The sky above Kyoto today is cloudy and sometimes sunny, and it is always impossible to accurately show a smiling or sad face, just like Fan Ruoruo's face at that time. The girl's complexion turns green and white, and her rosy cheeks, which were sweaty and slightly damp at the moment before, have been frightened into a theater after hearing these words, fully acting out that a citizen of Daqing should express his feelings at this time. emotions that come out.
It was clearly a warm spring, but Fan Ruoruo's body seemed to be tortured in an ice cellar. After a long while, she trembled and said in a low voice, "I don't know."
This is the most useless answer, and also the most natural answer. Fan Xian has fallen into a black hole and can't extricate himself. If he holds his sister's hand again, at most there will only be one more poor junior who has been torn to pieces. It didn't help.
Fan Xian's heart softened, he gently stroked the top of the girl's head, and said gently: "Don't be scared, it's just that I have nowhere to reason, so I have to talk to you."
After a long time, Fan Ruoruo looked at his elder brother timidly, and said in a mosquito-like voice, "Is it true?"
Fan Xian was silent for a long time, looking at the quiet small courtyard across the river, thinking about the bloody disaster that this small courtyard suffered more than 20 years ago, thinking that perhaps this place was a hell on earth more than 20 years ago, no I don't know how many members of the old Ye family died, but that stunningly talented woman happened to be at the weakest stage in her life.
Because she gave birth to herself.
Moreover, all the people around her who could rely on had left her side due to one or another important reason that could not be turned back. She was so isolated and helpless. This is a surprise attack from the closest place behind him, a violent and decisive murderous intent. Presumably she must have been quite unwilling and lonely when she left this world, right
Borrow? Fan Xian would not believe this, he knew women too well, even if this woman was his own mother, the unique Ye Qingmei in the world, Fan Xian still did not believe it. If you have no feelings for a man, how could you fall in love with him in your bed? Other women may flirt with men they dislike due to social or family reasons, but does Ye Qingmei need it
Fan Xian stared blankly at the other side, with a sneer on his lips, that man is really cold-blooded.
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A trembling voice pulled Fan Xian back from the cruel scene in the past. Fan Ruoruo clung to her brother's side as if fearing the cold, the wet handkerchief in her hand had already fallen to the grass, her hand tightly clutching Fan Xian's sleeve, she raised her face and said, "...I... used to... have a brother. "
A chill suddenly surged in Fan Xian's heart. He knew what his sister was talking about, because he knew since he was a child that there should have been a young master in Sinanbo's mansion, and that young master should be about the same age as himself, and he was his father. The child with his original wife died at a very young age because of his frailty.
At this time, the younger sister suddenly mentioned the elder brother who had long since disappeared from people's memories. Fan Xian vaguely seemed to have caught something, and his face suddenly changed.
Chen Pingping had reminded Fan Xian more than once to treat Fan Jian better, because the Fan family had paid a lot for his survival. What did the Fan family pay? Could it be that in Taiping Bieyuan, I was able to survive after the incident, and survive until the moment when Uncle Wuzhu came back, because under the fierce attack of the Queen Mother, the Qin family, and the Queen's clan, someone greeted death instead of me
Fan Xian's face turned pale, and he thought silently in his heart, if things had turned out like this, at first the Queen Mother was concealed, and later Si Nanbo raised an illegitimate child in Danzhou, why didn't the palace become suspicious? Could it be that the emperor suppressed the situation and blocked the news after returning to Beijing
His head was aching, and he hadn't figured out some details, but the potentially terrifying picture became clear in his mind. He thought indifferently that he opened his eyes for the first time in this world, and saw his hands like white lotuses of babies. In front of the hands stained with blood on the white lotuses, a newborn baby had already died in his place. suffer.
His baby white lotus hands were not only smeared with the blood of those killed by Uncle Wu Zhu, but also the blood of the real young master of the Fan family!
Fan Xian's body trembled slightly. Fan Ruoruo clearly sensed his elder brother's abnormality, and said in a sad low voice: "I don't know how my elder brother died, but later I vaguely heard the old mother in the mansion cry and mention a few words, I was a little suspicious, but I didn't know where Something went wrong."
Fan Xian gently held his sister's hand and remained silent. He knew that Ruoruo's biological mother died of a lingering illness not long after giving birth to Ruoruo, and it was only later that his father welcomed the Liu family into the mansion.
A lady servant, why has she been depressed because of something? Because her own son didn't deserve to die but died
Fan Ruoruo then lowered her head and said in a low voice, "I heard from the old mother that Mom and Aunt Ye should know each other."
Fan Xian had gradually realized the profound meaning of Chen Pingping's words, but he still couldn't figure it out. If Chen Pingping knew that her father had paid such a high price for her, why would she still refuse to relax her vigilance towards her father in those years
The relationship between Sinanbo Fan Jian and Ye Qingmei is not like the first love that Fan Xian envisioned when he was a teenager. The two people may have more of a brother-sister trust in each other, just like Fan Xian and Fan Ruoruo today. .
Ye Qingmei had just given birth to a son in Taiping Bieyuan, and it was normal for Mrs. Sinanbo to help out in the courtyard. As for what happened afterwards, it might be exactly what Fan Xian guessed.
Like a plot in a novel? It turns out that reality is always stranger than fiction. To be more precise, reality should be stranger than fiction.
Fan Xian held his younger sister's hand tightly, with countless complex emotions in his heart, before his eyes appeared the face of his grandmother who loved him so much, and his father's upright solemnity, who seemed never to get angry, never to be happy, just silent The face of walking in the officialdom.
His heart suddenly ached, and he felt that he really owed the Fan family too much. His heart suddenly turned cold. Too many people died and too much blood was shed back then.
Fan Xian stood up, looked coldly at the Taiping Courtyard across the river, and suddenly said, "Don't tell anyone what you said today."
Although he knew that his sister would definitely not spread this shocking secret, Fan Xian still couldn't help reminding him, and then said in a low voice, "I want to ask my father about this matter in person."
"Brother wants to go back to Danzhou?" Fan Ruoruo stood up and looked at him in surprise.
Fan Xian shook his head and said, "Father is not in Danzhou now."
Everyone in the world knew that Fan Jian, the Minister of the Household Department who had resigned, was living in Danzhou for the elderly, but Fan Xian said with great certainty that his father was not in Danzhou, because only he knew that his father was in a place in the northeast, helping He wanted to do a big thing by himself, and he was going to ask his father for instructions, because he believed that his father also had his own say in this matter.
Fan Ruoruo resisted not asking any questions, but stared blankly at his brother's gloomy face, feeling a little pain in his heart. She knew that the things Fan Xian said today would cause much trouble in the future. Today's Fan Xian is not only the second most powerful person in the world, but also possesses too much power in his hands. If he really turns against His Majesty the Emperor and wants to avenge his mother, if there is a big battle between the monarch and his ministers, I am afraid that the whole world will be destroyed. drag in.
"Accompany me to another place." Fan Xian walked up the road deep in the bamboo forest. Fan Ruoruo hummed, and followed in small steps.
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The three black carriages left the bamboo forest in the Taiping Courtyard, and came to another place in the outskirts of Beijing that was full of atmosphere. The coolness of this place is different from that of Taiping Bieyuan, and it has a frightening smell—because this is a cemetery.
Many people were buried in the Taiping Courtyard, and many people were also buried here. Fan Xian resigned from his hometown today and came to the place of death. The officials of the Overwatch Council who followed him were a little awe-inspiring, but he didn't know what went wrong.
Under the green hills here, the feng shui is excellent, and it is the tomb of the unknown soldiers left over from the Qing Kingdom's Southern and Northern Wars. The newest and largest cemetery was repaired three years ago. In the battle of the Kyoto rebellion, the Imperial Army suffered heavy casualties, and the Overwatch Council paid a terrible price, especially the vanguard battalion that attacked Qin Heng at Zhengyangmen, and the black knights who chased and killed Qin Heng bravely in front of the square later made this city There are more than a thousand graves in the new cemetery.
Not long after the traditional April Festival, there are still many traces left after worship, incense and paper money that have not been burned cleanly in the garden, floating among these quiet tombs with the mountain wind.
Fan Xian brought his subordinates and younger sister to the tomb, and bowed deeply to the cemetery. All his subordinates are buried here, all the people who died because of one of his decisions.
Mu Feng'er waited for a group of subordinates to know what Master Tisi wanted to do today, and he was a little moved and moved. His Excellency was about to take over as the head of the Overwatch Council, and he didn't expect to go back to the court to deal with the matter, but he did it as soon as possible. Come to the cemetery to pay homage to the dead brother.
Seeing Mr. Tisi saluting with sincerity and heart, the eyes of dozens of Overwatch Council officials in Qingshan Garden couldn't help but get wet, and they followed behind him to salute, but they came in a hurry and couldn't arrange the things.
Fan Xian took a deep breath and said, "I care about my sincerity, not those around me."
Mu Feng'er answered yes from the side.
After a moment of silence, Fan Xian said: "After you return to Beijing, ask Mu Tie to check. How well the families of officials in the court have taken care of the pensions over the years, you should also draw up a dossier for me."
"Yes, my lord."
Mu Feng'er responded without being too alarmed. The follow-up matters of the Overwatch Council's pensions are all handled by one department, and his cousin Mu Tie is the leader of the one department. Today he heard that Mr. Fan wanted to check the accounts, but he was not worried at all. Firstly, in the whole imperial court, only the Overwatch Council has the highest pension. The chief minister takes excellent care of the families of his subordinates. Of course, it is also thanks to the fact that Fan Xian has such a golden mountain hidden in the inner treasury. Secondly, he knows that he Uncle, he absolutely dare not make mistakes in these matters.
Fan Xian ignored him, and with his hands behind his back, he led Fan Ruoruo out of the cemetery under the green hill, throwing away those loyal subordinates for a while, and didn't turn back until he was about to climb to the waist of the green hill. Looking at the densely packed tombs below him, he sighed and said, "One will be successful and ten thousand bones will be withered."
Fan Ruoruo didn't understand why his brother came here after he had been meditating for a long time in the Taiping Courtyard.
Fan Xian seemed to guess what she was thinking, and explained in a low voice: "I want to use these dead people to remind myself that I am not just me now, and I am responsible for many living and dead people. .I have to use these mounds to remind me to be more awake and calmer."
The two brothers and sisters climbed over the waist of the green hill and turned to the other side. I heard that the feng shui on this side is not as good as that side, but it is also full of dense tombs, where the ancestors of the people in Kyoto are buried. At this time, the air still seems to be smoky.
There are several large tombs on the Qingshan Pass that separates the two sides. The cemetery is ordinary in shape, but it looks huge, and there is a garden outside the tomb, and there are officers and soldiers guarding it. Several officers and soldiers saw someone Shi Shiran walk in like this, and were about to step forward to reprimand them, when they were immediately kicked out by several swordsmen from the Overwatch Council.
The eldest princess, the crown prince, and the second prince are buried in these graves—Fan Xian walked past the grave of the eldest princess and the grave of the prince, his face remained motionless, and finally, unexpectedly, Fan Ruoruo stopped at the second. In front of the prince's grave.
The empress dowager's tomb is far south of Cangshan Mountain, eighty miles away from the capital. It is said that it occupies a huge area and is extremely ornately decorated. It perfectly shows the emperor's benevolence and filial piety. But Fan Xian has never been there.
The Overwatch Council officials scattered in all directions, and Fan Xian, brother and sister stood quietly in front of the second prince's grave. After watching for some time, Fan Xian suddenly said, "Actually, I don't like you very much, because I know you and I are the same kind of people, just like you said the night before you died, we don't like each other. "
"From the first moment I saw you, I saw through that shy smile on your face, and knew your hypocrisy." Fan Xian looked at the grave with a smile, "Of course, you saw that smile on my face. With a shy smile, you know my hypocrisy... But you can't prove this, you are just guessing subconsciously."
"Because I hide it deeper than you, and my smile is more genuine than yours." Fan Xian's voice was not high, but he was extremely determined, "When it comes to acting, no one in this world can compare to me, because I was born From the first day I came down, I was acting."
"A shy smile? To pretend to be a baby, of course you have to learn how a baby smiles." Fan Xian lowered his head slightly, "This has become my natural instinct, I only smile slightly shy... ashamed dead."
He raised his head and said, "Chengze, I will come to see you again when I don't have to smile shyly."
Fan Ruoruo looked at his brother in astonishment, wondering why he was talking nonsense about these things in front of the second prince's grave, what pretending to be a baby
Fan Xian stretched himself in front of the grave. He had already stood up, but when would the shy smile on his face turn into a scowling expression of impatience towards the world
Finally, Fan Ruoruo couldn't help reaching out to touch his forehead to see if his brother had a fever from the shock of the news, but the tentacles turned cold.
Fan Xian was taken aback by her, and immediately understood what the girl was thinking, and burst out laughing.
Hearing Fan Xian's rare hearty smile, Fan Ruoruo felt relieved and laughed too, but there was still a haze in his heart. Looking at his brother, he didn't know what kind of hardship and struggle there would be in this burst of laughter.
Fan Xian calmed down, and said gently, "I've finished all the things I have to do today, and I've gone crazy. You said earlier that there is something to do in Beijing. What exactly is it?"
After hesitating for a moment, Fan Ruoruo said softly, "Miss Sun Jia came to the house, thanks to the absence of my sister-in-law... I'm so anxious for everyone."
"Sun... Sun...? Sun Jingxiu, his girl?" Fan Xian was stunned for a long time, and then said, "A lady from a great family, why did you make such a fuss?"
This Miss Sun family is naturally the fan who did Fan Xiantian a favor during the Kyoto rebellion. It's just that Fan Xian is very aware of the temperament of this girl's family, even if he is obsessed with Stone, he will not do such a thing that damages the family.
"Is she here for her father?" Fan Ruoruo gave him a tentative look, and said, "It seems that something happened to Mrs. Sun, and she was so anxious for a while, I think Miss Sun was also forced to come here by her father. "
A gust of wind came from the mountains, making Fan Xian's clothes rattle and his brows furrowed. He couldn't help cursing a few words, but the voice was very low. Even Fan Ruoruo who was standing beside him could not Did not hear clearly.