A person's sorrow couldn't possibly bring down the entire Chen Garden, especially since the sorrow on Fan Xian's face always seemed to carry a hint of mischief and mockery. Chen Pingping sat in his wheelchair, looking at the young man before him, and couldn't help but smile.

Five years had passed since Fan Xian first met Chen Pingping. In those five years, he had seen Chen Pingping age, become silent, and experienced the dreadfulness of this elder. But he had never discovered that Chen Pingping's smile could one day appear so pure, as pure as a child's.

The habitual dark aura that shrouded the wheelchair had vanished for some reason. Today, Chen Pingping looked like a lifelong vegetarian, exuding a refreshing and delightful aura, as if he were transparent from the inside out.

Fan Xian stared blankly at his face, knowing that appearance reflected the heart. He wondered what kind of mental journey had transformed Chen Pingping into his current state. The old man's eyes were somewhat desolate, but not with a heartless indifference. They simply looked at Fan Xian steadily and calmly, as he slowly said, "Besides that poison, what else?"

"There's a lot more; we've talked about it before." Fan Xian sighed, staring into Chen Pingping's eyes. "You had Fei-xiansheng pass by Dongyi City, trying everything possible to save Si Gu Jian's life..."

Beginning with this sentence, Fan Xian no longer used a questioning tone, but began to state fact after fact.

"Ku He did everything he could to prolong your life because his eyes see clearly. The longer you live, the greater the possibility of a falling out between you and His Majesty." Fan Xian lowered his head and continued, "You kept Si Gu Jian alive for so long because you had long planned to use the Jian Lu side to expose Shadow's identity, thereby forcing His Majesty to act against you."

"Force?" Chen Pingping laughed, as if he had heard a very interesting word.

Fan Xian was unmoved by the old man's smile. He sighed and said, "Regarding your poisoning three years ago, it's also very clear now. You used it as an excuse not to enter the capital, letting the Princess of Chang and the Empress Dowager make a mess in Kyoto. Officially, you were following His Majesty's secret decree to let the dogs into the yard, but in reality, you harbored a bigger idea."

He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "At that time, my situation was quite critical, and I didn't think deeply about it for a while. Later, I realized that Princess Chang's chief strategist, Yuan Hongdao, and Yan Ruohai, the most trusted mole in the Overwatch Council of the Qin family's old master, were both your confidants. Although you were out in the wilderness, you were incredibly clear about the rebel situation. With these two people helping you in the dark, if you wanted to control the situation for His Majesty, Kyoto wouldn't have been allowed to become such a mess."

Chen Pingping laughed, his voice a little sharp. "Then tell me, why didn't I control the situation?"

"You originally wanted the situation to be a little chaotic; you wished everyone in the palace would die cleanly." Fan Xian said gloomily, lowering his head. "His Majesty set a fire, but you let this fire burn too fiercely... burning too many people to death. You hoped that in the end, the world would be a blank white canvas, leaving only me and the Eldest Prince to clean up the mess."

"The problem is: you haven't explained something clearly. Why would I betray His Majesty? Do I have the ability to leave only you and the Prince of Qin in the entire capital?"

"You have that ability; I've never doubted it. If His Majesty had really died on Da Dong Mountain... Yuan Hongdao and Yan Ruohai's roles wouldn't have been fully utilized at all. You would have abandoned Yuan Hongdao directly." Fan Xian looked at Chen Pingping, feeling a strange taste rising in his mouth, a little bitter and a little sour. "As for why you betrayed His Majesty, we both know it very well."

Chen Pingping laughed heartily, patting the armrest of the wheelchair, like clapping on bamboo, humming. After a long silence, he stared intently into Fan Xian's eyes, as if staring at that same young man many years ago, and said sinisterly, "Shouldn't I have?"

Fan Xian was silent; he simply didn't know how to answer this question. As a son, he certainly couldn't say he shouldn't. He had even been shocked by Chen Pingping's deep-seated and bone-penetrating remembrance of Ye Qingmei and that burning desire for revenge.

Chen Pingping was the Emperor's closest minister, and he had served in the Cheng Prince's mansion since he was young. He met Ye Qingmei late, and the time they spent together probably wasn't too long. But because of such a woman, a passerby in his life, the darkest chief of the special service in the entire world, hid a dagger in his heart, hiding it for more than twenty years, wounding his heart and wounding everyone's hearts.

Chen Pingping suddenly lay back wearily in his wheelchair and said, "You don't understand back then; you don't understand."

Fan Xian hadn't participated in the events of that year himself, so he naturally didn't dare to casually say he understood. He simply remained silent, calculating, and enduring. He didn't know how to handle it at all. If the relationship between people was only one of hatred, perhaps the world would be much simpler, but the relationship between people was always so complicated.

...

...

"I've also figured out the second reason you took the poison." Fan Xian looked at Chen Pingping's calm eyes, and suddenly, his heart twinged. He felt that the affairs of the world were indeed somewhat harmful and disturbing. He said, "You originally thought His Majesty would never return from Da Dong Mountain, and you ruined his empire. You were ministers of the Emperor in one lifetime, so you went to accompany him on the road to the Yellow Springs, which could be considered fulfilling your duty as ministers."

Chen Pingping closed his eyes and said, "After all, I watched His Majesty grow from a child into a generation of emperors. I understand him too well; he is a very lonely person. I was worried that he would be afraid on the road to the underworld alone, so I wanted to go and accompany him."

"Accompany him?" Fan Xian's voice became sharp. "He has killed enough people; there will be no shortage of people to accompany him on the road to the Yellow Springs. Do you need to be like this?"

He calmed his emotions and said in a deep voice, "What's more, he didn't die."

"It's always hard to make someone die." Chen Pingping, for the first time in front of Fan Xian, sighed these words and said to him leisurely, "I will never underestimate His Majesty, so before planning things and during the process, I am always extremely cautious, making all predictions of failure. Even if I fail, I will not leave any handle or implicate you."

Fan Xian looked at Chen Pingping, and a strong feeling of admiration suddenly rose in his heart. He was too familiar with this old cripple. The other party hadn't concealed many things from him, so he knew what Chen Pingping had done better than the old emperor in the palace.

In this world, Chen Pingping was probably the only person who could secretly plan against His Majesty but be able to hide it from His Majesty. The founder of the Overwatch Council was so capable in terms of conspiracy that he didn't deliberately weave anything. He simply followed the general trend of the world and occasionally added a few strokes of dark color, which once brought His Majesty and the Qing Kingdom into a situation that might never be recovered.

It's just that the emperor's own strength was too powerful, so powerful that he could easily tear apart all conspiracies and tricks. But Chen Pingping was really amazing. Even so, he still didn't reveal any subtle loopholes, and even arranged a way out many years ago.

Chen Pingping didn't care about life and death. What he cared about was Fan Xian's safety after his death. Therefore, starting from the Xuankong Temple after Shadow accidentally stabbed Fan Xian, he began to arrange all of this, including the assassination in the valley, and even the matter in the palace, all of which he was doing to separate himself from Fan Xian.

Even if something happened one day in the future, these things hidden in the depths would become the separation between Chen Pingping and Fan Xian. In the face of those painstakingly investigated evidence, the Emperor would naturally believe that Chen Pingping wanted to kill Fan Xian, and Fan Xian naturally had nothing to do with Chen Pingping.

As for why Chen Pingping wanted to kill Fan Xian, that was a question for the Emperor to think about. Fan Xian was seriously injured in the Xuankong Temple incident and almost died. The valley was also extremely dangerous. These two pieces of evidence were too powerful.

Fan Xian could feel Chen Pingping's painstaking efforts. Looking at his old face and feeling the refreshing aura emanating from the other party's heart, he was moved, but he didn't know what to say.

...

...

Chen Pingping's face was extremely calm, and he said, "These things should be something you already understood three years ago. You once said similar things when Chen Garden was not restored that day. Why are you doing it again today?"

"His Majesty will always have doubts, especially since you played such a trick on the Dongyi City side." Fan Xian said, "I can only come and make these things clear with you."

"The Dongyi City side was arranged three years ago. Since I promised you to let go, I have already let go." Chen Pingping said with a smile.

"I don't care. Since you want to let go, then do it thoroughly." Fan Xian said, "His Majesty has already made me the Director of the Overwatch Council. You can retire completely."

"Retire? That's no different from my current life."

Fan Xian smiled strangely and said, "Are you still saying this in front of me? If you don't want to, even if I am the Director of the Overwatch Council for another ten years, this Overwatch Council will still be yours."

"Oh, no." Chen Pingping also smiled and said, "The Overwatch Council belongs to His Majesty."

"Oh, no." Fan Xian imitated his tone and sighed, "Two-tenths of the Overwatch Council belongs to His Majesty, three-tenths belongs to me, but half of it is still yours, and will always be yours."

Having worked in the Overwatch Council for so long, Fan Xian was naturally aware of the terrifying extent to which the old cripple in front of him controlled the Overwatch Council. Under Chen Pingping's old hands, the so-called His Majesty's private intelligence agency had long become this person's private agency. This was partly because the old Emperor had never suspected the loyal dog by his side, and partly because Chen Pingping had too much prestige in the Overwatch Council and too many officials who swore allegiance to him.

Fan Xian even had no doubt about one thing. If the palace issued an order to deal with Chen Pingping, people like Yan Ruohai and the bald-headed head of the Seventh Division would not even think about it and would stand behind Chen Pingping.

Everything for the Qing Kingdom? In the hearts of the general officials of the Overwatch Council, the Qing Kingdom might be His Majesty the Emperor, but in the hearts of those middle-level officials who could truly control power, there was no one else besides Chen Pingping.

"Well... what exactly do you want to do?" Chen Pingping looked at Fan Xian with appreciation and asked. This seemed like a very ordinary question, and also like some kind of handover between two Directors of the Overwatch Council.

But Fan Xian suddenly became a little dejected and said, "I met Yan Bingyun before I came today. I told him to start preparing to bring the eight major divisions of the Overwatch Council, as well as the branch offices in various prefectures, under his control, and cut off all the possibilities of you reaching into the council... but I know that if you don't withdraw yourself, with just me and Yan Bingyun, there really isn't a very good way."

"Let Yan Bingyun deal with his old man?" Chen Pingping chuckled and said, "That's not a bad move, although the old men he has to deal with are definitely a lot more than he imagines."

The old men mentioned in this sentence naturally refer to those senior officials in the Overwatch Council who were loyal to Chen Pingping.

Fan Xian sat forward and gently held Chen Pingping's wrinkled hands, saying, "Let go."

"Why are you still holding my hand if you let go?" Chen Pingping said with a smile, "You can try to cut off my hand reaching into the council, but I can assure you that the old men are more powerful than you think."

Nonsense, those old men were the first batch of eggs laid by the Overwatch Council at the beginning of the Dragon Banner. I don't know how many disciples and grandchildren there are in the council. It's of course extremely difficult to clean up these old men. Fan Xian cursed in his heart, and said angrily on his face, "It's said that the two of us have been getting along well for these years, and it's no different from being father and son. Is it necessary to fight me at this time?"

"The key question is, you haven't convinced me why I should let go." Chen Pingping's eyes were extremely interesting.

Fan Xian was silent for a moment and then said, "His Majesty has already started investigating the assassination in the valley and the incident in Xuankong Temple. One day, he will suspect you. Even if he doesn't get any evidence, this matter is always a bit dangerous... and you also know that His Majesty's temperament has changed a lot since so many people died in the palace. If it were the previous years, I'm afraid he would have started using thunderous means as soon as he had a slight suspicion in his heart, but he hasn't moved like that."

That's true. The Overwatch Council is one of the most important forces relied upon by the Emperor. His trust in Chen Pingping is also an oddity in the world. If he once discovers that Chen Pingping has some other meaning in his heart, if it were the Emperor of that year, I'm afraid he would have been furious long ago.

"We've talked about this topic before." Chen Pingping nodded and said, "His Majesty always has some affection for me. Even if he has some suspicion, he is reluctant to directly attack. He is more willing... to wait for me to die of old age."

"Yes, the problem is that you are always immortal." Fan Xian smiled and said, "It's fine if you don't die, but your heart is immortal, so I have to ask you to leave Kyoto and go back to your hometown to find your first love."

Chen Pingping scolded with a smile and then suddenly asked, "If I don't retreat, what will you do?"

"I will start to act." Fan Xian was silent for a moment and then said, "Even if I have to make a mess in the Overwatch Council, I will knock you down."

"With what reason?"

"Of course, it's because I found out that Director Chen was behind the assassination in the valley. As a prince and the next Director of the Overwatch Council, I took action in hatred and wanted to put you to death." Fan Xian lowered his head and said, "No matter if I can win in the end, His Majesty will always think that I myself have found out about this matter, so he will watch me fight, and finally issue an edict to drive you out of Kyoto. On the one hand, he will fulfill my wish and fill my resentment, and on the other hand, he will save your life and complete the affection between you."

Chen Pingping's white eyebrows were raised, and he said, "I think you also used this to convince Yan Bingyun?"

Fan Xian nodded.

"Use a non-existent hatred to cover up the real danger inside." Chen Pingping pondered for a long time and nodded, "You have improved too much compared to before."

Fan Xian smiled and said, "I thought about it for a month, and I knew that the Inner Court had started investigating the valley's affairs before I thought of using this point."

Chen Pingping smiled tiredly. He knew what Fan Xian was worried about, and why he had to go to so much trouble to force him to leave Kyoto. Just like the emotion in Fan Xian's heart earlier, this intelligence leader, who had been lonely all his life, suddenly felt that his heart had become much warmer.

"I promise you, I will leave Kyoto." Chen Pingping patted Fan Xian's hand gently.

Fan Xian was overjoyed and laughed happily, and then said, "There shouldn't be any problem with this. Once in the Xuankong Temple and once in the valley, I almost died in your hands. No matter what the Inner Court finds out, it will only become a footnote to your gloomy departure from Kyoto."

"Thinking about that time, you rushed into Chen Garden in a wheelchair, yelling at me, it was also interesting." Chen Pingping said with a smile.

Fan Xian shook his head with a smile. At that time, he really didn't understand why Chen Pingping wanted to do these things. It was only after the Princess of Chang completely woke him up that he realized what Chen Pingping wanted to do and why he had been carefully preparing to completely separate himself from him.

"The Taiping Villa massacre back then was done by Qin Ye, right?" Fan Xian suddenly said a word.

Chen Pingping glanced at him and said lightly, "Qin Ye is just one of His Majesty's dogs."

Fan Xian was silent for a long time, and then said, "The Qin family finally rebelled just because of my existence?"

"Of course, you are Ye Qingmei's son." Chen Pingping laughed and said, "That old dog Qin Ye has been covered up by His Majesty for so many years, but he also understands His Majesty's intentions too well. If His Majesty intends to continue to reuse you, then he must not let you know the story of that year... Qin Ye is the only loophole that survived in that story."

"His Majesty wants to support you, and wants to preserve the affection between your father and son, so he must silence you, Qin Ye must die." Chen Pingping said calmly, "So Qin Ye had no choice but to rebel."

In the past, Chen Pingping had always insisted on not telling Fan Xian these things. It was only today that there was no need to persist in concealing things any longer, and no longer wanted to drag Fan Xian into the sewage of that year.

"That's exactly the case." Fan Xian took a deep breath. The warm breath of spring entered his lungs, but it burned his chest fiercely. Although he had already guessed these things, it was still difficult to restrain himself from burning up when he heard Chen Pingping confirm it today.

"Three years ago, you asked why the Qin family would rebel." Chen Pingping suddenly looked at him with great interest and asked, "With your vision, you shouldn't be able to see so far. Who reminded you? Fan Jian?"

"My father never tells me these things." Fan Xian smiled bitterly and said, "It's the Princess of Chang."

When this name came out of Fan Xian's lips, Chen Pingping also became a little quieter. He looked at the green trees outside the window and said faintly, "This crazy girl is also a remarkable character. She doesn't know what happened that year, but she guessed the past from these details. It's really amazing."

"Did you and the Princess of Chang have contact during the rebellion in Kyoto?" Fan Xian asked a question that had been hidden for a long time, because the reaction of the Overwatch Council at that time was really a bit strange. Even if His Majesty the Emperor had set a plan to let Chen Pingping lure out the unstable factors in Kyoto, Chen Pingping's response was too strange, especially on the Princess of Chang's side, which seemed to have never deliberately paid attention to the direction of the Overwatch Council.

"No." Chen Pingping closed his eyes and said, "There are many things that do not need to be contacted, but only need to guess each other's intentions and each other's goals. The most wonderful plan in the world is just a flash of inspiration, without any warning, and each other's intentions are matched... Once it is written down on paper, it will fall into the lower class."

"Regarding these things, you have to learn from your dead mother-in-law." Chen Pingping opened his eyes and said with a smile.

Fan Xian smiled wryly and nodded.

At this time, Chen Pingping suddenly asked softly, "Now that you know enough, what are you going to do in the future?"

Fan Xian was silent for a long time, and then said, "I don't know."

Chen Pingping sighed with some slight disappointment.

"Is there any evidence?" Fan Xian's voice was a little trembling, "Even if it's just a little bit of evidence."

"Many things in the world do not need evidence, but only need intentions. I also confirmed that the person had moved his intentions a few years ago and strengthened my own intentions."

Chen Pingping's sentence was quite similar to Si Gu Jian's sword technique: "When the army marched westward, His Majesty was near Dingzhou, and your father was also serving in the army, while the Northern Qi army suddenly went south, and I led the Overwatch Council to Yanjing..."

"Ye Zhong was also transferred to the rear of the westward expedition army." Chen Pingping just coldly stated a fact, "The most important thing is that your mother had just given birth to you not long ago, and was in a postpartum weakness."

Fan Xian's eyebrows gradually frowned, and he asked, "What about Uncle Wu Zhu? I have never understood why he would leave my mother's side at that time."

"People from the Temple came." Chen Pingping smiled slightly and said, "The envoy appeared on the continent... Although I have never been clear about where your mother came from, I can guess that she and Wu Zhu and the Temple have always had some entanglements, and Wu Zhu has always been very afraid of anything related to the Temple."

"People from the Temple came more than once, at least twice, I know there were two times." Chen Pingping sighed and said, "Every time they came, Wu Zhu killed them. At that time, the only people in the world who could threaten your mother seemed to be the people from the Temple, and Wu Zhu was simply not allowed to let those people from the Temple approach your mother within a hundred miles."

"So Wu Zhu left."

"But your mother still died."

"Died in... the hands of our own people."

Chen Pingping laughed strangely, the pronunciation of the three words "our own people" was particularly heavy.

Fan Xian also laughed, laughing especially hard, then stood up, patted Chen Pingping on the shoulder, and said, "I had already guessed these things, but after hearing them from your mouth, I found that the feeling was so real. Well, don't think about these things anymore."

Chen Pingping asked with a smile, "The box should still be in your hands, right? Where is Wu Zhu?"

Fan Xian smiled bitterly and said after a moment, "The box is not there, Uncle Wu Zhu has left for something."

Chen Pingping hmm'd and once again did not hide his slight disappointment in front of Fan Xian.

Fan Xian suddenly asked strangely, "You know... the box is in my hands?"

"Your old man also knows." Chen Pingping said, "So your old man doesn't know."

Fan Xian was slightly moved, and it took him a long time to digest the shock in his heart, thinking that his old father, who had already returned to his old age, had secretly done so many things for himself, and he couldn't help but feel a trace of remembrance in his heart. He once again patted Chen Pingping's thin shoulders and said with a smile, "You told me to learn from the dead Princess of Chang, I think you should learn from my still-living father. Let go when you should let go, retreat when you should retreat."

He put his hands on Chen Pingping's shoulders, exerted a little force, and said, "Leave the future matters to me."

Chen Pingping smiled and didn't say anything, only thinking in his heart that with this child's temperament, I'm afraid he will continue to watch and wait, but I don't know how long to watch and wait. There are many bitter people in the world, and Fan Xian's background is undoubtedly the most bitter kind of person.

Thinking of this, Chen Pingping suddenly felt that his and Fan Xian's hard work over the past twenty years had not been in vain. At least Fan Xian had grown up healthily, and had grown up so fast... It seemed to have only taken one night.

...

...

(Regarding Fan Xian, I am really writing very painfully. Many times I am making replacements. If I were Fan Xian, how would I deal with it, but I can't find the answer at all. Although the outline has been set long ago, writing it down is still so difficult. I will work harder to think, and think again.

Regarding the explosion of votes, I don't have the ability to explode, ah ah ah ah, tomorrow I will write less than today, and in the next few days I will write less, because... there is really something going on at home, I am really sorry. With a turn of his eyes, he just shouted like a profiteer: I update 35,000 words a day! Where are the monthly tickets in your hands? ... Uh, it turns out that people can be shameless to the point of being like me.)