(Yesterday, when I read the comments section, especially one of the posts, I suddenly felt as if I had walked into a war or leisure mood. I was a little scared. I admit that a certain comrade was right. I really don't have any experience. Brother Fan also doesn't have any experience … Sigh.
PS: Still pulling for monthly votes. Don't find it troublesome. I'm preparing to pull for seven days. I had things to do during the day and didn't have time to write. In the end, I went online and saw that there were so many votes. It is truly exciting and scary.)
…
…
The general was not wearing armor. He also did not carry the longbow on his back. Even so, Fan Xian still lowered his head slightly and narrowed his eyes. Only then was he able to resist the thick arrow intent emanating from the other party's body.
Arrows were used to kill, but the arrow intent was not a killing intent. It was a kind of aura that seemed to tear apart a person's outer clothing and reveal the timid and pale skin underneath.
Even with Fan Xian's powerful mental control and strength, he was still suppressed by this aura. It meant that this general's cultivation was truly a level higher than his.
…
…
Northern Governor Yan Xiaoyi, an absolute warrior above the ninth-level. He was the person most likely to challenge a Great Grandmaster.
"Greetings, Governor."
Fan Xian piled on a smile and gently bowed toward Yan Xiaoyi.
Yan Xiaoyi stood in the long corridor. The deep gaze in his eyes was like spring water washing over Fan Xian's face. After hearing Fan Xian's words, he did not have any reaction. In a slightly raspy voice, he said, "I will be returning to the North in a few days. Every time I think of the lanterns hanging high in the sky and the martial conference in the Palace, I am truly disappointed that I won't be able to spar with the commissioner."
The so-called martial conference was just a boxing match held by the court. This was Fan Xian's understanding. Furthermore, he knew that in such a country where military service and martial power were prized, if Yan Xiaoyi truly went crazy and disregarded the Emperor's face and challenged him in the Palace …
Would Yan Xiaoyi go crazy? Fan Xian knew that the people on the Eldest Princess' side were all crazy, particularly after their only son, Yan Shendu, had been stabbed to death by the cute Thirteenth Wang he had ordered.
Could he beat Yan Xiaoyi? Fan Xian asked himself. It was impossible for him to spray poison in the hall, and he certainly could not use crossbows. In a direct confrontation of martial arts, he was still some distance away from a top ninth-level ace. Although it was impossible for Yan Xiaoyi to use his famous bow in the palace, he was not stupid enough to think that all of Yan Xiaoyi's extraordinary skills were on that bow.
Therefore, if the martial arts discussion became a reality, even if Old Hong could save his life in the end, he would definitely be seriously injured.
During the military intelligence conference, the Emperor had Yan Xiaoyi return to the North early. This was in accordance with Fan Xian's request. After all, he didn't even want to be wounded. But looking at the current situation, Yan Xiaoyi's disappointment and anger could not be concealed at all.
Fan Xian couldn't resist smiling. He smiled warmly at this powerful figure in the military and said, "Governor, I thought you misunderstood something."
Yan Xiaoyi was silent for a moment, then said, "I just want to experience Commissioner Fan's little tricks."
Fan Xian was also silent for a moment. He then raised his hands in a salute and said, "In these peaceful times, it is better to have less fighting and killing."
In the long corridor, only Fan Xian and Yan Xiaoyi stood facing each other. A sense of danger rose involuntarily. Fan Xian knew that in the Royal Palace, Yan Xiaoyi would not attack no matter what, so he was not very worried. He used his clear eyes to calmly watch the other party.
Cough, cough.
A few coughs rang out. It was not old Eunuch Hong. Rather, it was a slightly short figure with an aura like that of Dong Mountain. He suddenly appeared beside the two of them.
Ye Zhong.
Fan Xian smiled slightly, thinking that this person had come at just the right time. He did not want to have another clash of gazes with Yan Xiaoyi.
"Governor Yan, Commissioner Fan, this is a restricted area of the Palace. Don't make too much noise."
When Ye Zhong was in charge of the Jingdou garrison, Fan Xian had not yet been born. Yan Xiaoyi was still hunting in the mountains. With his seniority and status, the weight of his words was much greater.
Yan Xiaoyi paused slightly and turned his head to bow.
Fan Xian smiled and asked, "Uncle Ye, long time no see. How are you in Dingzhou?"
With Ye Zhong's interruption, Yan Xiaoyi stopped talking. Ye Zhong could also see the problem between Yan Xiaoyi and Fan Xian. He furrowed his brows and thought, The death of Yan Xiaoyi's only son had always been an unsolved case. Why was Yan Xiaoyi so certain that Fan Xian did it?
"I still have official business to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." Fan Xian took this opportunity to quickly escape.
Ye Zhong nodded.
Yan Xiaoyi slowly said, "Sir Fan junior, you must take care of yourself."
Fan Xian's heart trembled slightly. He knew what the other party meant by these words. A heroic feeling surged from the bottom of his heart. He raised his hands to the sky and laughed. "With the protection of the heavens, there is no need for Governor Yan to worry."
Yan Xiaoyi's smile suddenly became bone-piercingly cold. He stared into Fan Xian's eyes and said each word clearly, "The heavens cannot hide from my eyes. Fan Xian, you will die at my hands."
Everyone was in the Royal Palace, and Ye Zhong was still by his side. Yet, Yan Xiaoyi was arrogant enough to say such threatening words. Ye Zhong couldn't help but furrow his brows, but he didn't say anything.
Fan Xian looked at this scene and couldn't help but shake his head. Ye Zhong was the Second Prince's father-in-law and had long belonged to that side. However, Yan Xiaoyi did not care about anything in front of him and said he would kill the Emperor's illegitimate son in the Royal Palace. He was indeed arrogant and crazy to the extreme.
He gently brushed his sleeves and raised his face confidently. "Yan Xiaoyi, I'm willing to bet that you will die at my hands first, and it will be an incomparably stupid death."
After saying this, he raised his hands to Ye Zhong. Without another glance at Yan Xiaoyi, he slowly walked in the direction of the Palace gate.
Yan Xiaoyi narrowed his eyes and watched his gradually disappearing figure with extreme coldness.
Ye Zhong also watched Fan Xian's figure and wondered where exactly this young man got his confidence from. He had already made arrangements for a few years. Don't let some unexpected changes happen because of Fan Xian. As he thought this, he turned his head to look at Yan Xiaoyi and sighed. Patting his shoulder, he said, "My condolences. However, in the Palace, be careful that the walls have ears. After all, he is not a normal person. He is the Emperor's son."
Yan Xiaoyi's expression did not change. Coldly, he said, "I also have a son."
…
…
Walking to the Palace gate, Fan Xian's expression had long recovered its calm. Yan Xiaoyi and he had long been in a life and death situation. They just needed a suitable place and time to put it into practice. Last time, the situation he had arranged had been broken by Eunuch Hong. Next time, would he fall into Yan Xiaoyi's trap?
There was also Thirteenth Wang. After killing Yan Shendu, he had suddenly disappeared without a trace. No one knew where he had gone.
As Fan Xian calculated in his heart, he walked out of the Palace. Then, as expected, he saw the Great Prince beside him, the only military general in the royal family.
"What did you say to Yan Xiaoyi?" the Great Prince asked in a low voice beside him.
"His son died and he's randomly biting people," Fan Xian replied with a smile. "He said he wanted to kill me."
The Great Prince furrowed his brows and said with slight anger, "What an arrogant tone. Doesn't he see where he is?"
Fan Xian thought for a moment and then said seriously to the Great Prince, "Yan Xiaoyi's intention to rebel is set. I don't think the Emperor can't see it, but you have to be careful."
The Great Prince was slightly startled. He wondered where the word "rebel" came from.
Fan Xian climbed into the carriage and headed toward the manor. On the way, he was still thinking about this question. The Emperor would not be unable to see Yan Xiaoyi's surging desire to fight and kill. Why did he still release the tiger back into the mountains? Wasn't he still imprisoning him in Jingdou?
It was an interesting question.
He laughed at himself in his heart. Who knew how much later, when Yan Xiaoyi came to kill him, or when he killed Yan Xiaoyi, the world would certainly become very interesting. Presumably, the mahjong table the Emperor was playing would also be on the eve of a draw.
… …
On the fifteenth day of the first month, there was no snow or wind in Jingdou. After nightfall, colorful lanterns hung high throughout the city. People weaved through the dry streets. Men and women used the reflection of the beautiful lights to search for the faces that moved their hearts and avoid the harassment that annoyed them. The young ladies brought their serving girls around with blushing faces as they played. The polite young men maintained a distance that was neither too far nor too close and quietly watched them play.
That night, spring arrived early. Who knew how many shoes had fallen off on the street, and who knew how many tender skin had been touched by those hands. Tailing and investigating, eye movements, and probing continued happily in the night. The people controlled by hormones collectively sank into a matchmaking activity without a matchmaker.
For the Qing court, the joy of the people could not affect its sternness. Although large palace lanterns were hung in the corner of the Royal Palace and some riddles had been prepared inside the Palace for the empress dowager, empress, and other nobles to enjoy, even the square, black, and gray building of the Overwatch Council had red lanterns hung under Fan Xian's orders.
But, it was still sternness.
The movement of the military had begun long before the fifteenth. The Governor of the North had led his personal soldiers back North. He was going to Cangzhou and Yanjing to block the sharp gaze of Northern Qi's famous general. Ye Zhong had also returned to Dingzhou. The court once again increased the number of soldiers to the West. Taking elite soldiers from the remaining five Roads of Central Army, they replenished the Dingzhou area and formed an invincible army of 100,000 people.
When spring arrived, these 100,000 soldiers would push another 200 li to the West. It was called "pressure." If there was any strange movement between Xi Hu and the Northern Man who had marched thousands of li south, these invincible soldiers of the Qing Kingdom would find an opportunity to launch a surprise attack and tear large swaths of the Hu people's flesh and blood.
The military was an important matter. Although it was only a movement and the battle had yet to start, the Six Ministries had long become busy in order to deal with logistics. Fortunately, the Qing Kingdom thrived on the military. All matters had long been set in stone. The cooperation between the various ministries appeared orderly and efficient.
When facing outsiders, the Qing Kingdom was always this united. At this moment, no one remembered the strife between the princes and Fan Xian's terror.
Fan Xian had also been busy for a number of days. Because the Overwatch Council was responsible for providing intelligence to the military, it was also responsible for examining the equipment and weapons sent up by the various departments. All sorts of matters piled up at once.
Fortunately, he had Yan Bingyun's help. Only on the night of the fifteenth could Fan Xian enter the Palace and take a look at the legendary martial conference. The battles in the palace were indeed exciting. There were indeed a number of aces in the Qing Kingdom. However, without Yan Xiaoyi and Fan Xian's battle to the death, the officials did not seem to have much interest.
No one was stupid enough to take the initiative to challenge Fan Xian to a battle. They were not Yan Xiaoyi. They did not want to die.
…
…
On the 22nd of the first month, the nerves in the court and palace that had become tense because of the strange movements on the border had gradually grown used to it and gradually relaxed. They had to live as they should. When it was time to eat, they still had to eat. When it was time to dress, they still had to dress. They couldn't let the nobles in the Palace not have a few new clothes for the New Year.
Thus, the embroidery bureau in the Palace sent out a team to a certain shop to take over the embroidered cloth that had been shipped from the West. Because the empress in the Eastern Palace did not like the embroidery colors that had been sent up from Jiangnan last year, she had requested an edict ahead of time to order another batch.
Extra errands like this that did not go through the palace treasury or the Palace were often good opportunities for the main eunuchs to make a lot of money. Just the commissions and gifts alone were probably worth 30 percent of the price of the embroidered cloth. With one trip out of the Palace, they could easily take a few thousand liang of silver notes into their sleeves.
In the past, because the Second Prince was favored, this errand had always been handled by Eunuch Dai in Lady Shu's palace. However, this year, it was clear that the Second Prince was not as favored as in previous years. Eunuch Dai, because of his corruption and involvement in the Hanging Temple assassination case, had lost most of his power. Thus, the major eunuchs in the Palace were all envious. They all began to move, wanting to take over old Dai's position.
However, after asking around for some news, the major eunuchs, including Eunuch Yao and Eunuch Hou, all stopped their activities. They had heard that this year, the head eunuch in the Eastern Palace, Hong Zhu, was in charge.
Hong Zhu's surname was Hong and he was deeply trusted by the empress. Additionally, the Emperor seemed to like this nimble little eunuch very much. Thus, his position in the Palace grew day by day. Even someone like Eunuch Yao did not want to stand in the way of Hong Zhu's gradual rise to glory, so he chose to give way.
In the morning, the palace guards stood guard outside a large shop. They yawned endlessly because they believed that no one would come looking for trouble. There were no nobles in the shop, only a eunuch. Every time they thought of how these strong soldiers could not follow the Dingzhou army on a Western expedition and had to protect a mere eunuch, these guards were not in a good mood. Naturally, they relaxed a great deal.
…
…
In a quiet room on the second floor, Hong Zhu was carefully examining the number of threads and color of the embroidered cloth. Although it was a good opportunity to earn commissions, he had to be careful when working for the Empress. As for the shopkeeper of this Dongyi shop, he had long been chased out by him.
Hong Zhu's fingertips trembled slightly. It was clear that he was uneasy. He didn't know when or how Sir Fan junior would be able to hide it from the guards' eyes and ears to meet with him.
Just as he was feeling extremely uncomfortable, the light in the room suddenly bent slightly. A slight change occurred in the light and shadow.
"Who is it?" Hong Zhu turned around cautiously but did not call out this question.
Fan Xian, who was wearing common commoner clothing, rubbed the corners of his brows that had been glued painfully after his disguise. He made a hand gesture toward Hong Zhu and then took out a piece of jade from his clothes and handed it over.
This piece of jade was the one he had thought of many ways to get from the Luochuan Gang a few days ago.
Hong Zhu accepted the jade with some confusion and glanced at it. He felt that this piece of jade looked very unfamiliar, but it seemed to be something used in the Palace. Furthermore, the style and lines of the jade gave him a familiar feeling.
"This is something from the Eastern Palace," Fan Xian said quietly.
Hong Zhu pressed his lips together and said, "What do I need to do?"
Fan Xian said a date and furrowed his brows. "Every time the Crown Prince goes to Guangxin Palace, it should be this day. You have a lot of information in the Palace. See if it's accurate."
Hong Zhu thought back and calculated a bit. He then nodded his head.
Fan Xian relaxed. This date was the conclusion Wang Qinian had come to after spending every day watching the imperial relative's manor. The imperial relative's manor was responsible for sending medicine to the Palace, so the date was basically stable.
Fan Xian stared into Hong Zhu's eyes and said, "After the embroidered cloth enters the Palace, according to usual practice, the Eastern Palace will distribute it to the various Palaces. You should know what time it is if the empress has a serving girl send the embroidered cloth to Guangxin Palace."
"Usually, it's the afternoon of the second day." Hong Zhu was a bit nervous. He didn't know what this matter had to do with the embroidered cloth.
"Very good, you're responsible for buying it. Then, delay the time for this batch of embroidered cloth to enter the Palace," Fan Xian said. "Calculate the time well. Make sure that when the Eastern Palace sends the embroidered cloth into Guangxin Palace, the Crown Prince will also be there."
Hong Zhu picked at the itchy pimple on his face and asked with confusion, "What use does this have?"
Fan Xian didn't reply. Hong Zhu looked thoughtfully at the jade amulet in his hand and suddenly said with astonishment, "This … seems to have been used by the empress before."
"Correct," Fan Xian ordered seriously. "It was secretly sold out of the Palace by your eunuchs."
"These little bastards are quite daring!" Hong Zhu had completely forgotten the current situation and unconsciously returned to his role as the head eunuch of the Eastern Palace. He spoke viciously. He was a major eunuch and had plenty of places to make money. He didn't need to use such petty tricks.
Then, he suddenly came to his senses. He knew that Sir Fan junior would not simply have him straighten out the order in the Eastern Palace. He looked at Fan Xian's not-quite-there face and asked in a trembling voice, "This piece of jade … how do we deal with it?"
"Put it in the room of the serving girl who sends the embroidered cloth into Guangxin Palace." Fan Xian thought for a moment and then sighed. "What we need to do next is very simple. Make the empress remember this piece of jade. What will happen then?"
Hong Zhu was a clever man and immediately understood. However, he still did not connect this entire matter to Guangxin Palace.
However, Fan Xian didn't have much time to explain. He heard the footsteps coming from downstairs and moved closer to Hong Zhu's ear to give him a few reminders. He told him not to worry about anything and only needed to do these three things properly. He didn't need to make any unnecessary movements, pay attention to his own safety, and don't get dragged into it.
The sound of knocking came from outside. Fan Xian's body flashed and disappeared from the room.
The owner of the shop entered respectfully and asked if this eunuch had any other orders.
Hong Zhu looked at the empty space beside him and suddenly became absent-minded. A moment later, he thought of Fan Xian's orders. He furrowed his brows and squeezed out a sharp voice. "This cloth … seems to be different from the one the empress asked for."
The owner paused and complained bitterly in his heart. "Eunuch, what are you saying … I am just a small businessman. How could I lie to the nobles in the Palace?"
As he spoke, a few banknotes were shoved into Hong Zhu's sleeves.
Hong Zhu's gaze flickered and was satisfied with the amount. However, he still couldn't let go. He furrowed his brows and said, "Is there a problem with the yellow dandelion in this pattern? It looks a bit off … particularly the thread used in these satin. Why do I feel it isn't thick enough? "
"How could it be?" The owner cursed in his heart and said with a pained expression, "This is authentic Western cloth, three layers of blended fabric, 36 stitches. There is nothing better."
Hong Zhu chuckled and said, "Is that so? But, there is no rush. Go back and check it carefully. I'll come back to take it in a few days. "
The owner panicked and said, "Eunuch, this is something the empress in the Palace urgently wants. If it's too late, not only me, but even you …"
These words made Hong Zhu unhappy. He glared and darkly said, "Listen carefully, when the Palace wants this cloth, it will depend on when I am happy … what kind of identity does the empress have? How could she remember such a small matter?"
After saying this, Hong Zhu brushed his sleeves and went downstairs. His expression was very unfriendly.
The owner of the shop followed behind. He only knew that he had offended this eunuch and cried out bitterly in his heart. He wondered how many banknotes he would have to shove into this eunuch's body if this dragged on for a few days. He had no idea that Hong Zhu's expression was unfriendly because he was afraid and excited.
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