Joy of Life

Chapter 85: Shopkeeper Ye of Qing Yu Tang

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When they arrived at the address of the selected bookstore on Dongchuan Road, Fan Xian and his group took a good look and found that the location was indeed quite good, with convenient transportation around, and not too far from Taixue. Students who came to Kyoto from all over the country to prepare for the exam , basically pass by here every day. The most important thing is that this place is not too lively. Only in this way can it be convenient for princesses and ladies of officials' families to send their personal maids to buy books.

Fan Xian nodded, and walked inside with Fan Sizhe, looked at the cleanup guests in the mansion, bowed his hands and said, "Mr. Cui, I'm sorry."

That Mr. Cui smiled wryly: "I said, two young masters, how much money such a bookstore can earn a year and consume so much energy is really not worth it."

Fan Xian knew that these ex-officials who used to work in the head of the household department would certainly not pay attention to this kind of business with thousands of taels of silver, and explained with a smile: "Since my brother likes it, let him play." Right." He didn't expect to keep this matter from Sinanbo, so he asked some cleanups in the mansion to help, and since his father allowed Mr. Cui to help, it was tantamount to acquiescing to the two sons' mischief outside the mansion. .

A few people were talking in the room in the back hall, Fan Sizhe was biting the holder of the brush and thinking about something, once there was a book in front of him, this guy would focus on it and forget all his external affairs. While talking, the shopkeeper invited from Qingyu Hall also came. This shopkeeper had a loyal face, his eyes were not bright, but they were clear. Fan Sizhe was a little satisfied with the so-called upright eyes, and went to tell him about the bookstore.

Fan Ruoruo had already handed over the manuscripts of the first sixty chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions to Fan Sizhe, and Mr. Cui had sent someone to keep an eye on the printing at Wansong Hall, so there shouldn't be any problems. Fan Sizhe kept urging Fan Xian for the next manuscript, ready to be a hit in the capital. Fan Xian didn't have much interest in copying books these days, so he kept pushing.

After agreeing on the time for the opening of the bookstore, and confirming that the approval document from the Eighth Office of the Overwatch Council will definitely be available, everyone found that there was nothing to do in the back room. At that time, I will import some classics and history collections from Wansongtang, and then focus on the stones, it seems that I am waiting to collect money. As for the guys, all of them are handled by the shopkeeper of Qingyutang, and the Fan family doesn't need to worry about it.

Fan Xianben was a little surprised why everyone trusted that Qingyu Hall so much, and when he finally had a chance to be alone with the shopkeeper, he asked gently, "What is the shopkeeper's name?"

The shopkeeper replied with a smile, "Your surname is Ye."

Fan Xian's heart trembled, and he asked repeatedly, "Your name is Ye?"

The shopkeeper seemed to see his strangeness, and responded with some puzzlement: "Yes, there are seventeen shopkeepers in Qingyutang, all of whom are named Ye. This is a well-known thing in Kyoto, Master Fan?"

"All surnamed Ye?" Fan Xian frowned and asked, "What is your relationship with the Ye family twenty years ago?"

The shopkeeper was a little surprised. Glancing at Fan Xian, he felt a little vicissitudes: "It's been so many years, I thought that the young people now don't know the Ye family. Yes, we were all the shopkeepers of the Ye family back then, and later the Ye family came out. There are some problems. All the properties are not in the palace, and we should have left to find our own way of life, but I don’t know why. The imperial court does not allow us to do business by ourselves, so it has become such an embarrassing situation until now. We can only take care of the business for others, but we can’t buy shares ourselves, that’s how Qingyutang came about.”

Fan Xian looked at the shopkeeper again, knowing that the other party was his mother's subordinate back then, so he couldn't help but feel a sense of intimacy, and asked curiously: "After the accident in the Ye family, did the court..." He didn't finish the sentence, but the shopkeeper also understood the meaning, The so-called cutting the grass and eradicating the roots, since the imperial court has even occupied the property of the Ye family, there is absolutely no intention to keep these old people. It’s strange, so these years, I’ve been living in fear, and the imperial court didn’t allow us to leave Beijing, so I’m afraid that something will happen one day.”

"Take me to Qingyu Hall someday." Fan Xian suddenly found a place in the capital that is related to his mother's past. He couldn't help being pleasantly surprised, and grabbed the shopkeeper's shoulder, "I have many, many things to ask you."

After returning to Fan Manor, in his father's study, Fan Xian told him what happened today, and asked curiously, "Qing Yu Tang, is he really an old man from the Ye family?"

"Of course it is." Fan Jian stroked his short beard, as if recalling the past, and said leisurely: "These people are actually very complicated. They were all big shopkeepers of the Ye family stationed in various states back then, but your mother offended the rich and powerful. , It was unfortunate. You also know what kind of scenery the Ye family was back then, and the court was a little panicked for a while. If the Ye family collapsed, the Qing Kingdom would probably be in chaos for decades. So I finally came up with A compromise method is to take the Ye family back to the royal family, at least in name, to cut off the possibility of those officials below taking the opportunity to blackmail, and then... "

Fan Xian cut off his words and asked, "How did the enemy who killed my mother die in the end?" This was a question he had always been puzzled about.

Fan Jian looked into his eyes and said coldly, "You are young, so you probably don't remember what happened in Qing Kingdom fourteen years ago."

"I remember." Fan Xian said with a frown: "Fourteen years ago, it seemed that someone had the intention of changing the sky and trying to pull His Majesty from the throne, so in the end a lot of trouble happened. The nobles were almost killed, the blood was flowing, and the heads of the nobles rested on the city wall for a mile. This is the so-called Kyoto Bloody Moon. Although I have not experienced it, I have heard Teacher Fei say it many times .”

"That's right." Fan Jian said coldly, "During this cleansing, we killed all those who participated in the murder of the Ye family."

Fan Xian noticed the word "we" in his father's words, and Xiaoyi asked, "Who are we?"

"Of course it's me and Chen Pingping." Fan Jian smiled, "This is probably the most successful action we have followed His Majesty for more than 20 years."

"The Fan family also took advantage of this incident, and the Overwatch Council has firmly established its influence among officials because of the terrorist role it played in this incident." Fan Xian sighed: "It turns out that the cause of this accident The cause turned out to be that father and Mr. Chen were avenging mother."

"What happened later?" Fan Xian asked about the Ye family's affairs.

"As I said before, the income from the Ye family's property was the best way to stabilize the government at that time. It was impossible for the court to come up with more effective suggestions." Fan Jian explained: "The problem is that those big shopkeepers, They were all taught by your mother. Although they are far from your mother's wisdom, if you let them go, who knows if there will be a second Ye family? So His Majesty decided to gather them all in the capital. , Let them retrain some manpower to take over those businesses, but they are not allowed to own real property, and this is how the famous Qingyutang in Kyoto is now."

"You guys want to do business and it's good to have them."

Fan Xian said sadly: "These shopkeepers were forced to stay in the capital for more than ten years because of such a reason. It's really miserable...Father, if all these shopkeepers are used, will it attract the attention of the court?"

Fan Jian shook his head: "Using the shopkeepers of Qingyu Hall is the favorite method of the private properties of the princes, and the court will not care about it, but if you want to collect all the seventeen shopkeepers of Qingyu Hall, it seems that there is no need. .”

"If the imperial court really taboos these things, why didn't they kill all these shopkeepers?" Fan Xian raised his own question.

Fan Jian looked at his son and explained with a smile: "When your mother had an accident, I followed His Majesty to fight in the west. Chen Pingping went to the border between the dynasty and Northern Qi to carry out a secret mission. She realized it halfway and turned back to the capital, so This kind of thing will happen. If we have all returned to the capital and let these people be killed, you would have underestimated your father's strength too much."

Mrs. Liu knocked on the door outside, the father and son stopped talking, and Fan Jian let her in. Seeing the bowl of fruit puree in Liu's hand, Fan Xian realized that the night was already late, and it was time for his father to fall asleep, so he stood up and prepared to say goodbye. But Si Nanbo waved him to stay, and Liu Shi went to rest on his own.

Before Mrs. Liu left, Fan Xian caught a glimpse of worry in the woman's eyes from the corner of her eye. Knowing that she was worried about her husband's health, he couldn't help frowning slightly, thinking that this woman might really have some affection for her father. It's just a pity that he was too cruel-hearted to do such things back then. He knew that since his father would not let him go, he must have something important to explain, so he listened attentively.

"Tell me about the recent situation in the imperial court." Uncle Sinan Fan Jian picked up the lukewarm fruit pulp and drank it slowly, "I know you have always resented the fact that the Liu family sent people to poison you four years ago."

Fan Xian was taken aback, he didn't want to understand what the situation in the court had to do with the Liu family, and he didn't expect his father to bring it up so bluntly, so he didn't know what to say for a while.

"The two things are actually related to each other." Fan Jian knew what his son was thinking, and said lightly: "The reason why Mrs. Liu did it four years ago is because Sizhe is getting older and less serious. And I haven't straightened her up all the time, so she couldn't help but feel a little desperate, she was dizzy for a while, and made that decision. But the more important reason is because she had entered the palace once at that time, and she had received someone's guarantee that once you die Finally, Fan Sizhe will definitely inherit everything from the Fan family in the future."

"Entering the palace? Who is the guarantee that she will even disregard grandma's life?" Fan Xian said coldly.