Niao Ni
Chapter 699 Washing Hands of Officialdom
All these dramatic scenes unfolded at the main entrance of the Fan residence. Sun Jingxiu, the Prefect of Kyoto, along with the head of the Ministry of Justice and an inner court eunuch sent from the palace, all witnessed everything clearly.
Fan Xian's hands, exposed beyond his sleeves, still trembled slightly. The accumulated strain of six or seven days was too much; it couldn't be recovered with just a single night's sleep. Furthermore, under the cover of darkness, he had wielded his sword like a demon, reaping the lives of those responsible for surveillance outside the residence. This was another significant drain, leaving his complexion somewhat pale.
His pale and handsome face, coupled with the sword on the ground and the surrounding stench of blood, made Fan Xian appear particularly fearsome at that moment.
He was the current Director of the Imperial Investigating Office, a killing machine forged in the darkness over twenty years. However, people were usually blinded by his status, his title, his power, and his brilliance, failing to realize that Fan Xian's greatest strength lay in his ability to kill.
Of course, not all the spies sent by the palace to monitor the Fan residence were killed. Those who managed to flee before Fan Xian could act, or those who revealed their identities, were merely knocked unconscious. But those who were too close to the Fan residence, within a street or so, disguised as various citizens and merchants, had no opportunity to negotiate or show weakness. They simply became a wisp of lingering souls on the edge of his sword.
Awakening from that nightmare, his eyes freed from the icy sting of that great snow mountain, Fan Xian launched a counterattack at the first possible moment. However, this counterattack seemed unnecessarily bloody and without reason.
Fan Xian was not a bloodthirsty person. He understood that the spies outside the Fan residence were sent by His Majesty and the influential officials of the court. These people were unaware of Fan Xian's current mental state and naturally needed to be cautious. Yet, he had to kill them because his first clear judgment upon opening his eyes was that the Emperor would definitely weaken his power and strictly control his contact with those subordinates of the Imperial Investigating Office who were loyal to him.
Although Yan Bingyun, with the help of the palace and the suppression of military forces, nominally controlled that square, grim building, everyone knew that after Chen Pingping's tragic death in the palace, the sinister courtyard had only one true master: Fan Xian. As long as Fan Xian could rebuild the intricate web of connections with the Imperial Investigating Office, even His Majesty the Emperor would be unable to stop Fan Xian from successfully gathering the Office's power.
At least in the short term, the Emperor would not allow Fan Xian to regain the support of the Imperial Investigating Office. Ye Zhong led troops to "invite" Fan Xian back to Kyoto, and with so many spies planted outside the residence, it was clear that the Emperor intended to temporarily confine Fan Xian to his home.
Fan Xian could not give the Emperor time to make these arrangements step by step. Once Fan Xian was disconnected from the Imperial Investigating Office for too long, the court would naturally gradually dismantle the internal structure of the Office, removing those officials loyal to Chen Pingping and Fan Xian one by one, and desperately introducing new elements, just as the Censorate had done to the Imperial Investigating Office two years prior.
Fan Xian had to, before the Imperial Investigating Office slipped from his control, proactively, methodically, and with preparation, return his forces to the shadows, to a state of tranquility, awaiting the time when he would need them again. All of this depended on Fan Xian contacting them, contacting the most loyal… Qi Nian Group.
The spies outside the Fan residence had to die. Fan Xian would not risk conducting this dangerous operation while being followed. Under the pressure of His Majesty the Emperor's authority, the only way to expose a gap in the surveillance outside the Fan residence was through the terror of bloodshed and death. There was no other way.
And the news that a Raven from the First Bureau had risked their life to deliver into the Fan residence only chilled Fan Xian's heart further and strengthened his grip on the sword.
Four officials of the Imperial Investigating Office had already been strangled to death in prison. They were not heads of the Eight Bureaus, indicating that Yan Bingyun was desperately trying to preserve the Office's remaining strength. However, he had ultimately failed to protect those two officials.
Those four officials were the ones who had attempted to forcefully intervene and save the old Director when Chen Pingping was sent to the Imperial Investigating Office's prison the night before yesterday. His Majesty the Emperor would certainly not allow officials who dared to defy his will to exist, so they died, completely and utterly.
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For Fan Xian, this was a dangerous signal, a signal that His Majesty the Emperor had begun a purge of the Imperial Investigating Office. So he took action, without relying on any insignificant authority, nor using any subordinates he could command. He simply stepped out of the high gates of the Fan residence himself, drew the cold, long sword from his back, and took a stroll in the darkness, killing fourteen people.
Lanterns hung high at the main entrance of the Fan residence, and torches were gathered along the main street of the South City, illuminating the area as if it were daylight. The officials looked at the bloody corpses being carried out of the surrounding streets and alleys, exchanging uneasy glances, feeling a chill in their hearts. Their faces were pale, and they didn't know what to say. They had always known that this young Lord Fan was a formidable character who didn't play by the rules, but they still couldn't understand why young Lord Fan would risk the Emperor's wrath and imprisonment to kill so many people in front of so many witnesses.
Yes, the officials were well aware that the corpses piled in the carts were all capable spies sent by the palace and their own yamen. Their target was the young Duke in the Fan residence, and it was no wonder the young Duke was so angry. But was such brutal slaughter the appropriate response to anger?
From the inner court to the Imperial Investigating Office to the Ministry of Justice… the various yamen in the Qing Kingdom's court had become accustomed to sending out spies to gather the information and intelligence they needed. Especially the first two terrifying entities, who knew how many secret agents they had planted in the residences of the great princes, dukes, and ministers in Kyoto. The Imperial Investigating Office was an old hand at this kind of thing. Rumor had it that the First Bureau had now reached the point of planting a spy in the residence of every Kyoto official above the sixth rank.
The matter of "nails" was not a secret in the Kyoto officialdom. Officials had become accustomed to it. Even if an official discovered one day, due to some strange circumstance, that there was a spy from the palace or the Imperial Investigating Office in his residence, they could only foolishly pretend not to know. If they really couldn't pretend any longer, they would have to treat them well and then politely send them out of the residence, back to their yamen.
Because officials knew that these secret agents represented the Emperor's eyes and the court's authority. They had never imagined that an official would be as coldly ruthless and arrogant as young Lord Fan was today, killing all these spies.
The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice glanced at Sun Jingxiu, the Prefect of Kyoto, whose face was troubled, and said in a low voice, "Lord Sun, what exactly is going on here today? You need to ask young Lord Fan."
Killing people in the street was already a capital offense under the Qing Kingdom's law. Even if Fan Xian was now both respected and noble, and fell within the scope of the Eight Deliberations, he could be exempted from the death penalty, but he would still be punished. Moreover, those he killed today secretly held the status of court officials. But Fan Xian simply washed his bloodstained hands in the light of the torches, changed his bloodstained clothes in front of the officials, and remained cold and calm. Who dared to arrest him?
Among the officials present, only Sun Jingxiu, the Prefect of Kyoto, was responsible for this matter. Moreover, it was well known that Sun's residence had a close relationship with the young Duke. A few months ago, the young Duke had even engaged in a fierce battle with Grand Academician He of the Department of Secretaries in order to further Sun Jingxiu's career, leaving Grand Academician He humiliated. So all the officials' eyes fell on Sun Jingxiu's face.
Sun Jingxiu's heart was as bitter as gall. He knew what his colleagues were afraid of, but he had been having an even harder time these days. First, a major incident occurred in the Imperial Investigating Office, resulting in the tragic death of the old Director Chen through slow slicing. And that day, he had personally watched young Lord Fan charge into the execution ground on horseback, which had frightened him to the core. He didn't know what role young Lord Fan would play in the court in the future, whether he would fall into disgrace or be severely punished by the Emperor…
If Fan Xian collapsed and lost power, Sun Jingxiu would naturally not have a good end. So he had been waiting anxiously in the Kyoto Prefecture all day for the Emperor's decree to strip him of his position. He hadn't expected that the Emperor's decree hadn't arrived, and his patron, young Lord Fan, had done something so shocking and outrageous.
He stooped and walked to the main entrance of the Fan residence, giving Fan Xian a deep and respectful bow, and then asked a few questions in a soft voice.
Fan Xian was sitting wearily on a long bench at this time. The Great Wei Emperor's Sword was thrown at his feet. He was not surprised to see Sun Jingxiu come forward, and he replied coldly.
The officials were afraid to step forward and didn't know what the two were saying, so they had to wait patiently. After Sun Jingxiu walked down from the stone steps, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice frowned and said, "What did young Lord Fan say? This is no small matter. Even if it goes to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, there must be an explanation."
The Deputy Minister did not have the courage to dispatch personnel from the thirteen yamen of the Ministry of Justice to enter the Fan residence and arrest someone. However, the Qing law was strict, and these officials could not pretend that they had not seen anything.
No one knew what Fan Xian had said to Sun Jingxiu earlier, but the Prefect of Kyoto no longer looked so alarmed. He said calmly, "Young Lord Fan said that Kyoto has been uneasy recently. The Imperial Investigating Office discovered that some kidnappers of children had entered Kyoto. As you know, there are two young masters in the Fan residence, so young Lord Fan was naturally a little nervous. So, after the evening meal, he took a walk in the streets and alleys outside the residence and saw some conspicuous figures who didn't look like decent people. So he questioned them, but he didn't expect those people to be so bold as to take out weapons and attack young Lord Fan. Of course, young Lord Fan would not be polite to these traitors."
Hearing this, the officials in the center gasped. They had seen shameless and vicious powerful figures, but they had never seen such a shameless and vicious powerful figure. Fourteen lives were killed at will, and the victims were falsely accused of being child kidnappers. This was self-defense, which seemed plausible, but it was absurd to say that the young Duke in the Fan residence had single-handedly gone to inquire about the whereabouts of child kidnappers and ended up being chased by fourteen people. No one would believe this, no matter how much they tried to justify it.
"This official naturally doesn't believe it, but this official has no evidence. Of course, we can invite young Lord Fan back to the yamen to interrogate him and take a statement, but it's already late at night, and this official has no interest in doing so." Sun Jingxiu suddenly straightened his back and said coldly to the colleagues around him, "You lords also have this right in your yamen. If you are willing to take over this case, feel free to do so… but this official wants to remind you, the dead are basically people from the palace. If the palace doesn't speak up, it's best not to act rashly."
This was a huge load of nonsense. Everyone knew what kind of people had died outside the Fan residence today. This was originally a matter between His Majesty the Emperor and the young Duke. These officials wouldn't dare to intervene even if they had the courage. However, Fan Xian had gone too far today, and the matter would soon reach the palace. If these officials didn't react beforehand, who knew what the palace would think of them?
After saying this, Sun Jingxiu left with the Kyoto Prefecture's yamen runners, no longer bothering with these matters. He had received a reassuring pill from the simple conversation he had had with Fan Xian earlier. Although the pill didn't taste very good, at least the young Duke had said that as long as he didn't die, Sun's residence would be fine. Since the words had been spoken to this extent, Sun Jingxiu had no complaints and left everything to fate.
Watching the people from the Kyoto Prefecture leave the main entrance of the Fan residence, Fan Xian stood up from the long bench, glanced coldly at the officials under the stone steps, picked up the Great Wei Emperor's Sword, which was regarded as a treasure by the world, from his feet, and slapped it against the head of the stone lion twice as if he were picking up a wet mop.
This demeanor was very similar to that of a shameless and reckless hoodlum, but it was precisely what young Lord Fan was doing. The strong contrast made the officials' faces change.
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Entering the residence, a maidservant immediately came forward and handed him a thick robe. Fan Xian then felt a little warmer. He tightened his collar and walked towards the inner residence, casually asking, "Has the reed root water been boiled? If it has, send it over quickly."
The maidservant responded and went to the small kitchen to keep an eye on it. Fan Xian walked to the inner residence alone, sat down on the bed, and said softly to his wife, Lin Wan'er, who was beside the table, "I killed fourteen people. Maybe twenty-eight will come tomorrow."
"Actually, those people are just court officials, receiving orders from the palace and various yamen. Why bother…" A trace of pity appeared on Lin Wan'er's face. "Besides, even if you're upset and want to avenge the two subordinates of the Imperial Investigating Office who died in prison, you shouldn't vent your anger on those people."
"You don't understand. His Majesty wants to confine me in this residence, but he knows that unless he personally leaves the palace and watches me, even if Ye Zhong comes, he can't stop me from contacting the outside world." Fan Xian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling that his body was still a little weak, and said in a hoarse voice, "His Majesty is overwhelmed with official duties. How can he personally watch me? So he can only cast a big net, a net outside our residence."
"I have to tear this net open, otherwise I'll become a frog in a pot of warm water, not knowing how I died." A chilling glint flashed in Fan Xian's eyes.
"But you also said that you killed fourteen people today, and maybe twenty-eight will come tomorrow. His Majesty is the Lord of the Qing Kingdom, and the subjects of the world are all tools in his hands. How can you kill them all?" Lin Wan'er looked at him with worry.
"Killing too many will naturally make people afraid." Fan Xian lowered his head slightly and said, "Although imperial power is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and is irresistible, the fear of death will probably make those officials and spies who are casting the net unconsciously reveal some loopholes."
Hearing this, the worry on Lin Wan'er's face did not fade. Her watery eyes were full of concern and uneasiness for Fan Xian. She said softly, "But if His Majesty wants to subdue you, there are many ways."
Fan Xian put his hands on both sides of his body, lowered his head and pondered for a moment, and then said faintly, "He left my sister in the palace. This is forcing me not to dare to leave Kyoto. But if he wants to subdue me, he must lock me up in the palace, by his side. I don't think His Majesty will take this risk."
Speaking of this, he raised his head and looked at his wife's worried face, and said gently, "Shu Ning and Liang Zi have already left the city. You did a very good job with this matter. Otherwise, it would be difficult for us parents to let go in Kyoto."
"Si Si and the others should have arrived at the family manor, but I think the palace must have received the news." Lin Wan'er sighed, walked to his side, and gently leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't care what you want to do, but you have to think about it. Your sister is still in the palace, and those two little ones haven't gone far yet."
"So I need to contact my people." Fan Xian gently stroked his wife's slightly thin cheeks with pity. "Si Si is usually unremarkable, but she is actually a very opinionated and hardworking person. Teng Zijing is mature and experienced, so he probably won't let the palace catch any flaws. If I can contact the people in the Qi Nian Group, I will naturally have a way to send them back to Danzhou."
"As for my sister still being in the palace… she should be fine." Fan Xian's voice suddenly became cold. "By openly challenging His Majesty's authority today, I want to see exactly what he wants to do."
"Are you really not worried that Emperor Uncle will severely punish you?" Lin Wan'er sat up straight and looked at him worriedly. She knew deeply how cold-blooded and ruthless the relative sitting on the dragon throne was. Once he discovered that Fan Xian was no longer the illegitimate son he could control, what would he do? Lin Wan'er always thought that Fan Xian's current actions were too radical and too risky.
"Any of His Majesty's actions have nothing to do with kinship or feelings, only with interests." Fan Xian said with his eyes closed, "If we recognize this benchmark, we can try to analyze it. His Majesty may be angry, but he won't push me to the brink."
"Whether it's the children I'm preparing to send to Danzhou, or Ruo Ruo in the palace, or… you." Fan Xian opened his eyes, looked at his wife, and said slowly, "These are all my bottom lines. If His Majesty breaks this bottom line, he can only force us to completely fall out in advance."
Lin Wan'er looked at him with some confusion.
Fan Xian said, "I never underestimate any of my enemies, but I also never underestimate myself. Whether His Majesty forces me to rebel or kills me directly, it will only bring him and the Great Qing Dynasty consequences that he cannot afford and a chaotic situation that he cannot clean up."
"If I die, what will happen to Dongyi City? Will the disciples and grandsons of Si Gu Jian still abide by that unwritten agreement? Although there are elements inserted by the court in the Grand Prince's ten thousand elite soldiers, the movements of the Imperial Guards three years ago have already shown our eldest brother's ability to command troops. He can completely take control of this strong army in a short period of time… Chen Pingping is dead, and if I die again, eldest brother will definitely not listen to me anymore. Even if he doesn't lead troops back to Kyoto, he will at least stay in Dongyi City and coldly watch the father emperor in Kyoto… His Majesty had better not use Lady Ning to threaten him. Judging from your description, Lady Ning already had a death wish after the Imperial Study Room incident. With her strong and passionate nature, if His Majesty uses her life to threaten eldest brother to return to Kyoto, she will probably die in front of His Majesty immediately."
"Yun Zhilan is not a fool either. If I die, he will definitely be able to guess eldest brother's thoughts. If he has such a strong ally for no reason, he will definitely fully assist him in order to maintain the independent status of Dongyi City."
"If I die, what will be Hong Cheng's reaction, who is currently in Dingzhou?"
"If I die, what kind of chaotic end will Jiangnan, which I have been managing for five years, meet? Even if Xia Qifei betrays me, I have enough ways to make the entire Jiangnan chaotic."
"Not to mention the Imperial Investigating Office. The Imperial Investigating Office is now maintaining silence, on the one hand because of the large army outside the Office, and more importantly because all the officials are secretly watching me. They want to know what I want to do. If I die too, the Imperial Investigating Office will fall apart."
"You see, if His Majesty really forces me to rebel or kills me directly, it will bring so much turmoil." A strange smile appeared on the corner of Fan Xian's lips, and he said faintly, "How can he bear it? How… dare he?"
In fact, Fan Xian had many more chips hidden behind him that he didn't mention, partly because it wasn't necessary, and partly because he himself didn't have much confidence in the chips in the north. However, after discussing it to this point, the last four words he said coldly were so firm and confident.
Inheriting his mother's legacy, with the care of countless elders, including the emperor's favor and trust over the years, and the expectations and support of those old monsters, Fan Xian finally lived up to expectations and became the only great figure in the world today who could look at Qing Kingdom's powerful emperor without retreating.
Perhaps no one usually noticed this, but once people focused their attention on this, they would be shocked to find that the storms in Qing Kingdom and the world had actually created such a distorted existence as Fan Xian.
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"I think you still underestimate His Majesty." Lin Wan'er said softly after a long silence, "Perhaps for the sake of the Qing Kingdom and the world, he will tolerate your disrespect, but this is definitely not just based on his fear of the things you can influence, but includes many other things, perhaps some subtle things. Once he discovers that you really have no affection for him, he will definitely erase you directly."
"The best way to eliminate a person is to eliminate his body." Lin Wan'er looked at Fan Xian blankly, "Do you think that if His Majesty really dared to kill you, he would still care about Dongyi City's return and rebellion? Would he care about Li Hongcheng's power in Dingzhou, or would he care about how much hunger and suffering the people of Jiangnan would endure?"
"If he really has the heart to kill you, how can he care about anything else in the world? Even if the entire world abandons him, Emperor will still have the courage and strength to create a new world. Moreover, you can at most make his world have some extremely difficult to repair scars."
Lin Wan'er gently stroked his haggard and pale face, and sighed, "If not for my sake, not for the sake of the children, think more about yourself no matter what you do."
Fan Xian was silent. He had to admit that although he had always been the person in this world who understood the Emperor best, his wife, who had grown up by the Emperor's side since childhood, had a better grasp of the emotional thought patterns of his uncle.
"Let's not talk about these things. When the reed root soup comes later, you have to drink it while it's hot." Fan Xian forced a smile. Wan'er's condition had been extremely stable these years. In addition to Mr. Fei and Fan Xian's medicines, the greatest contributor was the soup brewed from these reed roots produced in the Northern Sea.
As soon as he said this, Fan Xian suddenly thought of the Northern Sea, of the reed leaves that pricked people's skin slightly, and of the woman he hadn't seen and hadn't thought of for a long time. He wondered if she was doing well in Xihu. The reason why he suddenly thought of Haitang Duoduo at this time was because after the previous conversation, Fan Xian had more clearly judged what he should do.
Wan'er was right. The best way to eliminate a person is to eliminate his body. Fan Xian closed his eyes and was silent, thinking about how to melt the eternal snow mountain? How to defeat a Great Grandmaster? Haitang? Or Shisangling? Or… himself? Or has no one in this world been able to do it?
Fan Xian began to miss Wu Zhu, not because he missed the iron rod beside him, but simply because in times of faint spirit, he subconsciously missed his closest relatives.
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The next day, the main gate of the Fan residence was wide open, and the spies sent by the inner court again filled the dark corners around the main street of the South City. It seemed that the emperor in the palace knew very well what his illegitimate son was thinking and testing. He just sat calmly in the imperial study, responding to all changes with stability, consuming Fan Xian's time, and gradually increasing the temperature of the water in the pot.
The big piece of firewood placed under this pot was the Emperor's decree that Eunuch Dai from the inner court brought this morning.
Listening to that familiar Yuyao accent, Fan Xian knelt in the main hall in a black official uniform, his eyes flashing with the calm light of everything being within expectation.
"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees… remove Fan Xian from the position of Director of the Imperial Investigating Office, and order him to return to his residence to reflect on his mistakes, be cautious, be cautious!"