Regardless of whether Fan Xian was willing or not, people still came to offer their congratulations in droves. Perhaps they saw it as a rare opportunity to get closer to Vice Minister Fan, or perhaps they knew that the Emperor had already appointed Fan Xian as an Assistant Secretary of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (太常寺协律郎) and that his marriage to someone from the palace was imminent. In any case, officials from various departments gave him a great deal of face, sending their subordinates to offer congratulations, and even the various royal and ducal mansions sent gifts. Carriages lined up endlessly along Dongchuan Road, the sounds of announcements filled the air, and the gift boxes almost filled the entire council chamber.

The crowds watching on the street marveled, thinking that it was just a bookstore, yet it caused such a stir. This Fan Gongzi, skilled in both literary and martial arts, was truly no ordinary person. The biggest benefit of the opening day's spectacle was that from then on, the Danbo Bookstore was free from the trouble of harassment from the underworld, and official problems were also very rare.

Fan Xian calmly watched the scene, bowing to the guests, knowing that most of them were coming for his father's sake. Fortunately, the bookstore was too cramped, and the guests were not important figures, so after a brief exchange, stating which family they were from, they took their leave. After these people left, some were still suspicious as to why a member of the esteemed Fan household would engage in business, knowing that merchants were not a respected profession.

At this moment, Li Hongcheng, the Heir Apparent of Jing Wang (靖王), finally arrived. People on the street who recognized him bowed in greeting, and he responded with a gentle smile, without the slightest arrogance of royalty, his face like a spring breeze, very refined. Seeing him enter the store, some passersby wondered, "The Danbo Bookstore certainly has a lot of face."

"The Jing Wang residence and the Fan family have always had a good relationship, didn't you know?"

...

...

When Fan Xian saw him arrive, he was slightly moved. Such a gentle and amiable person was willing to run errands for the Second Prince. What kind of person must that Second Prince be? Smiling, he shook his head, banishing these thoughts from his mind and went out to greet him—he still wanted to have a simpler friendship with Li Hongcheng.

The two entered the quiet room in the back. Li Hongcheng looked around at the decorations and sighed, "It seems you really invested a lot of silver."

"I only took about 1,700 taels," Fan Xian said, pouring him a cup of tea. "A small business, not worthy of your attention, Heir Apparent."

Li Hongcheng took the tea, shook his head, and said, "Your Fan family members are the best at making money, that's something all the officials in the court know. It's just that Lord Sinanbo (司南伯) makes money for the court, while you make it for yourself. Those are two different things."

Fan Xian smiled, "Earning silver always means paying taxes to the court. Even if I keep some for myself, it can't just rust in my hands forever. If I spend it, it's taking care of other people's businesses. If other people's businesses are good, the court's taxes will increase. So, no matter where you do business, as long as you can make money, the money will eventually end up in the hands of the court, and ultimately be used for the benefit of the people."

Li Hongcheng listened in a bit of a daze, but seemed to understand somewhat, praising, "A few words, yet they seem to explain a great principle. The court has always valued agriculture and suppressed commerce. I was wondering why you chose this profession, whether you were disinterested in officialdom, but it turns out that's the reason."

Fan Xian was quite embarrassed, thinking that when he was healthy in his previous life, he could only score near the bottom in political economics. He was just chatting casually, why did it become a principle? He quickly stopped and changed the subject: "Alright, alright, what officialdom or no officialdom? I can only write two crooked poems. I'm planning to be a deserter in next year's imperial examination."

Li Hongcheng, who had been troubled by Fan Xian's integrity for a long time, finally used his fan again in front of him, fanning his neck constantly, and said with a smile, "If what you write is crooked poetry, then wouldn't you be embarrassing all those people in the Imperial Academy? Look, just now there were so many students outside wanting to meet the great poet Fan. If it weren't for your servants blocking them, I'm afraid you wouldn't have any peace right now."

Fan Xian said with a troubled expression, "Some of those students at the Imperial Academy are old enough to be my grandfathers, and they still call me 'student' one after another. It's really a bit unbearable."

Li Hongcheng laughed heartily, pointing at him with his fan and saying, "Seeing your worried face, but hearing such witty words, you, you, you, are truly an interesting person."

Fan Xian rolled his eyes, wondering what was interesting about him? He asked, "When can I go to the Jing Wang residence to thank the old man for writing the calligraphy this time?" Li Hongcheng was startled, then realized that the young man in front of him didn't even know that his father had met him before. He smiled, but didn't reveal this, preparing to watch the Fan family boy's embarrassment in the future: "You can go whenever you want, why do you need to tell me?"

Li Hongcheng, the Heir Apparent of Jing Wang, had always felt that the Fan Xian in front of him seemed much more mature than his sixteen or seventeen years. If not unperturbed by honor or disgrace, then at least extraordinarily calm and steady. He had always wanted to break through the other's composure and suddenly clapped his hands and said, "That's right, I almost forgot to congratulate Fan Shixiong (世兄)."

Fan Xian was startled, wondering what there was to congratulate him on.

Li Hongcheng stood up and said, "Congratulations, Shixiong, on accepting the position of Assistant Secretary of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The magpies were chattering with joy at the door. You must treat us to a few meals."

Fan Xian laughed, "So that's it. You should have known this a long time ago."

"In the past, it was just a rumor in the palace, but it hadn't been confirmed, so it didn't count." Li Hongcheng's brow suddenly furrowed, not knowing what he was thinking about. At this moment, he suddenly thought of something. The Second Prince and he had always thought that even if the Fan family didn't side with them, they wouldn't stand on the Crown Prince's side, but they seemed to have overlooked a very important issue. After Fan Xian got married, his wife would be the Prime Minister's illegitimate daughter, so it was possible that they might... slowly lean towards that side.

So he suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Si Lili is being escorted back to the capital. Maybe we can find out who exactly is colluding with Northern Qi."

Fan Xian had never imagined that the other party would think so much in such a short period of time. He was slightly stunned, and then said with a wry smile, "I'm just a small ant, I only hope that these nobles in the court will ignore me."

Li Hongcheng glanced at him, knowing that what he said was not entirely true, but he didn't point it out. He smiled and said, "In any case, like the Guo Baokun incident, if there's anything you need me to do, don't hesitate."

"That's natural." Fan Xian replied vaguely, but then changed the subject. "I plan to open a tofu shop in the south of the city. Are you interested in investing?"

Li Hongcheng was drinking tea and almost swallowed the teacup. He tidied his clothes in a flustered manner and said annoyedly, "How much money can a tofu shop make? A bookstore is at least refined money, but that's scum money."

Fan Xian smiled and ignored him, thinking that when he sent the freshly squeezed soy milk to the Jing Wang residence, he would say something different. When he was in Danzhou, he ate a lot of tofu, but because of the different dietary habits by the sea, he rarely drank soy milk. After coming to the capital, he had drunk it a few times, but always felt that there were too many dregs, not knowing if it was a problem with the process or something, so he decided to improve it.

———————————————————————————

At dusk, after school, Fan Sizhe finally sneaked in through the back door. After being taught a lesson by Fan Xian last time, he taught the students in the same school a lesson in return, feeling very good, so going to school didn't feel like a chore anymore. But today was the bookstore's opening, and everything from selecting the location to selecting the paper, from hiring the manager to setting the book prices was handled by him. He couldn't help but be nervous, so he came early.

As soon as he entered the bookstore, he first sighed for a while at not seeing the grand scene of the day, and then plunged into the accounting room. Fan Xian drank tea and waited for him. After a while, Fan Sizhe came out with a confused and innocent expression.

Fan Xian was shocked and asked, "What happened?"

Fan Sizhe stammered for a long time, and finally took a breath, scolding, "We're earning much more than we thought!"

"Ah? Really?" Fan Xian had thought that if there was some business on the first day, it would be good, but he hadn't expected this. He took the account book handed over by his younger brother and looked at the numbers. He couldn't help but feel a shiver in his heart. Not to mention that more than eighty sets of the finely-annotated *Story of the Stone* (石头记) had been sold, even the classics and historical collections printed by Wan Song Tang (万松堂) on their behalf had been bought by many scholars who came to see the excitement.

Fan Xian calculated in his head and thought that doing business was really a very fulfilling thing.

"Today is the opening day, and many people who have a relationship with our family came to support us. There won't naturally be such good things in the future." Fan Xian looked at Fan Sizhe, whose eyes had turned into copper coins, and cautiously reminded him.

Fan Sizhe swallowed a mouthful of saliva and cast an envious glance at his elder brother: "Brother, I know. It's just that you can sit in the bookstore every day, but I can only hide away. I really envy you."

Fan Xian laughed and said, "You like being a merchant so much? Father's peerage is still waiting for you to inherit. Study hard. Maybe you'll be in charge of all the silver in the court in the future."

"That requires becoming the Minister of Revenue." Fan Sizhe said with a gloomy expression, "Father was a *tanhua* (探花) in the imperial examination, and is currently only a Vice Minister. The old Minister has been lying in bed for several years, but the court hasn't let Father take his place. I... I can only donate a title. This path is probably impassable."

Fan Xian looked at his younger brother with some surprise. Suddenly, although this little guy had many mischievous places, his view of himself and things was unexpectedly astute. After thinking about it, he said, "If you like doing business, then go do it. I'll talk to Father about it."

Fan Sizhe was overjoyed, but suddenly frowned again and said, "But what about Mother?"

Fan Xian's heart paused, and he thought of Liu, whom he hadn't thought about for a long time. The Fan residence in the capital seemed to be harmonious and happy, but who knew how long this seemingly beautiful situation could last?