A posthumous edict caused great chaos in the court. The officials grit their teeth and stubbornly resisted, as if everyone had personally seen the edict. However, after the words of Grand Scholar Shu, everyone understood that the edict, which could at least nominally unseat the Crown Prince, was still in the hands of Lord Fan Xian of Danbo.

Where exactly was that Lord Fan? For the moment, let's not describe the magnificent scene in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, where swords were drawn and bows were bent, ready for bloodshed. The forces that were wholeheartedly supporting the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne, including the Grand Princess who was lurking behind the scenes and seemingly doing nothing, but was actually the root cause of the palace turmoil, were all sniffing the air in Kyoto, trying to find Fan Xian's hiding place.

Capture Fan Xian, kill Fan Xian, nail Fan Xian down, destroy the edict, and then no matter how chaotic the court becomes, it won't be too bad. The two Grand Scholars, Shu and Hu, would lose their last support, and no matter how strong they were, they couldn't possibly launch the civil officials to resist the imperial power again.

It was only today in the Hall of Supreme Harmony that Fan Xian was officially declared the regicide and a great traitor, but outside the palace, the pursuit and assassination of Fan Xian by those forces had been going on for who knows how many days. However, Kyoto was too large, and the resources in the hands of the Grand Princess could even subtly control Kyoto, but she could not find Fan Xian's whereabouts among the thousands of people.

The Grand Princess couldn't even stop Fan Xian from secretly meeting with Shu Wu the night before the Crown Prince's accession to the throne, and secretly doing so many things.

No one knew where Fan Xian was hiding.

...

...

A remote alley, a bit far from the center of Kyoto's imperial power, and not close to the most luxurious and wealthy residential area in Kyoto, but it seemed particularly quiet. The atmosphere of sorrow and panic among the people of Kyoto could not enter this small alley. Only a few green trees swayed freely in the early autumn weather.

The alley was called Yangcong Alley, a very inconspicuous name.

At the end of the alley was a small courtyard, which was bought by someone unknown two years ago. Half a year ago, a woman moved in with a few servants. No one knew the woman's identity, but she was able to purchase such a secluded courtyard. However, in the past six months, no visitors had ever come to this place.

Today, in the imperial palace, a life-and-death struggle was taking place, but the culprit who caused this event was leisurely sitting under a tree in this courtyard, enjoying hot tea, while thinking about something.

Fan Xian was wearing a blue cloth robe, and had slightly altered his face. Although it didn't diminish his heroic spirit, it made him look more reliable. He gently turned the slightly hot small cup in his hand, and suddenly frowned, saying to the beautiful woman beside him, whose eyebrows were delicate and eyes were deep-set: "Besides Prince He, who else knows about this courtyard of yours?"

The beautiful woman pursed her lips and shook her head, her big eyes full of curiosity and excitement. She looked at Fan Xian, the legendary regicide, without any fear.

Yes, this small courtyard was secretly purchased by Fan Xian back then, and was gifted to the Eldest Prince to keep his mistress in a golden house.

And that beautiful woman, whose appearance and expression were quite different from those of the dignified women of Qing Kingdom, was naturally Princess Masuo Suo of a certain Xihu tribe, who had troubled Fan Xian in Jiangnan for a year, and had followed the Western Expeditionary Army back to Kyoto.

Except for Deng Ziyue, who handled the matter, no one knew that Fan Xian had bought this small courtyard. And after this courtyard was transferred to the Eldest Prince, given the Eldest Prince's cowardly and easily embarrassed nature, it was impossible for him to publicize it everywhere. So after Fan Xian colluded with the officials last night, he didn't return to the inn, but chose to come to this small courtyard, not worrying that he would be guessed by the Grand Princess.

People were watching around Fan Manor and the Supervisory Council. I'm afraid that the Yan Manor and Wang Qinian's house were also being watched by experts from the inner court. Fan Xian didn't want to take risks. Only this small courtyard in Yangcong Alley could guarantee his safety, and also facilitate his contact with that key person.

Hearing Masuo Suo's curious answer, Fan Xian frowned, stood up from his chair, and calmly looked towards the back door opening to the left of the alley.

Because he heard someone was coming to this courtyard, and the person was obviously not the Eldest Prince he was waiting for.

...

...

With a few clangs and a creak, the wooden door of the nameless small courtyard was unlocked from the outside and pushed open. Masuo Suo looked at this scene in surprise, and couldn't help but cover her mouth. The servants in this courtyard were all bought by Master Fan, and no outsiders had ever come to this courtyard. Who exactly was this person who came?

She turned to look at Fan Xian and whispered, "Young Master, run!"

Fan Xian didn't run, but looked at the woman who was stepping in at the back door and smiled. The emotions in his smile were very complex. Then he bowed deeply and said, "Greetings, Princess Consort."

The person who came was not Prince He, but Princess Consort He, the Grand Princess of Northern Qi.

The Grand Princess's face was calm, and her eyes contained a smile. She just silently looked at Fan Xian, and after a long while, she gracefully saluted and said, "Greetings, Little Duke."

Fan Xian cupped his hands in return, shook his head, and smiled wryly. He thought to himself how afraid of his wife the Eldest Prince was, that he even reported his little golden house to the Grand Princess.

"Suo Suo, you go inside first." Fan Xian waved his hand, knowing that the Princess Consort didn't want to see this Xihu enchantress, and signaled Masuo Suo to take temporary refuge in the inner room.

The Princess Consort came here alone. Although she didn't deliberately disguise herself, it was obvious that she had gone through some arrangements. Fan Xian quietly looked at her for a few moments, reached out and invited her to sit down. After a moment of silence, he said, "Princess Consort, you are very brave. Knowing that the palace must be watching Prince He's residence, you still dare to come here alone to meet me."

After contacting the civil officials last night, Fan Xian most wanted to contact the Eldest Prince, who held the Imperial Guards in his hands. However, it was said that Concubine Ning had already been controlled in the Han Guang Hall, and there were also many eyes and ears from the inner court and the Kyoto garrison outside Prince He's residence. So Fan Xian found a clever way to leave a message in the Prince's residence, hoping that the Eldest Prince could find a way to contact him.

But he didn't expect that it was the Princess Consort who came today.

"Lord Fan is the one with heaven-sent courage..." The Princess Consort replied to his words with a smile, "Knowing that all forces in Kyoto are eagerly searching for you, knowing that the Crown Prince will ascend the throne today, yet you can sit peacefully in a gilded small courtyard, quietly watching the development of the situation. I really don't know whether you are confident or at a loss."

"Confidence is not true, nor is being at a loss false." Fan Xian looked at the Princess Consort's gentle face and said softly, "If I didn't have any ideas, why would I have alarmed the Princess Consort?"

The Princess Consort responded gently, "The situation in Kyoto is critical now. My Prince is responsible for the defense of the Imperial Guards, and he definitely can't return to the residence, so if Lord Fan wants to meet him, I'm afraid it will be a bit difficult. I just don't know what difficulties Lord Fan has. I have taken the liberty to come to see you, and I hope Lord Fan won't take offense."

Fan Xian fell into silence, and after a long while, he suddenly said, "Grand Princess, now I am a regicide and a traitor. Since you dare to come and see me and ask me what difficulties I have, then you naturally understand what I mean."

The Princess Consort's eyes flickered slightly, and she didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Fan Xian lowered his head and thought for a while, then moved half a foot closer to the Princess Consort and said softly, "I wonder if the Princess Consort still remembers what we said inside and outside the carriage when we went south from Northern Qi back then?"

The Princess Consort was slightly stunned, and then smiled, "I will naturally not forget the agreement, but times have changed. The current situation in Kyoto is too dangerous. The Prince is relying on the Imperial Guards in his hands to support himself bitterly. If you really want to do great things, I'm afraid the Prince is not strong enough, and I, a woman, am even less capable of promising."

"Supporting himself bitterly?" Fan Xian laughed softly, "Is the Princess Consort talking about the change of the Kyoto garrison yesterday?"

The Princess Consort fell silent.

Fan Xian sighed, because the change of the Kyoto garrison had hit his vitals, and also hit the Eldest Prince's weakness.

Initially, the Kyoto Garrison Army had always been under the control of the Ye family. Later, Qin Heng, the leading figure of the second generation of the Qin family, took control for two years. Until the incident of the ambush in the valley before the New Year, His Majesty used the incident as an excuse to clean up the distribution of forces in the court, transferred Qin Heng to the樞密院 (Shumi Yuan, the Privy Council) to serve as Deputy Envoy, and appointed Xie Su, the deputy commander of the Eldest Prince's Western Expeditionary Army that year, as the Commander of the Kyoto Garrison.

However, all of this had changed yesterday. After the Empress Dowager stabilized the palace, the first decree she issued was to directly remove Xie Su, and Qin Heng was reinstated as the Commander of the Kyoto Garrison!

Xie Su was innocently dismissed, but the Eldest Prince was under great pressure from the Imperial Guards because of His Majesty's assassination, and he couldn't speak at all. Moreover, this fierce general from the Western Expeditionary Army only held the Kyoto Garrison Army for half a year, and could not form his own power at all. The Qin family took it back with a turn of their hand, and the Eldest Prince and Xie Su had no way to deal with it.

Fan Xian also had a headache about this matter. The transfer of control of the Kyoto garrison meant that the outer military strength of the entire Kyoto was already under the control of the Qin family, not to mention the major event that Xu Maocai of the Jiaozhou Navy had suggested to him.

He glanced at the Princess Consort and frowned, "The Kyoto Garrison Army is stationed at 元台 (Yuantai). As long as the Thirteen City Gate Divisions don't have problems, what can solve the overall situation in Kyoto... is still the Imperial Guards."

"I have never forgotten my promise to you." The Princess Consort looked at him quietly and said, "However, you have returned from Da Dong Mountain, but you don't know how strict the palace in Kyoto is now. The Prince can barely control the Imperial Guards now, because the Empress Dowager has not issued a decree..."

Fan Xian was silent.

The Princess Consort continued, "Why is the Empress Dowager willing to let my Prince control the Imperial Guards? Because she knows that the Prince is a straightforward person, he will not cause chaos, he will not rebel..."

Before the Princess Consort could finish speaking, Fan Xian had already laughed, "The situation now is that someone in the palace is rebelling."

The Princess Consort smiled wryly, "The problem is, whoever sits in the Hall of Supreme Harmony has the qualifications to determine who is rebelling. If Lord Danbo was in the palace at this time, by the Empress Dowager's side, reading that posthumous edict that has been announced today, I can guarantee that my Prince will definitely be your strongest supporter."

...

...

"Take out the posthumous edict." The Princess Consort suddenly advised, "From any point of view, publishing the posthumous edict at this time still gives you a chance to fight. Otherwise, you can only be passive."

"No, there are still many people who haven't moved, such as my mother-in-law..." Fan Xian said calmly, "As long as the posthumous edict is on me, I can at least maintain a period of peace. Once the posthumous edict really comes out, then both sides will only tear off their faces and start a war."

The Princess Consort said with a slight mockery, "Is the Duke still trying to maintain his aloofness and integrity at this time?"

Fan Xian laughed self-deprecatingly, "I am not a foolish person. The reason why I don't announce the posthumous edict is the same reason why the Prince is silent, as the Princess Consort said earlier... they are actually the same."

He stared into the Princess Consort's eyes and said slowly, "Concubine Ning is in the palace, so of course the Prince can't do anything. Don't forget that my wives and concubines are also in the palace. If we really start a war openly, neither the Prince nor I can afford such losses."

...

...

(ps: Going to the airport soon, hope everything goes well, and wish everyone a happy life, really.)