The Crown Prince tilted his head and dodged his mother's slap. He turned his hand to grab her cold wrist and looked at his mother quietly.
The empress had not expected the usually timid Crown Prince to have such a sharp gaze. Her body trembled, and she pulled her hand away from her son's. "Do you really think I did something wrong?" she asked slowly.
The Crown Prince frowned and said softly, "I dare not."
The empress suddenly raised her voice. "Did you not know that Fan Xian and the second prince met on the pleasure boat?"
The Crown Prince suddenly raised his head and looked straight into the empress's eyes. "Mother, can you let me handle these things myself? Fan Xian is a great poet, and it is normal for him to meet with the second brother. "
The empress was anxious and angry, but she did not know how to speak to her timid and fierce son.
The Crown Prince looked at her and said quietly, "Mother, I have often thought that you should not be so sensitive. You will only drive away the officials who can help me to my other brothers."
The empress gritted her teeth. "I am the mother of the country. If I punish a minor official, would he dare to hold a grudge?"
The Crown Prince mockingly said, "Mother, you should not have allowed Minister Han to act that day. You could not have actually killed Fan Xian, so why offend the Fan family and the Prime Minister? I think that after a few more days, Minister Han will not be able to hold his own in the court. There are not many officials in the court who are willing to be close to the Eastern Palace, and yet you insisted on cutting off a finger. I really do not know what you were thinking. "
The empress frowned. "Han Zhiwei is the current Minister of the court, and he was investigating the case according to the law. What could the Prime Minister and Fan Jian do? With the Eastern Palace protecting him, I think His Majesty will have to give you some face. "
"Do not forget, Fan Xian is the Commissioner of the Overwatch Council, and father has always admired him." The Crown Prince sighed and shook his head. "Han Zhiwei has offended too many powerful people this time. You must know that it was father who wanted to clean up the exam grounds. I cannot protect him."
The empress laughed coldly. "Do not forget that Fan Xian has also offended many officials in the capital. Furthermore, the Imperial Censorate is involved. Although your aunt is far away in Xinyang, with her influence in the court, I am sure she will not stand idly by."
"Don't mention my aunt." The Crown Prince seemed to loathe the Eldest Princess. "She's been too strange these past two years. She's actually colluding with Northern Qi. She's too daring. Where does she put the face of the Qing Kingdom? As for that Imperial Censor Guo of the Imperial Censorate, he was just a pretty boy she used to play with. Even if he was assassinated by the Overwatch Council, she wouldn't bat an eye. "
After all, the Crown Prince was the heir to the throne of a country. Although the Eldest Princess had always been close to the Eastern Palace, after Fan Xian's words fell like snowflakes across Jingdou, the Crown Prince was also a bit afraid of the Eldest Princess. Of course, there were other reasons.
The Empress said painfully, "We have no other help except the Eldest Princess."
"I will rely on Imperial Father." The Crown Prince replied calmly. At this moment, the Crown Prince, who had always seemed rather cowardly, finally displayed the innate political sense and judgment of a member of the royal family.
The empress slowly closed her eyes and said, "In short, I don't like Fan Xian. Think of a way to kill him."
Crown Prince slammed the table angrily and said, "Die? Have you forgotten that Fan Xian is Chen 'er's husband? You mustn't listen to my aunt all the time. That woman is mad, mad, do you know that? Do you also want to become mad and be chased out of the Royal Palace? "
The Empress was so angry that her entire body trembled. Pointing at the Crown Prince's nose, she said in a trembling voice, "What do you know? What do you know? What do you know? You … What do you know? " Perhaps the Crown Prince's words had touched the empress's old wounds. In her anger, she said "What do you know?" four times in a row.
…
…
The eunuchs and serving girls had long hidden far away. In the Eastern Palace, there were only the mother and son. After a very long silence, the empress stood. However, her body seemed a bit weak and swayed. The Crown Prince quickly rose to support her and helplessly asked for forgiveness.
The empress looked at her son with incomparable misery. There were already wrinkles at the sides of her beautiful almond-shaped eyes. Faintly, she said, "Throughout the dynasties and dynasties, the Crown Prince has always been the most difficult position to sit in. You have to guard your front and back. There is no one at home. You probably don't have many memories of the turmoil 12 years ago, but I remember clearly that if you don't fight for it, then what belongs to you will be taken away by others."
The Crown Prince did his best to soften his voice and said quietly, "I understand. Mother, go back to the Palace to rest."
The empress shook her head. "You don't understand, you don't understand … these days, I've always had a bad feeling. This feeling is very strong … just like many years ago, when that woman entered Jingdou."
"Which woman?" the Crown Prince asked curiously.
At that moment, the heavy wooden door of the Eastern Palace was suddenly pushed open.
"Who is it?" The Crown Prince furrowed his brows and angrily rebuked.
An old eunuch walked in with a bent body and said respectfully, "I, Hong Siyang, have come on the empress dowager's orders to invite the empress to Hanguang Palace for a chat."
A glimmer of fear flashed across the empress's face. Shortly after, she piled a smile on her face. With a dignified bearing and the serving girls' support, she followed the bent Eunuch Hong toward the true mistress of the Royal Palace.
The Crown Prince furrowed his brows slightly. Although he disliked the old dog's rudeness, he knew he was the eunuch closest to his grandmother. Even his mother didn't want to offend him. Naturally, he wouldn't do anything more.
The candlelight in the Palace gradually dimmed. Crown Prince Li Chengqian thought of the absurd farce that day in the Ministry of Justice and felt even more depressed. He truly didn't understand why his mother listened to the Eldest Princess's words. Thinking of that young and charming aunt, the Crown Prince's heart warmed. His face was ashamed and slightly terrified. However, his eyes gradually revealed lust.
He flicked his sleeves and walked toward the back of the hall. A moment later, there was a burst of almost inaudible moaning. A palace maid was tossing and turning under his body, begging for pleasure. The Crown Prince had completely lifted the woman's palace gown to her neck and face, covering her face, only revealing her white and full chest. As he forcefully penetrated, he panted heavily. He thought to himself, why are all the gentle and charming women in the world unwilling to lie obediently in bed and insist on showing off their stupid methods?
— — —
Spring had come, the flowers were in bloom, and the birds were chirping. Yang Wanli and the other three newly promoted officials went to Fan Manor again, wanting to bathe in the spring breeze of Sir Fan junior. Unexpectedly, Sir Fan junior was still not in the manor. What gave Hou Jichang even more of a headache was that he had received news that Sir Fan junior was currently on a mission and would be leaving for Northern Qi the next day.
The second-ranked Jinshi did not enter the Hanlin Academy. According to the rules of previous years, they would be sent to any local official. Seeing that the Ministry of Appointments was about to send them off, other than Shi Chanli, the other three naturally wanted to hear Fan Xian's opinion. After all, in this spring examination, the three of them had relied on Fan Xian's strength to get to this step. They naturally thought that Fan Xian would need them to do something locally.
Unexpectedly, Fan Xian did not meet with them. He only left them two letters. One was for the three new officials who were about to leave the capital, and the other was for Shi Chanli, who was preparing to return to his hometown for the examination.
The four of them sat in Fan Manor's study and took a sip of the good tea the servants had brought. Without caring to avoid arousing suspicion, they opened the two letters their teacher had left them.
One of the letters was for Hou Jichang and the other two scholars. It was a blank piece of paper with only two simple sentences written on it.
"Be a good person, be a good official."
The last sentence was for Hou Jichang. In the letter, Fan Xian wrote, "Jichang, do not be too henpecked."
This was a cold joke that only Fan Xian understood. The three scholars naturally did not understand what it meant. They only focused on the first two sentences. "Be a good person, be a good official." The more they thought about it, the more they felt that these simple words contained a very real truth. To learn to be an official, one had to first learn to be a good person.
But there was another layer of meaning to these words, and they didn't know which one of them understood it — to be a good person, was not to be a good person. To be a good official, was not necessarily to be a good official.
...
...
After reading this letter, Yang Wanli was naturally very interested in the letter in Shi Chanli's hands. He didn't know what was written in the letter that Sir Fan junior left for Shi Chanli. After all, among the four of them, only Shi Chanli seemed to have a dim future.
Shi Chanli uneasily opened the letter under the gazes of his three friends. After a closer look, he saw that it was a few broken sentences, and he almost laughed out loud.
"Old Governor Fang is not cooperative. Thirty percent man, seventy percent heaven. Do not worry that you have no friends under your umbrella. Play well and be idle."
The last three words were "idle", which meant that they were waiting for Fan Xian's return.
— — —
Fan Xian was sitting in the courtyard he had originally bought, frowning slightly. His fingers stroked the hollow belt and felt the pill that Fei Jie had given him when he was young. At the time, his teacher had said that if anything happened to the Tyrannical zhenqi in his body, he would have to rely on this pill to save his life. But after entering the capital, the Tyrannical zhenqi in his body had always been very obedient, and he had somewhat forgotten about this matter. Today, when he was tidying up his equipment, he remembered. But after so many years, he didn't know if Fei Jie's pill had lost its effect.
Wang Qinian sat across from him and respectfully replied, "I have found the person." He hesitantly raised his head and said, "Of course, there is a bit of a resemblance. Sir Commissioner is skilled in the art of disguise. With a bit of embellishment, presumably, a normal person looking from a distance would not be able to see any flaws. But there is still something wrong. "
"What's wrong?" Fan Xian was slightly startled. "Didn't you say it was quite similar? It's been a month, and the skin color is similar. "
Wang Qinian quietly replied, "To find someone as handsome and handsome as you among these dirty men is already a difficult task. Even if the appearance is similar, to impersonate the Commissioner's naturally romantic temperament and scholarly elegance is a very difficult task."
Fan Xian was startled and immediately understood. He jokingly scolded, "You're a supporting character. Nowadays, your flattery is becoming more and more unrestrained and wonderful."
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