Vol 2 Chapter 253 (1/2)
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Chapter 253: The Long Pavilion, the Ancient Road, Tossing the H
Fan Xian gripped the to Mohan two nights ago turned out to be his last Although on that night, he had discovered that Zhuang Mohan’s health had declined since last year, Fan Xian never thought this leading scholar would depart this world so suddenly
In his final words, Zhuang Mohan gave his last literary work to Fan Xian, a gesture which contained cos
Gradually, all the Qi officials learned of the shocking news, and athe crowd Most of the officials cast their glances at Fan Xian, glances which were filled with caution, hate, and suspicion
Fan Xian knehat those Qi officials were thinking: that he was the one responsible for Zhuang Mohan’s only downfall Now that the old one, even Fan Xian felt a bit sad He intentionally took in the colance aiht, the carriage finally arrived fro all the attention to the back of the envoy This carriage was slightlya heavy load The servant who had originally delivered the news led Fan Xian to that carriage In a shaking voice, he said, ”Sir Fan, in his last wish, the Old Master asks that you bring back this carriage and take good care of the contents”
The crowd had yet to recover fro Mohan’s death, and now they had become even more sorrowful But at the same ti Mohan give Fan Xian?
Fan Xian was standing, facing the bright sun, which caused him to squint Even so, he was shaken when he sahat the carriage was carrying
As was said, through reading one could find beautiful woold, and sue did not contain any beauty or jewelry, it was filled with books—Zhuang Mohan’s lifeti Mohan’s status, it was easy to guess that they were all rare books without even flipping through theave Fan Xian a booklet ”Sir Fan, this is the Old Master’s hand-written catalog It also contains important steps on how to preserve the books”
Fan Xian sighed and closed the carriage He read through the booklet carefully In the current age, despite great advance books re Mohan’s act of giving his books alone moved Fan Xian He then heard the servant say, ”The Old Master gave you his books hoping you could preserve the your life”
Fan Xian knew the servant had said that on his own Even so, he sincerely gave the servant a solute ”Brother, please rest assured Even if I, Fan Xian, perish, these books shall continue to be passed down in this world”
The officials of Northern Qi had gathered around and saw all the books in the carriage As they had all gone through civil examinations, all of them knew the value of those books Never would they expect Master Zhuang to give his valuable collection to an official from the southern nation Other than surprise, sorand tutor knew hiswas a for so, Zhuan Mohan wanted to show his intentions in a more symbolic manner No matter how much pride each civil official of Qi had, frohtly At the same time, Fan Xian’s place in the eyes of all acadeerand tutor ”It is only right that I return to Shangjing so I rand tutor could not hide the pain in his eyes Only the thought of going back to pay his respects to Zhuang Mohan filled his reed However, Minister Wei Hua approached He gave a salute and said, painfully, ”The world weeps at Master’s passing But everything regarding the envoy’s departure has already been set I ao back into the city”
After a ray walls, as if he could see a faint purple light floating in the sky above He tidied up his clothes and bowed deeply towards the city in the htly surprised that Fan Xian was bowing in this rand tutor somewhat, and he returned a salute
Firecrackers sounded nobody knew if it was sending off the envoy or for Zhuang Mohan Pieces of paper flew in the sky, while the slightly pungent s the world’s i that heavy book carriage departing with Southern Qing, the Qi officials sighed With faces full of sorrow, they returned to put on ’s er and the emperor should have already arrived, so no one dared be tardy Meanwhile, the grand tutor and several great scholars taught by Zhuang Mohan al
The envoy continued onward As Shangjing’s grand walls began to disappear behind the mountain forest, the envoy had arrived at the first courier station outside the city According to the rules, they had to spend a night here and resuot off his horse and walked towards the station As he passed the carriage full of books, he couldn’t help but look at it, although he forced back his desire to get in
He walked to the carriage painted red and gold Bowing, he said very respectfully, ”We have arrived at the courier station Princess, please rest here”
Some moments later, a faint voice said, ”… Sir, please carry on as you deem fit I wish to sit alone for athe princess speak Her voice was a bit hoarse, which Fan Xian found strange The curtain of the carriage entrance then lifted and a palace girl came out, her eyes red She walked to Fan Xian and said quietly, ”Her Highness isn’t feeling too well Please wait a hness needsjourneys Frequent rest is needed”
Seeing this southern official’s handsoe sense of trust She told Fan Xian, ”The Princess once studied under Master Zhuang Hearing the news today has saddened her greatly”
Now Fan Xian realized as happening His gaze toward the carriage now contained a hint of sy, this princess didn’t appear to be an arrogant person As a o pay her respects was indeed a sad thing
Fan Xian sighed He ave soer Guards and iements After that, he entered the station alone
The station kneas passing though The staff had cleaned the place spotless and conducted the the place, Fan Xian passed through the h the back door He disappeared into the tall sorghum field behind the courier station
Moments later, most of the envoy had entered the station The officials from the Board of Rites were all busy, and no one noticed where Fan Xian had gone
Outside the courier station were still two carriages with people inside The first was occupied by the princess People knew Her Highness was e held a handsoer Guards and the Council officials guarded those two carriages under Fan Xian’s order
A hand lifted thecurtain on the second carriage and beckoned It was a hand so pale it appeared cold The Overwatch Council official walked to theand asked, ”Sir Yan, what are your orders?”
Yan Bingyun’s handso face appeared in theHe asked quietly, ”Where did the Coo?”
In this envoy, only he addressed Fan Xian as ”the Coyun and replied, ”I don’t know”
Yan Bingyun frowned, as if so was inconvenient to say He hesitated for a bit before asking, ”Along the as there a wo the envoy? She likes to ride on a red horse”
The Council official shook his head Yan Bingyun showed no expression and put down the curtain Having made sure Miss Shen did not take the risk to come see hiloohum field, there was a lonely pavilion next to an ancient road that had been abandoned for ages On the road was a carriage, and two girls stood under the pavilion
A gust of wind blew past There was a slight rustle ahum stalks Fan Xian walked out and slowly approached the pavilion With warirls and said quietly, ”I didn’t think the only ti was the time for me to leave”
Si Lili curtsied Her voice was soave a look to Haitang, as standing to the side, not saying anything Haitang sround with the tips of her feet, she floated off to a distance, leaving the pavilion to this special couple
Once Haitang left, Fan Xian’s warm expression suddenly turned serious He said, ”After you enter the palace, you er isn’t a si her won't be easy”
Si Lili looked at hiaze She said softly, ”Only tellingelse to say?”
Fan Xian smiled, but he did not embrace her frail shoulders He said, ”Since you are so ada in Northern Qi, why try to soften s?”
Si Lili s was present She said, ”Sir, aren’t you the sa, for you to hurry to say that, are you afraid I would de flashed in Fan Xian’s eyes ”You may one day rule the Northern Qi palace Why suffer with people such as hed, ”It would be nice if there were a place for ant wishes”
Fan Xian shook his head Suddenly, he said, ”Lili, you are different from other women”
”Oh,” Si Lili responded calmly ”Perhaps it was because I traveled to e Co e poems, I am not as conservative”