The Qing Yu Nian envoy团 fell silent, which made other forces anxious. Shopkeeper Sheng often came to deliver wine, humbly conveying the Xinyang side's greetings. Shen Zhong also re-invited Fan Xian several times, but Fan Xian declined with an excellent excuse. The other party could not get angry. On the contrary, Marquis Changning felt heartbroken at the thought of the fat meat slipping from his mouth, and repeatedly urged Shen Zhong with a mournful face.

There might be some agreement between the Eldest Princess and Shangshan Hu, but the Xinyang side did not have deep roots in Northern Qi after all, and still needed the power of the Supervisory Council. After Fan Xian's persuasion, Yan Bingyun finally agreed to his plan and prepared to use the network he had woven over the past four years.

News from the south indicated that the Qing Yu Nian court was as stable as Mount Tai, without the slightest fluctuation. However, the Supervisory Council's report mentioned that several extremely strange murders had occurred recently in Shandong Road. Although the murderers killed ordinary people, their methods were extremely brutal. This was a case for the Ministry of Justice, but it had not been solved, so the Supervisory Council's Fourth Bureau had taken over.

Fan Xian did not take this murder case to heart, and Yan Bingyun did not pay attention to it either. After all, the affairs of Shangjing were headache enough, and the two were planning that covert matter.

……

……

Fan Xian's reasons for declining all invitations were very sufficient, because he had been spending a lot of time chatting with a village girl these past few days. With the identity of that village girl, neither Shen Zhong nor Marquis Changning dared to compete with her for guests.

In a quiet street in Shangjing, Northern Qi, a man and a woman were taking a leisurely stroll and chatting. Their soft voices floated up, disturbing the butterflies that were greedily sucking honey in the flower bushes.

"Nature is a heaven and earth, a person is a heaven and earth. The so-called unity of man and nature means that human affairs must follow the way of heaven and earth, and the two can be harmonious."

"Harmony is just a superficial state. What does Your Excellency think is the difference between the unity of man and nature and the intercommunication of man and nature?"

"Oh, this official is not clear about that. I just feel that man follows the earth, the earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows nature. Only in this way can there be harmony."

"Still harmony?"

"Harmony is the highest."

……

……

"Lord Fan's discussion today is unique. Duo Duo admires it greatly." While saying she admired him, the village girl Haitang still had her hands in her big pockets, dragging her feet, with a serene expression. She walked down the street like a lazy woman, with not a trace of admiration on her face.

Fan Xian self-deprecatingly touched his nose and walked in Haitang's manner, using the "sweeping the floor" gait, as he had done in the palace that day. He thought to himself, "Fortunately, this street is relatively quiet, otherwise, the passersby would laugh at us." As if guessing what he was thinking, Haitang said, "I just feel comfortable walking like this. As for what others think, I really don't care."

Fan Xian pondered slightly and found that what she said was quite correct. People are all fond of ease and hate work, and walking like this is indeed more comfortable than holding your head high and chest out. The problem is - if you're really lazy, why not lie in bed? He thought this in his heart, and naturally said it out loud: "I still think it's more comfortable to lie in bed. If Miss Haitang is willing, we can lie in bed and talk about literature and chat about life..."

Haitang glanced at him.

Fan Xian smiled somewhat embarrassedly, not explaining anything. He really didn't have many romantic thoughts about this wonderful girl Haitang. He just didn't know why, chatting with her always made him feel very relaxed.

After his rebirth, Fan Xian had always wanted to experience many interesting things and meet many interesting people. This visit to Northern Qi was largely to satisfy this spiritual need of his. Although the journey was fraught with assassinations and conspiracies, and things were not very interesting, Fan Xian felt it was quite worthwhile to have met two interesting people, Yan Bingyun and Haitang.

"I heard that Lord Fan met with Lord Shen Zhong a few days ago?" Haitang asked softly, reaching out to push aside the green branches hanging down from the side of the street. The weather was gradually entering summer, but the recent rains had been heavy, so there was no sweltering heat and the trees and flowers still had the feel of spring.

Fan Xian nodded: "We parted on bad terms." He knew that although Ku He was transcendent above politics, he could see that this lineage's power still leaned towards the Empress Dowager, so he guessed why Haitang was asking this.

"Parted on bad terms?" Haitang smiled, her ordinary face incredibly gentle. "I'm just curious, Lord Fan, why are you so eager to put forward that suggestion? Aren't you afraid that it will be transmitted back to the south and affect your official reputation?"

Fan Xian's heart trembled slightly, but there was no expression on his face: "I don't quite understand what the lady is talking about."

Haitang said: "The Empress Dowager is very moved by Your Excellency's suggestion."

Fan Xian's expression darkened slightly as he said: "Miss Haitang should know that these days, this official has been in seclusion, refusing guests. The only reason I came out to walk with you when you spoke was because I felt in my heart that although the lady once took action on the Wudu River, she is, after all, a transcendent expert and would not talk about these mundane, petty things... Miss Haitang, you have disappointed this official."

"If I didn't say these things, I'm afraid Lord Fan would be even more disappointed." Haitang was clear-minded and would not be deceived by Fan Xian's sweet talk. "The Empress Dowager invites you to the palace."

Fan Xian chuckled and cupped his hands in salute: "Thank you for passing on the message, Miss Haitang. You've worked hard."

"Lord Fan previously said that sincerity is the way of Heaven, and to be sincere is the way of man." Haitang's bright, jewel-like eyes made Fan Xian feel dazed for a moment. "Since you know the Dao, why not practice it? Isn't it easier to treat people with sincerity?"

Fan Xian took a deep breath, slowly circulating the strange, domineering true Qi in his body, resisting the pressure from Haitang, and said with a smile: "Treating people with sincerity, there are different levels of sincerity. Being sincere to people is a small Dao, being sincere to the world is a great Dao... If Miss Haitang treats people with sincerity, why not tell me what secret Xiao En has that even a transcendent expert like your teacher is interested in."

"Sincere to the world?" Haitang's lips curled slightly. "My teacher is sincere to the world, so he cannot say much. It's just that the secret in Xiao En's heart has preserved his life for twenty years. If that secret were to spread among the common people, I'm afraid the world would be in chaos for twenty years."

Fan Xian's heart twitched slightly. He knew some things that others didn't know - according to Haitang's statement, could there be some kind of danger at the Shrine?

The two returned to the path of pure conversation, doing nothing more than mixing things up with philosophy and theology, these mysterious and arcane subjects. Anyway, Fan Xian had a background in Chinese philosophy history from his previous life, so he could casually pick out a few theories from the doctrines of Dong Zhongshu, Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming to respond perfunctorily, which greatly surprised Haitang. It was only many years later, when Miss Haitang slowly savored it and began to organize the theories of the talented Fan, that she discovered that the young man hadn't said anything at all that day.

……

……

For some reason, the rain in Shangjing City, Northern Qi, in late spring and early summer was so abundant. A moment ago, the warm sun was shining brightly, but a gust of cold wind blew by, and raindrops poured down through the branches above their heads.

With a "whoosh," Fan Xian opened the cloth umbrella beside him and held it over Haitang's head. Under normal circumstances, given Fan Xian's status, he would naturally have subordinates hold an umbrella for him when he went out and it rained. But at this time, it was just the two of them, and judged purely by their surface identities, it was only right for him to hold the umbrella for Haitang.

The rain gradually wet the streets. Fan Xian looked calmly at the people on the street who were scurrying for shelter, but he was actually carefully observing Haitang's steps. At this time, there was standing water under their feet, and Fan Xian had long since abandoned the village girl's gait, wanting to see how Haitang would walk.

Haitang still walked like that.

Fan Xian shrugged helplessly and realized that although Haitang's feet were dragging across the standing water, there seemed to be an invisible force under her shoes that was supporting her entire body, and her soles were not touching the water at all! Fan Xian knew that he simply couldn't reach this level of skill, so he mocked himself with a smile: "Haitang floats on water." (Haitang shui shang piao)

Haitang ignored him and continued to walk like that.

Fan Xian sighed and said: "I don't believe you can be comfortable walking like this."

"I don't like that person called Yan Bingyun." Haitang suddenly said.

"I think Miss Haitang has always lived deep in the mountains and palaces, so she shouldn't have any contact with our Qing Yu Nian's talented Yun."

"Using the means of deceiving women to obtain one's own interests, Haitang is quite disdainful of that."

"We are officials, not ordinary people." Fan Xian defended Yan Bingyun. He didn't want the young Master Yan to be remembered for life by a ninth-grade master. "For the sake of Qing Yu Nian's interests, there are some unavoidable things that we must do."

Haitang said: "Ugliness is ugliness. Don't use officials as a cover anymore."

Fan Xian smiled: "Although being ruthless is not necessarily a true hero, if one's heart is too soft, how can one survive in this chaotic world?"

"Does Lord Fan think the world is now in a chaotic state?"

"People's hearts are thinking of chaos."

"Does Lord Fan think that heroes only emerge in chaotic times?"

"I don't seek to establish myself with the name of a hero, I only seek to be a real man who is worthy of this life."

The two spoke and stopped, having already arrived at the periphery of a small temple. At this time, the heavy rain in the sky happened to stop. This place was far in the suburbs of the capital, very quiet, and there was not a trace of human breath around.

A leaf fell under the stone steps in front of the temple.

The temple door was slowly pushed open. Fan Xian looked at the woman sitting beside the incense table in the temple. After being slightly distracted for a moment, he saluted and said: "Miss Si, long time no see."

Haitang's lips curled slightly and said: "Lord Fan wants to be a real man, but I didn't expect that he would be as I expected, a person who cherishes women."

With a "whoosh," Fan Xian closed the wet umbrella, looked at Si Lili, who stood up to greet him, and said with a smile: "Being ruthless is not necessarily a true hero, how can one not be a real man if one pities the orphan?"