"Isn't the spring night too short?"
"Too long is also a pain."
...
...
"The toothbrush you made... I want one."
Fan Xian was stunned. He hadn't expected her to make such a request. He smiled bitterly. "As far as I know, you can buy them on Xiushui Street."
Haitang smiled. "Not as good as you."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"I didn't think a noble child like you would be willing to spend so much time on such things." Haitang looked at Fan Xian as if to reevaluate him.
Fan Xian slowly closed his eyes and said, "It is clear that you do not know enough about me."
Haitang was silent for a moment. "But I only know that after the Empress Dowager's birthday, you will return home. What about your promise to me?"
Fan Xian didn't even bother to lift his eyes. "When I'm done sleeping, I'll come and talk to you."
Haitang frowned. "That would be good."
Fan Xian suddenly opened his eyes. "I'm not in a good mood today, so I don't want to talk."
"Goodbye." It was the first time Haitang had seen Fan Xian so cold, but she didn't react. She simply left the room.
Fan Xian lay on the large bed. He was clearly very tired, but he still could not fall asleep. His expression appeared calm, but his mind was a mess. Without enough time, he could not digest what he had heard and felt last night. He opened his bright eyes and looked at the embroidered canopy on top of the bed. His gaze seemed to pierce through the ceiling, straight through the clouds, and cast into the farthest sky.
— — —
Now that they had confirmed that Fan Xian was in the diplomatic mission, Northern Qi naturally wondered who had tried to rescue Xiao En from the precipice of Mount Yan. This question was naturally raised.
Lang Tiao, Friar He, and Shen Zhong sat on three chairs, their brows furrowed. Of the three, Shen Zhong had the highest rank, but Lang Tiao was Ku He's first disciple and the young Emperor's martial arts teacher, so he had the highest rank. Friar He, on the other hand, was silent.
Yesterday, after the two of them had worked together to force Fan Xian and Xiao En off the cliff, the Brocade Guard had begun a secret search outside Shangjing. Unexpectedly, a day and a night had passed without any results. In the morning, when they finally couldn't resist asking for help from the palace to force their way into the diplomatic mission, they found Fan Xian sitting on the bed!
"Is it not Fan Xian?" Friar He's pale face turned even paler. The poison on his thigh had been purged, but it had also cost him a lot of energy.
Lang Tiao closed his eyes and said, "That person must be Fan Xian. He is good at using poison and needles. Other than him, who else could it be?"
Friar He frowned. "But that person looks different from Fan Xian."
Lang Tiao opened his eyes and said, "People can be disguised."
Lang Tiao's status was special, so when he spoke, no one doubted him. But in reality, Fan Xian was perfectly fine in the diplomatic mission. If he had been the one who had fallen off the cliff, how could he have remained in one piece? Unless he was an immortal.
Shen Zhong couldn't help but doubt Lang Tiao's judgment. But on the surface, he maintained the benevolent countenance of a wealthy old man. "The most likely culprit is Fan Xian, because Shang Shanhu is colluding with a southerner. Only a southerner would know so much about this matter. It can't be one of the aces of Dongyi."
Seeing Friar He shake his head in disagreement, Shen Zhong chuckled. "Of course, it could be someone else."
"Other than Fan Xian, who else could it be?" Lang Tiao said in a low voice. He didn't like dealing with the heads of secret agents. If it weren't for the fact that Xiao En was involved, he wouldn't have left the palace to help the Brocade Guard.
Shen Zhong glanced at Lang Tiao. With a face full of smiles, he said, "Sir Lang Tiao, the Qing Kingdom also has many aces. As for the problem of methods … I think you have heard that there has always been an assassin by Chen Pingping's side called the Shadow. However, no one has seen him, and no one knows his methods and style of doing things. Since Fan Xian is the Commissioner of the Overwatch Council, then he must have some connection to the Shadow's methods … If that's the case, then the one who attacked the cliff was not Fan Xian, but the Shadow. "
The Shadow was Chen Pingping's bodyguard. Although no one had ever seen him, as the head of the Northern Qi secret agents, Shen Zhong naturally knew of his existence.
"It doesn't matter who it was." Friar He sighed. "The most important thing right now is to confirm whether or not Xiao En is dead."
"Xiao En is dead."
Lang Tiao said calmly. When the black-clothed Fan Xian attacked to save Xiao En, Lang Tiao turned around and stabbed his curved knife into Xiao En's abdomen. He was very confident that the force of the knife's tip had cut off Xiao En's life in that instant.
Shen Zhong smiled. "That's good. The Imperial Advisor and the Empress Dowager will be very satisfied. I thank you both."
…
…
Once again, the sun was about to sink below the western city wall of Shangjing. Just like every day for thousands of years, the slightly hot wind swirled around the slightly withered leaves and crashed into the various houses in Shangjing. It swirled past people's bodies and swept past the silent tree trunks.
After nightfall, the wind gradually cooled.
Fan Xian wore an unlined robe and stood next to a tree in the rear courtyard of the diplomatic mission. His eyes narrowed as he watched the first star appear on the horizon. In this weather, he didn't need to wear an unlined robe, but his body was too tired, so he was a little afraid of the cold.
He carefully folded the letter in his hand. He didn't use the strength of his palms to shatter it like he usually did. Because this letter was not a secret letter from the Council. It was just an ordinary letter from home.
The letter was written by Wan 'er. Although news from home had been continuously spreading to the north, this was the first time Fan Xian had received a letter from his wife. Presumably, she had been waiting at home a little anxiously. His father-in-law, the Prime Minister, had already stepped down, and Dabao had already been brought to Fan Manor. Ruoruo was as calm as usual, as if she hadn't been disturbed by the rumors of marriage. His father was busy with court affairs. These were all the contents of the letter.
At the end of the letter, there was nothing about longing, nor was there any urging of a certain person's journey. There were only a few lines: "The summer night wind has stopped, and I am troubled in my dreams. I know that you will not return, and my black hair grows longer. How long has it been since we parted? Thinking of you is like three days. Why have you come? To bury your head in your books. "
Thinking of you is like three days. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Fan Xian smiled. He could feel the faint longing in the letter, and the woman's rare relaxed mood. He felt a little comforted. These days, he had been busy with many conspiracies, and inevitably his longing for the woman at home had faded. Occasionally, when he thought of her, he felt a little guilty.
He and Haitang had arranged to meet the day after tomorrow, and for some reason, he was now looking forward to this meeting.
This was definitely not a problem between a man and a woman; it was just a very pure kind of hope. Fan Xian wanted to find someone to talk to. More accurately, after his conversation with Xiao En, he needed to talk … but there was no one to talk to.
This strange and wonderful feeling lingered in his heart.
On that rainy night in the capital of the Kingdom of Qing, after the chest had been opened, Fan Xian had thought that he would no longer be lonely in this world. After all, the smell and traces of that woman were everywhere in this world. But now he truly felt that he was still lonely, because that woman had already disappeared without a trace.
"Xiao En was right. I really am a heartless person," Fan Xian thought to himself. Fan Xian thought to himself that he was a man without friends. He shook his head and walked into the side room.
...
...
There were only three people in the room: Fan Xian, Yan Bingyun, and Wang Qinian. This was the last internal meeting of the Overwatch Council in Shangjing. Yan Bingyun looked at Fan Xian calmly. "Master Fan, have you gotten anything out of him?"
This was a situation that Fan Xian had already anticipated. He had used all the power of the Overwatch Council and Xinyang to obtain such a clever "death trap". As an official of the Kingdom of Qing, everyone was naturally eager to know what secret Xiao En was talking about.
He frowned. "I acted too late. Xiao En is dead."
A strange look flashed through Yan Bingyun's eyes, but he immediately returned to normal. He shook his head and sighed. "I've planned for so long, but nothing has come of it. What a pity."
Fan Xian smiled mockingly. "The old cripple has been working for 20 years and still hasn't gotten anything out of him. Do you think I'm an immortal?"
In his conversations with Yan Bingyun, he would purposely refer to Chen Pingping as an old cripple. This was a very impulsive, even clumsy threat. But when dealing with someone as intelligent as Yan Bingyun, this kind of impulsive method was often more effective.
He turned his head to Wang Qinian. "Prepare for the return journey."
"Yes, sir," replied Wang Qinian in a low voice. He paused for a moment, then frowned. "Master, what do we do with the impostor who was left in the room yesterday?"
Fan Xian knew that he meant to silence him, and he felt a little uncomfortable. "Bring him back, of course."
Yan Bingyun shook his head in disapproval. "What if the Northern Qi people find out?"
"What if they find out?" Fan Xian stared at Yan Bingyun's face and said mockingly. "Of course, we'll do nothing. Even if they find out, what can they do? You've been locked up for a year, and your courage has shrunk. "
Yan Bingyun and Wang Qinian looked at each other. They realized that Fan Xian was in a bad mood today, and so they tacitly kept their mouths shut. Fan Xian looked at the two of them and suddenly sighed. "Do you think Haitang can't tell? She just can't do anything to me. "
Wang Qinian then asked for instructions on the return journey. Fan Xian was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Once the empress dowager's birthday banquet is over, we'll leave immediately. I... I'm a little homesick."
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