Chapter 407
Chapter 407: The Same Sky
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The big tree in the Shazhou side garden was very unfortunate . It had been used by Fan Xian, who was wielding the Emperor's sword, to let out his princely anger and had lost countless layers of bark . The young imperial envoy was indeed very angry, but it was also impossible for him to show an angry face in front of his wife . He also couldn't immediately charge to Shangjing in Northern Qi to curse his own sister's teacher, so he had to find some way to let out his anger .
Fan Xian was not one of those boring bosses that liked to hit and criticize his subordinates to relieve his stress . Coincidently, in his previous life, when he was lying in bed reading "The Reader," he had once read a heart-wrenching story and had cried buckets . In this life, he learned from the male protagonist in that story .
The love-struck male protagonist was often mistreated by his wife and had endured it for countless years . Always, in the middle of the night, he would slip out and smash trees beside the river, seeking from it some balance in his heart .
Fan Xian did not smash trees . He used proper Sigu Sword technique to carve at the trees . As he carved, he gritted his teeth tightly .
Once the trees had become old in one night, had their clothing completely shredded, and showed their petty and naked figures, Fan Xian and his group sat in the carriage and left, returning to the Peng manor beside West Lake .
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There were a number of people waiting beside West Lake for the imperial envoy and Princess . Although it was not convenient for the Suzhou's two inspector generals to come personally, the Hangzhou Zhizhou that Fan Xian secretly approved of was not modest at all . He had closed off one-third of the long bank beside the West Lake for the convenience of the Fan family carriage entering . He also led a host of subordinates in, terrified that the two important figures felt any displeasure .
As for this fawning, Fan Xian very comfortable accepted it . After all, Wan'er's body was not well and indeed did need quiet . After everyone had gathered in the manor, Sisi and the Teng family wife helped Wan'er to go rest . Fan Xian took a moment to go see the Hangzhou Zhizhou and said a few warm words . However, the next day, he had Tiger Guard Gao Da block all of the officials' wives outside the back garden .
Mistress Fan was not seeing guests .
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Wan'er gazed pitifully at Fan Xian, her brows had long knit together like weak willow leaves in the wind . Her eyes were full of tears and complaints, "Good husband, have mercy on me . "
Fan Xian smiled . "Be good, drink the medicine, otherwise there will be spanking . "
Wan'er had no choice; she could only bitterly drink the medicine . She couldn't resist sighing in her heart, thinking, Why was she so stupid? She had told Fan Xian all of the reasons but given his personality, of course, he would not allow her to do this . If she had known earlier, she might as well have not come to Jiangnan and secretly stopped taking the medicine in Jingdou .
Suddenly, she thought shyly, if she hadn't come down to Jiangnan, even if she did stop taking the medicine and removed the foreign matter from her body but…without him, how could she have a child?
Fan Xian was using a handkerchief and helping her wipe away the remnants of the medicine at the corners of her mouth . He suddenly saw the blush on his wife's cheeks and felt slightly startled . Not knowing what she was thinking in that little head of hers, he curiously teased, "Wife, why are you so embarrassed?"
Wan'er rolled her eyes at him and said huffily, "Not telling you . "
She quickly changed the topic of conversation . She had come down to Jiangnan this time for two reasons, one was that it was already agreed upon last year . The second was an urgent matter that she needed to discuss with Fan Xian, and she would not feel at ease to have servants send this message .
Fan Xian saw her become serious . His brows tightened slightly . He leaned closer to hear his wife speaking quietly into his ear . His mood became more and more serious, but his face did not change at all . It was still very calm . He comforted and explained, "I wondered what the matter was for you to rush like this to Jiangnan…the elders in the Palace love to gossip about others, they don't understand much . "
During their days in Jingdou, this young couple had a good tacit understanding of each other . They had once made clear—now that Wan'er was his wife, his woman—in such a complicated relationship, Fan Xian felt tenderness toward her and did not wish for her to be overly involved in sinister matters . Even if in Wan'er could help him greatly, for example, their pillow talk on the day the Great Prince had visited the Fan manor .
But speaking of this, Wan'er could not pretend that nothing was happening beside her . She also could not hide her eyes and pretend not to see her husband and her not-very-close mother draw their swords and ready their bows .
A girl's heart can be difficult to guess, but in this matter, she wanted to find a way to protect Fan Xian but not so that the two sides sunk into a situation that could not be salvaged . However, it was very difficult for Fan Xian to understand it, and it was the same for Wan'er .
She could only ask around carefully for information and help Fan Xian analyze the mysteries of those women's politics . She used her special identity and privilege of being able to enter and exit the Palace without obstruction to help Fan Xian far away in Jiangnan contact various people in the Palace, to remove what resistance she could .
Fan Xian knew about these things and that he could not stop her, so he could only let her be . Furthermore more, sometimes, he indeed needed Wan'er to act as a lubricant in between, just like that trip into the Palace after the spring examination incidence .
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Because of Fan Xian's opposition, Wan'er's capabilities were not fully used . Her natural feels on politics and the matters in the Palace were suppressed, but this did not mean she did not understand these things . After she heard of that story in the Palace, she came to Jiangnan without hesitation .
Unlike what everyone had thought, the Mistress of the Fan manor had not come to Jiangnan to see that Northern Qi Sage girl called Duoduo . She had to remind Fan Xian of some things in person .
"The elders in the Palace…can have a large influence . " Wan'er gazed at Fan Xian worriedly and gently said . "The empress dowager is the empress' aunt, their connection cannot be separated…the empress has arranged for someone to enter the Palace to read to the empress dowager the "Story of the Stone . " Don't be careless about the danger hidden in this . "
Fan Xian became silent and threads of anger surged through his heart . In the beginning, in Danzhou when he began to copy the "Story of the Stone," it was only to find a game for himself and Sisi, to find some joy for Ruoruo, and at the same time, fulfill his literary intentions . He had not thought too much of it . Although he knew that Lao Cao's words were indeed somewhat taboo during his time, thinking that this was a completely different country, a completely different world, how could it be taboo? So, he had been careless .
No one expected for his birth and his future to have had such large changes . Each word and line of "A Dream of Red Mansions"…seemed to be expressing his dissatisfaction and secret resentment, particularly that speech regarding Lady Qiao .
Anyone could have written this book, just not him . Now, everyone in the world believed that he had written this book .
The resentment in the novel seemed to be recounting his refusal to accept and his indignation at what happened to the Ye family back then . The empress had arranged for someone to enter the Palace to read the book to the old empress dowager . Given the empress dowager's sensitivity and suspicious mind, would she not think that he had disloyal thoughts?
In matters of the royal family, what was important was the heart . If the heart was suspicious, then the person was suspicious . If the heart was to be punished, then the person was to be punished .
Fan Xian thought about this quietly for a bit and found that this indeed was a problem he would have to face soon . If the empress dowager truly thought he felt dissatisfaction in his heart and wanted to redress the incidence of that year, then the old woman's temporary silence might not exist much longer . Qing Kingdom ruled through filial piety . If the empress dowager said anything, the Emperor would have to take some action .
However, it wasn't a big problem . Fan Xian had been in Jiangnan for many days, and his power had reached another level . These small waves did not scare him . He gently patted his wife's hand and said warmly, "Don't worry, even if that old woman is suspicious of me…so what? I haven't done anything . She can't just ask the Emperor to remove my post . "
Wan'er laughed bitterly and couldn't help but shake her head . She used a finger to gently stroke the center of his brows and huffed, "That is my grandmother as well as your grandmother…how can you just call her old woman . "
Fan Xian chuckled and said, "Speaking of which, when I saw you at the Qing Temple back then, I would never have guessed that you were actually my cousin . "
"Hmm…I wonder who kept it from me this long," Lin Wan'er muttered with pouted lips .
Without waiting for Fan Xian to comfort her, Wan'er continued seriously, "Even if this matter is no trouble right now, but what about the matter of the Ming family? The waves of this case you started in Jiangnan has long reached Jingdou . Now, Song Shiren is truly famous . Since he dared to say that the heir does not have a natural right to inherit…this touched on a lot of people's bottom lines . Although Song Shiren is helping Xia Qifei fight this case, everyone in the capital knows that you are their supporter in the background, and they can't help but ask in their hearts…what exactly is our Sir Fan junior thinking?"
Fan Xian's eyebrows raised and he said, 'What can I be thinking about?"
Lin Wan'er gazed at him . "On the surface, it looks like you want to help Xia Qifei take back Ming family's property…will the empress dowager not be suspicious of you? Furthermore, there is still the trouble of the "Story of the Stone" earlier…combine the two together, and everyone will think that you want to take back the palace treasury . "
"But to whom does the palace treasury belong to?"
"Who is the heir in our Palace?"
Lin Wan'er sighed . "The things you have done after coming to Jiangnan is truly putting yourself opposite the Crown Prince and even opposite the empress dowager . "
Fan Xian was silent for a while, then decided to say his true thoughts . "You're right…but in reality, I am purposely creating this atmosphere to make the people in the Palace think I have disloyal intentions . "
Lin Wan'er's parted her lips slightly in shock . She felt that such premature action did not seem like his personality .
"You came a few days late so you don't know that the Emperor had sent a eunuch to announce an edict . " Fan Xian smiled slightly . "In a few days, the capital will know my stance that I am standing on the side of the Third Prince . "
Lin Wan'er felt slightly confused and nervous . In a quiet voice, she said, "You want the Third Prince to join in the competition…but he is only a child . "
"This child is remarkable . " Fan Xian lowered his head and smiled slightly . "His abilities are not bad, furthermore, I am very confident in my ability to judge people and am also very confident in my ability as a teacher . No student of mine will be mediocre . "
"But…you still haven't explained why you are creating the current atmosphere . " Lin Wan'er furrowed her brows . If this situation is allowed to develop like this, the two dies would gradually lose any chance of reconciliation and it would force…she suddenly raised her head and stared in shock at Fan Xian . In a startled voice, she said, "You…are preparing to move against them?"
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The bedroom became silent for a while . Fan Xian slowly nodded his head and said, in a quiet voice, "A lot of people ignored the empress and the Crown Prince, but they and I know very clearly that between our two sides, only one side can survive…right now, taking advantage of the fact that the Emperor still cares about me and values me, I am the hidden disaster . "
Lin Wan'er's expression gradually became helplessly and dimmed . Although she knew that in battles amongst the royal family there was never room for any sentimentality, she still felt a chill when she thought of the fact that between her dearest husband and her elder brother, the Crown Prince, one of them had to die . Fan Xian's eyes were colder than his wife's thoughts, slowly and coldly, he said, "I don't want to kill, but they already killed people decades ago and now, it is impossible that they will let me go . Since it is so, I will finish this matter . "
Lin Wan'er was silent for a long time then opened her mouth and said, "Then…what about her?"
The "her" was naturally the biggest problem lying between Fan Xian and his wife, that Eldest Princess who refused to be content with her lot .
Fan Xian's eyelids drooped slightly and he gently held Wan'er in his embrace . Warmly, he said, "The Emperor's thoughts are too deep . I won't try to understand them . Your mother's thoughts are also too big, and it's not for me to understand them…this is a battle between her and the Emperor . I only need to play a supporting role…I can't promise anything else, but I can promise you that I will not personally do anything to her . "
Was this promise trustworthy?
"My uncle, the Emperor, has always treated me tenderly…" Lin Wan'er was like an injured little cat lying in Fan Xian's embrace . She spoke weakly, but her eyes gradually showed a misty color . If the Eldest Princess truly had the daring to do that thing then afterward, even though by means of Fan Xian's power and identity, Lin Wan'er would not be implicated, but…her identity in the royal family would become awkward and dangerous .
Fan Xian was silent . He knew that Wan'er sigh was the truth . After they were married, as they walked in the Palace, only then did he clearly feel that the Emperor was indeed very tender toward Wan'er . Her position in the Palace was indeed much higher than that of a usual princess . Thinking of this, he couldn't help sighing . The Emperor had married his favorite niece to his illegitimate child, was this also a compensation for him?
"Don't worry, it's all the elders' business," he smiled slightly and said . "Let them make a fuss . "
Although his words were light, the contents were not . In the next year, if Qing Kingdom's dragon chair did not have a change of owner then there would be a bloodbath amongst the royal family . What would happen to Fan Xian and Wan'er, this young couple? If it was the former, Fan Xian believed that his whole family would be buried along with the Emperor . If it was the latter, how could Wan'er face it?
Fan Xian suddenly felt that forcing the other party to act ahead of time seemed to be a pointless thing, except, in order to protect himself and those around him, he had to do this .
"The old cripple should also be thinking like this, right? Hopefully, he will have some better ideas . "
Fan Xian gently patted Wan'er's back . Looking out the window at the peaceful lake, at the green mountains, and the fishing boat at the willow branches, his thoughts floated to the far away Jingdou .
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In the cold Palace in Jingdou, the servant girls and eunuchs walked silently . Occasionally, a young servant would let out a few laughs and quickly be harshly scolded by the elderly nannies . The rich spring had come to an end, and the beginnings of summer had arrived . The trees in the Palace were at their most luxurious, however, the people in the Palace still did not have a thread of relaxed freedom .
Guangxin Palace was once the Eldest Princess' residential palace . After the news of the Eldest Princess secretly communicating with Northern Qi and selling out a high-level Overwatch Council employee was exposed to the entire city via letters by Uncle Wuzhu, the supposedly most beautiful woman in the Qing Kingdom quietly retreated from the Jingdou political scene and went to the cold Li Palace .
Although she could still faintly influence the situation in the palace from the Li Palace in Xinyang, it was not as convenient as being in Jingdou . Thus, in the sixth year of the Qing calendar, she finally persuaded the empress dowager and moved back to Jingdou . The letter that had created such a stir had long disappeared into people's memories .
However, not long after she returned to Jingdou, the power of the Junshang Conference in Jiangnan revealed her, angrily, in front of her elder brother, the Emperor . Thus, the Emperor ordered to once again move into the Palace, nominally to gather the family, but in reality, it was close-distance surveillance .
However, after all, the Eldest Princess had operated in the Palace for a long time, she was also the empress dowager's favorite girl, and her relationship with the empress had always been very close, so still no one could stop her entering and leaving the Royal Palace . The tricks she had done in secret had also been successfully kept a secret from many people .
To make the Emperor feel at ease, she could not leave the Palace too much or be in too close contact with the officials below . So, her most common activity was talking with the empress dowager in the Palace and studying flower, bird, insect, or wood-patterned embroidery with the empress .
What she was embroidering was probably not cloth .
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The situation in Jiangnan had settled . Regardless of whether or not the Eldest Princess Li Yunrui accepted it, admitted it, or felt bad about it . Ultimately, the Jiangnan she had operated for over 10 years had already been completely taken over by that "accomplished" son-in-law of hers .
The old Ming matriarch was dead, Great Master San Shi was dead, and the Ming family were keeping quiet out of fear . Under the combined suppression of Fan Xian and Xue Qing, the Jiangnan officialdom did not have much backlash . The trusted aides she had installed into the three large workshops in the palace treasury transport company had all been pulled out by Fan Xian . Although the letters from those officials were still respectful, under Fan Xian tyranny, they had no way to move .
The people's rage that had been stirred up with difficulty had, for some unknown reason, dispersed silently . Thus, the bloodletters from the people that had been delivered from so far away and the old scholars making a case in front of the Emperor became unrooted trees and could not be even a glimmer of a threat to the court .
"Fined their salary?" The Eldest Princess Li Yunrui narrowed her eyes, a glimmer of ridicule flashed through her beautiful almond-shaped eyes . "Do you think the Fan family has a need for this little bit of silver?"
Sitting beside her was the dignified and richly dressed empress . The empress smiled slightly and said, "The Emperor loves the Fan family dearly . The investigation into the Ministry of Revenue a few days ago, wasn't it also hastily wrapped up?"
The Eldest Princess smiled slightly . Her long eyelashes blinked delicately in a way far from in accordance with her age . With a slight smile, she said, "Minister Shang has credit in serving the country . How is he someone women like us can compare to?"
She sighed and said, "When it's all said and done, I don't have a son . I have a daughter that I'm not very close to . What's the point paying attention to all this? I think, when autumn arrives, I will ask mother to allow me to return to Xinyang to live . "
The empress' heart thumped, and she secretly cursed this vixen for acting weak . She also realized that the other party was retreating to advance, however, in the current situation, if Li Yunrui actually threw up her hands and stopped, she and the Crown Prince would not be able to stand up against Fan Xian and the Third Prince's might . Of course, the empress was not an idiot . She knew that it was impossible for the Eldest Princess to surrender the power in her hand and leave like this . The other party said this only to gain the upper hand .
The empress' smile carried with it a glimmer of cautiousness that should definitely not have been there . "What are you talking about? Although I am just a stupid woman who knows nothing of the affairs of the country, even I know that you are a pillar of the country and have contributed to the Qing Kingdom in countless ways…if you go to Xinyan, the Emperor would be the first to disagree . "
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