Chapter 33: How can I repay?
Anyone could hear the meaning of these two words and the resentment implied in them, and Yan Xiaoyi stood on the stone steps staring into Fan Xian’s eyes, as if he wanted to nail the other party coldly with his own gaze.
However, he was clear that he could not possibly kill Fan Xian in Kyoto, which was a very sad fact. After so many years, it was still hard for him to realize that even if this little white man on a horse in front of him cursed his own son so viciously and threatened …… him in front of the whole of Kyoto
No, it was intimidating himself, he couldn’t do anything in advance.
Because he himself was the son of a hunter, while the other party was the son of His Majesty.
Yan Xiaoyi was different from all those other great lords of the military, he wasn’t a family like the Qin Ye two families, nor was he a celestial noble like the Grand Prince, although he had the eldest princess as a backer, in reality, his climb in the military relied on his own strength. Today’s honor, the noble position of the northern governor, are so many years in the north in the west in the south, he himself fights with his life will come out.
His arrows from no enemy, his army from the front of the division can not hold three days, he made countless achievements for the Qing dynasty.
That’s how we got to where we are today.
That’s why even though His Majesty knew that he had a close relationship with the Eldest Princess, he still trusted and favored him, even letting him serve as the Palace’s Forbidden Army’s Grand Commander some years ago.
What is the reason for all this? It was because Yan Xiaoyi had a resolute and powerful heart.
As a superb expert on the ninth rank, in the entire Qing military, only Ye Chong could fight against him, or those hidden characters hidden in the depths of the old Qin family, so in his life, Yan Xiaoyi had never been afraid of anything, and even occasionally sometimes thought that if when his own troops were faced with a great master, could the great master …… escape from his own arrows?
Why would he fear a young man? Even if it was this young man on the horse at the bottom of the stone steps who, in his opinion, was only relying on his father’s shade and his mother’s legacy to gain a great reputation, even if this young man’s gaze was so cold and vicious, but ……
You don’t want to tease me!
His eyes stared at Fan Xian, and his two gazes were like the shocking arrows he carried behind his back, as if he was telling Fan Xian that he could kill you at any time if he wanted to, and that even though your identity was special, there were some things that it was better not to do.
Fan Xian raised his face in awe, his eyes narrowed slightly, melting away the slight sting, and greeted him with a cold smile.
He is not clear whether this valley ambush is Yan Xiaoyi’s doing, although this matter the eldest princess has the greatest suspicion, but certain doubts, so that he can’t get very sure judgment, but he still want to talk like this, because Yan Xiaoyi one day is going to come to kill himself, since this is the case, he doesn’t need to consider too many things.
Regardless of whether Yan Xiaoyi did it or not, Fan Xian knew that he had to do something that would shock the world, to warn those who were secretly hitting on him that if they wanted to kill me, they would have to weigh whether they could afford to pay the price!
The two hundred heads in front of the stone lions of the Privy Council are proof of this.
The stone steps up and down the Privy Council seemed to be frozen by a cold air.
Yan Xiaoyi stood proudly on the stone steps, Fan Xian sat straight on the back of the horse, the two people’s eyes just flush, the murderous aura contained in the gaze is so unbearable, that is, the smell of blood overflowing around, the stench emanating from the heads under the stone lions, seem to be afraid of the two people’s gaze at each other, to avoid dispersing away.
Someone coughed softly.
Qin Heng led his horse to the stone steps, and after whispering an apology to the Right Vice-Envoy of the Privy Council, he straightened up and said with a gentle smile to Yan Xiaoyi, “Greetings to the Grand Duke.”
He came in a very coincidental and wonderful way, just in time to block Fan Xian’s gaze confrontation with Yan Xiaoyi, easing the touch-and-go conflict.
Yan Xiaoyi slowly withdrew his piercing gaze and calmly said, “Good day Little Marquis, how is the Boss Man’s health these days? When the last general returns to the capital, he always goes to see the boss man.”
Qin Heng has long been marquis, and Yan Xiaoyi said in the mouth of the boss, naturally that has been sick in the residence of the Qin old man, to Yan Xiaoyi conquest of the north of the great governor of the respect, in the military pillar of the Qin old man in front of, but also only to call himself the end of the general’s portion.
With Qin Heng coming out to ease the situation, Yan Xiaoyi had to give this face.
But Fan Xian didn’t need to give it, he lowered his head, played with the whip in his hand, and said, “You’re in the way of me and Great Governor Yan.”
Qin Heng was dumbfounded and then stunned again, he did not understand what Fan Xian was thinking, could it be that he was preparing to challenge Yan Xiaoyi at the door of the Privy Council?
Although the world knew that Fan Xian and Haitang were on par with each other, and were recognized as the number one masters in the era generation of Qing, but …… facing Yan Xiaoyi, still no one would look favorably on him.
What’s more, these two people’s identities were different, and this place was special, so how could they possibly have a big fight here?
Qin Heng slightly inclined his head and lowered his voice, “You’re injured.”
Fan Xian’s facial expression was calm as could be, but Qin Heng’s heart began to tremble, and everyone in Kyoto was the one who feared this the most after learning about today’s ambush.
Everyone was afraid that Fan Xian would go crazy.
If Chen Pingping was an old black dog, Fan Xian was naturally a small black dog, and when a small black dog was viciously stabbed, it would go crazy and bite indiscriminately without distinguishing between its enemy and itself, and what the court was afraid of was that Fan Xian, in his anger, would make a big fuss and shake the foundation of the entire Qing court.
Fan Xian listened to Qin Heng’s question and slowly returned, ”I just want to ask for some advice. Treat with courtesy, return with virtue; give with a sword, return with a sword. Isn’t that the truth, Great Governor Yan?”
There were some questions that Fan Xian was prepared to question to his face, but he just didn’t have the chance to say them out loud.
The people in the Privy Council listened to the words of the sword, thinking that young Lord Fan was about to go mad, and subconsciously prepared to meet the battle. Although the Privy Council is mainly staff officers, force compared to the five roads of the Qing border army is not how strong, but after all, is the essence of the Qing army for decades, today confused by Fan Xian bullied door to door, hold back for a long time, there will always be a moment of rebound, all the generals of the school officials are holding the hilt of the sword.
Yan Xiaoyi into the capital, can only bring a hundred soldiers, at this time this hundred soldiers have also long been armed to the Privy Council’s side door corridor, nervously watching the yamen in front of these more than a hundred officials of the Supervisory Yuan a place.
The soldiers who had returned from the north had a frosty look on their faces, and had long since been built into an iron army by Yan Xiaoyi, only different from the Qin Ye two families’ border troops, this hundred or so soldiers were carrying bows and arrows on their bodies.
Crossbows were forbidden in Kyoto of Qing Kingdom but not bows, this was the confidence embodied by the martial royal family.
The two sides were facing each other, but Qin Heng, the Kyoto guard who had been worried all along, let go of his heart, if Fan Xian had squeezed Yan Xiaoyi with his words earlier and initiated an invitation for a duel, as long as Yan Xiaoyi agreed, even His Majesty couldn’t stop it, and the two sides would definitely be in a situation of death and destruction.
However, now that the situation involved the conflict between the Supervisory Board and the military, Qin Heng knew that this battle could not be fought, because there were countless pairs of eyes in Kyoto looking at this place, no matter if it was His Majesty or the system of court officials presiding over the political affairs, it was impossible to watch the foundation of Qing’s world domination collapse just because of the heads of the people in front of this Privy Council.
As expected, the sound of shouting came from the distance, and the hooves of horses were slightly disorganized.
A group of forbidden soldiers in bright armor galloped in. The Privy Council is located in the middle of the Supervisory Board and the palace, the reaction of these forbidden troops seems to appear to be a little slow.
But some discerning people know clearly, this is the forbidden army purposely leave some time, let Fan Xian a little vent his anger.
The forbidden army represented the emperor’s majesty, which no one dared to defy, at least on the surface.
Therefore, when the forbidden army formed up in a line, dividing the people of the Supervisory Yuan from the soldiers of the Privy Council, no one expressed any opposition.
What’s more, the person leading the troops was the Grand Prince.
The Grand Prince was the Marshal of the Western Conquest back then, and had a deep relationship with the military, and nowadays everyone knew that his relationship with Fan Xian was also quite close.
Seeing that it was him who came to mediate, all the people in the arena simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief, deeply realizing that His Majesty was wise, and that this candidate was just too suitable.
The Grand Prince came to Fan Xian’s side holding the reins of his horse, the look of worry on his face was hidden as soon as it appeared, he nodded his head slightly in a gesture, and didn’t say any nonsense, he just said, “Father knows about this, you can go back to your residence first to recuperate from your injuries.”
Fan Xian looked at him with a smile, silent, waiting. He naturally had to leave, it was impossible for him to have a real killing spree with the Privy Council here, it was just that the people he had to wait for hadn’t all come yet.
Not a moment later, three small eunuchs of the Yellow Gate panted and ran over from outside the crowd, conveying His Majesty’s message, expressing his shock and condolences for the assassination of Lord Plenipotentiary Qinzhi who traveled on the south road of the Yangtze River, harshly criticizing Kyoto’s guards, and releasing a secret reminder and deterrent to the people of the Privy Council, and then ordering Lord Fan to return to his residence immediately to recuperate from his injuries, and wait for the court to find out about the matter before making a decision.
In another moment, two ministers whose bodies were obviously not so very healthy also ran over panting, none other than Grand Maester Shu and Grand Maester Hu, two of the very best ministers of the Central Committee under the Door, expressing their comfort for Fan Xian as well as their immense anger at the culprits.
Shu Wu was an old acquaintance of Fan Xian’s, but it was the first time that Fan Xian had seen the appearance of Grand Maester Hu, and realized that he was a bit younger than he had imagined, at most over forty years old.
Fan Xian sat on his horse in silence for a little while, then said to the Grand Prince, “You understand me, this first round has enough face, I won’t go crazy for a while.”
The Grand Prince nodded and said, “I’ll see you off.”
Fan Xian took the reins of his horse and spun it around on Tianhe Avenue, transferring the whip to his left hand, lifting it up to point directly at the military crowd on the stone steps of the Privy Council, and waving it around without saying anything else.
The military crowd in the Privy Council felt that this far away whip seemed to be lashed on their own faces.
Returning to Fan’s residence, the Grand Prince asked some questions about the exact situation in the valley at that time, and after a little silence, he left the residence. Fan Xian knows that he is in a hurry to return to the palace, to meet the emperor stormy questioning, but also do not want to remind him too much, because this matter, he himself still have many doubts.
Palace from the Imperial Hospital transferred three doctors sent to the Fan House, Fan Xian but do not use them, just let the three divisions of the brothers and sisters for their own medicine to heal their wounds, the remaining poison should be able to expel after a few days, as for the back of the miserable wound, but I do not know how many days to recuperate.
Until now, lying on his own warm bed, Fan Xian’s body and mind finally relaxed completely, and immediately felt a trace of fatigue that was hard to resist, and even though his back was still hot and painful, he still hugged his pillow and fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up, it was already dark, and a maid went out to bring in a bowl of rice porridge warmed with hot water, and the one who had been guarding Fan Xian’s bedside took the rice porridge, helped Fan Xian sit up, scooped it up with a spoon, and blew on it delicately, feeding it slowly.
Fan Xian took a bite, pursed his lips, looked at his father who was carefully scooping the porridge, and realized that after a year’s absence, his father’s white hairs were more numerous, and his wrinkles were deeper and deeper, and for some reason, he actually felt a bit sour in his heart.
“Let you worry.”
Fan Jian did not say anything, just fed him a few more mouthfuls before putting the bowl of porridge on the table, then calmly said, “Back then, when you were going to enter the Supervisory Academy, I told you that there would definitely be problems in the future, but …… since the problems have already arisen, there’s no point in talking about this again. ”
Fan Xian said after a moment of silence, “There are many things I can’t figure out.”
Fan Jian said mildly, “Tell me.”
Fan Xian told his father all the questions he had in his mind beside the wrecked car in the valley, hoping to get some reminders from this fatherly lord who seemed to be unassuming in the dynasty, but was in fact firmly rooted and skillful in his ways, and whom even His Majesty could not force to abdicate.
“Since it was concluded that it was the military that moved,” Fan Jian said, “then it can be analyzed. In addition to the Kyoto defense, my Qing country army total five road border soldiers, seven road state army, to the border soldiers strength is the most powerful, Ye family Dingzhou one, Qin family one, Cangzhou side of the border soldiers in Yan Xiaoyi’s control, there is also a South Zhao line, state army strength is basically negligible, but that’s the case, in fact, the five road border soldiers is not divided so obvious, such as the Ye Qin two families, the disciples of the old friends all over the army, in all aspects have certain influence.”
Fan Jian paused for a moment, and then said: “And like the great prince in the past years to conquer the west, in fact, from the five road side of the army drawn from the army, once the war is over, and then return to the army in all parties.”
Fan Xian was silent for a little while before saying, “This is also one of His Majesty’s methods.”
“Not bad, these generals have been promoted to key positions because of the western conquest, so they are like the hands and feet of the royal family, but they are not something that the Ye Qin two families can direct, in this way, there is no one family that can control the five road side armies alone.”
It was amazing, encountering such a big event as Fan Xian’s assassination, this father and son duo however didn’t seem to have too much lamentation and anger, just calmly analyzing the situation.
“And like the defense of Kyoto, within a forty-mile radius outside of the capital, it is all under the jurisdiction of the Kyoto Guard, which has 20,000 people under its jurisdiction, and within it, there are 10,000 of the most powerful forbidden troops in the Kingdom of Qing. There are also thirteen city gate division, seemingly insignificant, but directly under the jurisdiction of His Majesty’s decree of the opening and closing of the gates of Kyoto, is also a critical government offices. The palace also has a unified guards, although our dynasty practice, the forbidden army commander also manages the inner guards, but in fact, in addition to the palace canon the commander really did it, the rest of the time, the inner guards are managed by the eunuch in the palace.”
Eunuch? Naturally, it’s Eunuch Hong …… Fan Xian suddenly heard a hint of something very strange from his father’s words, except for the fact that Gong Dian really did manage both the forbidden army and the great inner guards?
He raised his head in horror and said in surprise, “Gong Dian …… is actually so deeply trusted by His Majesty?”
Fan Xian’s first dealings with the palace’s defense force was the slap against Gong Dian at the entrance of the Qing Temple, and he knew clearly that Gong Dian was this person, and he also knew that a large part of the cause of the matter at the Hanging Temple was that His Majesty wanted to drive the Ye family’s power out of Kyoto, and he wanted to drive Gong Dian out of the position of the commander of the forbidden army. But …… according to his father, the trust that Gong Dian, or the Ye family received back then, was really terrible, so why did the emperor push the Ye family hard to the side of the second prince and to the side of the eldest princess?
Fan Xian vaguely felt that he seemed to have grasped something important, but he could never think clearly, and he could not help but get a headache.
Fan Jian said softly, “Don’t think too complicatedly, although His Majesty is a divine calculator, he’s not above playing games with Kyoto’s defense force …… As for why he wants to drive the Ye family out, I think …… I can guess a little bit. ”
Fan Xian frowned and said, “Father, what is the reason?”
Fan Jian smiled, helped him lie down gently, and slowly said, “Don’t forget that your mother is also surnamed Ye …… Back then, when she first entered Kyoto, she once beat Ye Chong, and Wuzhu even fought Ye Liuyun, even if there is no relationship between your two families, His Majesty is only afraid that he would be worried about certain things. At the time of the Hanging Temple matter, His Majesty was not as trusting of you as he is today, but having already prepared to reuse you, it is only natural to prevent certain things.”
Fan Xian was stunned, and then he sighed with a chilling sigh. As an emperor, the heart is really …… just what would a life like this mean? It just didn’t occur to him that as powerful as his father was, there were times when he guessed wrong after all.
“I don’t have much love for the Ye family.” Fan Xian said, but in his heart, he remembered the girl whose eyes were as bright as jewels.
“Just because there isn’t one now doesn’t mean there won’t be one in the future.” Fan Jian said with a raised eyebrow, “What interests me is why His Majesty is so guarded against you.”
Fan Xian was silent for a long time, then said softly, “Father, do you think this time, could it be …… arranged by His Majesty?”
On the outskirts of Kyoto, the military was mobilized to kill people, and even the city crossbows were moved, and as a result, he, as the Supervisory Court Tisan, in charge of the world’s intelligence, was not prepared at all! Every time he thought of this matter, Fan Xian always felt that behind the valley ambush, it was definitely not just the madness on the side of the Princess, but something deeper should be hidden. Among his list of suspicions, the emperor was naturally the one who ranked first, and as for the one who ranked second ……
“It’s not His Majesty.” Fan Jian suddenly said quietly, “He loves you now and can’t wait to spoil you, how could he possibly lay a hand on you …… unless …… he’s dying.”
Fan Xian fell silent and asked, “Who could have this power besides His Majesty to be able to make both the Kyoto Guard and the Supervisory Court ineffective …… at the same time? The eldest princess plus Yan Xiaoyi?”
He shook his head, yet Fan Jian smiled and asked rhetorically, “You should be guessing something, or else why didn’t you go into your own courtyard to take a look when you returned from the Privy Council?”