Chapter 331 (1/2)
The New Year enjoyed the bounty of the previous year, and was a signal for spring The New Year festival caain It was not delayed, and came with little surprise
This winter, Fan Xian had not spentMountain With the addition of all the other events that happened, Wan'er and Ruoruo were frightened into returning to Jingdou as well Everyone had gathered except for the second Fan son, and so the Fan Manor took the opportunity to celebrate properly
A thick layer of red confetti lay outside the Manor doors like the carpet at a wedding The sent but also slightly sweet The fish andand small kitchens ood Luckily young estion ht of the 30th, Fan Xian was in his roo a difficult conversation After slightly clearing their confusion, he didn't wait for the to them to the front residence
A New Year's athered around to play a few rounds ofher neck, and occasionally giving out bad advice and successfully losing quite a lot of silver to the two elders He then carefully chose a few classic jokes froe atmosphere around the table
The next day was the first day of the year After the young people struggled awake after counting the New Year in, they went to the hall to give their New Year salute
Fan Xian did it very seriously His two knees solidly hit the ground and, in front of everyone's strange gazes, he (cal, bang, bang—three tiround
Oldan unspeakable coo make soup balls, the front residence was just left with sole people on the first of the year Fan Xian walked behind his father and gently rubbed his shoulders Ever since the rumors had spread, it seeer held his he was meant to have as a son The distance between father and son seemed to be much closer than before
The Minister of Revenue, Fan Jian, rested and enjoyed theof his son He asked, ”How is Sizhe over there?”
Fan Xian answered respectfully, ”Not bad, wang Qinian is a clever htly ”You know lots of people in Northern Qi As to this point, I am at ease” He suddenly shook his head and said in soe I see that you are very good to northern people, but don't forget: there is an enmity between our countries that cannot be resolved Sometimes, it is fine to use them, but you cannot completely trust them, and you especially cannot place your final hope in theuessed so He chuckled and explained himself
Fan Jian suddenly asked with interest, ”Old Fei is treating your injury—how is it now?”
Fan Xian didn't want his father to worry, and so did not tell hi He nodded and said, ”Almost all better Another twoto worry about”
”It still needs another two nan cannot coh, the rivers are deep, and the Eood as before, youyou do Don't do you as have for the last two years, always fighting to be first Each time you s can be borne, then bear them for a while There is no need to rush
Fan Xian heard the worry in his father's words, but knew his father was also re in the capital, Fan Xian had always been ruthless, bold, and relentless Even when faced with the Eldest Princess and the Second Prince, he hadn't backed down Once he reached Jiangnan and faced the high officials there deep in the territory of the area's the pro in how he conducted his business Although from the perspective of his position, no one couldto rely on, and so needed to take precautions
Father and son exchanged opinions on ould happen in the new year They also es the Eldest Princessto court with her return Fan Jian reminded Fan Xian that he should pay attention to Hu the Scholar, ould enter the court this year Fan Xian did not understand what his fatherup that master scholar, but nevertheless, he fixed the nahtly patted the steady young hands on his shoulder; he shtly and said, ”It see to hand the Overwatch Council to you In the co days when you are on the Council, he will have to find someone in court whofor the future”
When Hu the Scholar had led a change in the style of writing, he had been just a young man in his early twenties Noas almost 40 years old, and his literary name flourished in the south Before Fan Xian was born, there was no one who could compare to him However, this dear friend hadn't had any luck this year in court, and had been wandering around Qi Street He had a lofty position, but no true power, and now he had entered the capital as a palace secretary and could be considered important in the court
Fan Xian shook his head as he s much in court politics, and would certainly not provoke Hu the Scholar He figured Hu the Scholar wouldn't purposely bother hier until Fan Xian remembered that the family still had to honor their ancestors, and so he asked a probing question
Fan Jian turned his head and glanced at his son before sighing and shaking his head He knew in his heart it was a rare thing for this child to have this intention Although he could express his true intentions, he, himself, could not have his name enter the family tree After all, he still had to consider the face of the one in the palace
Fan Xian was only testing, and seeing his father's direct response, that there wasn't any possibility, he knew that it was just wishful thinking on his part In his heart, he felt a bit upset
The arden Al, Lady Liu, and Ruoruo had already gone to the estate where the Fan clan ancestral tee portion of the stewards, old one At this moment, there were not many people left in the front and back residences, and it seeo,” Wan'er sat at his side and co a book The Danbo Bookstore had just printed the first batch of the ”Anthology of Zhuang's Critiques” Fan Xian had given the book its na to the seventh Ye, the sales had been very good The profits had come in much faster than expected, particularly since the Northern Qi court ordered 10,000 copies at once This had caused Fan Xian's wallet to swell again
Hearing the tone in his wife's voice, he shtly and raised his head He casually put the book aside and hummed ”What? Are you worried I'll take it too hard?”
Wan'er laughed, ”How come you're not worried I won't take it too hard?”
Fan Xian stretched his ar his shoulder near her cold cheeks, he asked with concern, ”How have you been feeling?”
Wan'er misunderstood his question and the face on his shoulder was slightly sad ”Still nothing”
Fan Xian laughed and said, ”Who cares about the unborn girl? I was just asking how you were When Sir Fei treatsa cow At this point, I' is fine” Wan'er thought for a bit and asked curiously, ”Why is it a girl?”
”A girl is good She won't need to stand in court and battle every day,” Fan Xian said with a s was, of course, very different from the people in this world
Wan'er pulled away a bit frohed and said, ”Being a girl is also not good I married a husband, and I don't even knoho he is exactly… it doesn't feel good in here”
Fan Xian's hand bluntly stretched towards his wife's soft chest, and he said seriously, ”Let me see if this probleether, but were not able to completely throw this ht that… you're…htly and said, ”Sister Lin, let's hear you say brother Fan”
Wan'er spat, ”Bah! You're not Baoyu”
Fan Xian thought about it and agreed; he was h his head, and he walked out of the room Wan'er did not knohere he went and was very curious As expected, Fan Xian cas that not even servants often wore!
Wan'er looked at this beggar costuhter
Fan Xian's eyes were opened wide as was his mouth, and he said with silliness, ”Cousin—hahahaha—I've finally waited for yer teh coone crazy Was it really that funny to call her ”cousin?” She hesitantly asked, ”Cousin?”
Fan Xian laughed foolishly, ”Ah, I' ah…”
Lin Wan'er was stunned Hearing her husband use the Jiaozhou accent to spout a bunch of nonsense, she didn't kno to reply for quite a while Seeing her reaction, Fan Xian becaed, and lowered his head like a defeated soldier He went out to change his clothes back
”Husband, before… ere you doing?”
”Dongchen Xijiu Imitation Show,” Fan Xian said with a pained expression
”Imitation Show?”
”Show… S-H-O-W It's what people in the south often call… don't ask any stupid”
Fan Xian's acting ability was actually very good Since being reborn into this world, he had acted as an innocent child, a God of poetry, and a playboy Acting had always been his forte If this weren't the case, he wouldn't have had the confidence in the palace, in the little tower, to act with real feeling and character to fool that Emperor, whose depths could not be measured
But people always needed a rest, and so when he ith those closest to him, he didn't hide much Like when he ith his wife and his sister After his past was exposed, although Wan'er had been stunned, she had gradually accepted the truth As for her husband suddenly beco old ties with e
As for Ruoruo, her brother had suddenly beco trouble accepting this Thus, the little lady of the Fan fa Fan Xian As if she wasn't sure how to face her older brother anymore
She was ill at ease, and couldn't even focus in Fei Jie's class Of course, the Manor didn't dare to let her go to the Imperial Academy of Medicine to discuss matters of life and death with the old doctors
”Ruoruo just hasn't thought it through,” Wan'er cohed bitterly, ”Ae” He closed his eyes and rested for a s are peaceful over there, I will bring you over As for my sister, I suspect she will also leave the capital soon”
Lin Wan'er was very happy to hear this; she leaned on his shoulder and said, ”I've heard the water is good in Jiangnan, and that all the anis I've never been far from home I'll have to really enjoy myself this ti to see handso; her round cheeks immediately flushed red and she curled her hands into fists and beat theht her small fists His face became serious and he said, ”When the Eldest Princess returns to the capital, youthat, all sorts of feelings welled up in Lin Wan'er's heart and she suffered various sorrows She didn't kno to sort out this connection Fan Xian comforted her, ”I know this is difficult, but you'll have to learn eventually Tear this matter in two The relationshi+ps are completely unrelated Keep each matter to itself”
This problem couldn't be solved with comfort or persuasion Fan Xian understood this and could do nothing but drop the conversation On the contrary, Wan'er forced herself to cheer up and started to worry about the palace treasury matter for hiyu Hall with you, I'e of the palace treasury in the shortest aed it for so nan look to her for direction”
She hesitated for a while, then said seriously, ”Especially since you are taking old people fronan, it will easily cause discussion in the court and a the people…”
Fan Xian nodded and said calmly, ”I know that too, but this must be done All these years, the shopkeepers have all been helping various manors run their businesses I don't co, whether or not they can trust me… it's just that without them, I wouldn't knohat to do about the problems with the palace treasury The reason why the court has been keeping a close eye on them all these years is because they understand the palace treasuryprocesses These secrets are the most important of court secrets, and the court would not allow this knowledge to flow to Northern Qi or Dongyi City… for each business in the palace treasury, the production needs specialized support This is what saved their lives”
Lin Wan'er was silent for a while then said quietly, ”It looks like these shopkeepers move freely in the capital, but in reality, sons that they have revealed their secrets, the person following them will immediately kill theuess Only, I don't knohere those people are from I've check in the Council, but the Overwatch Council is only responsible for the outer circle I couldn't find the people responsible for killing them”
”They're from the palace” Lin Wan'er looked worried as she spoke ”I expect they will go with you to Jiangnan”
”Servants of the eunuchs?” Fan Xian sood relations with eunuchs and officials No matter which palace, or which eunuch, they all considered Co about these things” He thought about it for a bit, then said, ”Although the un, it has mostly been decided… that stone-headed royal brother of yours probably doesn't have much of a chance The battle between the princes probably won't surface again for another few years This, I think, is what the Eh he doesn't say it”
Lin Wan'er sighed, and looked at her husband in a daze A s From what I can see, the E a ruckus As to what he's really thinking, who really knows? Take the second royal brother for exah he's currently under house-arrest, who knohether or not he'll make a comeback in the future?”
Fan Xian felt a chill as he listened to his wife continue her analysis
”The Emperor is a very special person” Lin Wan'er's eyes were opened wide, and they revealed an intelligence and cunning that seemed completely different from their normal shi+ne ”He is an Emperor who crawled out of his own blood and fire Hischaracteristic is self-confidence, extreme self-confidence He doesn't believe that there exists someone who could truly rock his position and so the battle between the princes is just an annoyance to him, a disturbance for a father to see his own flesh and blood hurting each other I don't think he actually cares about the title the Crown Prince has As to ill take the throne, it's actually all up to what he thinks, how the princes will behave in the co years
”The Emperor doesn't even care about all this,” Lin Wan'er continued in a quiet voice ”Uncle is healthy, and he isn't very old either He believes he can still live for many years He's never considered the issue of inheritance His mind is still on the world, he still has lofty ambitions”
Fan Xian's temple throbbed and he furrowed his brows ”The Eo to war?”
”It's hard to say” Lin Wan'er was still a woman, and did not likepeace has already been very strange Currently, Xi Hu does not dare to come east and the Nanyue issue has been settled; the E the palace treasury back to the fold so that people of Jiangnan will gradually settle down Once there is sufficient silver and grain in the national treasury, I'ain”