Yao Gonggong was the eunuch who came to the Fan residence to announce the imperial edict. After three cannon blasts, the Fan family busied themselves for quite a while, setting up the incense table and going through the motions. Everyone in the household waited in the main hall. The First Prince and the Princess of Northern Qi found it inconvenient to stay in the residence any longer, so they left on their own. However, the imperial physician remained steadfastly in the study.

The arrival of an imperial edict was a major event. Even Fan Xian was forcibly carried out of his bedroom. Fortunately, the palace had considered that he was recuperating from his injuries, so they specially ordered that he did not need to get up to receive the edict, which was considered a special favor.

He listened to Yao Gonggong’s high-pitched voice and realized that the Emperor had bestowed quite a few rewards this time, so many that he had not finished reading for a long time. He naturally didn't care about these rewards and didn't listen carefully. Instead, he found the eunuch's voice very hypnotic. Lying on the warm and soft couch, his eyelids were drooping slightly, and he was about to fall asleep.

Fan Shangshu coughed softly and reminded him with his eyes. After Wan'er was slightly startled, she gently pinched Fan Xian's palm, which made him barely open his eyes. In the end, he only heard about five hundred bolts of silk, how many acres of land, and a certain number of gold and silver ingots... Nothing new.

Everyone in the Qing Kingdom knew that the Fan family lacked everything but money. Therefore, the Emperor did not intend to compensate Fan Xian too much in this regard. He merely restored Fan Xian's title and, incidentally, raised Fan Jian's title by one level, granting father and son shared glory.

After the main edict was read, the people in the hall dispersed silently. Only then did Yao Gonggong begin to read the Emperor's secret edict in a low voice.

The secret edict was not exactly secret; it was just that the benefits in this edict were not suitable to be publicized everywhere.

Fan Xian's spirits lifted. When he heard that the Emperor had assigned seven Tiger Guards to him, he felt that the Emperor was not too stingy. In his joy, he subconsciously overlooked the other two imperial orders.

What he was most worried about now was his personal safety. He was going to Jiangnan next year, and who knew if he would be able to recover his true qi by then. Uncle Wu Zhu was increasingly disregarding his life, so he still had to rely on himself to be kind.

……

……

Outside the garden, Fan Xian saw the seven familiar Tiger Guards, led by Gao Da. These Tiger Guards had accompanied him on a mission to Northern Qi a few months ago, so they were considered acquaintances. Now that they had been sent by the Emperor to protect Supervisor Fan, they were also very willing—staying with Little Fan was more comfortable than staying in the darkness behind the Emperor. Moreover, Little Fan's martial arts were superb, so they didn't have to worry too much.

Led by Gao Da, the Tiger Guards, carrying long sabers on their backs, knelt on one knee and saluted Fan Xian in unison, saying, "Your humble servants pay respects to Supervisor."

Fan Xian coughed twice and said with a smile, "Get up, we're all old acquaintances. From now on, my little life will depend on you."

The Tiger Guards thought Little Fan was joking and didn't know how to respond. They chuckled dryly. They didn't know that Fan Xian was telling the truth—with the seven tigers by his side, even if Haitang suddenly went crazy and wanted to kill him, he wouldn't be too afraid or at a loss.

"Go and see my father first," Fan Xian said softly, looking at Gao Da. "Although it shouldn't be done on ordinary days, since you are going to follow me, you don't need to be too cautious."

Gao Da nodded, feeling very grateful to Supervisor Fan for pointing it out. He walked towards the front yard with some excitement, eager to pay his respects to his old superior.

———————————————————————

"Embroidered pillows? Fine wine? Clothes? ... There's even a set of musical instruments?"

Fan Xian was in his room, and only now did he begin to seriously listen to the list of rewards. He looked at his wife and said with a wry smile, "Although I was once a Deputy Director of Music, I never learned to play these."

"It's just palace etiquette."

Lin Wan'er explained. Seeing Fan Xian's listless appearance, she didn't mention that the rewards even included items like chamber pots. The backyard garden was in a complete mess. Teng Zijing was outside the residence arranging for people to receive the rewards from the palace, while Teng Da's wife was busy categorizing them in the warehouse. For some important items, they had to come to the room to ask for the young mistress's instructions.

Seeing Teng Da's wife running around in the cold weather with sweat all over her forehead, Fan Xian couldn't help but sigh, "Is this rewarding people or punishing them?"

Teng Da's wife smiled and said, "Even a single thread cannot be ambiguous. These are all blessings bestowed by the palace... In the entire capital, which family can receive so many rewards at once? This time, the young master has earned a lot of face."

"Rewards can't be eaten," Fan Xian said mockingly.

"It was exchanged for life... I'd rather not have this face." Lin Wan'er spoke almost at the same time as him. The couple didn't think much of these rewards. Wan'er was probably afraid that the Emperor was ill-intentioned, hoping that the thicker the rewards, the more times her husband would block knives for him in the future.

"The Emperor is really stingy," Fan Xian said with a smile. "I listened carefully when he reported the amount of gold and silver. The amount was really pitiful."

Lin Wan'er laughed and said, "Do you still care about those? It's just a gesture. The more complicated the rewards, the more it shows the Emperor's concern for your injuries."

"Why wouldn't I care?" Fan Xian raised his eyebrows and said, "Our family now relies entirely on that publishing house... I'd be too embarrassed to ask my father for money for all expenses, wouldn't I? He really has a lot of money, but I can't always be a freeloader."

The three words "啃老族" (ken lao zu - freeloader) were quite simple, and Lin Wan'er vaguely understood them. She smiled and, seeing that there were no idlers in the room, teased softly, "Don't you have a brothel? I heard that the building can earn tens of thousands of taels of silver a month."

Fan Xian laughed and said, "That's Xiao Shi's. Don't pin it on me."

Lin Wan'er spat at him mockingly and grumbled, "You're still pretending in front of your own family. Aren't you tired?"

"You have to pretend at all times, preferably to the point of fooling yourself."

"What did your elder brother want from you earlier?" Lin Wan'er asked curiously, with her big eyes wide open.

Fan Xian thought for a moment and said, "He doesn't want to be the commander of the Imperial Guards... He's asking if I have any ideas."

Lin Wan'er frowned slightly and said, "According to elder brother's temperament, he definitely doesn't want to stay in the capital."

Fan Xian sneered, "Who wants to stay in the capital? It's just that the Emperor doesn't trust such a capable son to lead troops outside all the time."

These words were bold and venomous. Wan'er couldn't help but tremble in her heart and said, "You're becoming more and more careless with your words."

"I can only speak frankly in front of you," Fan Xian sighed. "I'm willing to help the First Prince, but after all, I'm a subject and have no say in these matters at all. I really don't know what made the First Prince so daring as to speak to me so frankly."

"Perhaps elder brother thought... that out of consideration for me, you wouldn't harm him," Lin Wan'er said with a bitter smile. "He's always thought about things so simply since he was a child."

"The water in this capital is too deep. I've been swimming for a long time and found that I haven't reached the bottom yet," Fan Xian frowned and said. "Go to Jiangnan with me next spring and try to stay there longer to really relax."

"I just don't know if the imperial court will give you the title of imperial envoy to investigate the Internal Treasury first, or directly give you a nominal position," Lin Wan'er analyzed seriously. "If it's the title of imperial envoy, you can't bring your family. If you're nominally stationed in Jiangnan for a long time, it's okay for me to go with you."

Fan Xian shook his head and said, "No matter how they arrange it, I'm going to take you with me."

"That's just unreasonable," Lin Wan'er said with a smile, feeling a bit more sweetness in her heart. She also understood that with Fan Xian and her status, no matter how much they broke the rules, no one would dare to say anything now. She just didn't know if the ladies in the palace would agree to her going to Jiangnan. She had been weak since she was a child, and the farthest place she had been was just Cang Mountain last winter. Hearing Fan Xian say this today, it seemed that she might have the chance to see the legendary beautiful Jiangnan, and she was very happy.

"Don't be too outrageous," she suddenly thought of something and looked at Fan Xian, saying, "Although the Emperor issued a secret decree to let the Tiger Guards protect you, he will always let the people of the capital know. Although you are seriously injured now, the reason for the Tiger Guards to come is sufficient, but... the identity of the Tiger Guards is different and will be very conspicuous by your side."

Fan Xian reached out and touched the prickly beard on his lips and said with a smile, "Don't worry, the Emperor is a smart man. The reason for letting the Tiger Guards come to the residence is naturally to protect you, the Princess Consort."

……

……

There was a knock on the door outside the room. Fan Xian shook his head in annoyance, not annoyed that someone was disturbing him at this time, but that after losing all his true qi, he was far less sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment than he used to be. At least he could no longer hear the approaching footsteps long in advance.

Fan Ruoruo led the imperial physician into the room. When the imperial physician saw that Lin Wan'er was also in the room, he hurriedly gave a big salute and turned his face away.

The Qing Kingdom was not like Northern Qi and did not have so many rules between men and women. Moreover, the imperial physician was old enough to be Wan'er's grandfather. His pedantic behavior immediately made everyone in the room laugh.

"Father... said that since brother is in good spirits, he should talk to Imperial Physician," Fan Ruoruo said to her brother with a wry smile.

Fan Xian felt a chill in his heart and knew that his shameless father had finally succumbed to the imperial physician's persistent efforts and pushed him to his poor son to deal with. However, he had already made a decision about the Taiyuan's request. He looked at the imperial physician with a smile and said, "Old sir, I know what you're here for."

The imperial physician opened his mouth to speak, but Fan Xian quickly stopped him and said, "But with my current state, it is absolutely impossible for me to go out to teach..." He looked at the old man's angry expression and said, "However... I will dictate some content in the residence, print it into books, and then send it to you."

The imperial physician stroked his beard, seemingly feeling that this was a good result. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "It's just that medicine is all about personal instruction. It's not appropriate to just look at books."

Fan Xian took two breaths and said, "After the book comes out, if there are any questions, I'll have Ruoruo explain it."

The imperial physician was horrified when he heard this: "How can Miss Fan show her face in public?" He had watched the palace surgery from the side and knew that Miss Fan had personally... applied the needles, so he didn't doubt her skills.

"Ruoruo doesn't understand anything either. I still have to teach her at home," Fan Xian sighed. "Presumably the First Prince has also relayed my opinion. This matter cannot progress too deeply, but there are always some beneficial precautions that can be used as a reference for all the imperial physicians."

He then said with a smile, "Moreover, my teacher is about to return to the capital. When that time comes, he will be responsible for giving lectures at the Taiyuan. His level is much better than Ruoruo's."

After being overjoyed, the imperial physician had some worries: "Mr. Fei... I invited him several times in the past, but he didn't come. I have no way to persuade him."

"I'll ask for an imperial decree, don't worry," Fan Xian comforted the old man in front of him like a child, with a sly smile on his lips.

After the imperial physician left contentedly, Fan Ruoruo exclaimed, "Brother, I don't understand anything. I just did what you told me to do that night."

"There's no way," Fan Xian said with a wry smile. "I'll write down the high-temperature disinfection and isolation of infections that are easy to access first. I'll talk about the rest when the teacher comes back. You can also learn along the way."

Fan Ruoruo was stunned for a moment, and then a look of brilliance appeared on her face. She nodded heavily.

Fan Xian and his wife were a little surprised that their sister would agree so readily and didn't know what to say to her.

"Brother, you always say that in this life, you have to find what you like to do most and then keep doing it," Fan Ruoruo said with her head lowered, slightly shy. "That night, although I didn't contribute much, when I saw you come back to life, I realized... that saving a person is such a joy. So even if you didn't have this arrangement today, I would still ask you to teach me medicine."

Fan Xian opened his mouth wide and couldn't say anything for a long time. Could it be that his random actions would lead to the emergence of a female doctor in the future of the Qing Kingdom... He just didn't know if Fei Jie would teach another female apprentice, and in the end, would he turn his sister into Hua Tuo or Feng Hua.

No! It must not be a female monster like Hua Tuo, but of course, it should be a beautiful Western Queen Mother like Feng Hua. Fan Xian looked at his sister's increasingly lively and beautiful face because of her excitement and comforted himself that at the very least, she would have to be a Qing Kingdom version of Dae Jang Geum.

……

……

Night fell.

Si Si made the bed and adjusted the vent of the heater to just the right position. Then, she and Si Qi, who brought in the water, left the room together. The couple lay quietly in bed, watching the candlelight outside the pavilion gradually dimming, and had not made a sound for a long time.

"Can't sleep?"

"Yeah, I slept too much during the day... What about you? Why can't you sleep today either? I remember when we were in Cang Mountain, you slept like a little cat every day."

"Speaking of cats... I wonder how Little White, Little Yellow, and Little Black are doing."

"Teng Da's wife took them to the farm. You instructed her to do so. Why are you starting to miss them now?" Fan Xian opened his eyes and said with a smile.

Lin Wan'er mumbled softly, "You said that raising cats is not good for conceiving children."

Fan Xian was stunned and smiled bitterly without saying a word. He couldn't very well say to her face that he actually hated cats, could he? Whether they were old cats or kittens, looking at their lazy and cunning appearance filled him with anger.

"Husband... am I very useless?" Lin Wan'er turned to her side, and her orchid-like breath fell on Fan Xian's face.

"It's a bit itchy, help me scratch it," Fan Xian gestured for his wife to scratch his face and asked curiously, "Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"

Lin Wan'er gently scratched under his ear and pouted in the darkness: "Everyone around me seems to have their own strengths and can help you. Sizhe is good at doing business, and Ruoruo is now going to learn medicine. She herself is a famous talented woman in the capital. Young Master Yan helps you manage the affairs of the courtyard, and then there's Haitang in the north..."

Fan Xian coughed violently twice, almost breaking open the wound on his chest.

Wan'er gently stroked the area above his wound: "She is also a remarkable woman, probably with the great idea of ​​stabilizing the country and protecting the people. Only I... I've been weak since I was a child, and I've been spoiled by so many people in the palace, but I can't do anything. I'm not good at writing, and I'm not good at martial arts."

Fan Xian heard the meaning in his wife's words, remained silent for a while, and then said: "Wan'er, actually, there are some things that I have never said to you."

"Hmm?"

"Life in this world is not just about being useful or good, and being useless or bad," he said gently. "These roles are actually not what we want to play. For example, my initial ambition was to be a rich and idle person. And like Yan Bingyun, why would he want to be the leader of secret agents for the rest of his life? You've seen the situation between him and Miss Shen."

"And for me, Wan'er, you yourself are very special," a gentle smile appeared on the corner of Fan Xian's mouth, but his eyes did not look at his wife beside the pillow. "You grew up in the palace since you were a child, such a dirty, filthy, and dangerous place, but it did not change your temperament. You grew freely like a lotus flower, and the lucky me picked it off... This is already a very rare thing in itself."

Wan'er felt sweet in her heart listening to the sweet words, but she was still a little sad: "But... after all, it's still..."

Fan Xian stopped her from continuing: "And... Wan'er, you are very capable, even your younger brother doesn't dare to claim that he will definitely win when playing mahjong."

The couple laughed.

"Furthermore, actually, I know what you are really good at," Fan Xian was silent for a while and then said extremely seriously: "You have much more experience than me in judging the direction of the court situation, and your vision is truly amazing. After the spring exams, if it weren't for your activities in the palace, I wouldn't have had such an easy time... I believe that if you want to help me plan, your ability is definitely no less than that of Yan Bingyun, but... but..."

Lin Wan'er opened her bright eyes, her eyes were unusually calm: "But what?"

"It's just that I don't want to, I don't want you to be involved in these things," Fan Xian said decisively: "These things are too shady, I don't want you to come into contact with them. You are my wife, and I have the responsibility to let you live a relaxed and happy life, instead of making you upset all day long."

"I am a male chauvinist," he concluded with a smile, "at least in this aspect."

……

……

After a long time, Wan'er sighed, but there was a trace of satisfaction and comfort in her sigh. She said softly: "After all, I am a member of the imperial family. In the future, there are some things that you should not let me hear... Although I know that you trust me, you also said that these things are extremely shady, and it is difficult to avoid between husband and wife. I would rather you not tell me those things so that I don't suspect you in the future."

Her marriage with Fan Xian began with an imperial marriage bestowed by the Emperor, which contained a clear political flavor. It was just that God had made it beautiful and allowed this young couple to use chicken legs as a medium to express their feelings through the window, which seemed much more stable than ordinary political marriages.

It's just that in the face of politics, how close can husband and wife be? Such tragedies are not uncommon in history. Moreover, the Eldest Princess is her biological mother after all, so Wan'er's words are not pretentious, nor are they retreating in order to advance, but are truly considering Fan Xian.

"Don't think so much," Fan Xian said calmly and firmly: "If a person lives a lifetime and cannot even trust his closest people, why continue such a pitiful life?"

What he wanted to say was that if life had a chance to start over, but he had to be wary of the person beside his pillow at all times, then he... would rather not have been reborn.

——————————————————————

The first snow fell in the capital. Small snowflakes floated to the ground, melting as soon as they touched the mud, making it difficult to accumulate. The damp cold in the houses gradually increased, but fortunately, the Qing Kingdom was in a period of prosperity, and all materials were abundant. Even ordinary people's homes were not worried about heating materials. From far away, one could see the gathering places of ordinary people, with wisps of mist rising from the black eaves, presumably there were heaters in the houses.

An extremely ordinary carriage turned countless corners in the capital and finally arrived in front of a small courtyard in a private residence. It was cold today, and no one was on the street. The surroundings were quiet, so naturally no one saw the faces of the people who got off the carriage.

Deng Ziyue carefully put Fan Xian on the wheelchair and pushed him into the small courtyard.

Fan Xian was wearing a cloak today, the fur collar was higher than his neck, which was very warm. He reached out to his lips and exhaled hot air to warm it, and glanced at the young men who were chopping wood in the corner of the yard under the command of Su Wenmao, and was slightly stunned.

The young man's eyebrows were somewhat familiar, he was naked from the upper body, and he did not show any fear of the cold in this cold winter, and kept chopping wood.

"Is this Si Lili's younger brother?" Fan Xian squinted his eyes, looking at the young man, as if trying to find the shadow of the girl from the Northern Kingdom on him.

Deng Ziyue nodded softly: "After the adults explained it, the dean issued a warrant and we took him out of the prison. Since Miss Si entered the Northern Qi Imperial Palace, his identity is a bit sensitive, and it is not easy to arrange him. After asking for instructions last time, he was arranged here."

Fan Xian nodded. This small courtyard was his only private land. Apart from himself and the Qinian group, perhaps only Chen Pingping knew about it, so it was the safest. The reason why he came here today regardless of his injuries was because the Emperor had transferred the Tiger Guards to him. Although the existence of these Tiger Guards could guarantee his safety, there must be ears and eyes of the Emperor monitoring him among them.

Thinking that it would be difficult to come so easily in the future, he came in the snow today.

"This Master Si is a reckless man... He could run from Northern Qi to the Qing Kingdom for his sister. It's hard to guarantee that he won't run out of this yard in a few days," Fan Xian clenched his fist to his mouth, coughed softly, and said: "Keep an eye on him, and if there is any change, kill him."

Deng Ziyue responded expressionlessly, pushing him towards the inner room, with the wheelchair rolling over the muddy snow water on the ground.

The Supervisory Council officials in the house came out to greet him. Looking at the Supervisor in the wheelchair, they couldn't help but feel a little cold in their hearts, and seemed to have the illusion that another terrible Chen Pingping had appeared in the Qing Kingdom.