The pleasure boat stopped by the shore. Crown Prince Jing stood by the side of the boat, smiling as he watched the group disappear into the night. Yuan Meng was in his arms. "Where did Master Fan go?" she asked curiously.
The Crown Prince tapped the tip of her cold nose. "You still want to pretend to be innocent in front of me?" Yuan Meng smiled sweetly. "No matter what Master Fan went to do, he didn't hide it from you. I'm afraid Si Lili doesn't know anything."
"He didn't hide it from me. That means he's smart." Li Hongcheng smiled. "I'm just a shield he pulled along. But if he wants me to do it willingly, he can't hide it from me." He suddenly asked, "What do you think Fan Xian thinks of Si Lili?"
Yuan Meng seemed to be very familiar with the Crown Prince. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "Master Fan seems to like Si Lili very much. I just didn't expect him to be able to endure this unrequited love and go do something else." She covered her mouth and laughed. It was completely different from her usual demeanor.
"Then you should keep in touch with Si Lili. Perhaps Fan Xian will come to the Drunken Immortal Tavern often." Li Hongcheng frowned.
"Yes." Yuan Meng agreed like a subordinate. She was curious as to why the Crown Prince was so interested in Fan Xian.
Li Hongcheng put his hand into her clothes. Yuan Meng let out a soft cry. Her body almost went limp. "Do you know who Fan Xian is?"
"He's the favorite illegitimate son of Minister Fan Jian of the Ministry of Revenue." Yuan Meng's voice was like a kitten's, but her eyes were very clear. "I understand. You want to control the Kingdom of Qing's money."
Li Hongcheng smiled and shook his head. "I don't have that ambition. I just think Fan Xian is a friend worth making." What he said was true, but there were some things he didn't make clear. Li Hongcheng knew about Fan Lin's secret marriage, so he knew that the young man named Fan Xian would one day manage the huge business system behind the royal family.
If the Second Prince wanted to compete with the Crown Prince, then money was the most important weapon.
— —
Guo Baokun was at a disadvantage at the poetry meet and was in a very bad mood. That was why he went to a party at night to ease his mood a little. Once he thought of his old-fashioned father at home, his mood became bad again. Just as he was planning what fun things to bring to the palace for the Crown Prince the next day, he noticed that the sedan had stopped.
He wasn't prepared for it, and he didn't know why, but his head was a little dizzy. His forehead bumped into the front, and it hurt. He angrily cursed, "You bastards, how can you carry the palanquin?"
No one answered him. It was quiet outside the sedan chair. Guo Baokun awkwardly climbed out of the almost toppled sedan chair and found that the street was quiet. It was Niulan Street, which he had to pass before returning to the mansion.
There were three masked men in black surrounding the sedan chair, and the Guo Residence's sedan chair bearers and guards were already lying on the ground, it was unknown whether they were dead or alive. Guo Baokun thought he had run into thieves who were robbing him along the way and was scared half to death. When did the security in the capital become so bad? Trembling, he shouted, "Who are you? What do you want? "
Niulan Street had always been quiet, especially at night. There were basically no pedestrians, and Guo Baokun felt a little hopeless. He didn't expect anyone to come and save him by shouting, so he kept his voice low.
A clear and gentle voice answered, "I'm Fan Xian, and I want to hit you."
Guo Baokun turned his head in shock, only to find a gunny sack flying toward him and covering him, so he didn't see Fan Xian's hateful smiling face.
There was a faint fragrance in the gunny sack, but it caused Guo Baokun's dizzy mind to sober up a lot. However, this made him even more miserable, because what followed next was a torrential beating. Punches and kicks were actually merciless.
Fan Xian watched Teng Zijing and the others beat him, and felt a little pleased. He just wanted to let others know that they shouldn't try to provoke him so easily, but he also had other intentions. Guo Baokun was the son of a minister, and he had never suffered such humiliation and pain. But he knew that it was Fan Xian who was beating him. In a fight between the sons of nobility, there was no possibility of killing. Knowing that he wouldn't lose his life, he spoke harshly.
"Little bastard Fan! Beat me to death if you dare! "
Hearing this, Fan Xian was enraged. He waved his hand, motioning for Teng Zijing and the others, who had been beating him silently, to move aside. He walked over, squatted down, and gave Guo Baokun a good beating. Then he spoke softly to the rolling gunny sack, "Brother Guo, do you know why I wrote that poem this afternoon?"
Fan Xian's strength was great, and Guo Baokun was in so much pain that he couldn't speak, and could only whimper.
"The wind is strong, the ape howls mournfully, the white bird flies back on the clear sand. Boundless trees rustle down, the endless river rolls in. Ten thousand miles of sorrowful autumn is always a guest, a hundred years of sickness alone on the stage. Hardship, bitterness, hatred, and frost hairs on the temples. Destitute, new and cloudy wine cups. You've bullied me twice, so I'm going to beat you until you're sad and sickly. Otherwise, how can I be happy? "
As soon as he finished speaking, his fist smashed into Guo Baokun's face through the gunny sack. He didn't know how he could be so accurate in the middle of the night, but he hit Guo Baokun squarely on the bridge of his nose. Guo Baokun felt a wave of pain, numbness, and itchiness rush to his brain. Blood flowed, and he couldn't help but wail and cry, begging for mercy.
Fan Xian looked at the writhing gunny sack on the ground, and only then did he realize that his cruel and merciless side seemed to be slowly breaking free from the disguise he'd been hiding all these years. Still not satisfied, he kicked the gunny sack a few times, then waved his hand and led the three thugs behind him away into the night. He had come in a hurry, and left in a hurry. Guo Baokun hated not seeing him again.
Half a day later, Guo Baokun crawled out of the gunny sack, his body covered in bruises. Looking at the guards and sedan bearers lying on the ground, he couldn't help but curse and kick them up. Only now did he realize that his subordinates had been drugged, but that despicable Fan Xian had put the antidote in the gunny sack and beat him until he wished he were dead.
The guards held Guo Baokun's groggy head. Seeing their young master beaten into a pig's head, they were scared half to death. They rushed to help him up, not even sitting in the sedan, and carried him back to Guo Manor.
That night, Guo Manor was in chaos. Early the next morning, Guo Baokun sent someone to the capital government and handed the complaint to Mei Zhili, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Appointments and the capital government's magistrate. Mei Zhili complained about the previous night's tragedy, and swore that the bastards of Fan Manor would be punished with heavy crimes, and that the audacious bastard son of the Fan family would not be spared. If even Mei Zhili couldn't punish him, how could he, as a minister, face?
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