Spring. I planted a lot of corn, so in the autumn, I should harvest a lot? Perhaps to many, it is self-evident that one reaps what one sows, that effort compensates for deficiency, and that one should always seek some return. However, after Fan Xian came from Danzhou to the capital, he served the Qing Yu Nian court and sought benefits for the people quite a few times. Although he wasn't a particularly benevolent or righteous man, he still consciously or unconsciously planted many seeds of fortune. It's just a pity that by the autumn of the tenth year of the Qingli era, none of those fortunes had sprouted.

All his official positions were taken away, all his power was seized, and all the loved ones he cared about became virtual hostages. He became a commoner, a wealthy idler who could only listen to tunes and frequent the Embrace Moon Tower in the capital.

Yet no one spoke out on his behalf, and no one dared to plead with the Emperor for him. All the officials and citizens just watched this scene unfold with indifference, even with a sense of equanimity.

Giving without expecting anything in return? Did Fan Xian possess such a high level of spiritual attainment? No one knew, but in the eyes of the people, Lord Fan… no, Young Duke, no, Fan Xian, from autumn onwards, perfectly played the role of a wealthy idler, spending his days wandering the streets of the capital, lounging in the Embrace Moon Tower, teasing his children at home, chatting with the women of his household, and reading the new novels published by the Danbo Bookstore.

The Danbo Medical Clinic across from the bookstore remained open, with physicians from the Imperial Hospital practicing medicine among the common people in place of Fan Ruoruo. Whether this was the condition that the ice-like woman in the palace had made to the Emperor was unknown. In any case, Miss Fan remained in the depths of the palace, and Fan Xian couldn't find a way to visit her, so he changed his initial plan and asked his wife to visit her in the palace several times.

In this manner, more than a month passed peacefully. The Fan residence was so quiet that the people of the capital were beginning to forget it. Fan Xian was so silent that he was almost disappearing from people's conversations.

However, there was one place that couldn't forget Fan Xian: the Imperial College. Although the Emperor's decree had stripped Fan Xian of all his official positions, it had left him with the idle post of instructor at the Imperial College. About twenty days prior, perhaps because he was too bored being a wealthy idler at home, Fan Xian finally dragged himself out of his gentle embrace and began to attend classes at the Imperial College.

The Imperial College, with its ancient trees lining the path, was as tranquil as ever. The news of Fan Xian's lectures at the Imperial College stirred up the students. On the open space in front of the Qinxin Pond, hundreds of people could often be seen gathered together, listening with great interest.

Fan Xian's habit was to lecture these students from the stone steps in front of the Qinxin Pond. Because so many students came to listen to his lectures, the Imperial College couldn't accommodate them, so they had to comply with his mischievous suggestion and set up the classroom between heaven and earth. Some couldn't help but think that perhaps Fan Xian simply wanted to take advantage of the continuous autumn rain to save himself some effort.

The content of the lectures was actually very simple, mainly focusing on the works compiled by the Great Scholar Zhuang Mohan of Northern Qi, including various historical and philosophical collections. With the strong support of the Danbo Bookstore, the Southern Qing Imperial College had spent several years sorting out those books, and Fan Xian was also quite familiar with them, so he didn't feel shy when talking about the allusions contained within.

Of course, Fan Xian's lectures were unique. Basically, each time he would arrange for several instructors to talk eloquently in front of the Qinxin Pond, and then he would personally step forward to debate with the students below the steps. As for the content of the debates, because some of it was disrespectful, it wasn't spread outside the Imperial College.

Although Fan Xian was currently nothing, at least in the Imperial College, in the hearts of these young scholars, he was still a very remarkable figure, at least a person with some privileges.

On this day, the autumn sky was clear and crisp, and the autumn was at its peak. Fan Xian lazily finished his day's lectures, too lazy to pay attention to the student whose face was red with agitation and who refused to give up his verbal attacks. He clapped his hands, walked down the stone steps, and said, "I've told you long ago that I can basically only recite the classics, histories, philosophies, and collections, but if you want me to say something profound and meaningful, I can't explain it clearly. I understand the principle that there must be a good reason to launch a military action, but where is there such a thing as a righteous war in this world? It's nothing more than an excuse."

"Our Great Qing's mighty army points its swords at the world, naturally to deliver the people from suffering…" The student, along with more than a dozen of his good friends, followed Fan Xian's behind, saying something with great indignation.

Today's topic was about the establishment of the Great Wei Dynasty, and in plain terms, it was about analyzing the justness of war. However, this was precisely the question that Fan Xian couldn't explain clearly, and he believed that there were few people in the world who could explain it clearly.

Fan Xian got into his carriage, left the Imperial College, and no longer paid attention to the students who were still indignant behind him. The carriage traveled on the streets of the capital for a moment, escaping the liveliness within the tranquility of the Imperial College and entering the clear and vast autumn scenery again. He subconsciously pulled open the curtain, looking at the street scene outside with a smile, but he couldn't hide the trace of melancholy between his brows.

Being a wealthy idler for a month was just a superficial phenomenon, just an act to put on for the court and the palace. In Fan Xian's heart, there was a flame that was completely contrary to his apparent tranquility and peace, but this flame was suppressed extremely well by him.

Moreover, it was being forcibly suppressed, because the current situation still didn't allow him to see any opportunity to take advantage of. Since returning to the capital, Fan Xian had never returned to the Overwatch Council, especially after exiling all the members of the Qinian Group from the capital, even contact with the First Bureau had become extremely difficult. But this didn't mean that Fan Xian had no other sources of information. He knew very well that in just one month, the Emperor, with the strong assistance of Yan Bingyun, had successfully suppressed most of the unstable factors in the Overwatch Council. The work of replacing personnel was also proceeding in an orderly manner, and it was only a matter of time before it was truly cleansed.

The news from Jiangnan was also not very pleasant. All of these signs were the source of Fan Xian's worries. He realized that he had still underestimated the control and power of imperial authority in a feudal society. Even the Overwatch Council, which Chen Pingping and he had painstakingly built for decades, was now developing in the direction of surrender under the coercion of imperial power.

Fan Xian frowned. In fact, the issue between him and the Emperor seemed to be in the Overwatch Council, in the Internal Treasury, in the capital, but in reality, it was in the world. All the officials of the Qing Kingdom, the intelligent commoners, even including Scholar Hu and Yan Bingyun, didn't understand this point. Therefore, they didn't understand why the Emperor would deal with Fan Xian in this way, stripping him of all his official positions and powers, yet allowing him to live so freely in the capital, still retaining his secret influence.

Fan Xian's current state was one of being neither dead nor alive, and only he and the Emperor understood why this was the case.

If it were just a matter of dealing with Fan Xian alone, the Emperor was much stronger than him and could easily knock Fan Xian down into the dust and step on him, preventing him from ever rising again. But the problem was that in the capital, outside the capital, and even beyond the borders of the Qing Kingdom, Fan Xian's secret influence was frighteningly strong. Even with the Emperor's confidence and pride, he couldn't underestimate the extent of that influence.

Therefore, the Emperor kept Fan Xian in the capital in a state of being neither dead nor alive, and then slowly and steadily reduced Fan Xian's influence outside the capital. At the same time, he had to cut off those invisible hands that Fan Xian had extended beyond the borders of the country.

This was a process of quantitative change leading to qualitative change. Unless Fan Xian's influence was reduced to a level of risk that the Qing Kingdom's court could bear, the Emperor wouldn't really take action to kill him, because even if Fan Xian died, the Emperor didn't want to see the Eastern Yi and Western Liang actually descend into chaos.

And if the Emperor could perfectly control these issues, then whether Fan Xian lived or died was no longer an important matter.

...

...

The carriage arrived at the Embrace Moon Tower with practiced ease. Fan Xian got out of the carriage, put his hands behind his back, and entered the brothel, walking directly towards the manor by the Thin Lake in the back, without even looking at the figure at the intersection behind him.

The person monitoring Fan Xian was an ascetic, and no one knew how many other ascetics were secretly monitoring him. The problem was that ascetics couldn't get close to women, so when Fan Xian entered the Embrace Moon Tower, they couldn't very well follow him in.

Passing through the slightly cool lake breeze, Fan Xian entered the small courtyard that was specially reserved for him, looked at the increasingly charming and beautiful brothel owner in front of him, and said with a smile, "What new tunes are there to listen to today?"

Shi Qing'er covered her mouth and smiled, saying, "Young Master doesn't write poetry anymore these days, so where can there be good tunes that can please your ears?"

Several years had passed since the year Fan Xian copied poetry at the Embrace Moon Tower, but this woman named Shi Qing'er showed no signs of aging. Fan Xian squinted at her, smiled, and didn't say anything more.

Actually, there was no need for the inner court's spies to keep an eye on him. Everyone in the capital knew that the current Lord Fan had long become a semi-useless wealthy idler, whose greatest pleasure in life was to find the girls in the Embrace Moon Tower.

Wealthy idler, Fan Xian truly deserved this reputation. Although he currently held no official positions or powers, he still had money. No one knew exactly how much gold and silver was hidden in the Fan residence, but at least on the surface, the Embrace Moon Tower, one of the Fan residence's businesses, had, with the strengthening of the Qing Kingdom's power and the protection of the Overwatch Council over the years, devoured most of the best brothels in the world. Under the rules and regulations that Fan Xian had personally formulated, the Embrace Moon Tower had spread all over the world. If it was said that it had unified the brothel industry, it wouldn't be an exaggeration.

The Embrace Moon Tower's nominal owners, Shi Chanli and Sang Wen, were still developing their businesses in Dongyi City, and they had even extended their reach into the Northern Qi capital city. Everything was going smoothly, and they were both influential figures wherever they went.

Of course, people knew that Fan Xian stood behind them.

...

...

Fan Xian lay on a soft couch, comfortably receiving a massage from two girls, his eyes closed, but his mind was racing. The Embrace Moon Tower was, after all, a business, and the court couldn't be too outrageous. The palace didn't want to completely destroy the Fan residence's reputation, so they had left Fan Xian with this haven. What comforted him the most was that, clearly, people in this era still underestimated the effectiveness of brothels in gathering intelligence.

The business that Fan Sizhe and the Third Prince, those two lawless youngsters, had recklessly created several years ago had now become one of Fan Xian's trump cards.

"Su Wenmao has been dismissed. What excuse did the court use?" After the courtyard quieted down, Fan Xian asked with his eyes slightly lowered. Su Wenmao, as Fan Xian's direct confidant and a government official, couldn't leave his post without permission, so he had to wait helplessly for the court to take action. Not long ago, the decree had been directly sent to the Three Great Workshops in Minbei, ordering Su Wenmao to be arrested and brought back to the capital. This was originally an extremely confidential matter, but because of the Embrace Moon Tower, Fan Xian knew about it earlier than most people in the capital.

Because he had been mentally prepared, Fan Xian wasn't surprised or angry. He was just worried that the people from the Qinian Group who had been sent to Minbei had explained things clearly to Su Wenmao. He believed that Su Wenmao, the cheerful number two comedian, wouldn't be foolish enough to confront the court head-on, but he was worried that there hadn't been enough time for Su Wenmao to arrange enough things in the Internal Treasury.

The Internal Treasury was Fan Xian's second root. The Internal Treasury Transport Division had been completely taken over by the Emperor, but Fan Xian wouldn't let this root be directly cut off by the palace. If it was to be cut off, it had to be cut off by Fan Xian, and with one stroke, it would have to cause pain to the Qing Kingdom's court and the people.

At this thought, thinking of the Ten Families Village north of Dongyi City, which was heavily guarded, thinking of the internal treasury craft process that had been prepared in triplicate in the Three Great Workshops and the imperial palace, as well as the copy in his mind, a smile appeared on the corner of Fan Xian's lips, but his hand in his sleeve slowly clenched into a fist.

On the Western Liang Road, Deng Ziyue had successfully escaped from the court's secret network, but it was unknown where he was hiding now. However, since the intelligence hadn't reported Deng Ziyue's death, Fan Xian felt extremely relieved. However, the members in the four bureaus there must now be in a state of having no leader. It was unknown whether they could withstand the pressure from the Overwatch Council's main bureau in the capital. Hong Yiqing's instructions were to first enter the grasslands to find that person, and then return to contact the forces in Dingzhou and Qingzhou. He hoped everything would be in time...

"Gong Dian has already arrived in Dingzhou," Shi Qing'er said with her eyes lowered.

Fan Xian remained silent. He hadn't expected the Emperor's reaction to be so swift, actually transferring the commander of the Imperial Guards directly to Dingzhou to suppress the situation. Although Li Hongcheng had led troops in Dingzhou for several years, his foundation was still shallow after all. Gong Dian was an old veteran of the Dingzhou army, with seniority and merit. Hongcheng was afraid that he wouldn't be able to withstand him, and he would only be forced to be recalled to the capital.

If he wanted to find a way to allow Hongcheng to remain in Dingzhou and maintain control of his share of the military strength, then Western Liang had to be thrown into chaos first.

Fan Xian frowned tightly, discovering that everything had long since spun out of his control. He could only hope that the first group of people sent to the grasslands could quickly contact Hu Ge and allow those Hu people on the grasslands to launch an offensive ahead of schedule, against the natural order, in this early winter season.

Things were too chaotic and complicated. How could Fan Xian really be idle? He looked at Shi Qing'er with some helplessness and asked, "How's the investigation into the corruption case in the Ministry of Works going?"

"Lord Yang..." Shi Qing'er looked at him worriedly and said, "The verdict was already decided yesterday, and the Dali Temple will issue a formal judgment paper this afternoon."

Although she had been a member of the Second Prince's faction in the past, she hadn't been able to develop any disloyal thoughts in recent years under Fan Xian's coercion. Moreover, as a woman from a brothel, she knew that this young man in front of her was actually somewhat different from all the other powerful figures in the capital. She wanted to become a second Sang Wen, but she didn't want to become a second Yuan Meng. Therefore, as she watched Lord Fan's right and left arms being torn off one by one by the court in a bloody manner, she couldn't help but feel some trepidation and fear.

Fan Xian looked at the sky over the lake, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "It's this afternoon, huh? Then I'll go pick him up."

...

...

The case of Yang Wanli, an assistant department director of the Ministry of Works' River Conservancy Department, from being reported to having the case file submitted from the Ministry of Justice to the Dali Temple, took only a dozen days in total. This kind of efficiency was astounding enough to be placed in Qing Kingdom's history. People who didn't know the inside story might have thought that the Emperor's decree to clean up corruption had suddenly turned into real action in the tenth year of the Qingli era.

However, the real officials in the bureaucracy couldn't help but feel some regret and coldness as they watched this grand play, because they all knew what kind of person Yang Wanli was. This was a capable, diligent, and honest official who had spent two whole years on the long embankment of the Great River.

Yang Wanli was one of the four disciples of the Fan Sect. The money that Lord Fan privately raised flowed into the dam through the hands of the River Transport Governor's Office like flowing water, and it was all handled by him. If he really wanted to embezzle money, it couldn't possibly be the few thousand taels of silver mentioned in the charges... Why would he leave the fat meat untouched and instead go for those bribes in the Ministry of Works?

Moreover, all the officials knew that the Fan Sect was extremely strict in governing its subordinates and extremely generous in treating them. Not to mention the Overwatch Council's salaries, which were several times higher than those of government officials, even the three adults who held positions in various places in Qing Kingdom were actually supported by the Fan residence every year. A mere few thousand taels of silver wasn't a difficult thing. Everyone knew that the Fan residence was the richest family in the world. How could Yang Wanli possibly be embezzling?

But it was precisely because they were clear about these things that the officials were even clearer that Yang Wanli's trial was simply the Emperor's intention. Under the arrangement of Scholar He of the Secretariat Council, the trial procedure was proceeding extremely quickly. Today, the Dali Temple would announce the verdict. According to some insider information, if Scholar Hu hadn't really felt sorry for Yang Wanli's talent and innocence and forcefully intervened, Lord Yang's outcome would have been even more tragic.

Fan Xian stood alone in front of the Dali Temple's yamen, looking lonely, waiting for the verdict inside. The yamen runners outside the Dali Temple's yamen had already recognized his identity and were frightened, having already sent the message inside to the adults. They could only block Fan Xian's path tremulously.

Fortunately, Fan Xian didn't lose his temper. He just waited silently for Yang Wanli to come out. The yamen closest to the Dali Temple was the Overwatch Council's First Bureau. Those little brats from the First Bureau, upon discovering that the Director was here, couldn't help but stand outside the yamen gate, suppressing their excitement as they watched this scene.

The First Bureau was Fan Xian's old nest. The rectification that year had truly produced a group of loyal subordinates. Otherwise, they wouldn't have caused such a commotion at the execution ground that day, with a large group of officials from the First Bureau escorting him out of the city. Although Mu Tie had already been kicked out of the Overwatch Council, these officials still regarded Fan Xian as the Director and refused to accept that Yan Bingyun. However, the Qing Kingdom's laws were strict, so these officials could only watch the lonely Fan Xian from afar, offering their support in spirit.

Fan Xian didn't turn around to look at those youngsters, still looking at the Dali Temple's yamen, with a trace of comforting smile on his face.

A majestic sound of yamen arose within the yamen. Not long after, Song Shiren, the former official litigant of the Overwatch Council and the capital's silver-tongued lawyer, walked out of the Dali Temple's yamen in silence, without any joy on his face, but rather with a somewhat gloomy expression.

Ever since Fan Xian had been stripped of his position as Director of the Overwatch Council, Song Shiren, this non-staff member, didn't want to stay in the Overwatch Council anymore and directly found Fan Xian. Fan Xian hadn't expected this silver-tongued lawyer to have such a sense of gratitude. He was slightly surprised, and naturally settled him down. Coincidentally, the court had begun to clean up the Fan Sect's personnel, and to save the Qing Kingdom's face, they naturally couldn't resort to secret agent methods... Everything had to respect the Qing Kingdom's laws, so Fan Xian had sent him out, at least to seek a relatively fair outcome for his subordinates.

Looking at Song Shiren's expression, Fan Xian's eyes narrowed slightly and said, "I can't enter the yamen now, so I entrusted this to you... We've all seen the case files. There's no reason we can't win."

"Knowing full well that the witnesses and evidence were arranged by the court, there's nothing anyone can do," Song Shiren sighed, looking at Fan Xian and saying, "Didn't you use this method when you rectified the Ming family in Jiangnan back then, Director?"

Fan Xian's heart trembled slightly, his voice lowered into a cold line as he said sternly, "I didn't expect to acquit Wanli of his crime. I'm just saying that winning means, at least... I have to see him in person at this time!"

"Imprisonment for three years," Song Shiren said dejectedly. Serving Lord Fan these days was equivalent to fighting against the entire court with one's own strength. No matter how the lawsuit was fought, it would be lost.

"Where does this talk of imprisonment come from?" Fan Xian rebuked in slight anger, "Three thousand taels of silver, at most it's exile for three thousand miles. It's clearly stated in the Qing Kingdom's laws that returning the stolen goods and paying the fine can be used to negotiate the crime. How did you fight this lawsuit?"

Song Shiren hesitated, smiled bitterly, and said, "That's naturally how it's written in the Qing Kingdom's laws. Originally, the negotiation of the crime with the return of the stolen goods and the fine had already been agreed upon yesterday, but today Scholar He came to review the trial and erased this clause, also changing the exile to imprisonment."

"He Zongwei?" Fan Xian heard this familiar name and laughed instead of being angry. After remaining silent for half a moment, he took out a silver note from his bosom, restrained his expression, and said calmly, "Go in again, give this silver note to the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, and ask him, how exactly did he learn the Qing Kingdom's laws? Does he want me to personally stand up and fight this lawsuit with him?"

Song Shiren took the silver note, stunned by the amount of 30,000 taels on it. After remaining silent for a moment, he gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and walked back up to the yamen. He knew that Fan Xian's performance today was forced by the court. For Yang Wanli's sake, Fan Xian had no choice but to stand up and sell his not-so-old face. It just depended on how the officials of the Dali Temple would think about it.

It was unknown what Song Shiren said after he went in. Not long after, an official coughed lightly, walked down the stone steps, and said two sentences in Fan Xian's ear. Fan Xian didn't respond, just shook his head. The official looked helpless and walked back.

Finally, Song Shiren helped Yang Wanli walk out of the Dali Temple's yamen. Fan Xian's eyes narrowed, and he could tell that Yang Wanli had been tortured in prison. A dark fire surged in his heart, but he took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed it, ordering several servants to carry Yang Wanli onto the carriage.

Yang Wanli brushed past him. The pair of teachers and students, whose ages were extremely close, didn't say anything. However, a trace of unwillingness and grief flashed in Yang Wanli's eyes.

Fan Xian felt a little cold. He knew what Yang Wanli was grieving about. An official who only wanted to do some things had to endure non-existent injustices because of these messy affairs in the court and the imperial palace, not to mention losing his position and being tortured. The key was that his reputation had been sullied. As a scholar, who could bear it?

Just as Fan Xian was about to leave, Secretariat Council Scholar He Zongwei walked out of the Dali Temple's yamen slowly, accompanied by several officials. He Zongwei looked at Fan Xian, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Young Master Fan has good taste."

Fan Xian was too lazy to even look at this person. This attitude made the several officials around He Zongwei somewhat angry. The current situation in the capital was no longer the same as before. He Zongwei was currently in favor, while Fan Xian was already just a commoner. It wasn't in accordance with the rules to ask questions to an official and not answer.

However, He Zongwei didn't have any emotional reaction. He asked, "This official is very curious. What exactly did you say to that adult earlier that made the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple suddenly change his mind?"

This was really something that Scholar He was very curious about. He often entered the palace, so he naturally knew that the rift between the Emperor and this Lord Fan was irreparable. Therefore, he didn't have the same fear of Fan Xian that he had in the past. Today, he had come to listen to the trial on the Emperor's orders. He had secretly tampered with it, making sure that Yang Wanli, one of the four disciples of the Fan Sect, had no chance of turning things around. However, he hadn't expected that everything had originally gone smoothly, but in the end, it had suddenly changed its appearance.

It was clear that this young man was no longer in favor, and he also held no official position. Why were the officials in the Dali Temple frightened back by just his words? He Zongwei racked his brains and couldn't figure it out. He didn't know what kind of magic power Fan Xian had that made these officials not even listen to the Emperor's hints.

Fan Xian turned his head, looked at him coldly, and said, "I told that adult, don't force me to lose my temper."

...

...

"Do you want to force me to lose my cool?" Fan Xian squinted at He Zongwei's slightly dark face, suddenly smiled slightly, and said, "Actually, I'm also very curious. What can you do to me if I beat up a government official in the street?"

As soon as these words came out, the officials around He Zongwei finally understood that Fan Xian's power wasn't just in his official position and authority. They took a step back in fright, but He Zongwei still stood calmly in front of Fan Xian, sighed, understood the reason, and couldn't help but feel a little regret. In terms of official position and authority, he might be able to suppress the other party, but in the face of vicious and unreasonable methods, he could never be as arrogant as this person.

"Cheng Jialin, the Governor of Suzhou, has been impeached for frequenting prostitutes and committing abuses, and has been ordered back to the capital to defend himself. In about a few days, he'll come to the Dali Temple again," He Zongwei said gently. "It seems that you, this wealthy idler in the capital, can't really be idle."

Fan Xian's eyelids drooped slightly and said casually, "You're the Emperor's dog, so you have to be busy running around everywhere. I won't."

Hitting someone doesn't mean hitting them in the face, but Fan Xian had already hit He Zongwei in the face many years ago. Today, at the yamen gate, on the street, he coldly called He Zongwei a dog, which was equivalent to hitting the other party in the face again. After all, the current He Zongwei wasn't the little censor he had been back then. As a first-class minister in the court, he naturally had to consider his own dignity and face. Moreover, there were so many people watching at this time. His slightly dark complexion gradually changed, and he said in a cold voice, "As a subject, I'm naturally the Emperor's dog. In this official's opinion, you're also the Emperor's dog, aren't you?"

Scholar He thought that this sentence was an appropriate response, both maintaining his own face and blocking the other party's words, making it difficult for Fan Xian to respond. However, he hadn't expected that Fan Xian would laugh upon hearing these words.

"If I'm a dog, then what is the Emperor?" Fan Xian looked at him mockingly, sneered, turned around, and got into the carriage.

He Zongwei's expression froze. He knew that he had said the wrong thing. Just like he didn't understand why Fan Xian could influence the Dali Temple today, it was because no matter how much the other party had been demoted, he was still... the Emperor's flesh and blood. On this point alone, the ten thousand people in the world couldn't compare. A strong sense of disappointment arose in He Zongwei's heart. He felt that life was always so unfair.

————————————————————

In the capital, Fan Xian couldn't be idle. He was struggling to deal with the combo punches that the Emperor had thrown at him. He was only able to defend himself, but he didn't have any ability or method to counterattack. On the real battlefield between him and the Emperor, a series of thrilling dramas were unfolding. These dramas had no audience and weren't recorded in history books, but they were truly playing out, because in these places, Fan Xian could use his full strength to launch the most resolute counterattacks against the chess pieces laid by the Emperor.

In Dingzhou City on the Western Liang Road, it was unknown what kind of entanglements Li Hongcheng and Gong Dian, who had come to take over his position, were currently engaged in. On the road from Southern Qing to Dongyi City, the armies of both sides were confronting each other, with neither side willing to give way even a step. The three thousand soldiers of the Yanjing Camp, who were conducting winter training, were being blocked at the national border, unable to enter even a step. This situation had been deadlocked for three days.

"His Majesty has ordered us to enter Dongyi City to assist His Highness the Eldest Prince in quelling the rebellion, but His Highness directly issued a military order to block us, saying that his ten thousand elite troops are enough," Wang Zhikun, the commander of the Yanjing Camp, said with a cold smile to his confidants in the tent. "Since those ten thousand elite troops are quelling the rebellion in Xiao Liang Kingdom, who can stop our troops from directly entering Dongyi?"

When he said these words, Wang Zhikun's anger finally exploded. This was originally a probe from the court towards Dongyi City. Originally, everything was proceeding according to plan. If the Eldest Prince hadn't sent troops to block them, these three thousand elite troops would have been the vanguard, and the Yanjing Camp had prepared a total of twenty thousand troops, ready to advance along the road. Who knew that these three thousand elite troops would be blocked at the national border, unable to enter even a step.

He pointed at the generals below and scolded, "One thousand! One thousand people scared you out of your wits? The other side is also a soldier of our Great Qing. Do they really dare to attack the troops sent by the court?"

"Those are the Black Knights," a general said with a trembling voice. "Chen Pingping is dead, and Lord Fan is under house arrest in the capital. Who knows if those Black Knights, who don't blink when they kill people... will really draw their swords."

The corner of Wang Zhikun's eye twitched slightly, but he didn't scold any more. Regarding this secret military operation, nominally he was receiving the winter training instructions from the Privy Council, but in reality he was receiving the Emperor's secret decree from the palace.

As mentioned earlier, this was a probe, a probe by the Emperor sitting on the dragon throne towards his eldest son in Dongyi City.

The news of the major events in the capital had already spread to Yanjing City. Only then did Wang Zhikun know that the other day, Lord Fan had led the Black Knights straight into the capital, and that it was to save Director Chen. This Yanjing commander didn't know why Director Chen had suddenly been purged by the Emperor. Although he felt some regret in his heart, as a Qing Kingdom soldier, he had to obey the Emperor's decree.

Not long after the incident in the capital, the Eldest Prince suddenly sent an urgent military report, saying that righteous armies were rising and falling in Dongyi, and that there were frequent wars. He couldn't get away to return to the capital at all for the time being. This had preemptively blocked any channel for the capital to recall him.

Wang Zhikun was very clear that the Eldest Prince didn't want to return to the capital... The so-called general outside, the orders of the monarch need not be obeyed. It was very clear that this Eldest Prince, who had successfully controlled ten thousand elite troops, had become estranged from the Emperor because of the incident in the capital.

The Eldest Prince's attitude was revealed, but the Emperor wasn't angry. Instead, he issued a very ordinary decree to Dongyi City, saying that he wanted to send the Yanjing military to Dongyi City to assist the Eldest Prince in quelling the rebellion. Moreover, the Eldest Prince, as Wang Zhikun had expected, forcefully refused the Yanjing Camp's request to send troops. Moreover... the troops used to block the Yanjing army these past two days weren't actually the Eldest Prince's men. The court couldn't even find an excuse.

"The Black Knights, huh..." Wang Kuikun frowned slightly, thinking of this cavalry, which was small in number but exceptionally strong in combat power, and naturally thought of that idle man in the capital.

...

...

(It's the last two days of 2008. I originally wanted to write a separate chapter to ask for votes and review the past, but on second thought, I'll just wait until I finish writing Qing Yu Nian. Some friends have said that the taste of Qing Yu Nian has changed recently, that it's not as sunny. Well, I want to explain this a bit. Qing Yu Nian hasn't been sunny for a long time. With this kind of death method, it can't be sunny. From the beginning of writing Qing Yu Nian, there has always been an opinion that Fan Xian doesn't seem like a time-traveler. I'll leave this question to be explained at the end. It takes up too many words. Of course, if friends have noticed that point, they should know that I've already stated my attitude towards time-travelers... But I've always been curious, what should it be like to be a time-traveler? Actually, there's really no such thing as human evolution. Modern people and ancient people or people from other worlds, as long as they're human, they all have the same ugliness and beauty.

Ah, I almost forgot again. I very solemnly recommend Zhang Yu, also known as Fat Cat's new work: Tian Jian Ge, the book number is 1121194. This author is a very YD and serious author. The writing speed is slow, but the quality is quite good. The previous work, "Ri Dao Zhuan Sheng," must have been loved by many friends, including me. This one is a wuxia novel. People who write wuxia novels in this market undoubtedly invest far more in mental struggle than in commercial struggle. This attitude has already guaranteed the quality of this book in advance. I firmly believe in this.

Alas, I also have this attitude, haha.)