After Fan Xian finished reading the hospital newspaper, he felt his eyes were a little dry, and couldn't help but curse a few times in his heart. When I was young, my name and name were arranged by those people. My surname was Fan, my name was Xian, and my name was Anzhi. Now that I think about it, this name was naturally chosen by the emperor in the palace. Since the spring of last year, how can I have a free day
In fact, he occasionally asked himself, and judging by the knowledge and experience of the two lifetimes, Fan Xian had to come to a conclusion that made him not very happy - the emperor Lao Tzu in the palace treated him well. Although he knew that the emperor gave him such great power, to a large extent, it was because the emperor needed a person like himself to balance the situation in the court, and he had indeed shown his ability in this regard.
But the emperor's family is ruthless, and the emperor's current state, on the one hand, cannot but be said to be the grace of his mother, on the other hand, it shows that the emperor does still have a little father-son affection for him-at least he is not like Han Wu. Live, and live better and better.
Of course, Fan Xian would not be intoxicated by this father-son relationship, he was surprisingly sober and calm.
So he was still a little annoyed at the emperor throwing himself to the south of the Yangtze River, throwing him so many jobs and such troublesome things.
I am not a donkey... Although Haitang seems to like to treat Sizhe like a donkey.
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He rubbed his eyes, took out the rectangular box next to him, and curiously tore off the wax seal on the outside.
This is a gift that Wang Qinian asked Xia Qifei to bring back with great care. The letter said it was to honor him, but he didn't specify what it was.
The box opened slowly, revealing the true face of the things inside.
Fan Xian narrowed his eyes. It's a sword, a sword that doesn't look out of the ordinary, but has a sense of antiquity all over its body.
He took out the long sword, held the hilt steadily with his right hand, and pulled it slowly.
Quietly, the sword edge was unsheathed.
Just like the layer of snow on the Cangshan Mountain, like the turquoise in the North Lake, like a ray of wind in the south of the Yangtze River, the clear and bright sword light is rippling in the study, extremely gentle, but in the gentleness there is With a bit of biting chill.
Fan Xian was slightly moved, seeing the preciousness and sharpness of this sword, and what moved his heart secretly was that the killing intent in this kind of tenderness was really similar to his own weird temperament.
He flicked his wrist lightly, and swung it twice randomly, feeling that the weight was also very appropriate. The blade of the sword came out soundlessly through the wind, and flicked on the candle three times, but the candle remained motionless.
The weapon Fan Xian used to use in the past was nothing more than the slender black dagger between the dark crossbow and the boots. Although it was very effective in killing people, it was not a good weapon after all, especially if you wanted to fight with a real master. When fighting head-on.
And because he was stabbed by the shadow, Fan Xian learned Sigu Sword's sword formula very cost-effectively. He has devoted himself to practicing it these days, and it can be regarded as a small success. Killing Yuan Jingmeng that night has already proved this. a little. Looking around at the sword in his heart, Fan Xian became more and more eager to wear a good sword.
When killing Yuan Meng, he still borrowed the soft sword from Haitang.
Ruanfan can't be eaten, and Ruanjian is too embarrassed to keep borrowing it.
Fan Xian flicked the blade lightly, listened to the slight buzzing sound, and nodded in appreciation, thinking that Lao Wang's flattery was really suitable.
Picking up the piece of paper in the box and looking at it, it was written with Wang Qinian's skillful flattering words, full of flattery, first regretting that he shouldn't have peeped at the letter from the adults last year, and finally talked about the origin of this sword.
It turns out that this sword was actually the saber of the last emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty!
Back then when the Great Wei was dispersed by the Qing Kingdom, the Zhan Family took advantage of the situation, but the treasures in the palace had already been stolen and sold by the eunuchs. This sword has since been lost to the people, and no one has ever seen it again. After more than 20 years, traces finally appeared. Wang Qinian bought it with a lot of money after learning about it, and carefully made some external changes before sending it to Jiangnan.
"So it's the Emperor's Sword..." Fan Xian laughed as he looked at the sword, but he didn't take it seriously. If the sword really possessed imperial aura, then the emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty would not have died.
But immediately his brows frowned, Wang Qinian now of course knows that he is the emperor's illegitimate son, he bought the Great Wei Emperor Sword with a lot of money, and gave it to himself from thousands of miles away, is this pure flattery, or...is he using this sword to imply something
Fan Xian shook his head, sighed, and thought to himself that Wang Qinian, a little old man with a wife and a daughter, could have such courage. He must have thought too much.
He felt a little uncomfortable. It seemed that he, like His Majesty the Emperor, was a suspicious person at heart...
After blowing out the candles and leaving the study to sleep peacefully, Fan Xian couldn't help muttering, "Zoro."
The door of the room is closed, the moonlight is quiet, the candle is broken into four pieces, one is stuck on the table, and the three pieces are rolling and restless.
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Three days later, the angels from Kyoto finally arrived in Suzhou City. The angels were not those eunuchs with wings, but eunuchs who were in charge of delivering messages to the emperor Lao Tzu. They could not fly, they could only ride horses, so naturally they were slower.
Huayuan was cleaned up, sweeping the courtyard, setting up incense tables, and preparing related matters. Headed by Fan Xian, the third prince was the deputy, everyone including the Qinian team of the Overwatch Council, as well as six guards and tiger guards, densely packed with dozens of people , They all stood obediently in front of the front courtyard hall, waiting for the imperial decree to arrive.
Today, it is inconvenient for Haitang to receive the imperial decree as a saint of the Northern Qi Dynasty, so she has already avoided going out.
It's just that Fan Xian and his party waited for a long time, but no one came. Fan Xian was a little annoyed, and asked someone to move the Grand Master's chair, and sat on the porch by himself, letting Sisi peel the melon seeds beside him, while he and the third prince Chatting with each other one after another.
Embarrassment appeared on Deng Ziyue's face, and he leaned into his ear and said, "My lord, be careful, you always have to wait."
He glanced sideways.
Fan Xian knew what he wanted to say, and it didn't matter if the Overwatch Council responded to his subordinates. The third child is now following him with all his heart, but his behavior does seem to disrespect the emperor's authority. There are seven Tiger Guards next to him, There are also a few tiger guards who are responsible for the safety of the third prince. Who knows if there are any people sent by the emperor to monitor him.
Fan Xian squinted his eyes and didn't say anything—the trip to the Northern Qi Dynasty, including the trip to the south of the Yangtze River, was actually followed by up to seven people, and the two sides got along quite happily. Uncomfortable things, so Fan Xian deliberately showed his true side to them these days.
Anyway, it is estimated that these seven people will be his personal bodyguards in this lifetime, so... use constant small mistakes to let them get used to your big mistakes in the future.
Sometimes people's hearts cannot be bought, but can only be seduced. This is true between men and women, and it is actually the same between men and men.
As for the tiger guards beside the third prince...
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Fortunately, Fan Xian was not kept waiting for too long. With the sound of a gun salute outside the door, several inner guards led the way, hugged an eunuch, and walked into the garden.
Fan Xian had already stood up, took the hand of the third prince to meet him, made a big salute, and listened quietly to the order.
The eunuch who came to declare the decree was Eunuch Yao, who was also an old acquaintance of Fan Xian. The two exchanged glances. Eunuch Yao knew that this young master was waiting impatiently, and his heart trembled. He quickly skipped some procedures that could be skipped, and directly pulled away the bright yellow double silk order, and read out in a high-pitched voice. up.
The content of the imperial decree did not exceed Fan Xian's expectations. Some of the sentences in it were even things that had been discussed in the secret correspondence between Fan Xian and the emperor.
As the king of a country, he naturally wanted to express his shock and anger at the chaos in the south of the Yangtze River, and he reprimanded Fan Xian with seemingly harsh words in his edict.
But in the decree, the Ming family was not mentioned at all.
Fan Xian knelt on the ground, a smile flashed across his lips. This is what it should be. How could a mere wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River affect Tianxin? Although the incident this time was not a small one, Wan Min's blood books were sent to the capital, and several rotten Confucians even wanted to file a lawsuit before the imperial court in the capital.
But... Ming family will never be mentioned in the imperial decree and official documents of the imperial court. It is okay to criticize Fan Xian for not being careful, but what is it? The imperial court did not comment at all. This is the so-called politics.
It was just a few reprimands. Of course, Fan Xian was fined for one year's salary, and there was no other punishment.
Eunuch Yao's high-pitched voice stopped, Fan Xian and the others got up to thank him, and asked the Holy Spirit how he was doing, and after such a boring answer, Fan Xian took the imperial edict with both hands and handed it to the officials around him for safekeeping.
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"Salary penalty again?" Fan Xian couldn't help muttering, "My old father and I haven't made any money in the past few years. Who will support the family?"
He and the third prince walked inside first, Eunuch Yao hunched over, showing a flattering smile, followed behind in small steps.
"Old Yao... you have to return the silver to me, otherwise I will only have porridge."
Fan Xian scolded with a smile.
Eunuch Yao shyly walked forward a few steps, and said: "You should spare this slave, who doesn't know that you are the most earning adult in the world... You have been in Jiangnan for less than half a year, and you have earned a fortune for the court." Tens of millions of taels of silver, where is the use of those scraps of silver from slaves?"
While Eunuch Yao was speaking, Yu Guang glanced at the Third Prince silently and quickly from the corner of the eye. Fan Xian's previous joke said that big can be big, and small can be small. In the past, the Fan family really fed these eunuchs He was full, of course he also knew how much Fan Xian valued his harvest.
It's just that this naughty joke was said in front of the third prince. Eunuch Yao knew that although the little prince was young, his heart was cruel, so he couldn't help being a little scared... Unexpectedly, from the corner of his eye, the third prince's expression was calm, It was as if he hadn't heard it, but after thinking about it, since Fan Xian dared to say this in front of the third prince, he naturally had a sense of propriety.
Eunuch Yao's heart trembled for a moment, knowing that the palace's guess might not be bad, and that the Third Highness and Master Xiao Fan were indeed related to each other.
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"I don't have the guts to move the money I earned for the court. Are you... are you trying to persuade me to embezzle?"
The three of them had already entered the middle hall. Fan Xian and the third prince sat on both sides of the main seat. Eunuch Yao stood aside. Hearing this, he smiled wryly and said, "Master Fan, you must be joking with your servant."
Fan Xian smiled and waved for him to sit down.
Eunuch Yao quickly sat down, this long journey really made him exhausted.
"I thought you would come earlier, but I kept me waiting for a long time." Fan Xian said intentionally or unintentionally while nibbling sunflower seeds.
The third prince was also eating melon seeds following Fan Xian's example.
Eunuch Yao took a closer look, and suddenly felt a little dazzled. The "brothers" in the upper ranks really look a little too much alike, but one is bigger and the other is smaller.
He hurriedly explained with an apologetic smile: "It is indeed the inn outside the city that I arrived at yesterday, but I can only enter the city today if I follow the rules... There are two copies of this edict, and I went to the Governor's Mansion first, so I came late. My lord, don't blame the little one for having bad legs."
He carefully looked at Fan Xian's expression, and found that the young dignitary, who was so red to purple, showed no signs of real anger, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, as an eunuch delivering edicts, Ruo Ruo is the emperor's mouthpiece, and he is extremely arrogant when traveling in the seven states of the world. Even in Xue Qing's mansion, Xue Qing, the governor of Jiangnan, was also full of courtesy to this Eunuch Yao in the palace. But you can get the pie anywhere, but in this garden, Eunuch Yao dare not take the pie even if he dies.
Don't say what kind of imperial envoy Fan Xian is, but the identities of these two "princes" and Fan Xian's overwhelming power are enough to make Eunuch Yao very honest.
"Of course I know you have to go to Governor Xue first." Fan Xian said angrily, "Could it be that I don't even know the rules?"
He shook his head and said, "What did His Majesty tell the governor?"
Eunuch Yao thought for a while, then said in embarrassment: "...actually, it has the same meaning as that given to your lord."
"Oh? Xue Qing was also fined a year's salary?" Fan Xian raised his head and asked with interest, but the tone of the question seemed a little gloating.
Eunuch Yao smiled slyly and fingered three fingers.
"After three years of punishment, I can feel more balanced now." Fan Xian smiled and threw away the melon seeds, and said, "I just said that His Majesty is holy and benevolent, and he will never let me, a poor man, take all the responsibility for it." .”
Eunuch Yao smiled wryly, thinking that what you are talking about is...how can I answer it
Fortunately, Fan Xian immediately changed the subject and asked, "Why did you find an old guy like you, who traveled a long distance? There is no young and capable father-in-law in the palace?"
"Old Dai was training a few at the beginning, but you also know that after that incident, although he was transferred back from that pitiful place recently, this matter has been delayed. This time the imperial decree goes to Jiangnan. , the slave will naturally have to make a trip." Eunuch Yao sighed.
"Is Lao Dai okay?" Fan Xian asked.
Eunuch Yao laughed: "Thank you, Hong Fu, these elder brothers in the palace are doing pretty well."
Qing Kingdom's palace is not the same as in history. Since the founding of the country, eunuchs have been guarded against eunuchs, especially after the previous emperor came to the throne more than 20 years ago, eunuchs were strictly prevented from interfering in state affairs, and the palace restrictions were very strict. It is difficult for eunuchs to exercise power, so they are not divided into many factions. On the contrary, these eunuchs know that they are in a difficult situation, and they hug each other in great unity.
Ever since Fan Xian entered Beijing, he had paid great attention to establishing good relations with these seemingly inconspicuous eunuchs. When he was purging one place, he released Lao Dai's nephew, and waited until Lao Dai was released. Take care of them, and never make excessive demands on these eunuchs.
The most important thing is that every time Fan Xian interacted with these eunuchs, he really didn't regard them as such strange and evil people. It was this kind of demeanor that managed to make the eunuchs love this young Tisi very much.
"Just live well." Fan Xian couldn't help shaking his head, eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty generally didn't have any bad deeds, and these deformed people were indeed pitiful. He pretended not to mention: "Lao Dai didn't train a few young ones... But last year, that little guy named Hong Zhu in the imperial study seemed to be quite clever."
"Hong Zhu...has gone to the East Palace now, the deputy chief eunuch, Your Majesty's grace." Eunuch Yao responded cautiously, because everyone in the palace knew that it was Fan Xian who was kicked out of the imperial study when Hong Zhu was kicked out. There was a word in front of him, the rumor was that Hong Zhu was fascinated by money, and he dared to ask Mr. Fan for a bribe.
Fan Xian's expression darkened, and after thinking for a while, Fang sighed, "That's fine, such a clever character is always not suitable to serve His Majesty... He doesn't know how to advance and retreat, and doesn't know how to measure."
Too clever? This is obviously derogatory... Eunuch Yao thought to himself, the rumors are indeed true, that little Hong Zhu doesn't look stupid usually, how dare he tease Lord Fan? It seems that the kid can't get up in the palace.
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After sending Eunuch Yao away, Fan Xian led the Third Prince to the study room. After a long silence, he said softly, "Do you understand why?"
The third prince thought for a long time, but he was still young after all, he didn't understand the reason, and shook his head helplessly.
"It's the end of spring and the beginning of summer." Fan Xian lowered his eyes and said, "We are going to Hangzhou soon, and I have to go out on the way. The affairs of Jiangnan are basically settled. At most...the palace will keep you by my side for a year , that is, at the close of the new year, we will definitely return to Beijing, and when we come out again, there will be only me, not you."
"Why?" The Third Prince asked in surprise.
"There's no reason." Fan Xian said with a smile: "In the eyes of some people, I may have a bit of a strange and unfriendly aura. You are the real prince, the blood of the Tian family, and you have been with me for a long time. I am afraid that you will be infected with it." Some bad habits."
"But..." the third prince said anxiously: "Going to the south of the Yangtze River to study with my master, this is something my father personally promised."
"Father... Your Majesty..." Fan Xian couldn't help shaking his head, and said, "If the Empress Dowager misses you, the youngest grandson, Your Majesty will have to call you back."
The third prince fell silent. He knew in his heart that the imperial grandmother was different from ordinary grandmothers. She didn't like her youngest grandson very much. Instead, she paid more attention to the prince and second brother.
"That is to say." Fan Xian said, "From next year onwards, you will be alone in the capital, and I... can't stay by your side all the time."
The third prince raised his head, with a trace of incongruous cruelty on his childish face: "Sir, don't worry, I will live well and wait for your return."
"Talking childish things again." Fan Xian scolded with a smile, "Who would dare to do anything to you when His Majesty is beside you?"
He said slowly: "It's just that from now on, you have to stand up...at least, let the ministers in the court and the soldiers in the military know you and get used to you."
"Accustomed to what?"
"I'm used to you being an upright prince, not a kid with a runny nose." Fan Xian said coldly, "It's possible to get used to you."
You, too, are possible.
The third prince has been with Fan Xian day and night for half a year. He has long admired this "elder brother" to the core, and feels that being by Fan Xian's side is far more pleasant than the cold atmosphere in the palace. At a young age, he can only Believe, and only want to believe what Fan Xian said.
But he still asked curiously: "Sir, shouldn't it be forbearance first? You once said that a tree is beautiful in the forest, but the wind will destroy it."
"You are still not a towering tree." Fan Xian smiled and touched the top of the third prince's head, although this action was really disrespectful, "Since His Majesty asked you to follow me to the south of the Yangtze River, you can no longer hide it. Can't help it...then I'll just stand up and stand behind you, and see what wind dares to blow you again."
The third prince scratched his face, not quite understanding.
"I want to deliver a message to the capital through Eunuch Yao's mouth." Fan Xian withdrew his hand, slowly closed his eyes and said, "You are the one I choose."
The third prince suddenly boldly said: "Even if the prince's elder brother...but in the end it is still the father's choice."
Fan Xian didn't open his eyes, but said softly, "The Eldest Princess chose your second brother, and the Empress Dowager chose your Crown Prince brother. Although His Majesty hasn't chosen yet, many people have already started to choose, so why bother about me being one more?" .”