Chapter 106 – The King of the East Sea
Fan Xian sat on the couch, gently holding his grandmother’s hand, realizing that the wrinkles on her hand were getting deeper and deeper, and had a palpitating feeling that he was going to be separated from his flesh and bones. After checking his pulse, he found that his grandmother was only suffering from occasional wind chills, and her body was not in any serious trouble, however …… after all, she was old, and the oil would run out, the lamps would wither, and he did not know how many years she could still survive.
As soon as he thought of this, his mood went down, coupled with the shock brought by the emperor who was downstairs at this time, let him fall into silence.
After a long time of silence in the second floor, the old lady sighed and said, “What exactly are you worried about?”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do in the future?” Fan Xian looked at his grandmother’s serious face and said with a smile, knowing full well that underneath her serious face lay a gentle heart.
“You’ve traveled well these past few years.” The old madam’s voice was suppressed a bit low, although the conversation between their grandchildren could definitely not be heard downstairs. She smiled amiably and rubbed Fan Xian’s head, a sense of pride and relief in her tone and demeanor.
With the status and fame that Fan Xian had achieved in these three years, the old madam who had single-handedly taught this grandson certainly had enough reason to be pleased.
“Those who walk a hundred miles are half ninety.” Fan Xian patted his head mockingly and said, “I’m afraid that my head will suddenly fall off when I’m halfway there.”
The old madam looked at her grandson quietly, and after a long while said peacefully, “Is it possible that His Majesty’s arrival in Tanyuzhou has given you some unlucky thoughts?”
Fan Xian lowered his head and thought for a long time, confirming what his earlier oily emotions were, then solemnly nodded his head.
The old madam looked into his eyes and said softly, “You’re also older, but there are some things I must remind you of.”
“Grandmother please speak.”
“Our Fan family has never needed to stand in line …… and you, even less so, because we have never stood in front of His Majesty.” The old madam said seriously and earnestly, “As long as you guarantee this, then you will never walk in the wrong line.”
There were countless meanings implied in these words, yet they were all based on the strongest trust in the emperor. Fan Xian gave his grandmother a somewhat puzzled look, but did not dare to voice a question.
“What has been proven in thirty years does not need to be questioned again.”
Fan Xian didn’t think so; he thought that what history proved would often be disproved by the future in the end. After thinking about it, he said, “But in such a situation, it is too risky for His Majesty to leave Kyoto.”
“You’re going to admonish me later?” The old madam looked at her grandson with a smile on her face.
Fan Xian nodded after pondering for a little while, “It should not be too late to rush back at this time.” Actually, this was a falsehood. He knew very well that since the emperor had come to Tanyuzhou at this time, he definitely had something very important in mind, and it wasn’t something that he could rush back to with a few words, just that as a courtier, and especially one who had to disguise himself as a loyal and filial son, there were some things that he had to say to his face.
The old madam smiled and said, “Then you go, or else His Majesty will be waiting impatiently.”
Fan Xian smiled back, but didn’t leave right away, and carefully probed into his grandmother’s body with the true qi of the Heavenly Dao, checking on the old woman’s physical condition, leaving behind a few medicinal prescriptions, and accompanying his grandmother to gossip for a while until the old woman began to suffer from afternoon drowsiness before pulling the thin scarf for his grandmother, and tiptoeing downstairs.
When he got down to the first floor, the Minister of Rites, the head of the Qin Tian Supervisor, and Eunuch Yao and those people inside the building all looked at Fan Xian with somewhat strange eyes. These people hadn’t expected that young Lord Fan would be so bold as to stay on the second floor for such a long time, leaving His Majesty the Emperor, who was waiting to speak with him, hanging out to dry for half a day.
In this world, Fan Xian was probably the only one who dared to make the Emperor of Qing wait for so long. These great men were wondering in their hearts that His Majesty’s favor for this bastard son had indeed reached a very exaggerated level.
Fan Xian bowed to these people and asked with a smile, “Where is His Majesty?”
The Minister of Rites let out a bitter laugh and glanced outside with his eyes to show him the way. Eunuch Yao stifled his laughter as he led Fan Xian out the door and said, “In the garden looking at the osmanthus flowers.”
The most famous thing in Tanyu is the flower tea, which both Fan Shangshu and Fan Xian like, and every year the old mansion sends it to Kyoto, with some of it even going to the palace. Although the garden in the old mansion was not large, there was a corner of the garden that Fan Xian had partitioned off and planted some osmanthus flowers for tea mixing.
Walking to that corner of the garden, Eunuch Yao retreated with a stooped body. Fan Xian felt a little strange in his heart, the head eunuch of the imperial study was not serving by his majesty’s side, but why did he run away? While thinking, his footsteps had already stepped into the garden and saw the emperor under that tree.
And the old man beside the emperor.
Fan Xian secretly sucked in a breath of cold air, no wonder Eunuch Yao didn’t need to be by the emperor’s side, so there was another eunuch at his side. He walked forward and bowed to the emperor, while sidling up to that eunuch as politely and unobtrusively as possible, “Eunuch Hong is well.”
Showing kindness to a eunuch in front of the emperor was something that should never have happened, but Fan Xian was clear that Eunuch Hong was not an ordinary person, and that the emperor would give him a trifle of respect, so his own greeting should not be considered a big deal.
Hong Si-Itch smiled faintly and glanced at Fan Xian without saying anything, retreating behind the emperor.
The emperor moved his gaze from the osmanthus trees in the garden, clapped his hands, and turned back to Fan Xian, “I heard that you moved these trees in and planted them?”
Fan Xian responded, “Yes. The old mansion garden was not large, and previously there were no trees planted inside, so it was a bit boring to look at, especially in the spring and summer, when there were tall trees and flowers outside, but it was too quiet inside, so I moved a few of them.”
“It seems that this child of yours still has a few hints of affection.” The emperor laughed, “Back when I lived in this courtyard, there were trees as well, only they were all broken by these people of mine practicing martial arts.”
Fan Xian was secretly staggered, he had lived in this mansion for sixteen years, but had never known that the emperor had also once lived here back then, the old lady’s mouth was really tight.
He suddenly thought of the past that both his father and Prince Jing had mentioned, back then, His Majesty had once brought Chen Pingping and his father to Tanyu to play, when His Majesty was still just an unknown son, and it was in Tanyu …… that they bumped into his mother and Uncle Wuzhu. In that case, when the emperor was living in the old mansion at that time, it was …… well, the moment when the wheels of history began to turn?
Walking in the garden, and the emperor had a chat and gossip, Fan Xian’s mood gradually a little anxious, do not know what opportunity should be found to speak, persuade the emperor to hurry back to the capital, the expression on his face began to look a little unnatural.
“I’m not microdosing.” Seemingly guessing what Fan Xian was thinking, the emperor said with a slight sneer, “I will have made it known to the world three days after I leave Kyoto, so don’t worry too much about it.”
Fan Xian’s eyes widened in surprise as he asked, “Your majesty …… everyone knows that you’ve come to Tanyuzhou?”
“Wrong, it’s that everyone knows that I’m going to make a heavenly sacrifice.” The emperor glanced at him, put his hands behind his back, and walked out of the garden first.
Fan Xian gave Eunuch Hong a somewhat puzzled look and hurriedly followed, asking after the emperor, “Your Majesty, why didn’t I know about this?”
The emperor did not stop and said with a sneer, “How could you receive the decree that I sent to Hangzhou when you were having a good time at sea, Lord Qinzhi?”
Fan Xian was greatly embarrassed, not daring to answer.
The emperor paused and said with some annoyance, “After all, you are a minister, how can you leave your post without authorization? I’ve already decreed that you should meet with the Heavenly Sacrifice team, and when you return to Hangzhou later, you should walk through these procedures.”
Fan Xian was slightly shocked after his great embarrassment, it turned out that his majesty’s decree had already been made clear to the world, letting himself, an imperial official, join the heaven-sacrificing procession, so it was no wonder that those officials along the coast guessed the people on the ship. Just what the emperor said earlier is obviously harboring himself …… Hey, it seems that after a few months after that incident in Kyoto, His Majesty s mood does not seem to be so bad.
Watching the emperor’s footsteps out of the wooden door of the old mansion, surrounded by hidden in the dark guards and courtyard officials followed out, a time the scene is incredibly lively, Fan Xian can no longer hold back, catch up with a few steps, lowered his voice and said, “Your Majesty …… the situation in Kyoto has not yet been determined, both the sacrifice of the day, then the minister escorted your Majesty back to the capital Let’s do it.”
The emperor stopped walking, turned around and gave him a funny look, saying, “If it’s a heavenly sacrifice, why do you want to go back to the capital?”
Fan Xian was slightly stunned and said, “The heavenly sacrifice is naturally at the Temple of Celebration.”
“There is more than one Temple of Celebration.” The emperor said faintly, “There is also a temple on Dadong Mountain.”
Fan Xian’s heart was shaken, and he was speechless for a long time. The emperor had actually traveled all the way to Dadong Mountain to offer sacrifices to the heavens! No wonder there were very few wordsmiths and bachelors in the accompanying service clumps, but instead, the Ministry of Rites, the Taishang Temple, and the Chintian Supervisors were following these guys……. Sacrificing the heavens and abolishing the Crown Prince did indeed require these few people. Just why this thing is not done in Kyoto, but to run to the East China Sea coast? Is the emperor is not at all worried ……
“I know what you are worried about.” The emperor’s expression softened a bit, as if he felt that this son’s heart was commendable for thinking of his father’s safety at all times, and smiled after thinking about it and said, “Since you can’t control your worries, then well, I’ll leave all of my safety on this trip in your hands.”
Fan Xian was shocked again and smiled bitterly, thinking how he had gotten himself such a hard job. At this time, however, he could not go back to his refusal, so he could only give his thanks and accept.
“Come meet me at the pier later.” The emperor knew what Fan Xian was going to do next, and after saying this, he and Eunuch Hong walked out of the mansion and onto the carriage. Eunuch Yao followed with a group of attendant ministers.
Fan Xian stood at the gate of the mansion, looking at those slightly changing lights around him on the street, knowing that the tiger guards and the swordsmen of the Supervisory Yuan who accompanied him had already followed, and slightly letting go of his heart. He beckoned, and Wang Qinian ran over from across the street, saying to Fan Xian with a face full of astonishment, “My lord, the one who went earlier was ……”
Fan Xian nodded.
Wang Qinian swallowed his saliva with great difficulty and lowered his voice, “Why did this master run here?”
Fan Xian’s face sank slightly as he muttered, “No one knows why, but all I know is that if anything happens to him, I’ll be finished.”
If the emperor suffered an accident in the middle of the heavenly sacrifice, Fan Xian, who was the supervisory academy’s chief minister and now had the heavy responsibility of being a guard, would naturally die an ugly death, or at least those people in Kyoto would surely put the black pot on Fan Xian’s head while they themselves smiled as they sat in that chair.
Fan Xian clenched his fists, smiled bitterly and laughed to himself, “I don’t want to be the Four Gu Swords …… Passing down the order of the courtyard, the courtyard’s manpower stationed on the Shandong Road are all mobilized, all give me some alarm, whoever comes close to within fifty miles of the Great Eastern Mountain, one level of notification.”
Wang Qinian answered.
Fan Xian added: “Pass the order to Jiangbei, let Jing Ge take five hundred black cavalry and rush to aid the east mountain road overnight, set up defense along the northwestern line, and cooperate with the local state army, make sure there is no problem …… If there is any dissent, shoot on sight.”
Wang Qinian raised his head to look at the adults, the northwest of the East Mountain Road points directly to Yanjing Cangzhou, exactly where Yan Xiaoyi’s capital camp is located, just that the two places are far away from each other, Yan Xiaoyi, if he really has the guts to rebel against the king and kill the king, there is no method of mobilizing the army so far away, and still do not alarm the imperial court.
“Being careful is always the best policy.” Fan Xian said with a lowered head, his heart incomparably annoyed, the emperor playing such a trick, I don’t know how many people he would scare.
Wang Qinian led the order and left, at this moment, a man in cloth walked up to Fan Xian’s side and bowed, “By His Majesty’s decree, please do as Your Excellency commands.”
Fan Xian glanced at this person and said gently, “Vice Commander, you’re still more familiar with His Majesty’s personal defense, so if there’s anything wrong, we’ll discuss it again.”
The security of the Qing Imperial Palace was handled by the Forbidden Army and the Great Inner Guard, the two systems were basically one team back in the day, a few years ago, the Great Inner Guard commander was Yan Xiaoyi, and the vice commander was Gong Dian, who was in charge of both the Forbidden Army and the guards.
And after Fan Xian’s nightly visit to the palace in the fifth year of the Qingli calendar, the security and defense arrangement of the palace underwent a major change, Yan Xiaoyi was transferred to the position of Grand Governor of Conquest of the North, and the forbidden army and the guards were split into two pieces, with today’s Grand Prince in charge of the forbidden army, and the palace’s guards being single-handedly held by the Eunuch Yao.
The person speaking with Fan Xian at this moment was none other than the Grand Prince’s second-in-command, the Vice Commander of the Forbidden Army Lord. Fan Xian naturally had to be more polite when speaking with him, but was less than pleasantries and asked directly, “How many people have come from the forbidden army?”
“Two thousand.” The Vice Commander of the Forbidden Army respectfully returned, “All of them are answering orders outside of Tanyu City.”
Fan Xian nodded, thinking that with two thousand forbidden troops, plus those Rulin masters around the emperor, security should be guaranteed.
He glanced back at the small two-story building that was hidden in a corner of the old mansion, and was slightly lost in thought, thinking of the time when he first left Tanyuzhou, when grandma had once said that she had told him to be more ruthless, and at the same time, thinking of the time when grandma had once said that it was because she was too gentle that his own mother had died.
Fan Xian even thought of the words his grandmother had said to him when he was young, the hidden truths that she had hugged him. Suddenly, his heart moved – yet he immediately suppressed it, sighing and shaking his head.
His Majesty’s side Eunuch Hong was unfathomable, Uncle Wuzhu was not with him, neither were Shadow and Haitang, himself plus Wang XIII Lang were not powerful enough, and he was far away in Tanyu, unable to remotely control the movements in Kyoto. The most crucial thing is …… Fan Xian must admit that up until today, the emperor’s old man has treated himself quite well.
He smiled to himself and waved this mirth out of his mind.
The Vice Commander of the Forbidden Army, however, did not know that he was thinking of certain treacherous things in his mind, and thought that young Lord Fan was worried about His Majesty’s safety, so he had no choice but to persuade him a few times, patting his chest and expressing his confidence.
On the wharf of Tanyu, the onlookers had long since been banished out of sight, and the incoming and outgoing fishing boats had long since returned to their respective harbors; the entire city, it seemed, had become incomparably oppressive and awe-inspiring because of the arrival of that middle-aged man on the wharf in a light yellow light robe.
Only the floating clouds in the sky, the foam in the sea, and the seagulls flying between the sky and water did not seem to feel this pressure, and still floated, floated, and flew very freely.
The birds foraged for food in the sea, emitting shrill cries that awakened His Majesty the Emperor, who was meditating on the pier.
He beckoned back and said, “Come to me.”
Fan Xian, who had previously been watching the emperor’s figure from beneath the planked pier, heard these words and jumped onto the planks, walking over to the emperor’s side, leaning back slightly to a position toward the front, looking out over the endless sea.
“Take another step forward.” The emperor crossed his arms and did not turn around.
Fan Xian was stunned and followed the order to take another step forward, standing side by side with the emperor.
The sea breeze blew, blowing the hair along the emperor’s cheeks swept backward, but there was nothing soft and charming about it; instead, it gave birth to a few feelings that were so resolute as to be heartbreaking. Beneath his feet, the waves were lapping at the reef under the planks, turning into one snow, two snow, countless snow.
“Hold your chest up.” The Emperor’s eyes looked at the end of the sea and said to Fan Xian beside him, “I don’t like you putting on a wimpy look.”
Fan Xian smiled faintly, understanding His Majesty’s state of mind at this time, and following his words, he naturally relaxed and stood side by side with him, not opening his mouth to speak.
“The last time I came to Tanyuzhou, I wasn’t even a prince.” The emperor slowly said, “On that day Chen Pingping stood behind me like Hong Si Itch, and your father …… Fan Jian stood side by side with me like you are at this time, washing the extraordinarily clear sea breeze of Tanyu State.”
“Ever since becoming the crown prince, Fan Jian no longer dares to stand side by side with me.”
Fan Xian inclined his head slightly and saw a hint of self-deprecation flash across the corners of His Majesty’s lips.
The Emperor said with a slight sneer, “When I sit in that chair and fight in the south and north, there will be no one who dares to speak to me straight, not to mention standing.”
Fan Xian sighed appropriately.
“The three of us came to Tanyuzhou that day to take a break, when Kyoto was in chaos and the two princes were secretly fighting to take over the throne, and the late Emperor was only an insignificant Prince Cheng.” The emperor said indifferently, “We, the juniors, have no way to intervene in this, so we have to hide as far away from the place of wrongdoing as possible.”
He inclined his head to look at Fan Xian and said, “Actually, it’s pretty much the same as what you’re thinking right now, except that you’re much stronger than I was back then.”
Fan Xian smiled and said, “The key is that the heart …… is not strong enough, and there are some things that I always don’t know how to face.”
“I can’t imagine that you still have a few moments of pity for Cheng Qian.” The emperor turned back and said indifferently, “But this is very good …… Back then, the three of us were on top of this pier, looking at this sea, but there was no pity for anyone in our chests, and we thought about just how to protect ourselves, how to be able to live … …I have often thought that when we looked at the sea, perhaps we were only looking forward to the sudden appearance of a god on the sea.”
Fan Xian was silent, knowing what the emperor would say next.
“There is nothing on the sea, just like today.” The emperor spoke slowly, a hint of a smile appearing at the corners of his lips once again, “Yet when we turned around, we realized that there was an extra woman on the pier, along with that very strange servant of hers.”
Fan Xian leisurely said yearningly, “In fact, my son has always wondered how you befriended mother back then.”
The emperor’s body shook slightly, shaken for a little while by Fan Xian’s godly cry of “son servant” before realizing that the boy had actually said it subconsciously, and his lips couldn’t help but reveal a hint of a very pleased smile.
However, he did not continue this topic, just said: “Earlier with you said, from no one dares to stand side by side with me …… but only your mother dared …… no matter whether it is to be the crown prince or the emperor, your mother dared to stand side by side with me. Look at the sea, blowing the sea breeze, simply do not regard me as any special person to look at …… even, sometimes unceremoniously despise me.”
The emperor scoffed to himself, “After she died, there will be no more such people in the world …… I don’t expect you to inherit a few points from her, I just feel that you should not be too much of a wimp, damaging the prestige of me and your mother for nothing.”
Fan Xian smiled bitterly thinking, this is you in the caress of the past, only to allow me to stand for a while, as for the prestige …… or exempt it, the little life is important.
“Your Majesty, it’s better to return to the capital.” Fan Xian finally said what he wanted to say, said with a slightly worried look, “Being away from the capital for too long is always ……”
Seeing that he was about to speak, the emperor said coldly, “Say everything you want to say. You are just trying to say that you are afraid that someone will take advantage of my absence in Kyoto and have bad intentions.”
The emperor looked at the sea, calm to the point of indifference, said softly, “I am on this trip to the sea to sacrifice to the sky, openly abolish the reserves, is to see, who has the courage and guts, is to see, today, the kingdom of Qing’s rivers and mountains, in the end, who is the world.”