Many years later, when the Supervisory Council began to re-examine the major events of early autumn in the tenth year of Qing Yu Nian, there were still many questions that could not be clearly explained. Was the ambush by the Dongyi insurgents that Dean Fan Xian encountered on his way back to Kyoto from Dongyi City a deliberate leak from someone in the court, or was it merely a coincidence?

After all, it seemed that only senior officials within the Supervisory Council could have known about the whereabouts of the young Lord.

And Dazhou, the city where the old Dean was supposed to pass through on his journey home to retire, just happened to be brightly lit and filled with murderous intent at that time. Was this a coincidence or... providence? Perhaps the latter, but by then, the sky had already changed color, and the intelligence officers of the Second Bureau of the Supervisory Council did not meticulously investigate further.

But at least the Ministry of Justice officials handling official duties in Dazhou City did not know that outside the city that night, there was a long line of black Supervisory Council vehicles, and even fewer people knew that Old Dean Chen, whom all court officials regarded as a ghost and feared, was in the convoy.

They had only received secret orders from their superiors, spending more than a year tracking down a criminal wanted by the emperor. As for the criminal's name, no one knew. All they had was information about the criminal's martial arts habits and previous appearance. As for what the criminal looked like in the past three years, no one knew.

Perhaps it was providence that allowed Chen Pingping to encounter this siege in Dazhou. It was precisely because Chen Pingping understood providence that he stopped his journey home in Dazhou City and returned to Kyoto, where he should have stayed for the rest of his life.

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Everything about Dazhou must be discussed starting more than a month ago, and it's not just about Dazhou.

At that time, Fan Xian was still by the sea, pondering the will taught by Sigu Jian, the booklet left by Master Ku He, experiencing the nature of the domineering zhenqi in his body, and guessing whether His Majesty's cultivation of the domineering kung fu to the extreme would cause unbearable burdens on his body. He was watching the ebb and flow of the waves, thinking that everything in the world was as before. The spring flowers had bloomed, and the autumn moon was in the sky. As the second most powerful person in the world, he was proud and felt that nothing was difficult, and everything could be solved.

However, subtle changes had already taken place in the world at that time.

That day was the first day of July, and the entire continent was shrouded in the hottest sun of the year. The capital of Qing Yu Nian was no exception. The Third Prince, Li Chengze, was holding a book in both hands, reading it carefully. Beads of sweat dripped from his delicate face. The youngest owner of a brothel in the world, after experiencing the palace coup and countless bloodshed, finally transformed that unconcealable gloom into a composure and unwavering determination that was not in line with his age.

The Third Prince, Li Chengze, had become a young man, a young man who was polite to others and possessed both filial piety and brotherly love, a young man that no one could find too much fault with. The people who had brought about such a great change in him in these short five or six years were two people: one was his father, the emperor, and the other was his teacher, his brother, Fan Xian.

When facing His Majesty the Emperor, the Third Prince was careful and never made mistakes. The blood-like facts, the deaths of his elder brother, the Crown Prince, and his second elder brother, made Li Chengze very clear about how terrifying his father was. Although these two elder brothers had also thought about killing him in the later stages, their deaths were a great thing for Li Chengze. However, when facing his father, his heart still couldn't stop exuding coldness.

Because of fear, he was respectful, so he never made mistakes. In these three years, Li Chengze even saw Fan Xian less often, just locking himself in the palace, occasionally learning about what his teacher was doing through his mother.

Li Chengze was also afraid of Fan Xian, this brother who could not be made public. Because during the most critical days of his adolescence, he had been following Fan Xian, watching how Fan Xian, as a courtier, started wars with the nobles in Jiangnan and Kyoto, and won the final victory. And the pointer and cold gaze in Fan Xian's hand made him even more afraid of making mistakes.

Fan Xian's real influence on the Third Prince was that he let the Third Prince know what he would do in the future and what he would become, thus truly reversing his temperament.

The Third Prince, Li Chengze, was destined to become the emperor of Qing Yu Nian, and the whole world was his, so he wanted to treat the world better, and no longer, like in the past, spend so much shady effort to seize some money, some realistic and short-term benefits.

The world is mine, and will be mine, so why should I bother to toss it? This is the creed that Fan Xian taught the Third Prince, and the Third Prince deeply agreed with it.

The palace maid, Xing'er, was gradually growing older. The young girl who was once young and inexperienced gradually showed her eyebrows and eyes, giving birth to a moving beauty. At this time, Xing'er was fanning the殿下 (Diànxià, Your Highness) next to him, frowning as she watched His Highness sweating profusely and still reading, feeling a little pity in her heart.

Consort Yi was currently chatting idly in Consort Ning's palace. There were not many idle people in the entire Shufang Palace. Xing'er looked at the handsome appearance of His Highness, her eyes gradually blurred.

Li Chengze clearly felt this gaze, and smiled slightly at the corner of his lips, but did not react. He just gently put his hand behind his back and squeezed Xing'er's fingertips.

His smile was really similar to Fan Xian's.

"Do you want to rest for a while?" Xing'er's face was slightly red, and she said softly, "It's so hot, and His Majesty won't come..."

Li Chengze seriously shook his head, and said softly, "These are all book lists opened by my teacher, most of which are classics that he dragged back from Northern Qi back then. I must finish reading them within this year, and write notes for him to review."

He said with a wry smile, "If I don't pass, my mother will beat me again."

Xing'er bit her lower lip and said, "The young Lord is in Dongyi now, how can he manage so much?"

After the Kyoto rebellion was quelled, although His Majesty did not remove Fan Xian's identity as a teacher, Fan Xian rarely saw the Third Prince alone, and the Third Prince no longer often made trouble outside the palace. These two brothers both knew that the Third Prince was the real Crown Prince of Qing Yu Nian at present, and the old emperor would not want this Crown Prince to grow up under Fan Xian's education, but would rather train him himself. In order to avoid this taboo, they had to reduce their meetings.

Although Fan Xian rarely came to Shufang Palace, he still did not stop his training in the Third Prince's studies and cultivation. In Jiangnan, Fan Xian had already told the Third Prince many stories. In these three years, he still opened many book lists, requiring the Third Prince to read them thoroughly.

In addition to his busy official duties, Fan Xian would also take time to review the Third Prince's study notes. For him, this was also a top priority. If the future of Qing Yu Nian was placed on Li Chengze, he certainly hoped that Li Chengze could become a benevolent ruler, even if he didn't have any great ambitions, but at least he could take care of his family business.

Every year during the New Year, Fan Xian's family would enter the palace. At that time, it was the time for him to review the Third Prince's homework, and often, the sound of pointers whistling and the sound of the Third Prince enduring the pain could be heard in Shufang Palace.

Palace maid Xing'er's expression was a little unusual. It was obvious that she had become Li Chengze's first woman after he came of age. Of course, Li Chengze was also her first man. As soon as she heard the name of Young Lord Fan, Xing'er's eyes showed some intolerance, and she said unhappily, "Young Lord Fan is also true, he moves his hands at every turn, and he doesn't pay attention to the extent at all."

When Fan Xian first entered the palace, she was the one who took Fan Xian around to visit and worship. Over the years, Palace Maid Xing'er didn't think that Young Lord Fan, who was incomparably powerful outside the palace, was anything terrible. She only felt that that guy was still the handsome young man of that year, so she was not very respectful in her words.

But Li Chengze was very afraid of Fan Xian, and said with a bitter face, "He dares to argue with my father about this matter, and my mother is also on his side. What can I do?"

Although he said this, he didn't have any resentful emotions. Instead, he sighed quietly and said, "I haven't left the palace for a long time. I don't know how my teacher is doing in Dongyi City."

Speaking of this, even Xing'er's face couldn't help but show some splendor, and she said with a smile, "Wherever Young Lord Fan goes, how can there be things that can't be done? These palaces are spreading rumors, saying that the matter of Dongyi City has been settled, and His Highness will lead the troops over immediately."

The Third Prince naturally knew about the most important affairs in the court today. Thinking that his teacher had made such an unparalleled contribution to the court, he couldn't help but feel a sense of glory, and nodded, saying, "If only I could go with him."

The young man's face suddenly exuded a feeling of longing, and he said, "The happiest days of my life were actually two periods of time outside the palace. One was running Baoyue Tower with that kid Si Zhe, and the other was when my teacher took me to Jiangnan... I don't know when I will be able to leave the palace again."

Anyone will subconsciously look for a strong person of the same sex as a goal to strive for and an object to imitate in the process of their growth, even the princes born in the palace are no exception, but their maturity is much earlier than that of young people in the folk.

And at the stage of the initial germination of Li Chengze's adolescence, there were two big mountains in front of him that he needed to look up to. One was his father, and the other was Fan Xian. However, the power of His Majesty the Emperor of Qing Yu Nian carried a coldness that strangers should not approach, and even relatives should not approach. On the contrary, Fan Xian's power was truly down-to-earth, carrying a stubborn, simple, and direct closeness.

So the Third Prince missed Fan Xian very much.

A voice came from outside the Shufang Palace. Before the announcement could be made, a leader of the eunuchs had already entered the inner hall in a hunched manner. Xing'er frowned and looked at the leading eunuch, gently bowing behind the Third Prince, not daring to lose her manners.

The person who came was Eunuch Yao, now the leading eunuch in the palace, a close minister deeply trusted by His Majesty. Li Chengze narrowed his eyes and looked at him, feeling a little strange in his heart. He didn't know what matter required this person to come here in person, and asked, "Eunuch Yao, what's the matter?"

Eunuch Yao was a very knowledgeable person. Although he was His Majesty's confidant, he knew that the Third Prince he was facing was one of the only two men in the palace today, and would be His Majesty in the future. So he respectfully gave a big salute, and then said in a harmonious voice, "There is an old case in the inner court that is being investigated. Some things are related to Your Highness, and I have no choice but to come and disturb Your Highness."

Li Chengze's pupils shrank slightly. There was no doubt that he was a smart man, and he had gleaned too much information from this sentence. An old case? Related to himself? He had been living in the deep palace for a long time. What kind of cases could really touch him? And what kind of case would actually disturb him?

Baoyue Tower? Impossible. Fan Xian relied on this matter to cripple the Second Prince back then, and it was with His Majesty's approval. Naturally, it was impossible to bring up old matters again now, let alone with his current status, no one would have the guts to bring up that matter.

The light in Li Chengze's eyes slightly narrowed, knowing what the inner court was investigating - the Kyoto rebellion three years ago, the great chaos in the palace, the Third Prince and Consorts Yi and Ning were all confined in Hanguang Palace. And at such a tense moment, someone in the palace actually wanted to assassinate Li Chengze. If he didn't have the poisoned dagger made by Fan Xian himself, he would have already died.

Afterwards, there were some doubts about this matter inside and outside the palace, because the Crown Prince had already controlled the situation in the palace at that time, so why would he do such an unreasonable thing? People also thought it was done by the Second Prince, but in the subsequent investigation, no connection was found.

Li Chengze himself had a particularly deep memory of that matter, and of course he wanted to find out who wanted to kill him. However, the Supervisory Council investigated for a long time, but could not find any clues.

And Fan Xian once told him privately that this matter should not be investigated, so the Third Prince endured the anger in his heart and stopped paying attention, because he knew that his teacher must have smelled something, so he would not help him investigate.

And... the inner court is actually investigating this matter now?

The concern for his own safety, the anger at the murderer who wanted to murder him, and the trust in Fan Xian, fought in the Third Prince's mind for a moment. He made up his mind, shook his head, and said, "I was very frightened that day, and I can't remember anything."

"May I trouble Your Highness to go with this old servant to draw a portrait?" After the two eunuchs were killed by Li Chengze, their corpses were quickly burned in the chaos. There were too many eunuchs who died in the palace coup that day, so that no one still knows who the assassin who assassinated the Third Prince was. Eunuch Yao glanced at the Third Prince and said respectfully.

Li Chengze frowned, smelling a strange meaning, and said, "I still have to read, such a trivial matter, since I am fine, don't pay attention to it."

"How can that work? Your Highness is a noble of the Heavenly Family, and someone dares to have disloyal intentions towards Your Highness... His Majesty is furious and has ordered a thorough investigation of this matter."

Li Chengze squinted at Eunuch Yao, thinking, what does my father want to do again? If he was really furious, then what has he been doing in these three years?

……

……

On that day in early July, the Third Prince, Li Chengze, began to recall the appearance of the two eunuchs who wanted to kill him during the palace coup.

On the same night, Miss Sun of the Kyoto Prefecture stared blankly at the two stars in the sky that were getting closer and closer. She knew that her father's life had been much better recently. With the help of Young Lord Fan, no one in the court dared to target the Kyoto Prefecture anymore. Even that popular figure in the Menxia Zhongshu, Lord He Zongwei, did not have the fierce appearance he had at the beginning in these past few months, but was just quiet.

Thinking of Young Lord Fan, she couldn't help but think of the condition that Young Lord Fan had promised her during the Kyoto rebellion, and a light smile gradually appeared on her lips.

Chen Garden was bustling with activity. Chen Pingping was making preparations to return to his hometown. None of the beautiful concubines in Chen Garden were willing to leave as he had expected. Instead, they cried and shouted that they wanted to follow him back to his hometown and see him off in his final moments. In addition to being puzzled and helpless, the old cripple couldn't help but think that perhaps when they looked at Fan Xian back then, they weren't looking at a cucumber, but they already had cucumbers.

In the Fan residence in the south of Kyoto, Lin Wan'er and Si Si were holding a pair of children and feeding them. Several nanny women and maids were chatting idly beside them. The daughter-in-law of the Teng family was reporting in detail on the harvest of the Fan family manor this year in front of the steps. In one of the three studies in the back garden, the accountants of the Hangzhou Association were waiting to report to the mistress on the amount of silver spent on providing relief to the people in the Jiangnan and Jiangbei areas this year.

Lin Wan'er handed the bowl of porridge to the nanny woman, kissed Xiao Hua and Fan Liang on the face respectively, and stretched her waist at the door. This demeanor was indeed not like that of a young mistress, but Fan Xian doted on her, so she was used to indulging her freedom.

She looked at the stars in the sky, thinking of Fan Xian, who was far away on the coast of the East Sea, and couldn't help but slightly tilt her head, thinking that everything had gotten on the right track. If she wanted to leave Kyoto to live a carefree life in the future, where should she choose? Danzhou or Dongyi City? She suddenly realized that she had never been to Dongyi City, and couldn't help but feel a little yearning.

Just as she was thinking, Fan Ruoruo, dressed as a doctor, pushed open the courtyard door with a medical kit on her back and walked in, followed by several servants who were rushing to take the heavy objects, in a state of chaos. Fan Ruoruo came back from the countryside, looked at the little sister-in-law standing at the door, couldn't help but smile, and joked a few words.

In the distant Northern Qi palace, the little emperor of Northern Qi sat on the jade platform in the main hall, looking at the white sand in the pool beside the platform, the pair of fish lying on the sand, with a quiet gaze that was still absent-minded. Beside her were a few memorials, saying about the situation when Sigu Jian died, and the inside story of the agreement between Dongyi City and Southern Qing.

Logically speaking, the secrets of this agreement could not be detected by the Northern Qi Jinyiwei. It was obvious that that man was deliberately releasing the news to her.

The eyes of the little emperor of Northern Qi narrowed, and for the first time in her life, she showed a look of confusion. She did not know what her country and her future would be like. The current situation seemed clear, and there was no chance for the conflict between Fan Xian and Emperor Qing to break out. How should Da Qi deal with itself?

If it were in previous years, perhaps she would have already made up her mind, no matter the cost, to make Fan Xian and Emperor Qing turn against each other, even if it cost half of the national treasury income, countless prices. However, now her heart had changed, because she knew the power of those words that Fan Xian had once said.

It was that day in early July, or it was still that day in early July, people on the continent all experienced some ordinary or unusual things, and a certain turning point in history, an event that caused changes in historical details, did not happen in Kyoto, nor did it happen in Shangjing, but happened in a remote state and county of Qing Yu Nian.

This should have been just a routine security check. The yamen runners walked slowly under the scorching sun in a somewhat bored manner, occasionally hiding in the shadows of the shops along the street to rest.

At this time, Gao Da, who had been disguised and incognito for three years, was busy at the noodle stall on the corner of the street. His face had a healthy glow, and he no longer looked as resolute as he used to, but was full of ease and satisfaction. The hand that used to hold the long knife tightly was now easily holding long chopsticks, skillfully and deftly picking up noodles from the pot, putting them into a bowl, and sprinkling them with green basil, and the aroma was steaming.

After escaping from Dadong Mountain, Gao Da wandered in various states and counties of Qing Yu Nian. Qing Yu Nian's strict household registration system and customs clearance certificate system really made him suffer a lot. Although no one discovered his identity, it was still difficult for him to settle down.

He was a Royal Tiger Guard and had not experienced too many things, and he had no knowledge of the rivers and lakes at the bottom of the folk. So, this dignified Tiger Guard became so hard once he swam in shallow water.

Later, by chance, he settled down in Dazhou, and finally had a new identity. He opened a noodle stall on this street, basking in the sun every day and making noodles. He even brought back a wife and a son.

This may be the real happiness. A warm bed with a wife and children, every day when Gao Da closed his stall and went home, he would feel this way when he hugged his wife who made his whole body hot. He even felt that it was a pity if he didn't have to use his knife.

Of course, he was still vigilant. Although he had learned in these years that the court probably believed that all the Tiger Guards were dead, he still did not dare to let the court know of his existence, especially the inner court. As an inner court Tiger Guard, he knew very well that his private escape was a crime of deceiving the emperor, and once caught, it would be a death sentence for the entire family.

He was still paying attention to Fan Xian's movements. Fortunately, Fan Xian was the most famous person in Qing Yu Nian, and the discussions in the city were always inseparable from Fan Xian, so he knew that Lord Titisi had been living well in these three years, and had made many contributions to Qing Yu Nian, and even recently might bring Dongyi City into the territory.

Gao Da was very happy and drank several meals of wine, feeling that Young Lord Fan was indeed powerful, but he still did not want to go to find Fan Xian and find a way to get rid of the crime on his body.

Because he felt that he was living very well now, there was no need to change anything.

Until those yamen runners sat down at his noodle stall, and then looked at his wife with lecherous eyes.