Vol 2 Chapter 247 (2/2)
The staff of the restaurant were naturally rather surprised, but the boss gave thehest levels of the royal court, and he knew the identity of theThe man was the immortal of poetry froether, they could have easily walked around the palace itself, let alone a restaurant
In a private roo the street, Fan Xian squinted at the road outside while he drank fro drunk three cups, he was still frowning, and he called for the innkeeper to bring him a fresh cup
The innkeeper saw that he was in a foul inal plan of asking for an autograph fro him another cup of Northern Qi's finest rice wine
Fan Xian took a gulp and nodded
”That was Five Grain Liquor,” said Haitang, ”the finest liquor in the world And you're still not satisfied, Master Fan?”
”I like strong wine,” said Fan Xian, turning his head to look at her, a strange look on his face ”But I don't want to drink Five Grain Liquor right now, because there's a certain taste to it that makes me feel like I can't relax”
Five Grain Liquor tasted like Qingyu Hall, like the Ye fa to do with Fan Xian personally He didn't want to drink it today
Haitang was silent once ot brighter and brighter, as if she atching soradually more intoxicated, there was a blurred look in Fan Xian's eyes His shter ”Funny, isn't it? I live such a char my sorrows”
”The youth knows not the taste of worry” Fan Xian tapped his boith chopsticks as he sang This was the first verse he had ”copied” after his reincarnation When he thought back to that ti softly once acy, and you will come across a benefactor; treasure your mother, treasure yourthe needy and supporting the poor Do not love et your flesh and blood For Heaven decides what is given and taken, what isby Jia Qiaojie in Drea's eyes lit up
Fan Xian let out a long sigh, and drained his goblet ”Haitang, you're not listening to et drunk? There were a great reatest was sadness, feeling under attack from life's pressures On his trip to the north, Fan Xian had obtained the secret of the temple, he had fostered friendshi+p between two nations, and he had successfully assembled the spy network in the north Any way you looked at it, he should have been happy But for some reason, he was sad Where had this pressure come from?
The truth was simple His sadness was because of his restless heart In that mountain cave, he had told Xiao En that he was a traveller in this world, so he had always looked upon this world with the eyes of a teh all the vicissitudes of the past 18 years, he still felt a certain distance from this world If he didn't have Wan'er, or his sister, or Wu Zhu, then Fan Xian wished he could throw caution to the wind and live happily in this world
And yet the pressure ca had h And now that Fan Xian knew of the temple's whereabouts, he realized that he had to bear that burden alone The secret that had weighed on Xiao En for decades would weigh upon Fan Xian for many decades more
If he went to the teer And ould happen to the people he wanted to protect? If he didn't go, then he would never knohat had happened all those years ago Fan Xian was frustrated Before, when he didn't know, he wished he could have dug a hole into Xiao En's skull to get at his secrets Now that he knew, he wished he had never found out
For his own safety, what he probably had to do was return to the capital and continue enjoying many years of success in business and in the bureaucracy, keeping the secret of the temple forever buried deep inside himself But he would always feel soet his mei, his own flesh and blood So he didn't want to drink Five Grain Liquor He even had an urge to take the glass goblet in his hand and throw it to the floor, s it to pieces
It was as if Qiaojie's words in Dream of the Red Chamber ritten specifically for hi with benefactors, of having ahi a vast fortune with her great help
Leave a legacy, enjoy one's re years?
Haitang's bright eyes see the needy and supporting the poor,” she said slowly
Fan Xian suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, frightened He knew that even if he was completely drunk, he still could never reveal the secret to anyone But why had Haitang said that?
In fact, she hadn't said it for any particular reason at all She looked at Fan Xian's soht of what she had heard of that night in the palace hall banquet in Qing, when the immortal of poetry had appeared mad and unruly to the entire world She presumed that Fan Xian had already set upon his way on the path of life, and yet he had beco si to see in the lives of scholars, so Haitang had said those words sie Fan Xian to think of the people of the land because Haitang had always believed that deep down, Fan Xian was a scholar
”There is always so oes, driven by his own interests” Fan Xian laughed , you walk the path of Heaven, close to nature, cherishi+ng the people, and yet you do not know that they simply act in their own favor I have no desire to capture new territory, and I want the common people to live a little easier, but I must live easier myself first If I want the common people to live better lives, then I must capture power for myself But in the bureaucracies and royal courts of this world, if you have a high position, then how can you live co was taken aback ”You hold significant authority, Master Fan Never forget that morality must be your ord”
”What nonsense” Fan Xian noisily struck the porcelain boith his chopsticks, and yet it did not break
”There is little that distinguishes”Only our sense of righteousness You and I are fro for frohteousness, Master Fan, then do not forget to do your utain once you return to your home country”
For all people to lay down their arined it It was a lofty goal If anyone else had said it, he would feel uneasy But when Haitang spoke of it, it appeared nonchalant and natural, and it gave hihed, a hint of ?”
”Killing Xiao En would save the lives of thousands What choice does one have?” If Xiao En had escaped froreatly increased If the secret of the te Ee the world into decades of war So she had a point
Fan Xian had the awareness of neither a politician nor a Taoist sage He sneered ”If a hundred people were to die, and by killing 49 you could save 51 of the was silent for a long time
”So we're both heartless” Fan Xian suddenly didn't want to think about such boring things any ed topic ”There is little that separatesfor help fro looked up, so skills are nowhere near yours,” said Fan Xian ”But if it were a true fight to the death, you could not killnodded
Fan Xian drank another cupful and looked at her ”Why?” he asked gently ”Because I' use of allthe path of a warrior, one th of others cannot be relied upon forever,” replied Haitang quietly
Fan Xian shook his head ”The righteous hteousness But one who seeks to take advantage of others hteous oals are proper, then what does itsaid this, Fan Xian felt soressed somewhat, but had accidentally touched upon his own innerht had struck his heart, and he suddenly understood his own true feelings Was he empty inside? Or was he filled with eiven another chance at life, but he had never knohat to do with it Until today At that h his eyes still clearly looked drunk He looked at Haitang ”Thank you,” he said gently
Haitang's words had ry at all Hearing those tords, she felt somewhat at a loss She looked into Fan Xian's drunken eyes and saw a trace of persistent deterhtly uncoht for a while, and it showed in her clear eyes ”In days to coe for you to prove your talent, Master Fan Since you do not desire war, then you are lory, and act conscientiously on behalf of the common people The correct path can only be walked without an ounce of coently upon the table ”Do not worry I will follow the path”
Save for Ku He, Haitang was the greatest fighter in all of Nrothern Qi Having such a wonderful wo him dispersed all the doubts in his h he had childishly turned away the Five Grain Liquor, he had still drunk plenty of rice wine Now his throat was dry and burning and his ish and muddled Airy and cheerful, he slumped on the table
This was the first time he had drunk himself into a stupor since he had opened the box, and yet it was in a restaurant in the enee and stupid , when he did not truly knohether she was an eneure you out,” said Haitang, looking at the drunken Fan Xian as he slept like a baby on the table She smiled ”I'd alanted to meet Cao Xueqin” [3]
[1] Fan Xian quotes from Records of the Grand Historian by Si by Xunzi
[3] Cao Xueqin was the author of Dream of the Red Chamber