Si Lili felt like she was having a beautiful dream. In her dream, she had met her lover. They were doing that shameful thing under the candles and flowers. After a few rounds of it, she slowly woke up. What she saw was a beautiful face that she had never seen before.
Only then did she remember what had happened last night. The young master who had held her was the handsome Master Fan. But she felt a little strange. Had she drunk too much? How could she not remember those details? Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little resentful. She knew that she had ultimately embarked on a path that she had always resisted. But when she thought of the memory of ecstasy that remained in her mind, she couldn't help but clamp her legs together and feel weak all over.
Noticing that the man beside her had moved, Si Lili hurriedly pretended to be asleep. When Fan Xian woke up and saw her sleeping face, he couldn't help but hold her in his arms for a while. Satisfied, he washed up and left the boat, his hands still full of her fragrance.
After a while, Si Lili opened her eyes and began to clean up the scene of last night's battle. She seemed to have discovered something, for she let out a shy and suspicious cry.
...
...
When he left the pleasure boat, the sky was not yet bright. The Crown Prince was still sleeping in his room with Yuan Meng in his arms, so Fan Xian didn't say hello. He was in a hurry to leave because he had just arrived in the capital, and it wasn't convenient for him to sleep with a prostitute. Besides, the Guo family was about to make a fuss, so he prepared to go back to Fan Manor to watch the show.
The reason why he didn't actually do anything with Lili last night was not because Fan Xian was a Daoist, but purely because of his mental and physical obsession with cleanliness. It was difficult for him to accept that another man had once touched a woman. In his previous life, he had seen a lot of STD prevention billboards on the streets, so he had a deep fear of venereal diseases. There were no condoms in this world, so there was no harm in strolling around a brothel. If he really did anything, it would be a little risky.
But there were repercussions. Fan Xian looked at the indecent bulge in his clothes and sighed sadly. He regretted that he hadn't developed something with Sisi while he was in Danzhou. When the sedan chair arrived at the corner gate of Fan Manor, the master and three servants sneakily called for the door to be opened. They slipped in and ordered the guard to keep quiet. Seeing that it was Teng Dahe and the young master from Danzhou, the guard didn't dare interfere and went back to sleep.
Fan Xian went back to his room to catch up on his sleep. When he woke up, it was already bright outside. He dragged his wooden clogs to the front yard and heard the noise. He guessed what had happened, but he pretended to be confused.
That morning, Mei Zhili was sleepy in his study when he heard the sound of drums. He was angry and thought, "Where did these unruly people come from? How dare they disturb my rest?" But the rules of the court were there, and he didn't dare to be negligent. He went to the court, and after a series of shouts, the advisor handed him the complaint.
Mei Zhili's heart shook when he saw the complaint. Both the accuser and the defendant were not ordinary people. The accuser was Guo Baokun, the only son of the Board of Rites Minister Guo You. He was now a palace editor and had some fame. The defendant was Fan Xian, the son of Fan Jian, the assistant minister of revenue. The accuser was Fan Xian's assault the previous night, provocation, and beating up an official of the court in the street.
Seeing the two surnames on the complaint, Mei Zhili thought of retreating. The court was now divided into two factions. One supported the crown prince, and the other didn't reveal themselves, but secretly followed the second prince. Guo You, the director of the Board of Rites, had been the crown prince's teacher, so naturally he was on the crown prince's side. Fan Jian, the assistant minister of revenue, didn't seem to have any inclination, but he had always been on good terms with King Jing, and everyone knew that Crown Prince Jing was on the second prince's side.
The case looked simple, but if it wasn't handled well, the crown prince and the second prince's factions would attack. Mei Zhili secretly cursed Fan Xian for not knowing the gravity of the matter. Fan Xian's reputation was gradually becoming known in the capital. All the officials knew that he was the illegitimate son of Count Sinan, who had been raised in Danzhou. Mei Zhili thought to himself, "You've been in Danzhou for a long time. How would you know how dangerous the capital is? You dared to assault someone on the street. I don't know how to deal with you."
But the complaint was written clearly, and there were witnesses and material evidence. Mei Zhili had no choice but to delay. He looked at the complaint and frowned. He sent a document to Count Sinan's manor to arrest the people, while secretly sending someone to the yamen of the Ministry of Revenue to inform Assistant Minister Fan.
What Fan Xian saw was the bailiffs sent by the capital government to arrest the people. The Fan family had a close relationship with the royal family. For the past ten years, they had been the ones arresting people. There was no reason for him to be the one being arrested. So a dozen wooden sticks had been raised, and the servants and guards assumed the posture of loyal protectors, eyeing the poor bailiffs like tigers.
At the front door of Fan Manor, the bailiffs had no choice but to say nice things. It was Fan Xian's wish to arrest the people. No matter how arrogant the Fan family was, they had to let the people go to the yamen.
Fan Xian smiled and was about to respond when he heard a young man yell, "Where did these lackeys come from? Beat them all!" The one who dared to beat up the bailiffs was none other than the violent young master Fan Sizhe.
The servants and guards heard the young master's words and roared. They raised their sticks and bravely stepped forward. But they thought of the fact that the man was a bailiff, so they didn't really hit him. They just smashed the sticks on the ground to scare him away. The bailiffs were furious. They knew the man was not to be trifled with, so they didn't bring a single one of the chains. They didn't expect to meet such a miserable end.
"What are you doing?" At that moment, Lady Liu walked out gracefully. She looked at the bailiffs and frowned. She ordered someone to invite them in to watch some tea, then glanced at Fan Xian.
Fan Xian shrugged his shoulders innocently.
In the reception pavilion, a few bailiffs looked at the madam uneasily. With their status, it was impossible for them to receive such treatment under normal circumstances. They understood why the Fan family was being so courteous. But it was also because of this that the tea they were drinking didn't taste good. If Lady Liu became angry, how were they going to survive in the capital?
After finding out what had happened, Lady Liu frowned. "That doesn't sound right. Our young master has been studying at home ever since he came back from the poetry gathering at King Jing's manor. Niulan Street is far from Fan Manor. How could it be our young master who beat up the son of the Guo family? "
The bailiffs said awkwardly, "Master Guo said it himself. Besides..." He said in disbelief, "Did Master Fan really stay at the manor yesterday?"
Lady Liu's soft gaze suddenly became two small knives. She glared at the bailiffs. "Do you think the Fan family would lie?"
The bailiffs jumped in fright and quickly shut his mouth. But he wouldn't leave just like that. After all, the plaintiff was still waiting in the court. Fan Xian sat quietly to one side, but he was surprised. He didn't know why Lady Liu was speaking up for him. He actually didn't understand the noble families of this era. No matter how fierce the internal strife within the family was, once a foreign enemy came in, these families would always put aside their internal strife and unite against the enemy.
Lady Liu took a sip of tea. She knew that the bailiffs had no choice, and that there was no point in making things difficult for them. She smiled. "If the Guo family says we beat him, then we beat him? The affairs of the world are all about reason and human feelings. You can't just say that if they send in a petition, we have to obediently go and accept it. Although the Fan Manor is not very rich or powerful, we still have some face in the capital. I'm just curious, who was the one who submitted the complaint to the magistrate office today? "
"It was the steward of the Guo family." The bailiffs hurriedly replied, thinking that the Fan family wasn't wealthy enough. There weren't many wealthy families in the capital.
It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, but when she heard that it was just a steward, Lady Liu's eyebrows furrowed. She slammed the table and scolded, "Calling a steward to hand over a petition, and you want our family to respond? Didn't you say that Master Guo was beaten? How badly was he beaten? If you want to file a complaint, then file it yourself. Otherwise, I'll have my steward go to the yamen every day to file a complaint. I'll accuse Guo Baokun of using his power to bully people and take women. Whether or not my complaint is reasonable, you have to have Guo Baokun wait in the yamen! "
Before she finished speaking, Lady Liu had already called out, "Housekeeper Xu."
Housekeeper Xu knew what was going on and stood up. "Yes, sir."
Lady Liu said coldly, "Tell Mister Zheng to quickly write a dozen petitions. From tomorrow onwards, we will go to the capital government every day. Even if we don't scare the Guo family to death, we'll tire them out." That wasn't the end of it. She smiled and explained to the bailiffs, "Mister Zheng is a guest of the manor, but I've heard that a few years ago, he was your master's criminal lawyer. Writing petitions should be no problem for him."
The guard thought to himself, "This isn't scaring the Guo family to death and exhausting the Guo family to death. This is obviously a plan to scare the capital government to death and exhaust the capital government to death." Madam, please forgive me, "he begged for mercy." This matter … it's not something we can do. "
After Lady Liu's long speech, she felt her mouth go dry. She reached for a cup of tea, but found that Fan Xian was already holding it out to her with a smile. Their eyes met for a moment, then quickly looked away.
The bailiffs spread out his hands and begged, "Then what do you suggest we do?"
Lady Liu thought for a moment. She knew that there had to be a solution to this, and that it wasn't a good idea to keep wasting time here. She said, "As for beating someone up, there is absolutely no way."
Fan Xian added, "Absolutely not."
Lady Liu continued, "The Fan manor doesn't quite understand why the Guo family would accuse us."
Fan Xian pretended to be deep in thought. "A few days ago, there was a conflict in a restaurant, and that Mister Guo suffered a little. Come to think of it, it was my fault."
Lady Liu was surprised. "There was such a thing? Then it was your fault. But... could it be that Mister Guo held a grudge, and so he came to falsely accuse you? "
Fan Xian frowned and replied, "Probably so."
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