It had been a few months since his last visit to the Imperial College.

That day, spring rain drizzled, and Fan Xian came to the Imperial College to see Grand Academician Hu, for the matter of Sun Jingxiu, the Magistrate of the Kyoto Prefecture. At that time, he returned to the capital with unparalleled merit from the east, truly shining with glory to the extreme, resisting the pressure from the Department of Ministries, subduing Grand Academician He's will, carefree and arrogant, climbing to the peak of his second life. As soon as the rain stopped, the black umbrella was lowered, and he was recognized by the students of the Imperial College, causing a small commotion.

But today, autumn rain was bleak and melancholic, and he had fled from the Qing Temple, his face pale, his arms trembling slightly. Some of the rain leaked through the cloth umbrella, dampening his clothes, making him look somewhat disheveled. The current Fan Xian had been stripped of all official positions and titles, becoming an ordinary commoner. Moreover, the entire Kyoto knew that His Majesty the Emperor was wearing down this once infinitely glorious young man, the Fan residence was like a soft prison, no one dared to visit, and no one dared to support him.

In just a few months, the circumstances of his life had completely reversed. Thinking of this, Fan Xian couldn't help but smile. He lowered his head, held up his umbrella, and walked past the students of the Imperial College who were discussing something, heading towards the depths of the college.

The Imperial College in the rain appeared exceptionally beautiful and serene. Ancient trees stretched out their aged branches on both sides of the stone path, providing a rare comfort to the scholars running in the rain. Along the way, the autumn yellow had not yet arrived, and the spring green still remained. The evening school bell rang in the distance, purifying the mind.

Fan Xian no longer worried about the Qing Temple bitter cultivators chasing after him from behind. Not to mention whether the other party could find him in the midst of these hundreds of Imperial College students, but the Imperial College was a sacred and important place, and even those bitter cultivators willing to sacrifice themselves probably wouldn't dare to risk a scholar riot and barge in like butchers.

Holding his umbrella, he walked into the Imperial College for a long time before reaching a relatively quiet area where the instructors resided. Fan Xian habitually bypassed the long corridor, entered a small courtyard, passed the screen wall, and slowly stopped.

This was his residence in the Imperial College. Several instructors and talented students had been transferred under his command, and they had been working on compiling books in this courtyard for several years. The cartload of books that Mr. Zhuang Mohan had sent to Fan Xian was re-sorted in this place, then sent to the Western Mountain Paper Mill for finalization, and finally sold at a reasonable price by the Danbo Bookstore of the Fan residence.

The work of sorting books had been continuing for these years, so the Danbo Bookstore had been losing money. However, Fan Xian didn't care about these things. Just like the feeling he had when he saw the bookshelf in Sun Pin'er's boudoir during the Kyoto rebellion, Fan Xian believed that this kind of thing was meaningful. Since it was meaningful, of course it should be continued.

He stood quietly by the screen wall, watching the activity inside the house, and was somewhat comforted to find that although His Majesty the Emperor had turned him into a commoner, these Imperial College instructors and students who had followed him for several years had not been implicated, and the work of sorting and compiling books here was continuing without any impact.

A warmth arose in Fan Xian's heart. He smiled at the house and turned to leave this familiar courtyard before the Imperial College instructors noticed him. He crossed diagonally through the small wooded hill in the northeast corner of the Imperial College, and along a shallow lake, came to another familiar courtyard.

This courtyard, these rooms, were once the residence of Grand Academician Shu Wu when he taught lessons. Later, when Grand Academician Hu was summoned back to Kyoto by imperial decree, he also squeezed in. After Shu Wu retired, this courtyard naturally belonged to Grand Academician Hu alone. The last time Fan Xian asked Grand Academician Hu for help, it was in this courtyard.

Fan Xian pushed the door open and greeted the officials and instructors who looked shocked, then walked to the study on his own, leaving behind a group of people looking at each other.

Hearing someone push the door open, Grand Academician Hu, who had been buried in his desk, raised his head, quickly took off the crystal glasses he was wearing on the bridge of his nose, and immediately replaced his face with a solemn expression. This leader of the Qing Kingdom's civil officials was in a somewhat unhappy mood. With his status, who dared to barge in without even announcing himself?

However, he saw a face he never expected. After being slightly stunned for a while, a bitter look appeared on the Grand Academician's face, and he said, "It's really surprising."

Fan Xian didn't actually expect Grand Academician Hu to be in the room. After being busy in Dongyi City for so long, he had somewhat forgotten the court meetings and the duties of the Department of Ministries, and he wasn't sure whether this academician would be at the Imperial College. However, he did have some words he wanted to chat with someone today, and since he had arrived at the Imperial College, he naturally had to come and find him.

In the current court, the only person who could contact Fan Xian privately without worrying about being angrily dismissed by His Majesty the Emperor was probably this Grand Academician Hu.

"Something happened today, and I'm in a bit of a bad mood, so I came to chat with you."

As Fan Xian spoke, he walked towards the desk, dripping water from the umbrella he was holding. Grand Academician Hu frowned and pointed, and he realized it, smiled, put the umbrella behind the door, and unceremoniously picked up the warm cup of tea on the table and took two sips, warming up his body that had been frozen by the rain in the Qing Temple.

"Why are you so down and out?" Looking at the wet Fan Xian grabbing the hot tea to drink, Grand Academician Hu couldn't help but laugh, but this smile disappeared as soon as it appeared, because he realized that today's joke could easily be extended to other meanings.

Sure enough, Fan Xian naturally followed this line of thought and said, "Now I'm just a commoner, so of course I have to cherish the opportunity to drink a cup of hot tea from the Grand Academician's table."

As soon as these words came out, the quiet house suddenly fell silent. The two people stopped talking and were immersed in their own different thoughts. Especially Grand Academician Hu, he thought Fan Xian had come to find him on purpose, so he had to be cautious. Every word and every action had to be carefully considered in order to express himself.

After a long time, Grand Academician Hu looked at him and said, "Why did you think of coming out for a walk today?"

A strange smile appeared on the corner of Fan Xian's lips, and his voice was slightly cold: "Is there an imperial decree from the palace to confine me?"

Grand Academician Hu laughed, and Fan Xian continued gently: "Since there isn't, why can't I come out for a walk? Especially since His Majesty has taken away all my duties, but the wonderful thing is that he has left me with a teaching position at the Imperial College without any rank or grade. I came to the Imperial College today, which can be regarded as being considerate of the imperial will, to show that the commoner has no resentment at all."

There was already resentment in these words. If an ordinary official said such words in front of Grand Academician Hu, Grand Academician Hu would definitely reprimand him severely. However, facing Fan Xian, he could only remain silent. Of course, the atmosphere of today's conversation was completely different from the conversation in the spring rain. After all, at that time, Fan Xian's words were unrestrained, but that was unrestrainedness allowed by His Majesty, and Grand Academician Hu could also join in the fun. But now His Majesty had withdrawn this permission, and Grand Academician Hu's response seemed particularly difficult at this time.

After a pause, he looked at Fan Xian seriously and said, "I'm not very clear about your thoughts, but I entered the palace yesterday and had a conversation with His Majesty. When talking about the Fan residence, His Majesty once had a comment about you."

Fan Xian slowly raised his head, without asking a question, the calmness in his eyes was not consistent with the doubt in his heart.

"Anzhi is good at everything, but his personality is too direct and stubborn..." Grand Academician Hu glanced at him, took the teacup from his hand, and bent over slightly to add tea to the small Ming stove next to him.

Grand Academician Hu turned his back to Fan Xian, his voice was very straight and calm, and he said softly: "Direct and stubborn, it seems that His Majesty understands you, and is also considerate of you. Even the biggest mistakes can be washed away with these four words. This is a matter of personality, not a matter of nature... You must understand His Majesty's good intentions."

Good intentions? Fan Xian's eyebrows slowly furrowed, furrowing extremely beautifully, extremely coldly. Of course, he understood what the comment relayed by Grand Academician Hu represented. The man in the palace still retained three points of hope and three points of tolerance for his illegitimate son. How much anger and how much fear were in the remaining four points? No one could say for sure.

Grand Academician Hu turned around, placed the teacup in front of Fan Xian, and looked at his eyes seriously and said: "Direct and stubborn, this is a person of true temperament, what His Majesty likes is a true temperament person like you. The mistakes you have made these days, His Majesty is not unable to forgive you, but the key now is that you must know where you went wrong, and you must let His Majesty know that you... know you are wrong."

Fan Xian sat silently in the chair, knowing that Grand Academician Hu had misjudged his intention for coming today, but it was impossible for the two of them to clarify the matter as they had in the past. He wouldn't be foolish enough to refute anything, but subconsciously said slowly: "Where did I go wrong?"

"You know where you went wrong, you need to show your attitude." Grand Academician Hu's eyebrows furrowed, and he said with a slight anxiety: "The things you have done in these ten days, no matter which one is enough to make you fall into the dust and unable to turn over... The Black Riders have passed through prefectures and counties, and the memorials accusing you have flown to the Department of Ministries like snowflakes these days."

"Probably the officials in these places don't know that His Majesty has already punished me." Fan Xian smiled.

"When has His Majesty really punished you?" Grand Academician Hu's eyebrows furrowed even deeper, and even the skin cream that he applied every day was almost unable to hide the deep wrinkles on his forehead. He looked at Fan Xian with a slightly disappointed look and said heavily: "If you really want to be punished according to Qing law, even if you are in the Eight Deliberations, how many heads can you cut off? Can you offset these?"

Grand Academician Hu looked at the silent young man in front of him, and for some reason, a fire of anger that was difficult to suppress arose in his heart. He lowered his voice and rebuked: "Don't you understand that His Majesty has been kind enough to you. If you continue to challenge the authority of the court and wear down His Majesty's patience like this..."

"Then what?" Fan Xian interrupted Grand Academician Hu's words somewhat woodenly.

Grand Academician Hu looked at him quietly, the color of disappointment in his eyes grew stronger and stronger. After a long time, he said in a hoarse voice: "Do you want to die?"

Fan Xian raised his head and looked at him.

"Don't rely on His Majesty's favor and continue to make trouble like this without any restraint." It seemed that Grand Academician Hu was really angry. As the leader of the Qing Kingdom's civil officials, he, like the other officials in the court these days, watched helplessly as His Majesty and Fan Xian's father and son turned against each other, and watched helplessly as the originally beautiful autumn scenery of the Qing Kingdom added countless dark clouds because of this sudden change. As a high-ranking official of the Qing Kingdom, as a citizen of the Qing Kingdom, they all wanted to persuade Fan Xian to enter the palace and plead guilty, so as to end this period of turmoil.

However, the attitude that Fan Xian had shown these days had gradually cooled the hearts of everyone, including Grand Academician Hu.

"Do you think I'm just a favored official?" Fan Xian didn't want to boast about his abilities like a child, but after hearing these words, he still couldn't help but frown slightly and ask.

"It has nothing to do with favor, you are just... a subject, and I am also a subject." Grand Academician Hu forcibly suppressed his anger and said quietly: "You and I are both His Majesty's subjects. Perhaps you think His Majesty treats you badly, but if you think about it carefully, since the founding of the country, which subject has ever received such favor from you? You have clearly seen the history of the country these years, and you should know that His Majesty has given you the greatest degree of tolerance and forbearance."

"Don't be superstitious about your strength, because in the end, your strength is bestowed upon you by His Majesty. His Majesty doesn't have no way to deal with your ruthlessness these days, but he is unwilling, unable, and unwilling to make those decisions, but it's not that he can't do it."

Grand Academician Hu slowly lowered his eyes and said solemnly: "Of course, I must admit that you are a very outstanding subject..."

Grand Academician Hu didn't finish speaking, because he wanted to tell Fan Xian that if His Majesty really didn't have a trace of kindness towards you, he might have already taken you to prison, or even executed you, because His Majesty has always had such ability. However, these things involved the affairs between His Majesty and Fan Xian's father and son, and Grand Academician Hu, in the excitement of his heart, realized that he had said too much, so he silently changed the topic.

"No one wants to see a great meritorious official of the Qing Kingdom disappear in Kyoto because of his own arrogance." Grand Academician Hu looked at Fan Xian and said solemnly: "If you are lost, you must know to return, and there must be a limit to stubbornness."

"It seems like I just heard many bald heads say these words not long ago." Fan Xian smiled sadly, stood up straight, and said: "It seems that today's Kyoto, today's world, all think that I am the little insect that is blocking the historical carriage. Either I quickly dodge, or I will be crushed to death. If I have my own ideas, then I am a sinner."

He gradually put away his smile, thought of the group of纨绔 he had beaten up outside the Baoyue Building many years ago, and thought of what Wan'er had said, which was very similar to what Grand Academician Hu meant. The emperor's patience was ultimately limited. He was now trapped in Kyoto and could not get out. To kill him or to depose him was just a matter of one sentence.

This was different from the siege by the bitter cultivators in the Qing Temple. Once the Qing Kingdom court really decided to eliminate Fan Xian, this unstable factor, even if Fan Xian's personal cultivation was so amazing, he would not be able to escape this fate - after all, he was not a Grand Master.

"I was walking in the rain into the Imperial College earlier, watching the scholars walking past me, and I was thinking, perhaps one day, I will also become an object worthy of contempt in their eyes." Fan Xian lowered his head slightly and said tiredly.

"No, no one has ever blamed you or despised you. Not only these students, but even the officials and people in Kyoto, when it comes to the things on the execution ground, they still have some respect for you." Grand Academician Hu coughed twice and said slowly: "Just like His Majesty's comment on you, you have shown enough stubbornness in the matter of Dean Chen. This kind of true temperament can make many people understand you... But, you must learn to think these things through thoroughly."

"The people respect you only for your feelings, but if you really have some rebellious actions... or even just thoughts." Grand Academician Hu's voice became cold, "This official cannot tolerate you, the court cannot tolerate you, the people cannot tolerate you, and His Majesty cannot tolerate you!"

"You must understand that this is the unified will of our Great Qing Dynasty today, and everyone hopes that you will not mess around."

"Mess around?" Fan Xian laughed, but there was a lot of heavy pressure in his smile. It wasn't that he was afraid of being an enemy of the world, but his heart was still replaying the thoughts in his head earlier, and he couldn't quite come back to his senses.

After a long time, he solemnly bowed to Grand Academician Hu, but did not say anything or give any information, and turned to walk out of the door.

"Although I don't want to admit it, I must admit that I am old." Grand Academician Hu looked at Fan Xian's back and suddenly blurted out, and said leisurely: "The words I said today were a bit too much, but... the world is still unsettled, the war cannot be stopped, for the sake of the hundreds of officials in the court, for the sake of the people in this world, I hope you can think more."

Grand Academician Hu was speaking the truth. He was originally the next prime minister candidate deliberately selected by His Majesty the Emperor, but with the changes in the situation in the court, his future became blurred.

In order to fight against Fan Xian, His Majesty supported He Zongwei. This Master He understood the imperial will and was proficient in politics. His actions were experienced and mature, and he couldn't find any mistakes. Now that Fan Xian's power was declining, He Zongwei naturally sat firmly in the position of the Department of Ministries, and was deeply trusted by His Majesty, and was extremely popular for a while, vaguely suppressing the limelight of the Hu faction.

Even if Grand Academician Hu didn't cling to power, he was afraid that he would have some sighs in his heart. He strongly persuaded Fan Xian, fearing that he also needed a familiar helper to stay in the court. Of course, the most fundamental reason was as he said earlier - the Qing Kingdom, which was now pointing its sword at the world, needed a stable court and a harmonious society, and unless Fan Xian bowed his head to His Majesty, the Qing Kingdom would not have peace for a day.

Unless Fan Xian died, but in reality, not many people in the Qing Kingdom court or in the streets and alleys really wanted the little Master Fan, who had just made unparalleled achievements, to die like this.

"I understand what you mean." Fan Xian did not turn his head, and said after a long silence: "Maybe one day when I figure it out, I will enter the palace and plead guilty."

Grand Academician Hu laughed bitterly behind him, thinking, if you want to wait until you figure it out, when will that be?

"Perhaps... I am really wrong?" At the door, Fan Xian's back was extremely tired, and his slightly hoarse voice muttered to himself.

However, these words fell into Grand Academician Hu's ears, but made his heart hot, and his brows slowly furrowed. At this moment, he decided to enter the palace again tonight.

In his opinion, these disputes between His Majesty and Fan Xian's father and son were not unsolvable, but it was just that no one was willing to bow their heads first. If he could persuade His Majesty to issue an decree summoning Fan Xian into the palace, perhaps Fan Xian would go along with the current...

Just as he was thinking this, Fan Xian suddenly turned his head and said a word: "Although I am no longer in the Overwatch Council, I know a very interesting piece of news, perhaps you would like to hear it."

Grand Academician Hu was slightly stunned and raised his head.

"Fan Wu Jiu is working as a strategist in Grand Academician He's residence."

Fan Xian bowed again and walked out of the house. At this time, the rain in the Imperial College was still falling slowly, and there was no movement on Fan Xian's calm face under the umbrella. The purpose to be achieved by today's conversation with Grand Academician Hu had already been achieved. He accurately knew the views of the upper-level officials in the court on himself, and also understood where the bottom line of the kindness of the emperor in the palace was - of course, the most important thing was the last two sentences.

Fan Xian walked silently in the rain with his umbrella, thinking to himself, it seemed that either tonight or tomorrow, an decree to summon him into the palace would probably be issued. Releasing a certain signal to the palace through Grand Academician Hu might be able to deceive the man on the dragon chair.

Everything was just because the people of the Qinian Group had just left Kyoto, so Fan Xian was not prepared. He had to control this cold war between the monarch and his ministers within the range where the spring had failed. He was preparing, always preparing.

……

……

That night, Grand Academician Hu entered the palace. He didn't know what he said to His Majesty the Emperor with tears and snot, but the eunuchs serving in the Imperial Study all knew that His Majesty's mood should have improved a lot, because an decree was issued out of the palace on the spot, and the black night killing field that had been raging outside the Fan residence for seven days came to an end.

Until Grand Academician Hu exited the palace with a look of peace and happiness on his face, he did not tell His Majesty the shocking news that Fan Xian had told him. On the one hand, he did not understand why Fan Xian wanted to tell himself this important matter, and whether there was any conspiracy hidden behind it. Secondly, the current Qing Kingdom needed unity, just as Grand Academician Hu had always believed.

In the Imperial College, he only felt that the name Fan Wu Jiu was a bit familiar, but he did not remember who it was. But after all, he was the leader of the Department of Ministries, and it only took a cup of tea for his subordinates to find out that this person named Fan Wu Jiu was one of the Eight Great Generals in the Second Prince's mansion back then.

Walking out of the palace gate and getting into the carriage, Grand Academician Hu couldn't help but sigh, stroked his beard lightly, and smiled, thinking that Little Master Fan was indeed a cute person who held grudges.

……

……

(There are only these six thousand words today. I don't know why, writing today was particularly hard and particularly unsmooth. I deleted and subtracted, and I was very dissatisfied with this feeling. Maybe the self-imposed pressure was too small, so my fingers were tired... Hmm, tomorrow I will write twelve thousand, twelve thousand, twelve thousand, I am adding pressure to myself, bravely howling.)