Chapter 68 – The justice of the heavens

Quiet small courtyard, quiet people, quiet chest, with almost pain, Fan Shangshu with a trace of pity, a trace of warm reluctance, looked at his son who bowed his head and was speechless, after a long time of silence, he asked softly, “Not to talk about Chen Pingping, only to ask you, from the time you decided to personally set foot in the ten family villages, I think you must have already known about that thing many years ago, for that thing, you prepared to deal with it?”

Fan Xian did not answer and asked instead, “When did you think of it?”

“Around the time after the Kyoto rebellion.” Fan Jian’s face was calm, and he said in a harmonious voice, “In the past, even if I wanted to, I didn’t really want to think in that direction. His Majesty is His Majesty after all, and I am his vassal.”

“I was thinking in that direction a long time ago.” Fan Xian said bitterly, “Because at that time, I had already guessed my own birth, but I didn’t have the slightest good feelings towards His Majesty, so thinking in that direction was emotionally acceptable to myself. But ……”

He took a slow breath and said with a slight hiss in his voice, “But then as His Majesty became more and more kind to me, I became more and more unwilling to think in that direction, even though it was clear that I had known for a long time that apart from him, there was no one in the world who was able to drive Ye Lightning Eyebrows out of this world.”

“But I’m not willing to probe in that direction.” Fan Xian’s brows furrowed extremely tightly, “Because for the first time, my child feels a bit confused. I have told you in the past that I do not allow anyone to control me, and that my mind is strong enough to never be disturbed by external things, but in this matter, I am truly beginning to be confused.”

He raised his head and gave his father a somewhat helpless look, asking for advice, “If you were in my position, what would you do?”

Regarding this issue, on the banks of the Flowing Crystal River in Kyoto, on the side of the Great Tomb, Fan Xian had actually thought about it more clearly, it was just that with regard to this matter, Fan Jian should have the power and qualifications for him to speak, and so Fan Xian came to the Ten Villages, to the Fish Gut of Qing Guo, and quietly listened to his father’s admonition.

After Fan Jian was silent for a long time, he looked at him and asked, “You need to inquire within yourself just how you view His Majesty.”

“That depends on how he views me.” Fan Xian picked up this sentence extremely quickly, thinking that he must have asked himself this countless times over the course of countless nights.

“And how does he view you?” Fan Jian smiled gently and said, “You don’t have to care about my father’s attitude, after all, he and I have grown up together since we were young, and although I have a disappointing resentment towards him, to be honest, I really can’t afford to raise too many thoughts of hatred.”

Fan Xian laughed helplessly, then fell into deep thought. He had thought about this matter many, many times, and before the Kyoto mutiny, the Emperor’s old man was probably three parts guilty, three parts honorable, and four parts exploitative towards Fan Xian, and after so many people died in the palace, His Majesty’s temperament had obviously changed a lot.

Counting from the spring when he entered the capital in the fourth year of the Qingli reign, Fan Xian had to admit that His Majesty the Emperor might be a mean and ungrateful person, but in terms of his treatment of himself, he was indeed an anomaly, and even if he had taken advantage of the situation back then, it was also an acceptable kind of utilization-if the Emperor still had one point of true affection for the people of the world, then that one point would be the one that would fall on Fan Xian’s head.

The Emperor was better to Fan Xian than he was to the Crown Prince, and better than he was to the Second Prince, not to mention the poor woman who had given her life’s youthful fame for the Emperor.

After quietly listening to Fan Xian’s words, Fan Jian gently stroked the beard under his jaw and sighed, ”The rivers and mountains are easy to change, but the nature can’t be changed, and even though His Majesty’s temperament has become much milder, he is still a generation of monarchs with the world in mind. This again, how you treat His Majesty depends on how His Majesty treats you, but how His Majesty treats you is still not depending on how you treat him?”

He looked at his young son, slightly worried, said: “His Majesty treats you differently, that’s because since you entered the capital, you’ve always shown loyalty, this is also one of the things that my father admires about you, young, but you know how to cover up what you guessed, the resistance in your heart, and even hide it from His Majesty’s eyes… …But if once His Majesty realizes that you are not a mere subject, once he really starts to doubt your loyalty, there will definitely be a fundamental change in the way he treats you.”

“Emperors are ruthless.” Fan Jian reminded him, “Especially since the power in your hands is now so great that it can even vaguely threaten the stability of the Qing Kingdom’s dragon chair, if he discovers that there is something different in your heart, he will surely mobilize the absolute power in his hands and pounce on you.”

Fan Xian was silent, knowing that his father was right, one of the biggest problems he had committed in his planning over the past few years was that he had never settled his mind, whether it was to avenge Ye Light Eyebrows, or to erase the events of that year, and honestly and fearfully act as a minister of power beside the dragon chair, he had to make a decision ahead of time, and to be as uncertain in his mind as he was, with his head in two different directions, it really seemed to be too much of a mess.

“This is a difficult problem for anyone to solve.” He said with a bitter smile, thinking in his heart, in his previous life, probably only in Shakespeare’s plays, can find such dramatic conflicts and inner struggles, where did he expect, the father kills the mother, the son resides in between the play, actually will actually fall on his own body.

Fan Jian looked at him quietly with a very strange look, and said after a long time, “In fact, when Chen Pingping determined that matter, after my father guessed that matter, he and I also considered your problem, but we really didn’t think it was an insurmountable problem.”

Fan Xian was a little confused by this statement.

Fan Jian looked at him, his eyes growing tender, and sighed, “Anzhi, you are truly a different person. I had thought that you have never seen your own birth mother, but since childhood is under the care of His Majesty, His Majesty treats you extremely well …… according to the theory, you should not have any too deep feelings for Xiao Ye, and under the affection of His Majesty treating you, even if you know the tragic events of that year, I am afraid that you can not rise up to take revenge on His Majesty for the sake of your birth mother. Thoughts.”

Fan Jian couldn’t help but shake his head and said, “Sometimes I really don’t understand you.”

Yes, Fan Xian had never seen Ye Qingmei in his life, and had not grown up healthily under her care, and His Majesty the Emperor had treated him well ……

“Avenge the killing of your mother?” Fan Xian said softly in a self-deprecating manner, “Of course you know that it’s impossible for me to make up my mind because of this reason.”

It was because the aura of Ye Qingmei in this world made Fan Xian feel so familiar, so close, so relatable. Perhaps it had nothing to do with mother-son love, it was just that two connected souls, in this empty and bustling otherworldly world, were suddenly close and intimate.

To Fan Xian, Ye Qingmei was a former traveler, a …… other self who had come and then left.

“Not fair.”

Fan Xian looked at his father, and for some reason, his heart soured up, and he whispered in an ineffable tone, “If we just let it go, it’s too unfair to her.”

Fan Shangshu was silent for a long time before speaking, “Indeed it is unfair.”

Perhaps it was because of the three words of unfairness, that old cripple in the Supervisory Court had held back for twenty years, planned for twenty years, extremely carefully and marvelously followed the general trend between the world and the court, and spent countless spirits to drive all of His Majesty’s people, one by one, to His Majesty’s opposing side.

As the saying goes, there are dogs in the world, and Ping Ping is driven by them, and the old cripple finally succeeded at the end. What happened throughout the seventh year of the Qing calendar was that breaking point that he had been calculating in his mind for a long time, waiting for a long time. At that time, the situation was such that His Majesty the Emperor of Qing was facing the greatest danger of his life. The winds were rising on the Great Eastern Mountain.

However, the Emperor eventually came back alive from the Great Eastern Mountains, and the word of justice that Chen Pingping wanted to seek became a flower in the mirror and a shadow in the water, and he could no longer look for a second chance.

“I have to arrange Chen Pingping first.” Fan Xian had already gotten rid of his earlier emotions and looked at his father and said softly, “The old comrades back then, those who died, those who rebelled, and those who struggled are still struggling. The dean is different from you, he has been unwilling, so he has been staying hard in Kyoto for the past two years or so.”

“Now that you have taken over the position of Dean, it seems that His Majesty still wants to give us old guys a way out.” Fan Jian smiled gently, “As long as nothing changes, His Majesty should let that old dog out of the capital, so don’t you worry.”

A faint worry welled up in Fan Xian’s heart, but he didn’t know where this worry came from, he just felt that things shouldn’t go this smoothly. In his original plan, when Chen Pingping and his father were both far away from Kyoto, he would then be alone in Kyoto to maneuver with His Majesty.

Using the matter of Dongyi City to stall His Majesty’s steps for two years, listening to his words and observing his actions was not a bad move.

Looking at the worry between Fan Xian’s brows, Minister Fan frowned and asked, “What new movements are there in Kyoto?”

“It’s still the same as it was in the past year, with the Metropolitan Procuratorate checking and balancing the Procuratorate, and He Zongwei’s scenery is so powerful nowadays.” Fan Xian shook his head and said, “There hasn’t been any major events in the capital lately, except for Sun Jingxiu’s side.”

Fan Shangshu’s face was slightly stagnant, and he asked about what had happened in the Kyoto Prefecture some time ago. After pondering in silence for a long time, he suddenly spoke, “There is something odd about this matter.”

Fan Xian was slightly surprised, looking at his father, not knowing where to begin. Comparing the official tussle in Kyoto to the major event that father and son had discussed earlier, it was obviously a matter of two completely different levels, yet his father was so serious about it.

“From the Crown Prosecutor’s Office to the Under Door Chinese Book, and then to you taking over the Supervisory Court.” Fan Jian said in a cold voice, “This is something that we have discussed before, the pattern that His Majesty has arranged for the Kingdom of Qing behind him. But right now, negotiations are still going on in Dongyi City, and preparations for the Northern Expedition have not even begun, so His Majesty’s layout this time around is clearly too hasty.”

“He wants to support He Zongwei to come to power to check and balance you, and mess up these things ……,” Fan Jian shook his head and sighed, “Too hasty, too hasty.”

Fan Xian understood his father’s words and fell into deep thought as well. Indeed, over the past two years or so, His Majesty seemed to have been a little too eager to make future arrangements for the Qing court, a little too fast and furious.

A mountain wind blew in through the glass window that was not closed, bringing in a chill, and the light in the study flickered for a while, reflecting the father and son’s faces in a somewhat uncertain manner.

After an oppressive silence, Fan Xian lowered his voice and said, “Could it be that there is something wrong with His Majesty’s body?”

Fan Jian shook his head after thinking for a long time, “You have more people in the palace than I do, even more than Chen Pingping, if you haven’t even gotten wind of this, then it’s not a confirmed matter.”

“But if His Majesty really had a health problem, he would have hidden it.” Fan Xian said with a heavy face.

“If he is ill, he will always need the Imperial Hospital to treat him.” Fan Jian looked at him and said, “As long as there is a file kept in the Imperial Hospital, I’m sure you have the ability to see it.”

“No.” Fan Xian shook his head, “I’ve been paying a lot of attention to this aspect over the past two years, but there really hasn’t been any news from the palace.”

“If there is something wrong with His Majesty’s body, but no eunuchs have been summoned to see him, then there is only one reason.” Fan Jian sat up straight and said slowly, “The problem with His Majesty’s body is something he knows all too well, and it simply cannot be something the Imperial Physician can cure.”

Fan Xian’s heart stirred slightly, and he subconsciously said, “Could it be that when Overbearing True Qi is cultivated to the realm of the King’s Way, there are still problems?”

Fan Jian laughed and shook his head, saying, “At the realm of a Grand Master, it is logical to say that unusual poisons are unable to invade the heart and veins, so what problems could there be? Forget it, it’s just a wild guess between you and me, father and son, for no reason at all, you can’t take this matter seriously.”

Fan Xian also laughed and said, “That’s true, but I’m very interested in how His Majesty crossed that hurdle back then and practiced the King’s Dao Scroll, it’s just a pity that His Majesty always said that I couldn’t use that method, so I’ve never had any clue.”

“Where are you going next?” Fan Jian suddenly asked.

“To Dongyi City.” Fan Xian was stunned, not knowing why his father would suddenly ask this.

“Regarding the matter of the Nameless Kung Fu Technique, my father can’t give any advice. Whether or not His Majesty is practicing kung fu out of order, since you’re going to Dongyi City, there’s always someone you can ask.” Fan Jian looked at him calmly and said, “The Four Gu Swords will be dying soon, and before he dies, if you can make some progress, you will be able to protect yourself in the future.”

Fan Xian let out a bitter smile. How difficult it was to advance a hundred feet, although in Dong Yi City, the Four Gu Swords had already taught him everything, but what could be done? However, he also knew that his father was right, regarding the secrets of the Nameless Feat Technique, and how exactly His Majesty was able to break through the limitations placed on the human body at the end of the Hegemony Volume, the Four Gu Swords was undoubtedly the last teacher.

“I hope the Four Gu Swords can give me a better answer.” Fan Xian finally said so.