Chapter 99 – Throwing the Handkerchief on the Ancient Long Pavilion Road

Fan Xian held the poem scroll in his hand, and for a moment he didn’t know what to say. The night before, he had met with Zhuang Mo Han, but he did not expect to see him for the last time. Although he had already realized that Zhuang Mo Han’s spirit was not as good as last year’s, he could not have imagined that this leader of the literary world would say goodbye to the world so abruptly.

Zhuang Mo Han’s last words were to hand over the last work of his life to Fan Xian, the hidden meaning of which was not simple.

At this moment, the officials outside the capital city who were seeing him off gradually knew about this shocking news, and a smell of grief began to permeate around the official road, while more officials of Northern Qi cast their gazes at Fan Xian, with vigilance, indignation, and a hint of suspicion in their gazes.

Fan Xian understood what was in the hearts of the Northern Qi people, the only stain in Zhuang Mo Han’s life was his own hands, but at this time the man had passed away, his heart was also a bit gloomy, and subconsciously filtered out all of those complicated gazes.

Just thinking, the city gate that carriage finally very hard to drive over, in the eyes of the officials to the back of the delegation of the convoy, the carriage carriage wood some slightly deformed, with a squeak unpleasant sound, can be imagined, the carriage must be loaded with very heavy things. The family man who came to report to the Zhuang family before the head of the caravan, led Fan Xian to the front of the carriage, and said with a trembling voice: “Lord Fan, the master’s last order, please sir bring this caravan back to the south, and keep it well.”

The crowd had not yet come to their senses from the news of Zhuang Mo Han’s death, so they watched this scene, and while they were sad, they could not help but be a little curious as to what it was that Zhuang Mo Han could not forget to hand over to Fan Xian at the time of his death.

The sun was blinding. Fan Xian squinted his eyes and lifted the thick curtain of the carriage, but he still couldn’t stop his eyes from being shaken by the things inside.

The book had its own face like jade, the book had its own golden house, and the book had its own thousand bells of corn.

Although there was no beauty or jewelry in the carriage, it still made Fan Xian somewhat surprised and touched. This is a whole carriage of books, I think it is Zhuang Mo Han’s collection of his life, with that old man’s status identity, no need to go through, can guess that it is some rare books that are extremely difficult to see.

That Zhuang family member respectfully handed over a booklet from the side and said, “Lord Fan, this is a bibliography compiled by the old master himself, followed by notes on preserving the books.”

Fan Xian sighed and lowered the curtain, picking up the booklet and looking through it carefully. In today’s age, although printing has come a long way, printing books is still a marvelous thing to do, let alone such a whole carriage. Thinking of the old man’s gift of books, his heart was touched, and then he heard the family man sadly say, “The master has given you books, and I hope you will keep them.”

Fan Xian knew that the family member had taken it upon himself to say this, but he sincerely bowed his hand and said solemnly, “Please rest assured, brother. Even if I, Fan Xian, die, these books will continue to circulate in this world.”

At this time, the surrounding Northern Qi officials had already gathered around and saw clearly that the carriage was stacked with books. These officials are all characters from the imperial court, how could they not know the preciousness of this wagon full of books, all the officials could not expect that when Zhuang Da Zu died, he would hand over these precious books that he had spent his life researching to the officials of the Southern Dynasty, and they could not help but be surprised, and there was some hidden jealousy.

Tai Fu but understand their own master this move why, can not help but sigh softly.

The gift of books is just a symptom, Zhuang Mo Han is even more with this pile move to show his attitude. This is not only a simple gift, but also a symbolic inheritance, no matter how proud the Northern Qi ministers are, from now on, it is impossible to ignore Fan Xian’s existence, and Fan Xian’s position in the minds of the world’s scholars, there is finally some kind of ceremonial recognition.

Fan Xian turned his head to look at Tai Fu, and said sincerely, “In reason, I should return to the city at this time to pay my respects in order to have peace of mind.”

There was still a sadness in Tai Fu’s eyes that he couldn’t hide, but he was so full of thoughts of going back to the city to bow to the spirit that he didn’t think much about it, plus the fact that Fan Xian took the initiative to go and pay homage to the spirit also gave him some consolation, so he agreed to this request. Unexpectedly at this time, Honglu Temple Wei Hua came to the side of the two, after a salute, said in a deep voice: “Mr. died, the world is the same sadness, but Taifu Lord, Lord Fan, the mission schedule has been set, the ceremonial battle has been started, is absolutely can not return to the city.”

After a moment of silence, Fan Xian raised his eyes to look up to the greenish-gray silhouette of the capital city, and seemed to be able to see certain lavender rays of light floating in the sky above that place. He straightened out his clothes and bent deeply in the direction of the city, bowing to the ground and performing the salute of an outer disciple.

Taifu was slightly shocked, knowing that Fan Xian’s disciple salute was enough to calm the aftermath of last year’s storm and set the monument of Zhuang Zuazhou in a respectful manner, he felt slightly comforted deep down, and returned the salute from the sidelines.

Salute to the sound of artillery, but I do not know whether it is a farewell or in the spirit of the invocation, broken pieces of paper flying all over the sky, a slight pungent smell of smoke a short time to dissipate no trace of the work of the world as the impermanence of this world.

The caravan of the delegation slowly moved, along the official road to the west. Caravan behind the northern qi ministers look at the south of the caravan left, look at the heavy carries the book car also with the departure, can not help but unanimously sighed, and then finishing clothes, full of sadness to go back to the house to change clothes, rushed to the Zhuang everyone’s house, think at this time the empress dowager and his majesty has already arrived, who do not dare to slow down, and the master of Fu and a few Zhuang Mohan taught out of the university scholar is already crying nearly fainted over.

The caravan continued to move forward, when the majestic walls of the capital city gradually disappeared in the green hills and dense forests, then came to the first post outside the capital city, according to the rules, the return of the delegation and send a large number of people to send the wedding group, to settle down here for the night, and then continue to move forward tomorrow. Fan Xian slowly got down from his horse and walked forward, unable to stop himself from glancing at the book-loaded carriage as he passed it, but resisted the desire to go up.

He walked outside the gorgeous carriage painted in gold and red, bowed, and asked respectfully, “We have arrived at the post station. Please rest, Your Highness.”

I don’t know how long it took, but a ghostly voice came out of the carriage, “…… Please make yourself at home, my palace would like to sit alone for a while.”

This was the first time Fan Xian had heard the voice of this great princess, and hearing that voice was a little slightly hoarse, he couldn’t help but feel a little strange. Then he saw the carriage curtains lift up, and a palace maid came down with red eyes, walking to his side and saying softly, “Your Highness is a little uncomfortable, please wait a moment, Lord Fan.”

Fan Xian asked with concern, “Your Highness’ body of a thousand gold is naturally hard to endure a long journey, it’s only right that you rest more.”

The courtesan glanced at this Southern Dynasty Lord’s clean-cut face and somehow developed an inexplicable sense of trust in him, and said softly, “The princess was once schooled by the Zhuang family, and today she got this news, so she is a bit sad.”

Only then did Fan Xian understand, and his gaze toward the carriage inevitably brought a hint of sympathy. This princess does not seem to be an arrogant character, and will cry more than just remembering her teacher’s kindness, but Zhuang Mo Han died in the city, and the princess was in the carriage, but she could not go to pay homage to him, being in the emperor’s family is really a very sad thing.

He sighed, I do not know whether it is thought of his own life, to the courtesan instructed a few words, and called the tiger guards and the backbone of the delegation, arranged the matter of the moment, before single walked into the post.

The post station knew that the marriage procession and the delegation were going to pass through here, so it had been cleaned up a long time ago, and all kinds of utensils were done according to the rules of the palace. After Fan Xian made a slight inspection, he passed through the main room and quietly left the back door, disappearing into the large sorghum field that was taller than a man’s head behind the post office.

A few moments later, most of the people had already entered the post station, and the officials temporarily sent by the Ministry of Rites were so busy that naturally no one noticed Fan Xian’s whereabouts.

Outside the post station, however, there were two carriages that hadn’t gotten down to anyone, one was the carriages of the Grand Princess, and everyone knew that this Highness was grieving, so naturally they didn’t dare to disturb them. As for the Beiqi officials, in the other carriage, was the handsome demon outside, even more so, they would not pay any attention to it, only the tiger guards and officials of the Supervisory Yuan that Fan Xian had specifically left behind were very vigilant in guarding around these two carriages.

The curtain of the latter carriage was lifted by a small corner, an incomparably white and cold looking hand beckoned, and the Official of the Supervisory Yuan by the side of the carriage immediately walked over, attaching himself to the corner of the curtain and asking in a low voice, “Lord Yan, what are your orders.”

In the corner of the car curtain, what appeared was Yan Bingyun’s handsome but extraordinarily cold looking face, only to hear him say softly, “Where did your lordship go?”

Fan Xian was the only one in the legation who could allow him to address him as Your Excellency. That Supervisory Court official glanced at him and said in a deep voice, “My subordinate doesn’t know.”

Yan Bingyun frowned, as if there was something he was not comfortable speaking about, and after hesitating for a long while, he finally said softly, “On this journey, was there a woman who liked to wear light green shirts following the caravan? She likes to ride a big red-haired horse.”

The Supervisory Court official shook his head, and with little expression on his face, Yan Bingyun lowered the curtain. Confirming that that Miss Shen did not risk coming to see herself, her mood became a little lighter, but for some reason, after the lighter, it was a little bleaker.

Outside the sorghum field was a lonely pavilion, next to the pavilion was the ancient road that had long been abandoned for many years, a carriage was parked on the ancient road, and in the pavilion stood two girls.

A gust of wind passed through, the sorghum field was slightly disorganized, Fan Xian walked out from inside and slowly stepped into the pavilion, his eyes softly looking at the plump and incomparable girl family, and softly said, “I can’t imagine that once I entered Shangjing, the time when I can really talk is when I already have to leave.”

Si Li Li made a slight bow at him, her voice slightly trembling, “Greetings, my lord.”

Fan Xian did not continue to speak, only glancing at Haitang who was at the side. Haitang smiled, thrusting her hands into her pockets, her toes pointing at the somewhat cracked ground under the pavilion, and her entire body had already drifted away, leaving the pavilion to this pair of men and women with a peculiar relationship.

As soon as Haitang was out of the pavilion, the softness on Fan Xian’s face suddenly dissipated without a trace, he looked at Si Li Li and said with a straight face, “After you enter the palace, everything should be a bit more careful, the empress dowager is not a simple character, you guys want to conceal yourselves from her, it’s not that easy.”

Si Li Li glanced at him, a gentle lingering meaning gradually appeared in her eyes, and she said softly, “You just want me to be more careful, and have nothing else to say?”

Fan Xian smiled, but did not go forward to hold her weak shoulders, saying, “Since you insisted on staying in Northern Qi, why do you want to soften my heart now? Could it be that all of you women take pleasure in provoking the minds of us turbid things?”

Si Li Li smiled faintly, not like the kind of tenderness in front of Haitang, and said, “Is it not the same for your honor? Although my daughter insists on staying in Northern Qi, but you said this before me, are you not afraid that I will ask you to take me back to Kyoto?”

Fan Xian’s pupils flashed with a hint of teasing, saying, “The girl may be the head of the harem of Beiqi in the future, so why would you bother to follow someone like me and mingle.”

Si Li Li also smiled, “It’s good to have a place to stay in the palace, how dare I expect so much.”

Fan Xian shook his head and suddenly said, “Lili Li, you’re a bit different from other women in this world.”

Si Li Li let out a gasp, then replied flatly, “Perhaps it’s because Li Li has traveled the world since she was a child, and has been to many places, so she’s a bit more unrestrained than those women who only stay in their homes embroidering flowers and composing poems all day long.”

Fan Xian was silent, knowing that she did have a point, in today’s world, the average woman could only sit at home, not many people would have the experiences that Si Li Li had, and the freedom that Haitang had. He turned his head to look at the direction where Haitang disappeared, and said in a somewhat serious tone, “I believe in your ability, but I just still have to caution you not to underestimate those seemingly old and dim characters.”

The atmosphere in the pavilion appeared somewhat stagnant. After a long time, Siri Li Li made a deep blessing and kept her head down, a few strands of green silk dancing gently in the wind, and said softly, “Perhaps your honor does not believe me, but Siri Li does rejoice to speak with your honor in one place, just as she did in the carriage when she came.”

Fan Xian looked at her, wondering how much of what this woman said was true and how much was false.

Si Li Li smiled faintly, her beautiful face appearing wintry, “My lord, Li Li is very thankful that you detoxified me on the way, and these words …… are true.”

“I am not Chen Pingping.” Fan Xian said, “I believe that even if there is a tangle of interests, it can be reached in a more conciliatory way, and I don’t want the Emperor of Northern Qi to be poisoned because of you …… Of course, nowadays it seems that this ploy of Chen Pingping’s has no hope of succeeding from the beginning. ”

Si Li Li’s cheeks reddened slightly, knowing that the man in front of her who was closest to her had already guessed certain things.

Fan Xian continued softly, “The girl will have to live in the palace in the future, her status will be honored day by day, and even if the Supervisory Court’s hands and feet are long, they will not be able to control you, so whether or not the agreement between you and I is effective will depend on your and my intentions.”

Si Li Li said seriously, “Please rest assured, my lord.”

Fan Xian looked at this beautiful girl’s brows and suddenly fell into a bit of a trance, settling his mind slightly before saying, “You wait for news in the north and pay attention to safety, I reckon it won’t take long for your family’s revenge to be avenged by someone for you.”

Si Li Li raised her head in a huff and looked at Fan Xian with some disbelief. Fan Xian ignored the surprise in her eyes and took a slip of paper from between his sleeves and gave it to her, saying, “Contact me through this person, and destroy it after memorizing it.”

Fan Xian suddenly smiled and said, “I can allow you to abandon the agreement between us, but I will not accept you betraying me. This contact is a single line, and you won’t have much use for him even if you sell him to the Northern Qi, so it’s best if you don’t take any chances.”

Seeing this young adult’s somewhat strange sweet smile, Si Li Li but his heart was a little bit scared for some reason, and he hurriedly nodded his head.

“Also, if ……” Fan Xian was silent for a little while before suddenly opening his mouth, “If there comes a day when you don’t want to stay in the middle of Beiqi’s palace, notify me, and I’ll take care of this matter. ”

“Thank you, my lord.” Si Li Li weakly bowed her head to say thank you, this thank you finally revealed a trace of sincerity and reluctance, because she knew that after this thank you, she would have to leave, said with a slightly gloomy color, “This goodbye, I don’t know when I will be able to see you again, every time I think about it, Li Li can’t help but feel cut off from her liver.”

After saying these words, Si Li Li resolutely turned around and left the pavilion, leaving behind Fan Xian, who was frowning deeply at the back, still pondering over the hidden meaning of the words “broken hearted”.

Watching the carriage gradually leave along the abandoned ancient road, Fan Xian had no expression on his face, but inwardly he sighed, and then struck the pillar of the pavilion with his fist, making a snapping sound. The pavilion had been in disrepair for a long time and had long been crumbling, but after receiving a punch from Fan Xian, it was even more rattling.

A figure floated down from the pavilion, if it wasn’t Haitang or who else? Miss Haitang gently landed beside Fan Xian and said with a bitter smile, “Duo Duo didn’t eavesdrop on anything.”

“If you were eavesdropping.” Fan Xian said, “I would become mute.”

Haitang smiled and said, “Lord Fan is leaving Da Qi this time, so I don’t know when we’ll see each other.”

Fan Xian thought of his sister at home in Kyoto, and couldn’t help but sigh and say, “I don’t think it’ll take long …… Where did that reputable teacher of yours go?” He suddenly changed the subject, “It’s a bit of a shame that I came to Northern Qi for a trip but didn’t pay a visit to this great master.”

After thinking about it, Haitang decided not to hide this matter and said softly, “Three days before the Southern Dynasty’s envoys entered the capital, the teacher received a piece of wood and left the Upper Capital, no one knows where he went, including the Empress Dowager and I.”

“During these days in Shangjing, you helped me hide many things.” Fan Xian eyes looked at the lonely tree in the wilderness at the end of the ancient road, “This I do want to thank you, so …… about the issue of goods traveling north, at present, I am talking to Changning Hou and Shen Chong, if your that emperor’s majesty needs to borrow silver from me, you have to settle Shen Chong, this person seems to be ordinary, but in fact is a very powerful character.”

Haitang was silent for a long time before saying, “This is a secret between you and I.”

Fan Xian looked into her bright, incomparable eyes and said word for word, “In this world, other than my great-uncle, I really rarely see pure fools. How many people do you think we can hide the secret between us? Duo Duo, on this trip to Northern Qi, you have done me a lot of favors both openly and secretly, don’t think that that big brother of yours won’t notice.”

Haitang frowned, “What are you trying to say?”

Fan Xian smiled, “What I want to say is that since you and the emperor are preparing to get out from under the shadow of the empress dowager, you can’t just count on the fights in the court, nor can you just count on how much money I, an outsider, can provide, after all, Beiqi is a great power of the world, so if you want to get a full grasp of the whole thing, you won’t be able to manage it without a few years of hard work.”

Haitang curled her lips and smiled, “I think Lord Fan might have misunderstood something.”

“Oh?” Fan Xian smiled, “What are you worried about?”

Haitang seemed to be talking about a different topic, “I’m a good student who honors my teachers.”

Fan Xian suddenly spoke, “Zhuang Mo Han died.”

Zhuang Mo Han’s disciples all over the world, extremely respected by the world, in addition to last year’s pile incident, moral articles is no one can be faulted, even Haitang is also extremely respect this old man, but she has been in the suburbs of the capital waiting for the delegation, so she did not know the news of the old man passed away, at this time heard the news, his face couldn’t help but show a trace of shock and a few points of sadness, don’t know how to say.

For a while, the pavilion had more than a few sadnesses in the air.

After a long time, Fan Xian still broke the silence, “Sean died, Zhuang Mo Han died, the great men of that year will gradually grow old and die, even if you are a good student who honors his teacher, I think that you should be prepared for that day.”

Haitang stared into his eyes, “Your Excellency seems to be implying something.”

Fan Xian smiled and said, “I can well understand the strong desire of young people to be in charge.”

Haitang smiled, slightly dispelling the gloom that he had felt after first hearing about the death of Zhuang Da Zu, “Why is it that many heavy things, when spoken from your mouth, seem so much lighter? Why is it that many dark things, once expounded by you, immediately become bright?”

“Because the night gives us black eyes, and I use them to find light.”

Haitang slightly inclined his head and said, “Remember you are saying that you want to use it to …… roll your eyes at this world.”

“This world?” Fan Xian said, “This world is theirs and ours, but in the end …… it is ours.”

The thick clouds in the sky drifted over, covering the entire sun behind them, but the sun was too strong, and even so, it couldn’t hide the fact that there was a big red glow coming through from the edges of the clouds, like a fairy embroidering a golden border with her skillful hands. A gust of wind blew from the plains, crossing the ancient road on the ground, the departing pavilion.

Fan Xian looked at Haitang and said, “Duo Duo, thank you for helping these days.”

Haitang finally took her hands out of the large pockets of her rough clothing, and somewhat shyly blissed out like an unusual girl, “Lord Fan is polite.”

Under the pavilion, Fan Xian honestly stepped forward and took her into his arms for a hug, and somehow, with Haitang’s extremely high cultivation, she didn’t escape his hug. Once the hug was released, he revealed a smile full of sincerity, “To be honest, if you and I can really become friends, I think it would be a very good thing.”

Haitang gently straightened the green silk at the corner of his forehead, there was not half a bit of embarrassment and uneasiness on his usual and strange face because of the extremely intimate embracing action earlier, and said with a smile, “Each other.”

Haitang stood under the dilapidated Leaving Pavilion, by the side of the ancient road, watching Fan Xian’s figure disappear into the distance, and couldn’t help but slightly incline her head, recalling this period of time in the Upper Capital City, the corners of her lips floated up into a small smile, and thought to herself that this Southern Dynasty’s male son was indeed an extremely interesting and extremely sharp-eyed character, and thought that when he returned to Qing, the world in the South would undergo some very subtle changes.

She sighed, waving away the sadness in her mind because of Zhuang Mo Han’s passing away, before she remembered that she had forgotten one thing after all – the Begonia Poetry Society in the Stone Records, did it have anything to do with herself or not? Subconsciously, she reached out to tighten the flower cloth scarf on top of her head, but found that she touched an empty spot. She immediately reacted, and couldn’t help but feel a slight heat on her face, which made her realize that even though she had covered herself up well, she was still a bit nervous when she hugged him earlier, and she didn’t even notice that the little thief had stolen her flower headscarf.

Fan Xian at this time is higher than the top of the sorghum through the field, occasional branches and broken, his face also floating a happy and innocent smile. The trip to Beiqi finally had a more successful result, and he had met some interesting characters after being reborn, such as the block of ice of Yan Bingyun, such as Begonia, a seemingly vulgar but actually light flower, in addition to some conflicts of interest and differences in philosophy, he enjoyed talking to Begonia.

–The Emperor also needs to have a son, Bitter Lotus also needs to eat meat, Cripple Chen also needs to go to the outhouse, and Fan Xian also needs to have friends.

He put the piece of floral cloth in his hand into his arms, pushed away the plants in front of him, looked at the faint green smoke rising from the distant stagecoach, and softly hummed, “Throw ah throw ah throw ah throw a handkerchief …….”