Chen Pingping chuckled in a high-pitched voice and rubbed his somewhat rough fingers, saying, "Is Fifth Master in Kyoto now?" Fei Jie had also asked this question on the night of Fan Xian's wedding. Fan Xian shook his head and replied as before, "I heard he went south to find Ye Liuyun. I don't know when he'll be back."

For some reason, Fan Xian seemed to faintly hear someone in a dark corner of the room sigh with regret. He frowned, his fingers in his sleeve gripping the hidden crossbow—the content of their conversation was too dangerous. Anyone who heard it would bring unbearable consequences for both Fan Xian and Chen Pingping.

"Come out," Chen Pingping said softly, as if he had seen the reaction in his sleeve. "I think you must be curious about who the real head of the Sixth Bureau is."

With that sentence, a person, or rather, a shadow, floated out from the darkness of the room, ethereal and unlike an ordinary human. This shadow floated behind Chen Pingping before gradually taking shape. It was a... strong individual completely shrouded in black cloth.

Fan Xian felt the aura deliberately emitted by the other party at this moment. His pupils contracted, and his whole body tensed up before slowly relaxing. He had seen this person before, sixteen years ago, when this shadow-like assassin stood on Chen Pingping's carriage, swooping like a hawk and instantly killing a mysterious mage.

"He is the head of the Sixth Bureau of the Overwatch Council, and he never sees outsiders," Fei Jie explained with a smile. "Of course, you are not an outsider."

The assassin leader of Qing Kingdom did not speak, silently standing behind Chen Pingping, seemingly uninterested in Fan Xian. Chen Pingping's voice was somewhat hoarse as he continued Fei Jie's words, "Apart from Fifth Master, he is the most terrifying assassin in the world. Of course, he is also the best protector, which is why I have been able to live until today."

The black shadow slightly bowed, expressing gratitude for the praise of the old man in the wheelchair.

Chen Pingping looked into Fan Xian's eyes and said with a smile, "Shadow is Fifth Master's admirer, follower. Even many of his techniques were gradually imitated from Fifth Master's methods when he was young many years ago. So, he was a little disappointed when he heard you say Fifth Master was not in Kyoto."

Now, Fan Xian looked at the Shadow assassin with different eyes. Just by imitating Wu Zhushu, he could have such great strength. This number one assassin of Qing Kingdom was indeed amazingly talented!

Of course, this shows that the blind man Wu Zhu is even more terrifying.

…

…

Fei Jie pushed Director Chen's wheelchair into the backyard of the Overwatch Council, while the Shadow disappeared into broad daylight again, no one knew where. Fan Xian followed closely behind the wheelchair, feeling a little strange. The style of that most powerful assassin of Qing Kingdom was indeed somewhat similar to Wu Zhushu's – he hadn't seen Wu Zhu for many days. Although he wasn't worried about anything, with his departure imminent, he always wanted to see his closest person.

This was Fan Xian's first time entering the heavily guarded backyard of the Overwatch Council. The courtyard was extremely wide, and there were no tall buildings within dozens of yards outside the courtyard wall, so no one could see the situation inside the courtyard from the outside. Completely different from the world's imagination, the back of the Overwatch Council was such a beautiful place, with green lawns everywhere, and several towering trees casting shadows on the ground. Small wildflowers occasionally revealed their clear faces beside the blue stone road.

The staff of the Overwatch Council silently came and went between different buildings, and would respectfully bow deeply when they saw the black wheelchair from afar.

And every time he walked a certain distance, Fan Xian would frown, because under those beautiful rockeries and in the tender bushes, there seemed to be secret sentries hidden everywhere, making it even more tightly guarded than the palace.

"Get familiar with it. This yard will be yours in the future," Chen Pingping said very casually and suddenly, as easily as throwing a steamed bun for Fan Xian to eat.

Fan Xian's heart sank. Although he had known about this arrangement for a long time, he did not expect the old cripple to say it so simply.

Chen Pingping turned his head and frowned at him, shaking his head and sighing. Fan Xian didn't know why he sighed, and said with a smile, "I have a few questions."

"Tell me," the wheelchair stopped beside a shallow pond. The water was clear, and golden fish could be seen swimming freely in the water. Chen Pingping stared at the water.

"I offended many people in the imperial examination case, but why did Censor Guo and Minister Han dare to attack me? Are they not afraid of my father's and the Prime Minister's anger?" Fan Xian looked at Chen Pingping's disheveled white hair and said quietly, "As for the East Palace, if it wasn't the Crown Prince's will, why would the Empress deal with me?"

Chen Pingping didn't turn his head, and waved his hand. Fei Jie smiled and patted his student's shoulder, expressing his appreciation for his courage, and then left the pool.

Fan Xian stepped forward to take his teacher's place, pushing the wheelchair along the small pool. After a long silence, Chen Pingping said, "Are you forcing me to show my cards?"

"You at least have to let me know how many of our cards the other side knows."

Chen Pingping chuckled in a high-pitched voice, "You really are a cautious young man. It seems you've guessed some things, and you're afraid that the Empress is dealing with you because of those things."

Fan Xian smiled and said, "Yes, if the Empress really knew those things I guessed, then it would be very reasonable for her to deal with me. That's the only reason I can think of. The problem is, if that's the case, my current strength is completely insufficient to contend with the East Palace."

"Enemies are all paper tigers," Chen Pingping said suddenly.

Fan Xian didn't expect to hear these words from the other party's mouth and was greatly surprised. Then he heard Chen Pingping say lightly, "These are the words your mother said back then. She also said that we should despise the enemy strategically and take the enemy seriously tactically."

Fan Xian felt like smiling, thinking that this cripple must not know that the originator of these words was not his mother.

Chen Pingping smiled and said, "And your biggest problem now is that you overestimate the enemy strategically, even fear them, so you are always hesitant and constrained in everything you do. Think about that day in the Ministry of Justice's main hall. Even if you had beaten them, would anyone dare to do anything to you? And on the tactical level, you don't think enough. If it weren't for the Council covering your ass, the things you've done since entering Kyoto would have been enough for you to die hundreds of times."

Fan Xian was speechless. Chen Pingping gently crossed his hands on his thighs and said softly, "Don't think of the East Palace as too powerful. In this entire Qing Kingdom, there are no truly powerful forces, including Prime Minister and even your father, Fan Jian."

Fan Xian seemed to understand something and said softly, "Violence is the real power, so only the military and the Overwatch Council are truly powerful forces."

Chen Pingping raised a hand and shook his long but old fingers, "No, in the entire Qing Kingdom, only one person is truly powerful."

Fan Xian lowered his head and said softly, "It's His Majesty the Emperor."

Chen Pingping smiled and said, "That's right. His Majesty can ignore everything as long as he holds the military power of the world in his hands. No matter how the officials and the harem fight, he doesn't even bother to lift an eyelid."

Fan Xian said with a hint of sarcasm, "He really is a very leisurely emperor."

Chen Pingping rubbed his dry hands and said slowly, "The Overwatch Council belongs to His Majesty. I'm just managing it on his behalf, and you will only be managing it on his behalf in the future. Remember that."

Fan Xian looked calmly at the head of the Qing Kingdom's intelligence agency, wondering if he should doubt the legendary loyalty to the Emperor.

…

…

The black wheelchair had been circling the shallow pond for a long time, and the golden fish in the water were getting dizzy and slowly sank to the bottom, no longer paying attention to the boring old man and young man by the pond, and began to play with the fine sand with their fish mouths.

The officials of the Overwatch Council saw from afar that Director Chen was having a secret conversation with Fan Tisi, who had recently revealed his identity, and naturally did not dare to disturb them. Chen Pingping suddenly sighed and said, "Time always passes so quickly. In the blink of an eye, your mother's son is so old."

Fan Xian was stunned, thinking that this way of speaking was really strange. What does "your mother's son" mean? Why not just say me? He said with a wry smile, "I just regret that I don't know what my mother looked like."

Chen Pingping smiled and said, "There is only one portrait of your mother in the world, secretly painted by the court painter back then. In the end, the great painter was almost killed by Fifth Master."

Fan Xian responded with a smile, "That painting wouldn't be in the palace, would it?"

Chen Pingping didn't answer directly, but said faintly, "You don't need to worry too much about the East Palace. As I said before, the Empress's power was almost completely removed by His Majesty twelve years ago."

Fan Xian knew the story of the Kyoto Bloody Night and frowned slightly, "Why didn't His Majesty depose the Empress?"

"After all, she is the Crown Prince's birth mother and has always been liked by the Empress Dowager. Most importantly..." Chen Pingping said with a smile that was not a smile, "Where else can our Emperor find an Empress who has no power behind her and is so foolish?"

Fan Xian felt a chill deep inside. That Emperor was indeed not a kind person. Fortunately, Chen Pingping didn't know that he was describing His Majesty like this in his heart, and continued to say gently, "Don't worry about being discovered your identity. The death of that infant sixteen years ago is seen as an irreversible fact in the palace. The foolish Empress will let Minister Han move you because she is thinking from the Crown Prince's point of view, she didn't know at that time that you were the Overwatch Council's Tisi, she was just angry at your meeting with the Second Prince on the pleasure boat."

Chen Pingping frowned slightly and said angrily, "I think Si Nanbo should have told you not to get too close to these princes. Did you think that the nobles in Kyoto wouldn't know about your meeting on the pleasure boat?"

Fan Xian smiled awkwardly. At the time in the Ministry of Justice's main hall, he really didn't expect that the Empress wanted to warn him with the Ministry of Justice's poker because she was wary of the Second Prince. At that time, he thought the other party knew his background.