The sedan chair slowly departed from the long street, and the powerful archer disappeared as well, leaving behind only remnant snow and lingering white mist.

As the sedan chair moved away and the coughing subsided, the fog on the long street gradually dissipated. Although the surroundings remained dark, they appeared much clearer than before. Snowflakes quietly fell from the sky, gently and ethereally, as if celestial beings were lightly shaking flowering trees.

The clouds parted, and the layers of dark clouds suddenly split open, revealing the crescent silver moon. Its clear light gradually spread, illuminating the long street clearly.

Behind the street, the overlapping eaves of the residential houses extended into the street, casting strangely shaped shadows on the ground due to the moonlight.

One dark shadow suddenly trembled, twisting like some kind of creature, then slowly and silently retreated, shrinking back into the large patch of shadows, unable to be distinguished.

...

...

Fan Xian lay prone on the corner of a gate tower in the distance, wearing a snow cloak that was black mixed with white. He withdrew his gaze from the street corner obscured by the stone beast, sighed softly, and exhaled white mist into the night air. The ice threads that had formed on his eyebrows cracked a few times, and he wearily lay back, stretching his sore muscles, gazing at the silver moon in the night sky above.

Touching the hardened box beside him, he unconsciously shook his head, squinted his eyes. He had invested a great deal tonight, prepared so thoroughly, and was on the verge of success, only to have Hong Gonggong foil his plan. It was truly a failure.

He hadn't intended to use the box, as it was too sensitive. Only as a last resort could it be used. However, to assassinate Yan Xiaoyi, a powerhouse already standing at the pinnacle of humanity, without feeling the hard box, he lacked confidence. It was a boost to morale, the ultimate reliance.

Fan Xian lay in the remaining snow on the rooftop, panting heavily, calming his emotions and the inexplicable anger.

Someone crawled over. Fan Xian lifted his snow cloak, covering the object, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

Wang Qinian crept to his side and said, "It's Hong Gonggong."

Fan Xian nodded. "You've worked hard tonight."

Tonight, everyone in the Supervisory Council was busy with bloody matters. Wang Qinian, Fan Xian's most trusted confidant, seemed rather idle. Only Fan Xian knew that he had tasked Wang Qinian with monitoring Yan Xiaoyi's movements.

He knew Yan Xiaoyi wouldn't miss this opportunity, so he didn't want to miss it either. Wang Qinian's performance hadn't disappointed him. A ninth-rank master hadn't noticed that his movements were completely under Wang Qinian's observation.

The Supervisory Council's twin wings, the best trackers in the world, lived up to their reputation.

Wang Qinian's face was very pale, whiter than the remaining snow on the roof and the silver light in the street. Tracking Yan Dadu was undoubtedly the most terrifying task in his life. The fear and pressure were almost unbearable, pushing this forty-year-old man to the brink of collapse.

Moreover, he wasn't sure if he had seen something he shouldn't have.

Fan Xian said calmly, "I trust you. To be precise, many of my things are built on my trust in you."

Wang Qinian understood the meaning of those words. Lord Fan had bumped into him when he first arrived in the capital, using that as the center to start building the Qinian Team. From the team, it spread, gradually taking control of the Supervisory Council.

And he was undoubtedly the person in the world who knew the most secrets about Lord Fan, such as that night after the poem recital in front of the palace, that key...

The next day, news came that there was an assassin in the palace. Wang Qinian knew who the assassin was. As for the key, well... it was certainly used to open something.

So Fan Xian hadn't killed him to silence him. Wang Qinian was somewhat surprised and touched, truly touched. He felt an urge to die for a confidant, which was very dangerous and not worthwhile for him, who was over forty years old, but he still kept this beautiful feeling in his heart.

Two calls of a night owl came from under the gate tower. Fan Xian listened carefully, confirmed that it was clear, and made a gesture to Wang Qinian beside him.

A look of fear flashed in Wang Qinian's eyes, because he had vaguely heard that legend, and he also knew the relationship between that legend and Lord Fan's mother.

He knew that his life had been completely handed over to Lord Fan from today onwards. This was mutual trust, and the trust itself was very terrifying, a matter of life and death.

He turned his palm, and his whole body slid down from under the gate tower. The sliding posture was very strange and comical, like a large mantis, with long hands and feet, but silent. Soon he reached the ground, walked to the middle of the street, squatted down, checked the breath of the impostor, confirmed that he was still alive, and made a gesture to the air.

This gesture was naturally made for Fan Xian to see. Fan Xian smiled when he saw this scene. Old Wang really had some tricks up his sleeve. With this light skill, no wonder he had been active in the north for a year without letting those guys from the Embroidered Uniform Guard catch a trace.

The impostor, injured by Yan Xiaoyi's string intent, was the substitute that Fan Xian always carried when he went to Northern Qi. That substitute had helped him a lot back then, so he was naturally taken out to lure the enemy today.

A few more calls of strange birds rang out under the gate tower. Several secret agents wearing black lotus clothes came over, bringing Fan's residence's carriage, and picked up Wang Qinian and the substitute. Everything seemed so quiet and natural. At this moment, the clouds in the sky gathered again, the clear light disappeared, and Kyoto sank into darkness again.

————————————————————

Before dawn, in the darkest hour, snowflakes rose again. Fan Xian came alone to a shop in the west of the city. All the residences were still asleep, and the shops hadn't started preparing yet. Even the earliest noodle stalls hadn't started preparing the meat sauce. Only this shop had opened, using the tempting aroma of soybeans inside to dispel the darkness before dawn, waiting for the arrival of the morning sun.

Under the snowflakes, Fan Xian sat at a small table outside the shop, slowly drinking a bowl of douhua in his hand. The douhua tasted good, without a gritty feel, not too much soybean flavor, and a refreshing fragrance, even better than what Dong'er from Danzhou made.

This was a natural thing, because this tofu shop was the most famous in Kyoto, and it was the first business that the eldest son of the Earl of Sinan had established after entering the capital.

This tofu shop was Fan Xian's own.

Fan Xian slowly drank the douhua, his face calm, but he smiled wryly in his heart. He had been reborn for twenty years, and he was really a useless second-generation nobleman. He hadn't brought any changes to this world at all. The biggest change... was probably the way to make this tofu, right?

His mother was too capable, too amazing. In those short years, she had rushed to do everything that could be done. What could be left for him to do?

Like all those powerful officials in history, playing with power, enjoying wealth, not caring about the life and death of those below, and living a muddled life?

As he had thought before, Fan Xian's face gradually showed worry. He always felt that there was a great desire deep in his heart, but he could never grasp what that desire was.

He was a little irritable, a little depressed. Thinking of the incident on the street, thinking of the longbow on Yan Xiaoyi's back, his mood dropped.

"I fuck..." Fan Xian cursed softly, with a gentle voice and a gentle attitude.

There was fog tonight, which was actually not good. Although this was the environment that Shadow had already judged, he didn't expect Yan Xiaoyi's mind to be so strong that he could accurately judge his location without fear of the overlapping fog.

Moreover, the medicine hidden in the fog didn't seem to have any effect on this peerless ninth-rank expert. When true energy reached a certain level of depth, ordinary drugs were indeed of little use. Fan Xian smiled self-deprecatingly. Sure enough, there was no perfect thing in this world. The effect of the tasteless white medicinal fog was indeed much worse.

But even so, in the assassination environment that he had worked so hard to create tonight, Fan Xian would still be brave enough to try to kill Yan Xiaoyi.

He wasn't the emperor. His confidence came from his own strength and better luck than anyone else in the world, unlike the emperor, who was so inexplicable. So he was used to striking first, removing all the powerful figures who might threaten him. Yan Xiaoyi was naturally the first person on the list.

If there would be great turmoil in the Qing Kingdom in the future, Fan Xian always insisted that weakening the other side's strength by one point would be a very good thing for his side. Yan Xiaoyi was not in the army, but in the capital, and he took the initiative to strike first. This was a great opportunity. If he let the other party return to the Great Northern Camp, wanting to kill him again would be like a pipe dream.

So Fan Xian felt very frustrated and angry sitting at the table at this time.

Why did Old Eunuch Hong come out to foil his plan!

...

...

Fan Xian's right hand holding the bowl trembled slightly. He frowned and smashed the bowl in his hand to the ground. The porcelain bowl broke into countless pieces. He rarely had such uncontrolled anger, which showed that Old Eunuch Hong's sudden appearance today really annoyed him to the extreme.

"Why?" He frowned deeply, and still couldn't figure it out. Old Eunuch Hong leaving the palace to disrupt the situation was obviously not the emperor's intention, but the empress dowager's intention. But what were this most powerful mother and son in the Qing Kingdom thinking? Did they not understand the current situation? If he could kill Yan Xiaoyi and had already cleared out the Second Prince's power, and the Eldest Princess's side would become even weaker, it would instead smooth out the entire royal family's situation.

That somewhat terrifying wave might gradually calm down.

The emperor clearly understood this, so why did he nod and let Old Eunuch Hong come forward to stop his duel with Yan Xiaoyi? Was the emperor a madman who just liked to see his sister move towards rebellion step by step?

A masochist?

Fan Xian thought irritably, a bitter smile appearing on his lips. It seemed that the imperial family was really a nest of perverts, all complaining that the world wasn't lively enough.

But... wasn't the emperor afraid... of being driven off the dragon throne? A series of questions, the question that had troubled Fan Xian for a long time, made his expression somewhat unsightly. What was the emperor thinking?

Only the emperor himself knew what the emperor was thinking, and Chen Pingping also knew. Just as Chen Pingping had said back then, a person standing in what kind of position would have what kind of vision, and make judgments and choices that conformed to this position.

The current Kyoto of the Qing Kingdom was still in the fermentation stage. Fan Xian wanted to risk ending this process, lest the dough suddenly swell up in the future. And Old Eunuch Hong's appearance today clearly showed that the emperor didn't need Fan Xian to worry about this.

So Fan Xian was very troubled.

————————————————————

The first batch of fresh tofu was brought out, still steaming. The shop assistant in the tofu shop respectfully scooped two bowls, adding white sugar and pickled mustard shreds, sesame oil, green onion, and soy sauce... The fragrant sweet and savory flavors were sent to the small table, and then he retreated.

The people in the tofu shop all knew Lord Fan's strange habit. This owner didn't abandon the tofu shop because it didn't make much money, but he never came here during the day. He would only come to order two bowls of tofu in the darkest hours of the morning every one or two months. Not many people knew about Fan Xian's hobby.

Fan Xian was very tired tonight, feeling exhausted. He used a porcelain spoon to stir a bowl of tofu randomly, put a mouthful into his mouth, which was sweet and flavorful. Snowflakes also fell into the bowl, which suddenly reminded him of the long-forgotten term "shaved ice", which made him feel better. He shoveled a few mouthfuls, which seemed to suddenly make up for a lot of energy.

There was still a bowl, but he didn't touch it.

Three carriages broke the tranquility of Kyoto and slowly drove to the front of the tofu shop. The swordsmen on the front and rear carriages jumped out of the carriages and vigilantly watched the surroundings, setting up defenses.

Yan Bingyun lifted the curtain of the carriage and got out of the middle carriage. Having been busy all night, Fan Xian's brain was obviously also very tired. There was a trace of exhaustion on his pale face.

He walked to Fan Xian's table, obviously surprised that Fan Xian would be eating tofu here alone.

Fan Xian nodded, motioning for him to sit down, and at the same time pushed the bowl of tofu mixed with scallions and pickled mustard shreds over.

Yan Bingyun didn't eat. He took out a scroll from his arms and began to explain the situation tonight in a low voice. When he heard that the people to be killed and the people to be arrested were basically in place, Fan Xian nodded with satisfaction.

"Huang Yi didn't die," Yan Bingyun glanced at him.

Fan Xian raised his head and asked, "What's going on?"

"The poison under the nail was very strong, but it seems that there are detoxification masters in the princess's mansion..." Yan Bingyun said, "So Huang Yi saved his life."

Huang Yi was a strategist in the princess's mansion. Although he hadn't caused any harm to Fan Xian and hadn't shown any outstanding abilities, Fan Xian wanted to remove all potential threats since he had taken action, so Huang Yi was also a part of tonight's plan.

Fan Xian didn't like to see any bloody dramas such as hostages being captured because of his momentary soft-heartedness in the future.

"Not a detoxification master," Fan Xian shook his head. "I know the methods of my brothers and sisters in the Third Bureau very well. The poison master in Dongyi City is from a different faction than us... It seems that the Eldest Princess's infiltration into the Supervisory Council was very effective. In addition to the dead Zhu Ge, she also prepared a lot of detoxification pills."

Yan Bingyun said, "The nail buried in the princess's mansion hasn't been exposed yet. I took it upon myself to have him withdraw."

"Very good," Fan Xian nodded approvingly. "You can make your own decisions on these things. Don't let the people below take unnecessary risks. It's best to stay alive."

Although he said that, Fan Xian knew that this was the second failure tonight.

Yan Bingyun said again, "The prisoner who was supposed to give a confession is dead."

Fan Xian raised his head and glanced at him, knowing that he was talking about the only survivor of the ambush in the valley, the private soldier of the Qin family. The ambush in the valley had no clues or evidence. The only hope was that survivor, and since he was held in the Supervisory Council's prison, with the joint protection of the Seventh and Third Bureaus, it was impossible for him to die just like that.

He forcibly suppressed the strange emotion in his heart and looked at Yan Bingyun with a half-smile, strangely not flying into a rage.

"Hong Gonggong came just now," Fan Xian said to Yan Bingyun, "What do you think?"

Yan Bingyun was slightly surprised, and after a long while, he said softly: "One, the master thinks you went too far tonight. Two, whether he dies or you die, it's not what the master wants to see."

"Don't say master, I'll think of the old cripple's hateful tone," Fan Xian frowned.

Yan Bingyun smiled and turned to ask, "Although it was something that His Majesty nodded to, you took the opportunity to make such a big deal out of it tonight. At the Grand Court Assembly tomorrow, the Supervisory Council will definitely be attacked by the ministers. I'm afraid that Scholar Shu and Scholar Hu will speak up. The master... His Majesty, under this pressure, will release a certain attitude. You'd better be prepared."

"What's there to be afraid of?" Fan Xian glanced at Young Lord Yan's pale face and said self-deprecatingly, "His Majesty has long wanted to weaken the power of the Supervisory Council. Isn't this giving him a good opportunity? If I didn't know this, I wouldn't be in such a hurry to attack everywhere tonight... Before weakening the power, we should sweep away some enemies."

With a clang, he threw the spoon into the lukewarm porcelain bowl, his face frosty, and said, "Nothing I really wanted to accomplish tonight was accomplished. It's a big loss."

Yan Bingyun said, "In a few hours, it will be the Grand Court Assembly. You have to go to court today to report on your duties. Be prepared to be demoted by His Majesty."

Fan Xian closed his eyes and said slowly, "A few days ago, His Majesty let you young officials enter the palace. The meaning expressed was very clear, but those old guys were reluctant to give way. The Supervisory Council conducted a large-scale purge tonight. Even if we are punished afterwards, those unclean guys will also retreat a few... The court will free up some space for His Majesty to arrange personnel. We are doing things for His Majesty, and he will always owe us a favor."

Yan Bingyun frowned slightly, still finding it difficult to adapt to Fan Xian daring to call Emperor His Majesty like that, and he was a little displeased, so he had to maintain just the right amount of silence.

Fan Xian was too lazy to look at his face, and said to himself softly: "The matter tonight is almost over. I just feel a little regretful that the family I have been waiting for has not made a move."

Yan Bingyun knew which family he was talking about, but he had to pretend not to know. For a while, his face was a little hesitant, and then he smiled bitterly: "You still think it's not lively enough? You don't have anyone around you right now. You should pay attention to your safety."

Fan Xian glanced at the Supervisory Council swordsmen scattered around and shook his head: "I'm different from you. You have to bring these people with you. I... whether I bring them or not, it doesn't make much of a difference."

"If you bring people, how dare those people take action? They are all cowards who only dare to kill in the dark," Fan Xian said sarcastically. "I've been sitting alone in this shop for half an hour, but no one dares to come, which makes me underestimate the so-called iron-blooded military."

Yan Bingyun shook his head and was speechless. Fan Xian looked back at a small alley in the darkness, tapped the table next to the tofu bowl with his finger, and said: "Eat it, it doesn't taste good when it's cold."

...

...

In a small alley some distance away from Fan's Tofu Shop, seven people wearing night clothes were carrying corpses onto a carriage. Blood dripped slowly from the carriage, falling on the snow and emitting a faint stench.