has been arrested and imprisoned, removed from the official, after the trial.

A certain State Duke ……

The last is the second prince’s treatment opinion: misbehavior, demotion, closed door to cultivate virtue for six months, not allowed to go out without authorization.

The results finally came out, every word and every sentence of the above are worth the officials and the people to speculate, but no matter what, Fan’s father and son just cut the title in addition to the title of the punishment is a bit heavy, but there is no substantial loss, on the contrary, is the second prince of a faction of the loss of many officials, they are to be placed under house arrest for six months, the punishment can not be said to be not heavy. Everyone is clear, this battle, is the Fan family won.

However, some people listening to his majesty personally drafted the decree, but found the same very interesting coincidence, Fan Xian and the second prince’s charges are very vague, are the four words of misbehavior. Just as the Supervisory Yuan, it doesn’t matter if you have a bad character, but as a prince, if you are criticized for having a bad character, the impact will be a bit big.

The wind direction in the court for a change, everyone knows that the second prince is no longer like in previous years that doubly favored by the saint, just his majesty also did not summon Fan Xian into the palace again alone, people can not help but think, could it be that the two tigers fight, one hurt all hurt, Fan Xian that exceeds the human ministers of the saint’s favor …… also ends here?

But Fan Xian does not seem to have any reaction, all day long, smilingly stay in the Imperial College, and those instructors to organize the books, or occasionally go to the Supervisory Yuan to see a look, but also took two days, respectively to the Privy Council Qin old general’s residence to visit once, and with Wan’er and his sister went to the palace to pay respects to all the ladies, and coincidentally in the north qi big princess temporarily living in the rinse of the Palace of the great Prince, of course, this time into the palace and did not meet His Majesty.

Secretly, he was still discussing a lot of things with Prince Xiao Yan, the arrangement against the smuggling routes in the northern part of the inner treasury had gradually entered into the main topic, just waiting for a knife to cut off the hand of the Cui family, breaking the biggest economic source of the Xinyang side and the second prince. Regarding the matter of the true qi in his body, he is also attentively serving, and at the same time waiting for Fei Jie’s teacher’s reply, to see whether that medicine is actually eaten or not.

So it wasn’t two days later, in a cold wind in late fall, the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Conference, which had been postponed for a long time, finally began. Fan Xian wrapped himself into a dumpling, some fear to look at the window of the last withered leaves, thinking that such a cold ghost weather, where there is not life of the chrysanthemum will open?