(I heard some friends didn't like the dialogues in these chapters, well, sorry, this chapter still has a lot of dialogue at the beginning. I won't give up until the words between Emperor Qing and Fan Xian are fully explained. I've been writing this story for a year and a half, and isn't the point to finally explain and do these things...? By the way, give me some monthly tickets after reading this chapter, it was really hard to write, and I'm not kidding. If I delay, it's only because I want to drag myself to death...)

...

...

As night fell, the small building was brightly lit. A large number of eunuchs and maids poured in from all directions of the abandoned garden as if by magic, and various dishes, fruit platters, and steaming pots were sent into the pavilion in a steady stream. His Majesty the Emperor and Fan Xian were downstairs, eating, chatting, and laughing. And that woman, the one who stood in the way of the history of Qing Yu Nian, the one who stood between the Emperor and Fan Xian, was quietly watching everything on that drawing paper in the room on the second floor.

What should have been the beginning of a slaughter had turned into a father and son's last supper. Fan Xian knew this, accepted this. A war between two people can't be fought by only one person. Since he had endured it for so long, and he had made such a brave and even ruthless decision, what difference would one more night make? More importantly, as the Emperor had said when he easily broke Fan Xian's momentum and left, since this was a war between two people, some time had to be left for the Emperor to do what he had already tacitly allowed Fan Xian to do.

Was one night enough?

"Your Majesty, Ruo Ruo has come to bid farewell to Your Majesty." Eunuch Yao stood below the small table, his head bowed, and said respectfully.

"Let her in." The Emperor smiled slightly and looked at Fan Xian, meaning that he would naturally do what he had promised him.

A gust of cold wind carrying snowflakes entered the building, and a woman who looked like ice and snow entered with the wind, her steps steady, her expression calm and unchanged. She gave a shallow bow before His Majesty, it was Fan Ruo Ruo.

After bidding farewell to His Majesty the Emperor, this young lady, who had been under house arrest in the palace for several months, slowly turned around and quietly looked at her elder brother, gradually a faint moistness appeared in her eyes.

Fan Xian stood up, smiled and shook his head, and said, "Don't cry."

So Fan Ruo Ruo didn't cry, she bit her lower lip firmly, and forced a smile, "Brother, it's been a long time."

It had been a long time. Since Fan Xian went to Dongyi again, the two siblings had not seen each other. When Fan Xian returned to Kyoto, he only saw the rain in early autumn. Fan Ruo Ruo had already been placed under house arrest in the depths of the palace, as a hostage to restrain him.

Fan Xian walked forward, gently put his arm around his sister's somewhat thin shoulders, gave her a hug, and whispered in her ear: "Be good from now on, and be more filial to father and mother." When he said this, Fan Xian felt like time was turning back, and the ice-snow like woman in front of him seemed to be the little yellow-haired girl in Danzhou Port many years ago who couldn't even speak clearly.

Fan Ruo Ruo hummed, and then retreated. She knew why His Majesty would let her into the palace today, it must be that her brother had reached some agreement with His Majesty. She trusted her brother's teachings and arrangements the most in her life, and she couldn't have any doubts at all. She just calmly and silently accepted everything.

The small building became quiet again, but it didn't remain quiet for too long. Eunuch Yao reported with a somewhat embarrassed expression: "His Highness the Third Prince is here, just outside the building. This servant couldn't stop him."

The Emperor and Fan Xian were both stunned. They didn't expect the Third Prince to appear in this place at this moment, and they didn't expect Shufang Palace to fail to stop this young man.

The Third Prince walked into the building, bowed to the Emperor, and then bowed to Fan Xian, saying in a muffled voice: "Greetings, Father Emperor, greetings, Teacher..."

What was wonderful was that after the Third Prince finished speaking, he turned around and left, completely ignoring any etiquette or rules, leaving behind the silent Emperor and Fan Xian. The two of them naturally saw the Third Prince's previous expression clearly, and saw that the Third Prince's eyes were already red. He must have cried outside the building.

The Emperor looked at the empty ground, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly smiled with a very complicated expression. There was a trace of faint loss, and even more a trace of appreciation that could not be concealed. Li Chengping came to this small building today, naturally to see Fan Xian off. This kind of affection, this kind of courage, was very much in line with the Emperor's temperament.

"Not bad, right?" Fan Xian asked.

"You taught him well. This is also the point that I have always appreciated you the most. I have never seen you treat them particularly well, but whether it is the ministers in the court, or your subordinates, or even my sons, they all seem willing to stand on your side," the Emperor said.

Fan Xian was silent for a moment before replying: "That's probably because I have always treated them equally."

Eunuch Yao walked into the small building for the third time and said calmly: "Someone outside the palace has sent the manuscript that Lord Fan needs, and... a sword."

The sword was the Great Wei Emperor's Sword, quietly placed on the table in front of Fan Xian. The manuscript was the indictment of the He faction written by the old members of the Supervisory Council today, for His Majesty to use when issuing an edict in the future.

Eunuch Yao stood in front of the Emperor and calmly recounted the events outside the palace today. There were naturally many spies of the inner court in Kyoto, and the turmoil caused by today's unrest in Kyoto did not need to be specifically inquired about to be known.

The censors of the Censorate were kneeling in the snow outside the palace, wailing and demanding that His Majesty severely punish Fan Xian, this heinous villain. Fan Xian was not a murderous maniac. The lives that disappeared in Kyoto today were all the core members of the He faction. As for those pedantic censors, they were still alive and well.

In addition to these censors, the civil officials of various ministries and temples in Kyoto also began to communicate secretly, preparing to put pressure on the palace. All of this was because the court system was shocked by today's massacre and felt endless fear, so they had to stand up.

Fan Xian entered the palace from the Chancellery, and many court officials were waiting outside the imperial city. They were waiting for His Majesty the Emperor's edict, but a day had passed, and it was already night, and the palace was still quiet. The ministers began to get angry and scared. Could it be that Fan Xian had done so many heinous and bloody things, and His Majesty was still thinking about the bond between father and son, and would not punish him?

It was because of the palace's calmness and the ministers' worries that the censors would once again kowtow outside the imperial city.

The storm was about to break, the pressure was enormous, the mountain was about to collapse, and the lake was about to rise in waves.

...

...

Eunuch Yao's report did not cause the slightest change in the atmosphere in the small building. Neither the Emperor nor Fan Xian would take the pressure from the court officials to heart, let alone the fact that one of the pair of father and son would have to give an explanation to the world after tonight.

The Emperor smiled, picked up a glass of wine and slowly drank it, and said a topic that they had never touched on: "If you die, can your words still control that group of lunatics under your command? If not, why should I agree to let them live?"

"Because you must gamble that my words can control them, otherwise, the chaos in the world is not the scene you want to see."

The Emperor's fingers gently turned the wine glass, his eyes narrowed slightly, and said: "Then aren't you worried that if I kill you, I won't do those things I promised you?"

Fan Xian lowered his head slightly, and said calmly after a moment of silence: "The Emperor's words are as heavy as the bronze tripod." (天子一言，驷马难追 literally means "A Son of Heaven's word, four horses can't catch up." I used a similar English idiom for this sentence)

"Not one horse..." The Emperor smiled and said, "It's four horses. Your mother said this strange phrase back then, so I remember it, but I didn't expect you to know it too."

The Emperor then sighed: "In today's world, if I were facing your mother instead of you... I would never give her the qualification for a fair fight."

Fan Xian said sarcastically: "You certainly didn't give her any fairness back then."

The Emperor shook his head and said coldly: "I didn't give her this qualification because I knew that she would never use the world to threaten me, because using the world as a bargaining chip is putting the people of the world on the gambling table, and she couldn't bear to do that... but I could."

"I am willing to use the lives and deaths of the people of the world to threaten you." Fan Xian replied calmly: "This is the difference we talked about earlier."

The Emperor shook his head again and said: "So I still don't understand, since you love this country and cherish the people of the world, how can you use this to threaten me."

"Because I have to start by loving the people around me first, and also, I am originally a shameless and cowardly person. If I am really forced to the end, of course, this end doesn't only refer to me... I don't mind dragging the entire world and Your Majesty's ambitions to be buried with me." Fan Xian said with his head lowered: "Actually, I have been waiting for a person, but that person never comes back, so there is no way, I have to risk my life myself."

The words "risking my life" were so sad and helpless, but His Majesty the Emperor's eyes gradually lit up, because he knew who Fan Xian was waiting for. In the Emperor's view, only that person could threaten his life and rule in today's world. Since the blood case in the Taiping Courtyard many years ago, he had been vaguely wary of that person's existence, and even sent the last envoy sent by the Temple to the alley next to Fan's mansion.

But even so, Wu Zhu was still not dead.

"He won't be back." The light in the Emperor's eyes gradually faded, and he said slowly: "It's been three years. If he wants to find out who he is, he can only go to the Temple. And if he really goes back to the Temple, how can he come out again?"

Fan Xian nodded, accepting this fact with some sadness. If Uncle Wu Zhu was still lingering on this continent, why would he be so passive in front of His Majesty the Emperor, and even make a threat like burning everything together.

"How did you manage to get the Temple to stand behind you back then?" Fan Xian looked at the Emperor with a frown. This was one of the biggest questions in his heart.

"I have never been to the Temple, but after being with your mother for a long time, I naturally know that the Temple is actually just a gradually decaying and desolate place. The Temple has always been indifferent to worldly affairs, that's true." A mocking smile appeared on the corner of the Emperor's lips, "However, the Temple has been quietly influencing this continent. It's a pity that I am a worldly person, and they can't do anything to me, but your mother and Lao Wu are people from the Temple... That one difference is enough, and I naturally know how to use it."

Fan Xian sighed and shook his head. He had to admire the Emperor's strength of mind. The Temple, which the world had always worshiped, turned out to be just a sharper knife in the Emperor's eyes.

"During the Northern Expedition, the meridians in my body were completely shattered, I couldn't move a finger, couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't smell, just like a dead person, but my soul was hidden in that broken body, unable to escape, unable to be liberated." The Emperor suddenly began to coldly tell about what happened back then, "It was like enduring the torment of loneliness in endless darkness. This pain made me firm in my resolve."

As His Majesty the Emperor narrated, the lights in the entire small building dimmed, as if they were about to sink into the sea of ​​eternal darkness.

"I realized that apart from myself, and the loneliness that I can experience, nothing is real." The Emperor said, "Apart from myself, I no longer trust anyone. In order to achieve my goals, I don't need relatives or friends."

"When I woke up from the darkness, the first people I saw were Chen Pingping and Ning'er." The Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "So I trust them the most. You don't need to worry about Ning'er's safety."

"However, I didn't expect that Chen Pingping would actually betray... me." The Emperor's eyes narrowed even more, and a cold light shone from his eyes, and his tone was vaguely angry and sad, and he said mockingly: "I trusted the wrong person, and that's how today's situation came about."

"You haven't experienced the suffering of waking up in that darkness, so you don't understand what I'm talking about."

"I have had this experience." Fan Xian shook his head, naturally not going to explain that it was still a long, long time ago, when he encountered changes in that world, "However, I didn't become a person like you. Personality determines fate."

He suddenly narrowed his eyes and said, "If... if Ye Qingmei hadn't appeared in this world, Your Majesty, what would it be like now? Would it be better?"

The Emperor's eyes gradually turned icy, staring at Fan Xian's face, a hint of anger flashed and disappeared, and he said coldly: "Not to mention what Qing Yu Nian would be like today without your mother. You only need to remember that the Great Wei Dynasty back then was corrupt to the extreme. Not to mention that it was not as good as my Qing Yu Nian, it was even ten thousand miles behind the current Northern Qi."

"It just so happened that the Great Wei Dynasty back then was rotten, but it was still a behemoth. Your mother came into this world and at least broke that mountain to pieces... Why doesn't any of the former Wei people miss the former dynasty? Why hasn't anyone who cares about the old country and rebelled with troops ever appeared on the thousands of miles of land that I have conquered?" The Emperor smiled coldly, "Think about it yourself."

Fan Xian smiled and said, "I'm too lazy to think about it. My parents are both remarkable people, which is not a very glorious thing for a son like me."

The Emperor finally laughed, and the two continued to eat, drink, and chat. The two of them, father, son, monarch, and subject, were actually extremely similar. They were both cold and ruthless in their bones, but they had different opinions about the world, about the past, and about the present. They had different opinions about everything, but this did not affect the trust and awe that they had given each other over the years, and they firmly occupied the pinnacle of the world.

The wind and snow were heard all night in the small building. This was the last supper, the last long conversation.

As the night deepened, the two sat on two chairs in the light of the lamps and began to meditate and rest. Even the true energy flowing in their bodies was so harmonious. In addition to being domineering, each had a force that could tear everything apart. Together, they were so harmonious.

Unconsciously, the sky dawned, the sun came out, the snow outside stopped, the wind stopped, and the thick layer of snow on the ground, like a woolen blanket, reflected the clear light in the sky, illuminating this large area of ​​abandoned garden in the northwest corner of the palace.

Fan Xian woke up, sighed in his heart, stood up, picked up the Great Wei Emperor's Sword on the table with his right hand, walked to the door of the small building, and then turned around and quietly looked at His Majesty the Emperor in the chair.

The Emperor slowly opened his eyes, his pupils were unusually clear, unusually calm and cold, and there was no longer a trace of the emotions that ordinary people should have. What needed to be said had been said, and from this moment on, there was no longer a trace of family affection between the two.

Fan Xian raised his right arm, from his shoulder to his elbow to his wrist, and then to the hilt of the sword that he held steadily in his right hand, to the tip of the sword that was unwavering and frighteningly stable, directly facing the Emperor's face.

The sword was still in its sheath, but it began to make a sound like a dragon's roar, humming and buzzing, like the silk and bamboo pipes in Chen Garden playing music. The majestic and domineering true energy flowed from Fan Xian's tiger's mouth into the sword body, as if he wanted to bring the sword to life. A ray of light, vaguely visible to the naked eye, began to spread in the seams of the sheath.

Humming... The sword body struggled desperately in the sheath, trying to break out of the sheath, but it could not find its way out. Its distress and pain made people feel terrified!

Fan Xian didn't know how much true energy he had poured into it, that he had actually created such a shocking scene. The Emperor's pupils shrank slightly, his hands were still resting on the chair, and he didn't get up. However, this last remaining Grandmaster in the world discovered that his most beloved son was even more powerful than he had expected.

In the cold winter, a drop of sweat dripped from Fan Xian's brow, and his delicate face was filled with a look of heaviness and determination. He had been accumulating power for a long time, but Qing Emperor did not make a move. He could not wait forever. The sword in his hand was almost out of control.

...

...

With a soft snap, Fan Xian's right foot took a step back and heavily stepped on the threshold. And the sword that he thrust out with his right hand in a sky-scorching style finally exploded!

The white light in the seams of the sword sheath in his hand suddenly disappeared, and there was no sound in the small building. But that sword sheath could no longer withstand the anger of the Heavenly Emperor Sword within, struggling, clashing, silently and strangely, like an arrow, it stabbed towards the Emperor's face!

The first sword that Fan Xian thrust out was the sword sheath!

The sword sheath was attached to his seven days of hard thinking, the accumulation of power from a long night of talking, and the extremely powerful and domineering true energy. It ejected in an instant, and the extremely fast speed made the sword sheath tear through the air easily like Yan Xiaoyi's arrow back then, surpassing the limits of time. In just an instant, in the blink of an eye, it arrived before His Majesty the Emperor's eyes.

However, at this time, there was an extra hand in the air, an extremely stable hand, a hand that had stirred up storms and broken rain on Mount Dong, a hand that had a callus on its middle finger because it had been holding the imperial pen for too long.

This hand caught the sword sheath, like catching a firefly in the floating light, like catching a speck of dust in the thousands of snowflakes. This hand was too fast, so fast that it could catch light, so fast that it could catch shadows, so how could it not be able to catch a tangible sword sheath?

The calm momentum of the small building was shattered, and the sound of the sword sheath roaring like a dragon reappeared, but it came to an abrupt halt.

Fan Xian's sword sheath, which had been accumulating power for a long time, was like a giant dragon being strangled by the throat, stopping its breathing, dejectedly drooping its head, and lying weakly in His Majesty the Emperor's palm.

His Majesty the Emperor slowly stood up, his face was unusually calm, but he had to admit that Fan Xian's realm today had exceeded his judgment. This sword, which flew over like a flying dragon from the sky, faintly had a sense of detaching from space.

The door of the small building was empty. The Emperor looked coldly at that place. The seat behind him shattered, turned into dust, and turned into nothingness, scattering all over the ground.

...

...

Fan Xian used all his strength to activate that sword sheath, which seemed to be a desperate move. There were no spectators around the small building, so no one expected, no one thought, that after that moment, his body would float up, rush up, and fly up at an even faster speed.

His body was like a big bird, no, lighter and faster than a bird, like snowflakes swept up by a howling gale, and in an instant, it flew out of the door of the small building for a distance of fifteen zhang at a speed that humans could never reach.

At this time, snowflakes began to fall from the sky again.

During the flight, Fan Xian almost stopped breathing, only relying on the magic formula left by Ku He before his death, feeling the coldness around him in the flow of air, following the trend, and drifting away.

During the flight, he had time to think. From the Emperor's seat to outside the small building, there was a distance of four zhang, and the Emperor had to catch his sword and think about it, so he would not come out too quickly.

The Four Grandmasters have already transcended the ordinary and become saints, but they are not gods after all, and they have their own weaknesses. The weakest link of Grandmaster Ku He lies in his aging body, and the most powerful thing about Ye Liuyun lies in his cloud-like movement technique. If the Grandmaster in the small building at this time was Ye Liuyun, Fan Xian would definitely not expect to be able to keep the other party in the building.

However, the Emperor was in the building at this moment. His true energy cultivation was the best in the world, and it was full to the top. However, relying on true energy to travel, the flesh always has limitations. The movement within a small range must have the skills of ghosts and gods, just like Ye Liuyun facing the rain of crossbow arrows back then.

But His Majesty the Emperor may not be able to forcibly rush out of the small building in such a short period of time, and what will follow is a seamless attack.

His feet slid two chi on the snow, showing two snow trenches. Fan Xian's figure landed on the snow, the sword light flashed, and he was in front of his face, his front knee was half-squatting, which was exactly the posture of a desperate assassination.

At the same time that the cold sword light illuminated his delicate face, a sudden, vigorous, and rapidly burning fire instantly devoured the entire small building. A sea of ​​fire appeared in the snow-covered cold palace. The red and hot light instantly illuminated the cold sword in front of Fan Xian, making it warm and red.

Such a big and fast-burning fire was definitely not naturally ignited. I don't know what Fan Xian prepared in the small building.

However, to Fan Xian's disappointment, a breath flowed through the sea of ​​fire, and a figure, a figure standing in front of the sea of ​​fire and looking at himself coldly, stood on the snow and threw the sea of ​​fire behind him.

The dragon robe on His Majesty the Emperor was a little scorched in some places, his hair was also a little messed up by the fire, and his face was slightly pale, but he still stood there so arrogantly, looking at Fan Xian coldly.

"The gunpowder from the Third Division, when did you move it into the palace?" The Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Fan Xian.

Fan Xian smiled and held the sword hilt tightly, and replied: "During the rebellion in Kyoto three years ago, when I was the regent, it was not difficult to transport as much gunpowder into the palace as I wanted."

The Emperor slowly walked towards Fan Xian, narrowed his eyes, and said in a cold voice: "So for today, you have been preparing... for three whole years!"

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes like the Emperor, so as not to be affected by the bright sea of ​​fire, and said with pursed lips: "I just think that if my mother's portrait is placed in this building again, she will probably feel angry too, so I might as well burn it with a fire."

Yes, if His Majesty the Emperor had not summoned Fan Xian in front of the small building yesterday, if His Majesty the Emperor had not immediately taken action, but had a long conversation with Fan Xian in the small building, Fan Xian would not have been able to find any opportunity to activate the mechanism and ignite the gunpowder.

However, in fact, until the moment Fan Xian broke the threshold, Fan Xian had always been fully confident that the Emperor would definitely choose the battlefield for the final showdown in the small building in this abandoned garden.

Because there is a portrait of Ye Qingmei on the small building. The Emperor will definitely choose to completely end his decades of grievances and love and hatred with her in front of this woman's portrait.

Fan Xian was able to confirm this because he was better able to control His Majesty the Emperor's thoughts than anyone else in the world. He knew what kind of person the Emperor was. The Emperor was a cold and ruthless but hypocritical and self-righteous person who was benevolent and affectionate. Fan Xian was also very hypocritical. If he used the words of that world, the father and son both liked to pretend to be petty bourgeois. This drama, the small building was undoubtedly the best stage for the two of them.

At the moment when the fire started, Fan Xian's heart moved slightly. The reason why he chose the gunpowder that had been buried for three years as his trump card was because Chen Pingping's wheelchair in the Imperial Study gave him confidence. Facing an attack from all directions with no space to dodge, even a Grandmaster could not create something out of nothing to find a dodge opportunity. The iron sand and steel beads shot from the gun in Chen Pingping's wheelchair were like this, and the fire that was raging everywhere must be like this.

It was a pity that His Majesty the Emperor was still standing well in the snow. Although his face was a little pale at that moment, presumably he had exhausted his energy when escaping from the sea of ​​fire. However, this sky-scorching fire did not cause him any irreversible damage after all.

"The fire is too slow." The Emperor looked at Fan Xian coldly, without a trace of emotion.

"Try the sword." Fan Xian held the Great Wei Emperor's Sword and smiled happily, showing his teeth.