Vol 2 Chapter 257 (1/2)
Chapter 257
Chapter 257: In a Hurry
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There was an awful racket Fan Xian siant, but instead entirely sincere He had played his part as brother-in-law, and spent the appropriate a all the bureaucrats see it No one would have i to enter first, had been his idea
Fan Xian had a natural advantage - he was a scoundrel with an honest de to offend and bully others, but on the surface he was coreat benefit, such as with the Eldest Princess, who Fan Xian had forced out of the palace with his leafleting can, but who still to this day did not know that her own son-in-laas responsible She presu to suffer in silence, and to take her at her word in the north, not daring to be hostile
He had always believed in one thing - that it was fine to be gorgeous and arrogant, but it was better to be subtly gorgeous and take advantage in secret
If one can move, then one should move If one who cannot be moved were beaten to death, then he could not move either The Great Prince was so with him for entry This was a betrayal of his usual interests Naturally, no one knew that this was all being done simply as a show for the Emperor, and the Great Prince, who had shown his true temperament, ithout a doubt the best audience for this show Perhaps only that old fox Chen Pingping could have guessed this
Finally the two parties cauard of the diplomatic ether This was not in keeping with custo Ren Shao'an of Taichang Temple rather scared How the cerereatest question
The Crown Prince saw Fan Xian, staying quiet over on one side, and felt an unexplainable happiness He pretended to scold hiested that the diplomatic mission arrive in the capital the day after to the royal court with no preparations and bringing about this mess?”
”I was anxious to return hoive hness It is possible that the imperial censors may summon me tomorrow” In truth, he felt it rather odd They had not seen each other in several months, and the Crown Prince now looked even better than before He had lost his previous tiood h Fan Xian wasn't sure what
Naturally, he was unaware that after the Eldest Princess had left the palace, returning to her fiefdo, the constant pressure upon the Crown Prince from the Empress and the Eldest Princess had suddenly relented His htened i toward hi life much more than before
The bureaucrats always presumed that the Crown Prince had it easy, and the Second Prince presuates, when the onlookers saw the Second Prince preparing to welco out of place on the elegant noblereater attention
This was the youngest son of His Majesty the Emperor The Emperor had sired four sons in total, and since the Crown Prince was not given a number, this one was the Third Prince, who had been raised deep inside the palace This year, he had just turned nine years old Now that the Great Prince had returned to the capital from his military expedition, the Eo out to greet hi him the appropriate respect At the sa prince, who had never appeared before the court councilors, the opportunity to make his first formal appearance
Taking the little prince's hand, the Second Prince bowed to the Great Prince The Great Prince see forth and taking hi the little boy's hair and speaking casually ”How did you get so tall?”
The young boy giggled, showing his real personality ”I'll be as tall as you soht the barbarians”
Theprince was the sister of Lady Liu of Fan Manor In a roundabout way, he was so prince's innocent smile, Fan Xian's heart skipped a beat He could see a certain self-possession in that se, and he couldn't help but give a slight s to be innocent and bashful, and he had dared to play such a ga to win him over with his charms
The Second Prince also knehat had happened previously He forced a smile as he spoke with Fan Xian ”I say, brother-in-laill you stop causing so ine all the officials in the capital will thank Heaven when that day comes”
Fan Xian's smile was even more pained ”In truth it was the Princess of Northern Qi's idea As a mere official, I would never be so bold”
The Crown Prince frowned almost imperceptibly; he seemed unhappy with Fan Xian's conversation with the Second Prince ”Brother, the ceremony has not yet finished Behave in a manner that befits your position”
His words were a little unreasonable Previously, the Crown Prince had been happy to address Fan Xian war to permit the Second Prince to do the same The Second Prince's face stayed the sa into Fan Xian's ear ”Before the civil service exao home and ask Chen'er how she would address me Did you ask or not?”
Fan Xian thought back to that time, then
shook his head and s the civil service exaot I shall return today and ask her”
The Second Prince s his little brother's hand, he followed the Great Prince and the Crown Prince before hih the two men's conversation was quiet, it still reached the Great Prince's ears The Great Prince, who had spent the year fighting in a different part of the country, couldn't help but feel suspicious Although he knew of Fan Xian's reputation, he had not been in the capital, so he didn't knohat kind of power Fan Xian held He was stunned to discover that both the Second Prince and the Crown Prince were conciliatory toward him in speech It seemed that they feared that the officials present did not know of their close relationshi+ps with Fan Xian
A mere official, and yet he was looked upon so fondly by both sons of the E to put rank aside The Great Prince couldn't help but frown unhappily
Fan Xian was thinking about other things He saw that the four princes - three grown, one only a child - were all adorned differently They all wore yellow silk robes, and walked toward the pitch-dark city gate somewhat absent-mindedly Would the day come when he stood between these four princes?
Autumn in the capital was indescribably beautiful The pale white clouds hung high in the sky The yellowing leaves drooped over the edges of the houses, lingering, unwilling to fall into the water The canals along the side of the street were so road, in the distance, a corner of the eaves of the palace jutted out, iainst the clear blue sky
The Great Prince's convoy had already departed in a huff, and the diplo pains to keep their speed down Accolu Temple, they made their way toward the palace Since they had already entered the capital, Fan Xian was no longer quite so nervous In any case, he couldn't return hoht away; he had to make his report at the palace So he finally had a little spare time to admire the scenery around him He had only stayed in the capital for less than a year, so he wasn't nearly as familiar with it as he ith Danzhou, but for some reason, the moment he entered the city, saw the houses all around him, and smelled the city's unique scent, he felt a certain spiritual refreshment
”You are anxious to return to the capital Presumably there is business to attend to at hoe to his side came the meek voice of the Princess of Northern Qi
Fan Xian shtly but did not reply He knew full well that she was taking pains to ly ordinary official as in fact particularly important But they had already talked plenty on their way back to the capital Now that they were entering the city, there were eyes and ears everywhere, and it was best to avoid any further incident at this final stage Besides, he knew that she was right, and yet he had no idea how to respond
The House of Fan were now greatly favored within the city Peace reigned in their household nobody around hied his horse onward, trotting forward until he cae ”If you don't want to cause me any more trouble,” he said in a low voice, ”you need to take her away”
Sitting inside the carriage, Yan Bingyun shook his head He surveyed the results of his work, but still kept the same familiar expression that he always did He couldn't understand when Fan Xian had taken up hed as he broached the subject ”Trying to jostle for entry into the city was not a wise move The Overwatch Council has always reles between the princes You once said that youthat you hear Both the Crown Prince and the Second Prince were awaiting your arrival Since that is the case, then in order to remain neutral, you should not have provoked the Great Prince It goes against the objectives of the Council”
Fan Xian was silent He knew that Yan Bingyun was right, and that as an official of the Kingdo – particularly as a commissioner of the Overwatch Council – he should not have such dealings with the princes Since he had to associate with them, he had to treat them all equally, so as not to have the palace suspect that the Overwatch Council could not be is with them
But he wasn't happy about it, because he knew that his status was not siree of partiality toward one of the princes could atplans for his own future power and riches, and that his loyalty was not co But if he were to re use of money and power in his occupation, then perhaps it would ned toan official
This was Fan Xian's biggest secret fear
The convoy travelled down Xingdao Lane, no longer needing the city's bailiffs to maintain order because it had already co for officials Naturally, there were no longer sothe sides of the street At that roup, quietlyits way down a side alley where one could faintly see people waiting to meet it
Although it was silent, the officials could see it clearly They knew that the diplomatic mission was composed of numerous complicated parts They presu at Commissioner Fan's rather solemn face, no one dared to ask about it
Naturally, Fan Xian had a serious expression because he was about to enter the palace Its red walls appeared before him
A group of diploive their reports The E, and no one dared to look as if they were relaxing Instead, they constantly rushed around, tiring the tiathered officials felt rather uneasy But they had gone to Northern Qi in order to sort out carving up territory for the royal court, and Fan Xian had brought thee looked old and of little value, but they presumed that His Majesty would be happy to see them - how could he leave people such as themselves outside?
The official froates also began to gradually feel so into Fan Xian's ear ”I i with the Great Prince As officials, all we can do is wait”
Fan Xian se had already been ushered inside by the palace eunuchs The most iuessed why theleft outside
The ilared coldly at the officials, whose nervousness was clearly showing The guards' expressions did not change, and the eunuchs standing outside the palace gates did not look directly at them
But Fan Xian's status was different from the others He was still a prince consort of the palace, and a particularly well-favored one, as well as a high-ranking official of the Overwatch Council This diplo bestowed upon hiht him a round stool and invited him to rest there for a while
Fan Xian was somewhat stunned ”Is this the custom?” he asked
As he was speaking, the head eunuch ca hi tone of voice, ”Master Fan, His Majesty has ht that you rest upon this stool a while aftersuch a journey”
”Oh, Eunuch Hou, how did you get here?” Fan Xian feigned amazement The eunuch who stood before him was the one who he had seen when he accompanied Lady Liu and Ruoruo to the palace for the first tiood terms with the Fan family, so his expression was an amiable one, and the eunuch had addressed hi to maintain this mood of friendliness
Fan Xian smiled in response ”I have come from afar, but it seems my path is blocked There will be no honors bestowed upon me today”
Eunuch Hou snickered ”Everyone knows that everything you touch turns to gold,” he whispered to Fan Xian ”And what'sin your future” The old servant was ready for a chat, but he heard the palace gate creak open A eunuch rushed out to convey His Majesty's order Fan Xian iside the crowd of officials at the palace gate
To his surprise, the E solely on his talent, being inobservant, reckless, and so forth He also said that the day's events had left hiive his report tomorrow Count Sinan would discipline him appropriately, and his reprimand would be severe Finally, the diplomatic e of praise to be sent in the days to come
The officials looked at each other in dismay They had not expected for the diplomatic mission to be treated this way on their first day back in the capital They couldn't help but sigh dejectedly But so officials looked at Fan Xian His heart beat like a druhly rebuked by His Majesty, but in the end, nothing had been done; Count Sinan was merely to discipline him later It seemed that Fan Xian was indeed a favorite of the Emperor
Fan Xian koed in acceptance of the order He looked somewhat embarrassed, but he was in fact rather pleased He stood up, patted his buttocks, and turned around to see an old friend It was Gong Dian, coht of the look of appreciation on Fan Xian's face and was getting ready to chat with him To his surprise, Fan Xian cupped his hands and bowed soy, then leapt up onto his horse, pressing his legs together, cracking his horsewhip, and galloping away fro behind a cloud of dust and nothing else
Gong Dian was stunned He and his subordinate guards stared blankly at the cloud of dust in the distance Although he hadn't been expressly told not to leave the palace, Fan Xian was perhaps the first official to have etaway
Autumn had yet to fully arrive Fan Xian's business with the Council had been sorted, and Gao Da and the other Tiger Guards had all been relieved of their duties He galloped along the long street with the wind through his hair, and a little while later, he finally arrived in the south of the city The sound of his horse's hooves echoed off the stone lions at the entrance to Fan Manor
It was already dark The lanterns had been lit outside the variousthe street They were not particularly bright; only the ones outside Fan Manor blazed brightly Theoutside the entrance turned their heads to look Inside, Lady Liu had gone about her parental duties, ordering the serving-girls to make tea in anticipation of Fan Xian's arrival