"Am I a fool?" Prince Jing looked seriously into Fan Xian's eyes, "Please tell me, I'm really a fool."
As he asked, Fan Xian said seriously: "I think in some respects, you are really a fool."
What Li Hongcheng was talking about was Fan Xian's fingertip pointing to the sky. What Fan Xian said was that the other party insisted on getting involved in the battle for power among the princes.
The autumn grass in the palace is neat and tidy, without any sense of poignancy, instead, it is like a yellowish felt, spreading on both sides of the road. Fan Xian knew that this was the hard work of King Jing, who loved gardening, and pointed to the grass and said, "Look, this is life."
Li Hongcheng said with a sneer: "If you are willing to take care of the garden at home every day, I will ask the second child to give you thousands of acres of land in the Jiangnan circle."
Fan Xian shook his head sadly: "I told you, these things were not my idea recently, and you don't believe me."
Li Hongcheng had a warm and sunny face, but at this moment he was finally startled by the news and gradually frowned. If the recent movement in the court was not Fan Xian's ruthlessness, but His Majesty's secret idea, then this matter is unavoidable. Could it be that His Majesty's love for the second child is not as good as before
Fan Xian glanced at him and said, "Of course, I also have selfish intentions. You should be very clear that I don't have a good impression of my second child."
Li Hongcheng frowned and said: "Since you entered the capital, the second child and I have been polite to you. Of course, we dare not say that we are wholehearted, but at least we must be closer than the East Palace."
Fan Xian sneered, but didn't say anything.
The two walked towards the palace side by side, and did not go directly to the back garden. Prince Jing's birthday banquet had not yet started. Walking into Shizi's secret study room, Fan Xian sat down at the table, staring at Li Hongcheng with a chill between his brows.
The servant who delivered the tea retreated, leaving only the two of them in the study.
"Be polite? Let the Metropolitan Procuratorate take action against me?"
Li Hongcheng was slightly taken aback, and said with a wry smile: "The Metropolitan Procuratorate...that's what my aunt meant, and you also understand why, who told you to start secretly investigating things about your aunt and second child as soon as you returned to Beijing."
Fan Xian didn't bring up the issue of Niulanshan, but shook his head and said, "I said earlier that I have selfish motives. You should also understand why I want to investigate the matter of the eldest princess and the second child. The money was taken by the two of them, you want me to take over the empty shell next year?"
Li Hongcheng said: "How should I put it, you are also the son-in-law of the eldest princess. She is just a girl like Wan'er. Could she really drive you to a dead end? Take a step back, it's always good for everyone to live in harmony."
"It's okay to take a step back." Fan Xian looked at him and said seriously: "I'm just a little worried about you. I know that the reason why you stand with the second child must be because you think that if he becomes the emperor in the future, he will definitely be the emperor. He is more promising than the one in the East Palace. He seems to be gentle and kind. You think the palace will be more comfortable after he takes over. But have you ever thought that he really became the emperor when you and I are shouting like the second child today? , won’t you remember these?”
Li Hongcheng smiled: "It's a blessing that you said it, otherwise others would think it was a clumsy provocation."
Fan Xian waved his hand and said, "This is serious talk, just treat me as troublesome... I told you at the Liujing River in spring that you should not get involved in these matters." He looked into Li Hongcheng's eyes , "I know what you have done, but because of your status as King Jing, even if you have thousands of followers, you don't have a single soldier. I'm not talking about arrogance, the power in your hands is not as good as mine, why? Can you travel freely among these princes?"
Without waiting for Li Hongcheng to reply, Fan Xian stood up and said seriously: "I said these words, in fact, there is a taste of narcissism. Maybe you will laugh at me secretly from the bottom of your heart, but since your majesty has already moved your heart, I think the second child will come to you in the future." There won't be too many good days to live, if you can keep some distance, keep some."
He patted Li Hongcheng on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "I said this not for anything else, but for Ruoruo."
Li Hongcheng was silent, although his face was expressionless, but he was touched deep in his heart. After a while, he said quietly: "You don't know the second child, he was actually forced. Besides, I am here with him, and I can't let him go." hand."
Fan Xian shook his head and said nothing.
※※※
King Jing's birthday banquet was held, and a large flower round table was set with all kinds of expensive dishes. King Jing sat in the first place, with a long beard fluttering slightly, and dressed as a wealthy businessman. The salt merchant Huang Shang who was too rich to worry about.
Seeing his son walking in side by side with Fan Xian, King Jing laughed, and waved Fan Xian over: "You give me a seat beside me."
Fan Xian was most afraid of King Jing's swearing, so he sat there with a bitter face, and turned around to find Wan'er smiling and looking at him, while his younger sister was sitting beside Wan'er with a calm expression. Thinking of how he shamelessly used Ruoruo's name to temporarily appease Li Hongcheng's heart, Fan Xian despised himself deep down. Picking up the wine glass, he made a toast to King Jing, and then to his father and Mrs. Liu who sat across from him. Only then did he pay the punishment for being late.
There was no one else at the birthday banquet, except Li and Fan's family, but the elders were at the table, no matter whether it was the eldest son or Fan Xian, they couldn't help but feel a little cautious, and a sumptuous banquet was tasteless.
After drinking for three rounds, Prince Jing became a little unhappy. He put one end of the wine pot and said to Fan Jian, "Why do you take care of the children at home? Why are you here? Fan Xian and the others dare not speak."
Fan Jian picked up the silk deer tail and chewed it, and said unhurriedly: "It's better than your management, at least I won't swear or swear in front of my children."
"I fucked your mother!" Prince Jing wiped off the wine stained on his chin, and cursed, "Don't speak ill of me in front of my daughter!"
Concubine Jing passed away early, and now there are several concubines in the family, but today they are not qualified to sit at the wine table. The princess of Roujia and the eldest son Li Hongcheng sat next to her. Listening to her father swearing and swearing, the little girl secretly raised her head and glanced at Fan Xian. She was ashamed and angry, feeling so ashamed.
Hearing this, Fan Jian's face darkened, and he cursed back, "Slap your own mouth."
After Wan'er married into the Fan family, it was the first time she saw two families sitting together. Seeing that the two elders seemed inappropriate, she hurriedly tugged on Fan Xian's sleeves, and heard that her father-in-law actually let a dignified county king Palming his mouth, he couldn't help but gasp.
Fan Xian was used to seeing it, and didn't care much about it. Strange to say, his father was always upright, and it was only in front of King Jing that he would show the romantic and unrestrained aura of being in a brothel. .
King Jing heard Fan Jian wanting to slap his own mouth, and was about to scold something, when he suddenly thought of what he said, he couldn't help but ouch, smiled bitterly, raised his right hand, and slapped his face lightly, it was a bit of a slap clear.
But Fan Jian still refused to let go, pointed at his nose with his chopsticks and cursed: "My son is about to marry a wife, and I don't want to improve your morals!"
Prince Jing said with a shy face: "Spoken words." He glanced at the juniors with his eyes wide open, and said viciously: "No one heard what I said just now." Fan Xian asked, "Fan Xian, how is my mother doing in Danzhou?"
Lin Wan'er lowered her head and suppressed a smile, then she remembered why Fan Shangshu dared to let the prince slap his own face, to fuck your mother? The status of my husband's grandma is not ordinary, the prince was raised by that grandma in Danzhou when he was young.
Fan Xian grimaced, thinking to himself that you had quarreled in your old life, why bother to involve yourself, and briefly talked about grandma's current situation, but it was just about her health. Rolling his eyes, he said: "My lord, drink and drink. By the way, you are fine in the capital anyway, and Hongcheng is just idle in the capital. Why don't we go back to Danzhou for a few days next year? Tea tree is excellent."
Prince Jing glanced at Fan Xian, knew what he meant, liked it more and more in his heart, and said with a smile: "That's a good idea, I'll go to the palace and talk to the emperor tomorrow...but you can't go, you have to go next year." Let's go to Jiangnan."
Li Hongcheng, who had been listening with his ears up all the time, was taken aback, thinking, Fan Xian, your trick is really amazing!
Fan Xian asked, "Why do you want to go to Jiangnan?"
Prince Jing scolded: "You seem to be very smart on weekdays, and even the second child has suffered a lot from you. Why are you so confused now? Next year you will take over the internal treasury, why don't you go? How to pick up Jiangnan?"
Fan Xian rubbed his head, a little confused: "Why did you go to Jiangnan when you took over the internal treasury?"
King Jing glanced at Fan Jian, widened his eyes and said, "Fan Jian, is your son just pretending to be stupid or really stupid?"
Fan Jian glared at Fan Xian, and said, "I thought that although this kid didn't have great wisdom, he was always a little clever. I just found out today that he doesn't even have a little cleverness."
Lin Wan'er pouted and said, "Master, I don't know that the three major workshops of the inner treasury are all in the south of the Yangtze River... Uncle, go drink your wine, why are you talking about these boring things?"
King Jing almost choked, laughed and cursed and said, "Girls are extroverted, as expected, no matter what, I am your own uncle, why do you talk to their Fan family all the time after getting married?"
Lin Wan'er said with a smile: "I see that uncle, you also love my husband-in-law, so why keep talking about me."
Li Hongcheng, who was sitting next to him, nodded and sighed again and again. Looking at Fan Xian who was sitting next to his father, seeing his father looking at Fan Xian with a smile on his face, his heart was filled with jealousy. Why does his father like Fan Xian so much? Whose father is this
※※※
At the end of the banquet, several juniors toasted and celebrated their birthdays, which finally made King Jing happy, and their words became more and more ridiculous. They said that after the marriage between the two families, they had to give birth to a baby quickly, and then they said, wait for Roujia If he was two years older, he might as well marry Fan Xian without hesitation, so as not to take advantage of others in vain.
Ruoruo clutched his sleeve nervously, not daring to reply at all. Li Hongcheng looked serene, and with a trace of affection in his eyes, he glanced at his fiancée a few times.
Fan Xian was the most nervous, and hurriedly replied: "What is Roujia's identity, how can she be my little girl, my lord, you really drank too much wine."
The little girl Roujia gave Brother Xian a gouging look.
Prince Jing was drunk, and scolded: "This bastard in the capital, can I rest assured marrying someone else? What status? Isn't it my daughter, can't she be worthy of you?" Turning his head to Wanwan again Er said, "Chen'er, do you have any objections?"
Lin Wan'er responded with a smile: "I have no objection, as long as you can persuade the empress dowager, uncle, the matter will be settled."
As soon as King Jing heard the words of the queen mother, he was only half sober from the wine. Thinking that the Queen Mother must not allow Fan Xian to marry her two granddaughters at the same time, she couldn't help cursing and saying, "We have to find a way to do this, Roujia is too weak...fuck it, don't marry Fan Xian." Xian? Doesn’t that mean you gave this place to that girl in the north? It’s not worth it, it’s not worth it, Fan Xian is so beautiful, it’s really not worth it to take advantage of that tigress in the north.”
He looked at Fan Jian drunkenly and said, "What's the name of that girl in the north?"
Fan Jian obviously drank too much, hiccupped, and said with a little bit of self-respect: "Hai Tang, a saintly girl in the north, a closed disciple of Kuhe Guoshi. I don't know why he fell in love with me. A talented son."
Talking about not becoming a talent, but obviously the old guy is very proud of himself.
As soon as these words came out, everyone at the table laughed, even Liu Shi, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help covering his mouth, but Fan Sizhe and Li Hongcheng laughed the most exaggeratedly. Fan Xian was the saddest person at the table. He really didn't expect that his father would be such a dissolute person after he was drunk, let alone that his father actually remembered Haitang's name in his heart.
There was a slight pain in his forearm, and Fan Xian's face remained unchanged. He gently grabbed Wan'er's hand, raised his glass with his left hand, and said with a gentle smile, "Drink, drink."
There was another burst of laughter at the table, and even Ruo Ruo, who had been feeling uneasy for some reason, laughed lightly.
…
…
"That Haitang..." Prince Jing said suddenly, "I'm afraid he's not Ku He's closed disciple."
Fan Xian was a little nervous about the word Haitang, but after listening to the last sentence, he realized that the things he had arranged had finally started, and the news had already begun to reach the capital.
Fan Jian nodded, showing a puzzled look: "It's really strange, that Haitang girl." He glanced at his son and continued: "According to the fax, she is the youngest girl in history. She is a master of the ninth rank, and the people of Northern Qi keep saying that she is a Tianmai practitioner... With such a disciple, what is there to be dissatisfied with Ku He, and she wants to start a new mountain to recruit disciples."
The eldest son Li Hongcheng also knew about this, he frowned and said, "Could it be a conspiracy by Northern Qi?"
King Jing scolded: "What a conspiracy, accepting apprentices is a conspiracy, so is it a conspiracy for Ku He to have a meal? You don't have to think about these things every day, be careful and relax! Such a big man, he has no promise nothing."
Li Hongcheng went to make a fortune in a muffled voice, while Fan Sizhe had a drink with him in deep sympathy.
Fan Jian couldn't bear to look at Prince Jing's training son, and said: "Although it can't be some kind of conspiracy, it is indeed strange... After several months of retreat, Ku He suddenly said that he had realized God's will and wanted to recruit two female disciples again, and he also said auspiciousness from heaven... It's really weird."
King Jing slowly drank a glass of wine, and said with a serious expression: "The four great masters, those are the top figures in the world. Among the three we know, Ye Liuyun is a free and easy person who doesn't accept disciples. Si Gu Jian accepted him." Although there are few apprentices, the sword house is open, which has created many ninth-rank masters in Dongyi City. Kuhe Guoshi has accepted four apprentices in the past, and each of them is a generation of amazing talents."
Thinking of Langtao's soul-eating scimitar, Fan Xian couldn't help but nodded slightly.
King Jing continued to frown and said, "However, these three great masters have not opened the mountain gate for many years. At this time, Ku He suddenly wants to accept disciples again. It is really a big event in the world. Although we people don't care, but For the martial arts practitioners in the world, this is really a good opportunity, if once they can worship under Ku He's sect, no matter how advanced they are in martial arts, they can also form a good relationship with Tian Yi..." He sighed and said: "If you can get through I think all the monarchs in the world are very willing to get closer to Kuhe's lineage."
Fan Xian showed curiosity, and asked: "After all, Ku He is the national teacher of Northern Qi, and the apprentices are also looking for people within the scope of Northern Qi. What does this have to do with our Qing Dynasty?"
Fan Jian glanced at his son and said, "This time Kuhe Guoshi opened the gate widely, everyone has a chance. Although he is the Beiqi Guoshi, but the status of the Grand Master is so detached. I think His Majesty will be happy to see the opportunity under his sect."
Fan Xian nodded, expressing that he understood, but he was thinking about other things—wondering how Haitang persuaded that grand master. It seems that this girl is indeed more powerful than he imagined.
※※※
After the banquet was over, Mrs. Liu went to the back house to talk to the women, and the young people went to drink by the lake, but Fan Sizhe disappeared without a trace.
In the garden that Prince Jing took care of himself, he and Fan Shangshu were lying on the bamboo chairs, squinting at the grass and not saying a word.
"Fan Xian has been...too fierce recently, you can suppress him." Prince Jing's eyes were clear, and Fan Shangshu's face was calm, not like two old drunkards on a wine table.
Fan Jian hummed lightly, and said, "This kid has said since he first entered Beijing that it is impossible for me to completely control him."
Prince Jing snorted coldly and said, "You and I don't control it, so let that old cripple take control? That old cripple has bad water in his stomach, who knows what he's playing with."
Fan Jian said with a smile: "The old lame man was also an old man who went out of your house, otherwise, how could His Majesty trust him so much?"
Prince Jing sneered and said, "Let's make trouble for you. Anyway, after that incident, my heart will fade away." He then closed his eyes and said, "Fan Xian, this boy has a really good heart. I'm only worried that His Majesty will squeeze him too much." Great, it will always be difficult to clean up in the future."
Fan Jian sighed and said, "You know, I have no say in this matter."
King Jing shook his head and sighed: "Let these boys play, my brother probably likes to watch this kind of drama."