Niao Ni
Chapter 514 The Baseness of a Ruler (Part 2)
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Yes, Fan Xian was not running away, almost running away; in any case, he was walking away from Jiangnan, away from Kyoto, and away from the political storm center of Qing Kingdom. Because he knew that no matter how the situation in Kyoto developed, the Emperor had made up his mind, and no one could prevent the abolishment of the Crown Prince.
Since that was the case, any further action on his part would seem superfluous, and he was very worried that the Emperor would drag him back to Kyoto during the Heaven-worshiping ceremony, and make him stand in front as a human shield – with the Crown Prince abolished, there would definitely be a lot of turbulence in the court. Fan Xian figured that the Emperor would definitely make him counteract that turbulence in order to re-stabilize the balance of the court.
During these days, his mood had been a bit low. As mentioned before, questions about life were always floating around in his mind. He didn't have the energy to deal with these things – he knew in his heart that the farther he ran away at this time, the smarter he was.
Moreover, whenever he thought that the Qing Kingdom Emperor was going to make such a decision in that pure, beautiful, and lonely Qing Temple, Fan Xian felt a bit strange and uncomfortable – that temple was where he first met Lin Wan'er, the place where he and his wife fell in love. Now it had become a place for power struggles, which was really annoying.
So he chose to stay away.
When Yan Xiaoyi led tens of thousands of elite troops to launch a night attack on the Northern Camp, Fan Xian also boarded a large ship on a stifling night, heading straight from Hangzhou to the sea, preparing to take a harmonious trip along the undulating coastline of eastern Qing Kingdom.
This trip was made before the Emperor's decree arrived, and without notifying Xue Qing, it was carried out very secretly – Fan Xian didn't want to be involved in this matter anymore, so he ran away decisively. If the Qing Kingdom Emperor found that the decree summoning him couldn't reach him, he might be angry, but he couldn't blame him.
He was the Imperial Envoy of Jiangnan Road, and inherently needed to hold court. The only official duties that required him to hold court were all related to the Internal Treasury, and this time he traveled in disguise, using the pretext of inspecting the Eastern Route of the Internal Treasury, but his destination was Danzhou.
There were two purposes for returning to Danzhou. One was to see his grandmother. The steward in the Danzhou residence wrote in a letter that his grandmother's health had not been good recently, which worried him very much. The second was to seek his grandmother's opinion on the complex situation of Qing Kingdom and the world in the future. He had grown up by his grandmother's side in Danzhou since he was a child, and had been taught by her. Whenever the situation became a bit chaotic and out of control, he would subconsciously want to ask his grandmother for guidance.
Perhaps his grandmother couldn't help him with anything, but at least she could calm his heart down.
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The large ship left the harbor, heading vigorously east toward the rising sun. Fan Xian only had time to admire the magnificent scenery between heaven and earth, and then returned to the cabin again, sitting next to that large box of silver, tilting his head and starting to count.
He was counting the Cangzhou victory report clipped in the Court Report. Fan Xian counted and counted, and didn't feel that there was anything wrong with this great victory, except that the timing of this war, or rather, local battle, was a bit strange – his brows furrowed – these days he had already begun to arrange how he should handle things once the situation in Qing Kingdom settled down, whether or not the Supervisory Council should be handed over, and how the Emperor would arrange things for him. But upon careful consideration, he felt that he seemed to be thinking too early.
When the cunning rabbit dies, even if the hunting dog isn't cooked, there isn't much meat to eat. But the problem now is that the cunning rabbit has not only not died, but has been behaving too docilely all along.
To be precise, Fan Xian wouldn't think that this matter would come to a satisfactory conclusion as long as Princess Li Yunrui was still alive.
Several days passed, and the abolishment of the Crown Prince in Kyoto should have been in its final stages, but Fan Xian was now isolated at sea and didn't know the progress of the matter. Because he didn't want to receive the imperial decree, he even had the ship temporarily disconnect from the Supervisory Council's intelligence system, like a black, radar-evading plane, drifting alone on the sea.
That day, the ship arrived at a small city in Jiangbei Road. The civilian ship he was on had been modified from a Supervisory Council warship, so ordinary people couldn't see the problem. So he originally thought that this trip back to Danzhou should be inconspicuous.
Unexpectedly, the officials in that small city respectfully sent generous gifts, without asking to meet him, and then withdrew on their own.
Fan Xian was a little confused, wondering how this small official guessed that he was on the ship?
Wang Qinian said with a smile, "Your Excellency's aura is too strong."
This flattery was too poor, so Fan Xian expressed his dissatisfaction, turning his gaze to another Wang brother.
Wang Shisanlang glanced at him, shrugged, and said, "Who knows? You seem pretty happy to receive gifts."
Fan Xian was exposed for his vanity and was a little unhappy. Wang Shisanlang laughed heartily, walked to the side of the boat, and held the blue pennant, which acted like a small sail, making him look very comical.
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The most important thing in officialdom is to exchange information. The officials in that small city knew that the Supervisory Council's Commissioner was on the ship, so all the lords of the coastal prefectures knew about this news.
From that day on, the ship sailed north along the coastline, stopping at various places, and local officials would come to send gifts, but they all seemed to guess that Fan Xian didn't want to see anyone, so they didn't ask to meet him.
After traveling for more than ten days, fourteen groups of people came on board to send gifts and greetings.
Fan Xian sat on the bow of the ship, looking at the "Great Green Jade" that brushed past the ship – it was the Great Dong Mountain that had been cut in half by the Heavenly Sword – lost in thought. How was his whereabouts completely detected?
But it didn't matter. Anyway, he was getting farther and farther away from Kyoto, and farther and farther away from the Emperor. Fan Xian's mood was getting lighter and lighter, and he was even a little bit intoxicated by the scenery along the way, and the scenery of the officials serving him like grandsons along the way.
In another world, there was once a Drunken Fox who sailed on the Yellow River, receiving countless generous gifts in a daze, receiving countless verbal benefits and physical pains, but presumably that senior brother's vanity must have been greatly satisfied. Especially in front of those shameless junior brothers and sisters.
Today, Fan Xian sails on the East Sea, also receiving countless generous gifts in a daze. Although no one dares to disturb him, his vanity has also been somewhat satisfied, especially when the storm in Kyoto is at its peak, he can float on the sea in a raft. How great is this pleasure! This feeling is really delightful.
Even if this pleasure is only temporary.
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After the ship passed the isolated seaside, the Great Dong Mountain, like a half-jade sword piercing the sky, and turned two more bends, when he couldn't see the temple on the mountaintop, he was approaching Danzhou Port.
This was the second time Fan Xian had taken this sea route. He didn't feel the same shock he had felt the first time when he saw the magnificent Great Dong Mountain, but he still felt a slight tremor in his heart.
The large ship docked at Danzhou Port, and no officials came to greet him. Fan Xian breathed a sigh of relief, and led Gao Da and several Tiger Guards and Sword Hands from the Sixth Bureau, under the fervent gaze of the people of Danzhou and the endless greetings, to the entrance of the old Danzhou residence.
Fan Xian smiled, thinking, "Didn't I just come back a year ago? Why are these people still so enthusiastic and so excited?" He reached out and knocked on the familiar wooden door of the old residence.
However, the moment his fingers landed on the door, his brows furrowed. He clearly felt countless pairs of vigilant eyes focused on him from all around the residence, but the owners of these eyes obviously knew how to hide their bodies, so that he couldn't find out where they were in a short period of time.
Countless auras, both obvious and hidden, were filled with a suffocating sense of oppression. Fan Xian lowered his head slightly, bent his knees slightly, hooked his left hand onto the trigger of the sleeve crossbow, and his right hand hung down naturally, ready to grab the slender black dagger in his boot at any time.
Wang Qinian, who was beside him, remained unchanged, holding the Great Wei Emperor's Sword flat, the sword's body half-revealed, a cold light faintly appearing, and the hilt was in a place where Fan Xian could easily reach out and draw it.
Wang Shisanlang lowered his gaze and tightly grasped the blue pennant.
The several Tiger Guards led by Gao Da also sensed the abnormality, frowned slightly, and their hands had already gripped the handles of their long sabers.
Only the Sword Hands of the Supervisory Council's Sixth Bureau reacted a little slower, but they had been scattered around the Commissioner, and when they suddenly encountered the enemy's situation, they naturally leaned their bodies toward the shops on the street, using the darkness of the buildings to prepare to sneak into the darkness and engage in the most direct conflict with the lurking enemies.
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Fan Xian was a very afraid-of-death person, so the manpower he brought was not much, but they were all the most powerful characters in the world. In the past, he had Shadow and Haitang as vanguards, and now he had Wang Shisanlang as a brave warrior, coupled with himself, the Tiger Guards, and the Sword Hands. With such a strong defensive force, even if a Great Grandmaster came, Fan Xian was confident that he could withstand a few rounds.
In other words, he was always prepared to welcome the assassination of a certain Great Grandmaster.
However, today, outside the old residence in Danzhou, Fan Xian felt the pressure brought to him by the people hidden around him with such a powerful force around him. Moreover, this sense of oppression was emitted from one person, which proved that the person who came was not a Great Grandmaster. In this world, who else could gather so many experts?
Fan Xian frowned, and suddenly smiled bitterly.
The wooden door of the old Fan residence in Danzhou was slowly pulled open. With a creak, the tense and confrontational atmosphere immediately disappeared.
A very familiar face appeared inside the door, but this face should definitely not have appeared in Danzhou!
"Lord Ren." Fan Xian looked at Ren Shaoan, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, inside the house, and said with a wry smile, "Why are you waiting for me at my home?"
Ren Shaoan smiled, but did not greet him. He made a gesture of invitation. Fan Xian paused slightly, looked back at Wang Shisanlang, Wang Shisanlang smiled, and stayed outside the residence with the Sword Hands of the Supervisory Council's Sixth Bureau.
Fan Xian led Wang Qinian and Gao Da into the old residence. As they proceeded, they did not find anything unusual, but they could feel that this courtyard, which was usually extremely quiet, was filled with tension today. Behind those trees and outside the walls, he didn't know how many experts were hidden.
When they reached the entrance of the backyard, Ren Shaoan stopped, and a eunuch greeted Fan Xian alone with a smiling face.
The smile on Fan Xian's face became more and more bitter. He looked at Eunuch Yao for a long time and couldn't say a word.
Eunuch Yao escorted him to the first floor, and Fan Xian walked heavily toward the second floor, grabbing his front collar. His grandmother lived on the second floor.
Lifting the beaded curtain outside the second floor, Fan Xian walked in steadily, looking at his grandmother, who was slightly ill on the couch, a trace of heartache flashed across his face. Looking at the middle-aged man who was holding his grandmother's hand and talking beside the couch, a trace of trepidation flashed in his heart.
He walked to the couch, knelt down respectfully, kowtowed to the two of them, and then said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, why... are you here?"
At this time, Fan Xian's heart was full of shock and helplessness. This time, he left Hangzhou for Danzhou, enjoying the scenery along the way. He thought he was as free and unrestrained as a senior disciple, waving his sleeves and leaving the matter of abolishing the Crown Prince behind... He never thought that Master Yue Buqun was waiting for him here.
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"Am I not allowed to come?" The Emperor looked at Fan Xian with a somewhat inscrutable smile, and slowly said, "You, a dignified Imperial Envoy, are handling affairs all the way to Danzhou. I remember only letting you temporarily manage Jiangnan Road, but I didn't let you manage Dongshan Road's affairs."
Fan Xian said with a bitter face, "It's mainly to inspect the Eastern Route of the Internal Treasury. After passing Jiangbei Road, I thought it wasn't far from Danzhou, so I came to see my grandmother. I heard that my grandmother's health wasn't good, so I, as her grandson..."
Before he could finish speaking, the Emperor interrupted him angrily, "Filial piety is not something to be used as an excuse... Run, let me see where you can run!"
Fan Xian was dumbfounded, thinking that you want to abolish the Crown Prince, and I just don't want to participate, and it's not enough to make you so angry, right? However, he had countless doubts and worries in his heart at this time, and he wasn't stupid enough to argue with the Emperor. He said with a smile, "Your subject is an ant in Your Majesty's hands, and no matter how I run, I can't escape from your palm."
This flattery obviously didn't improve the Emperor's mood. However, the Emperor didn't seem to want to pursue the matter, and said lightly, "Since you're here to fulfill your filial duty, hurry up and take a look. If you can't cure her, I'll punish you severely!"
After saying this, the Emperor stood up and said softly in the Old Lady's ear, "Mom, take care of yourself. I'll come see you again tonight."
Then he walked out of the second-floor room, leaving a confused Fan Xian behind.
Fan Xian rubbed his legs and stood up, sat down next to his grandmother, put his fingers on his grandmother's pulse, and after a long time, his body softened and a cold sweat broke out on his back.
The Old Lady smiled and said, "You monkey, aren't you afraid of scaring me like this? There's nothing wrong with my body. You're probably afraid of something else."
Fan Xian felt guilty and speechless.
He was indeed afraid of other things. The Emperor actually came to Danzhou without anyone knowing. Wouldn't the Kyoto side be an empty palace? At the crucial moment of abolishing the Crown Prince, why would the Emperor dare to leave Kyoto!
What time is it? How could the Emperor be so foolish as to travel incognito!