"Do you remember last year when I used black boxing to beat Guo Baokun, and the Kyoto Prefecture wanted to bring me in for questioning?"

"I remember."

"Do you remember this year when the Spring Examination scandal broke out, and the Ministry of Justice wanted to bring me in for questioning?"

"I remember." Fan Sizhe looked at him with some confusion, thinking that his brother was saying this to remind him of the majesty of Qing law? But the problem was that both cases ended without a resolution, only proving that in a place like Qing, power still trumps the law, which is clearly a negative example.

Fan Xian smiled, patted his butt, and said, "Both times, you held a stick and beat the yamen runners... Although it's mainly because of your arrogant and domineering nature, you always have some affection for me, your brother of less than two years. I believe I'm not wrong about that."

Fan Sizhe's buttocks were covered in wounds, and he bit his lower lip in pain, saying, "Then why were you so ruthless earlier!"

Fan Xian smiled and said, "First, I was really angry, I won't hide that from you. Second, if I didn't beat you badly enough, how could I make the people of Kyoto really believe that the Fan family's traditions are still strict? Half acting, half true."

Fan Sizhe suddenly said blankly, "Brother, something so important in the north... are you really entrusting it to me?"

Fan Xian replied, "Prove your ability first."

Fan Sizhe gritted his teeth, revealing a hint of fanaticism, and said fiercely, "Okay! I will definitely succeed."

Fan Xian nodded, then glanced at the courtesan from Bao Yue House who was sleeping soundly next to his younger brother. He raised an eyebrow and said, "When I raided the building yesterday, I found that this woman does have some affection for you... I am your brother, so of course I know that your heart is very hard and ruthless, but when it's time to be soft, you can also soften up a bit. Perhaps you will find that life can be much more interesting."

Fan Sizhe was, after all, still young and new to matters of love between men and women, so he looked embarrassed and blushed slightly, and responded with a sound.

The two brothers said a few more things in the carriage. At this moment, the carriage stopped slightly, and they knew it was time to part ways. Fan Xian shook his head and said, "This trip is dangerous. Although you must still have some resentment towards me, I think you will understand my good intentions in the future... As for our father, don't have any resentment either. You must know that in this world, besides parents and siblings, it is difficult to find someone who will sincerely treat you well. You were expelled from Kyoto at a young age, Liu Yi is naturally sad, and Father probably won't be doing very well either."

Fan Sizhe nodded with a gloomy expression. Looking at Fan Xian's figure getting out of the carriage, and thinking about the days ahead, he felt a void in his heart and a surge of moisture in his eyes, with indescribable discomfort.

"Brother, bring me back sooner."

Fan Xian's figure stiffened as he stepped out of the carriage, and he replied, "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything quickly."

————————————————————————

Watching the carriage gradually disappear into the night, Fan Xian couldn't help but feel a little dazed. He wasn't exactly a good person, so why was he demanding that Sizhe be a good person? Perhaps his earlier explanation was correct. The relationship between people is really very subtle. Wang Jingwei probably didn't want his son to be a traitor either, and Hitler probably preferred his son to paint.

Of course, these two didn't have the opportunity to demonstrate it to Fan Xian, but he had seen the decades of ups and downs of the brothers Xiao En and Zhuang Mohan, and he deeply agreed with it, feeling sad, feeling sad.

No one knows how much Xiao En secretly did for Zhuang Mohan, but he had always hidden himself in the darkness, not acknowledging their relationship for the sake of his brother's reputation, which was already a remarkable thing.

When Zhuang Mohan was in his seventies or eighties, almost at the end of his life, and his personal reputation had reached the pinnacle of his life, he sacrificed his lifelong beliefs for the sake of freeing his brother, traveling thousands of miles to Nan Qing to frame Fan Xian. The price he paid was not just as simple as it seemed on the surface, but a complete abandonment of the things that Grand Scholar Zhuang cherished most.

It was a coincidence that Fan Xian was by the side of both of these influential figures from that time before they passed away.

Fan Xian looked at the departing carriage, feeling a surge of emotion in his heart, wondering if Sizhe would actually resent him, and even more wondering if, in the distant future, if he himself fell into the darkness and couldn't extricate himself like Xiao En, would Sizhe spare no effort to save him like Zhuang Mohan.

The night wind blew across the hills outside Kyoto, and Fan Xian shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, thinking that with Sizhe's personality, he would at most be willing to lose tens of thousands of taels of silver for him... If the amount of silver was even greater, perhaps this greedy and ruthless little guy would have to think it over even more.

...

...

Yan Bingyun stood beside him and suddenly said, "You are a very hypocritical person."

Fan Xian asked with great interest, "Why do you say that?"

"You use everyone around you, but you make it seem like you are doing it for their own good..." The corner of Yan Bingyun's lips curled up slightly.

Fan Xian replied calmly, "You don't have any siblings, so you can't understand this kind of feeling... I really am doing it for his own good, although the methods may have been a bit excessive, and the effect may not be good... But there's no other way, my experience and ability can only achieve this much... At least, in the future, I can say to myself that I have fulfilled my duty as an elder brother in Sizhe's growth."

"That's exactly the second point I wanted to make," Yan Bingyun nodded. "You are also a very ruthless person."

Fan Xian remained silent, knowing that he would continue.

"Young Master Fan is still young, and the situation in the north is very complicated... yet you were able to ruthlessly expel him from Kyoto, make him disappear, and cut off the possibility of others using him to threaten you. I think even the Second Prince didn't think of such a decisive move," Yan Bingyun said coldly.

Fan Xian didn't smile, but instead asked, "How do you think a person should spend their life?"

This was the fourth time that Fan Xian had asked someone the age-old question from Nikolai Ostrovsky's novel *How the Steel Was Tempered*, after Ruoruo, Sizhe, and Wan'er.

Yan Bingyun was slightly taken aback and shook his head: "I think very simply, as an official of the Overwatching Council, be loyal to His Majesty, loyal to Qing, enrich the country and strengthen the military, and unify the world."

"Unify the world?" Fan Xian said sarcastically: "What's the point of that?"

Yan Bingyun was taken aback again. As a member of Qing's younger generation, growing up in a period of rapid expansion of national power, they had cultivated this idea from the bottom of their hearts and had never thought about why they should unify the world, nor had anyone ever asked it that way. Today, Fan Xian suddenly asked, and he didn't know how to explain it.

"With the world divided into three parts, there are small countries in between, war is inevitable, and the people are displaced... Since that's the case, why not unify the world and eliminate the scourge of war forever?"

He thought for a while and tried to sort out his thoughts.

Fan Xian shook his head: "I have never believed in the nonsense that the great trends of the world will eventually lead to unity after prolonged division, and division after prolonged unity. If the divided countries don't have the ambition to unify the world, then where will the war come from? Unification... is not a way to eliminate war and bring peace, but a fruit that tempts the people of the world to throw themselves into war. If everyone didn't think that way, wouldn't the world be at peace?"

Yan Bingyun glanced at him and said sarcastically, "That's a very naive idea."

"I understand that too," Fan Xian sighed. "But while I'm alive, I really don't want to see things like war happen. More than four hundred people die at the hands of our Council members every year, and an estimated tens of thousands have already died in the August dam break on the river. If war really starts, I'm afraid tens of thousands more will die in just a few months."

"Even if the contradictions can be suppressed temporarily, it's impossible to maintain them for long. One day, war will break out," Yan Bingyun scoffed. "Even if you collect the four Grand Masters as henchmen in the future and forcibly suppress the ambitions between the royal families, what will happen after you die?"

Fan Xian smiled and said, "After I die? After I die, let the floods rage." (*Après moi, le deluge.*)

Louis XIV's most blatant declaration finally changed Yan Bingyun's expression. He shook his head and sighed, "I really thought you were a benevolent person hidden in the darkness. After understanding this sentence, I realize that what I said just now was still polite... You are not only ruthless, but also an extremely selfish person."

"Misunderstood, isn't it? I told you last time, I'm not a saint," Fan Xian suddenly frowned, teasing the other party, "But now it seems... perhaps... it wouldn't hurt to act like one."

"A saint in charge of the Overwatching Council?" Yan Bingyun looked at him as if he were seeing a ghost.

...

...

"Then how do you plan to spend your life?" It was rare for Yan Bingyun to ask a question like those empty-headed scholars in Shangjing, Northern Qi.

"I plan to live it well," Fan Xian said with a platitude, and then, without waiting for him to respond, he said with a smile, "This time, Sizhe is going north, and it's really a trouble for you and your father." To get someone across the entire Qing kingdom without anyone knowing, apart from the Overwatching Council's Fourth Bureau, which oversees the movements of officials in various counties and roads and controls foreign spy networks, letting the water out, or even engaging in internal corruption, it would be impossible to do.

"You are my superior," Yan Bingyun replied directly.

Fan Xian understood his thoughts and said, "I will report this matter to the Director."

He continued, "Do you know? Last time the mission left Kyoto, the first night they camped at the pine forest below our feet..." He touched his nose and smiled self-deprecatingly, "At that time, the mission had Si Lili, this courtesan, and today Sizhe was expelled. Although his situation is much more miserable than mine was back then, I also kidnapped a courtesan to accompany him. It seems that the journey of our two brothers won't be too lonely."

Yan Bingyun shook his head with a headache. He had a hard time adjusting to Fan Xian's shameless face, which he only showed to close subordinates and friends, so he turned and asked, "Now that there are no more worries, what are you going to do?"

Fan Xian said with a wry smile, "The other party is a prince, do we really dare to kill him?"

Yan Bingyun said coldly, "I don't think there's anything you wouldn't dare to do."

Fan Xian's heart skipped a beat, and he said with a smile, "It seems you really are someone who understands me... But there's no rush, let's first ruin Hongcheng's reputation, then mess with those people under the Second Prince, and put pressure on the Cui family."

Finally, he said softly, "I won't be involved in the Bao Yue House matter anymore. Help Shi Chanli deal with it, and as for what to do later, you have full responsibility. Anyway, you are much more talented than I am when it comes to playing conspiracies."