(June 1st, I wish everyone a happy holiday. A new month is a new beginning. Looking back at last month, it was truly a series of difficult things. This story is also very difficult. My condition has entered the worst period. I have held on, but there are still a few chapters that were poorly written, including yesterday's chapter. I am truly sorry.
I am satisfied with the chapters before and after the thunderstorm, but I still have some regrets. In my original fantasies, I should have written better. I should have been able to do better, so I continue to apologize.
I don't know how much I can write this month because it really is something … I will do my best to ensure that it is at least 130,000 words. Last month, I took third place in the monthly votes. This is my best ranking since I posted my book online. I received a total of 6,000 yuan in prize money. I sincerely thank everyone for your support.
Please continue to support the lazy but serious me. Thank you.)
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From Jiangnan Road to Jiangbei Road, there were three convenient routes. No matter which one they took, they would always have to cross the mighty river. In the present world, there were no concrete bridges that Fan Xian was familiar with. There was only the endless stream of ferries between the two sides to support the busy waterside traffic.
The three large workshops of the palace treasury were in North Min, the transport company yamen was in Suzhou, and Sir Fan junior was in Hangzhou. It appeared that the palace treasury's control was loose. Only the officials and merchants who had the opportunity to come into contact with this portion of the palace treasury knew how strict the control over the warehouses and special routes throughout Jiangnan was after the Overwatch Council and the palace treasury yamen worked together.
In particular, the route to the North purposely took a turn to the West. From Shazhou, it crossed the river to the North, then crossed the barren mountains of Jiangbei Road, the meadows of Cangzhou Road, and then circled around the North Sea. It endlessly sent into Northern Qi territory and brought back rich silver for the Qing Kingdom to purchase other needs.
Most of the goods heading north were under Xia Mingji's control. With Fan Xian's help, Xia Qifei placed a few large bids and secretly consolidated the small businesses and gangs in the Jiangnan area. He had gradually become powerful.
In the eyes of the officials, the reason he chose to cross the river in Shazhou was because the Jiangnan Navy was stationed there. Only Fan Xian and he knew that Shazhou was chosen because the Jiangnan water bandits had the strongest power there. Although the palace treasury goods could be sent by the court to supervise the delivery, the things inside could not be trusted to let the court watch them all.
Xia Qifei sat in a tea shop outside the city gate of Shazhou. While drinking tea, he looked at the ships transporting goods on the smooth river and narrowed his eyes slightly. The Second Young Master in the North suddenly increased his appetite for goods, but it was not to the extent that he could not accept them. After all, the doors of the palace treasury were completely open to Fan Xian's trusted aides. However, to send all the goods there in such a short amount of time, and at the same time not raise the court's suspicions, required careful planning.
Fortunately, according to court practice, the Overwatch Council was responsible for supervising the operation of the palace treasury. Now, the worries of the officials in the court had finally become reality. Fan Xian monitored himself. How could there not be a problem?
Xia Qifei put down the teacup and slowly savored the bitter taste in his mouth. However, there was not a trace of bitterness in his heart. Looking back on this year and a half, he sometimes felt like he was dreaming. Ever since he climbed onto the imperial envoy's thigh, the family grudge that had bitten his heart for over a decade like a poisonous snake had been resolved in one day. The Ming family had once again returned to his hands. His identity had also changed from the shady head of the Jiangnan water bandits to an official of the Overwatch Council and a wealthy merchant whose name shook Jiangnan.
The matters of this world were indeed somewhat wondrous.
However, he also knew that the present Ming family was no longer the Ming family of the past. Although the court had not directly interfered, if Sir Fan junior truly gave the order, he could only follow it completely.
Thinking of this, he pulled back his satisfied gaze from the boxes of goods in the boats on the river and furrowed his brows slightly. There were some things he did not understand. Smuggling palace treasury goods to Northern Qi and Dongyi was, without question, the most profitable business in the world. Given Sir Fan junior's identity, why was he so greedy? Sir Fan junior had once explained that the reason the Eldest Princess was greedy for silver was because she wanted to seek power in court, pave the foundations for the princes, and buy people's hearts in the military.
However, Sir Fan junior was a prince. After he returned to the Fan family, it was impossible for him to take over the throne. What did he need so much silver for? Furthermore, the Emperor had not liked the Eldest Princess secretly emptying out his palace treasury. Would the Emperor allow Sir Fan junior to do this now?
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…
Ever since the Eldest Princess, Li Yunrui, lost power, this not too big or too small shock wave lightly swept through the hearts of the nobles under heaven and did not stir up any more waves. Of course, this was only the calm on the surface. No one knew exactly what the people were thinking in secret.
However, everyone now knew how deeply the powerful official in the Qing court, Fan Xian, was favored and trusted by the Qing Emperor and how much power he held in his hands. Inevitably, the crowd grew wary and hopeful. No matter what was said, in the hearts of the people under heaven, Fan Xian was still a scholar. His performance on the stage these few years made it clear to everyone that he was different from the other noble sons of the Qing Kingdom. He was not as hot-blooded and belligerent.
Naturally, Northern Qi and Dongyi hoped that Fan Xian would last a long time. No matter how much the Northern Qi Emperor wanted to pull Fan Xian to his side as a Prince, he knew that Fan Xian staying in the Qing Kingdom would benefit him the most. He hoped that Fan Xian would have as much power as possible and as much favor as possible. It would be best if he was powerful enough to influence the Qing Emperor's decisions.
However, this was only an extravagant hope and idealism. No Emperor would be stupid enough to place his hopes of peace on an official of a foreign country. The peace between countries was, in the end, reflected in power. The power of a country was military power.
Since the beginning of spring, in the vast wilderness to the north of Yanjing and east of Cangzhou, Northern Qi's mighty general, Shang Shanhu, had been released from house arrest and landed on the Southern front. In a short amount of time, he established his absolute authority in the military. He began daily military drills, maintaining a powerful deterrent to the Qing army and suppressing the ambitions of the Qing people.
Directly opposing Shang Shanhu was a general of the Qing Kingdom, Northern Governor Yan Xiaoyi. When these two powerful people collided, how could there not be some sparks and the smell of blood gradually rising? Although there was no fighting on the border, there were some small scuffles and purposely created tense atmosphere. Gradually, the air began to fill.
Xia Mingji, which Xia Qifei was in charge of transporting palace treasury goods to the North, had to make a detour to the Northern Sea south of Cangzhou because the situation in Cangzhou had always been tense.
However, all of this had completely changed this month. For some reason, Shang Shanhu had suddenly pulled back his troops 50 li to the north and moved his troops. He adopted a lazy posture of neither defending nor advancing. It was as if he did not care that Yan Xiaoyi was leading 100,000 elite soldiers in the area between Yanjing and Cangzhou. He stared like a bull, wanting to come up and take a bite at any moment.
Tension suddenly became leisure. The display of power between the two countries suddenly became an outing. The instantaneous change made the Qing military feel an inexplicable anger and shock.
What exactly were the Northern Qi people thinking?
Yan Xiaoyi knew what the Northern Qi people were thinking. He picked up his cup and drank a mouthful of the strong alcohol produced on the grasslands further north of the Northern Sea. The alcohol wetted his beard slightly. The cold light in his eyes gradually grew.
Ever since the news from Jingdou had reached Cangzhou, Yan Xiaoyi knew he was facing a crisis. When his trusted aide lowered his voice and suggested ideas at night, he remained calm and didn't say a word.
When Shang Shanhu led the Northern Qi army and slowly withdrew, he assumed the posture of a naked woman reclining on the couch. Yan Xiaoyi was not surprised or confused. He only smiled coldly.
The Northern Qi people also knew of the Eldest Princess' loss of power and knew that the Emperor would certainly take him down. Thus, Shang Shanhu purposely showed weakness and removed all the pressure he had placed on Yan Xiaoyi so that he could preserve all of his strength and spirit.
What was the point of preserving this? Naturally, it was to deal with their own Emperor.
Yan Xiaoyi slowly put down his wine cup. A cold smile rose to the corners of his lips. If the Northern Qi Emperor suddenly wanted to act against Shang Shanhu, he would also do the same. There were internal problems in the enemy country. As his own side, he had to stand by and watch and give the enemy as much space and power as possible. Only in this way could the other side struggle themselves. After they killed each other, he could sit back and reap the benefits. It could not be said to be unpleasant.
However, Yan Xiaoyi didn't seem to have made any preparations. It was as if he was just waiting for that day. He was waiting for a few old and wrinkled eunuchs to come on horseback, exhausted, shouting themselves hoarse, and with faces full of terror. Yet, they forced themselves to be calm and announce the Emperor's edict to him.
"Yan Xiaoyi … wait …"
The Eldest Princess had fallen. As the Eldest Princess' trusted aide and her greatest support in the army, the Emperor would not allow him to continue to control the elite soldiers of the Northern expedition army. Yan Xiaoyi knew this very well.
He had already made preparations, so he didn't see the anger on his trusted aide's face. However, contrary to his expectations, the Emperor's edict had yet to arrive. Worry floated onto his face. He thought to himself, just what kind of crime does the Emperor want to lay on me for it to take so long?
The strong wine burned his heart. It burned Yan Xiaoyi's heart. Did the Emperor really trust him that much? The Emperor knew that he had been nothing more than a hunter in the mountains. If it hadn't been for the Eldest Princess, he would probably have been unknown for his entire life.
Furthermore, Fan Xian had killed his son. Although Yan Xiaoyi had never found evidence, he believed that within the Qing Kingdom, other than the Emperor, there were only two crazy people who dared to kill his son. Other than the Eldest Princess, it was the crazy Fan Xian.
The Emperor could not kill his illegitimate child to avenge his son. This was the biggest irreconcilable conflict between Yan Xiaoyi and the Emperor. Yan Xiaoyi's ruthless personality was destined to not surrender without a fight and die of old age in Jingdou.
However, he would also not lead troops to throw themselves at the Northern Qi ruler and officials watching the show in the North. That was a kind of humiliation.
Yan Xiaoyi once again picked up the wine cup filled with strong wine and drained it in one gulp. Letting out a long sigh, he truly didn't know what to do. Then, he received a letter. The person who wrote this letter was someone he had never thought of.
Looking at this letter, his hand holding the letter began to tremble. The hand that had always been as steady as a mountain, the hand that could control the bowstring like a god, and the hand that was still like steel under the pincer attack of the Shadow and Fan Xian, two ninth-level aces, actually began to tremble.
… …
It was still the end of spring in the Qing Kingdom, but far away on the border of the South, it was already blistering hot. All around, the lush forest was scorched weakly by the sun high up in the sky and laid softly on the mountain rocks. The vines on the mountain rocks had long withered from the high temperature of the rocks.
The heat was not scary. What was scary was the humidity in the dense forest. For some reason, there were so many torrential rains in the South. Although the rain did not last for long, when the rainwater fell to the ground, it did not even have time to sink into the earth before it was baked into steam by the high temperature. It enveloped the forest, animals, and people walking on the road, making it difficult for all living things to breathe.
A majestic group was lazily walking on the road. The officials of the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple, who were responsible for the face of the Heavenly Kingdom, had pulled open their robes without a care for propriety. Military discipline had always been strict. The hundreds of imperial soldiers in shining armor also had their robes and hats askew. Even the Tiger Guards surrounding the carriages in the middle began to have a sense of tiredness and rashness in their eyes.
In the carriage in the middle sat the Crown Prince of the Qing Kingdom.
It had been more than a month since he had left the capital. The ceremony in Nanzhao had gone smoothly. After holding the coffin and crying a few times in front of the deceased King's coffin and gently chatting a bit with the child King and witnessing the ascension ceremony, the Crown Prince and his group set off for the North.
The reason they had chosen to travel under such a large sun was because when the sun was strong, it was not easy for fog to form in the forest. In the dense forest between Nanzhao and the Qing Kingdom, the most terrifying thing was the poisonous fog.
Crown Prince Li Chengqian knocked on the window of the carriage, indicating for the entire group to stop. He then walked down from the carriage with the help of a eunuch and quietly said something to the main official of the Ministry of Rites.
A Tiger Guard respectfully said, "Your Highness, take advantage of the sun to leave in order to avoid being invaded by the poisonous fog."
The Crown Prince smiled slightly and said, "Let's rest. Everyone is tired."
"I'm afraid we won't be able to make it to the inn in front," the Tiger Guard said with difficulty.
"Didn't I say yesterday that there was a small inn in front of the inn?" The Crown Prince said amiably. "It would be good to stay there tonight."
The official from the Ministry of Rites who had been questioned earlier tried to dissuade him. "What kind of status does Your Highness have? How can you just casually stay in the wilderness? The inn in Tiancheng County is too run-down. The large inn we decided on last night has already been prepared to welcome Your Highness. "
The Crown Prince insisted on not allowing it. He only said that his attendants were already exhausted. The official from the Ministry of Rites couldn't help but ask with some fear, "But if we miss the return date …"
"I will bear all the responsibility. We can't let these soldiers tire themselves out until they fall ill," the Crown Prince said with a frown.
An order was sent down for the hundreds of people to rest on the spot. They would spend the night in Tiancheng County. They should be able to make it in time. Hearing these words, the soldiers and Tiger Guards immediately let out a breath and thanked the Crown Prince. They set up defenses on the two sides of the road and split up to rest.
Everyone knew that the Crown Prince felt sorry for their hard work. They all gave him grateful gazes, but they didn't dare let the Crown Prince see these gazes. During this month, from Jingdou south to Nanzhao and then back north, the road was long and dangerous. However, the Crown Prince was not as delicate as people had imagined. He didn't make a sound. Furthermore, he comforted and encouraged his subordinates and was unspeakably amiable.
Along the way, everyone had a new understanding of the Crown Prince. They felt that the Crown Prince truly pitied his people. Not only did he not have any resentment toward the Emperor's edict, he also never forgot about them.
The Crown Prince received the edict to attend the ceremony in Nanzhao. In the eyes of the people of the world, such a difficult and unrewarding mission, even if the Emperor wasn't exiling the Crown Prince, he was still giving him a warning or a disguised punishment. But now, these soldiers and officials were a bit puzzled. What could the Emperor not be satisfied with such an outstanding Crown Prince?
…
…
A green curtain had been pulled up in the forest for the Crown Prince to rest. Everyone knew that it was mainly for the convenience of the Crown Prince's official duties. Although the Crown Prince had shared weal and woe with everyone along the way, they couldn't have a proper Crown Prince squat with everyone by the side of the road and defecate naked.
Li Chengqian smiled helplessly at the imperial soldiers pulling the curtain. He lifted a corner of the curtain and walked in. However, he didn't undo his pants. He just waited calmly and slightly nervously.
Not long after, a hand pinched a pill and sent it into the Green Grasshopper.
It was clear that this had happened more than once. The Crown Prince directly accepted it, chewed it, and swallowed it. He then used the tip of his tongue to carefully lick the gap between his teeth to make sure there wouldn't be any medicinal residue left and be discovered by the eunuchs who were supposed to serve him but were secretly monitoring him.
"Why can't you give this medicine to those soldiers?" The Crown Prince was silent for a moment. He then spoke to the faint shadow outside the curtain. His tone was slightly sad. "Seven people have already died along the way."
There was too much poisonous miasma in Nanzhao. Although the Imperial Academy of Medicine had prepared excellent medicine, there were still a few imperial soldiers and eunuchs who accidentally inhaled the miasma and died.
The shadow outside the curtain paused for a moment and then said, "Your Highness, I find that I like you more and more." After saying this, Thirteenth Wang shook his head and disappeared without a sound.
The Crown Prince crouched down and furrowed his brows slightly. He knew that Thirteenth Wang had been sent by Fan Xian, but he didn't know why Fan Xian was so careful to protect him. However, Fan Xian's words were clear. He didn't need to accept any favors from him. However, he didn't like the feeling of an ace following him from afar. He had once tried to have that person give all the medicine to him.
However, he had eunuchs serving him every night. If someone discovered that the Crown Prince had medicine of unknown origin on him, it would indeed be a big problem.
However, without medicine on him, he couldn't save anyone. Thinking of the people who had died along the way, the Crown Prince couldn't help but sigh.
He had behaved very well these days, to the point where he couldn't be any better. He knew what kind of person his father was. His father was looking for an excuse to depose him. If he couldn't find an excuse that wouldn't damage the Emperor's reputation, his father wouldn't act in a hurry.
His father cared too much about his reputation, Li Chengqian thought with a slight smile. Standing up, he threw the used paper onto the ground, thinking, What was the difference between something like face and paper used to wipe one's butt?
However, he indeed needed it. At least, because of this, Li Chengqian could hold on for a while longer. A stubborn expression rose to his face. Father, I won't give you too many excuses. If you want to depose me, then don't think you can keep your reputation.
He pulled open the curtain and walked out. Looking at the piercing sunlight in the sky, he suddenly thought of the child by the coffin of the Nanzhao King. Slightly absent-minded, he thought to himself that they were both Crown Princes. For a father to die early was actually a fortunate thing.
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