The mink coat was very warm. Looking at the figure gradually disappearing into the wind and snow, Fan Xian's heart was also warm. His life had been filled with too much soul-stirring, scheming, and intrigue. Although fulfilling, it made his heart weary. It was a rare pleasure to be able to interact with simple and pure individuals.

Withdrawing his gaze from the distant snowflakes, Fan Xian suddenly felt a stirring in his heart, a peculiar sensation. It seemed that during the Sword Hovel's final opening next spring, he might experience something he never had before.

He walked to the black carriage, raised his right knee, and carefully scraped the muddy snow from the bottom of his boots on the carriage step, the sound crunching. While scraping the snow, he pondered silently. After a long while, he lifted the thick cotton curtain of the carriage and ducked inside. A gust of warm air hit his face. Inside the spacious Supervisory Council carriage, a special small heater was releasing a spring-like atmosphere, a completely different world compared to the freezing cold outside.

Fan Xian took the towel, brushed off the snowflakes on his fur collar, and said, "He's already far away. Can we go back now?"

Ye Ling'er took the towel from his hand, her head lowered, her long eyelashes accentuating her bright eyes and the complex emotions within them. She whispered, "I didn't come to see him off."

"Not here to see off Thirteenth Brother, but to enjoy the snow with me?" Fan Xian said unhappily, "I really don't understand what you all are thinking. It's been over a month, and you're still like you were in Qingzhou City when we first met."

"Master, I'm not thinking anything," Ye Ling'er raised her head and said earnestly.

"Si Gu Jian is going to die next year. There are two factions within Dongyi City, and they are arguing fiercely. Wang Shisanlang's return to Dongyi this time will probably be troubling, although he is Si Gu Jian's most beloved closed-door disciple, he doesn't have much influence." Fan Xian thought for a moment and said slowly, "I'm afraid there will eventually be a struggle."

"Can't you help him? He has done so much for the Supervisory Council," Ye Ling'er asked anxiously.

"I don't need you to tell me that. He's working for me, so of course I'll give him something in return," Fan Xian said, "Si Gu Jian's attitude toward me is sincere enough. Although this old monster certainly doesn't want to make a deal with His Majesty, he should have no problem talking about business with me."

He suddenly looked at Ye Ling'er and said softly, "The problem is that after he returns to Dongyi, he will probably settle there for many years. Have you thought about this issue?"

"Why should I think about this issue?" Since the death of the Second Prince, Ye Ling'er had lost her carefree and unrestrained demeanor of the past, and had become much more silent and mature. Although she still joked freely in front of Fan Xian and his close friends, both Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er could see the shadow deep within this woman's heart.

It wasn't until she met Wang Shisanlang in Qingzhou, and they became a beautiful sight to behold, that Ye Ling'er's emotions seemed to escape from the military affairs of the border. Fan Xian was happy to see this change, but he also knew that, given Wang Shisanlang's identity, their relationship was indeed very difficult.

He shook his head and stopped elaborating on the issue. However, Ye Ling'er, thinking about her own concerns, thought of the recent matter that had been troubling these young people, and asked Fan Xian tentatively, "Is Ruo Ruo's matter just going to be dragged on like this?"

The mention of this matter immediately gave Fan Xian a headache. He had originally thought that with Prince Jing and his son playing the black-faced roles, His Majesty the Emperor would go along with the flow and withdraw this muddled marriage arrangement. He hadn't expected the Emperor to be so stubborn, using the excuse that the Fan family had already rejected Prince Jing's marriage proposal in the past, and completely ignoring these developments.

"Let's drag it out for now. With the faces of so many of us combined, we should have some weight. His Majesty can't just force it through," Fan Xian pursed his lips, thinking that if his sister was willing to marry Hong Cheng, then this matter would be much easier to handle, at least when arguing in front of His Majesty, it would be more reasonable.

"I don't know He Zongwei as a person, but I've heard that his reputation is good. I don't know where you get so much anger from," Ye Ling'er said casually.

"Anger?" Fan Xian smiled, not revealing his thoughts, and said vaguely, "Wouldn't the marriage between the He and Fan families become a boxed meal (hefan)?"

"What kind of meal?"

"Eight Treasures Rice."

"By the way, Grand Commandant Wang is holding a banquet at Yi Shi Residence today. Wan'er wants me to remind you not to be late," Ye Ling'er said earnestly.

Fan Xian's heart tightened as he remembered this interesting event. It turned out that in order to help the Eldest Prince take a concubine, Fan Xian had bravely taken on the responsibility of disciplining Wang Family's eldest daughter. However, immediately afterwards, the palace had decreed a marriage arrangement. Underneath his indignation, Fan Xian's words of instruction had left no room for maneuver, causing Wang Tong'er to cry loudly as she left the Fan residence, and also offending the Kyoto Garrison Commander, Shi Fei, quite a bit.

He had thought that after this lesson, Wang Tong'er would definitely be angry and never come to the Fan residence again. He didn't expect that within a few days, Wang Tong'er would actually beg Shi Fei to bring her to the Fan residence again, pleading with Master Fan to accept her as a disciple, and saying with sincerity that she had changed a lot and would never dare to act recklessly as she had before.

Wang Family's eldest daughter suddenly becoming so sensible gave Fan Xian quite a shock. He thought that this willful young lady must really love the Eldest Prince to death, otherwise she wouldn't have humbled herself so much.

Today was the second day after the Yan Jing Grand Commandant Wang Zhikun had returned to Kyoto to report on his duties. The Grand Commandant was personally hosting a banquet for Fan Xian to thank him for disciplining his children.

"This Wang Tong'er is your fan," Fan Xian frowned. "Have you ever met her?"

Ye Ling'er could guess what "fan" meant, and said with a helpless smile, "I did meet her many years ago, but at that time she was just a seven or eight-year-old brat. Who would have thought that she would grow up to have such a big temper?"

"She's much more obedient now," Fan Xian said with his eyes closed. "It seems that young ladies are all the same. They all have a masochistic streak. They won't listen to reason unless you beat them hard a few times."

Ye Ling'er's face flushed slightly as she thought of the old events in Kyoto, glared fiercely at Fan Xian, and said, "Are you talking about me?"

Fan Xian still had his eyes closed, but a faint smile appeared on the corner of his lips as he said, "Back then, you had to be beaten before you confessed, but now you confess without being beaten."

The carriage slowly turned back toward Kyoto amidst the two people's conversation, crushing the ice and snow on the road and moving forward along the deep tracks. Fan Xian felt that the carriage was getting a little too hot. He opened a corner of the car window, hoping to let in some cool winter wind, but his eyes followed the window and caught sight of the silver branches and snow-covered trees, a beautiful scenery.

He stared blankly at this scene, but couldn't help but think of himself. He couldn't be too forceful with He Zongwei, but he wasn't too worried either. Once the Dongyi City matter was resolved next year, and he had made a great contribution to Da Qing, no matter how harsh and ungrateful the Emperor was, he probably wouldn't be willing to force him any further.

But along this snowy road, the horse was struggling to move forward. Fan Xian suddenly felt like a horse harnessed by the Emperor, forced to work hard to break through the wind and snow, dragging a huge carriage forward, and the destination wasn't necessarily where the horse wanted to go.

He took a deep breath, letting the cold wind cool his chest and the heart hidden within it. He put down the curtain and closed his eyes to meditate. Whether it was Xiliang or Dongyi, he was working so hard, but in fact he was just being a pawn for the Emperor, and he didn't want to change all this, because in this whole world, the only person he didn't have the courage to challenge for the time being was this unfathomable Emperor.

If Wu Zhu and the box were still by his side, the situation would definitely change drastically, but that change might not be good. Fan Xian shook his head, shaking off this annoying possibility. Although Wu Zhu was nominally his servant, he was actually his closest relative. Everyone needs to find the most important thing in their life.

Fortunately, His Majesty the Emperor had changed a lot. Judging from his recent squabble with Fan Xian and Prince Jing, although it was extremely excessive, it at least showed a bit of humanity - or rather, senility. No matter what kind of flavor it was, it at least proved that His Majesty was beginning to come down from the altar, no longer a high and mighty, ethereal figure.

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Winter went and spring came, more nonsense. Anyway, on a sunny spring day, Qing Yu Nian had already seen off countless confusing snowfalls and welcomed warmer weather, newly sprouted green shoots, and rustling green leaves.

And Yan Jing, the first heavy prefecture in the northeast of Qing Yu Nian, welcomed a particularly important group. At this time, it was already March, and the green trees on both sides of the official road were sprouting branches, swaying in the spring breeze, as if they were children holding bouquets and shouting "Welcome, welcome." It seemed that even these plants knew the importance of this group.

Yan Jing was located in the north. Traveling straight north from Kyoto through Xiao Mountain, then turning north again via a parallel official road leading to Cangzhou, one would reach this great city to the northeast. Several decades ago, this place was still a city of Da Wei, historically known as Nanjing, but it was forcibly conquered by Qing Yu Nian's great Emperor, renamed Yan Jing, taking the meaning of swallows carrying mud to return.

As for whether Yan Jing's ancient land was the territory of Qing Yu Nian's ancestors more than a thousand years ago, no one knew. But the name Yan Jing at least gave Qing Yu Nian a righteous justification. In addition, the local people of this place were gentle and docile, mostly living through changes of rulers, and did not have strong national feelings, so Qing Yu Nian had only ruled for thirty years, but had also turned it into a familiar land, seemingly becoming a detached capital of Qing Yu Nian.

Yan Jing was extremely large and prosperous, bordering the dozens of small vassal states controlled by Dongyi City, especially closely nestled with Song. If Qing Yu Nian intended to conquer Dongyi, then the army would definitely depart from Yan Jing. Therefore, for twenty years, the border troops in Yan Jing were the elite of Qing Yu Nian's military, on par with the Dingzhou Army of Xiliang and the Northern Camp near Cangzhou to the north.

Yan Jing was the largest city ever conquered by Qing Yu Nian, and the best proof of the Qing Emperor's martial prowess. Therefore, the imperial court had always been extremely attentive to this place, not only investing a large amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources in the military, but also treating it with special attention in political affairs. Civil officials serving in Yan Jing were promoted by half a grade, and even the six ministries had special branch offices in Yan Jing City.

Everyone knew the reason for such generous treatment, because to the east of this place was Dongyi City, and to the north through Cangzhou was Northern Qi. Southern Qing intended to unify the world, and Yan Jing City would definitely be the origin and front-line base camp for the army's offensive.

The Qing Emperor had been preparing for this for thirty years, naturally managing Yan Jing like an iron bucket. No one knew how much grain, grass, and weapons were stored in the city.

The current military leader of Yan Jing City was Grand Commandant Wang Zhikun, a man who had always enjoyed the Qing Emperor's trust. During the Qingli Seven Years' domestic turmoil, the Yan Jing camp played an absolutely important role in stabilizing the country. It was precisely because of the strong strength of the Yan Jing camp that Shi Fei was able to take over the Cangzhou Northern Camp, which had lost Yan Xiaoyi, so smoothly, and the officials of the Dongshan Road had no power to resist.

And the civil official guarding Yan Jing City was also an important figure, named Mei Zhili, a student of the late Duke Liu. As early as six or seven years ago, he had already served as the prefect of Kyoto, and later gradually rose to Yan Jing. Now he was already a local official of the second rank, only half a grade lower than the governor of the road.

Today, these two great figures were waiting outside Yan Jing City with smiles, and the officials and subordinates beside them showed no surprise, because these officials and generals knew that although this team was not His Majesty's imperial entourage, it was about the same level as the imperial entourage, and Grand Commandant Wang's daughter was also in the team.

……

……

Amidst the sound of silk and bamboo music, countless signboards passed by, sword-holding eunuchs passed by, and the team stopped in front of the welcoming officials. A young official wearing black official robes but with a light yellow silk belt around his waist lifted the car curtain and came to the front of the crowd.

The visitor was none other than Fan Xian. He was now coming with the identity of an imperial envoy, so he was not surprised to see the formation in front of him, but he smiled wryly and accompanied Grand Commandant Wang and Lord Mei to seriously and earnestly complete all the procedures, then heaved a long sigh of relief and asked the two adults to rise before he performed the courtesy again.

Wang Zhikun and Mei Zhili repeatedly said they dared not. Although these two were both powerful officials on one side, they knew that they should still be respectful when they met this young master, otherwise who knew what kind of miserable ending there would be in the future.

Heard that the days of that popular Lord He in the court were not so good…

Wang Zhikun had returned to Kyoto during the winter to report on his duties and had met Fan Xian twice, so he was naturally not unfamiliar. Especially since Fan Xian had brought Wang Tong'er back along the way on this trip, and he was also Wang Tong'er's private teacher, so Wang Zhikun seemed particularly enthusiastic towards him, adding a bit of ease in addition to politeness.

Fan Xian looked at this scene with a smile, guessing that this military big shot was deliberately showing it to Lord Mei. There would always be some friction between the military and political yamen, whether in Dingzhou or Yan Jing. Wang Zhikun probably thought that with him in the court as a backer, Mei Zhili and his gang of civil officials should be more vigilant.

Mei Zhili laughed twice from the side, then stepped forward and said to Fan Xian, "How is the old lord?"

Fan Xian said seriously, "Father is living comfortably in Danzhou, and Duke he old man is also in good health."

The Duke mentioned in these words was none other than Liu's father, Mei Zhili's teacher. Wang Zhikun watched this scene from the side, feeling puzzled. He then realized that Lord Mei and Little Fan had known each other for a long time.

Fan Xian and Mei Zhili were indeed old acquaintances. Back then, the first sensational thing Fan Xian did when he entered Kyoto happened right under Mei Zhili's nose, the incident of beating Guo Baokun in the street. Mei Zhili had helped the Fan residence a lot.

"Why don't you stay in the court, but insist on running to Yan Jing to do what?" Fan Xian asked with a smile.

Mei Zhili lowered his voice and said with a smile, "Kyoto prefect is not something people do! It's better to run far away as soon as possible."

The old and the young laughed heartily. Mei Zhili looked askance at Wang Zhikun, saying in his heart, you go through the gates of Duke Danbo, that is relying on your daughter, but I am relying on his parents, who is closer and who is estranged, you can figure it out yourself.

Fan Xian laughed and said, "You say that... I don't think Lord Sun finds it difficult."

As soon as these words came out, even Wang Zhikun couldn't help but stroke his beard and laugh, thinking that Little Duke was indeed very mean. Nowadays, who in the officialdom didn't know about this Kyoto prefect, Sun Jingxiu, who had gained a blessing in disguise? If his daughter hadn't sold him out, he would probably have died long ago. Of course, whenever this matter was mentioned in the officialdom, they couldn't help but discuss it with furtive glances, wondering to what extent that righteous Sun Miss had been harmed by Little Fan to be able to do such a thing.

————————————————

Fan Xian's trip to Yan Jing was just a stopover. His main purpose was to go to Dongyi City to attend Si Gu Jian's last Sword Hovel opening. Everyone in the world knew that this opening was probably the last time this Grand Master would meet the world. And this opening ceremony was also held extremely grandly. Not only did the various vassal states of Dongyi City and the surrounding cities each send dignitaries to pay their respects, but also the two major forces in the world at that time, Northern Qi and Southern Qing, were also invited.

Everyone was speculating that Si Gu Jian was probably going to use this last opening to decide where Dongyi City would turn to in the future. Therefore, both the Northern Qi and Southern Qing courts dared not neglect it and sent representatives respectively. And Fan Xian, because of his relationship with Wang Shisanlang, of course became the representative of Southern Qing.

As for the imperial envoy's entourage bringing Wang Tong'er back to Yan Jing along the way, it was because the matter of the Eldest Prince taking a concubine had been decided. In June, preparations would be made to enter the mansion. But the reputation of a concubine was always not good. His Majesty, in order to save the face of Wang Zhikun's mansion, paid special attention to it and asked this Miss to first return to her hometown and then be brought back to Kyoto from thousands of miles away. In Fan Xian's view, this was purely being idle and doing nothing, but the Wang family was grateful for the holy grace and extremely happy, so he had to tire himself out.

That night, Fan Xian and his party rested in the Grand Commandant's mansion. Wang Tong'er happily paid her respects to Fan Xian and then ran back to her boudoir, waiting for the matrons to teach her the rules of marriage.

At the banquet, Wang Zhikun looked at Fan Xian somewhat embarrassedly and said, "These few months, I have really troubled Little Duke to worry about it."

The Grand Commandant knew very well the Eldest Prince's attitude towards taking a concubine. Although he admired the Eldest Prince very much and was willing to have his daughter marry him, as a father, he was always worried about his daughter. He knew that if Little Fan hadn't taken on this matter, things would probably have been much more troublesome.

Fan Xian smiled, not saying anything about this matter, lowered his eyes and asked softly, "Who is the person that Northern Qi is sending?"

……

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