Niao Ni
Chapter 711: See, It Looks Beautiful Going Up
Just the night before, the imperial decree had been issued, completely ending the surveillance of the Fan residence. People originally thought that the cold war between the Emperor and Fan Xian was over, but unexpectedly, after Fan Xian entered the palace to meet the Emperor, no news of reinstatement came from the palace, not even a related edict. Not to mention what the officials in the court and various forces were guessing, the departure of the Fan residence's carriage still alarmed many people.
To the surprise of many, the Fan residence's carriage passed through the inspection of the Kyoto City Defense Division very smoothly, or more accurately, there was no inspection at all. Could it be that the Emperor was not worried that Master Fan might leave Kyoto in a fit of anger? Although there were no scenes of the Emperor's children running away from home in anger, the scene at the execution ground and the disputes of recent days had left people baffled by Fan Xian's response.
Many were worried that Fan Xian would leave Kyoto, but clearly the Emperor was not concerned, otherwise he would not have withdrawn all the surveillance forces outside the Fan residence, nor would he have given Fan Xian such freedom.
"My sister is in the palace, and the Emperor's decree has been issued. Those subordinates and relatives who depend on me for a living... are all in Kyoto. How can I leave?" Fan Xian tilted his head, looking at the autumn scenery outside Kyoto illuminated by the red twilight, and said softly, "Bring Xiao Hua and Liangzi back, and let's live a good life in the residence."
Lin Wan'er's heart trembled slightly, unsure whether Fan Xian's words were genuine or held some other meaning. If staying in the Fan residence as a leisure figure was the Emperor's intention, then Lin Wan'er was very clear why Fan Xian was forced to accept this decree – because the Fan residence received extremely bad news on the day it reopened.
Lin Wan'er made the decision the other day to have Teng Zijing send the young lady and young master to the Fan family's manor outside the city, precisely because she was worried about what might happen later and wanted to quietly send the children back to Danzhou. However, only today did the manor relay the message that the convoy carrying the children had arrived at the manor but could no longer leave.
Not because there were troops waiting there, but because an eunuch was already waiting. In this situation, Teng Zijing certainly did not dare to act rashly. If he secretly sent the young master and young lady back to Danzhou, who knew what might happen on the way, or whether the court would truly tear off its mask and snatch the two children into the palace.
Just like Fan Ruoruo.
Fan Xian's brow furrowed slightly as he said, "In the end, I underestimated the Emperor's meticulousness. Now that I think about it, the day you decided to send the children back to Danzhou was the very day that something happened in the Imperial Study. Chen Pingping had just been sent to the Overwatch Council... Even though the Emperor was seriously injured at the time, he didn't forget about our children."
A cold smile appeared on his lips as he said, "Truly, imperial grace is boundless. We subjects should really thank him."
"It was my inadequate planning. I shouldn't have gone to the manor to wait at the time. I should have found a way to send them directly to Danzhou." A shadow of sadness flashed across Lin Wan'er's brow. She had not expected that her imperial uncle would be so cold and ruthless, unwilling to let even such young children go.
"At that time, you could only contact one place at most. My people are scattered outside Kyoto, so there's no way to send them to Danzhou." Fan Xian gently put his arm around her somewhat thin shoulders, comforting her, "You've been tired enough these days, and you've worried enough. This has nothing to do with you... Our Emperor dares to use even the Divine Temple, let alone two children."
"What exactly did you and Chengping say in the palace?" Lin Wan'er sighed. She thought that with the whole family trapped in Kyoto, the Emperor had not revealed his true face in any way, but this faint threat was enough to prevent Fan Xian and herself from acting rashly. So she changed the subject and continued to ask about the previous question, because she also knew about the selection of consorts. Being as intelligent as she was, she naturally guessed the Emperor's intention, so she wanted to hear some reaction from Shufang Palace from Fan Xian's side.
"What could we say?" Fan Xian smiled faintly, seemingly indifferent, "The young eunuch Hongzhu was always by our side. He had the Emperor's decree to send me out of the palace. Could Chengping and I kick him away?"
There was an ambush in these words, but Fan Xian kept this secret extremely tight for Hongzhu's safety. Even the Third Prince was not aware of the true relationship between him and Hongzhu. Earlier in Shufang Palace, the Third Prince was indeed a little impolite to Hongzhu.
"But there's no need to worry too much. After all, Chengping has performed so well in recent years. The Emperor wouldn't want to disrupt the court again because of me." Fan Xian raised his eyebrows and said, "In front of Hongzhu, I gave the Third Child a good scolding... Anyway... I probably won't have many opportunities to enter the palace in the future, so I'll scold him while I can, preferably to make Chengping really angry with me."
The carriage bumped gently on the official road. In the distance, the setting sun in the western sky dragged a long red tail, brushing a stroke on the nearby hills and then reaching towards the vaguely visible heads of the distant Azure Mountains.
"Who can this deceive?" Lin Wan'er leaned into his arms, feeling exceptionally heavy-hearted, and said, "You're putting on a show for Hongzhu, but does the Emperor believe it?"
"Whether the Emperor believes it or not, I won't meet with Chengping in the future, and contact with the Guogong Lane must also be cut off... It's best if you also go to the palace less often in the future." Fan Xian gently stroked her face, and after a moment of silence, he said, "It's best not to involve others in our own affairs."
Lin Wan'er sat up straight, looking at him quietly, and said, "What do you want the Emperor to believe? That Chengping doesn't have true affection for you? But don't forget that Big Brother is still in Dongyi City. Unless all of you brothers are brought into the palace, the Emperor won't be at ease for a day. Isn't the matter of selecting consorts very clear?"
"That's right, it's severance." Fan Xian looked at his wife seriously and said, "It's a true severance, so even if something happens to me, don't involve Chengping. Chen Pingping did it this way back then, and I want to do it this way too... It's just that I'm not very forward-looking, so I prepared much later."
Lin Wan'er sighed helplessly and said, "According to you, the Emperor still intends for Chengping to inherit the throne, so why select consorts?"
"Just in case, this kind of thing is easy to understand." Fan Xian said with a smile, "But it takes ten months of pregnancy, and having children isn't that easy. Those young ladies are only fourteen or fifteen years old, and they'll have to wait many years to become stepmothers."
At this point, Fan Xian fell into contemplation, thinking about the Emperor's virility. If he carefully calculated the Emperor's age, with his Grand Master's realm and physique, sexual matters shouldn't be too difficult, but after all, he was getting older, and his desires might be thinning out.
Fan Xian knew the aftereffects of the Dominating Qi Technique better than anyone else. Added to his final discussion with Si Gujian in Dongyi City, Fan Xian was certain that the Emperor's body should no longer have normal meridians, but had become like a passageway or container without any stagnation, so that it could contain so much dominating true qi within the physical body, so that he could use a single finger to send half a lake into Ku He's body on Dong Mountain, literally supporting a Grand Master to death.
No matter how much dominance there is, it is still dominance, but it has the name of a Kingly Way. Where could there be a true qualitative change? Thinking of this, Fan Xian's eyebrows twitched slightly. He proved that the Emperor's physique was externally cold and internally dry, and his temperament was disturbed by his physical state, so he probably needed to take more Cooling Aroma Pills.
If there are no Cooling Aroma Pills to eat, then eating more celery wouldn't be bad, or garlic, and the like? ... Fan Xian lowered his head slightly, secretly thinking about the Nuclear Determination of the Imperial Hospital, praying that Heaven would guarantee that the body of a Grand Master was no different from the body of a mortal.
Celery, garlic, and bean products, especially the first one, have a strong spermicidal effect, and this knowledge is undoubtedly known only to Fan Xian. The Imperial Hospital is not clear, Hongzhu does not understand, and even the Emperor does not know. Whether the tricks that Fan Xian has secretly done will bear fruit in the future depends on whether the Old Man in the Sky helps or not.
As long as the Emperor has no more children, then the Third Prince's position will be as stable as Dong Mountain, and that is Fan Xian's hope.
To make the Emperor have no more children sounds like a very vicious conspiracy, but Fan Xian doesn't think so, because the Emperor already has three sons, which is enough. Having more would only cause too much trouble for Qing Kingdom's future succession struggles.
At least he didn't let the Old Li family die out. Thinking of this, Fan Xian thought of Chen Pingping and couldn't help but laugh.
"Still have a heart to offer celery, but no way to see the wise ruler."
Lin Wan'er was slightly startled to find that Fan Xian had rarely written poetry again, but upon careful taste, she found that this poem only spoke of the grievances of a subject. She looked at Fan Xian in a daze, wondering if he really wanted to forget the public execution before the palace, the bloody case of the Taiping Courtyard decades ago?
Fan Xian had already explained everything about the Emperor, Ye Qingmei, Chen Pingping, and Fan Jian to Wan'er. Only then did Lin Wan'er know that in the shadows of the palace and behind history, there were so many ruthless choices and revenge buried, so she did not dare to expect Fan Xian to really stay in the residence obediently as a leisure figure.
But then she heard these two lines of poetry.
Just as she was thinking, the carriage had already arrived at the Fan family's manor. The old and young of the entire family had already received the news in advance and were waiting obediently outside the manor, waiting for the arrival of the young master and young mistress. Although Fan Xian no longer held any official position, he was still the backbone of the Fan family. In addition to those hatreds, he also had to bear the burden of these people entrusted to him by his father.
Twilight hit the gate of the manor. Si Si was holding Fan Liang, and Shuning, wearing a floral peasant dress, was grabbing her leg, curiously looking at her parents walking down the carriage. Being a three-year-old child, she had no problem remembering people.
Fan Xian took Fan Liang from Si Si's arms and whispered something in her ear, then smiled and told the waiting clansmen to disperse quickly. Then, holding Shuning's little hand, he walked towards the main room and asked, "Has Xiao Hua been good recently?"
When he arrived at the main room, the well-behaved Shuning let go of her father's hand and rushed into Lin Wan'er's arms. Si Si was busy arranging things for the night's rest. Fan Xian turned his head and saw an eunuch in the main room.
He nodded to the eunuch, whose face was very unsightly and also had a fearful pallor. He quickly stepped forward and kowtowed to Fan Xian before leaving the manor.
As the eunuch's figure disappeared at the door, Teng Zijing limped out, spitting at the figure's back.
"Pay attention to hygiene," Fan Xian said with a smile. In the fourth year of the Qingli era, Teng Zijing was seriously injured while protecting him. One of his thighs was broken by an assassin. Although he recovered a lot later after recuperation, he still often used a crutch at home.
Teng Zijing looked at him ashamed and said, "This subordinate is incompetent and could not send the young master and young lady away..." He continued, "I originally planned to kill that little eunuch, but I was afraid of causing trouble for you, Master."
"Don't think he's just a little eunuch who doesn't know anything, but he represents the Emperor. How can you kill him casually?" Fan Xian said indifferently, then touched the floral dress that Shuning was wearing and asked with a smile, "It's really bright enough."
Teng Da's wife came out with hot tea, smiling somewhat embarrassedly, and replied, "It's from the family of the third sister-in-law's youngest daughter. It shouldn't have been given to the young lady to wear, but..."
Teng Zijing scratched his head and said, "These days, there's no way to know the news from the residence. The elders of the clan and our family discussed it and thought that it wouldn't be difficult to hide it from that little eunuch. We're just afraid that there would be an ambush on the road by the court, so we planned to disguise the young lady and young master as rural children. If something happened, we could try to sneak them away."
Fan Xian was slightly startled and his heart moved. He knew what the people of the clan were preparing to do, and he thought of the bloody case in Taiping Courtyard on the Liujing River back then. Ruoruo's biological mother seemed to be like Teng Da's wife in front of him.
He darkened his face and said, "Don't ever think about doing such foolish things again. How can you hide it from people? Don't harm other people's children for nothing."
Seeing that Teng Zijing just replied casually and didn't take it seriously, Fan Xian sighed in his heart and cursed, "It can be said that the elders of the clan are confused, but how can you be so confused too?"
But fortunately, Fan residence had opened today, and Fan Xian had rushed over, so nothing had happened. There was no need to say these things now. Just thinking about the clansmen who had greeted him at the entrance of the manor earlier, even Fan Xian, who was as indifferent as he was, couldn't help but be moved. He felt a sense of gratitude in his heart, but he fell into a deeper layer of trouble.
A person traveling the world alone can enjoy his grievances and hatreds. Even if he spills his blood and throws away his head, he will only exchange it for the word "no regrets".
Chen Pingping still wanted to send the girls from the garden to Dongyi City, but Fan Xian was surrounded by so many people. How many could he send away? In one's life, how can one achieve no regrets?
His family did not stay in the clan's manor for long, only for one night. After picking up the children, the family of five left the manor the next day to return to Kyoto. Just as the Emperor had said in the Imperial Study, just as the Eldest Princess had said to her strategist one day, Fan Xian's lifeblood was too important. As long as one grasped this point, even if he had wings, where could he escape to? Even if he could escape, would he be willing to escape?
If he didn't escape, he could only face it, but how high and cold the snow mountain was.
Holding a pair of children, Fan Xian sat in the carriage with a smile, but his eyes occasionally looked out of the window, towards the Azure Mountains in the morning light, reflecting the white light of the east. The Azure Mountains were west of Kyoto, far from this official road, but they were tall, majestic, and strange, piercing straight into the clouds. It was only early autumn, but the top of the mountain was already covered with snow, adding a touch of coolness to this world.
"Do you still remember those two years we spent wintering in the Azure Mountains?" Fan Xian suddenly asked.
As soon as he said this, happy and reminiscent expressions appeared on the faces of Lin Wan'er and Si Si. In the first year, Si Si was deliberately left in the old residence in Kyoto by Fan Xian, but she followed in the second year. For these young people of the Fan family, the snow of the Azure Mountains could cleanse the heart and wash the face. It was a beautiful little world completely isolated from Kyoto. There, Fan Xian could fully express emotions and feelings that were different from this world.
Whether it was playing mahjong or chatting, the warm heated kang in the winter snow was always memorable. The carriage gradually became quiet. Lin Wan'er thought of Ye Ling'er and Roujia, who occasionally went up the mountain. These days, the Fan residence in Kyoto was besieged, and Ye Ling'er must be extremely anxious outside. Roujia was probably anxious about both the Fan residence and Prince Jing's affairs in the palace.
"How is Prince Jing doing?" Lin Wan'er asked worriedly.
"When the Emperor's anger subsides, he will naturally let him return to the residence. Even I have not been punished, let alone him." Fan Xian shook his head. He thought of his younger brother Sizhe. He didn't know if he would cause any trouble after knowing the news of so many things that had happened in Kyoto in the north.
Shuning, sitting next to Fan Xian, suddenly looked at the snowy head of the Azure Mountain, pursed her little mouth, and said in a childish voice, "So high."
It's so high, and it's so difficult to go up. Fan Xian squinted his eyes, looked at the snow peak of the Azure Mountain, and took a deep breath. In that snow mountain, there were his best memories in Southern Qing, as well as the time when Uncle Wu Zhu took him to climb the mountains and sleep in the snow. He knew how difficult it was to climb to the top of that snow mountain.
His eyesight was amazing. He suddenly saw several eagles circling, trying to fly to the highest peak of the Azure Mountain snow ridge. He subconsciously pointed to Shuning and said, "Look, if you can really go up, it's actually very beautiful."
...
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(Everything that needed to be explained has been explained. The exposition is over. The second wave of attacks will begin tomorrow. There will be a total of four waves of attacks in this story to the end. I will try my best to do it... Tomorrow I will become a scatterbrain, um, just mess around. In addition, everyone, I haven't asked for votes recently, and my monthly votes have dropped a lot... Can you give me some face and give me some to boost my spirits? I really want to get a lot and a lot of monthly votes.)