"It's rare to have an envoy come to visit me," Marquis Changning said, his voice trembling. "Son, don't think your father is the Empress Dowager's brother. That's Fan Xian, the immortal poet Fan Xian! Your old father's face is glowing!"

Wei Hua also felt a pang of sorrow in his heart. He knew that although his family lived in luxury and held considerable power, they had always had a terrible reputation in the Northern Qi court, which valued reputation so much. After struggling to reach the position of Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, he finally silenced some malicious tongues, but some still believed that this was a favor granted by the palace to the Empress Dowager's relatives.

He sighed, knowing that his father had studied under Zhuang Mohan in his youth and had also prepared to do great things for the world. However, because of his aunt, he could only be an idle Marquis. This accumulation of years could also be dispersed with a cup of wine, so he didn't say much more. However, thinking of what Fan Xian had said before leaving, he was still a little apprehensive and asked, "Fan Xian just said he wanted to do business with you? He's the Chief of the Supervisory Council of the Southern Dynasties, what kind of business can he do? And what business requires you to come forward?"

Marquis Changning replied, "I'm just a middleman. The person he really needs is Lord Shen."

"Uncle Shen?"

"That's right. Fan Xian's father is the Minister of Revenue of the Southern Dynasty, and he himself has the identity of a fake princess's consort. In the future, he will be in charge of the Southern Dynasty's Eldest Princess's Internal Treasury business. From what he said, he's planning to do some shady things. All the way north, if your Uncle Shen doesn't escort him, then those shady businesses won't last long."

Wei Hua was as shocked as his father had been when he first heard the news, and he opened his mouth wide, saying, "Could it be that he's planning... to smuggle!"

"This is a trap!" Wei Hua's first reaction was this.

"He doesn't need to threaten me with anything," Marquis Changning shook his head in disagreement.

Wei Hua became anxious, "Don't you know that there is still an agreement between the two countries this time? Fan Xian is anxious about that matter right now, and His Majesty's intention is to delay it for a few days, until the Southern Qing delegation gets anxious. If you arrange for him to meet Lord Shen, we'll never be able to get away. If Fan Xian asks me for someone again, how can I delay?"

"Does His Majesty say to delay, and we must delay?" Marquis Changning glanced at his son, "Anyway, that person is going to be released. If we can get some benefits and help Fan Xian, what are we afraid of? Anyway, your aunt is still in the palace."

Wei Hua sighed, not knowing what to say. After a long while, he whispered, "Do you think what Fan Xian said is true? I really don't understand why he would take such a big risk to smuggle goods into our Great Qi."

"People die for wealth, and birds die for food," Marquis Changning's drunkenness hadn't subsided, and he thought he saw through people's hearts, sneering, "Internal Treasury? Such a big piece of cake, but it's ultimately not his Fan family's! Even if his father is the Minister of Revenue of the Qing Kingdom, how much benefit can he get from the national treasury? If Fan Xian really smuggles the goods from the Internal Treasury to the north to sell, do you know how much money that is?"

Wei Hua was intelligent and quick-witted. With a slight frown, he had a rough estimate. For the past ten years, the Qing Kingdom's expenses have basically been supported by the industries left by the Ye family, and at the same time, they have earned a lot of money from other places in the world. If Fan Xian really had the ability to do such a shocking thing, the benefits he could get from it... were terrifying!

"Fan Xian... embezzling this kind of money?" Wei Hua seemed to find it difficult to connect the famous talent Fan, who had always been rumored in the world, with the corrupt person he had just heard about.

Marquis Changning tilted his head again and drank a cup of strong liquor, hiccupping, and said, "What do you think? You have to know that poets also need to eat."

After saying these words, this former talent of Northern Qi, now a parasite of Northern Qi, fell asleep on the table, covered in fine wine, exuding a not-so-pleasant smell.

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In the carriage, Wang Qinian glanced at Lin Jing, who was pretending to be asleep beside him, and showed a disapproving look to Fan Xian, as if he felt that the Chief of the Supervisory Council shouldn't be talking about smuggling in front of the court officials with such audacity.

Fan Xian smiled and said, "You didn't really believe it, did you?"

Wang Qinian really believed it, and Gao Da also believed it. Ask yourself, who would not be tempted if they could fully control the Internal Treasury and get countless times the profit by simply flipping those glass jars? Fan Xian was not tempted because, for the Eldest Princess, the Internal Treasury belonged to the court. But for Fan Xian, the Internal Treasury... belonged to the Ye family, it was his own, or at least it would completely become his own one day.

Stealing goods from his own house and selling them at a low price in the north? Only a fool would do that. But the wonderful thing was that no one knew Fan Xian's true thoughts, no one knew the historical origins between Fan Xian and that so-called Imperial Merchant of the Internal Treasury. So everyone who heard Fan Xian's plan would think that the Fan family's son really wanted to dig out a gold mine that belonged only to himself from the gold mountain of the Internal Treasury.

Fan Xian didn't want to dig for gold at all, he just wanted to enclose the entire mountain.

"Stop pretending to be asleep," Fan Xian yawned, feeling a little tired. Lin Jing beside him opened his eyes somewhat awkwardly, looking at Fan Xian with some fear. Although he was the Deputy Envoy, the young official in front of him was not only the Envoy, but also the Chief of that terrifying agency, the Supervisory Council. He was not afraid to talk about those illegal and forbidden businesses that would lead to the confiscation of property and the extermination of the family in front of him. It was hard to guarantee that the other party wouldn't arrange some kind of accident for him on the way back to the country.

Fan Xian looked at him with amusement, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Are you stupid? Of course, I'm not afraid of you knowing when I say it in front of you. When you go back tonight, write something and send it back to the capital. Don't worry, the court will understand what I mean."

Even if the court didn't understand, the emperor would.

Lin Jing forced himself to believe that the young adult in front of him would not become the biggest corrupt official in Qing's history, swallowed his saliva, and moistened his dry throat: "My lord, why did you come to the Changning Marquis residence today?"

"First, to get on good terms with the people from the Northern Qi Empress Dowager's side. Well, it seems that the Northern Qi Emperor is taking good care of the delegation," Fan Xian said with his head lowered, closing his eyes, continuing, "At the same time, let Marquis Changning handle the previous matter at the gate of the delegation. After all, he beat the precious son of the Northern Qi Marquis, so we have to deal with it..."

Hearing the words "precious son", Wang Qinian and Gao Da smiled slightly at the same time, feeling that what the adult said was very true.

"...So as not to affect the main business of this mission. Third, I want to see that Lord Shen, and only through Marquis Changning can I arrange it. Fourth, I want to scare Wei Hua. Whether the Marquis's residence believes the bait I threw out or not, I think he should secretly speed up the process."

"Why go through so many circles... to meet the Pacification Commissioner, Shen Zhihui?" Lin Jing frowned and said, "This person is a high-ranking official with real power, unlike Marquis Changning. The Northern Qi side will not allow it."

"So it depends on what Marquis Changning really thinks. Anyway, even if we don't meet, there won't be too much harm," Fan Xian opened his eyes and yawned again, "As for why I want to meet? This is the business of the Supervisory Council, so it's not convenient to tell Lord Lin."

Lin Jing was startled and remembered Fan Xian's true identity, and remained silent.

Fan Xian yawned again. He yawned continuously all the way in the carriage, it seemed that he was really exhausted. After entering the palace today, he didn't have any time to rest.

"What are we doing later?" Wang Qinian whispered, "This is the enemy's capital after all, and we are completely ignorant. Do you want to contact the spies of the Fourth Bureau in Shangjing?"

"I told you not to," Fan Xian put his fist to his mouth, forcibly stopping the yawn that was about to come out, and replied with a tired face, "Don't let those spies take risks. It's not time yet. What are we doing later? Just sleep well. Tomorrow, wait for Wei Hua to lead us to see Yan Bingyun."

He squeezed the hard envelope in his clothes, and a hint of worry appeared between his eyebrows.

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After reading that letter, Fan Xian twisted his palm and ruthlessly rubbed the letter paper into pieces. This was a habit he had developed since Cangshan. Those fragments had already become powdery, and even if the intelligence experts of the Second Bureau of the Supervisory Council collected them, they would not be able to restore them again.

The letter was written by a person named Huang Yi. Fan Xian had heard of this name. He was a counselor of the Eldest Princess in the Xinyang Palace. In the most confidential intelligence of the Supervisory Council, it was even pointed out that there was some ambiguity between this scholar and the Eldest Princess.

"Save, save, save! I'm not a firefighter," Fan Xian said with a wry smile. Only now did he know that there was such a complicated relationship behind the matter. Chen Pingping obviously didn't know that Xiao En had the secret of the Temple, and the Eldest Princess didn't know either. So the starting points for their actions were very simple and clear.

Chen Pingping wanted Yan Bingyun to come back and Xiao En to die, because he didn't like another old opponent in the North, and he believed that this was an excellent opportunity for Fan Xian's growth.

The Eldest Princess didn't care about Yan Bingyun's life or death, but wanted Xiao En to be able to live and regain control of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, because she really liked watching Shang Shanhu and Xiao En, this pair of great men, join hands, standing between the Northern Qi Empress Dowager and the Emperor, looking for opportunities to make this great northern country even more uncomfortable.

Although he didn't know the Eldest Princess's full plan, Fan Xian was already sure that his mother-in-law, who was far away in Xinyang, must have reached some kind of secret agreement with Shang Shanhu, otherwise she wouldn't have made such a big investment.

The Eldest Princess didn't know about Yan Zhi's matter, and hadn't found out about the night visit to Guangxin Palace. But Fan Xian, as the black-clothed man hiding in the dark, naturally wanted to stay away from the Eldest Princess and wait for an opportunity to act. Now that he was in a foreign country, he couldn't help but feel a little absurd to receive her letter.

In the end... what does this have to do with Fan Qing?