There were not many people staying in the courtyard next to Shenzheng Road in Kyoto. The main task here was to pass on Fan Xian's orders and receive news from King Qinian of Shangjing in the north. Si Lili's younger brother and others all lived in the wing room, which was reserved for Fan Xian's work, so naturally he didn't have the habit of lighting a fire.
Today, even though we knew that Lord Tisi was coming, someone had already turned on the stove in advance, but there was a lot of cold in the room, and there was still no way to disperse it for a while. Sitting in a wheelchair, Fan Xian felt the coldness in the room, couldn't help hecking his hands, and said with a wry smile, "I don't even want to have a stove... Could it be that the yard is so poor?"
Deng Ziyue was baking the inkstone on the stove, and asked his subordinates to get some hot water to moisten the frozen brushes. Hearing what the adults said, he smiled wryly and said: "My lord has a lot of things these days, and he was injured again. I don't have any preparations for today. You come here."
After much tossing and tossing, Fan Xian propped his head and watched Deng Ziyue grind the ink cube on the warm inkstone with all his might, mixed it with warm water, it took a long while like sharpening a knife, and finally got some juice Come on.
Fan Xian nodded in satisfaction, the water grinding skills of the new confidant seemed to be no worse than that of the imperial physician. Put the moistened brush into the inkstone, dipped some ink, and wrote a few words on the snow-white paper... Damn it, the ink froze again!
"What the hell is this weather!" Fan Xian was furious. He threw the brush that looked like charred wood on the table, and cursed, "Why didn't you see it so cold at home?"
Deng Ziyue only felt a cold wind blowing around the room, and cautiously replied: "The stove in the house is much better, when I bought this yard, I didn't have these, and I didn't even have time to heat the kang. "
"I'm not going to sleep here." Fan Xian said angrily, "You and the old Wang are the masters who have killed each other... Back then Wang Qinian was given one thousand taels of silver, but he just spent one hundred and twenty taels. Bought such a broken yard...do you want me to freeze to death?"
Deng Ziyue felt a little sympathetic to his predecessor who was far away in Northern Qi and was reprimanded by the chief minister every day. Xiaoyi persuaded him: "The victory lies in quietness."
"It's not just quiet anymore." Fan Xian glanced at him, and said bitterly, "This is called Qinghan! If those ministers in Beijing saw it, they might really think our Overwatch Council is a Qingshui yamen."
He had a few important letters to write today, so he still tried his best to use the brush, but he still couldn't do it smoothly. After several tosses and turns, he finally gave up, slapped the desk and shouted: "Give me that pen!"
Deng Ziyue dawdled for a long time, and finally took out a pen from his close-fitting shirt, and when he was about to hand it to Fan Xian, he showed a cautious look, and said, "This is expensive, and I heard that there are not many in the inner library , Your Excellency, save some use."
Fan Xian snatched it over and looked at him with incomparable contempt, thinking that it was just a pencil, why is it so expensive? When I go to Jiangnan to find a few more graphite mines, Neiku’s pencil business will naturally resume. At that time, I will ask Neiku to make two baskets for you to carry, one for you to write until you die, and one for you to throw along the street play!
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…
The pencil glides on the snow-white paper, like a beauty's toes dancing on the smooth ice, occasionally scraping a few traces of ice and snow.
Deng Ziyue knew that Lord Tisi was writing a secret letter, so he withdrew early. In the icy study room, Fan Xian was the only one writing with a broken pen. The mist from his mouth was fleeting on the paper, which looked very eerie.
The content of the letter was actually very mysterious. Although it was a secret letter from the Overwatch Council, the matter on the letter was too relevant, and the pencil writing could be erased, so Fan Xian was not too relieved, and the language he used was rather cryptic. Important sentences such as those involving time are all code words.
The letter was addressed to Wang Qinian, and it was written about the Cui family. Because the Cui family was persecuted in the capital, in order to help the second prince and Xinyang raise money, they had to transfer a large number of smuggled goods to Northern Qi, but the channels there had not been opened, so there was a phenomenon of stockpiling.
Currently on the line and in the northern warehouse, the Cui family has transferred from Xinyang, and the accumulated goods can account for about one-sixth of the annual output of the inner warehouse!
From this ratio, it can be seen how courageous the eldest princess has become in controlling the internal treasury for these years, and she is merciless in seeking personal gain.
The current situation was created by Fan Xian and Yan Bingyun spending several months beating the second prince and squeezing the Cui family. What he was waiting for was this time, to eat each other cleanly in one bite, without even bones. Spit out one.
The letter to Wang Qinian ended with a sentence: dinner is served.
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Sitting in the wheelchair, Fan Xian tilted his head slightly, and gently rubbed the top of the wound on his chest, where the lace had been wrapped all the time, and it was a little itchy. After writing a letter, her hands were already a little stiff from the cold, and suddenly she began to miss when she was in Danzhou, Sisi helped herself copy books every day, and when she copied books by herself, this girl would put her hand on her. It was warm in his arms, and his tentacles were plump, and it felt really good to the touch.
His heart fluttered slightly, so he picked up his pen and wrote again. This second letter was written to Haitang Duoduo, but when he wrote the letter, he held a wild heart in his heart, so the words in the letter were a little bit wild. flirt.
Since Bei Qi returned to China, his communication with Haitang has never been broken, and he has long been used to having such a pen pal in the north. After all, as powerful figures of the younger generation of the two big countries, it is very necessary for the two sides to maintain a smooth communication channel, and A thing that will be very beneficial for the future.
In the letter, there was some gossip about what happened in the capital of Qing Kingdom recently, and of course the Hanging Temple incident was among them. Although the assassination of Emperor Qing shocked the world, and the Northern Qi Dynasty had already reported it in detail in Beijing, but as the person involved, the story he told must be much more touching than the storyteller.
He also said something else later, and secretly pointed out in the words that he was going to do something to the Cui family, and asked her to cooperate with the little emperor who didn't know the gender. At the end of the letter he copied a poem to prove that he was still as talented as ever.
"I came here to repay my kindness, but I don't want to do my best for profit and glory. The ancients died for their confidantes, and they were afraid that their bones would be buried in the side yard. How could the old people in China and North Korea miss me, with heavy fur and thick shoes floating in Huaying. Extremely cold, I don’t know how the people survive.”
These are the last few sentences of Sima Guang's bitter journey. Fan Xian read it with some complacency, rubbing his stiff hands, and felt that the poem he had copied was too appropriate for the occasion, and the compassion between the lines would probably make Miss Haitang think about it for a long time—little girl who lied to death It doesn't pay for his life, which is exactly what he likes to do.
After confirming that nothing was missing, he sealed the envelope and sealed it. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat, and he always felt that his desire had not been completely satisfied. Facing the ordinary-looking girl on the other end of the letter paper, shaking like a village girl, he always felt that he was facing an old friend, and fell into silence for a while.
Then, he spread out a blank piece of paper, pondered for a while, and wrote with a pen:
"Hello, Duo Duo, the previous letter is considered business, this one is for casual chat. The first snow fell in Kyoto today in the fifth year of Qingli, and it came earlier than usual. If you want to come to Beijing, the snow will be heavier It's getting colder, and I saw a few plum branches in the corner of the fence that day in your vegetable garden, I don't know if there are red spots blooming on those branches of wintersweet, to moisten the monotonous face of Baixue."
"Well, what happened to those ducks you raised? Be careful, don't freeze to death... It's normal here. Xiao Huang, Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai are all raised in the farm outside Beijing. I heard that the guys there put the three Big fat cats are worshiped like ancestors, so how could there be problems in raising them."
"I'm doing fine. I ate and slept. The house is quite quiet. My sister has been busy in the imperial hospital for the past two days. I heard that it has become a rare sight in the capital. Wan'er returned to Lin's residence today. , my lovely uncle probably has been neglected recently and has a bad temper. I wonder what you are doing at this time?"
Fan Xian wrote casually, as loosely as if talking, purely thinking about where to write.
"By the way, my student surnamed Shi opened a brothel. The business is good, especially the dishes are very exquisite. If you travel to Qingguo someday, I will accompany you to sit there. Ah, it suddenly occurred to me that the restaurant in Shangjing I have forgotten the name, but I still remember that the wine was good that day, and I talked a lot of nonsense with you, and I don’t know how much you remember.”
"By the way, I have read your first few letters several times, and I always feel sore. You are a dignified saint, don't follow the style of those ladies, you always like to put some poems in your letters, although I pretend He has the reputation of being a poet, but he has no interest in correcting compositions."
"Last time you said that Si Lili is doing well now... Well, don't talk about this kind of thing in the future. I have always held a grudge about this matter, and for some reason, it is especially painful when I hear her talk from you." information."
"Duoduo, let's come to Qingguo to play. My wife is also very curious about you... Also, by the way, can your Tianyi's exercises be passed on to outsiders? Recently, I have suddenly become more interested in your exercises."
This seemingly natural question deeply revealed the shamelessness and treachery in Fan Xian's heart.
"The snow outside the window seems to be getting heavier, and the young man outside the house is still chopping firewood. Young people are always passionate. It's just that although I am still young, I don't know why, but I feel a little old in my heart. Looking at the people around me, It is always extremely difficult to bring up the interest, bored and bored... The wind and snow outside are howling, maybe it is urging me to write, then well, let's stop here, the stove in the room is too broken, the temperature has not been able to rise , although I still want to chat with you, but I always feel that there is no need to fight against the cruelty of God... Also, please help me take care of him, thank you, and wish Wanan."
Although the letter was natural, it contained too much useful information. He read the letter again, and added a sentence at the end of the letter: "Wang Qinian, if you dare to peek again, I will ask Mu Tie and his nephew to peek at your daughter taking a bath!"
※※※
"Why is there one more letter than usual?" Deng Ziyue opened his eyes wide, looked at Fan Xian, and counted the letters in his hand: "Two letters for Miss Haitang?"
"Why do you ask so many questions?" Fan Xian said, "It's still the old regulations, escorting you all the way to Shangjing."
Deng Ziyue nodded, walked outside the house, and handed the sealed letters to the members of the Qi Nian team who had already been waiting outside. That buddy counted the letters in his hand and asked the same question: "Why? ... There are two?"
Deng Ziyue looked at him, the corners of his lips twitched a little ugly, took a breath and said, "Why do you ask so many questions?"
The two looked at each other, nodded, and kept silent, thinking to themselves, it is a bit extravagant for Mr. Tisi to use the highest-secret postal route of the Overwatch Council to send... a love letter.
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Fan Xian sat out of the small courtyard of Shenzhengdao on the wheel, got into the carriage and went to Lin's mansion, ready to pick up Wan'er and Dabao back to the mansion. In the carriage, he suddenly asked: "Tai Xue Si Ye... Is there anything strange about this position? Also, I have not been in Tai Chang Temple for a long time, why this time I was promoted to be the Shaoqing of Tai Chang Temple?"
Deng Ziyue first explained the latter one: "There are two Shaoqings. Ren Shaoqing is the main one, and the adult is the deputy... But this is a vain job, and you don't have to go there every day. There are seven divisions in charge of the Taixue Division, and these two positions are on the fourth rank." He reminded: "My lord, although you can no longer serve as a court official after taking over the post of Chief Secretary, after all, the imperial court did not send an order to remove your two posts. Presumably it is just to show the holy family, and there may not be any other meaning."
Fan Xian shook his head. These two appointments were the last two in the emperor's imperial decree. He didn't take them seriously at first, but then the more he thought about it, the more something went wrong. The emperor has deep thoughts, and he would never use his official position as a bun.
"Is there anything... special about these two positions?" He frowned, trying to organize his words.
After thinking about it for a long time, Deng Ziyue replied with some uncertainty: "The position of Shaoqing is common, and there is nothing special about it. It's just that Taichang Temple is in charge of the ancestral temple's chores, and it is more convenient to enter the palace... Taixue Siye has never appeared in these years." , After several new policies, the official positions are a bit messed up... "
He suddenly slapped his thigh and said happily: "Remember, in the past, Si Ye of the Taixue wanted to enter the palace to give lectures to the prince, and he was the assistant of the Taifu."
Fan Xian was taken aback, opened his mouth wide, and was speechless for a long time. He finally understood why the emperor had arranged these two positions for him. If Shaoqing of Taichang Temple added this Taixue Siye, wouldn't he become the teacher of the princes
To be precise, wouldn't he be responsible for teaching that little bastard, the third child
Thinking of this, he turned pale with shock, and scolded: "I don't have the time to go to the palace every day... Isn't it going to go to the south of the Yangtze River? Why do you arrange such a terrible thing for me?"
With a creak, the carriage seemed to have been scolded to stop by him, the curtain of the carriage was lifted slightly, and in the light snow, an eunuch leading several palace guards stopped the carriage in front of it.
Eunuch Yao looked at Fan Xian in the carriage, twitched his eyebrows in fear of the cold, and said in a trembling voice, "My lord, let this servant make it easier to find one... Come with me, Your Majesty will announce you to the palace."