The desperate Queen Mother didn't say the answer Fan Xian wanted to know, her lips trembled, and she closed her eyes with difficulty. Fan Xian looked at the wrinkles on her face and didn't have any strange emotions in his heart. He has already guessed this result, but in such a late night, it is a kind of spiritual comfort to have such a conversation with this woman who looks kind and friendly, but is actually hard-hearted—especially when His Majesty is about to leave. Time to return to Beijing.
In fact, the Empress Dowager Qing is not really a snake-hearted person. In the past few decades, she has not used the emperor's filial piety and the power in her hands to hurt too many people and do too many unreasonable things... except for Ye Qingmei's case. matter. However, for some reason, for Fan Xian, the connection between this old woman and the incident twenty years ago was even more intolerable than her attempt to kill herself.
What's more, this old woman had always hated him. It wasn't until after the Hanging Temple incident that the emperor recognized Fan Xian's identity that she pretended to chant some gods in the hall and sent a string of rosary beads to show her attitude.
Fan Xian can show his magnanimity and demeanor to those he admires and those who are difficult to threaten him, but he absolutely does not appreciate the Queen Mother who has the ability to threaten him, and of course he will not show the filial piety of a grandson and gentle.
After His Majesty returned to Beijing, he knew everything that happened in the capital. No matter whether he could understand Fan Xianye's helplessness in rushing to the palace, or pointing at the empress dowager's helplessness, Fan Xian would not leave too many fatal gaps for himself. He slowly pushed and held the Empress Dowager's arm with both hands, and sent true energy into her body, gradually accelerating the slow-release properties of the pill in her body, allowing her to gradually radiate vitality.
After doing all this very carefully, the queen mother became a person who could not speak or move again. At this time, even her eyes became dim and dazed, just like the dementia of an old man before death.
From a neat and safe point of view, Fan Xian should have let the empress dowager die naturally before the emperor returned to Beijing, but he didn't dare to take the risk and gamble on the emperor's heart. If the empress dowager survived until the emperor returned to Beijing, Fan Xian would not be responsible for her death, and if the empress dowager died during the few days Fan Xian supervised the country, he might have to meet the emperor's unreasonable wrath.
Deliberately amplifying his voice for a few words of comfort, expressing his filial piety and a little apology, and after waiting for a while, Fan Xian walked out of Hanguang Hall. He nodded slightly to the maids and nuns in the front hall. Under the awe-inspiring eyes of everyone, he walked up to the stone steps in front of the hall and took a look at the East Palace in the distance. He didn't see the fire, and he didn't do anything else.
…
…
At the gate of the brightly lit palace, Fan Xian saw Prince Jing rushing over. The prince finally stopped dressing up as a flower farmer today, but wore the prince's clothes in a serious manner. Prince Jing and Fan's mansion have always been on good terms. When the capital was in turmoil, he relied on Prince Jing's identity to successfully hide his father in the mansion. Fan Xian was grateful for the prince, so he quickly went up to him and bowed deeply. .
He knew the reason why this prince, who had been refusing to enter the palace, came here in a hurry tonight. The news from the palace has been released, and all the officials and people in the capital know that the queen mother is in a hurry because of the rebellion of the prince and eldest princess. In addition, the imperial city was besieged, she was frightened, and she had a cold. I'm afraid I won't have a few days to live.
Although Prince Jing pretended to be a flower farmer all the year round and was unwilling to get close to his mother and empress, he was the empress dowager's biological son after all, so when he heard the news, he had to enter the palace in a hurry. He looked at the handsome junior in front of him, couldn't help but sighed, looked at Fan Xian twice, but didn't say anything.
Fan Xian's expression was calm. He had clearly told King Jing that the Queen Mother hadn't been there for two days. Although everyone knew that the Queen Mother's urgency had nothing to do with the Prince, but he was not worried that Prince Jing would see what he had done to the Queen Mother. Some side news confirmed that Prince Jing also knows martial arts, but if even Prince Jing can't hide it tonight, let alone the emperor who is going back to Beijing soon
"Brother Huang...is he still alive?" Prince Jing asked after sighing.
Fan Xian nodded: "At the Taiping Courtyard, I saw the handwriting written by His Majesty to His Royal Highness the Eldest Princess."
Prince Jing's facial expression was complicated. This second-generation son of the royal family has never been involved in any political affairs, but he also knows how far-reaching the rebellion in Kyoto involves. And the news that His Majesty is still alive made him clearly guess part of the truth. He said with a slight sarcasm: "Brother Huang has such a big heart and such powerful means."
Prince Jing immediately thought of someone, frowned slightly and asked, "How is she?"
Fan Xian knew who he was asking, and replied solemnly: "I have passed away, and now I am in the mansion. I don't know how to deal with it, my lord..."
Prince Jing's face was slightly distressed, he stopped his words, and said a little weakly: "You are the supervisor of the country now, let you deal with it."
Worried about his mother's condition, he didn't say anything to Fan Xian, but just explained Fan Shangshu's situation, and then, led by several eunuchs, he hurried towards Hanguang Palace. Fan Xian learned from the lord that his father had returned to the mansion safely, and he made up his mind a bit. Then he thought that there was still a lot of troublesome things to deal with in the mansion, and he couldn't help frowning.
Too many officials have died, His Majesty has not returned, and the entire capital is in chaos. There are no officials from the various ministries to return, and there are no traces of people in the Taichang Temple. The follow-up issue of the eldest princess has to be resolved later.
After solving the problem of the crown prince, Ye Zhong personally led the troops out of Beijing, joined the follow-up troops from Dingzhou in the wilderness, and started chasing the remnants of the defeated rebels. The eldest prince personally led the forbidden army to guard the imperial city, so he must not leave lightly. The two academicians, Shu and Hu, are processing some urgent official documents in the imperial study. Fan Xian looked around and saw that although he was a temporary supervisor, he became a loner, with no one on his hands, unable to do anything.
Fortunately, after surrendering, Sun Jingxiu of the Kyoto Prefecture resolutely carried out his duties. With the assistance of the Overwatch Council, he is working hard to maintain the public security and order in Kyoto.
During the daytime, the fleeing people had already passed through the Zhengyang Gate controlled by the palace code and left the city, while the rest of the people who stayed in the capital began to wait for the pacification according to the destiny. In the middle of the night, Kyoto regained its tranquility. The fires that had been lit in disorder during the day were gradually extinguished, but there were still a few places where the fire was still shining.
Fan Xian stood on the square in front of the palace gate, looking at the traces of broken stones on the bluestone slab and the traces of blood that hadn't been washed off in the future, he was slightly startled. Jing Ge's group of black cavalry, as well as the spy agents of the Overwatch Council who were ambush in front of the Zhengyang Gate, suffered heavy casualties. Those who survived by chance had already been sent to the Fangzheng Building of the Overwatch Council for treatment.
He believed in the medical level of his brothers in the three divisions. The imperial doctors of the imperial hospital were also bandaging the wounded of the imperial army and the Dingzhou army in the temporarily recruited private houses. Yet many people still died.
In the northeast corner in the distance, there were soldiers silently carrying corpses, piled up in the darkness to form a hill, looking extremely gloomy. At this time tonight, it was too late to transport these corpses out of the city for burial.
Watching this scene, Fan Xian took out a pill from his bosom and put it in his lips. Without drinking water, he chewed a few mouthfuls and swallowed it. It's not Mahuang pills, but normal healing medicines. He coughed twice, wiped the blood from his lips with his cuff, and couldn't help shaking his head.
This was the first time he had experienced a real war. Seeing the heroic and bleak scenes happening before his eyes, he finally understood that digging graves and appreciating corpses when he was a child could not train his nerves to the point of being too ruthless.
He said to himself once again in his heart: In this world, there is no good war and no bad peace. He must carry on with the agreement with Haitang in the fifth year of Qingli, even if he faces a situation he has never encountered before. powerful enemy.
"Qingyu Hall should have been burnt to ruins." Fan Xian thought to himself. In order not to arouse suspicion afterwards, naturally the surrounding houses will suffer accordingly. And after the war broke out, I don't know how many houses in Kyoto will be burned down and robbed, so it probably won't attract too many people's attention.
At this time, a rider galloped from the northwest direction, disturbing the quiet night just now. All the people in the imperial city became vigilant, and the exhausted guards tried their best to raise their weapons until they noticed that the person was wearing the official uniform of the Overwatch Council.
Fan Xian's eyes narrowed, and he looked at the subordinate who was walking in front of him. He didn't say a word, but there was already a strong sense of questioning in his eyes - the person who came was a member of the Qi Nian team, who was handpicked by Wang Qinian. There was no doubt about his loyalty, so he arranged for this person to secretly watch Fujiko Jing's movements, in case the old shopkeepers of Qingyutang encountered any danger when they left Beijing.
At this time, this subordinate rushed over, and it was obvious that something went wrong.
The Overwatch Council official looked into Fan Xian's eyes and said in a low voice, "Something happened."
There were no idlers waiting around, so Fan Xian said directly, "Speak!"
The official looked around and said cautiously: "The ignition went smoothly, and there was no problem getting in with the fleeing crowd and leaving the city, but the brothers who stayed at the place discovered that they had alarmed the eyeliners at the same place, but they didn't know who these eyeliners belonged to." .”
Whose? Of course Fan Xian knew, it must be the eyeliner left by His Majesty the Emperor. The things in the minds of these old shopkeepers are too precious, there must be a group of special personnel in the palace responsible for monitoring, even if there is a rebellion in the capital, these people will definitely be lurking.
"I don't have many people on hand." Fan Xian stared at him and said coldly, "I gave you twenty... You still can't solve these problems!"
The official lowered his head, not daring to make the slightest excuse, and said: "The other party has a tough hand, and they ran away three times."
Fan Xian no longer blamed this official, because he didn't dare to let too many people know about this matter, so he proceeded very secretly. To be precise, he was taking a big risk. There were many loopholes in his own plan. It's not going well.
The official looked up at him, and said with a very complicated emotion: "Three ran away, we caught up later and found more than a dozen dead bodies... There is one person who left a word for you, my lord."
This sentence is a bit difficult to understand, and it is completely illogical. Why did I find more than a dozen dead bodies after running through three eyeliners in the palace? Fan Xian's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "What are you talking about?"
"The man said... someone is waiting at home."
…
…
Someone was waiting for him at home, so Fan Xian of course rushed home immediately. It was the second time today that he stepped into the gate of the mansion, and he ran directly to his father's study in the back garden. The unlooted Fan Mansion is still so beautiful, the lights in the study shine through the glass, shining on the rockery and clear water.
As Prince Jing said, his father had returned home safely. Fan Xian heaved a sigh of relief, pushed the door in without any notification, and saw Mrs. Liu packing something.
With a glance, he knew that his father's physalis had been drunk. In such a situation, his father still had the leisure to drink Physalis, and Fan Xian couldn't help admiring his concentration.
"Is mother okay?" He bowed respectfully to Mrs. Liu, who is now a serious housewife of the Fan Mansion. Of course, this was all he did when he got married.
Mrs. Liu smiled, said something to comfort her daughter-in-law, and left the study.
Sitting on the Taishi chair, Hubu Shangshu Fan Jian raised his head and glanced at his son, with relief and a hint of reproach in his eyes. This person of the older generation who had been hiding in the capital since the incident in Kyoto finally stopped hiding his thoughts at this moment.
"The eyeliner outside Qingyu Hall was killed by someone sent by my father." Fan Jian tapped on the desk lightly, thoughtfully, and said in a harmonious voice, "I don't know why you became so radical, and you are so full of mistakes. Dare to carry out a plan... Do you really think His Majesty can't see it?"
Fan Xian smiled wryly, his mentality had indeed undergone a great change, but something like courage often meant a loophole.
He sat down and said respectfully: "Thank you, my lord father." He knew that his father secretly trained the tiger guards for the royal family, and it would be impossible to say that his father had no hidden strength behind the scenes. Those inner court eyeliners were killed by his father, which didn't surprise him. And the shocking news of His Majesty's survival, since he told Ye Chong from his own mouth, of course his father also knew about it.
"Killing people is very simple, but what they say afterwards is complicated." Fan Shangshu thoughtfully, and said slowly: "Even if the capital is in chaos and the chaos is killing... But have you ever thought about it, the old shopkeepers of Qingyutang, could it be such a coincidence? They were all burned to death by the fire? You put more than a dozen corpses in the fire, just to deceive your ears."
Fan Xian listened quietly to the instruction.
"There are also those eyeliners of the inner court. Even if you use the power of the Overwatch Council to kill them all, how can you ensure that your subordinates do not have your majesty's eyeliners?"
"It's split up. Except for the Qi Nian team, the rest of the people don't know the inside story." Fan Xian explained.
"Okay, even if the Overwatch Council is made into a monolith by Chen Pingping, let me ask you, who will explain to His Majesty afterwards that none of the inner court eyeliners who stared at Qingyu Hall are dead?"
Fan Xian was dumbfounded, and then he figured out that even if people kill people to silence them, the death of these inner court eyeliners who shouldn't have died at the hands of the rebels will arouse His Majesty's suspicions.
"And these old shopkeepers still have family members in the capital." Fan Jian looked at his son and said in a harmonious voice, "They really want to leave, dare to leave?"
"I only asked Fujiko Jing to send the four old shopkeepers away. Qingyutang must have people alive to make sense. Do you understand?"
"Understood." A layer of cold sweat broke out on Fan Xian's forehead.
"As for fighting with the inner court's eyeliner, the person who is interested in the old treasurer of Qingyutang is not you, nor me, but the eldest princess." Fan Jian's eyes turned cold, and he said: "The dozen or so corpses are from Xinyang. A slayer in the field."
"Since we want to convince His Majesty, we must convince His Majesty that the person who makes the move has this need. The Eldest Princess knows the importance of the Neiku, so of course she would want to compete for the Qingyu Hall. Only she has the ability and the idea."
Fan Xian was convinced.
At this time, Fan Shangshu suddenly sighed, and said: "Ah, An Zhi... as a father, I don't know what you think and why you do this, but you have to remember that you are from the Qing Kingdom after all, and your father is also from the Qing Kingdom. In any case, don't do anything that hurts the foundation of my country, Daqing."
Fan Xian's heart skipped a beat, knowing that his father had seen through his plan at a glance, and wanted to justify a few words, but he really couldn't bear to lie to his father, so he had no choice but to remain silent.
Fan Jian looked at his son, sighed again, shook his head and said, "I won't talk about you anymore, this internal treasury...is your mother's property after all. Although I, as a minister of the Qing Kingdom, don't want to see some Things happen, but you... do whatever you want."
Fan Xian was shocked, he never thought his father would make such a decision. Of course, my father would not deceive himself or hurt himself, but he knew the importance of the internal treasury to Qing's unification of the country, so why did he help himself
"I'm already old, and I don't have much strength anymore." Fan Shangshu didn't know if he knew something, and a little bit of tiredness and aging appeared on his solemn and handsome face before, and he said slowly: "Wait for Your Majesty to return. After Beijing, I will resign, and I will help you as much as I can in Beijing, and I can't just watch you have an accident."
Father wants to resign? Fan Xian's heart trembled again. In the spring of that year, the emperor made it dark, connived at the court's officials to attack, and checked the accounts of the household department, in order to force his father to resign and return to his old age. After two years, why did you suddenly say you were going to resign tonight