"It wasn't easy for an envoy to visit me," Chang Ninghou said in a trembling voice. "Son, don't be fooled by the fact that I am the Empress Dowager's brother, but that is Fan Xian, the immortal poet Fan Xian. I am proud of him!"
Wei Hua's heart gradually grew sour. He knew that although his family lived a life of luxury and had considerable power, in the Northern Qi court, which placed great importance on reputation, they had always had a bad reputation. He had endured to the position of vice-minister of the Office of the Grand Herald and had finally silenced some of the petty people, but there were still people who believed that this was a gift from the palace to the empress dowager's relatives.
He sighed. He knew that his father had studied under Zhuang Mohan, and was prepared to help the world. But because of his aunt, he could only be an idle marquis. These many years of depression could be washed away with a cup of wine, so he didn't say anything more. But thinking of what Fan Xian had said before he left, he was still a little afraid. "Fan Xian said he wanted to do business with you? He is the Commissioner of the Overwatch Council. What business can he do? And what business does he have that requires your presence? "
Chang Ninghou replied, "I am just a middleman. The person he really needs is Sir Shen."
"Uncle Shen?"
"Correct. Fan Xian's father is the Minister of Revenue, and he has the status of a fake princess' consort. In the future, he will be in charge of the Eldest Princess' palace treasury business. It seems that he intends to do something. If I don't have your Uncle Shen's protection and escort, I won't be able to do this shady business for long. "
Wei Hua was just as shocked as his father when he first heard this news. His jaw dropped. "Is he... planning to smuggle?"
"This is a trap!" This was Wei Hua's first reaction.
"He has no need to threaten me." Chang Ninghou shook his head in disagreement.
Wei Hua grew anxious. "You don't know, but there is an agreement between the two countries. Fan Xian is anxious about this matter, and His Majesty wants us to stall for as many days as we can, until the Qing diplomatic mission is anxious. With this, regardless of whether this business is real or not, if you really arrange for him to meet with Sir Shen, we won't be able to escape. If Fan Xian comes looking for me again, how am I supposed to stall? "
"Do we have to stall because His Majesty says so?" Chang Ninghou looked at his son. "In any case, that person is going to be released. If we can get something out of it, then we should help Fan Xian. What are you afraid of? Your aunt is still in the palace. "
Wei Hua sighed and didn't know what to say. A moment later, he asked in a small voice, "Do you think what Fan Xian said is true? I really don't understand why he would take such a big risk to smuggle goods into Daqi. "
"People die for wealth, and birds die for food." Chang Ninghou was still tipsy, and thought he had seen through the hearts of the world. He laughed mockingly. "The palace treasury? What a big steamed bun! Unfortunately, it did not belong to the Fan family! Even if his father was the Minister of Revenue in the Qing Kingdom, how much benefit could he get from the national treasury? If Fan Xian really does smuggle the palace treasury goods to the North to sell, do you know how big of a sum it will be? "
Wei Hua was clever and quick-witted. With a slight frown, he had a rough estimate. Over the past decade, the Kingdom of Qing had been supported by the businesses left behind by the Ye family. At the same time, it had earned a lot of money from other parts of the world. If Fan Xian really did have the ability to do such a thing, then the profits that could be made from it … would be terrifying!
"Fan Xian … embezzled this kind of money?" Wei Hua seemed to have a hard time connecting the legendary Fan Xian with this kind of corrupt person he had just heard.
Chang Ninghou tilted his face and poured himself another cup of strong wine. He belched. "What do you think? You know, poets also have to eat. "
Having said this, this once great scholar of Northern Qi, now a vermin of Northern Qi, lay down on the table and fell into a deep sleep. His body was covered in wine, and there was an unpleasant smell.
— — —
In the carriage, Wang Qinian looked at Ling Jing, who was pretending to be asleep, and gave Fan Xian a look of disapproval. It seemed that the commissioner should not be so bold as to talk about smuggling in front of a court official.
Fan Xian laughed. "You don't really believe it, do you?"
Wang Qinian really did believe it, and so did Gao Da. If anyone could completely control the palace treasury, they could sell those glass jars for countless times the profit. How could they not be tempted? Fan Xian was not tempted, because to the Eldest Princess, the palace treasury belonged to the court. And to Fan Xian, the palace treasury … belonged to the Ye family. It was his. At least one day, it would completely become his.
Stealing his own goods and selling them to the North for a low price? Only an idiot would do such a thing. But the problem was that no one knew Fan Xian's true thoughts. No one knew the historical connection between Fan Xian and the so-called royal merchant of the palace treasury. So everyone who heard Fan Xian's plan thought that the son of the Fan family really wanted to dig out a gold mine that belonged to him alone from the golden mountain that was the palace treasury.
Fan Xian did not want to dig at all. He just wanted to enclose the entire mountain.
"Don't pretend to be asleep." Fan Xian yawned, feeling a little tired. Next to him, Ling Jing opened his eyes awkwardly and looked at Fan Xian with some fear. Although he was the deputy, the young official in front of him was not only the head envoy, but also the commissioner of that terrifying yamen of the Overwatch Council. Fan Xian did not shy away from talking about illegal business in front of him. It was hard to say that he would not cause an accident on his way back home.
Fan Xian looked at him, amused. He patted him on the shoulder. "Are you stupid? I'm saying it in front of you because I'm not afraid of you knowing. When you go back tonight, write something down and send it back to the capital. Don't worry, the court will understand what I mean. "
Even if the court didn't understand, as long as the Emperor did.
Ling Jing forced himself to believe that the young man in front of him would not become the most corrupt official in the history of the Kingdom of Qing. He swallowed to moisten his dry throat. "Sir, why did you come to Chang Ninghou's manor today?"
"First, to build a good relationship with the Empress Dowager of Northern Qi. Hmm, it seems that the Emperor of Northern Qi is taking care of the diplomatic mission." Fan Xian lowered his head and closed his eyes, feeling sleepy. "At the same time, let Chang Ninghou deal with the matter at the entrance of the diplomatic mission. After all, he beat up the precious brat of the Marquis of Northern Qi. It has to be dealt with …"
Hearing the words "precious brat", Wang Qinian and Gao Da smiled at the same time. They felt that Fan Xian was right.
"… so that it doesn't affect the official business of this diplomatic mission. Third, if I want to see Sir Shen, I can only do it through Chang Ninghou. Fourth, I want to scare Wei Hua. Whether or not the manor believes the food I threw out, I'm sure he'll secretly speed up the process. "
"Why do you have to go through all this trouble … to see Commander Shen?" Ling Jing frowned. "He's a high-ranking official, different from Chang Ninghou. Northern Qi won't allow it."
"So it depends on what Chang Ninghou thinks. Even if he doesn't see him, there's no harm." Fan Xian opened his eyes and yawned again. "As for why I want to see him? That's Council business. It's not convenient to tell you, Sir Lin. "
Ling Jing shivered. Remembering Fan Xian's true identity, he fell silent.
Fan Xian yawned again. He had been yawning all the way in the carriage. It seemed that he was exhausted. After entering the palace today, he hadn't had any time to rest.
"What do we do later?" Wang Qinian whispered. "We're in enemy Shangjing, after all. We're in the dark. Should we contact the eyes and ears of the Fourth Bureau in Shangjing?"
"I said no." Fan Xian stuffed his fist into his mouth, forcibly stifling the yawn that was about to escape his lips. He replied tiredly, "Don't let those spies take risks. It's not time yet. What do we do later? Just sleep. Tomorrow, we'll wait for Wei Hua to take us to see Yan Bingyun. "
He squeezed the stiff envelope in his clothes, and a trace of worry appeared between his brows.
— — —
After reading the letter, Fan Xian's palm tightened, and he ruthlessly crushed the paper into pieces. This was a habit he had developed in the Cang Mountains. The pieces had already become powder. Even if the intelligence experts of the Second Bureau of the Overwatch Council collected them, they would not be able to recover them.
The letter was written by a man named Huang Yi. Fan Xian had heard of this name before. He was an advisor of the Eldest Princess in the Li Palace in Xinyang. In the Overwatch Council's most confidential intelligence report, it was made clear that this scholar had an ambiguous relationship with the Eldest Princess.
"Save, save, save! I'm not some youth trying to put out a fire. " Fan Xian laughed bitterly. Only now did he realize the complicated relationship behind the matter. Chen Pingping clearly didn't know that Xiao En had the secret of the temple, and neither did the Eldest Princess. So the starting point of their actions was very simple and clear.
Chen Pingping wanted Yan Bingyun to return and Xiao En to die because he didn't like the idea of another old enemy in the north. He also believed that this was an excellent opportunity for Fan Xian's growth.
The Eldest Princess didn't care about Yan Bingyun's life or death, but she wanted Xiao En to live and regain control of the Brocade Guard. She liked to see Shang Shanhu and Xiao En, a pair of powerful men, standing between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor of Northern Qi. Looking for an opening, they would make the northern kingdom even more uncomfortable.
Although he didn't know the Eldest Princess's overall plan, Fan Xian was certain that his mother-in-law, who was far away in Xinyang, had reached some sort of secret agreement with Shang Shanhu. Otherwise, she wouldn't have invested so much.
The Eldest Princess didn't know about the letter, and hadn't discovered the matter of the night in Guangxin Palace. But Fan Xian was a black-clothed man hiding in the dark. He naturally wanted to keep a respectful distance from the Eldest Princess, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Now, far away in a foreign country, he received her letter. He couldn't help but feel that it was absurd.
After all … what did this have to do with Fan Xian?
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