The inside of the imperial study room is warmer than the outside room for a long time. The silver bamboo charcoal collected from Langya Prefecture is burning in three braziers. The exquisitely designed braziers have no ash overflow, but only overflow warmth, which envelops the whole room in the unseasonable spring atmosphere.
There was just a faint burning smell, which wasn't unpleasant, but Fan Xian's sensitive nose always felt a little uncomfortable. He couldn't help but miss the warm smell in a white room in a distant world, recalling his previous life. Two witticisms I have seen before—Chairman Mao never used a mobile phone, and the emperor never turned on the air conditioner.
The emperor sat on the couch by himself. It can be seen from his expression that he was very satisfied with the warmth in the imperial study room. The slight silver hair on the sideburns and the slight wrinkles at the corners of the eyes were all smoothed out. He took off his outer clothes on the couch. For the dragon robe, the little eunuch had long ago fetched cotton uniforms to put on, and brought a bowl of warm bird's nest.
Fan Xian stood quietly by the side, but he couldn't help but secretly glanced curiously. The daily life of the Supreme Being under Heaven was indeed nothing unusual.
The emperor was drinking, when he caught a glimpse of Fan Xian's ghostly appearance from the corner of his eye, he couldn't help laughing, and cursed, "Isn't there any good food in Jiangnan? You're so greedy."
Fan Xian chuckled twice, and said, "The main reason is that today I have to enter the palace early, so I just picked up a few random bites for breakfast."
The emperor waved his hand and signaled him to sit down. Eunuch Yao had been waiting for the order, and hurriedly moved a round embroidered pier behind the curtain. Fan Xian sat down, and couldn't help thinking of the situation when he first entered the Imperial Study Room to discuss matters a year and a half ago, and was a little curious why His Majesty's Imperial Study Room meeting did not continue after today's court meeting, but was summoned alone Own.
Having not seen the emperor for more than a year, Fan Xian was thinking about acting again. For a moment, Fan Xian didn't know how to speak. Fortunately, the emperor was supposed to speak first, and the imperial study suddenly fell into silence.
The emperor put the half-drunk bird's nest on the table, looked up at Fan Xian's face, at that delicate and gentle face, for some reason, his heart that had been cold for twenty years moved, and couldn't help it. Shaking his head slowly, he wanted to get that trace of emotion out of the emperor's head.
"How's the injury?" the emperor asked as indifferently as possible.
Fan Xian bowed slightly, and replied respectfully: "Thank you for your concern, I'm fine." He knew that the emperor must have known the news of Yan Xiaoyi's son's abnormal death, but since the other party didn't mention it, he didn't mention it. The matter was related to himself, of course he was happy to pretend to be dumb, and he was too lazy to defend himself.
"Your Majesty...?" The emperor repeated it in his heart, sighed, and said with a smile, "Don't be so restrained, just say what you want to say. I drove you to the south of the Yangtze River a few years ago, because... I just want to sharpen you and promote you , it’s just that it’s hard work for you.”
It was not easy for the emperor to say such soft words, but Fan Xian's heart moved slightly, but he never softened. He said in a harmonious voice, "I really dare not hide this from Your Majesty. This trip to Jiangnan... I am really willing."
He smiled and continued: "The scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is beautiful, I have always wanted to go for a stroll."
Well, instead of calling me a minister, I'm called me. Every time the dialogue between these two people develops like this, first from the monarch and the minister, then to the old and the young, and then to the vague relationship between father and son. They never speak clearly but they know each other well. Sour and shameless.
The emperor laughed, and said quietly after a while: "You are doing very well in Jiangnan... I am very pleased."
This is of course talking about the affairs of the internal treasury, Jiaozhou, Jiangnan Road, everything, Fan Xian has shown the demeanor and courage that a young famous official should have, for this court, for this emperor Too many benefits have been harvested from the civilian army.
Fan Xian is now a knife in the emperor's hands, and he has basically offended the powerful strata in the court. The emperor also understands this. Thinking of the assassination in the valley, he can't help feeling a little pity for Fan Xian, but... no many.
After a few words about the affairs in the south of the Yangtze River, the report on political affairs was over. After all, the main purpose of the report on returning to the court was to go to court. After a few days of the grand court meeting, Fan Xian would wear official uniforms and specially ordered to go to court. To welcome the compliments or accusations from the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, today in the imperial study room, it is just an emperor and a close minister's heart-to-heart conversation, especially about Jiangnan and Jiaozhou. The discussion is in it.
It was in Danzhou. The emperor seemed to be particularly interested in Fan Xian's visit to Danzhou, and asked in detail. Although Fan Xian felt a little strange in his heart, he patiently explained everything, even Dong'er's visit. Things have not been missed, who knows how many eyeliners the emperor has around him.
The emperor naturally wanted to ask how Danzhou's wet nurses were doing. Fan Xian answered them one by one, and described the current scene of Danzhou, those white seagulls, and the steep cliffs beside the city.
Then Fan Xian fell silent, because he was a little surprised to find that the emperor seemed to be distracted.
The emperor's eyelids drooped slightly, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes showed the unique charm of middle-aged people. He didn't look at Fan Xian, and didn't speak, but calmly recalled everything about Danzhou following Fan Xian's narration.
Suddenly, the sound of the storytelling stopped. The emperor looked up in a daze, and found Fan Xian looking at him with concern. He couldn't help but smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just thought that after returning from the last Western expedition, I will never go out again." After passing through Kyoto, I can’t help but miss the scenery of Danzhou.”
During the last Western Expedition, there were changes in Kyoto. The Taiping Courtyard was bloodbathed. Fan Xian was hugged by Wu Zhu and fled to Danzhou in the black clothed carriage. Your Majesty, have you been to Danzhou too?"
"Of course I have." The emperor smiled slightly and said, "When I went to Danzhou, you were not born yet, and you met your mother there."
The monarch and the minister were silent at the same time, both felt that this sentence was a bit idiotic, the father had just met the mother, and of course the son had not yet been born.
After a while, Fan Xian said with a hint of bewilderment, "So it's in Danzhou."
"President Chen and... Fan Shangshu didn't tell you?" The emperor said with a half-smile, "I thought you should know something about what happened back then."
Fan Xian knew that as long as he asked at this time, the emperor in front of him who was already immersed in good memories would definitely satisfy his curiosity, but for some reason, Fan Xian didn't want to ask, as if there was something hidden behind the veil. Such beautiful scenery of Cangshan Mountain, and in the mountain... there are monsters, big monsters.
He just smiled peacefully: "The elders don't have time to talk to me about this. It's just that when I was a child, I knew that the imperial court had a special decree for Danzhou City. At the beginning, it exempted taxes for three years. When I went back this time, I found that it has been exempted all the time." , the people of Danzhou are living a good life, and they are very grateful to His Majesty."
"I am the king of the world, and it is my duty to take care of my people. Why should I be grateful?" The emperor smiled, looked at Fan Xian, sighed, and said, "Danzhou has been exempted from taxes for 20 years. Mom, secondly, it’s also to thank the harbor back then.”
It was difficult for Fan Xian to answer these words. Could it be that he wanted to accompany the emperor on his first love? What's more, that first love was his mother. Just at this moment, his stomach growled, and he rolled his eyes and said, "Your Majesty... I'm really hungry, let's enjoy a bowl of bird's nest."
The emperor was startled, then burst out laughing, pointing at Fan Xian's nose for a long while speechless. Ever since Emperor Qing came to the throne, he has stood upright, looking at the world, and all the subjects in the court are fearful and fearful. For more than ten years, how can any subject dare to shout about being hungry and begging for food during the conversation between the monarch and his subjects... When the crown prince and the eldest prince were young, they were hugged by the ladies in the palace, so they didn't dare to talk like this.
After a long time, the emperor stopped laughing, his eyes were filled with love, and he cursed: "This shameless person is not half as good as your mother... Cough cough."
The emperor swallowed those words forcefully, and from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the half bowl of bird's nest on the table, pointed at it casually, and said, "It's still hot, eat it quickly."
Fan Xian was taken aback, and stepped forward to take the clean white porcelain bowl. He didn't hold back anything, and finished planing in a few mouthfuls. He didn't deliberately show a grateful and mighty expression on his face, but the food was delicious. It's also very smooth.
This scene fell in the eyes of the emperor, and the emperor was very satisfied, Xin Dao Anzhi was indeed not a faker. It's just that the emperor didn't know that Fan Xian was scolding his mother in his heart, not scolding the emperor for being petty, but disgusting that the bird's nest porridge was eaten by the other party.
Eunuch Yao, who was standing quietly by the side, was shocked when he saw this scene. He has been in the palace for many years, but he has never seen such a harmonious situation between the monarch and his subjects like today. Returning from the Northern Qi Dynasty, His Majesty rewarded him with half a slice of jerky as a token of his favor and that he never cared...
But the last time Master Shu was so moved by the piece of jerky, he knelt down in front of His Majesty, weeping, and kept praising the Holy Spirit. How could he be as comfortable and natural as Master Xiao Fan today.
On the contrary, His Majesty seems to prefer Mr. Fan's style.
Eunuch Yao lowered his head, but he was admiring in his heart, this kind of monarch, this kind of... father and son are really rare in the palace. Just as he was thinking, he was awakened by His Majesty's words. He quickly took the porridge bowl, retreated, and walked along the eaves of the palace, but was still thinking about the previous scene, deeply afraid and admiring.
…
…
Only the emperor and Fan Xian were left in the imperial study room. After a while, the emperor suddenly said, "You are also a person of status now, and you can no longer mess around like you used to when you were in Taixue... Danzhou, um, for a domestic girl Huan went to kick an official's son so hard that he couldn't get out of bed for half a year, always losing face."
Hearing this, Fan Xian straightened his neck, and said in a calm but stubborn tone: "The emperor is right, but if there is a next time, I will still kick him."
"Let's go." The emperor laughed, "Kick as much as you like, but there must be a limit to nonsense, don't go too far."
Fan Xian sensed that the emperor's words had other meanings, so he didn't answer, but just nodded. But the emperor looked at the young man's eyebrows and frowned, thinking that this kid made such a big commotion because of a big maid who was kicked out of the house, and a dozen of his subordinates in the valley were shot and killed by crossbow arrows Well, according to this kid's vengeful nature, it might be difficult for him to swallow this breath forcefully.
Of course, the emperor could directly ask Fan Xian to calm down, but the emperor was unwilling to do so.
"I heard you have a treat tonight?"
Fan Xian was slightly taken aback, and said respectfully: "Yes, I have been away from Beijing for more than a year, and I have not seen many adults and... Let's take this opportunity to get together."
The emperor's face calmed down: "It's still the same as the previous sentence, it's okay to mess around, there is a limit."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"The court will investigate the matter in the valley and give you an explanation."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Young people, look at things from a long-term perspective, don't just limit yourself to what's in front of you."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Find a time in the next year. I will go to Jiangnan to see how you and Xue Qing are taking care of my granary."
"Yeah... hmm?"
Fan Xian suddenly raised his head, looking at the emperor with a trace of surprise, the emperor is on tour? This is something that has never happened in more than ten years, especially now that the various forces in Kyoto are ready to move. Although the emperor sits in the palace, no one dares to be too rampant, but the incidents in the valley and Jiaozhou all show that there is a volcano under the dragon chair. Already alive, at this season, the emperor actually dares... to go on tour!
Fan Xian didn't understand what the emperor was thinking. After a moment of silence, he said, "I think..."
Changing his self-proclaimed title to a minister was to formally dissuade him, but the emperor didn't give him this chance, he waved his hand and said, "I've made up my mind, the world is in my hands, there are a few bugs jumping around, why bother... I went to Danzhou to have a look, and when you go back to Jiangnan after the new year, remember to prepare, but things need to be kept secret."
Fan Xian had nothing to say, so he nodded in response.
The emperor looked at him, frowned and said, "Do you remember what I said earlier?"
Fan Xian guessed with a bit of a headache: "It means... nonsense?"
The emperor nodded in relief: "Zhen... just these few sons, you can quarrel if you like, but don't make it out of control. I also understand your thoughts, very good, continue to do this."
Fan Xian was startled, son, you guys, this is already clear... But he felt that the emperor's eyes seemed to have penetrated his body and read his mind—the emperor knows his mind? —He immediately thought of the conflict with the second prince in front of Baoyue Tower the year before last, and the conversation with the second prince in the tea shop.
If the emperor guessed Fan Xian's heart based on that conversation, he had to say that his guess was basically correct.
"Has that girl Haitang returned to Northern Qi?" the emperor suddenly said.
Fan Xian was startled again, but there was a hint of helplessness on his face. He nodded and said, "Langtao took her back with someone."
The emperor slightly closed his eyes and said: "At the beginning, I didn't like it. After all, it's only been two days since Girl Chen promised you. The relationship is deep, if you have the ability to control Tianyi, it will be a great achievement comparable to military achievements for the imperial court."
Without waiting for Fan Xian to speak, the emperor continued to speak calmly: "After Ku He died, Hai Tang should succeed to the throne. You have to figure out the connection yourself."
Fan Xian bowed his head in silence.
The emperor said: "It's okay to get closer to the women of Northern Qi, but we should keep some distance from them. I don't doubt you, but my Daqing Dynasty's ambition is in the world. Your actions during the year will always make some people in the army suspicious. They They are all straight-forward guys who want to expand their borders... You must have felt that the Privy Council didn't treat you very well when you returned to Beijing this time, and this is one of the reasons."
Fan Xian remained silent, knowing that this was a conflict between the so-called political hawks, but the emperor must be that kind of carnivore in his bones. Although he didn't doubt it, this was actually a very serious reminder to himself.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Fan Xian replied gently, "I have a sense of proportion."
Seeing his small appearance, the emperor smiled comfortingly, waved his hand and said: "It's rare to go back to Beijing, let's go shopping around the palace..." After pondering for a moment, he said: "Coax the Empress Dowager to be happy."
Fan Xian took the order and walked out of the gate of the imperial study.
…
…
Eunuch Yao was waiting outside the door, and when he saw him coming out, he led him around the palace. Although Fan Xian entered the palace many times and was very familiar with the roads in the palace, he knew that it was a bit unruly for a foreign minister of his to visit the palace and pay homage to the concubines of the palaces. lead the way.
In fact, in the final analysis, his status as a non-staff member of the royal family and the consort of the princess gave him the opportunity to walk freely in the garden of the palace.
The first place to go is of course the Hanguang Hall, the residence of the empress dowager's ancestors. The empress dowager just woke up from a nap and was a little tired, so she didn't talk much to Fan Xian, but Fan Xian was sensitively aware that the empress dowager's affection for him Although his attitude was still indifferent, it was much better than when he was eating haggis soup.
After a little gossip, Fan Xian saw that the old man looked a little uncomfortable, so he said goodbye wisely. Before leaving, he said that he would go to the palace to meet Wan'er when he came back. The old man was really happy.
Before leaving the palace, Fan Xian whispered a few words to the female officer, and prescribed a prescription for the old man to recuperate his body. Although the female officials in the Hanguang Palace did not dare to give the queen mother any medicine, they knew about this famous person The name of the doctor, happily accepted it, and only used it after the trial in the imperial hospital, and couldn't help but praise the son-in-law twice for his filial piety.
Fan Xian smiled, left Hanguang Hall without saying anything, and walked west along the road in the Kuuda Palace. When passing by Guangxin Palace, he couldn't help but take a second look.
Eunuch Yao cautiously asked from the side: "Lord Fan...is Guangxin Palace."
Fan Xian was taken aback, then laughed and cursed: "Of course I know, what are you thinking, old fellow?"
Eunuch Yao laughed and said, "It's your mother-in-law anyway. If you don't want to go see her and tell the Queen Mother, I'm afraid the old man will be unhappy."
Fan Xian was stunned, and stopped not far from Guangxin Palace. (, If you want to know what happens next, please log in, there are more chapters, support the author, support the original!)