Niao Ni
Chapter 719: Blood in Both the Capital and Jiangnan
The change in the Neiku's (Inner Treasury) method of attracting merchants fundamentally struck at the power that Fan Xian possessed. Everyone could see this clearly, especially Xia Qifei, the current head of the Ming family, who was Fan Xian's agent in Jiangnan, felt an imminent danger. Of course, he believed that the Ming family's influence in Jiangnan, and more importantly, the Ming family's survival, would affect the livelihood of the people in Jiangnan, which would make the court somewhat hesitant when taking action. At least it would not force the Ming family to death directly in the eleventh year of Qingli. If the Ming family really collapsed, the court would not get any benefits.
However, such a trend had been set. If the situation continued to develop like this, the Ming family would gradually be marginalized in a few years and gradually swallowed up by the other dozen or so Jiangnan merchants supported by the court. Tens of thousands of people's lives and deaths rested on Xia Qifei's shoulders, so he had to be vigilant and prudent. Furthermore, the conversation he had with Governor Xue Qing of Jiangnan clarified the court's demands on him.
After that night, Xia Qifei fell into deep thought. He had to choose between Lord Fan and the court. It was precisely because of this distressing thought that he did not choose to sneak into Kyoto to meet Fan Xian at the first opportunity after receiving the notification from the Qi Nian group. It was not that he had begun to waver, but because he knew that Fan Xian wanted him to enter Kyoto just to assess his loyalty. However, the current situation did not give Xia Qifei time to show his loyalty. The situation in Jiangnan was too dangerous, so he just sent Fan Xian a handwritten letter expressing his continued loyalty.
If it were any other merchant, choosing between the court and the already weakened Fan Xian would not be a very difficult thing. Merchants seek profit, and they do not have the real strength to influence the situation. They must actively or passively turn to the stronger side. This is the natural attribute of merchants. Even if Xia Qifei abandoned Fan Xian now, it would not surprise or shame too many people.
However, Xia Qifei was not a merchant in the ordinary sense. This was precisely why Fan Xian chose him as his agent in Jiangnan back then. This illegitimate son of the Ming family had a very similar life trajectory to Fan Xian. He had wandered in the Jianghu (Martial World) since he was a child and was the leader of a Jiangnan water fortress. In addition to the natural bloodline of a merchant, he also had the loyalty of a Jianghu person.
Xia Qifei knew that without Lord Fan, he would never be able to return to the Ming family, let alone regain control of the Ming family and avenge his mother. Xia Qifei dared not forget such great kindness and was even more unwilling to betray Fan Xian.
The Ming family had been operating in Jiangnan for countless years. Even when Fan Xian came to Jiangnan that year, it was a bit difficult. Now, under the leadership of Xia Qifei, they began to resist, resisting the pressure from the Jiangnan Governor's Office and the secret edict from Kyoto. For a time, the entire Jiangnan was in turmoil.
At this moment, Xue Qing, the Governor of Jiangnan, who had cooperated tacitly with Fan Xian back then but was not very prominent, stood up. This top-notch regional official of the Qing Yu Nian court coldly began to suppress the Ming family and, unexpectedly, once again supported the Fourth Master of the Ming family.
This was originally a trick that Fan Xian had used back then. Now Xue Qing simply followed suit, but it achieved very good results. The Ming Garden itself was divided into several factions. Although the old Ming family members did not have many shares, they were, after all, members of the Ming family. Now that the differences between the two sides were brought to the fore, it became extremely difficult for Xia Qifei to maintain Fan Xian's interests in Jiangnan.
However, Xia Qifei still insisted, with the strong support of the Zhaoshang Qianzhuang (Merchant Bank), turning money into power, infiltrating the entire Jiangnan bureaucracy from the bottom up, and obstructing the real implementation of the court's decree at all costs. The head of the Ming family knew very well that the general trend could not be resisted. Lord Fan was just waiting for something in Kyoto. All they needed to do was to try their best to preserve his power so that his waiting in Kyoto could continue. But the problem was, how long would they have to wait? How long would they have to endure so desperately before they saw the end?
Before long, the Qing kingdom court clearly lost patience with the non-cooperation of the Jiangnan gentry and merchants. On the third day after the winter-end tea party held by the Neiku Zhuan Yun Si (Inner Treasury Transport Department), Xia Qifei, the head of the Ming family, who had strongly opposed the new rules for Inner Treasury bidding at the tea party, was assassinated outside Suzhou City!
The assassins in black were more than five hundred people. No one knew how these thugs had passed through the strict defenses of the Qing kingdom and arrived outside Suzhou City, and no one knew where these fierce thugs with military characteristics came from. Why was the response from Suzhou Prefecture and the Jiangnan Governor's Office so slow when Xia Qifei was assassinated? Why didn't the tens of thousands of state troops in Jiangnan Road catch a single thug afterward?
Five hundred black-clad thugs engulfed Xia Qifei's convoy like a tide. Although Xia Qifei was the leader of the Jiangnan water fortress and had countless heroes willing to die for him, in the face of such an unexpected attack, they threw their heads and shed their blood, but in the end, the defense circle was breached.
The newly appointed guardian of the Jiangnan water fortress died in battle. Guan Wu Mei, who had returned to Suzhou to help deal with affairs, also died in this assassination. Xia Qifei should have had no chance of survival, but at this critical moment, an unremarkable Ming family servant carried him on his back after he was seriously injured and, relying on a cold sword in his hand, fought his way out of the encirclement and carried Xia Qifei back to the Ming family!
The Ming Garden was sealed off and closed for three days.
When the state troops arrived at the scene of the assassination, they found nothing but the bodies of the Ming family's servants and guards lying on the ground. The black-clad thugs did not even leave a single corpse behind.
That night, in the Jiangnan Governor's Office, Governor Xue Qing and his two advisors began to ponder the intelligence in their hands. The court, regardless of the shock of the world, had to take action resolutely, which was already a desperate measure. The emperor in Kyoto did not want to play those hypocritical tricks with Fan Xian anymore and had lost patience. However, under such a thunderous blow, Xia Qifei actually survived. This fact made Xue Qing feel a little disappointed. Now that the Ming Garden had been sealed off, the court could not possibly break into the Jiangnan Ming family's garden openly.
In the reported intelligence, the swordsman who carried Xia Qifei away attracted Xue Qing's attention. He was able to break through the encirclement of hundreds of Qing kingdom elite soldiers. A martial artist with such ability must be a Ninth-Rank expert. There were not many Ninth-Rank experts in the world, and the only one who could have been lurking by Xia Qifei's side and turned the tide at the last moment could only be Fan Xian... a disciple of the Jian Lu (Sword Cottage).
The matter in Jiangnan did not end there. In this bloody storm, the assassination of the head of the Ming family was just an introduction. After the Ming Garden was closed, the Jiangnan water fortress's Shazhou headquarters began to mobilize good fighters to prepare to support Suzhou. However, this team assisting the Ming family was intercepted and disarmed by the court's state troops halfway.
The Jiangnan navy stationed in Shazhou took advantage of the emptiness of the Jiangnan water fortress's internal abdomen and carried out the most ruthless cleansing work. The Jiangnan water fortress surrounded by the lake was burned down by a fire. No one knew how many people died. The fire burned for three days and three nights without stopping, wanting to burn the lake dry and the reed roots into long incense sticks for sacrifices...
The court could have countless reasons to suppress the Jiangnan water fortress. However, what disappointed Xue Qing again was that the Jiangnan navy's attack was too ruthless, and the water fortress men intercepted on the road either died or were injured. Those who were captured were also extremely stubborn and refused to say anything. Thus, the attempt to link the Ming family with the Jiangnan bandits was forced to stop here.
On the third day of the Ming Garden's closure, the Fourth Young Master of the Ming family died in a well. It was said that he committed suicide out of guilt. Then, the old Ming family's personnel began to wither gradually. Xia Qifei, who had lost too many relatives and brothers, began a cruel counterattack. At least for now, the Ming Garden had finally stabilized under his iron-blooded methods with the help of the strongmen from Dongyi City.
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The court's use of such means to deal with the wealthy Ming family in Jiangnan had too adverse an impact. It was very easy to cause unrest among the people in Jiangnan and would also cause other merchants to distrust the court. And don't forget, Xia Qifei now also had an official identity. His identity as a Jiangnan supervisor of the Supervisory Council had not been revoked, so the Governor's Office certainly refused to admit that this matter was related to the government.
Under the Ming family's angry accusations and the Supervisory Council headquarters in Kyoto's inquiries, the Jiangnan Governor's Office and the governments of several major states began to jointly and diligently investigate the assassination of Xia Qifei. Of course, everyone could imagine that this investigation would never have any results.
Strangely, neither the government nor the Ming family mentioned the Jiangnan water fortress that had disappeared in the sea of fire. It seemed that the Jianghu force that had once been so prosperous in Jiangnan had never existed.
Compared to the inexplicable battle outside Cangzhou City and the great victory at Hongshan Pass that determined the direction of history, the turmoil and killings in Jiangnan were not so eye-catching. Not as many people died in those two places, and the impact did not seem as great. The powerful and wealthy citizens of Kyoto only vaguely knew that a very rich family in Jiangnan seemed to be having a difficult time recently. However, the contest in Jiangnan was actually the real contest, because it bore a large share of the Qing kingdom's tax revenue and the peaceful life of one-third of its people.
Moreover, Jiangnan had always been peaceful. Even when Fan Xian stirred up trouble in Jiangnan that year, he was extremely careful to control the turmoil within a certain range. Although it caused a movement of Jiangnan scholars taking to the streets, it did not cause chaos in Jiangnan after all. But this time, Jiangnan was really in chaos. If Xia Qifei had not survived by chance and used even more ruthless methods to appease his sad heart, perhaps Jiangnan would have completely fallen into the hands of the court. Regarding this point, it can only be said that Fan Xian's luck in this life was indeed good. The trusted subordinates he chose had placed a degree of trust in him that had completely exceeded the rewards they received.
The cold war between the emperor and Fan Xian turned into a hot war in three important places in the world. In addition to these three places, something also happened outside Yingzhou City, but this matter did not attract much attention. Su Wenmao, an official of the Supervisory Council and head of the Inner Treasury Transport Department who had been stripped of his official position by the court and escorted back to Kyoto for trial, passed through Yingzhou. When the prisoner cart team had just left Yingzhou City, it was attacked by a group of bandits. That day, countless criminal officials responsible for escorting the prisoner were killed or injured, and Su Wenmao had one of his arms cut off. His fate was unknown, and his whereabouts were unknown.
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"The bandits in Yingzhou that year were actually Guan Wu Mei, right... That year, I took a boat to Jiangnan, and the first person I started to deal with was her. Then, through her relationship, I found Ming Qishao, who is Xia Qifei."
On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in the tenth year of Qingli, the intelligence from Jiangnan finally reached Fan Manor through the Baoyuelou (Holding Moon Tower). Fan Xian looked at the intelligence in his hand and remained silent for a long time, saying, "The Jiangnan water fortress has long been secretly recruited by the court. The center of Hangzhou Association has always been in Yingzhou. The tragic scene after the dike break of the Yangtze River that year is long gone. The current prefect of Yingzhou is a virtuous official I personally selected. How could so many bandits be created again?"
Fan Xian smiled, but the smile was a little desolate. He turned his head and looked at Lin Wan'er, saying, "You and I have been working hard for so many years, but it turns out that we are no match for His Majesty's unreasonable hacking and killing."
Back then, when Fan Xian passed through Yingzhou on his way to Jiangnan, he found that the people's livelihood here was difficult. Later, the Inner Treasury was rejuvenated, and the court's national treasury was enriched. At the first moment, the Hangzhou Association, presided over by Lin Wan'er, began to invest silver in the poor prefectures and counties on both sides of the Yangtze River. At that time, with the reputation of Fan Xian and Princess Chen suppressing the situation, and the eerie surveillance of the Supervisory Council, no official dared to embezzle the silver. Now, the people's livelihood in Jiangnan should be better than it was back then.
"Jian Lu (Sword Cottage) sent a total of six people to Jiangnan. I left three in the Inner Treasury because that is the most important place. The other three were mainly responsible for the safety of Xia Qifei and Su Wenmao. I don't want all these people who followed me to die." Fan Xian said expressionlessly, "Even so, there are still so many problems. I hope Wenmao can survive."
Lin Wan'er looked at him quietly from the side, knowing that he had many hardships and pressures in his heart. Fan Xian lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then slowly raised his head, his eyes seemed to begin to burn with a flame. This flame was very similar to the fire that burned for three days and three nights in the lake, as if countless wronged souls were struggling, wailing, crying, and howling in this fire.
The situation in Kyoto was also full of hardship and rain. Yan Bingyun was still in Dingzhou handling the affairs of the Qingzhou War. Even if he had already left Dingzhou at this time, he would still be delayed on the road for some time. It was also during this period that the Duchayuan (Censorate) took the opportunity to begin exerting pressure on the Supervisory Council. Now, the Supervisory Council had lost two deans, one dead and one crippled, but Yan Bingyun could not gain the obedience of the Supervisory Council from the bottom of its heart. With the emperor's indulgence and the cooperation of the Menxia Zhongshu (Secretariat), the censors of the Duchayuan, led by He Zongwei, launched the most cruel cleansing of the Supervisory Council.
The first to bear the brunt was the First Bureau. In just three days, more than thirty officials of the Supervisory Council were arrested and imprisoned in the Dali Temple. Those seemingly gentle civil officials rarely had the opportunity to take action against the Supervisory Council, so naturally they would not be polite. All kinds of torture instruments in the prison began to play their role at this moment.
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Defeated, Fan Xian was defeated. He was defeated again and again, defeated and disgraced. Fan Xian knew that he was wrong. The emperor was like the Da Dongshan (Great East Mountain). Even if he created countless storms in the world, as long as this mountain did not fall, the Qing kingdom's court would not be in chaos, and even the greatest storm would remain cold and cruel.
And the very secret news that came out of the palace today was like the last straw that broke Fan Xian's heart, forcing him to make a choice immediately. A show girl who was selected into the palace was said to be pregnant with the dragon seed—hearing this news, Fan Xian could not help but sneer. It seemed that the effect of eating celery to kill sperm did not have much effect on monsters like grandmasters.
"Xia Qifei in Jiangnan is having a difficult time. If I don't take action, he won't even be able to protect himself, let alone support me." Fan Xian narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "The more my power is weakened, the more ruthless His Majesty's methods will be. This is a mutually reinforcing thing. At first, he will slowly come, but as my counterattack power becomes smaller and smaller, his concerns will become less and less, and his methods will become more and more crazy... until he turns me into a loner."
"The court's measures in Jiangnan... are actually very unwise." Lin Wan'er said softly, "Everyone with eyes knows what's going on with the Ming family's predicament. The court has made it too obvious this time, and the methods used are too bloody. I'm afraid the merchants in Jiangnan will be disaffected from now on."
"Not only unwise, but also stupid. But obviously, His Majesty doesn't care about these things. He only cares about completely defeating me in the shortest time and shattering any of my fluke chances." Fan Xian's expression was very wooden, "I don't know why, but it seems that he is also a little anxious."
Lin Wan'er looked at him, and her heart trembled slightly. Although the couple did not say anything explicitly, with just one look, she knew what he was thinking in his heart, especially in this situation, his expression was enough to prove his thoughts.
Thus, two lines of clear tears flowed from Wan'er's eyes. She stared blankly at Fan Xian and said with a trembling voice, "But what can you do?"
Fan Xian was silent for a long time, then gently put his arm around her body, holding her as gently as if he were holding a child, and said softly, "Although I have been defeated again and again, and seem to have no power to fight back, it actually proves something I really wanted to know."
"His Majesty is finally old. He is no longer as patient and calm and indifferent as he was in the past, not giving people any chance." Fan Xian lowered his head and said in his wife's ear, "Taking off that dragon robe, His Majesty is more like an ordinary person. This... may be my chance."
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As time and circumstances changed, Fan Xian no longer had time to wait for that relative covered in a black cloth to return from the icy and snowy world. If he really continued to wait like this, even if the emperor kept holding back and did not kill him, even if he waited for Wu Zhu Uncle's return, by that time, the people he cared about would probably all be dead, like those people in the Jiangnan water fortress, Guan Wu Mei, Su Wenmao, and those officials in the Supervisory Council.
He had to fight back, and he really had secrets in his hand that even the emperor did not know. But he knew that once the counterattack regarding the Inner Treasury really unfolded, there would be no room for maneuver between the Fan faction's forces and the one in the palace. Perhaps the entire Qing kingdom would be plunged into turmoil because of this, and if Fan Xian lost, countless people behind him would probably die.
Fan Xian did not have the confidence to defeat his emperor father, so when he bravely stood up at the cost of his life, he had to reserve a way out for his loved ones and friends. After that autumn rain, he no longer cared about his own life and death, but he still cared about the life and death of others.
For this way out, Fan Manor was quiet for a long time after the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the atmosphere was depressed for a long time. Even the two little ancestors seemed to have noticed their father's unusual emotions and no longer dared to shout loudly.
After a very tasteless New Year's Day, Fan Xian ate some dumplings casually and locked himself in the study. This lock-up lasted for seven days, and it was not until the seventh day of the first lunar month that he walked out of the study.
Everyone in the manor was waiting outside the study. Lin Wan'er looked at him worriedly from the side, and Si Si brought a bowl of ginseng soup to his hand.
Fan Xian took the ginseng soup and drank it all in one gulp, smiling and saying, "Among our four great maids from Danzhou, you still make the best soup."
Si Si's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly felt an ominous premonition, but she clenched her lips tightly and did not speak. She believed that the young master she had watched grow up was not an ordinary person in the world. No matter what predicament he faced, he would solve it easily, just like the past twenty years or so.
Today was the seventh day of the first lunar month, and the Taixue (Imperial Academy) opened its classes. After washing up, Lin Wan'er tidied up his clothes for him and sent him to the main entrance of the mansion. Her hands were trembling slightly all the way.
The morning sunlight broke through the cold clouds that had been blocking Kyoto for a long time and洒(sa, to sprinkle) down coldly. Lin Wan'er stared痴痴(chichi, infatuatedly) at Fan Xian's handsome side face, not knowing if she would be able to see it in the future. Suddenly, she saw a white hair growing on Fan Xian's temples, reflecting the light in the morning light, and she could not help but feel a pang of pain in her heart.
She tried to ask calmly, "After thinking for seven days, did you figure out anything?"
Fan Xian sighed and restored the laziness and helplessness he had had when he first entered Kyoto, smiling and saying, "I hoped to think and become a grandmaster in seven days. Do you think I'm being too wishful thinking?"
Lin Wan'er covered her mouth and laughed, "Indeed wishful thinking."
"The words I asked Eunuch Dai to send into the palace before the New Year have been responded to. His Majesty asked me to enter the palace in the afternoon." Fan Xian looked at his wife pityingly and said, "His Majesty has always loved you, and since he is getting older, I think he won't make things difficult for you. If you are not comfortable in Kyoto, go back to Danzhou. His Majesty will always consider grandma's face."
Lin Wan'er still covered her mouth, smiling and asked, "I'm too lazy to go. I'll just wait for you at home. But you, did you really think of any way?"
Fan Xian shrugged, saying like a ruffian, "What way is there? His Majesty has no openings all over his body... Ah, I remember, a person named Xiong said that since he has no openings all over his body, then he himself is the opening."
"You're joking again." Lin Wan'er covered her mouth and smiled, smiling almost to the point of coughing out tears.
"I was just joking." Fan Xian lowered his head and gently kissed Wan'er's forehead, then got into the carriage without looking back.
Watching the carriage drive towards the direction of the Taixue (Imperial Academy) on Dongchuan Road, the smile on Lin Wan'er's face suddenly turned into desolation. She put down the sleeve covering her lips, and there were two bloodstains on the white sleeve. She had had a hard time these seven days, and her old illness had relapsed, making her very uncomfortable.
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"Confucius said, 'To become benevolent', Mencius said, 'To take righteousness', only when righteousness is exhausted can benevolence be achieved. Reading the books of the sages, what is learned... I hope to be worthy, since ancient times, those who are determined to spread great righteousness to the world do not let success or failure, profit or loss move their hearts..."
A calm, even somewhat cold, voice sounded in front of the small lake in the Taixue (Imperial Academy). More than a hundred students of the Taixue (Imperial Academy) listened quietly to the lecture of Lord Fan. Many people felt the strangeness of Lord Fan's emotions today, because today he seemed to like to make some jokes, but those jokes were not very funny. Many people felt that Lord Fan had something on his mind.
Scholar Hu was quietly watching this scene under a big tree, feeling relieved. He thought he knew where Fan Xian's worries were, so he was comforting. Today was the seventh day of the first lunar month, the first class of the Taixue (Imperial Academy), and in the afternoon, His Majesty would summon Fan Xian into the palace. The upper echelons of the Qing kingdom's court knew that this entry into the palace was requested by Fan Xian, so Scholar Hu naturally thought that Fan Xian had admitted defeat in the face of His Majesty's repeated blows and the great achievements he had made in the Qing kingdom.
At the thought of the future Qing kingdom's monarch and ministers being of one heart, father and son being of one mind, unifying the world, and being in harmony, Scholar Hu felt extremely relieved. He did not even pay attention to the specific content of Fan Xian's lecture today.
"Kong is not Jiukong who plays Wang Leehom, nor is it Kongming who shakes a fan, and it is even less likely to mean hitting the eye. Mencius... well, I don't like this person very much, because this guy likes to argue too much, and he's a bit similar to me."
Fan Xian said with a smile to more than a hundred Taixue (Imperial Academy) students by the pool. He did not care whether these Taixue (Imperial Academy) students could understand or not. There were indeed classics, histories, philosophies, and collections in this world, but there were no Confucius, Mencius, or even many philosophers. There was talk of benevolence and righteousness, but it was rarely as clear as what Confucius said.
"Doing things like giving up one's life for righteousness should be done occasionally, but... I'm not that kind of person. I've always been afraid of death."
As soon as this remark came out, all the Taixue (Imperial Academy) students laughed, thinking that in the mess of a lecture that Lord Fan was giving today, there was finally a joke that they could understand.
"But!"
Fan Xian's expression suddenly turned cold. After the surroundings quieted down, he said word by word, "Is the difference between humans and animals only a few things? Not necessarily... The instinct of humans is to pursue life and avoid death. However, what is admirable about humans is that at certain times they can generously go to their deaths. Why go to their deaths? Naturally, there are things in this world that are more important than life and death."
"This still has nothing to do with me." He laughed, and then the surroundings were silent. Everyone felt strange, and all the Taixue (Imperial Academy) students stared blankly at him by the pool, and no one laughed.
"I have always thought that there is nothing more important in the world than one's own life and death, but later I discovered that people's desires are a very remarkable thing, and it is a remarkable thing that people have the right to choose." Fan Xian said after a moment of silence, "Since we are always going to die, then we have to choose a way to die that makes us feel more fulfilled. Although the word 'no regrets' is a bit俗(su, vulgar), it is still a very real word after all."
"How should one spend one's life?"
Fan Xian looked around and asked this question. Naturally, no one answered. After a moment of silence, his voice echoed in the quiet Taixue (Imperial Academy).
"I have thought about this question for a lifetime and have not figured it out. Copy a lot of books, earn a lot of money, marry a lot of wives, have a lot of children... uh, it seems that I have done them all. Then I thought for a long, long time and probably came to a conclusion, that is, live however you want, as long as you live with a clear conscience."
"This is probably what I want to say today."
After saying these words, Fan Xian left the Taixue (Imperial Academy) and got into that lonely black carriage, leaving behind a group of young Taixue (Imperial Academy) students who were at a loss, confused, and looking at each other, as well as that Scholar Hu, who finally understood what Fan Xian was saying and whose expression changed drastically.
Scholar Hu left the Taixue (Imperial Academy) in a panic and rushed towards the imperial palace. At this time, it was still early, and Fan Xian would not enter the palace until the afternoon. He hoped that he would still be able to say something to His Majesty, advise him on something, and prevent something from happening.
Fan Xian's rambling speech in the Taixue (Imperial Academy) spread in the shortest time. There was no need for people with ulterior motives to fan the flames. In fact, throughout Kyoto, those sensitive people had been waiting for the reaction of this Kyoto idler.
Unlike the haste and tension of all these people, Fan Xian was very calm. There was still time before he entered the palace. He came to Xinfengguan (New Wind Pavilion) and began to enjoy the rare, perhaps the last, enjoyment in winter - those few baskets of steaming Jietang Baozi (Steamed Buns), and Dabaonext to the table, who had a bun-like face.
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(The monthly tickets have fallen to fourth, and the double is only for one day. Please help me and support me. I can only say that I am working hard to write. I am very ashamed.)