Compared to the citizens of the capital who were waiting to see what was going on, Fan Xian was in low spirits. He was carefully writing a few notes in his study, doing his best to rewrite the Overwatch Council's intelligence analysis report. Using the tone of a young master who had lived in the capital for a long time, he rewrote it into a slightly scholarly judgment. This was to prevent the jaws of the officials of the Office of the Grand Herald from dropping to the ground when they heard his report. They would suspect that, besides the Emperor's Overwatch Council, the Kingdom of Qing had another terrifying intelligence agency, and that this agency was working for a mere eighth-level functionary.
Fan Ruoruo wasn't in a good mood either. She copied it in small script and stuck the slip of paper together. "Brother, this is really strange. Where did you get this information? Why didn't you just use it? Why did you have to make it sound so ridiculous?"
Fan Xian rarely hid anything from his sister. In this regard, even Lin Wan 'er could not compare to Ruoruo. He said bitterly, "At first, I was just being lazy, so I wanted to borrow their power. Who would have thought that I would create such a meticulous and terrifying case? The source of this information cannot see the light of day, so I couldn't just hand it over to the Office of the Grand Herald. "
"Who is the envoy from Northern Qi this time?" Fan Ruoruo was actually very happy that her brother could finally openly participate in court politics. Although Fan Xian had taught her since she was very young, she was still a girl who had grown up in the world of the Kingdom of Qing. She had always thought that a man who made tofu every day could only be treated as entertainment, and could not be sustained for long.
"Not the Emperor's party, not the Empress Dowager's party, and certainly not the Crown Prince's party." As Fan Xian sorted out the information on the table, he casually replied, "It is the Northern Qi Empress's brother, Chang Ninghou. I hear he is also a great scholar. But this time, the most eye-catching person in the Northern Qi envoy is not him, but his teacher. Northern Qi's literary master of a generation is called Zhuang Mohan. As long as one is a scholar, he is greatly admired. I don't know what price Northern Qi paid to pull him into the envoy. When the time comes, even His Majesty will have to give him some face. I'm afraid this butcher's style of demanding land and money will have to be toned down a bit. "
"Zhuang Mohan?" Fan Ruoruo was shocked, and her face glowed.
This was the first time Fan Xian had seen his sister look like a star-chaser. Ruoruo had always been a very cold woman. Aside from her brother, who she adored, she had never paid any attention to other scholars. For some reason, Fan Xian felt a little jealous. "Fortunately, the case file clearly states that this Zhuang Mohan is already 70 years old. Otherwise, I would have to be a little more careful."
Fan Ruoruo said shyly, "As a brother, how can you not be serious?"
Fan Xian laughed and said, "If you really like that old man, then you are the one who is not proper." Seeing that Ruoruo was about to get angry, he quickly waved his hand and said, "Let's be serious. Do you have any ideas about what I told you that day at the country estate?"
That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The brother and sister were sitting in the field worrying about the little girl's future marriage. Ruoruo fretted for a while, but in the end, not a single one of the four young talents caught her eye, so she gave up. At that moment, Fan Xian thought of something and frowned. "Last time, when we coincidentally met His Majesty at the Liujing River, didn't he say something?"
"What did he say?" Fan Ruoruo showed a rare confused expression. It seemed that the brother and sister were too shocked at the time, and their memories were a little fuzzy.
Fan Xian closed his eyes for a long time. Suddenly, he opened them and slapped the table. "His Majesty wants to arrange a marriage for you!"
"Ah?" Fan Ruoruo was quite frightened.
What were the children of officials most afraid of? Marriage. If they were lucky, like Lin Wan 'er, they would be married to Fan Xian. If they were like Taichang Temple's Ren Shaoqing, who was married to a tigress princess, they would not be happy for the rest of their lives. And of all the marriage arrangements, the most frightening was the one that came from the palace. The Emperor's will could not be disobeyed. Even if you were to marry a hedonistic son of a rich family, you would not be able to reason with him.
In the past, officials and eunuchs still had the possibility of sending their daughters to the palace to win the Emperor's favor. But this Emperor was not interested in women, so this path was blocked. Even the Crown Prince and the two adult princes did not dare to take more than one concubine. Although the Crown Prince's lecherous reputation was known throughout the capital, there were only three cold and lonely concubines in the Eastern Palace.
Fan Ruoruo also remembered the Emperor's seemingly unintentional words. She was quite shocked, and tears welled up in her eyes. "What should we do?" she asked in a trembling voice.
Fan Xian's mind worked quickly, and he immediately came up with a few possible families. He narrowed his eyes and said, "The Great Prince, the Second Prince, and the Crown Prince of King Jing. Although my father is only an assistant minister, based on the Fan family's position, the Emperor will probably only choose one of these three. If he chooses one of the ministers' sons, then there is nothing to be afraid of. If you are not willing, I naturally have a way to reject this marriage. "
If the marriage was to be arranged to the son of a minister, and his sister was not willing, Fan Xian would naturally think of many ways. After all, behind him stood his father, Chen Pingping, and the Prime Minister. They were the so-called three powerful people, and even the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace was trying to rope him in. As long as it was not one of the two princes or Crown Prince Jing, Fan Xian was confident that he could ruin all the marriages his sister did not want.
However, the three young nobles were most likely to be the ones who were the most powerful. Fan Xian was quiet for a moment, and then suddenly couldn't help but curse. "I was wondering why Li Hongcheng went to the brothel every day, but refused to get married. So he was waiting here!"
Seeing his sister's frightened expression, Fan Xian smiled and comforted her. "The Eldest Prince has been fighting in the western barbarians for many years, and I hear he is also outstanding in martial arts. Although I have never met the Second Prince, I hear he is also a very powerful person. As for Crown Prince Jing, Li Hongcheng, the two of us are familiar with each other. Aside from his somewhat playful nature, there is nothing bad about him. If you really do marry Li Hongcheng, with me on your side, I won't even let him take a concubine into his room, let alone a brothel. Don't worry, sister. "
It would have been better if he hadn't comforted her. Now that he had analyzed the situation, Ruoruo felt more and more certain that it was true, as if it was about to happen. She said sorrowfully, "Brother, but I don't want to marry any of these three."
Fan Xian sighed. He didn't want to continue discussing the troubles of growing up. In a gentle voice, he teased, "What's so bad about that? When I see you in the future, I'll have to call you a concubine or something. If the Second Prince really does become Emperor, and you're the mother of the world … wouldn't that make you my mother?"
This joke was not very funny, so Ruoruo didn't laugh through her tears. There was an awkward silence in the study. In the silence, the brother and sister both had their own worries. Ruoruo was confused, while Fan Xian was determined. If something really did happen in the future, he had to prepare for it.
— — — —
The location for the negotiations was not very spacious. It was set up in the largest room in Honglu Temple. There was no extremely long table between the Northern Qi envoy and the Qing official. Instead, it was as if they were having a casual chat. They sat in their respective chairs, with tea on the table, and chatted as if they were having a casual conversation. Fan Xian insisted on sitting in the most inconspicuous chair at the bottom. He looked at the scene with cold eyes, and thought of a phrase from his previous life: tea party.
Although he was nominally the deputy envoy, because the process had not yet entered the final stage, and he insisted on sitting below, the official from Honglu Temple couldn't do anything.
Under the gentle exchange of words, there was a hidden glint of swords. Before long, the voices of the officials of the two countries, who had already seen the outcome of the battle, gradually grew louder. Some of the more impatient officials' buttocks were about to leave the surface of their chairs.
"Hmph! I don't know whether Northern Qi won this battle on the northern border, or our court won? " A sixth-level official registrar of the Honglu Temple could no longer tolerate the other party's unreasonable words. He stood up and sternly rebuked them.
"Battles are dangerous. His Majesty of Northern Qi is worried about his subjects and people, and so he benevolently and righteously stopped the battle. Victory and defeat have not been decided, so how can we know who the winner is?" If the envoy of Northern Qi was not thick-skinned, he would not have been sent to be the vanguard. Seeing the mustached man speak as if it were a matter of course, even the usually calm Fan Xian wanted to rush forward and beat him up.
Xin Qiwu of the Honglu Temple smiled slightly, but Fan Xian could see a trace of treachery in his smile. This treachery was the confidence that the Qing Kingdom had accumulated through 20 years of victories. He heard the high-ranking official of the Qing Kingdom say quietly, "In that case, please return. Between our two countries, we will fight again. After a true victory has been decided, it will not be too late to negotiate."
What was this? This was an undisguised threat. This was undisguised state terrorism. This was undisguised hooliganism.
Fan Xian did not show any shock on his face, but in his heart, he was incomparably impressed. "This Xin Qiwu is quite daring."
As expected, as soon as he said this, the Northern Qi side began to attack the Qing officials for speaking carelessly, causing irreparable damage to the friendship between the two countries. Unexpectedly, Xin Qiwu continued to coldly reply, "Between our two countries, when has there ever been such a thing as friendship?"
"This is probably how Wei Xiaobao negotiates." Fan Xian clicked his tongue in his heart. A high-ranking official of the Honglu Temple was acting like a scoundrel in the relationship between the two countries. If it were not for the fact that the Kingdom of Qing was truly powerful, this situation would never have occurred.
The negotiations of the Honglu Temple had always been well-coordinated. The red-faced and black-faced officials took turns to take the stage, and as expected, another official stood up with a face full of benevolence. "Everyone, do not forget your duties. Do not let your emotions affect His Majesty's original intention of restoring the friendship between our two countries."
The two sides brushed their sleeves and left, and the tea party ended. The high-ranking officials had already revealed their identities, and the actual fighting at the negotiating table was left to the lower-ranking officials, who worked hard to do it.
But the negotiations had reached an impasse, and for the time being, they could not move forward. As for the Northern Qi envoy, Zhuang Mohan, after entering the palace to speak with the Empress Dowager, he rarely came out to see people. Fan Xian was a little puzzled. Was that old man here on vacation?
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
