This father and son were having a conversation as if no one else was around. The three women beside them were dumbfounded. Was beating Fan Sizhe into such a miserable state not enough? They wanted to exile him from the capital?

"Master! What did you say?"

Madam Liu stared with horrified eyes, helplessly looking at her husband, while Fan Sizhe, who was half-conscious on the bench, had already jumped up from it!

One didn't know where he got such strong spirit in his severely injured state. It seemed that being exiled from the capital was a terrifying thing for all the young nobles of Kyoto.

Fan Sizhe stuck out his butt, hugged his mother's legs, squeezed his eyes, and a few teardrops rolled down, competing with the pockmarks on his cheeks. His big mouth… but he didn't even have time to wail a sentence, as he was struck by this sudden heavy blow, and suddenly lost his voice, anxiously opening his mouth, but unable to say anything.

The young man's eyes were full of tears, desperately shaking his head, unable to speak, his back full of bloodstains, looking so pitiful.

……

……

"Master!" Madam Liu finally couldn't bear it. She glared at Fan Xian with resentful eyes, then knelt down in front of Fan Jian like a broken wooden stake, pleading with tears: "No! You can't! He's your precious son... How can you bear to watch him being driven out of the house? How can you bear to watch him wander in a foreign country, without any relatives or parents by his side?"

She hurriedly grabbed Fan Ruoruo's hand: "Ruoruo, hurry, plead with your father, don't drive Zhe'er out of the house."

Madam Liu thought that Fan Xian must have spoken ill of Fan Sizhe behind their backs, using the Baoyue Tower incident to drive Fan Sizhe out of the house. The father and son had talked for a long time last night, so she quickly pulled Ruoruo into the battle, thinking that although Ruoruo was not her own daughter, they had lived together for more than ten years, and she had always loved Sizhe… As everyone knew, Fan Xian doted on this younger sister the most.

Fan Ruoruo did not expect her younger brother to suffer such a heavy punishment. When Madam Liu pulled her, she knelt down smoothly, and said in a trembling voice: "Father, my brother has learned his lesson, he will definitely not dare to do it again in the future, please spare him this time."

Wan'er stood beside them, feeling a little flustered, and quickly knelt down as well.

Fan Jian maintained his composure until his daughter-in-law, a person with a special status, also knelt down. Only then did he quickly help her up, frowned at Madam Liu, and said: "Sizhe must leave... and you must not blame Fan Xian, this is my decision."

Madam Liu looked at him in disbelief, wondering why? But she knew that Fan Jian was a man with a righteous and gentle appearance, but in reality, he had a lot of the demeanor of a general, and an aura of slaughter. Otherwise, she wouldn't have fallen in love at first sight, and insisted on marrying him. Since this was his decision, then it would definitely not be changed.

She was an incomparably shrewd and resourceful woman. She bit her lip, and instead turned around and bowed gracefully to Fan Xian, pleading weakly: "Eldest Young Master, please say something, persuade the Master."

At this moment, the only person who could make Fan Jian take back his decision to exile Fan Sizhe was Fan Xian.

Fan Xian was uncomfortable with her bow, quickly avoided it, and looked at his father with a wry smile, seeking his opinion.

Fan Jian shook his head coldly: "If the crime he committed today is reported to the court by the censors, it would also be a punishment of exile for three thousand miles... It's better for me to drive him out of the capital than for the court to do it."

Madam Liu refused to believe this. With the Fan family's current power and the Emperor's favor, let alone opening a brothel and killing a few prostitutes, even if they were to be tyrannical and do whatever they wanted, as long as it wasn't a crime of treason, the Fan Jian and Fan Xian duo had the ability to suppress it. She couldn't help but cry and said: "Master, how can you be so cruel?... Sizhe... he's only fourteen years old!"

"Not being cruel... is why things have turned out like this." Fan Jian sneered self-deprecatingly: "Fourteen years old?"

He shouted sharply: "Don't forget, when Fan Xian was twelve years old, he was already forced to kill someone!"

……

……

As soon as these words came out, the whole room was silent. Lin Wan'er and Fan Ruoruo, who didn't know about this matter, looked at Fan Xian in surprise, while Madam Liu, who had been bound by this matter in her mind, was shocked and then lowered her head in despair.

Fan Xian smiled awkwardly, knowing that it was really inconvenient for him to say anything at this time. He carefully picked up the bruised and battered Fan Sizhe, retreated to the corner, and then instructed his wife and younger sister to carry his younger brother into the inner room for a good rest.

"Fan Xian, come over for a moment later." Fan Jian glanced at Madam Liu, and walked out of the study.

Only Madam Liu and Fan Xian were left in the study, and the atmosphere was somewhat awkward for a while. After a moment, Madam Liu opened her somewhat dazed eyes and said, "Are you really going to drive him out of the capital?"

Fan Xian sighed in his heart, walked closer to her, and comforted in a low voice: "Don't worry, Father's intention is just to let Sizhe temporarily stay away from this muddy water in the capital, and temper himself more outside..."

Before he could finish speaking, Madam Liu suddenly asked: "How far will he go?"

"Very far." Fan Xian looked at the somewhat dazed Madam Liu, thinking that such a shrewd woman had suddenly lost her composure because she was worried about her son. For a moment, he was a little envious of that little fatty, Fan Sizhe, and a little missed someone.

"Exactly how far?" Madam Liu asked sharply.

Fan Xian naturally wouldn't care about her attitude at this time, and said in a gentle voice: "Father decided last night, I originally wanted to persuade him to send Sizhe to Danzhou to hide, but Father was worried that Grandmother would dote on her little grandson and couldn't bring herself to do it... so he changed it to Northern Qi."

"Northern Qi?" Madam Liu felt slightly relieved. Although Northern Qi was far away, it wasn't like those Southern Barbarian and Western Hu places where the court exiled people. It was much more prosperous and safe. Although Northern Qi and Southern Qing had always been at odds, the two countries were currently going through a honeymoon period after the peace agreement, and their relationship was extremely good.

Fan Xian looked at Madam Liu's pleading gaze, knew what she was thinking, and comforted her: "Don't worry, I have many friends in Northern Qi, and I will take good care of him."

—————————————————————————

The moon poked a small tip out from the other side of the autumn tree, looking much dimmer than the brightly lit Fan residence. The Fan and Liu families' nephews and nieces who had been beaten up were picked up by carriages from Shangshu Lane and other places. When those Fan family relatives saw the miserable state of their sons, their hearts naturally ached, and the gazes they cast towards the Fan residence seemed to have a few more points of hatred, but due to the Fan family's immense power, no one dared to utter dirty words.

In the study, Fan Xian was standing honestly beside his father, preparing fruit juice for him. Tonight, Madam Liu was staying by Fan Sizhe's bed, not leaving for a single step. The fruit juice that Fan Shangshu drank every night had to be prepared by Fan Xian himself.

"The three people that I mentioned to Father have already been sent to the Kyoto Prefecture." The three people he mentioned were all the guys who committed murder in Baoyue Tower. He glanced at his father, and said with a slightly worried expression: "Kyoto Prefecture is the Second Prince's territory. I guess they didn't expect us to actually dare to send people to the Kyoto Prefecture. However, those three people have murder cases on their hands, which is equivalent to taking Sizhe's important figures... I guess the Second Prince's people will pick them up tonight."

Fan Jian smiled and said: "Don't hide it from me, I know you wouldn't be so careless."

"I will handle it cleanly." Fan Xian also laughed. This time, he finally used all the power that Chen Pingping had given him, and dispatched the assassins from the Sixth Bureau. "They committed capital crimes anyway, but... I guess there will be a backlash from within the clan. This matter requires Father to come forward."

Fan Jian knew what he was worried about. There had never been an official from Kyoto's prominent families who took action against their own clan members. He shook his head and said: "What's the point of coming forward? We sent the people to the Kyoto Prefecture, what does it have to do with us?"

Fan Xian was very impressed when he heard that. After thinking for a while, he said again: "Sizhe... will leave tonight. I'll let Yan Bingyun handle this matter, it shouldn't leave any traces."

Fan Jian nodded: "I don't have any relationship with the people from Northern Qi, I killed them too fiercely back then... Are you confident?"

Fan Xian met the gaze his father cast over, knew that he was worried about Sizhe's safety, and nodded solemnly: "Wang Qinian is in Shangjing now, and... I and Haitang, the Emperor of Northern Qi have a good relationship, Sizhe staying in Shangjing shouldn't be a problem."

Fan Jian sighed, and the white frost on his temples seemed particularly conspicuous tonight: "You used to tell me that Sizhe has talent, and doesn't necessarily have to take the path of studying and becoming an official... I listened to you, but I didn't expect that this child would be even more radical than you and I imagined... He started doing this kind of thing at fourteen years old. What was I doing when I was fourteen years old? I was still in Prince Cheng's mansion, serving as a companion to the then Heir Apparent, now His Majesty, thinking about how to have fun all day long."

Fan Xian said with a wry smile: "Consort Yi's Third Prince is really amazing, becoming a brothel owner at the age of eight. If this matter is spread out and recorded in the Qing History Miscellany in the future, it will truly be famous for thousands of years."

"I will talk to Consort Yi..." Fan Jian shook his head, "Although Sizhe has talent, he is still too superficial, always taking the sinister and ruthless route, which is not a long-term plan. This time, taking the opportunity to let him go out and see the world, is firstly a slight punishment, and secondly, I hope he can become more promising."

Fan Xian sighed and said: "I also have a problem."

"Don't blame yourself." Fan Jian waved his hand and let him sit down, "You weren't in Kyoto when the accident happened... but I'm very curious, why did you look so relieved when I suggested sending Sizhe to Northern Qi... You have to know that Northern Qi is not kind to the Qing people after all."

Fan Xian didn't mention his and Haitang's, and the young Emperor's unspoken agreement, but explained his thoughts, and said with a smile: "The Xin family has been smuggling to Northern Qi through the Cui family. Now that Shen Zhong is dead, there have been some problems with their route... I think if Sizhe can be trained in the north in the next few years, he may have the opportunity to take over the Cui family's business, after all, he likes this. Since he wants to do business, I want to arrange a bigger business for him to do."

Fan Jian smiled, looked at his son and smiled with satisfaction. Fan Xian's thoughts were now considered meticulous, compared to himself and Chen Pingping's generation, he only lacked a hint of ruthlessness.

"When are you planning to make a move against the Cui family?"

Seeing his father easily point out his plan, Fan Xian was not uneasy at all, and said with a smile: "It's still a matter after taking over the Inner Treasury, around March or April next year."

Fan Jian nodded, and suddenly said with a gloomy face: "Don't give them any chance to retaliate."

This was the first time Fan Xian saw the iron-blooded side of his father's righteous and pure face. He was shocked, and responded in a deep voice.

Fan Jian continued coldly: "You handled this matter well... Temporary tolerance can buy you time to react. After Sizhe leaves, do whatever you want, don't come and ask for my opinion, but there is someone..."

"Yuan Meng... is that her name?" Fan Jian suddenly said: "She acts boldly, and her style is sinister and ruthless. After a few days, when this matter has subsided, you deal with her, and consider it settling those cases."

Fan Xian was shocked, not knowing whether his father's ruthless action was to vent his anger for Fan Sizhe, or for other reasons.

Fan Jian's next words exposed the deepest humanistic qualities and long-hidden humanitarian spirit of this Minister. He said coldly: "Your father lived in the Liujing River for many years, and has always cherished flowers, and hated those who cruelly destroy them... What's more, this Yuan Meng is herself a woman from the brothel, and is willing to harm the weak women in the same line. I absolutely cannot tolerate such a person in this world."

Fan Xian suddenly understood, and remembered the things that Prince Jing often joked about, and remembered that his father was originally a flower-picking guest who considered brothels his home. Those romantic affairs were still circulating in Kyoto to this day. Seeing the tragic deaths of those prostitutes in the case file, it touched his sensitive spot. No wonder he couldn't tolerate Yuan Meng so much.

He took the opportunity to say: "Yuan Meng is Hongcheng's person... What do you think... Hongcheng's marriage with my sister, is it..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fan Jian shook his head: "Hongcheng's nature is good, let's observe for two more days... After all, it was an imperial marriage bestowed by His Majesty, so we have to be cautious."

Fan Xian was a little disappointed, and even more angry at his father's attitude of not putting Ruoruo's happiness in his heart, thinking that Ruoruo wasn't even comparable to the women in the brothel? He made up his mind that even without his father's help, he would do it himself.

Leaving the study, and entering the study again.

The three people in the study got up to greet him when they saw him coming in. Shi Chanli handed over the documents with the dried ink, and said: "This is the transfer agreement for the 70% share of Baoyue Tower, sir, please take a look at it. Let the Second Young Master sign it later."

Mu Tie continued: "The Kyoto Prefecture has been watching all the time. According to the letter from our mole, the Kyoto Prefecture is greatly troubled by the few murderers we sent over. Later, a guest from the Second Prince's side went to the Kyoto Prefecture Governor's mansion and discussed something, but it is still unknown."

Fan Xian nodded and said: "It doesn't matter, we won't take action these few days anyway."

Mu Tie frowned and said: "What if the other party misjudges the situation and thinks we want to fight to the death... What if the Kyoto Prefecture issues an official document to arrest the Second Young Master?"

Fan Xian looked at Yan Bingyun, who had been silent all the time, and shook his head: "With this big boss of the Fourth Bureau here, once Fan Sizhe is sent to the north, who can still find him?"