Chapter 27 – Blasphemy
The crown prince sidestepped his head, dodging this slap from his mother, holding her cold wrist in his backhand, quietly looking at his mother.
The Empress did not expect the always timid Crown Prince’s eyes to be so sharp, subconsciously her body trembled slightly and pulled her hand back from her son’s hand, slowly saying, “Do you really think that your mother has done wrong?”
The crown prince frowned and said softly, “The child does not dare.”
The Empress suddenly raised her voice and said, “Could it be that you didn’t know that Fan Xian and Lao Er were meeting in the courtesan boat?”
The Crown Prince suddenly lifted his face and looked directly into the Empress’ eyes, saying quietly, “Can Mother allow my son to handle these matters on his own? Fan Xian is a poet of his generation, and it is not unusual for him to meet with his second brother.”
The Empress was anxious and angry, but did not know how to speak to this son who was timid with a hint of ruthlessness.
The crown prince glanced at her and said softly, “Mother, I have often wondered if you can stop being so sensitive, you will only drive courtiers who have the potential to be a help to my child to several other brothers.”
The Empress gritted her teeth and said, “This palace is the mother of a country, slightly punishing a minor minister, could it be how he still dares to hold a grudge.”
The Crown Prince lightly sneered and said, “Mother, you shouldn’t have let Han Shangshu do it that day, it’s not like you could really beat Fan Xian to death, so why bother offending the Fan family and the Chancellor? I think in a few more days, Minister Han Shangshu won’t be able to stand up in the court, there aren’t many solid ministers in the court who are willing to be close to the Eastern Palace, yet you chose to cut off one of your own fingers, I really don’t know what you were thinking.”
The Empress frowned and said, “Han Zhiwei is after all a minister of the dynasty, and on that day he was ordered to try the case according to the law, could the Chancellor and Fan Jian do anything about it? With the Eastern Palace protecting him, I think His Majesty will always give you, the Crown Prince, some face.”
“Don’t forget that Fan Xian is the Tisan of the Supervisory Court, and that Father has always admired him.” The Crown Prince exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, shaking his head and sighing, “Han Zhiwei has offended too many and too many people this time, and if you know that it was Father Emperor’s intention to rectify the winds of the imperial court, it is simply impossible for this palace to step in and bail him out.”
The Empress laughed coldly, “Don’t forget how many Beijing officials Fan Xian has offended as well, not to mention the fact that there is also the Ducha Academy involved this time around, and although your aunt is far away in Xinyang, her power in the imperial court will not be able to stand by and do nothing, I think.”
“Don’t mention auntie.” The Crown Prince seemed to be a bit disgusted with the eldest princess, “She’s been too eccentric these past two years, actually colluding with the Northern Qi side, her guts are too big, where has she put the face of the Kingdom of Qing? As for the imperial inspectorate surnamed Guo, it’s just the little white boy she toyed with back then, even if she was assassinated by the inspectorate, she wouldn’t blink an eye.”
The Crown Prince was, after all, the Crown Prince of a country, and although the Princess had always been extremely close to the Eastern Palace over the years, after Fan Xian’s words and papers had been scattered all over Kyoto like snowflakes, the Crown Prince was also a little wary of that Princess. Of course there were other reasons.
The Empress said with heartache, “We don’t have any other help, we just have to rely on the Eldest Princess.”
“This palace will rely on father.” The crown prince calmly answered, until this moment, the crown prince who had always appeared to be a bit cowardly finally showed the innate political sense and judgment of a royal son.
The Empress slowly closed her eyes and said, “In short, I don’t like Fan Xian, find a way to make him die.”
The Crown Prince slammed the table in anger and said, “Die? Have you forgotten that Fan Xian is Chen’er’s husband! You should not listen to your aunt’s instigation in everything, that woman is a madman, a lunatic, do you know that? Do you also want to become a madman and be driven out of the palace?”
The Empress was furious, trembling with anger, pointing at the Crown Prince’s nose, shaking her voice and saying, “What do you know? What do you know? What do you know? What do you …… you know?” Perhaps the words of the crown prince touched the queen’s wound of the years, under the anger, even said four “you know what”.
The eunuchs and palace maidens have long been far away, the East Palace, only this mother and son two people. After a very long silence, the empress only stood up, but the body seems to be a little weak, swaying a little. The crown prince hurriedly got up and supported her, somewhat helplessly asking for forgiveness.
The Empress looked at her son, miserable and incomparable, there were already wrinkles beside those beautiful danfeng eyes, and said quietly: ”Throughout the dynasties, the Crown Prince is one of the most difficult seats to sit on, you have to guard yourself against your body in front of you and behind you, and there’s no one in mother’s home, and you probably don’t have any memories of that turmoil twelve years ago, but mother remembers it clearly, and if you don’t go to fight for it yourself, then the things that were originally belonged to you would have been taken away.”
The crown prince softened his voice as much as he could and said softly, “Child understands, mother go back to the palace first and rest.”
The Empress shook her head, “You don’t understand, you don’t understand …… these days, I always have some ominous premonitions, this feeling is very strong …… just like many years ago, when that woman entered Kyoto. ”
“Which woman?” The prince said curiously.
It was at this moment that the heavy wooden door of the Eastern Palace was suddenly pushed open.
“Who?!” The Crown Prince frowned angrily.
An old eunuch walked in with a stooped body and said extremely respectfully, “Old slave Hong Si Itchy, by order of the Empress Dowager, invites the Empress to the Hall of Harmonious Light for a leisurely chat.”
The Empress’s face flickered with a hint of shock, and immediately piled on a smile, and with a dignified demeanor, under the assistance of the palace maid, she followed the rickety old eunuch Hong, and traveled towards the Palace’s true mistress palace.
Prince frowned slightly, although extremely unhappy with the rudeness of this old dog, but know that the other party is grandmother’s closest eunuchs, even mother is not willing to offend, their own natural will not do anything more to.
Palace candlelight dimming, Prince Li Chengqian thought of that day above the Ministry of Justice of the absurd farce, the heart is more depressed, really do not understand, why the Queen Mother is so listen to the words of the Princess, a thought of the young charming aunt, the Prince of the heart is hot, the face of a shame, a slight fear, but the eyes gradually showed the intention of the lust.
He whisked his sleeve to the back of the hall, a few moments later, came from a burst of hidden and unheard of spring moan, a palace girl is under his body rolled over and begged for pleasure, the prince will be the woman’s palace shirt lifted up to the neck face, cover her face, only to reveal that piece of white shaking plump breasts to. He was hard to invade the side, the side of the heavy gasping, thinking that the world’s charming women, why are not willing to lie honestly in bed, have to show off their own stupid tactics it?
Spring has come, the flowers bloomed, the birds chirped. Yang Wanli four newly promoted officials and then to the Fan House, want to bask in the spring breeze of the little Fan Ta-Jen, I did not expect today’s little Fan Ta-Jen is still not in the house. And more to Hou Jichang some headache is, get the news is that the little Lord Fan is carrying out a certain task, and tomorrow will go on a mission to North Qi.
The second grade is not into the Hanlin, according to the rules of previous years will be released to the local party officials, looking at the Ministry of the Ministry of the Ministry of Dispatch is about to start, in addition to Shi Yanli, the rest of the three naturally want to come to listen to Fan Xian’s views, after all, the spring exams, the three rely on the strength of the Fan Xian, only to be able to get to this point, they rightly thought that the Fan Xian surely need to do something in the local area.
Where did they expect Fan Xian actually did not meet with them, just left them two letters, one is left to the three new officials who will soon leave the capital, one is left to prepare to return to their hometowns again than the Shi Hanyan Li.
The four sat in the study of the Fan Mansion, somewhat unaware of the taste of a mouthful of good tea served by the subordinates, and not caring to avoid suspicion, they opened the two letters left by the door division.
One of the letters to the three Hou Jichang people contained a blank sheet of paper with only two very simple sentences written on it.
“Be a good man, be a good official.”
There was a single sentence at the end that was reserved for Hou Jichang, and Fan Xian wrote in the letter, “Jichang don’t be too afraid of the interior.”
This was a cold joke that Fan Xian only understood, and naturally, the three graduates didn’t understand what it meant, only focusing on the first two sentences. Be a good person, be a good official, the more the three of them tasted, the more they realized that these simple words contained very real truths, to learn to be an official, naturally, they had to learn to be a good person first.
But there is another layer of meaning, I do not know which one of them tasted out – do a good job, not a good person. Being a good official is not necessarily being a good official.
After reading this letter, Yang Wanli naturally interested in the letter in the hands of Shi Hanyuli, I do not know what is written in the letter that Lord Fan specifically left for Shi Hanyuli, after all, among the four, only Shi Hanyuli seems to have a somewhat bleak future.
Shi Hanyan Li some anxiety in the three friends in the eyes opened the letter, a careful look is a few broken sentences, but almost laughed out loud.
“To the old Fangzhi things are not concordant, three points in the people in seven in the sky, do not worry about the umbrella without a close friend, play with a good life is only waiting for leisure.”
The last three words were only waiting for leisure, naturally waiting for Fan Xian to come back.
At this time, Fan Xian was sitting in the mansion he had bought, frowning slightly. His fingers brushed over his hollow belt and touched the pill that Fei Jie had given him when he was a child. At that time, his teacher said that if anything went wrong with the hegemonic true qi in his body, he would have to rely on this pill to save his life, but after entering the capital, the hegemonic true qi in his body had always been extremely obedient, he had somewhat forgotten about this pile, and only thought about it during the daytime when he was sorting out his equipment today, just that so many years had passed, and he didn’t know if the medicine Fei Jie dispensed had actually failed or not.
Wang Qinian sat on the opposite side of him and respectfully returned, “The person has been found.” He raised his head with some hesitation, “Like is certainly some like, Tisi adults are proficient in the art of make-up and disguise, a little bit of decoration, I think the average person from afar, should not see the cracks. But there is always something wrong.”
“What’s wrong?” Fan Xian was slightly stunned and said, “Didn’t you say it’s quite similar? It’s been a month since I raised it, and my skin color is closer.”
Wang Qinian replied softly, “It’s difficult to find someone as rich and handsome as your lordship among these turbid men, and even if the shape is similar, it’s really hard to pretend to be a naturally flamboyant and scholarly and poetic person such as Lord Tiji.”
Fan Xian froze, immediately understood, laughed and scolded, “You’re the comic relief, nowadays patting the horse’s ass is more and more unbearable, more and more uninhibited, more and more wonderful.”