The hall fell silent, and neither of them spoke for a long time. Manager Ye was utterly shocked. The Internal Treasury? He had personally managed… everything there. It held what the Miss had left behind. How many years had it been since he'd been near it? But how could the Imperial Court possibly allow them to approach those assets again?

Seeming to guess his thoughts, Fan Xian said with a smile, "I've seen the edict summoning you to the capital. It only forbids you from investing in businesses, but no one said you couldn't take over the Ye family's operations again."

The temptation was enormous. For the managers of Qing Yu Nian, managing properties for various princes and officials, remotely controlling copper and salt mines across the land, was simply not enough to utilize their true abilities. Moreover, the Internal Treasury… in the minds of the Qing Yu Nian managers, it was *their* business to manage! Just look at what the Princess had done to the Miss's legacy over the years! Whenever they thought of this, these professional "executive managers" gritted their teeth in hatred.

Fan Gongzi's offer represented the opinion of the Fan manor, which had a special relationship with His Majesty. Could it be… that His Majesty had finally come to his senses?

Fan Xian stood up and said with a smile, "This is just a suggestion. There's still plenty of time. You can consider it at your leisure, Da Zhanggui."

Having said his piece, there was nothing more to add. After Fan Ruoruo returned from her lackluster tour, the Fan manor party took their leave. Manager Ye respectfully saw them out, watching them board the carriage, and then wiped the cold sweat from his brow.

Fan Xian suddenly leaned out of the carriage, his handsome face radiant with sunlight. He called out loudly, "Da Zhanggui, if you really decide to accept, remember to send someone to the manor to let us know. My second brother and I will bring some cured meat to pay our respects to the teacher."

Manager Ye, hearing him shout, thought that Fan Da Gongzi was going to mention the delicate matter of managing that hot potato of an asset in front of everyone, and jumped in fright. Only when he heard it was about the other matter did he calm down. He understood that the other party was reminding him that if he agreed to their terms, he would also have to become Fan Er Gongzi's teacher. However, Manager Ye didn't understand why they had to bring cured meat when paying respects to a teacher. He frowned slightly, and then recalled that many years ago, it seemed that Ninth Ye or Twenty-third Ye had mentioned cured meat… What were Ninth Brother and Twenty-third Brother doing with cured meat back then? He patted his forehead as he returned to Qing Yu Nian, feeling somewhat saddened by his fading memory.

On the carriage ride back, Fan Xian felt tired as well. He wasn't a person who enjoyed schemes, but for his own sake, for the sake of the Fan family, for the sake of many, many people, he had to do something. In his plan, the Ye family's assets would eventually be gradually handed over to his second brother, since his own talent in business seemed inferior to that kid's. As for the rest… he'd see how things went.

It was only then that he understood what Teacher Fei Jie had told him in Danzhou.

"Your family's affairs are far more complicated than you imagine. They involve not only your own survival, but also the lives of many more people, so you must be cautious. In the years before you grow up, you must learn to protect yourself, so that you will have the strength to protect others in the future."

"Who will I be protecting in the future?" Fan Xian asked, puzzled.

Fei Jie smiled and pointed to his own nose, "For example, people like me who are inextricably linked to you."

So Fan Xian had to do something to protect… people like Ruoruo, Wan'er, and the Fan family who were inextricably linked to him. At the same time, he also wanted the old staff and former subordinates of Qing Yu Nian to be happy. Of course, at this point, he still didn't think that old monsters like Teacher Fei Jie or Chen Pingping needed his protection.

——————————————————————————

Fan Da Gongzi's visit to Qing Yu Nian was a big deal, at least for the bunch of people named Ye in Qing Yu Nian. Commerce was, after all, a lowly pursuit. Although these managers had earned countless taels of silver for the royal family and officials, they still couldn't be seen in high society. Therefore, very few people of standing would personally visit Qing Yu Nian. And at the meeting in the secret chamber in the back garden, when Manager Ye announced the purpose of Fan Gongzi's visit today, the few people sitting around the round table were even more shocked. Some began to recall the glory days, while others turned pale, thinking of the ruthlessness of the palace.

"Don't overthink it. Since Fan Gongzi dared to make this suggestion, he will definitely find a way to convince the palace in the future." Manager Ye looked at the other directors and said with a frown, "It depends on what everyone thinks. There are five directors in total. According to the old rules, one vote per person, and two for me. However, Sixth Ye is currently doing business with the Fan manor, so we should invite him over to provide some advice."

The other managers turned their gaze to the Seventh Ye Manager of Danbo Bookstore. He lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "Fan Da Gongzi and Er Gongzi have a much better relationship than we imagined. Moreover, Fan Gongzi seems indifferent, but he is actually very ambitious. As you all know, his reputation in the capital is booming. From his daily actions, it seems that he doesn't even take Count Sinan's wealth seriously. Moreover, the people he associates with on a daily basis are powerful figures like Jing Wang Shizi (Prince Jing's heir)."

Manager Ye nodded, "It's still early, but we need to prepare early."

One of the directors raised an objection, "Why take the risk? We finally managed to save our lives, and we've been living comfortably these past few years."

"It's not much of a risk, is it? After all, so many years have passed. The palace should be at ease with us. Besides, we're not leaving the capital, and our lives are in the hands of the Imperial Court," another person said, shaking his head. "We're just merchants, we can't possibly rebel. There's no need to be so afraid. Sigh, I really want to take over those things again. Just thinking about it makes me excited. It's been so many years since I blew a glass pot... I used to be the best at blowing them among all of you."

This sentence seemed to trigger everyone's fond memories, and they all laughed heartily. Someone laughed and scolded, "The Miss used to say you were a big windbag."

That person was embarrassed, "I'm not like you, who liked to soak in the soap factory blowing bubbles back then."

Ye Da smiled slightly and raised his hand to stop the old codgers from making a ruckus, "Are there any other opinions?"

The first director to raise an objection stopped laughing and said calmly, "First, we need to confirm that the palace allows it. Only then can we do this. Although we all want to return to where we started, safety is still the top priority. The Miss used to say that as long as we're alive, everything is fine."

Ye Da frowned, "The Fan manor used to have a very good relationship with our Ye family. In recent years, the Supervisory Council and Count Sinan have been quite considerate of us. I don't think Count Sinan would deceive us."

That director said coldly, "Don't forget, the Li family also had a very good relationship with our Ye family back then, but we were still deceived by them in the end."

Li was the imperial surname, so the Li family was naturally the royal family. As soon as this was mentioned, the secret chamber in the back garden of Qing Yu Nian immediately fell silent, and the faces of the people around the round table showed unease.

—————————————————————————————

Gathering the former members of the Ye family was an extremely risky thing, so Fan Xian was just making a preliminary move. Moreover, by using the pretext of hiring a teacher for Fan Sizhe, he thought that not many people would notice this. After all, he didn't know how long it would be before he truly took over the Internal Treasury. Before taking over, he had to first prove that he had the ability to do so. Before proving his ability, he had to first meet His Majesty's definition.

His Majesty's definition of who could take over the Internal Treasury was very simple – whoever married Lin Wan'er would get the Internal Treasury. Although he didn't know why his Emperor uncle was so fond of his fiancée, since Fan Xian had chosen to accept this marriage, he had naturally chosen to accept this challenge as well.

Before the wedding, he first had to face another challenge.

The Taichang Temple Xie Lü Lang (Assistant of Harmony) was always a sinecure, similar to a honorary title in some ages, used to give those future imperial consorts a more elegant official position. It was only a minor eighth-rank official, but it was noble enough. Initially, the rules of Qing Kingdom were to appoint sixth-rank academics from the Tongwen Academy, but later it was discovered that many imperial consorts couldn't even recite a poem, so they had to give up and change the rules to appoint Xie Lü Lang. The Xie Lü Lang was called Xie Lü Xiaowei (Harmony Commandant) in the previous dynasty and was in charge of the music of the ancestral temple. The royal family always thought that the imperial consorts couldn't write poems, so humming a few tunes would also be considered picturesque, so it was decided like this.

Although it was a sinecure, one still had to report to the Taichang Temple. So early this morning, Fan Xian went to the Taichang Temple in the family's carriage with a worried face. At the temple gate, the fourth-rank Vice Minister of the Taichang Temple had already come to greet him. Fan Xian was flattered by this reception and quickly got out of the carriage to greet him warmly. After exchanging pleasantries with his colleagues in the Taichang Temple, he entered the yamen and sat in a small room, listening to the Vice Minister explain what he should do.

This Vice Minister had been promoted by the Prime Minister, so his enthusiasm for Fan Xian was easily explained. However, the Vice Minister, as well as many officials in the Imperial Court, still didn't understand to this day – why all the rules for the marriage of the Prime Minister's illegitimate daughter to the Fan family's illegitimate son were being handled according to the palace rules.

His Majesty might be too trusting of the Lin family and the Fan family, but in the eyes of many officials, His Majesty was simply being too reckless. And those who knew the true identity of Miss Lin were determined not to say anything.

Fan Xian thought he was tone-deaf and would inevitably make a fool of himself, but he didn't expect to just sit there all morning, drinking a bellyful of warm tea. He discovered that his colleagues were also mostly like this, just holding the palace's one or two tael newspaper in their hands. His stomach felt bloated from drinking too much tea. He sighed, learned from others, took a newspaper, and went to the latrine.

The newspaper was still full of gossip, but now that Chen Pingping had returned to the capital, the palace writers no longer dared to fabricate stories about the Dean's first love. After pulling up his pants and coming out of the latrine, he subconsciously stuffed the newspaper deep into his underwear. He only then woke up and chuckled to himself. This was still the habit of stealing newspapers he had developed in Danzhou years ago. All the silver he had saved was obtained through this method.

Just as he was about to go back to continue drinking tea, he suddenly heard a burst of joyful exclamations from the room, "We won! We won! Heaven bless Great Qing!"

Fan Xian's heart tightened. He knew that the contest between the Imperial Court and Northern Qi had finally ended in the Imperial Court's victory. After this small war between puppet vassal states, he feared that some more land to the north would be incorporated into Qing Kingdom's sphere of influence.