Chapter 63 – Seeing the Princess Again

Fan Xian was silent for a long time, and finally dispelled the idea of letting Yan Bingyun arrange this matter, on the one hand, he wanted to ensure Hong Zhu’s safety, on the other hand, he was clear about the loyalty to the Qing court underneath the cold exterior of little Yan Gongzi, this kind of risk could not be taken casually.

He looked at Yan Bingyun’s not-so-healthy complexion, frowned, turned back and put his fingers on Yan Bingyun’s wrist, pausing.

Yan Bingyun’s heart was slightly surprised, but her face remained frosty without the slightest reaction.

“Why is the body so bad like this?” Fan Xian frowned and said, “I heard that you haven’t returned to the residence for the past few days?”

Yan Bingyun casually sorted out the volumes on the table and responded, “There are more than three dozen Beijing officials locked up in the Heavenly Jail, and every day people are going up to the Da Lisi to cry out for justice, and I’m in a hurry to sort out what I’ve been working on, and I’ve been pushed on both sides, so where else would I have the time to go out of this courtyard.”

Fan Xian noticed that the secret room was neat and tidy, including the volumes on the large wooden table, which were also divided into categories and placed extremely neatly, and couldn’t help but smile, “This house is even more refreshing than when the dean was here, and it seems that you’re indeed quite accustomed to being in this line of work.”

Yan Bingyun also felt a little sluggish, stretching out his two fingers and pinching and rubbing the skin on his brow with great force, until the whiteness was all pinched into red, only then did his spirit recover some.

“Go back.” Fan Xian shook his head straight as he watched this scene.

Ignoring him, Yan Bingyun took out another dossier and began to scrutinize it, her head slightly lowered as she said softly, “If you’re going to beat up the second prince, and you’ve beaten up so many people, someone has to deal with it. Both you and Lord Dean love to be lazy, but the Supervisory Yuan can’t rely on a bunch of lazy people to hold it up.”

Fan Xian heard a hint of complaining flavor and smiled instead.

Yan Bingyun seemed uncomfortable with Fan Xian staring at his office, and after a long time, he closed the dossier and looked up, “Although it is said that the Second Prince’s power in the dynasty has been pulled out by you, I would like to remind you of one thing, my lord.”

“What is it?”

“You just plucked away the branches and leaves around the Second Prince.” Yan Bingyun said calmly, “The thickest tree underneath him, your axe was not able to cut into.”

Fan Xian knew that Yan Bingyun was talking about the Ye family, the one that herded horses far away in Dingzhou, but could reach Kyoto in five days, and had a great master enshrined in their home. Ever since the second prince had married Ye Ling’er, there was no doubt that the second prince’s backer, in addition to the eldest princess, had even more of a tree as big as the Ye family.

This time, the Kyoto night attack plan only cleared out the second prince’s key officials and accompanying force in the dynasty, but did not cause any damage to the Ye family, as long as the Ye family remained firmly established in Dingzhou, the second prince did not experience any real damage.

Fan Xian sighed, somewhat helpless. He had originally counted on using the three city crossbows captured during the valley sniping to drag the Ye family into the water as well, but no one had expected that the private letter of state from the young Emperor of Northern Qi, a greeting from 10,000 miles away, would force the Southern Qing court to interrupt their investigation on this, leaving Fan Xian with no way to plant evidence against the Ye family if he wished to do so.

“Let’s talk about the Ye family later.”

Yan Bingyun glanced at him and said with a frown, “Second Highness’s roots are in the Ye family, but because of this, his reliance on the Eldest Princess is reduced nowadays ……”

This Fan Xian’s most relied upon mind, his words had an inexhaustible meaning that penetrated deep into Fan Xian’s heart, and for no apparent reason, his heart shook, associating it with that top secret news he had learned today, and began to smell a hint of something different – whether the Eldest Princess had supported the Crown Prince back then explicitly, or supported the Second Prince covertly, it was all a tactic of that crazy and formidable woman. What was intended, naturally, was that these two nephews would later ascend to the throne, yet still remain under their control.

The eldest princess Li Yunrui, is an extremely broad vision of the powerful character, her request is not small, today’s second prince has the Ye family as a backer, the dependence on her reduced, that naturally also means that in the future, if the second prince ascended to the throne, if she wants to hide in the back of the curtain to manipulate, the difficulty will also be much greater.

Could it be that ……

At the thought of this, Fan Xian’s heart moved slightly, and then he said with a cold smile, “The crown prince …… has no future, and the second, after all, will be beaten down.”

Yan Bingyun suspiciously glanced at him, although the Supervisory Yuan has always been not involved in the imperial dispute, but this invisible rule, since Fan Xian took over the Supervisory Yuan, has long been gradually broken, but what makes Fan Xian decided that the holy favor is particularly, the Empress dowager extraordinarily loved His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, there is no chance at all?

Fan Xian naturally won’t explain anything to him, frowning, he said, “Send word to Su Wenmao and Xia Qufei, let them both get ready …… to close the net.”

Yan Bingyun stared at Fan Xian’s eyes and said, “The Jiangnan matter is under control, but there seems to be little certainty that it will be possible to slash …… down, after all, the capital is watching …… unless the situation in the capital suddenly appears to have any major changes. ”

Fan Xian smiled, knowing that his own unintentional words, so that the thoughtful little Yan Gongzi guessed what, he explained in a harmonious voice: “Just prepare in advance, the situation in Kyoto even if the year remains unchanged, but the Ming family’s things, his majesty can no longer tolerate it.”

Hearing that it was His Majesty’s intention, Yan Bingyun only slightly reduced his doubts and asked, “To what extent?”

Fan Xian was silent for a moment, slightly lost in thought, this year’s complicated arrangements in Jiangnan and the dangers hidden under the wind and sunshine were like a scene that flipped before his eyes like a walking lantern, the heads of the three major workshops in the inner treasury, the mountains of dead bodies on the small island, Ming Qingda’s fainting spells in the inner treasury, the lawsuits in the Suzhou mansion, the accidental self-hanging death of the Ming elder Taijun, the assassination of the fourth master of the Ming family in prison, and the sudden emergence of the Ming elder’s seven ……

The Ming family was already a grasshopper he was carrying in his hands, but to what extent, it still needed Fan Xian’s nod.

“That world’s richest family is no cleaner than the palace.” Fan Xian muttered to himself in his heart and whispered to Yan Bingyun, “Collect to the end. You arrange for the people from the money bank to do their work, and in addition, the people in the Ming Garden are the ones who can kill a few.”

Yan Bingyun knew that the big chess piece that had been buried for a year was finally going to move, that money bank that was nominally from the Shen family and Dongyi city was originally arranged by Yan Bingyun, he naturally knew how to deal with the Ming family, it was just that he hadn’t been able to find out the source of the real silver in that money bank, at this time, looking at Fan Xian, he finally couldn’t help but lower his voice and said, “I’m not paying attention to where in the world that money from Jiangnan is from where it came from, but draw your attention to the fact that it mustn’t be …… from Northern Qi.”

Hearing that Yan Bingyun had guessed it in a single word, how could Fan Xian admit it, and said mockingly, “Don’t forget who my mother is, and in addition to the inner treasury, there’s always some crumbs of silver left for me to spend.”

Yan Bingyun shook her head, believing Fan Xian’s explanation, after all, everyone knew how strong the Ye family’s bottom line was back then.

Sitting on the carriage back to his residence, Fan Xian had some feelings of loss in his chest, not because he had made an empty trip to the Supervisory Yuan but did not dare to let Yan Bingyun get involved in that matter at the Imperial Palace, but because he had finally confirmed that, for Yan Bingyun, these young generation of Qing’s handsome men, the interests of the State of Qing and the Emperor, and the glory of the unification of the world, were the true supreme norms.

Yan Bingyun had been doing her best for Fan Xian because everything Fan Xian did was in the interests of the Qing Empire. And once Fan Xian in the future if …… he really becomes that kind of character, how will he look at the deeply-friended Lord Tishi?

Fan Xian knew that this was inevitable, after all, everyone was living in their own time, he had the experience of his past life, so he could look at the difference between the kingdoms of the world a bit lighter, but he couldn’t ask others to do so.

That would be an unreasonable and unconscionable demand.

Yan Bingyun’s role beside Fan Xian was originally somewhat ambiguous; he was not a member of Qiyan’s team, but was Fan Xian’s close confidant, participating in the vast majority of his actions, especially last year’s planning in Jiangnan, which was basically all done by him. Fan Xian now soberly realized this after, made up his mind, about his own dealings with the North Qi, those deepest kernel, or first do not let Xiaoyan Gongzi touch it.

However, there is an extremely important and urgent problem that the Supervisory Board has not solved on this trip, how to connect with Hong Zhu? Fan Xian sat in the carriage with his elbow on his jaw, frowning hard to comfort.

Unexpectedly back to the Fan House, but heard a will that made him extremely surprised. And he immediately and acutely realized that to confirm this matter with Hong Zhu, tonight was the best opportunity.

The decree did not come from His Majesty the Emperor, but from the Empress Dowager who had been relatively silent. The Qing Kingdom ruled the world with filial piety, and the Emperor was the example for all the people, so although the Empress Dowager was mostly silent, no one dared to belittle the real influence of that dying old woman.

The Empress Dowager’s decree arrived the moment Fan Xian left the house, specially summoning Fan Xian to the palace. Unexpectedly, Fan Xian sneaked out, and the eunuch who had summoned him had to wait.

Fan Xian slightly inclined his head as he listened to Liu’s whispered words in his ear and glanced at the eunuch Yao who had been waiting for a long time. He couldn’t help but smile. Originally, with his ability to try to feel his way into the palace, unless Uncle Wuzhu was by his side, he could be sure of concealing himself from Elder Eunuch Hong’s ears and eyes, and if he stayed in the palace …… tonight and tried to meet up with Hongzhu, it would be much less difficult.

And he is a man, surely it is impossible to live in the harem, only possible to find a room in the front piece of the Imperial City, do things, but also more convenient.

Just at this time, he still did not understand, the Empress Dowager rushed to declare himself into the palace exactly for what.

Waiting and Wan Er two people holding hands from containing light hall retreated out, Fan Xian can not help but difficult sigh, at this time he realized, the old man let himself into the palace, actually is in order to force himself and Wan Er to go to Guangxin Palace to pay a visit to his mother-in-law – the eldest princess!

The empress dowager did not want her offspring to be in disarray, the fact that Fan Xian had entered the palace a few times after returning to the capital and had been avoiding the eldest princess made the empress dowager a little unpleasant, she decided to use the power in her hands to make up for the dislike between her late generations, and took advantage of the fact that Wan’er was in the palace, so she summoned Fan Xian into the palace.

It was twilight, and the palace was a bit dim, Wan’er worriedly glanced at Fan Xian’s face and said with a beak, “I don’t want to go to Guangxin Palace.”

Fan Xian smiled bitterly and comforted, “The Eldest Princess is your mother after all, how can you say that you need to see her.” The words were said in this manner, but his heartbeat was gradually speeding up.

Lin Wan’er looked at him seriously and said, “I know you don’t want to see your mother either, why don’t we sneak out of the palace?”

Fan Xian couldn’t help but lose his laughter and said, “Carefully the old ancestor of the Empress Dowager will kill you and me, these two unintelligent little bastards.”

Not far ahead, the palace door of Guangxin Palace had already opened a corner, and several palace maids were waiting for the two of them with lowered eyebrows. Carefully speaking, Fan Xian and Wan Er should be the half-masters of Guang Xin Palace, only that this odd world affairs had long since made their relationship with this palace somewhat cold and strange.

Fan Xian gently smiled and glanced at the several palace maids, his eyesight was extremely poisonous, and he could see that these maids were similar to him when he first entered the Guangxin Palace, and they all had extremely strong cultivation.

Passing through a corner of the palace gate, there was a breeze that was extremely cold, and Fan Xian couldn’t help but shiver when he thought of the woman in the palace.

“Yi Chen come here, let me take a look.”

Eldest Princess Li Yunrui greeted her outside the palace, and although her tone was forced to remain calm, Fan Xian could still hear a hint of a very subtle dissimilarity, and he looked up in slight surprise, only to see the Eldest Princess glancing at her wife beside her in a daze.

Wan’er bit her thick lower lip, her palm clutching her husband’s hand and refusing to let go.

Fan Xian gently patted the back of her hand, giving her enough encouragement.

Wan’er settled her nerves and stepped forward, giving a slight blessing to the palatial beauty on the stone steps, saying softly, “Greetings, Mother.”

Her voice was extremely low and thin, indescribably unnatural.

The Eldest Princess looked at her own daughter in a daze, and her face, which had been slightly expectant, suddenly calmed down as she said faintly, “How have you been lately?”

Fan Xian frowned, coughed somewhat uncomfortably, and came over to Wan’er’s side, saying with a smile, “Greetings, mother-in-law.”

The Eldest Princess looked at him, a wry smile surfacing on her clear and stunningly beautiful face, and said, “You still know to come and see this palace?”

For some reason, the Eldest Princess appeared to be a bit cold between her mother and Wan’er, but she spoke very casually to Fan Xian. Luckily, Fan Xian interrupted, and the atmosphere up and down the stone steps loosened up a bit, and the Eldest Princess held Lin Wan’er’s hand and stood side by side on the stone steps, and she instructed the court ladies in the courtyard a few times, and then she prepared to walk towards the palace.

Fan Xian half raised his head, looked at the two women on the stone steps, some amused to find that Wan Er and her mother really do not look too much like each other, just the eldest princess do not know how to maintain, but still so young, the two stood in a row, is not like a mother and daughter, more like two sister flowers.

Only Wan Er has been married to a woman, but still can not take off the three points of youth, and the Princess has already bloomed, not withered over the years, such as a full-face open peony …… eye-catching.

Guangxin Palace has already arranged a dinner, there are no outsiders, is the Princess and their little couple of three people. At this time in the seat slightly talk for a while, Wan Er finally relaxed some, plus mother and daughter nature, looking at the eyes of the Princess also gentle up.

The eldest princess seemed to be very happy with this change in Wan Er, and her voice began to take on a real softness. I don’t know what was said when she actually sighed and said quietly, “In your eyes, this mother of mine, I’m only afraid that I’ve done a rather poor job ……”

Lin Wan Er’s eyes red, want to fall tears, she ate in the palace since childhood, although the old queen dowager love, but the daughter’s, which does not miss their mother’s reasoning, at this time in the mother’s side to listen to this kind of gentle words, the heart of a hundred mixed emotions, I do not know how to say.

Fan idle sitting in the lower hand side to see the mother and daughter sitting side by side, a slight smile. This pair of mother and daughter, one of them is the number one beauty of Qing, one of them is the number one beauty of his own heart, at this time looking at, how can it not be pleasing to the eyes? But he had to depressingly admit that his wife, indeed, was not as long as his mother-in-law.

Especially today’s Rapunzel, beautiful face, lips and eyes still, such as the black waterfall of long hair coiled up as usual, compared to previous days but reveals a few trace of rare real emotions, and not as the legend of the flavor of the timid, which on the contrary, more and more to let her stunning beauty vivid up.

The two women in the seat talk more and more softly, also more and more comfortable.

He wasn’t surprised to see this kind of scene, as he always still had faith in humanity, and even though the eldest princess was crazy, she was still a mother after all.

In Fan Xian’s opinion, this incompetent mother was no different from those brain-damaged junior high school girls who gave birth to a BABY in the restroom in their previous lives, and after all these years, she should always be a little apologetic and a little awakened.

Behind the courtesan for him to fill the cup of wine, he drank a cup, throat silk spicy pain, the flavor of this Wuliangye, really some mellow unparalleled, just …… how to call people some depression lost up?

He looked at the eyes of the Princess and no difference, the heart of the emotion but began to tumble, always thinking, such a wonderful woman, but why embarked on such a life path?