Ten li outside the capital, the convoy paused briefly. Yan Bingyun alighted from the carriage, ceasing his escort. Watching the departing figure of this young Master Yan, Fan Xian smiled gently, thinking that since the courtyard had already seized a handle on He Zongwei, the capital should be safe.

Fan Xian wouldn't look down on He Zongwei. He had great faith in the Emperor's discerning eye, knowing that He Zongwei certainly possessed his own abilities. However, before the Overwatch Council, the abilities of the Grand Secretary He often seemed somewhat lacking in strength. Therefore, his attitude in handling this matter appeared rather relaxed. Whether this relaxation was a sufficiently proper attitude would depend on the future development of events.

Mu Feng'er rode his horse to the carriage window, feeling a bit surprised by the intelligence he had just received. As the temporary head of the Qi Nian Group, he was well aware of all of Master Fan's private affairs, but the matter mentioned on this piece of intelligence was something he had never encountered before.

What exactly was it that made Master Fan so cautious? Mu Feng'er swallowed, moistening his somewhat dry throat, and lowered his voice, saying, "Yuchang has replied."

What Yuchang referred to, Mu Feng'er had no idea. However, over the past two years, Master Fan had exchanged three letters with Yuchang. These letters not only traveled through the highest-level postal routes within the Council, but the couriers along the way were also core members of the Qi Nian Group. Yet, even these core members didn't know who the letter was ultimately delivered to.

Where was Yuchang? What did Yuchang refer to? Mu Feng'er had endless doubts, but since Director Fan didn't say, he couldn't guess, and didn't dare to.

Fan Xian was just about to lower the cloth curtain on the carriage window. Upon hearing this news, he smiled and said softly, "The letter?"

Mu Feng'er whistled. All the Overwatch Council spies and swordsmen around the carriage scattered, taking control of the surrounding official road and the direction of the woods. The black carriage containing Fan Xian was surrounded in the center.

Fan Xian took the letter, glanced at it, and remembered the words on it clearly. The words on the letter were all ordinary, and the combined meaning was also ordinary, but only the writer and the recipient knew the true meaning within.

He suddenly felt a slight itch on the upper edge of his ear and couldn't help but scratch it. His palm gathered, and he crumpled the entire letter into a pile of shattered snowflakes. This was his accustomed method of destroying traces, and he had occasionally seen the Emperor doing the same.

Perhaps those who had cultivated the Badao Zhenqi (Overbearing True Energy) had too much abundant Zhenqi to use as a human shredder.

These rather absurd and adorable thoughts suddenly popped into Fan Xian's head. A faint and quiet smile floated onto his face, showing that he was in quite a good mood.

Mu Feng'er didn't know why he was in such a good mood and hesitantly asked, "Sir, shall we proceed on the original route?"

"No." Fan Xian's expression slightly changed, and he said seriously, "You go to Dongyi City on your own. I will meet you outside the city."

Mu Feng'er was slightly startled and didn't dare to obey, saying, "The Director once gave strict orders, forbidding you from acting alone again."

"I am the Director now." Fan Xian looked at him with a smile.

Mu Feng'er was slightly embarrassed, finally remembering that before leaving the capital, His Majesty had already issued a clear decree to the world, officially declaring Master Fan's succession to Director Chen's position, becoming the second Director of the Qing Kingdom's Overwatch Council, and no longer the former Director.

The black convoy gradually departed. Fan Xian stood in the woods, looking at these subordinates loyal to him, thinking to himself that he had to be responsible for too many lives, which was perhaps a very headache-inducing matter.

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South of the capital is Weizhou, a state city on the bank of the Weishui River, influenced by the splendor of the capital and being a necessary stop for officials and wealthy merchants going south, so although the city was not large, it still appeared particularly prosperous.

Wherever there is prosperity, there must be brothels and casinos, so Weizhou City was no exception and opened a Baoyue Brothel. In the far diagonal direction of the Baoyue Brothel was Weizhou City's largest and most extravagant casino - Qianjin Pavilion (Thousand Gold Pavilion).

Speaking of which, the name Qianjin Pavilion really easily made people think of a brothel. Fan Xian, disguised as a merchant, looked up at the three large characters on the Qianjin Pavilion's sign and couldn't help but smile.

The casino was already bustling with noise and voices. Although large leaf ventilation fans produced by the Internal Treasury were constantly operating under the hard work of laborers, the mixture of human smells, the scent of perfume, and the smell of wine was still a bit unpleasant, and Fan Xian couldn't help but cover his nose.

Looking around, he confirmed that the person he was looking for would certainly not be waiting for him on the first floor, so he walked towards the second floor, but was stopped by two manager-like people at the entrance of the second-floor corridor.

Fan Xian was slightly surprised, and then understood what had happened. He couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly. With his identity as Fan Xian, of course, no one in this world would dare to stop him, and he was used to this, so he walked upstairs directly without hiding it at all. He hadn't thought that today he was just an ordinary merchant.

The second floor of Qianjin Pavilion was truly a place to spend money like water. The people who came here to play were either rich or noble. Even if there were occasional disputes, they were all measured, so the reputation was excellent. However, such places always needed a threshold, and Fan Xian's attire was obviously not enough to cross that threshold.

"If this gentleman is interested, why not take a look and play downstairs first?" Although the manager blocked Fan Xian at the entrance of the corridor without giving him much face, he spoke relatively gently, showing that the management of Qianjin Pavilion was indeed good.

Fan Xian smiled and said, "I'm here to find a friend."

The manager was slightly surprised. After a moment of deliberation, he asked softly, "May I know the surname of the friend you are looking for, sir? If it is urgent, we can report on your behalf."

"My friend's surname is Guan."

Hearing the word Guan, the manager's expression immediately changed. He immediately bowed slightly, but was extremely careful not to attract the attention of the gamblers on the first floor. He extended a hand and led Fan Xian upstairs to the second floor very respectfully, settling him in a very unique room, and then lowered his voice and said, "Please wait a moment, sir."

Fan Xian sat in the room, and before long, he heard rapid footsteps coming from outside. A charming young woman walked in with a hint of nervousness on her face.

The manager accompanied the young woman into the room and reported, "It is this gentleman who is looking for a friend with the surname Guan."

"Go out, you know what to do." The young woman bowed slightly to Fan Xian with great respect, and then said to the manager.

The manager responded, pushed the door and went out, but he was still stunned in his heart, thinking that there were actually characters in this world who made Sister Guan so afraid. He wondered who this merchant-like person was.

Only Fan Xian and the young woman were left in the room. The young woman immediately began to salute again, kneeling in front of Fan Xian, and said extremely respectfully, "Subordinate Guan Wu Mei, greets Director Fan."

Because she was missing an arm, Guan Wu Mei didn't kneel steadily. Because of the fear that had never faded in her heart, her voice trembled.

Fan Xian looked at her and sighed in his heart. One of this woman's arms had been broken by his own hand. No wonder she was so afraid of him. Nearly five years had passed since Fan Xian first went to Jiangnan. Xia Qifei had regained the Ming family, and this cousin of Xia Qifei, the famous female bandit of Jiangnan, had successfully inherited the manpower of the Jiangnan Water Village.

With the strong support of the new Ming family, coupled with the Overwatch Council's assistance in the dark, Guan Wu Mei had established a supreme position in the Jianghu without much effort. As the old saying goes, the Jianghu is only a subordinate to the Jiangshan. With Fan Xian behind Guan Wu Mei, what difficulty would there be in letting her be a black market boss?

"Get up and talk." Fan Xian looked at her and said as gently as possible, "Oh, right, there's also something. I've officially taken over the Overwatch Council. Don't call me Director Fan anymore."

Guan Wu Mei was an external member of the Overwatch Council, and the imperial edict in the capital had not yet had time to be announced to the world, so upon hearing this news, she couldn't help but be shocked. In an instant, the shock in her eyes turned into joy.

She had never resented Master Fan, even though the other party had cut off one of her arms. Because Master Fan had avenged her cousin and regained the Ming family. More importantly, she knew what status she had. Resent Master Fan? She hadn't even thought about it. Therefore, this joy was from the bottom of her heart. After all, surviving in Jiangnan ultimately relied on Fan Xian's position in the court. In the past two years, she had been hearing that the Overwatch Council had been suppressed in the capital, and the people in Jiangnan were also restless. Today, learning that Fan Xian had become the Director of the Overwatch Council, Guan Wu Mei felt a great relief.

"Have the Xiong family in Lingnan and the Sun family in Quanzhou finally agreed?" Fan Xian directly asked the purpose of his trip. For the past three years, he had been secretly conducting a secret undertaking, hiding it from everyone in the world, but this undertaking was too wasteful of money. Although he controlled the Internal Treasury, the Internal Treasury was, after all, the court's. The bulk of the foreign money earned from smuggling was used to fill the court's urgent needs for river embankment disaster relief, and for a time, it was a bit tight.

Even though Xia Qifei, who presided over Xia Ming Records, which was now the new Ming family, gave Fan Xian the greatest degree of support in the dark, and even his younger brother Fan Sizhe in the north, under the close supervision of the Northern Qi imperial family, remitted a large number of silver notes to the south, Fan Xian still felt short of money.

Would Master Fan be short of money? If this was spread outside, it would probably become a big joke. But this was true, and it also showed that the undertaking that Fan Xian had been secretly doing for the past three years was completely a silver-consuming black hole.

Guan Wu Mei had already stood up, and carefully looked at Fan Xian. She and Xia Qifei knew that Master Fan had been spending money fiercely these past few years, but they had never known where this money was spent. Moreover, it was okay for the first two years. Relying on Fan Xian's subordinates, they could barely support it, but a few days ago, they suddenly received news that they would need a large sum of money this year, which they didn't have time to raise.

The amount of this money was too large. Even if Xia Qifei and Fan Sizhe were given enough time, they probably wouldn't be able to raise it.

"The news came too late, and we only had time to notify the Sun family and the Xiong family. But because we couldn't explain to them what this money was for, the masters in charge of them refused to agree." Guan Wu Mei responded nervously, "Those two masters in charge are now in Shazhou, which is not far from Weizhou. Does the director want to see them?"

"No need." Fan Xian shook his head. "This matter must be kept secret. However, now that we want to ask the Sun and Xiong families for money, I'm afraid we won't be able to hide it for too long. It's also my fault for being too impatient. I still have to think about it."

Guan Wu Mei breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, it was indeed extremely difficult to transfer so much money secretly, even with Master Fan's help, while hiding it from the court's supervision. And what Guan Wu Mei feared most was that Master Fan was spending so much money and still had to hide it from the court. Could it be that he was secretly organizing a private army, preparing to rebel? Otherwise, with Master Fan's current wealth and status, he wouldn't do such a thing.

"Let Xia Qifei and the Sun and Xiong families say that it's better not to bring me up." Fan Xian frowned slightly and said, "Just say that there was a problem with the smuggling route in Xingbei. The Northern Qi court suddenly took action and confiscated all the goods. The Ming family has to return the Internal Treasury money and has a flow of accounts going out, so they don't have time. Therefore, they need a large sum of money to support them."

This was a very good excuse. The only forces that could suddenly cause the Jiangnan Ming family to lose a large sum of money were the two courts in the north and south. Guan Wu Mei frowned and asked for instructions, "However, the court has many spies in the north. Even if the Overwatch Council's line can hide it, there will always be other intelligence channels that will feed back. There is no movement at all in Northern Qi..." She sighed with some distress, saying, "Unless we let the Northern Qi court cooperate with us in putting on a show."

After saying this, she couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly. Southern Qing and Northern Qi had been enemies for a long time, and Master Fan's close relationship with the north had completely broken down because of the Western Liang War last year. Coupled with the Dongyi City ownership issue that was now known to the world, the Northern Qi people hated Fan Xian even more. How could they cooperate with him in acting.

"Acting is good." Fan Xian said with a smile, "I'll let the little Emperor of Northern Qi accompany me in acting this play well, to hide it from the court and give the Sun and Xiong families a convincing reason. What do you think of this?"

Guan Wu Mei was shocked in her heart and felt that she was becoming more and more unable to see through Master Fan's depths. He actually spoke in a joking manner, saying that he wanted the Emperor of Northern Qi to cooperate with him in acting.

"I'm going to stay in Weizhou for one night. You take care of the people from the Sun and Xiong families who come first." Fan Xian picked up the teacup.

Guan Wu Mei took her leave. However, the room wasn't quiet for long. A person dressed in black appeared in the corner of the room like a ghost. Behind him was a very long knife. The knife was in its sheath, and all killing intent was concealed, but it gave people an exceptionally dangerous feeling.

Fan Xian gently put down the teacup, looked up at him, and said, "Why do you suddenly need so much money?"

The black-clothed swordsman was still standing in the shadows of the corner, smiling with a slightly hoarse voice, "Construction has reached the later stage, and it always costs money extremely quickly... These are the words of Minister Shangshu (Minister) Yuan."

……

……

(I will write less in the next few days, because it is indeed a bit difficult. It will be fine after a while. One day I will explode...maybe?)