Chapter 72 – Plotting
Through Yan Bingyun’s narration, Fan Xian learned that things were that way back then.
After the three Northern Expeditions of the Kingdom of Qing, the War Family took advantage of the situation and established the Kingdom of Qi, but that founding Emperor had tragically died twelve years ago, leaving only the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, who was only a few years old at the time, in the empty palace.
Although Qing stopped the pace of the north, but the venomous Chen Pingping naturally refused to let go of this opportunity, secretly financed and instigated some of the former princes and war family nobles in the capital of Northern Qi, and finally formed a situation to force the palace. Seeing the Empress Dowager and the Emperor this pair of widows and orphans will soon be rebels out of the palace, at this time, bitter lotus to war Qingfeng Marshal friend identity lived in the palace.
At that time, three thousand soldiers and horses surrounded the palace and stayed, bitter lotus sitting in front of the main hall, behind the poor mother and son, and a large number of trembling, holding a candlestick broom eunuchs and maids.
Facing countless guns and arrows, Bitter Lotus sat in front of the hall, so no one dared to make a move.
And then the Queen Dowager’s own brother, now the Changning Marquis from a corner of the palace city in the sinkhole climbed out, secretly contacted the Shen Chong of the Brocade Guards, gathered a number of loyal to the power of the royal family, re-killed back to the palace city, so that only in the dangerous and dangerous situation, stabilized the situation in the capital of Northern Qi.
Afterwards, the bitter lotus did not pursue this matter, the empress dowager also kept silent, those who attempted to force the palace of the princes and nobles although at that time nothing happened, but later naturally did not end up in a good place.
So no matter from which point of view, the fact that the Empress Dowager is still able to sit in the palace peacefully, by virtue of the reputation and unfathomable strength of the Bitter Lotus at that time.
“Bitter Lotus is very cool.” Fan Xian slapped his leg and exclaimed, “A person blocking a thousand armies, though ten million people I will go on. Magnificent.”
Yan Bingyun glanced at him, feeling that the other party’s speech was really a bit vulgar, and seemed a bit less respectful to the four great masters that the world admired, “As one of the four great masters, Bitter Lotus is transcendent to the world. But if he takes a stand, no matter who it is, they all have to be afraid of one or two things.”
Fan Xian shook his head, “Those fools who are pushing the palace, I don’t believe what Bitter Lotus can do with ten thousand arrows.”
“Bitter Lotus made a blood oath at the time that he would kill whoever dared to sit in that dragon chair.” Yan Bingyun suddenly felt that this Lord Titus in the courtyard was a bit childish, “With Bitter Lotus’s terrifying strength, in this northern world, of course he can naturally kill whoever he wants to. If you can’t even save your life, one moment your butt is just sitting on the dragon chair, the next moment your head and body are separated, who would be willing to do this kind of emperor?”
“Grandmaster?” Fan Xian frowned, feeling for the first time that this kind of existence that had gone beyond the realm of mortals was indeed quite a troublesome thing.
“What? Lord Fan is so young and talented that he doesn’t even care about Grand Masters?” Yan Bingyun gave him a cold look.
Fan Xian smiled, did not say anything, the world’s four great masters he only met Ye Liuyun one person, at that time also only think that the other party sings a loose song quite good, as for the fame, but in fact with these four great masters equal pattern of five bamboo uncle …… Fan Xian grew up with him, naturally can not afford to give birth to excited feelings.
“Let’s continue with the matter of Shangjing.” Fan Xian raised his hand, “If the Empress Dowager listens to Bitter Lotus, and Bitter Lotus wants Xiao En dead ……”
Yan Bingyun interjected, “Why is Your Excellency so certain that Bitter Lotus wants Sean dead?”
“I have my sources of information.” Fan Xian smiled, not saying anything about the Begonia or the secrets of the temple, and continued, “Then Uesugi Tiger will inevitably fall to the Emperor, and gather all the power of the Imperial Party in order to save Sean’s old life……. Lord Yan, see if we can make some advantage out of this matter? ”
Yan Bingyun shook his head, suddenly thought of something, smiled and said, “In fact, when it comes to strength, the Northern Qi side has always been not weak, in these four years, I don’t know how much I’ve seen …… but I believe that, compared to us, the Qing Kingdom, the Northern Qi will never be able to occupy a winning position. ”
Fan Xian wasn’t sure why he would suddenly come to this conclusion, and was somewhat puzzled. Yan Bingyun laughed extremely quickly, “Just by looking at the court sending Xiao En back to Northern Qi, this is more than a year, the balance and peace that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor of Northern Qi are barely maintaining is going to be forced to break down, and my humble servant is really admiring …… the characters in the court who are plotting this matter.”
The figure who plotted Sean’s return was the eldest princess. Fan Xian’s eyes were serene, but in his heart he was laughing coldly and said, “There is nothing to admire, realize that this pile deal is at your expense.”
“What do you mean?” Yan Bingyun frowned.
Fan Xian said, “It was the Eldest Princess who single handedly sold you to the Beiqi court, and then made arrangements with Uesugi Tiger to exchange Sean back to Beiqi …… Even if there is some storm in the Beiqi court because of Sean’s affairs, but how much of a wave do you think it will really set off? You are nothing but a pawn that nobles manipulate, a pawn should have the self-consciousness of a pawn, people like you who still feel admiration for the hand that pinches their head, I really can’t see it.”
These words were a bit harsh, and Fan Xian was deliberately trying to plant the seed of hatred against the Elder Princess in Yan Bingyun’s heart. Unexpectedly, Yan Bingyun was serene, as if she had not heard, but instead continued to chip in, “We cannot intervene in this matter, Sean’s death or life, since it has made the Bitter Lotus all moved, the legation, after all, being in a foreign country, is categorically incapable of intervening, and there is no need to intervene.”
“I agree with you.” Fan Xian looked at him, “But there is one more thing I need to hear from you.”
Fan Xian told Yan Bingyun about what happened to Duke Cui the other day, and Yan Bingyun’s face remained unchanged as he asked, “What does your lordship want to do?”
Fan Xian was silent for a long while, but since he had already made a start, he would naturally continue, “In accordance with the courtyard’s meaning, we will gradually scale back the benefits that the Xinyang side has gained in the north.”
“The courtyard’s meaning?” Yan Bingyun looked at Fan Xian’s eyes and said softly, “I’ve heard that Lord Tiji is likely to take charge of the inner treasury in the coming year.”
Fan Xian smiled slightly as if he hadn’t heard the words, “Lord Yan has been imprisoned for most of the year, and he’s still well-informed.”
After a long silence, Yan Bingyun suddenly said, “What’s the point of telling me these things?”
“Because you are most familiar with the route in the north, if there is a day in the future when the net needs to be closed …… then from now on, I must start to keep an eye on it, and leaving Lord Yan, I simply do not have any power in the north.”
Yan Bingyun said calmly, “Lord Fan thinks highly of my humble servant.”
“I never thought you were just a mere patient.” Fan Xian said calmly, “I believe that Lord Yan is still a figure capable of calling the shots in the north if he has the will to do so.”
“Why should I help you?”
“Because I am your superior.” Fan Xian’s face grew cold, “I’m not asking for your help, I’m asking for your cooperation.”
Yan Bingyun, however, didn’t eat this at all, sneering, “It’s not too late for us to talk about this when the day comes when Lord Titus truly takes over the Supervisory Court.”
Fan Xian laughed and waved his hand, “I knew that playing with this wouldn’t work.” After a pause, he said, “Actually, the reasoning is very simple, the Elder Princess is our common enemy, it’s not just me who needs you, I think that you need me as well.”
Without thinking about anything, Yan Bingyun nodded very bashfully and then said very directly, “Since that’s the case, then I must make it clear that your plan was completely wrong from the start.”
“Why do you say that?”
“If you wanted to gradually compress the benefits that the Eldest Princess gained from smuggling, you should not have looked for Shen Chong.”
“Shen Chong is the Commanding General of the Jin Yiwei Zhenfu Division, all the way north, who can I look for if not him?”
Yan Bingyun looked at his eyes and said, “Shen Chong, Marquis Changning, these are the Empress Dowager’s close confidants …… They have been making deals with the Elder Princess for many years …… If you want to start a new business, why don’t you go to the young emperor.”
Fan Xian sighed and said, “Because I can’t see that emperor’s mind clearly.”
“The Emperor of Beiqi is a very pure and easily agitated person.” Yan Bingyun raised a finger, “A pure agitator needs silver.”
Fan Xian looked at him and said after a long time, “I trust you.”
“For now, I deserve your trust.” Yan Bingyun said.
Fan Xian breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and patted him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, even though the world is theirs nowadays, it’s ultimately ours.” After saying these words, he left the room, leaving behind him Yan Bingyun, who was reminiscing about these odd words.
For three days in a row, the mission side was still dealing with diplomatic matters with Northern Qi. The main ambassador, Fan Xian, however, was plotting with Yan Bingyun in his room, and gradually Yan Bingyun stopped hiding anything, analyzing the information he had in his possession in support of it, and very clearly establishing a guiding principle for Fan Xian’s future actions.
A stillness is better than a movement, Xinyang that side with the word delay, the Empress Dowager that side also need to use the word delay, but only in the palace, need to find a way to contact a little. Fan Xian had once thought about whether or not he should pay a visit to that Uesugi great general, but was coldly stopped by Yan Bingyun.
Yan Bingyun believed that these things were not necessary at all, and that if the other party needed it, they would naturally come to him, and what Fan Xian had done since entering Shangjing was, in Yan Bingyun’s professional opinion, a complete mess.
Fan Xian was silent and taught, knowing that he was indeed inferior to Yan Bingyun in these matters. In the course of casual conversations, he had also talked about reintegrating the northern spy network, but Yan Bingyun was clearly uneasy about his abilities, so he never relented.
One day after the meal, Fan Xian suddenly opened his mouth and said, “That Miss Shen is very capable, and actually knew that you were hiding in the mission and came to the door again.”
Yan Bingyun, her face as cold as ice and as desperate as a stream of clouds, faintly said, “Inform Shen Chong that he will deal with his own daughter’s affairs.”
Fan Xian glanced at him, really not understanding how this young official had honed such a cold and desperate mind.