The oil lamp in the study danced, and the room suddenly brightened and darkened. Fan Xian watched the change of the yellow light on the face of the general in front of him, squinted his eyes, and didn't speak for a while. According to the customs of the Qing Dynasty, the oil lamp bursting into flowers should be a happy event, but Fan Xian couldn't confirm this at this time.
"Tell your story, tell your thoughts."
Fan Xian took a breath slowly, trying to make his facial expression softer.
"My name is Xu Maocai." The general smiled slightly, and began to talk about his identity and his relationship with Fan Xian.
Fan Xian nodded. Such an ordinary name that can no longer be ordinary is indeed a necessary condition for hiding his identity, but he doesn't know how the other party escaped from the purge that year, let alone why the other party would Choose to speak out to yourself at this time.
"Young master, I am not from the Fan residence, nor from the Overwatch Council." Xu Maocai said calmly, "I am from the Ye family, more precisely, I am from the young lady."
"Are you an old man from the Quanzhou Navy?"
After confirming his judgment, Fan Xian's brows did not relax.
"Exactly." Xu Maocai replied: "Twenty years ago, I was a sailor on the Quanzhou Navy. And has been in the military until now."
Fan Xian knew about this historical story, the one that was tied to the Ye family and would never go away. When the Kyoto incident happened, my mother was raided in the Taiping Courtyard. Uncle Wuzhu only had time to take away himself. Perhaps it was because of his relationship that Uncle Wuzhu did not challenge this country with his own strength...
But things happened after all, and the influence of Lao Ye's family in the capital was uprooted within a day. The problem is that the foundation of the Ye family is not limited to the capital, but has its own industries in every county and road, and even this kind of tentacles have extended to every aspect of the Qing Kingdom. In every corner, the army is no exception. .
When His Majesty brought Fan Jian back to the court and Chen Pingping rushed back to the capital, the situation was settled, so apart from revenge, the biggest problem facing the monarch and ministers was how to deal with the huge property and influence left by the Ye family.
As happened in history, as Fan Xian knew, the three major workshops of the Ye family were brought back to the imperial court and became the internal treasury that now affects the economic lifeline of the Qing Kingdom. , but was put under house arrest by the court, and the Ye family was charged with treason.
Four years after the Kyoto Incident, the emperor led Chen Pingping and Fan Jian to carry out a bloody counterattack and revenge, directly killing one-third of the nobles in Kyoto, and even massacring the queen's originally extremely powerful clan, but still Can't change some things.
For example, the charges against the Ye family, and the treatment of the Ye family. Because this matter must have something to do with the old man in the deep palace, and it involves the peace of the world.
Ye Qingmei's death was strange and wronged. In order to prevent the Ye family's forces from counterattacking, the Qing court must cleanse the Ye family and carry out a selective succession. For the stability of the Qing Kingdom, this was the only choice. Judging from the later development, even Chen Pingping and Fan Jian also acquiesced to this point.
Therefore, the shopkeeper of Qingyutang has so many leaves, and he can linger in the capital until many years later, he is taken out of the capital by the grown-up Fan Xian. However, the power left by the Ye family in the imperial court and the army was ruthlessly swept away, leaving nothing behind.
The Quanzhou navy back then was infiltrated the most by the Ye family because it was responsible for the production and escort work of the inner warehouse. In a sense, it was Ye Qingmei's private navy, so in the aftermath cleaning, The Quanzhou navy also became the first place to attack, and was ruthlessly cut into three parts by the imperial court. After the secret suppression and cleansing, it became the three major navy of the Qing Kingdom today.
Whenever he thinks about the events of the past, the evil fire that has been suppressed in the deepest part of Fan Xian's heart begins to rise. He understands that since Ye Qingmei is dead, those old people will definitely do this for the sake of peace and stability in the world. Choice, if he is the emperor, he will not be soft... However, he will still feel a little uncomfortable and unhappy.
Noticing that Fan Xian was distracted, the old Quanzhou navy man named Xu Maocai coughed softly twice.
Fan Xian came back to his senses, looked at General Xu with a complicated expression, and had many questions in his heart. How did such an old man of the Ye family survive the purge by the navy? How did you hide your identity until today? Naturally, the power of the Ye family is not dead, but the vast majority of people have long been like the treasurers in the inner treasury... They have forgotten their identities back then, and after revealing themselves, they became members of the imperial court.
But Xu Maocai was obviously not like this.
Fan Xian expressed his doubts very directly.
Xu Maocai explained more directly: "I entered the naval division too late. The lady originally arranged for me to train at sea for two years, and then I joined the Overwatch Council to help the dean... But, as you know, something happened later, so I didn't Opportunity to catch up with Dean Chen, it was a coincidence or a very lucky... I survived to this day."
"You mean, if Chen Pingping knew you were from the Ye family, she wouldn't let you stay in the army." Fan Xian said indifferently.
Xu Maocai was slightly taken aback, and after thinking for a moment, he slowly replied: "I don't know, but my luck is good enough, so I won't gamble."
"What about my father?"
Xu Maocai knew that the young man was definitely not talking about the man on the dragon chair, but the Minister of the Household Department, Fan Jian. After a little thought, he said: "Things back then were too weird, I...no one can believe it."
No one could believe it. Although his tone was still steady, Fan Xian could hear a trace of coldness and disappointment in the other party's words. After the Kyoto incident, no one in the imperial court complained for the old Ye family, and the situation at that time was indeed too weird. Xu Maocai, who was the nail of the Ye family, always wondered in his heart what kind of roles Chen Pingping and Fan Jian played in that incident .
Fan Xian's expression remained unchanged, but he smiled slightly and said, "You must also know about my relationship with Lao Ye's family, but I don't know much about it. What's the point of you coming to tell me these things at this time."
This was a temptation. From the beginning of the conversation until now, Fan Xian asked himself that he hadn't shown anything that could be caught.
Xu Maocai raised his head in doubt, and looked at Fan Xian as if he were a stranger, but completely forgot that he and Fan Xian were strangers before today.
"Young master, you are the only flesh and blood of the young lady." Xu Maocai said in a deep voice: "The young lady's family business must be inherited by you, and the young lady's hatred... As a son of man, it will naturally fall on your shoulders. Talent is not talent." , willing to be a dog and a horse."
Fan Xian was silent for a while and then slowly said: "As far as I know, the princes and nobles who participated in this matter were killed as early as thirteen years ago. Your Majesty is wise, but let these shameless bandits live four more years." Years. Revenge? Who should I turn to for revenge?"
Obviously, Xu Maocai has been hiding in the Jiaozhou Navy for these years, and he is not clear about the movements of the upper echelons of the court, but it is strange that in the heart of this general, there is always a very strong intuition that the enemies of the Ye family must not Die, and it is impossible to die so simply.
So he shook his head slightly and said: "This is a question that the young master needs to think about."
Fan Xian admired the man in front of him. Since this man had no lies in the eyes of the court, and now he has become a major general of the Jiaozhou Navy, he can just spend his days happily like this At home, all the ladies are left behind, enjoying high officials and nobility, without thinking about such horrible things as revenge on the court.
And according to the other party's words, he had not been in the Ye family for a long time, and he was only a young man in his early twenties.
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…
Fan Xian remained unmoved, and said with a smile, "Why should I think about it?"
"You are a descendant of the Ye family." Xu Maocai's breathing became a little faster, and he seemed a little disappointed.
Fan Xian shook his head and said, "General, I respect your character, but you seem to have forgotten one thing. I am not only my mother's son, I am also a man with a father."
Xu Maocai suddenly raised his head and stared coldly at Fan Xian's face. After a while, complex emotions of disappointment, shock, understanding, and abandonment appeared on his face, and he said with a wry smile, "That's right, the young master is also a prince after all."
According to common theories in the world, Fan Xian is a descendant of the Ye family, but his more important identity is the emperor's illegitimate son, especially since Ye Qingmei died early. How could a person who was raised by the royal family secretly care for someone he had never met? How much affection does the mother leave? If the target of revenge for the Ye family is the court... Could this prince be willing to rebel against his own family
This society is still a purely patriarchal society.
So even though Xu Maocai was disappointed, he wasn't too surprised. There was just a wry smile on the corner of his lips, thinking to himself that he had endured it for so many years. After seeing the young lady's flesh and blood suddenly today, he finally couldn't help it, but he didn't know how to greet her. Is my own silence about to come soon
To his surprise, Fan Xian only asked gently: "Since you can understand what I said earlier, please tell me why you dare to come to me tonight?"
Xu Maocai didn't understand why he asked this, and after a long silence, he said: "Since the news spread, I have been secretly paying attention to your news, watching what you do... and trying to find out what happened after you left Danzhou. What have you done in the past few years. Whether you are in charge of the Overwatch Council or taking over the internal treasury... I always feel that your style and method of doing things, as well as the hidden heart behind it... are very similar to Miss. So I... choose to see you. "
The so-called news naturally refers to the mystery of Fan Xian's life experience that shocked the world last year.
Fan Xian couldn't help laughing at himself. He wondered if his mother was as sinister and shameless as him back then, but he was able to create a huge family business empty-handed. Mother can't get rid of the relationship. As for Xu Maocai's extremely sensitive discovery... those two extremely similar hearts
The same is the world traveler, so why meet each other before.
Fan Xian smiled softly, thinking that in this world, if he was looking for two people who could get close to each other and understand each other, they would be him and Ye Qingmei. This relationship was even better than that of an ordinary mother and child. The relationship is even more wonderful, perhaps less close in blood, but more close in spirit.
And it's hard to weaken.
This must be something that the Qing Emperor could not have guessed, even Fan Jian and Chen Pingping could not have imagined it, and the whole world would find it unreasonable. As a prince, why does Fan Xian have such deep feelings for his mother whom he has never met, even so deep that he leaves the so-called family affection and the royal family far away in this world.
It is precisely because no one can understand Fan Xian's feelings for Ye Qingmei, so no one, no matter how smart the world is, can guess Fan Xian's true intentions, and at certain important moments in the future, some people will definitely do it for him. There is a price to pay for this.
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…
"Hong Changqing." Fan Xian did not continue the question with Xu Maocai, but increased his voice a little, calling in a subordinate of the Overwatch Council.
The one who entered the room was Qingwa, who survived his life on a deserted island and was lucky enough to be recruited by Fan Xian. He originally had a surname, but now that he was working with Fan Xian, Fan Xian changed his name for the convenience of doing things in the future. The reason why it was called Hong Changqing, on the one hand, was from Fan Xian's memory of heroes, and on the other hand, it was because that boy Hong Zhu had excellent luck after being surnamed Hong.
"Be alert." Fan Xian lowered his head and said, "Don't let anyone come within ten steps of this room."
Hong Changqing took the order and left.
Xu Maocai looked at Fan Xian in surprise.
Fan Xian looked at him, smiled and said, "At this time, you can show me your proof to convince me that you have a relationship with my mother."
Xu Maocai was startled, and immediately understood Fan Xian's meaning. An indescribable excitement surged up in his heart. He licked his dry lips, carefully took out something from the boot, and handed it to Fan Xian.
Since he dared to report to Fan Xian, he must have evidence to convince Fan Xian of his origin.
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…
Fan Xian pinched the metal bullet, and was a little absent-minded for a moment. About that box, only I and Uncle Wuzhu know about that box in this world. The bullet not only revealed Xu Maocai's identity, but also made him fall into a trance, as if he had returned to the seaside of Quanzhou many years ago. For some reason, the young man who was about to enter the navy was appreciated by the master of the Ye family and got a treasure.
The emperor was looking for that box, and Chen Pingping was also looking for that box, but no one ever found it.
"How did you get it?" Fan Xian's smile was a little distant.
Xu Maocai may have recalled the past, his eye circles turned red, and he said softly: "Miss is playing with this at the seaside, I saw how delicate it is, so I feel a little pity..."
Twenty years ago, at the seaside of Quanzhou, a woman with a beautiful face was bored, took out an M82A1 bullet from her arms, and threw it into the sea, trying to hit a sea fish that was sinking due to her beauty.
A young man beside him showed a look of pity. The woman smiled and casually threw one to him as a toy.
Yes, that was the situation at the time.
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Fan Xian stood up, slowly rubbing the metal surface of the bullet with two fingers, feeling the touch and flow lines that did not belong to this world, and took a deep breath. At this moment, the rest of the people in the Admiral's Mansion All seemed to have disappeared. The Jiaozhou Navy, the Eldest Princess, and the Junshanhui all faded away in his mind like sea foam.
He just thought about this bullet. The woman who used the bullet as a marble back then tilted her head slightly, then smiled, thinking that maybe he came from that far away just to keep her appointment