Chapter 62 – Spring Garden Chaos

“Three years ago, the entire Kyoto was after me, if it wasn’t for the help of the Sun family, it would have been difficult for me to survive until now, much less transport the Black Rider to the capital.”

The atmosphere within the imperial study was a bit tense, Fan Xian slightly lowered his head and looked at His Majesty the Emperor on the couch in front of him, his face slightly sunken as he slowly spoke word by word, “From this perspective, the Sun family is considered my savior, and is also considered to be credited with quelling the chaos.”

“Calming the chaos?” The emperor did not raise his head, the dim light shone on his tightly bound hair, the color reflected by a few strands of white hair could be seen vaguely, he just continued Fan Xian’s words indifferently and said, “If I do not remember wrongly, that was Miss Sun family’s credit, what has it got to do with her father?”

“Miss Sun Family was always born of her father.” Fan Xian raised his head, stubbornly and calmly looking at the emperor.

The emperor put down the scroll in his hands and also raised his head, quietly looking at his son, silent for a long time, as if trying to discern what was really going on deep within the boy’s heart, and only after a long time did he say softly, “Today, when you came to the palace, is this what you wanted to say?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The emperor was silent again, and after a long time suddenly spoke, “Why?”

“I’m a man who will repay any favor and avenge any wrong.” The reason Fan Xian gave was simple, “Ms. Sun has a great favor with me.”

“If you just want to repay the favor ……,” the emperor said with slight sarcasm, “I’ll point Sun Knit to you, Sun Jingxiu’s face is naturally glowing, why would you want to fight for this position.”

Fan Xian did not have the slightest embarrassment to smile, face calm and incomparable, inside slightly draws tight, gritted his teeth, seeped out the voice from the teeth: “Because your majesty promised the minister three years ago.”

The emperor fell into silence, three years ago Fan Xian asked him for credit, which included the matter of Sun Jingxiu. He spoke slowly, “Where in this world are things that never change? Especially the position of an official, which is the foundation of a country’s dynasty, how can it remain unchanged forever because of a single word? According to your words, if I promise you something, then that person will be corrupt and pervert the law, and I will have to follow you not to move him?”

Fan Xian earlier words with a few silk gambling, a few silk not decent carcass strength, the emperor is this hostage to invite reward meaning angry not light, but in an instant will calm down, perhaps the emperor prefers Fan Xian this kind of things are on the table to quarrel temperament.

“Sun Jingxiu is a capable official.” Fan Xian didn’t take a step back, looking at the emperor’s old man’s face, and said in a clear voice, “If he dares to corrupt the law, I’ll be the first to take him and cut him to a thousand pieces.”

The emperor’s eyes flashed with a strange light, as if he had not expected Fan Xian to be so attached to this matter, vaguely thinking that it was probably the means of cutting down power that had come too quickly and stabbed this young man in the heart.

The matter of Dong Yi City was still being dealt with, the court had not really rewarded him for his achievements, but was in a hurry to set him up with a rival in the courtroom, no wonder An Zhi’s heart would be uncomfortable, and he would be hardened against it. The emperor smiled slightly, thinking he understood Fan Xian’s mind, shook his head, and did not continue to say anything more on the matter.

“Routine performance appraisals should always be done.” The emperor lowered his head and said in a harmonious voice, “Since you want to repay Sun Jingxiu for his kindness back then, I will naturally not force you to be an unrighteous person. It’s just that if he is not suitable to continue in this position, I will naturally replace him.”

The emperor raised his head, seemingly as a warning, and seemingly as a reminder, “Even if you are the President of the Supervisory Academy, you can’t meddle in the affairs of the court. You should not meddle too much in the affairs of the court as the Chinese scholars under the door are worried about the affairs of the court.”

Fan Xian did not say much, and with a low bow, he left the imperial study. In these last two lines of dialog, the emperor had expressed very clearly that he would not personally intervene in this matter, but He Zongwei’s side would still fall on Sun Jingxiu, and Fan Xian was reminded not to make any private moves on He Zongwei, or else the emperor would truly be angered.

After Fan Xian left, the emperor looked at the case files on the table somewhat helplessly, his heart grew faintly annoyed, and with one hand he pushed them away, sitting alone in the imperial study, not knowing what he was thinking.

“Anzhi this child everything is good, is too direct and stubborn temperament.”

The emperor thought in his heart, on the other hand, he called Eunuch Yao to come in, asked about the things that happened in Kyoto today, and his face gradually calmed down. Upon hearing about the birthday banquet of the Sun family, the emperor pondered for a long time and realized why Fan Xian had jumped up like an old cat whose tail had been stepped on. A minister who had just accomplished great feats was about to have his power cut and his face swept away, so Fan Xian, whoever he was, would probably feel angry.

“Perhaps this matter is a bit too hasty.” The emperor thought this in his heart, but was unwilling to admit that he had been negligent, and said indifferently to Eunuch Yao, “Tell He Zongwei’s side to let go of the matter, and as for An Zhi’s side, you should leave it alone for the time being.”

The emperor did not realize that Fan Xian’s anger was basically a disguise, he was just using his anger and sadness to force his majesty to move his heart, to move the heart of intolerance of deception, so that he could retain the overwhelming power in his hands for a while longer.

Eunuch Yao respectfully and incomparably responded, and immediately afterward lowered his voice and said, “That matter, it has been investigated to the end.”

The emperor gave a hmmm, his eyes flashed a cold light, and said, “Speak.”

“C Square that out of the warehouse order, guarding the city crossbow left Minbei warrant, have got. It’s just that after finally checking the transfer order from the Privy Council, it points to the Qin family, and I can’t see any shadows over there.”

Eunuch Yao said with a slightly trembling voice, the inner court has been secretly investigating the valley sniping this recent year, his majesty has never let go of the suspicions of that year, bent on catching that person and comforting little Lord Fan.

To be able to do so much silently, and to have probed their hands and feet into the inner treasury, even a once-military Yuanxun clan like the Qin family couldn’t do it, and to leave no clues behind afterward, in the whole of the Qing Kingdom, apart from His Majesty the Emperor himself, there was only the people of the Supervisory Court.

The Emperor’s expression was very complicated, he was an extremely vindictive and sensitive person, the world was in a promising position nowadays, and although there were some minor problems within the court, there was nothing that could threaten the foundation of Li’s rule.

So the valley sniping back then became a thorn in his heart, not only because someone nearly killed his son, but also because he realized that that person was vaguely out of his control.

Just like Fan Xian today, he seemed to have a tendency to get out of his control. For Fan Xian, he could tolerate it for the time being because it was his own son, his most favored son, and the one who had done the most good for Qing Guo. And what about that person?

That person had done even more for Qing Guo, and the emperor had not been able to figure out the reason for it. He sat on top of the soft couch with some fatigue, seemingly not wanting to continue thinking about this matter, and said after a long period of silence, “The matter of the valley is investigated up to this point, and anyway, they are all people who are about to die.”

“Has the person behind the two eunuchs been found out?”

Eunuch Yao’s temples had some spicy pain, and he shook his head in great fear. He knew who the two eunuchs were that His Majesty was talking about, this was another mystery case behind the mists of the Qing Kingdom, at that time under the auspices of the Empress Dowager, the entire royal family of the Qing Kingdom was on the path towards the ascension to the throne of the Crown Prince, and the Second Prince had also kept peace with the Crown Prince for the time being, and it was precisely at this time that two eunuchs jumped out of the palace with the intention of assassinating the Third Prince, Li Chengping.

Just who wanted to do this? And at that time, the third prince’s life and death, for the crown prince ascension to the throne has no essential impact, on the contrary, if the third prince died tragically in the palace, for the crown prince second prince, is simply difficult to bear the infamy.

Fan Xian also carefully checked afterwards, but the crown prince and the second prince did not recognize, the eldest princess before her death is not even talk about this kind of small matter, Fan Xian can not go on, so he can only think that it is too many variables in the palace, do not know what kind of contradiction breaks out, only to let the oldest three in a critical situation.

However, His Majesty the Emperor didn’t think so, he never let go of any of the tiniest of fishy places, and that’s why he was able to accomplish the grandest of endeavors.

Fan Xian walked out of the palace in the darkness of the night, turning a blind eye to the eunuchs and palace maids who were humbly saluting around him, and whisked his sleeves away with a somber expression.

Regarding his attitude towards his subordinates, Fan Xian was definitely one of the great anomalies of the Kingdom of Qing. And not to mention the Fan House subordinate maid servant, even to the palace eunuchs and palace maid, he has always been gentle words, not only is generous, is also in the attitude is extremely different, it seems that he never think that these aberrant people, what is worthy of loathing.

It was precisely for this reason that the people in the entire palace had a heartfelt respect for this young lord, namely, the Eunuch Hou who had died under the crossbow arrows of the six divisions of the Supervisory Yuan three years ago, although he was secretly planted by the Princess, he actually praised Fan Xian in his daily life.

Today, Fan Xian’s unusual behavior fell into the eyes of many, a demeanor that was so different from his previous demeanor that these eunuchs and palace maids sensed a hint of strangeness, and speculated that it was about the young eunuch quarrelling with His Majesty in the imperial study again.

Walked out of the dark and long palace gate long hole, Fan Xian stood to the square before the imperial city, he did not look back to see the palace gate, but unfolded his arms, shouted loudly, seems to be to the chest of the depression with this shout out.

The sound echoed in the silence of the empty square, in the imperial city of the wall of a collision, and then turned back, curling a long time did not stop.

The guards inside the palace gate, the forbidden army outside the palace gate, the eunuch who was preparing to drop the key, all the gazes looked at him, startled by the voice.

If it was an ordinary person screaming like this at the palace gate, I’m afraid that the forbidden army would have caught up with him and beaten him up, and then escorted him to the heavenly prison, waiting to be beheaded in the fall for the crime of disturbing the palace forbidden. But Fan Xian screamed like this, but no one dared to move, not even a verbal reminder.

Even if this man was mad, but if he was Fan Xian, then everyone had to glorify the poet’s obsession and turn a blind eye.

The person on duty at the palace gates today was the forbidden army commander Gong Dian, and the first dignitary Fan Xian met after entering the capital was this person, so the two of them were quite familiar with each other. Gong Dian heard this shout, ran out from the duty room, rushed over, dragged him back, said: “What’s wrong with you?”

Fan Xian straightened the sleeves on his arms and said with a sneer, “It’s really going crazy.”

Although he said so, his face had calmed down a lot. Earlier was indeed some sulking need to express, because in this world to fight to now, in front of everyone, Fan Xian no longer need to cover up anything, against their own nature to do anything, but in addition to the emperor Laozi …… in front of the emperor Laozi acting, the pressure is really big, and the emotions are very complex.

Seeing the emperor’s thin and slightly fatigued face, somehow, Fan Xian thought of the portrait in the small building, thought of that story many years ago, a piece of blood and fire in Fan Xian’s eyes filled up, he was a little difficult to bear this intermingled sense of tearing.

But even this shout in front of the palace gate, Fan Xian was actually acting, he knew that this shout would not take long to be reported to the emperor’s ears in the imperial study.

He had to play a real person, a somewhat indignant, somewhat aggrieved bastard look.

It was hard work, and he didn’t want to act.

“Accompany me for a drink.” He stared at Gong Dian, like a calamity staring at a piece of pancetta, “I’ll seal up the Moon Embracing House and call out sixty girls to accompany you.”

“Really really crazy.” Gong Dian’s eyes gleamed as she stared back at him, one hand on his forehead.

There is a mansion next to Xinhuai Lane, this apartment yard does not cover a large area, the flying eaves and shining walls are not how gorgeous, the geographical location is not extremely good, and intersects with the surrounding residential houses, there is not much difference. This mansion is the former dynasty of an old royal historian’s mansion, the old royal historian returned to his hometown, the apartment will be empty, handed over to a few old colleagues to manage, thinking of the future of the children and grandchildren in Kyoto to seek the convenience of the future, so there is no intention to sell.

Three years ago, the residence was finally sold. Since then, the quiet Xinhuai Lane will be lively, from time to time there are officials come to visit, on New Year’s festivals, it is the entrance of the crowd like a dragon, bustling.

With the new master of the Imperial House of promotion, on the contrary to worship officials is less and less, because the new master of the clean reputation gradually spread, no one is willing to come to touch his bad luck.

The left imperial inspectorate, the door under the Chinese book walking university scholar, He Zongwei, is the new master of this imperial house.

In fact, colleagues with the advice, that is, His Majesty has also mentioned, officials live in the South City, He Zongwei still live in the old Imperial House in Xinhuaixiang, much inconvenience, but also and the status of the court dignitary does not match.

In the imperial affairs and the light of day, deep in the official three, quite appreciated by his majesty, fellow admiration of the He Daishi, but in this matter is very persistent, and even refused his majesty to give the will of the mansion, still with three or two of their own loyal servants, a widowed aunt, a few distant brothers, live in this old royal historian in the house.

A live is three years.

He Zongwei pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard of the old imperial house which is somewhat deserted, looking at the garden full of haphazard spring scenery, the green branches and leaves that are littered all over the place, he couldn’t help but laugh at himself and shook his head.

The reason why he had been living in this old Imperial House was because he was emotionally attached to this place, and because this residence represented many extremely important meanings to his life. The first time He Zongwei truly stepped onto the stage of the Kingdom of Qing was precisely the resignation of Minister Lin Ruofu five years ago in Qingli.

He met the wife of Wu Bo’an, a strategist of the minister’s residence, by chance, and then he filed a complaint against the imperial court, and then he met the assassin of the minister’s residence, and then he met the second prince and the son of the king, Li Hongcheng, by chance. Under the coincidence, it happened to follow the general trend of the Qing Dynasty at that time, and actually brought down the Prime Minister Lin Ruofu.

Because of filial piety and missed the spring exams He Zongwei, at that time is still a white man, in the eyes of the people to the strength of the man, and brought down a generation of treacherous prime minister, his reputation at that moment will be loud and clear. In the hearts of the readers, no one regarded him as a talented scholar in Kyoto who was on a par with Hou Jichang, but regarded him as a remarkable person with great ambition and resolute temperament.

It was through the collapse of Minister Lin that He Zongwei was able to see the face of the Emperor for the first time, and from that day on, he was deeply impressed by His Majesty’s temperament and tact. From that day on, he was deeply impressed by His Majesty’s temperament and skill. That was also the day when His Majesty recognized this young scholar, and by an imperial decree, he was admitted to the Academy of the Capital and became an imperial inspector.

After a few years, He Zongwei maneuvered between various forces, and finally succeeded in rising to the throne, becoming the youngest scholar under the door in the history of the Qing Dynasty, and his popularity was unparalleled for a while. Of course, that’s because everyone will not take that person to compare with him, even if he is He Da Da Shi, but in the hearts of thousands of people in Qing Guo, that person will always be the only one, the high one.

In the heart of He Zongwei, that person was a shadow, a shadow that floated above his head, blocking out the infinite light of his life and leaving behind only a chill–that shadow was Fan Xian.

When He Zongwei had gained the praise of the scholars because of the matter of Lin Xiang, Fan Xian had already uncovered the Chun Exam malpractice and made fifteen officials of the imperial court, including the Minister of Rites, dead men, not to mention the poem of that night before the temple.

When He Zongwei was still an ordinary imperial historian of the Duzha Academy, Fan Xian was already the Lord Tishi of the Supervisory Academy, forcing His Majesty to cane the imperial historians before the palace, and those imperial historians were He Zongwei’s seniors as well as his superiors.

When He Zongwei finally had the most glorious moment of his life, Fan Xian was still just looking at him contemptuously, grasping the Supervisory Yuan with one hand, the inner treasury with the other, and then now grasping back a large part of Dongyi City for the Kingdom of Qing.

He was a scholar, but the other was a poet. He himself was a university scholar, and the other party was the Tantalizing Duke. The most crucial thing was that he himself was just a bitter child of a poor family, while the other party was the illegitimate son of His Majesty!

No matter when, no matter where, Fan Xian was dead set against him, so much so that he was about to lose his breath. He Zongwei looked at the spring garden in front of him, looked at the grass branches that grew haphazardly but were not tended to, and fell into silence, knowing that in this life, no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to surpass that person.

He Zongwei slowly closed his eyes and sighed somewhat helplessly. He had extreme confidence in his own abilities and heart, and didn’t think he was any worse than Fan Xian. It was just that fate had decided this long ago, so what could be done about it?

He had heard that the little Yan Gongzi of the Supervisory Yuan had raised several vicious dogs in his house, forcing no court officials to dare to come to his door, and he had heard that Fan Xian had raised countless guards in his house, and that as long as anyone dared to go up to his door to give him a gift, they would all be knocked out of the mansion. He Zongwei house can not afford to raise the dog, also can not afford to raise people, but raised a black face.

In order to maintain his fair and clean image, He Zongwei has paid a lot, and he can’t be as unreasonable as those two people in the Supervisory Yuan, he has to push the bribe, but also can’t make the other party feel uncomfortable, so He Zongwei is also very tired, at least he thinks he is much more tired than Fan Xian.

The salary of court officials is not much, only one-third of the salary of the same level of officials of the Supervisory Yuan, plus He Zongwei is always honest and clean, so it is a little difficult to maintain the expenses of the house. Although His Majesty knows that his family is poor, but also let the inner court rewarded a lot of gold and silver with goods, but Kyoto is always too expensive to come and go, so He Zongwei is now the most worried about, and not the Kyoto House Sun Jingxiu, but the garden in the end do not want to spend money to repair a little.

He Zongwei laughed bitterly, thinking who knows so beautiful himself, in order to pay for these beautiful and how much? Unlike Fan Xian, he had such a large inner treasury, supported by the bookstore and brothels.

But it is strange to say, the more miserable life is, the more calm He Zongwei’s expression is, the more pleasant his heart is, it seems that there is a kind of painful torment, in order to make him really clear about the significance of his own existence.

He wants to do great things for the court, he wants to become a real generation of famous ministers.

He Zongwei’s eyes were getting brighter and brighter, looking at the chaotic spring garden at night, not saying a word, just thinking in his heart, Fan Xian really went to Sun’s residence today, what kind of posture should he put on tomorrow when the middle minister under the door deliberates? Earlier, the palace eunuch brought His Majesty’s oracle, which made his heart a little more settled, but also a little more gloomy.

“One must forage for another method.” He Zongwei lowered his head in the night breeze. What a great thing, what a famous minister of a generation, under the pressure of Fan Xian’s authority, he first had to ensure that he could live after His Majesty’s death, so before His Majesty’s death, he had to let Fan Xian die first.