Niao Ni
Chapter 702: The Qing Yu Squad Embarks on Their Respective Paths
This intelligence was highly sensitive and important. The Qi Nian Team members in this courtyard were originally capable officials within the Overwatch Council. In these seven days, they had deliberately inquired on behalf of Fan Xian, who was under house arrest in the mansion, and had indeed uncovered a lot of information.
Fan Xian listened in silence, nodding slightly. After Chen Pingping's death and his own directorship being revoked, the Emperor's restructuring and replenishing of the Overwatch Council was within expectations. With Yan Bingyun's help, coupled with the Emperor's authority, the Overwatch Council was leaderless, and no one could forcibly reverse this trend.
"Although Yan Bingyun is unaware of this courtyard, he has been by your side for many years, so we are somewhat concerned," one of the Qi Nian Team members said to Fan Xian. "The meeting point within Kyoto needs to be reselected."
This official directly called Yan Bingyun by his name, clearly without any respect. Although Yan Bingyun had never joined the Qi Nian Team, as Fan Xian's right-hand man and a high-ranking official of the Overwatch Council, he had always been highly respected by the Qi Nian Team. However, the things Yan Bingyun had done within the Overwatch Council in recent days had caused all the Overwatch Council officials to hate him.
Yan Bingyun was Fan Xian's confidant, but never someone Fan Xian could completely trust, because this clever young Master Yan was… an independent person. Fan Xian was silent for a moment, then shook his head, neither expressing an opinion on this nor saying whether to continue choosing another rendezvous point. On the one hand, he still held some hope for Yan Bingyun and was even vaguely worried that Yan Bingyun might perish in the internal anger of the Overwatch Council. On the other hand, after today's meeting, the Qi Nian Team members would have to leave Kyoto, and the small courtyard that Wang Qinian had bought for one hundred and twenty taels of silver would be abandoned, so why bother.
Seeing that Fan Xian did not respond, the official shook his head and continued to report, "As soon as the city gates opened, people headed to Xiliang and Minbei. Presumably, Lord Deng and Lord Su will receive the news as soon as possible. Please rest assured, my Lord."
This was what Fan Xian was most worried about during his house arrest. Deng Ziyue and Su Wenmao were the two subordinates he trusted most after Wang Qinian, so he had assigned them the most important positions, one in Xiliang after Qi, and one in Jiangnan monitoring the Internal Treasury. If these two were eliminated by the Emperor, Fan Xian feared he would regret it for the rest of his life. Although he didn't know if the Emperor would have the leisure to make arrangements beforehand, since the message had been sent out, Fan Xian was somewhat relieved.
He glanced at the Qi Nian Team members beside him in the courtyard, and a gentle smile appeared on his lips. He had been under house arrest in the mansion for seven days, and these subordinates had also been busy for seven days. Besides gathering information, they had finally managed to enter the Fan mansion today by any means necessary. It had to be said that these subordinates were the most effective group in the Overwatch Council.
The Qi Nian Team's name came from Wang Qinian. From the fourth year of the Qingli era until Wang Qinian's disappearance in the autumn of the seventh year, all members were selected and entered under Wang Qinian's decision alone. These members were originally inconspicuous extra-establishment clerical staff or underused lower-level officials in the Overwatch Council. However, they happened to catch Fan Xian's eye and Wang Qinian's temperament. Once these officials were gathered under Fan Xian's command, they suddenly regained their original strong execution ability and regained their brilliance, becoming a very hidden but well-known group within the Overwatch Council, a group directly under Fan Xian.
For example, in these days, the Qi Nian Team members' response was very much in Fan Xian's style. Once they knew something was wrong, they immediately went into hiding in the darkness. While protecting their own lives, they did not impulsively do anything, but cautiously probed the reactions and intelligence of all parties, and then found a suitable way to submit it to Fan Xian for a decision.
Having such a group of loyal and unassuming, capable and not blind subordinates was undoubtedly a kind of luck for Fan Xian. His eyes swept over the faces of everyone in the courtyard, and his heart stirred. He suddenly thought that besides Wang Qinian's discerning eye, how could there be so many elites buried and gathering dust for many years within the Overwatch Council, waiting for him to come to Kyoto from Danzhou to discover them? Did Wang Qinian really have such a vicious eye? Or were these… loyal subordinates originally suppressed by the old ancestor of the Overwatch Council, reserved for his use now?
Fan Xian frowned, his heart in turmoil. Thinking of Chen Pingping's kindness towards him, he remained silent for a long time, sighed, but had no time to ask these subordinates anything. He waved his hand directly and walked into the quiet room beside the well at the back of the courtyard.
In the room, there was a large desk with Overwatch Council-specific paper covers and a complete set of fire lacquer secret language tools. The inkstone was placed on the right side of the desk. The weather in early autumn was not very cold, so it should be easy to grind ink, but Fan Xian did not grind ink, but directly took out a pencil made by the Internal Treasury from under the desk, twirling it between his fingers.
The tip of the pencil never touched the snow-white paper. After trying many ways to escape the court's eyes and ears and arriving at this small courtyard, Fan Xian had undoubtedly thought clearly about what orders he should issue. However, he finally put the pencil down. Once anything was written on paper, it became a handle and a possibility of leakage.
In the winter of the sixth year of the Qingli era, he often came to this small courtyard. At that time, Si Lili's younger brother was still being held as a hostage by him. At that time, Haitang was still urging Sizhe to grind in the small courtyard in the north. At that time, Fan Xian often wrote letters to Haitang. Thinking about it carefully, although he was fighting fiercely with the Eldest Princess and the Second Prince in Kyoto at that time, his state of mind was actually peaceful and happy. But now Haitang Duoduo had become an enemy of Qing on the grasslands, Sizhe was forced to disappear in the capital, and Fan Xian's state of mind had long changed.
All the Qi Nian Team members stood in the room, silently waiting for Fan Xian to issue instructions.
"Leave Kyoto immediately, and do not return until you receive my written order," Fan Xian said, staring at everyone and emphasizing his tone. "This is the first order. You must survive."
"Yes," everyone responded in a deep voice, then went out under Fan Xian's eye signal, leaving only two people behind.
The Qi Nian Team had been under Wang Qinian's control for the first three years, and then it was handed over to Deng Ziyue. After Deng Ziyue went to Qi, Fan Xian personally took over. Mu Feng'er was only responsible for close-fitting affairs. The team did not have many members in total. Many had died in the turbulent fluctuations over the years. Now, some people were with Deng Ziyue in Xiliang, some people were with Su Wenmao in Jiangnan and Minbei, and a large number of people were left in Dongyi City by Fan Xian. At this time, those who remained in Kyoto were the only subordinates Fan Xian could directly use, and for this reason, Fan Xian did not want them to lose anyone else.
Fan Xian stared at one of the two people in the room, took out a jade hook from his arms, and handed it over, saying, "Go to Qingzhou. Do not alarm people everywhere. Directly enter the grassland with Xia Mingji's caravan. Find Hu Ge and tell him that I need him to launch a feigned attack in late autumn to trap the Qingzhou and Dingzhou armies on the Xiliang road."
The official took the jade hook and said directly, "The Left Worthy Prince has been dead for almost a year. Although Hu Ge has a large amount of power with your support, my Lord, I am afraid he does not have the energy to persuade the Hu people to attack my Qing city in the dangerous climate of late autumn and early winter."
Everyone knew that it was not easy for Fan Xian to come out, so these subordinates did not hide their opinions, but expressed their meaning as quickly and completely as possible.
"It's just a feigned attack. Besides, he wants revenge, so he will definitely be willing to deplete the strength of the Royal Court and the Right Worthy Prince," Fan Xian said. "As for the problem of not enough energy, tell him that I will arrange for someone from the Royal Court to stand on his side."
"But the news from Kyoto must also reach the grasslands. Once Hu Ge knows that you have lost power, my Lord… will he tear up the agreement in Dingzhou City?" The official who took the jade hook still fully expressed his opinion.
Fan Xian did not show any impatience and said, "Hu Ge is a smart man. He must bet on me." He glanced at the jade hook in the official's hand and shook his head, saying, "If he wants the owner of the jade hook to live."
The jade hook was a personal ornament of Maso So, the last princess of a certain tribe of the grassland Hu people since childhood. When Fan Xian met with Hu Ge in Dingzhou City that day, he had given it to him. This time, the token was the second one. Although Maso So was now placed in the Eldest Prince's other mansion, her identity still belonged to the Baoyue Tower system. No matter how much Fan Xian lost power, it would not be too difficult to deal with this weak woman.
The official pondered for a moment, feeling that there were no omissions in the Director's instructions. He put the jade hook in his arms and left the study, leaving the small courtyard on his own. As for how this member of the Qi Nian Team would escape Kyoto, cross Qingzhou to enter the grassland, and contact Hu Ge, that was his problem. Fan Xian believed in the abilities of these subordinates.
"You go to Dingzhou, enter the Grand General's Mansion, and find the Heir Hongcheng." Fan Xian's arms were like a treasure chest. He took out another page of paper from it. The handwriting on the paper was vaguely a poem. "This is the token. Now Kyoto is turbulent, and I have been expelled from the Overwatch Council. He must have received the news early. I am afraid he will not believe the waist tags of the Overwatch Council and the Qi Nian Team. Show him this page of paper, and he will know that you are my person."
This page of paper was torn from a book. The book was a poetry collection from the previous dynasty. This was still a gift that the Second Prince gave to Fan Xian through Hongcheng when Fan Xian was spending the winter in Cangshan many years ago. I am afraid many people had long forgotten it, but Fan Xian knew that Hongcheng would not forget it.
"Tell Hongcheng everything I said earlier, about Hu Ge, about the news that the Hu people will invade in early winter, and let him be prepared and try to fight a little harder…" Fan Xian frowned slightly, "Well, he should be able to understand what I mean now, but I want to find a way for him not to be recalled to Kyoto. He should know what to do, but remind him that the two sides should cooperate better. I am sending him this seemingly difficult bone to chew, but actually delicious fat, and do not let the Hu people take advantage of it."
"Yes, my Lord," the official took his orders and left.
……
……
Some people went out and some people came in. Fan Xian methodically conveyed his will to the forces he cared about and could influence through the members of the Qi Nian Team.
"You go to Dongyi City, first find Mu Feng'er, and tell him what I mean. The rebellion in Xiao Liang Kingdom can be used a little. Keep the fire about the same size. Do not burn it too hard, and do not extinguish it too quickly."
"After you are done, go see Wang Shisanlang and tell him that I am waiting for him in Kyoto." Fan Xian frowned slightly behind the desk. Stirring up the internal strife in Dongyi City could drag the Eldest Prince over there, but he felt a little sorry for Wang Shisanlang, so he had to hide it from him first. "Also… let him use the Jianlu Command Sword on my behalf to select two trustworthy people and send them to Jiangnan, to Su Wenmao's side."
"Send this letter to His Highness, the Eldest Prince in person and tell him that everything is fine in Kyoto and that he should not rush back." Fan Xian had a slight worry in his eyebrows, because he could clearly explain his thoughts to Li Hongcheng, but he was not confident that he could control the Eldest Prince.
Once the tragic death of Chen Pingping was spread to Dongyi City, I am afraid the anger in the Eldest Prince's heart would not be less than his own. The Eldest Prince had called Chen Pingping uncle since childhood. Regardless of Ning Cairen's close relationship with Chen Pingping in those years, Chen Pingping had protected the Eldest Prince who was still in Ning Cairen's womb. Just talking about the friendship between the Eldest Prince and Chen Yuan over the years, I am afraid that with the Eldest Prince's character, he might lead hundreds of personal soldiers back to Kyoto!
However, what Fan Xian feared most was this point. The only order he issued before his surprise attack back to Kyoto was to have Mu Feng'er and his party return to Dongyi City to tell the Eldest Prince not to return to Kyoto, but how could Mu Feng'er alone stop the Eldest Prince's anger from erupting? Helplessly, Fan Xian still personally wrote a letter, earnestly requesting that this eldest brother, who was as fiery as his mother and had inherited a lot from her, reluctantly control his impulse to question the Emperor and his desire to avenge Chen Pingping, and honestly stay in Dongyi City.
Whether it was Li Hongcheng, who led troops in Dingzhou, or the Eldest Prince, who controlled 10,000 elite soldiers in Dongyi City, were the only two military forces that Fan Xian could rely on in the Qing Kingdom. However, these elite troops belonged to the Qing Kingdom and to the Emperor. If these two young members of the Royal Family were recalled to Kyoto, either actively or passively, then Fan Xian would have no hope at all.
Because Fan Xian absolutely believed that as long as Li Hongcheng and the Eldest Prince returned to Kyoto, the man sitting on the Dragon Throne would definitely not give them any chance to lead troops again in a few years, and this was precisely because of their relationship with Fan Xian and their relationship with Chen Pingping.
The order to go to Jiangnan to remind Su Wenmao also chose someone to go. In addition to being a member of the Qi Nian Team, Su Wenmao also had the identity of an official of the Internal Treasury Transportation Division. Moreover, the Internal Treasury was of utmost importance to Fan Xian, to the Qing Kingdom, and to the Emperor, and no one could let it go, so Su Wenmao could neither hide in place nor leave Jiangnan and Minbei, so his situation was the most dangerous. Fan Xian could only hope that in these few years, Su Wenmao had cultivated enough direct lineage troops in the three major workshops, and also hoped that Ren Boan's relative brother could remember the old friendship. Apart from letting the Jianlu faction of Dongyi City send experts to Jiangnan to protect Su Wenmao's life, there was no better way from his side.
The Qi Nian Team member who went to Jiangnan also had an additional mission: to bring a message to Xia Qifei, telling him to come to Kyoto sometime in these two months. Letting this contemporary master of the Ming family come to Kyoto did not mean that Fan Xian had any important things to entrust to him, but was just Fan Xian's test of this person. After all, Xia Qifei's surrender to him back then was a surrender to the Qing court and the terrifying Overwatch Council that he represented. Now that Fan Xian had lost power and returned to being a commoner, and the Overwatch Council had been sealed as a pile of mud, who knew what other thoughts might arise in Xia Qifei's heart?
The Ming family was very important to Jiangnan, and also very important to the cold war between Fan Xian and the Emperor. If Xia Qifei had figured it out and directly worshiped under the Dragon Throne, what would Fan Xian do? So he had to see how much loyalty Xia Qifei and the Jiangnan Water Village still had to him. If Xia Qifei really forgot the hard days everyone had in Jiangnan back then…
Fan Xian's head lowered slightly. Then he would have to let the Ming family change its master again and let the Zhaoshang Qianzhuang come forward again.
……
……
One order after another was issued, and the members of the Qi Nian Team took their orders and left without the slightest hesitation. Before long, the lonely and secluded courtyard was empty, leaving only Fan Xian behind the desk in the room and the official in front of him, which seemed particularly quiet. The slightly damp autumn wind blew in the slightly dry air, causing the water bucket beside the well in the courtyard to roll, making a few noises.
Probably no one could have imagined that in such an inconspicuous courtyard, a young man who had been stripped of all his official positions and deprived of all his power was issuing orders, intending to make a final resistance against the powerful national machine of the Qing Kingdom.
"Why did you change your name to Hong Yiqing?" Fan Xian looked at the last Qi Nian Team official who remained, gently stroking the small knife he had just taken out of his arms, and asked softly.
This subordinate was the one who had found out in Qingzhou City that the Little Emperor of Qi intended to use the Beihai Daofang to provoke the relationship between Fan Xian and Emperor Qing. This person had made great contributions in Qingzhou City and was one of the first members Wang Qinian had inserted into the Fourth Division of the Overwatch Council. Fan Xian saw that this person missed Lao Wang, so he transferred him to his side and followed him to Dongyi City. When Fan Xian returned to Kyoto to report his duties last time, he left him in Kyoto to be in charge of central liaison. It was precisely because of this that this person had the opportunity to face Fan Xian at the end, instead of being anxious in Dongyi City.
"I heard that there was a Lord named Hong Changqing in the past, who was brave and righteous and was deeply appreciated by you, my Lord. In the end, he died in the battle of suppressing the rebellion at Danzhou Port. You often remember him, my Lord. I am not talented. Since I have received your great favor, I also want to repay your kindness with my death."
"Don't die." Fan Xian sighed and also remembered Qingwa, who had died under Yan Xiaoyi's arrow. Qingwa had survived the hellish situation of the Water Army's island slaughter and the eating of people by seabirds, but he had not been able to live for more than two years after following him.
He handed the small knife in his hand to Hong Yiqing, stared into his eyes and said word by word, "The reason I left you behind at the end is because there is something important. You must listen clearly and do not miss a single word."
"Yes, my Lord," Hong Yiqing felt a trace of tension.
"I have already sent two people to the Xiliang Road, but Deng Ziyue is still in the open. The court will definitely take him. Even if he can escape, the personnel I arranged there need someone to continue to do it. You have stayed in Qingzhou City for a long time and are familiar with the Xiliang Road. I will leave this matter to you."
Hong Yiqing was slightly stunned, his throat felt a little dry, and his face was slightly hot. He never thought that the Director would entrust him with such an important errand as the Xiliang Road Chief Manager.
"But the most important thing is that you also have to enter the grasslands, find the Royal Tent, and find a woman named Song Zhixianling." Fan Xian's eyes narrowed, and he said to him word by word, "Tell her not to care about what Ku He and Doudou are doing, but to take care of me first! Let her cooperate with Hu Ge and persuade the Shanyu."
Hong Yiqing did not know that Fan Xian had already arranged some things on the grasslands. He was a little puzzled, but calmly agreed.
"I chose you because Song Zhixianling has seen you." Fan Xian lowered his head and said calmly, "Hand this small knife to her, and then let her leave the grasslands and come to Kyoto to see me."
"What if she doesn't leave?" Hong Yiqing asked subconsciously.
Fan Xian raised his head, was silent for a moment, and then said, "Just say that I am going to die, and she can come or not."
These words were very helpless and very rogue. Hong Yiqing stared blankly at Fan Xian. He could not figure out how the seemingly omnipotent Director would say such emotional words. He could not understand what kind of person that Song Zhixianling was that would make the Director value her so much.
At the moment of taking the knife, Fan Xian's fingers suddenly stiffened and he stood up from behind the desk. It was not until a moment later that Hong Yiqing noticed the abnormality. His face turned slightly pale, and he pulled out a poisoned dagger from his boots and quietly walked behind the door of the room.
Because there was movement outside the door, because someone suddenly came to this secluded courtyard that no outsiders knew about.
……
……
(I'm back, I'm unblocked, my mood is very good, very high, very powerful…
I'm still writing. There should be another chapter tonight. The number of words is uncertain. Anyway, from today onwards, I will write non-stop, write and publish. Well, this kind of approach is very comfortable.)