Chapter 78 – More is Better than Less

Three piles of marriage, just three vignettes, so it seemed. No one knew what was troubling Fan Xian’s heart, and the thought of that vague possibility sent chills down his spine, leaving him at a loss for words. Far away in a foreign country, the only one who could be free of inhibitions, Uncle Wu Zhu, had disappeared, and there was nowhere to talk about this matter.

There is nothing that cannot be told, but this matter cannot be told.

In the eyes of the onlookers, Lord Fan seemed to be very happy, and had already begun to prepare the arrangements for the mission’s journey back to the capital. The officials thought that Lord Fan was hurrying back to the capital to prepare for his sister’s marriage, while trying to get a head start on the arrangements for the benefits that would follow this wave of marriages at the imperial court. No one knew that beneath Fan Xian’s calm and even pleasant exterior, he had long since shaken off the shock of the moment and had begun to do certain things in a step-by-step manner, as he had designed to do so long ago.

Yan Bingyun’s words were also of some help to Fan Xian, and Fan Xian thought that this Lord Yan was right to a certain extent–what was impossible, what was the point of thinking so much about it–but at the same time, he said to himself in his heart, if Ruo Ruo was willing to marry, he, as a brother, would Naturally, he wants her to marry in style, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy.

Of course, if Ruo Ruo didn’t want to marry, it would be another story with a completely different face.

Having figured out this section, Fan Xian returned to calm, at least on the surface.

These days, he had entered the palace twice, mainly to deal with the first marriage between the two countries since the founding of the country, a matter of such magnitude that not a single person dared to neglect it, including Fan Xian. And let Fan Xian feel some pleasure is, in the harem of the strong pressure, Shen Chong and Changning Hou side finally lowered their heads, the two countries special agencies about the year after the northern goods imported through irregular channels of the distribution of benefits and specific measures have a preliminary concept, in this plan, Fan Xian, this is a part of the Supervisory Yuan and the inner treasury of the important figures, naturally will get the greatest benefit.

In fact, what Fan Xian was pleased about was not the matter itself, because although his future plans would naturally require support in terms of money, the smuggling proceeds were actually not as great as what Fan Xian had planned. What really made him happy was that since there were going to be changes in the channels, the output of goods from Xinyang would definitely be compressed, the income would definitely be reduced, and the power of the Eldest Princess would be weakened.

Fan Xian also understood that the key to the reason why the Eldest Princess sat back and watched this matter unfold was that she had promised the Xinyang side that she would properly cooperate with Uesugi Tiger and save that Sean who was hiding a shocking secret – it seemed to show that the Eldest Princess was still placing the Qing court’s interests above her own, and this sort of somewhat Thunderbolt-like approach that left Fan Xian somewhat amazed.

It was also during these days that Patient Yan Bingyun’s ability to coordinate was maximized. When Fan Xian took the case file, also could not help but marvel out, Yan Bingyun’s method is very simple, but is the most safe and proper means, the maximum degree of retention of the Qing country lurking in the north of the power of security.

Qing’s spies are divided into many kinds, the word ice cloud control is a secret spy, like the oil shopkeeper and those lurking in the princes and dukes in the long followers and even some officials. There is also a kind of spies, such as those bosses on Xiushui Street, all counties, all the way to the south of the merchants, they are mainly doing business, but traveling around the world, naturally, also want to feed useful information back to the Qing Dynasty. In these few days, the secret agents and secret agents in various places began to exert their power, and the spy system that had been hibernating for a year began to awaken, and suddenly showed a strong detection ability.

Everything was ready, just waiting for Uesugi Tiger to make his move.

Fan Xian and Yan Bingyun, however, were sitting relaxedly in the embassy, drinking. Fan Xian glanced at Yan Bingyun, who was cold to the core, and said, “Lord Yan, you’re my subordinate after all, can you stop putting on a face for me every day?”

“I’m not a subordinate who kisses ass.” Yan Bingyun coldly shot back.

Fan Xian smiled slightly, knowing that this person in front of him had been lurking in Northern Qi for four years and had many different faces, at that time, who could have guessed that Yun Da Talent, the youngest son of a sea merchant who traveled around the homes of various princes and nobles, was actually the spy leader of the Qing Dynasty, such a person must be a very good at socializing and long-sleeved, at this time the other party was cold to himself, it was because he was his superior and not the target person he wanted to deal with.

“The Northern Qi side is indeed very stupid.” Fan Xian took a sip of tea and said, “To actually release you so early, and let you stay in the mission for so many days in peace, if it were me, I wouldn’t change it even if I were given ten divisions.” This was a certain allusion from Fan’s previous life, and naturally, Yan Bingyun didn’t feel much or a hint of being touched as she listened.

“Perhaps they thought that the court’s willingness to trade Sean for me would have been foolish enough.” Thinking about this matter, Yan Bingyun was still a bit depressed, “But for the Northern Qi people to trade back for Xiao En, but not quite use it, and to think of ways to kill him, this is even more stupid to the extreme.”

Fan Xian sighed and said, “Someone once said that a country is like a man, it can never be a perfectly functioning machine, and tends to change as the ruler’s mood changes. The Beiqi royal family itself is divided in opinion, it’s just that Bitter Lotus’s light is too bright, that’s why Sean was re-imprisoned, if Uesugi Tiger wasn’t Sean’s righteous son, I don’t think anyone would have dared to ruffle the royal family’s resolutions.”

“What about you?” Yan Bingyun frowned and said, “All the way north, you clearly had the chance to kill Sean but let him go. Now that the other party is already in Shangjing, you want to save him, and after you save him out, you want to …… again is really a bit inexplicable.”

Fan Xian laughed, about that secret on Sean’s body, he wouldn’t tell anyone, and that was precisely why the course of this matter gradually seemed a bit absurd and ridiculous.

After thinking for a moment, he explained to Yan Bingyun, “It’s just like playing chess, although in the end, both of us want to kill the other side’s veteran marshal to death, the course of the process of transporting our troops and using our pawns is different, and the benefits that we derive from it are also different.”

If he had killed Shawn right on the banks of the Misty Duo River, not to mention whether the pawn Fan Xian was prepared to discard at that time would still be able to return home alive, Fan Xian would also never be able to know-where exactly the temple was. And this time, having utilized all of the Supervisory Authority’s power in the north to get Sean out, Fan Xian was simply trying to set up a forced game that was common on the chessboard, hoping to gain the benefits that Chen Pingping hadn’t even gained after making so many detours.

“If Xiao En doesn’t break out of prison, it’s not good for the Brocade Guards to kill him, after all, the Uesugi Tiger has an extremely high reputation in the Northern Qi military.”

“Xiao En, this old devil, has lived a pitiful life.” A voice sighed, “In the end, he’s old and not what he used to be.”

“I don’t recommend that you personally take action.” Yan Bingyun looked at him indifferently, “If Bitter Lotus really puts down her fight, how will you survive?”

Fan Xian was silent, he didn’t dare to let anyone else hear the secret from Sean’s mouth, so he had to risk his own hand. He slowly tapped on the coffee table, closed his eyes and imagined himself moving the chess board like a chess player somewhat clumsily and greenly, on both sides of the board were of course the sophisticated people, it was the Bitter Lotus and the Princess, it was the Empress Dowager and the Uesugi Tiger, comparing with these people, Fan Xian was really nothing.

But the urchin had no other ability, just have the courage to lift the chessboard.

With all the business done, the mission and the court of Northern Qi simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief and began to indulge in banquets, Fan Xian being no exception. In the calm city of Shangjing, the only thing that seemed a bit strange was that along the banks of the Yuquan River, there were several strange murders, and along with these murders, there were also horrible arson fires, and for several days in a row, the flames of the fires reflected red on the river, which was loved by the people of Beiqi.

Fan Xian knew clearly that there was something hidden behind these murders. When the Qing intelligence officers who had been hibernating for a whole year began to act, that commander of the Jin Yi Wei Zhenfu Division, called Shen Chong, must have smelled the flavor of it, and the Jin Yi Wei, which was rooted in the crowd of the upper capital, began to react fiercely and proportionately.

The hidden sentries that Yan Bingyun had single-handedly laid down back then were estimated to have lost a portion of them in these hits. After all, being in a foreign country, wanting to do such a big deal under the other party’s nose without alerting the other party was something impossible, it was just that the entire intelligence network of the four locations in the northern region had been cut into pieces, so there was no worry that too many strongholds would be dug out by the Northern Qi Brocade Guards.

That was why Yan Bingyun’s expression became more and more gloomy, there were only a total of seventeen secret spies in the four places of the Supervisory Court in Shangjing, and now that such a great sacrifice had been made for the sake of the Eldest Princess and Sean, there was no way for him not to be angry.

Fan Xian didn’t comfort him or say much, but just kept drinking, seeking pleasure, having fun, and calling prostitutes.

The sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of Tianbao in Daqi, three or six in a row, a very auspicious day. Fan Xian also didn’t believe in what the West had said about the devil in his previous life, so his fingers were incredibly steady when he fastened the collar buttons of his cloak, appearing to be full of confidence.

He carefully categorized his weapons and medicines, partly in his belt, partly in his underwear, the concealed crossbow that could fire three crossbows at the same time bundled in the small arm of his left hand, and the tobacco medicine secreted by the three divisions of the Supervisory Yuan placed in the knuckle-sized throwing pouch on his right wrist.

Fan Xian looked at the metal box on the table illuminated by the dim light and squinted his eyes, after the box was opened, there were three pills, red, blue and white, which looked a bit odd and always reminded people of some very weird things.

The red pills were not small in size, only that the medicinal flavor had faded a bit, and it was impossible to smell the exact material inside, which was left behind by Fei Jie worrying about the overbearing true qi in his body many years ago. Fan Xian thought for a moment, but still hid the large dragon eye-like pellet in his belt.

Looking at the remaining pills, Fan Xian let out a bitter smile, still overturning his initial thought, he stowed them all away, he might meet that great master, and it was better to have more than enough to save one’s life.