Chapter 58: Returning to the Sect

Just as those people on the Moonlight Building had once said, Kyoto had been peaceful for a year, and the biggest reason was naturally because Fan Xian had been banished to Jiangnan for a whole year.

With Fan Xian’s return to the capital, the calm Kyoto could no longer maintain the calmness, on the one hand, it was because he happened to be blocking the hedging point of all kinds of forces, on the other hand, it was also because his style of doing things and the so-called Poetry Immortal look is completely different, and even more than most of the style of the powerful and noble people in the country of Qing Dynasty, it is much too harsh and cruel.

The sniping in the valley, the assassination at night in Kyoto, the silent deaths of some people, and the humiliating imprisonment of some officials, one pile after another, let the powerful and noble people in Kyoto once again deeply feel Fan Xian’s power and determination, and let them figure out that Little Lord Fan’s one year of bright springtime in the south of the Yangtze River did not let his heart become too gentle.

When Fan Xian returned to the capital, shocking things happened one after another.

The most recent was when the court of Northern Qi shamelessly came over and shamelessly expressed their love for Fan Xian, and unusually and disgustingly criticized the court of Southern Qing for failing to protect Little Lord Fan’s safety!

The capital was filled with absurdity and anger.

To put it in another way, this is the internal affairs of Qing, when is it your turn to squeak, you rotten Confucian scholars of Northern Qi? But the Northern Qi people did squeak, and squeaked extra loud.

Fan Xian was immediately pushed to the tip of the wind and waves, although smart people do not believe that he has any unseemly collusion with the North Qi, because the North Qi’s this tactic is too childish, but …… the hearts of the people of the Qing Dynasty’s powerful and noble people are still a little bit uncomfortable, quite uncomfortable, casting to the Fan House of the eyes of some complex.

The storm of this matter has not subsided, only two days later on the first day of the New Year, the whole of Kyoto because of another thing related to the Fan House, became frightened.

There wasn’t a single light in the sky.

Fan Xian sat on the carriage, rubbing his eyes, thinking to himself, “Why do you have to be so sneaky for the ancestor sacrifice? Yesterday was New Year’s Eve, the family played mahjong all night, and after Fan Si Zhe and Lin Wan Er divided the family’s property, the game ended, so the family immediately got on the carriage and left the house.

All the way there are Fan’s big family’s carriages converging to one place, although each room is calm, but such a long caravan, the formation does seem to be a bit big.

Fan Xian heart some hidden excitement and nervousness, he is the first time to pay tribute to the ancestors, so he is not clear about the ancestor should be in the fifth night. Because last year, when Fanfu made the ancestor sacrifice, he and Wan’er stayed in the garden, and he vaguely remembered that it should be in the afternoon.

He glanced at Si Zhe who was sleeping deeply beside him and couldn’t help but smile and shake his head, in his own carriage, he thought that there was no government office in the Qing Kingdom that would dare to search Si Zhe, an accomplice, without a long eye.

Thinking that he could finally enter the ancestral hall today, his smile kept surfacing on his face, unable to fade away. He wasn’t sure how his father had negotiated with the emperor when he entered the palace, but in the end, it was clear that that emperor’s old man had nodded helplessly, and the empress dowager had remained silent.

To put it mildly, since your royal family can’t give yourself a name, do you still want to be left without a reliable surname for the rest of your life?

Fan Xian sneered, in fact, he could guess the end of his father’s negotiations with the emperor – the emperor named himself Tanyu Gong, in his opinion, has already given enough to account for, and the current situation, the emperor also really need Fan Xian to clarify the identity, lest the sale of his several sons competing for the family property to make it even more complicated – -The reduction of the Supervisory Yuan’s power is far from enough, if Fan Xian wants to continue on the road of power ministers, the first thing is to take himself out of the ranks of the imperial princes first.

I don’t know how long the caravan traveled, and waited for a while at the city gates, waiting for the gates to open, and then drove out in the familiar eyes of the soldiers.

Along the official road all the way to the west, it finally entered the field where Fan Xian had once come, the ancestral property of the Fan Clan.

Three dozen carriages parked on the outside of the clan’s ancestral hall on the dam, there have been people in the farm to receive, year after year, have been made into skilled labor, bamboo hut provided for the women to sit has long been set up, Liu’s Wan’er Sisi, as well as the elders of the other houses of the women have been received into the courtyard to rest.

Today’s Fan Clan patriarch, Minister of the Household Fan Jian stood at the bottom of the steps of the clan’s ancestral hall, wearing three-colored intermingled formal clothes, calmly looking at everything in front of him, yet a warm and fast feeling welled up in his heart.

He had raised a son for His Majesty and finally raised his own son, was this the most successful day in his life?

Fan clan each room of the leading figures have already got off the carriage, according to the generation order standing outside the ancestral hall, they take the eye peeping at the first head of the clan, each heart has complex emotions, want to thirty years ago, the Fan clan is already one of the big families in the capital, and Fan Jian this room is just a side room weak door, if not out of the old ancestor, hold big now the emperor and King Jing, how can Fan Jian become a head of the clan today?

After Fan Jian became the head of the clan, he was very strict with the personnel in the clan, and his own official position was getting bigger and bigger, and no one in the clan dared to disobey him, not to mention the fact that there was another person named Fan Xian in the Fan family.

Each one of them placed the regular clothes needed for ancestor worship, Ning Xiang was lit, the offerings were ready, and the monk in the standing shrine clan temple respectfully spread out the rows of felt blankets, slowly pulling the door of the shrine open.

With a creak, the gate made of black wood was pulled open, and a cold wind gushed out from within, as if the ancestors of the Fan Clan were gazing indifferently at their offspring.

Hundreds of male members of the Fan Clan bowed their heads and arranged themselves.

At this moment, a carriage behind the crowd opened its door, and Fan Xian, dressed in a cloth coat, calmly stepped out of the carriage and followed his father’s gesture at the bottom of the stone steps, slowly moving forward between the two groups of men.

The atmosphere in front of the ancestral hall was originally solemn, and those Fan Clan men didn’t dare to utter a single word in the air, lest they startle the spirits of their ancestors, however, when they saw the man who stepped down from the carriage, they still couldn’t help but widen their shocked and surprised eyes, open their mouths wide, and let out countless gasps of astonishment.

And at the very back of the row, those teenage boys who were about in their teens were even more frightened when they saw Fan Xian; these were the poor little bullies who had their legs smashed by Fan Xian outside the Moon Embracing Building and had their asses smashed by Liu in the Fan Mansion back then.

Fan Xian also came to pay homage to his ancestors! These little bullies of the Fan Clan were so frightened that their legs trembled.

Fan Xian walked steadily forward, gradually to approach the stone steps of the ancestral hall, and then saw that at the bottom of the stone steps, his father seemed to be arguing in a low voice with a few old men about something, those old men, Fan Xian had seen them in his ordinary life, and knew that they were the respected elders of the Fan clan, and that one of them seemed to himself to be called uncle ……

That uncle with the highest seniority in the Fan clan was filled with worry, and said softly to Fan Jian, “Yide …… This is not a good move.”

Fan Jian smiled and said, “Second uncle, what’s wrong?”

That uncle’s eyes were full of panic, and he lowered his voice and said, “This child …… this child ……” He suddenly stopped his mouth and didn’t mention it, did he want him to say in front of the patriarch that your son isn’t your your son is not your own? But he is still alarmed, in front of and behind the elders of the Fan clan are also alarmed, they did not expect this year’s ancestor festival to make such a big battle, completely because of the House quietly brought Fan Xian!

The crowd spoke up, not daring to speak plainly in front of Fan Shangshu, but all vaguely expressed their worries, only they didn’t dare to be too loud for fear of startling the ancestors in the ancestral hall.

The people were not convinced, thinking that they are not the descendants of my Fan family, so why should they come to sacrifice their ancestors? And they were even more afraid that this Fan Xian was the son and grandson of a dragon, and that the Empress Dowager and His Majesty would not be pleased if he returned to the Fan family today.

However, Fan Xian didn’t give these elders a chance to start a debate, and had already walked up to his father’s body, first bowing extremely respectfully to all the elders, and then stood next to his father.

Fan Jian smiled, pointed to a certain spot in the queue, and said, “Your place is there.”

Seeing that the patriarch wouldn’t listen, no one dared to express any more objections, because these elders in the Fan Clan were actually more afraid of the kind of smell that Fan Xian carried.

“Ancestors have merit, the clan has virtue.”

“All things owe their origin to heaven, and people owe their origin to their ancestors.”

Inside and outside the ancestral hall, white smoke lingered, utensils were displayed, the men bowed in order, and in a chant that rose and fell, the ancestor sacrifice of the Fan clan went on smoothly, except that people could never help but sneak a few glances at Fan Xian.

Fan Xian had already knelt, worshipped and kowtowed in the ancestral hall, at this time, he stood aside again, looking at the paper flowers in the sky, the snow on the distant hills, a little dazed, he knew that his name could finally be recorded in the genealogy of the Fan Clan, and for a while, there was an extra touch of light color deep inside.

Fan Si Zhe was kowtowing to the direction where the ancestral hall was located from the carriage, he was not comfortable getting off.

Fan Xian stood beside the carriage and couldn’t help but sigh, thinking to himself that he had been reborn in a new life, and had recognized his belonging to this world in the cave in the western mountains of Northern Qi, in front of the dying Sean. And today in front of Fan’s ancestral hall, finally once again recognized his belonging to this world, his own life, finally branded with a lingering imprint, and this world closely linked together, can no longer be separated.

The morning light arrived early, and the white mist in the fields mixed with the smoke in the ancestral hall, no longer separable.

When Fan Xian stood beside the carriage outside the Fan clan’s ancestral hall and sighed, almost at the same instant, across half of Qing’s territory, in the Ming Garden, one of the world’s largest manor houses outside the city of Suzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, outside the ancestral hall, which had been renovated to be even taller and more majestic than the Fan clan’s ancestral hall, Xia Qifei knelt in front of her ancestor’s tablets and wept silently.

No, I should say that it was the current Ming Family’s seventh young master, Ming Qingcheng, who trembled in front of the ancestors’ plaques, letting the tears rinse his face.

Ming Qingda, the contemporary head of the Ming Family, looked at the weeping Ming Qingcheng at the lower left with a very complicated look, his own seventh brother who had left home since childhood.

Ming Lan Shi stood below his fourth uncle, looking at this “seventh uncle” who had never had the opportunity to enter the ancestral hall to pay homage to his ancestors, his face remained calm, but deep inside he was filled with frustration.

The fourth uncle had been released by the Suzhou government half a year ago, and since then, he had been tied to Xia Qufei, opposing the Ming family at every turn, and there was no doubt that the attempted assassination had made the fourth master of the Ming family dead to the head of the Ming family.

Now the Ming family’s situation is very difficult, used to circulate the silver is too little, had to reach out, although now the Merchants Money Bank provides great help, but if the line of the East Road and the business of the sea is not too much better, and then continue to borrow silver, this …… will be too much of a problem, and within the family, now there is another force, the aunt grandmother’s sons naturally stood by the side of the Ming fourth master.

Thinking of this section, Ming Lan Shi will hate that far away in Kyoto, the Lord Chinaman, today’s situation, are that person’s hand to create, including Xia Qifei today into the ancestral hall ancestral worship, recognize the ancestors, but also when the agreement is a part of the ring.

Ming Lan Shi is not clear why his father would agree to Fan Xian this request.

Xia Qufei wiped away the tear tracks on his face, knelt on the ground, and said softly in a voice that only he could hear to the ancestral tablets, “Father, mother …… that old hag is dead, and my son has finally returned.”

He has been driven out of the house by the Ming family since he was a child, and he has escaped from death countless times, even if he later became the commander of the Jiangnan water fortress, he only thought that he would be able to take revenge by virtue of the blood and fire force one day, but he himself could only become a lonely ghost, and he never dared to hope …… that he would actually be able to return to the Ming family in a bright and honorable way!

Now he, has more than Jiangnan water fortress commander, but also unknown Supervisor of the Supervisory Yuan around the Jiangnan Road Supervisor, he is already Xia Mingji’s big proprietor, responsible for the internal library of the goods line of the North Qi Road marketing, and at this time …… he has obtained the Ming family’s identity of seven young masters, in the future, the Ming family’s huge family fortune will always have a share of him.

Even …… it is possible that all of it is his.

Of course, Xia Qufei understands in his heart, even if the Ming family becomes his own in the future, but his own, that is, the little Fan adults, everything he has obtained at the moment, are the little Fan adults hands gift. Xia Qufei is a person who knows how to repay the kindness, but also a person who knows the limits, and does not have too much ambition.

As long as he can take revenge and return to the Ming family, then everything is fine.

The Fourth Master Ming, who had long since lost the ruthlessness of that year, stepped forward, helped him up, and said comfortingly, “Seventh brother, as long as you’re back, it’s good.”

“Thank you fourth brother.” Xia Qufei stood up and stared blankly at the Ming family head, then smiled and said, “Big brother, then I’ll go out first.”

Ming Qingda smiled faintly and took a few steps closer, coming up to his ear and whispering in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Seventh brother, there are still a lot of days left, so I won’t keep you for dinner today.”

This was something that Fan Xian had promised before he left Jiangnan, forcing Ming Qingda forcefully, and today, since he had already done it, he naturally did not have too many good looks for Ming Laoqi.

Xia Qufei sneered, knowing the hidden meaning in Ming Qingda’s words. Jiangnan, Ming family, now has been divided into two pieces, and as for the future who is in charge of the bull’s-eye, ultimately depends on the Kyoto, the palace struggle to win or lose.

Ming Qingda this year has been stoic, using all means, delaying Fan Xian’s ironic means, in order to buy time, waiting for the counterattack in Kyoto, and he believes, already do not have to endure for too long.

But Xia Qufei’s thoughts were just the opposite of Ming Qing’s, he was also waiting, he was waiting for the day when little Lord Fan would be all but victorious, he never believed that little Lord Fan would fail.

Walking out of the gate of the Ming Clan’s ancestral hall, Xia Qufei glanced at the clan’s children in the garden with different expressions, a self-deprecating smile spread on his face, thinking that not many of these clan’s children really see themselves as the seventh master.

Fourth Master Ming had been following his side and said softly, “Even though there are already three of us on our side, but he is the head of the family after all, there are some things that cannot be hidden from him.”

“Let’s stay out of business.” Xia Qufei’s corner of his eyes were left with tear marks, he calmly said, “The guards in the garden can be mixed with as many people as they can, I will send people to keep an eye on them, if he still wants to linger after the general situation is settled, don’t blame us for laying down a heavy hand.”

Fourth Master Ming was taken aback, frowned and said, “But don’t be reckless, the whole of Jiangnan is staring at Mingyuan, even Little Lord Fan wouldn’t dare to do such a thing.”

Xia Qufei was stunned, didn’t say anything else, and walked towards the outside of Ming Garden.

Outside the garden by the carriage, broke an arm Guan Charming is waiting for him, she looked at Xia Qufei face residual traces, know that he must have suffered a great emotional upheaval today, forced to suppress the excitement and said: “Congratulations to the big pawn.”

“Hmm?” Xia Qufei smiled.

“Congratulations cousin.” Guan Charming smiled gently, “Congratulations to seventh master Ming.”

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, in the Kyoto Royal Mansion, the Second Prince was drinking tea on one side and playing Go with Ye Ling’er on the other, when he suddenly heard a rush of footsteps coming from outside the study, and he couldn’t help but frown slightly. Although his forces in Kyoto have been pulled out by Fan Xian, as he said in the Moon House, he is not in any hurry at all, because these are just side issues, Fan Xian can’t move his own royal roots for a day, and it will always be Fan Xian’s turn to be in a hurry later on.

The steward knocked the door and entered, not caring that the princess was on the seat, and anxiously came to the second prince’s ear, and said the shocking news that he had just heard out.

The second prince’s face immediately changed, the black matte chess piece held by two fingers fell and landed in the teacup, emitting a plopping sound of bitterness.

After the steward went out, Ye Ling’er asked with a smile, “What happened again?”

Fan Xian was fighting tigers in Kyoto, Ye Ling’er was stealing joy in the royal residence, and at this time, she looked at her husband’s son-in-law’s face with a bit of shock, thinking that her master was striking out to do something again, so she wasn’t worried, but instead, she had an impulse to watch a good show.

The second prince after a long time to ease the shock in his heart, looked at his wife stunned and said, “Fan idle he …… went to the ancestor sacrifice today.”