The full name of the Eighth Bureau of the Overwatch Council was the Head Office of the Literary Academy of the Imperial Court. It was similar to the Press Censorship Bureau of the Republic of China. It was responsible for reviewing all official texts. Only articles that passed the Eighth Bureau's review were allowed to be published. A few years ago, the Head Office of the Literary Academy was mostly taken over by the Ministry of Education, but it still had the right to review books privately printed by the people.
Therefore, articles that involved depictions of human body art, violent aesthetics, or suggestions for reform without the Emperor's permission could not pass the Eighth Bureau's review. But no matter the world, people always had a jaw-dropping passion for pornography and politics. So naturally, there were some underground booksellers.
Generally, no bookseller dared to touch political books, but romantic novels such as "The Pleasure Spell" were printed in large quantities and sent to different cities through different channels to reach the hands of the citizens who needed them.
The woman carrying the child was undoubtedly the last link in this distribution channel.
Everyone in the capital was used to this kind of scene, and no one made a fuss. Even the government turned a blind eye to it, let alone the people who benefited greatly from it.
"What did you say, Master?" The woman selling banned books obviously did not know about the wonderful existence of AV. Her eyes were wide open in a daze.
Fan Xian smiled and asked, "What books do you have?"
The middle-aged woman transferred the child to her other hand and took out a large book about eight inches long. The pages were all red, and it looked really good. Fan Xian was a little impressed. Holding a child and putting such a large book in her clothes did not break the corner.
"The most popular novel in the capital recently," the middle-aged woman said mysteriously.
Fan Xian took the book. Of course, he would not take the woman's pretense of mystery seriously. He smiled and turned the page... and his expression suddenly became very interesting.
There was no name on the cover of the book, but on the title page, there were four big words: "I can't think of it."
Flipping another page, he saw the following words: "Who knew that this wife was born with a strange hobby. Once a man gets close to her, he feels his muscles and bones soften, making him feel like he's lying on cotton."
Fan Xian's mouth opened wide, and he was speechless for a long time. He could tell at a glance what book it was. This was, of course, the Dream of the Red Chamber that he had copied for his sister. The passage on the title page was from the twenty-first chapter. It was about Qiao Ping 'er's soft words to save Jia Lian. It was about the story of Miss Duo.
The middle-aged woman thought that this beautiful young man was moved. She laughed softly and said, "This is only one part of the story. The best part is yet to come."
It was said that in his previous life, Fan Xian was always bedridden, and his body was inconvenient. Naturally, it was not convenient for him to trouble his nurse to flip through the book for him, so he could only read the chapter of "Dream of the Red Chamber" over and over again, reading it countless times. It was all because of Miss Duo's "scholarly beauty" that his brain was tired countless times.
Today, in the middle of the bustling streets of the capital, Fan Xian suddenly saw this familiar passage. How could he not be shocked? He was deeply moved. But he did not understand. Only he and his sister knew about Dream of the Red Chamber. How could it have been printed into a book and sold on the streets?
Fan Xian did not even bargain. He took out some silver and paid the bill. He did not feel the slightest pain. The silver had been earned from selling newspapers in Danzhou, and he had spent it extravagantly.
After the middle-aged woman walked away with a face full of smiles, Fan Ruoruo led Fan Sizhe to the front of the restaurant. Fan Sizhe didn't have any dough figurines in his hands, but he did have a candy figurine that he was licking.
"What were you doing just now?" Fan Ruoruo asked her brother with a smile.
Without waiting for Fan Xian to answer, Fan Sizhe sneered. "I saw it. He bought a book from that woman. He didn't even know how to avoid it. Instead, he bought such unsightly things on the street."
Fan Ruoruo was startled. She didn't know what was going on. At that moment, Fan Xian wanted to find a place to ask his sister, so he didn't bother talking to the boy. Just then, Teng Zijing came out to report that the private room had been vacated. Fan Xian took Ruoruo's cold hand and walked upstairs.
Fan Sizhe was startled. He licked the candy figurine and quickly followed.
There were many people in the restaurant, but the third floor was very quiet. The private rooms were all booked. It seemed that Teng Zijing's ability to get a private room was not bad. Fan Xian felt that asking his father for him to come was indeed the right decision.
Sitting at the table, Fan Xian glanced at Fan Sizhe, whose eyes were rolling. He smiled and didn't avoid him. He handed the red-page book to his sister.
Fan Ruoruo frowned slightly and took it. As soon as she opened the title page, her eyes filled with shock. After flipping through it a few more times, she was even more shocked. She quickly turned her head and explained nervously, "Brother, this is the first time I've seen it too."
Fan Xian smiled and comforted her. "I'm not blaming you." He had guessed long ago that his sister would have bound her copy of "Dream of the Red Chamber" into a book, and that she wouldn't be able to resist sharing it with her close friends. But he thought that Ruoruo's friends were probably the daughters of the royal family. Even if there was some circulation, there was no reason for it to spread to the outside world.
It wasn't until today, when he saw this book on the street, that he realized that he had gone to another world, and that he had underestimated the power of the pirates.
— — —
Fan Ruoruo thought for a bit and remembered something. Last year, she had bound the first sixty-eight chapters of "Dream of the Red Chamber" together and placed it under a hardwood in her room. One day, Imperial Prince Jing's daughter, Royal Princess Rou Jia, came to the estate to chat and happened to see this book. After she picked it up, she refused to let it go and said that she wanted to take it back to the estate.
But in Fan Ruoruo's heart, this was her brother's work. How could she dare to leave it outside the estate? What if she lost it? So no matter how much Royal Princess Rou Jia begged and even got angry, she didn't agree. In the end, it was Princess Consort Jing who thought of a way to have a female official come over and copy it for a few days.
Now that things had come to this, Fan Ruoruo couldn't stop her, so she let her be. Who knew that this book would spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, and eventually became a secret that everyone knew. It was secretly circulated among the manors of the princes and dukes.
Then, it spread to the market.
"No one knows that I wrote it, right?" Fan Xian took the book and flipped through it. When he found that the author's name was Cao Xueqin, he felt slightly comforted.
Fan Ruoruo blamed herself, "Brother, fame and fortune are like floating clouds. I accidentally spread this book, which is already a big mistake. How could I dare to reveal that this book was written by you?"
Fame and fortune are like floating clouds? Fan Xian smiled awkwardly and rubbed his little sister's head. However, he discovered that he had accidentally messed up the little girl's hair. He hurriedly apologized and explained, "Since I wrote it, naturally, I was prepared to let the world see it." When he thought of the money he had spent earlier, he felt a bit of heartache and sighed, "I just didn't expect that the pirated merchant would get the first drop of the soup. It's such a waste of money."
The siblings talked for a while more, and the waiter began to serve the dishes, so they didn't mention it.
At this time, the two of them noticed that Fan Sizhe had suddenly broken free from the silence. He looked at Fan Xian with a bit of shock in his eyes. His speech was a bit unclear as he enviously said, "That book was... written by you?"
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