Preposterous people say preposterous things and do preposterous things. On the seventh day of the First Month in the 11th year of the Qing calendar, Fan Xian ordered his subordinates to assassinate an official on the street and openly kill a scholar of the Hall of Governmental Affairs at the foot of the Royal Palace. He had truly done something absurd that had not happened in the Qing court in a century. Yet, he spoke with assurance and assurance, boasting that he was acting by imperial edict and cleansing the Emperor's side. It was as if he thought these words could explain his actions. It was truly absurd to the extreme.
Even though it was so absurd, unexpectedly, the glimmer of a mocking smile rose to the corners of the Emperor's lips. He did not get angry. "When did I give you an edict?"
"Understanding the Emperor's heart is what I and my subordinates should do," Fan Xian replied calmly.
Taking advantage of the fact that the defenses in Jingdou had just passed and the Palace underestimated his influence and ability to summon old subordinates of the Overwatch Council, he was able to advance like a hurricane and kill all of the core members of the He faction in Jingdou.
The main reason he was able to achieve this strategic goal was that Fan Xian's actions had been too sudden. It could even be said to be abrupt. It was so sudden that no one, whether it was in the Palace or the court, could have predicted it.
That was what Fan Xian was thinking. He had to think of a way out after he failed. He had to be the first to kill all of the officials who were staring at him like hunting dogs and refusing to let go.
If he killed them thoroughly enough, if they actually failed in the future, perhaps the lives of the officials and subordinates he wanted to protect would be much better.
The clap of thunder rang out, but it did not have the possibility of continuing. It was only a matter of an instant. The court would immediately react. Once the Qing Kingdom's powerful national machinery operated at full power and the valiant military power entered Jingdou, Fan Xian's faction's power could only be easily destroyed, particularly in Jingdou.
Presumably, the Jingdou Garrison had already begun to join forces with the 13 city gate guards to begin the purge operation. The Imperial Army guarded the Palace strictly and would not interfere. But, that side alone was enough. Subordinates loyal to Fan Xian had already begun to sneak into the darkness. For Fan Xian, this was far from enough. He had to find a way for those loyal to him under the strict Qing law and the Emperor's anger. This was the reason why he was saying these absurd things to the Emperor.
"Scholar He's manor keeps two vicious dogs and has a reputation for being honest. However, his two brothers are also known as vicious dogs in the He family's ancestral county. They have taken the land and beauties and have not been polite to those they should have."
The corners of Fan Xian's lips twitched up slightly. "As for the matter of selling positions and accepting bribes, although there are no such things, during these three years, Scholar He's seemingly old manor, there are dozens more famous paintings from the Wei Dynasty."
"Fan Wujiu was one of Cheng Ze's former subordinates. As one of the Eight Family Generals, although he once left the Prince's Mansion, he also participated in the rebellion. Scholar knew his identity but he of Emperor. Emperor. He, Emperor, and Scholar. "Dynasty Emperor, Emperor, Prince, Emperor, Dynasty. And Scholar He knows this person's identity, yet he secretly tolerates him. I don't know what his intentions are. "
Fan Xian spoke slowly and calmly. The Overwatch Council had long been investigating He Zongwei. However, due to the Emperor's appearance, these things that they had painstakingly investigated could not be exposed to the light of day. Fan Xian was no longer afraid of anything, particularly since he knew that the Emperor in front of him knew these things very well, perhaps even better than him.
"A month ago, Fan Wujiu was attacked by an assassin and almost died." Fan Xian suddenly smiled and gazed at the Emperor's profile. The matter of Fan Wujiu being silenced had been ordered by the Emperor. "Fortunately, one of my subordinates happened to pass by and saved him. In the end, he was able to record a statement. That statement should have been sent to the Overwatch Council by now."
When He Zongwei and Sir Peng's widow were being pursued by the Prime Minister's manor, the Second Prince and Crown Prince Li Hongcheng happened to pass by. Now that the person in He Zongwei's manor had been killed, the Shadow also happened to pass by. Life was always like this.
"What makes me even more curious is that Scholar He is not young, yet he has never taken a wife. He even has a concubine and a servant girl, yet he lives with his widowed aunt …"
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Just as Fan Xian was talking endlessly and enthusiastically describing Scholar He's crimes, the Emperor finally coldly opened his mouth. "Enough. Sir He wholeheartedly serves the country. Even if he once offended you, in the end, he died to your hands. Why use such filthy words to frame a dead person?"
"Your Majesty is right."
"You should know that I know these things."
"Yes, Your Majesty. However, the people do not know that the Scholar He that Your Majesty wholeheartedly favors is such a person. "
Fan Xian had already restrained the smile on his face. Calmly and without taking a step back, he said, "I have already sent people to search the He manor. All the accounts, names, and evidence of the crimes have been copied and sent to the Overwatch Council. Presumably, Director Yan will personally send it to the Palace before long. As for the original copies, they have already been sent to Danbo Bookstore and Xishan Bookstore. Perhaps somewhere else. In a few days, everyone under heaven will see this. "
"If you want to do these things, how can you do it without the eight bureaus of the Overwatch Council? Are you threatening me? Do you want the people under heaven to laugh at me? "The corners of the Emperor's mouth twitched into a smile.
"I dare not. I only ask that Your Majesty reconsider. Today's matter will certainly shock the world. Regardless of whether or not the historians can straighten their backs, there will still be unofficial histories that will be recorded on the pages and left in the annals of history."
Fan Xian lowered his head slightly and calmly said, "Your Majesty is a wise ruler. Regardless of whether I, the former Director of the Overwatch Council, was deranged or Scholar He's death cannot wipe out his crimes, it will not look good on paper. However, if Your Majesty's eyes are like torches, presumably it will be a different discussion."
"It sounds like a feasible plan. If it is really like this, wouldn't the court be ungrateful?" The Emperor didn't know if he had truly been moved by Fan Xian's words. He looked coldly and mockingly at his son.
"However, all officials are, in the end, Your Majesty's servants. If a servant dies, then he dies. If he can fulfill Your Majesty's grace after death, it can be considered his glory." Fan Xian's words were harsh. No one knew if he was mocking himself, the officials in court, the already dead Scholar He, or the cold ruler in front of him who never forgot the word warm and benevolent.
"The court has its own laws when it does things. Even if He Zongwei is guilty and deserves to be arrested, he should be imprisoned by a department, interrogated properly, and punished openly. How can he be crudely killed?" The Emperor said coldly. Perhaps he didn't hear the mockery in Fan Xian's words.
"The officials who acted out of righteous indignation are guilty. However, in the end, they are acting against the will of heaven. Their crimes can be pardoned. As for me, a deranged thug, naturally, I cannot be pardoned." Fan Xian smiled bitterly. "Using my life in exchange for the peace of the world's discussion, presumably no one will feel that He Zongwei has suffered a loss."
The Emperor listened to these seemingly warm but actually cold words. His expression did not change. He said, "However, in the end, I still feel guilty toward Scholar He."
"The dead are already dead," Fan Xian spat out these four words neither lightly nor heavily.
Unexpectedly, a disappointed and gloomy expression suddenly rose to the Emperor's face. He looked at him calmly. A moment later, he said, "If the dead are truly dead, why would you enter the Palace today?"
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Fan Xian was silent. There was no longer any need to discuss this topic between him and the Emperor. The last time he entered the Palace, the difference in how his father and the Emperor addressed each other had already drawn out this divergence. Now, Fan Xian's decisiveness in entering the Palace made his intentions for coming even clearer.
However, Fan Xian still had to speak clearly about the storm in Jingdou. How the court would determine today's killing, even if it was just a slight change in the direction of the wind, would bring a completely different blow to the subordinates loyal to him. The Emperor's words were as heavy as the heavens.
Xishan Bookstore and Danbo Bookstore had long made preparations to publish them to the world. However, Fan Xian did not want to use a mere name to threaten the Emperor. This was an impossible matter. He understood too well the Emperor's harsh and merciless nature. Everything was for the benefit of the people.
Since He Zongwei was already dead, no matter how much he had received the Emperor's favor and appreciation when he was alive, once he became an ice- cold corpse, he was nothing more than a useless servant. The Qing Emperor viewed ordinary officials like servants. This was a chilling truth that reached one's heart.
How to make sure Scholar He's death did not shake the foundation of the Qing court was the most important thing the Emperor considered. Fan Xian was trying to use the strategy he had prepared to persuade the Emperor to accept it. As for the crime of poisoning an official, he could not escape. He did not want to escape. His iron-blooded actions had already touched the bottom line of a feudal dynasty. Regardless of whether he stood in the Emperor's position or the position of the scholars and officialdom, there was no place for Fan Xian in the vast Qing Kingdom.
Even more miraculously, the Emperor and the royal family always paid attention to a warm and benevolent bearing. Even if a ruler, who saw tens of thousands of people as ants, did not care at all about the death of an official and secretly had harsh thoughts, no matter how close an official was, when they made a suggestion, they would carefully pull out the banner of righteousness to hide it. They would not be like Fan Xian, who spoke so openly and so lowly.
Yet, Fan Xian had done it and said it. The Emperor did not think much of it and just listened to it casually. In this world, probably only the father and son of the royal family would have such a naked, bloody, and shameless conversation. If someone beside the two of them heard the contents of their conversation, other than being shocked by the content itself, they would certainly notice another serious problem.
In the winter Palace, ever since they had spoken, Fan Xian had not been polite, bowed, knelt, or referred to himself as an official. He only referred to himself as "I." He responded indifferently and spoke from the bottom of his heart.
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The Emperor allowed Fan Xian's impudence because there was a faint coldness in the depths of his eyes. He only waved his hand with some disgust. Perhaps other people could not understand the meaning behind each of the Emperor's actions, but Fan Xian was different. He quickly straightened his body. His expression recovered its calmness, and his spirits rose slightly. He knew that there would be some deviation in the judgment of today's matter. Although the crime was only slightly off, there was a great difference in the degree of the court openly arresting him and secretly attacking him.
A gust of cold wind blew past. The snow on the long grass behind the two of them was picked up and landed on their bodies, adding a sense of coldness and harshness. If the dead He Zongwei knew that the Emperor he had been loyal to, and Fan Xian, who had killed him, had only used a conversation to make it impossible for him to die a clean death, the grievance in his heart would probably grow even stronger.
However, this was a feudal dynasty. This was the so-called family world. In the eyes of this shameless father and son, regardless of whether it was in officialdom or among the people, the Qing Emperor or Fan Xian's reputation was more powerful than He Zongwei, a newly popular official. As for whether or not such a way of handling it would chill the hearts of the officials, that was a problem for the Palace to handle in the future.
The snow continued to fall slowly and coldly. The Emperor slowly turned around and looked silently at Fan Xian, who was about the same height as him. He didn't speak for a long time. Usually, when Fan Xian was in front of the Emperor, he couldn't help but bend his body slightly or lower his head. Now, Fan Xian stood with his back straight. Only then did the Emperor realize that his son had long been the same height as him.
An intimidating coldness and pressure emanated from the man in the bright yellow dragon robe, soldering Fan Xian to the snow and grass. This aura was not purposely emanated. Instead, it moved according to the change in his state of mind and emotions. An incomparably powerful substance borrowed the power to reveal itself. It wanted to affect the surrounding environment.
Fan Xian's expression did not change. Calmly and seriously, he breathed in the air amidst the snow. The father and son had talked for a long time. They both knew that this moment would eventually come. Now that He Zongwei's matter had been resolved, it was time for the matter between the two of them.
"I am very curious. You have entered the Palace alone to face me. What exactly do you have to serve me?" The Emperor's expression was calm. Very naturally, it was tilted slightly and filled with mockery and disdain.
"I have nothing to rely on at all." Fan Xian slowly closed his eyes. After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath and bravely opened his eyes. Looking straight at the unfathomable ruler in front of him, he said in a quiet, almost numb voice, "I just want to have a fair battle with Your Majesty."
A fair battle! A fair battle? After a slight pause, the Emperor found it difficult to suppress his laughter. The laughter was deep and profound, filled with absurdity. It echoed through the Royal Palace in the depths of winter, waking up countless little creatures hibernating in the frozen earth.
The Emperor's eyes narrowed slightly. A strange smile flashed through the corners of his clear eyes. In a slightly raspy voice, he said, "What right do you have for me to ask for fairness?"
Yes, in front of the Emperor, what right did Fan Xian have to ask for fairness? His sister was still in the Palace, and his family was still in the capital. Although his subordinates had been impudent today, in the Emperor's eyes, they were still a group of ants that could not cause any waves. It was precisely because the Emperor was confident and powerful that he did not care about the turmoil in Jingdou. As long as he wanted to, he could easily move an army. Using the power of the world in his hands, he could suppress Fan Xian firmly and make him unable to move at all.
The words "a fair battle" were arrogant, valiant, and childish. The imperial Royal Palace was not the wild jianghu. If you wanted to fight, and the Emperor disdained to fight you, what could you do?
Fan Xian's expression did not change. Calmly and unswervingly, he returned the Emperor's gaze and said each word clearly, "Qualifications lie in strength. I think I still have the strength to happily seek death."
As these words left his mouth, the Emperor's eyes narrowed slightly. His deep gaze naturally swept past Fan Xian's shoulder and looked toward the continuous cluster of palaces in the southeast. The Palace, which should have been bustling, was incomparably quiet in the snow. There were no sudden noises or strange movements. However, the Emperor's heart jumped slightly. He knew that something had gone wrong. Fan Xian had entered the Palace alone to seek a quick revenge with blood spilled on the ground. He had long prepared a path of retreat and a bargaining chip to demonstrate his qualifications.
If the world was a game of chess, the chessboard placed between the father and son was seven Roads of territory, three powers, and countless provinces. The chess pieces were billions of people, endless wealth, and the hearts of the people. Fan Xian's actions, other than valiant, were to take back this chessboard from the world and turn it into the cold soil of the Royal Palace where his feet stood. He wanted to remove the chess pieces from the chessboard, leaving only himself and the Qing Emperor. This was his ruthlessness and decisiveness. Ruthlessness toward himself and decisiveness toward the Emperor.
In order to make the Emperor abandon the chessboard of the world and ensure the safety of the chess pieces, Fan Xian had to have enough bargaining chips to convince him. This included He Zongwei's death. If Fan Xian did not bring out sufficient proof, then he did not have the right to say these words.
The first bargaining chip Fan Xian tossed out was a fire. It was a fire in winter. This fire was burning in a quiet but heavily guarded room somewhere in the Royal Palace. A dozen internal court aces, who never cared about worldly affairs and were only responsible for guarding the things in the room, watched with confusion as the flames gradually spat out from the window. They knew it was over for them.
Not long after, the fire in the room was extinguished. However, the files and books inside had already been completely burned, leaving not a single trace behind.
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The Emperor's gaze gazed at the hall in the southeast corner. After a while, black smoke rose. The black smoke dispersed into the snowflakes and disappeared without a trace. His gaze finally gradually became cold and serious.
"Not many people in the Palace know where the palace treasury's records of the technological process are stored." The Emperor's gaze did not fall on Fan Xian's face. He only coldly said, "For you to be able to find it and burn it with a fire, it truly surprises me."
Fan Xian stood to the side and said, "There are only two copies of the palace treasury's technological process. One is in North Min, and the other is in the Palace. Since I can burn the one in the Palace, I can also burn the one in North Min. Regardless of whether Su Wenmao is dead or not, I trust that Your Majesty understands that I have the power to do all of this in Jiangnan and the palace treasury."
Finishing these words, Fan Xian looked at the Emperor's expressionless face and sighed in his heart. The palace treasury was the foundation of the Qing Kingdom. Suddenly hearing that the foundation had been damaged, the Emperor remained as calm as usual. Such a realm of bearing was truly extraordinary. How could he, a mortal, resist it?
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