Taking a deep breath, though it wasn't yet deep autumn, the deep-colored warm stove in the Imperial Study of the deep palace had already begun to emit warmth. The air was slightly dry, entering the lungs directly from the mouth and nose, causing a faint ache. Fan Xian looked at the face of His Majesty the Emperor and suddenly thought of many things, many people.

This storm in Qing Yu Nian began decades ago. As the dust gradually settled, perhaps only this father and son remained in the eye of the storm.

Fan Xian found it very difficult to fathom the Emperor's attitude, and even he himself couldn't clearly explain it. From Danzhou to Kyoto, brushing shoulders at the Qing Temple, their first meeting at the bamboo tea shop beside the Taiping Courtyard, from the赐婚 (bestowal of marriage) to the Supervisory Council, upon learning of the portrait in the palace, Fan Xian guessed his true identity earlier than anyone else suspected.

Whether he was Fan Shen in his previous life or Fan Xian in this life, he was essentially fatherless and motherless. However, having fallen into Qing Yu Nian, he gained a mother named Ye Qingmei. Later, he discovered that he also had a father – however, the hereditary bloodline made it impossible for Fan Xian to truly regard this emperor as his father.

At that time, Fan Xian was constantly acting, and acting beautifully, because no one knew that he had a completely different soul inside. Therefore, he could deceive anyone, even the Emperor in front of him.

As time slowly passed, Fan Xian gradually began to suspect the bloodbath in the Taiping Courtyard. Naturally, he became more wary, even fearful, of the emperor on the dragon throne. Thus, he acted even more steadily and cautiously.

But after so many years, if Ye Qingmei was a soul connected to Fan Xian, hidden in history, someone with a natural affinity, using the aura of everything around her to remind him, gradually truly merging with the image of a mother, then His Majesty the Emperor, through so many years of interaction, favor, trust, methods, and realm, had gradually approached Fan Xian's life, causing him to feel bewildered.

It must be admitted that the Emperor had invested in Fan Xian a trust and tolerance that he rarely showed in his life. In the initial battle for the throne, perhaps the Emperor was only watching his illegitimate son gradually become stronger, and to a greater extent, was still using him. However, gradually, the Emperor's attitude toward Fan Xian changed, especially after the Kyoto rebellion in the seventh year of Qingli. The fact that Fan Xian could possess his current position and strength in the Qing court and among the people was undeniably due to the Emperor's favor, which had far exceeded his favor towards the Crown Prince or the Second Prince back then.

This pair of ruler and minister, father and son, often discussed matters in the palace, chatting idly in the Imperial Study. Fan Xian was hiding something, so he was still acting. However, beyond the acting, he could clearly feel what kind of attitude the Emperor truly held towards him.

So, in these three years, in the three years after learning the truth about the Taiping Courtyard, Fan Xian had been enduring a difficult torment. Although he had been making preparations in certain aspects, he had never been able to truly settle down. On the one hand, he knew that His Majesty was like that great snow mountain in his dream, impossible to overturn easily. On the other hand, every time he asked himself in the dead of night, what kind of light would shine through the cracks he was in? How should he choose?

He wanted to choose a third path that wouldn't necessarily lead to bloodshed, so he had been working hard to be a pioneer for the king, toiling and busying himself for the court of Qing, completely against his nature. He only hoped that everything could have a relatively peaceful and bright ending.

He wanted Chen Pingping and his father to be able to retire peacefully.

In the end, all of this became an illusion.

Fan Xian was very disappointed, even desperate, heartbroken, and tired. He didn't want to act anymore.

……

……

After carefully reading the few dossiers on the table, Fan Xian coughed lightly twice. It seemed that the previous deep breath, suppressing his emotions, had caused his unhealed lungs to feel pain again.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at him silently and coughed lightly twice as well. This strange father and son acknowledged each other's strength, and there was also that complex emotion. Even their injuries seemed to coincide, telling them that they were indeed very similar.

According to Chen Pingping's planned calculations, perhaps Fan Xian should have revealed an unbelievable expression at this time, trembling all over, angry and at a loss, and then shouted loudly at His Majesty the Emperor, "I don't believe it! I don't believe the old Director did it! Why would he do this?" Then His Majesty the Emperor would explain to him in a gentle yet cold manner the purpose for which Chen Pingping had lived for the last few decades of his life, what kind of unforgettable hatred he had for the Li imperial family, and that the old black dog's past kindness to him was actually just a disguise, that he wanted to destroy Qing Yu Nian in turmoil, destroyed by the calamity caused by the conflict between father and son.

Then Fan Xian would still appear unbelievable, even angrily scolding the Emperor, "This is all fabricated by you! Chen Pingping is not that kind of person!" Then he would angrily leave the Imperial Study, return to his residence, ponder for many days, truly understand the Emperor's good intentions and Chen Pingping's venomousness, so on and so forth...

This was the proper court drama. This was the great turning point that playwrights needed. The emotional conflict would ultimately succumb to the mutual trust between the Emperor and his ministers due to the ironclad facts. Father and son would henceforth resolve their past grievances, the curtain would rise, and the sounds of silk and bamboo and the yellow bell would resonate, and the glorious dynasty would ascend to the stage of history.

However.

Fan Xian had no expression at all. He simply placed the dossiers back on the table, lowered his head slightly, and remained silent, seemingly pondering something extremely important, or perhaps he was just too tired, so tired that entering the palace today had exhausted all his energy.

The Emperor quietly watched him, his eyes gradually narrowing at an extremely slow pace. His pupils gradually brightened, then gradually dimmed, a look of disappointment appeared, then turned into a kind of calm, or rather, indifference.

"So... you've always known about this." The Emperor looked at his most beloved illegitimate son and said indifferently, "I've always been a little strange. Shadow has been following you, so you shouldn't be able to hide this kind of thing from you. You should have known long ago that the Hanging Temple incident was done by that old dog. I've also been thinking, if you really acted according to the things presented in these dossiers, once I was asked why Chen Pingping betrayed me, I really wouldn't know how to answer."

Fan Xian's fingertips trembled slightly. He keenly noticed that the Emperor's mood had undergone a great change at this time. However, his expression didn't change at all. He raised his head and looked directly at the other party, his voice slightly hoarse, and said, "I've actually always known."

The Emperor narrowed his eyes, and a flash of cold light appeared and disappeared in his pupils.

Fan Xian pursed his dry lips, trying his best to suppress the fluctuations in his heart, and said calmly, "And I've been trying, trying not to let the blood of the past devour the things that already exist today. From the moment I made this decision, I knew it was an extremely naive choice. But three years ago, during the life-and-death battle with Yan Xiaoyi, I realized that in this life, one must strive to do something, even if others laugh at you for being naive, you must still try it silently."

"Of course, naive things are always easy to fail. But..." He looked at the Emperor and said, "Isn't any great thing, in the beginning, always particularly idealistic, so naive that it's laughable? For example, back then, Your Majesty, you and Mother, and the oath you made with them on the beach in Danzhou?"

The Emperor still looked at him silently, his eyes growing brighter and brighter. From the moment Fan Xian opened his mouth and said he knew and said he was trying, he clearly knew what kind of goal his most beloved son had been trying to achieve over the years. For some reason, the Emperor, who had become accustomed to being cold, suddenly felt a warmth in his heart. Perhaps it was a good thing, but this warmth tended to disappear too quickly.

"He's already gone, he doesn't even think about the things of the past anymore, why..." Fan Xian looked at the Emperor somewhat woodenly, and said in a hoarse voice, "Why do you have to... kill him?"

This sentence naturally referred to Chen Pingping. Fan Xian didn't shout or angrily scold, but was filled with a sense of sadness and helplessness, as well as unconcealed resentment. He looked at the Emperor's eyes woodenly, and the Emperor looked at him calmly as well. After a long silence, the Emperor laughed, his smile somewhat sinister, somewhat disappointed, and somewhat sharp.

"Heh heh..." The Emperor squinted his eyes and said, "Did I kill him?"

The Emperor slapped the table next to him, not shattering the wooden table, but the force was enough to cause the papers on the table to fly up. He looked at Fan Xian and scolded in a slightly angry and low voice, "What angers me the most is this point. I gave him a way out. If he hadn't returned from Dazhou, I might have pretended that the previous things hadn't happened. But... he ultimately returned alone."

"He forced me to kill him." The Emperor's eyes were as cold as a snow mountain. "I had to grant his wish. I have stood in this world for decades and have never easily trusted anyone, but I once trusted him. I even thought that I might be able to regard him as a friend. I even gave him a chance until the very end, but... he didn't give me any chance."

His Majesty the Emperor took a deep breath, and his calm tone was filled with a chilling indifference. "A slave is ultimately a slave."

Hearing the word "slave" in this sentence, as well as the undisguised resentment and contempt, the image of the old cripple sitting in the black wheelchair seemed to suddenly appear in front of Fan Xian's eyes. He stared at the Emperor, his voice as cold as a knife, and gritted his teeth and said, "All the mistakes in the world are made by others. Your Majesty is of course wise and martial, but this subject has always been unclear about how my poor mother... ultimately died."

The Emperor's face was cold, and he didn't react to Fan Xian's piercing words at all. He just narrowed his eyes and looked at him disdainfully, saying, "Including that old dog, all of my Qing Yu Nian's enemies probably hope that this scene in the Imperial Study today will happen. You... haven't disappointed them, but you've disappointed me somewhat. Foolish as you are, you can't be taught."

Fan Xian closed his eyes, then opened them, and his eyes had returned to calm. He said, "But there are many things that this subject still can't figure out."

"If you can't figure something out, then don't think about it." The Emperor's tone was indifferent, but it was obvious that he was somewhat disappointed with Fan Xian's performance today. As for the last sentence asking about the cause of Ye Qingmei's death, His Majesty subconsciously suppressed it in the deepest part of his consciousness, not allowing it to surface. He looked at Fan Xian and said coldly, "In front of me, you are always a subject. If you think too much, I naturally won't let you continue to think."

This wasn't a threat, just a simple statement of fact. Just like the Princess of Chang said about Fan Xian back then, Fan Xian seems to be inherently indifferent and cold in nature, but in reality, he's sentimental and has too many weaknesses that can be exploited. It's just that during the Kyoto rebellion back then, the Princess of Chang's wish had already been fulfilled, so she didn't bother to exploit Fan Xian's weaknesses at all. But in today's Kyoto, it wouldn't be very difficult for His Majesty the Emperor to tightly control Fan Xian.

Hearing these cold and harsh words, Fan Xian straightened his body and said with a direct attitude that he had never shown in front of the Emperor before, "Your Majesty has treated this subject extremely well over the years, and this subject knows it well..."

Today, in the Imperial Study, the father and son weren't acting, and were both saying what they wanted to say the most. Especially Fan Xian, who for the first time firmly straightened his body and slowly recounted the interactions between him and His Majesty over the years, one by one. At the serious moments, the warm stove in the Imperial Study seemed to sigh, and the smoke twisted, as if it couldn't bear to see the separation of this father and son.

The good things that the Qing Emperor did for Fan Xian, only Fan Xian himself knew. If the person standing in front of the Qing Emperor today saying these words was the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, or another son of the Li family, he would probably already be dead. However, Fan Xian was still alive. Perhaps the Qing Emperor himself was a heartless and unjust person, and his treatment of Fan Xian wasn't necessarily deeply affectionate, but relatively speaking, he gave Fan Xian the most affection.

Listening to Fan Xian's calm recollection, the Emperor gradually straightened his body as well, then waved his hand somewhat wearily and said, "I won't kill you, it's not that I can't bear to kill you."

The Emperor closed his eyes and said after a moment of silence, "I don't want to explain the things of the past in front of you, a junior. But I think that those people might be watching me from the sky all the time, and you are the son of me and your mother. Perhaps you are like a pair of eyes they left in this world... I won't kill you, I just want to prove to you, and to those who care about you, that I... am right."

He opened his eyes and said coldly, "And they are all wrong."

Fan Xian bowed and bowed deeply, and responded, "This subject will honestly stay in Kyoto, watching Your Majesty's grand achievements."

He didn't thank the Emperor for not killing him, because there was no need to thank him. Since the Emperor let him live, he would naturally live well, opening these eyes to see for Ye Qingmei, for Chen Pingping, and for the many people of the past.

"You'll be honest?" The Emperor looked at his son and suddenly laughed, his laughter suddenly stopping, and said coldly, "I don't believe it, and you won't believe it either. But I've never thought that your dishonesty is a shortcoming, I just hope you won't be so dishonest that I don't even bother to tolerate it anymore."

"Just stay in Kyoto." The Emperor glanced at him and suddenly said somewhat wearily, "It's good to teach in the Imperial Academy as well. Don't touch the Supervisory Council and the Internal Treasury anymore. I don't want to spend too much effort on you anymore."

At this point, the words had been said as clearly as they could be said. The Emperor had given Fan Xian one last chance to live, if... he was willing to be honest. Even if this was a threat to his life, Fan Xian felt a sense of bewilderment in his heart, because he hadn't expected the Emperor to ultimately make such a decision.

The Emperor looked at Fan Xian's complex expression, and suddenly felt a pang in his heart, thinking of the beach in Danzhou, and the "Father Emperor" that Fan Xian had blurted out. After a moment of silence, he said, "In the future, you can still come to the palace to pay your respects when you have nothing to do. When we are alone, I... allow you to call me... Father Emperor."

At this time, there was no one else in the Imperial Study, and it was quiet. Fan Xian's body stiffened slightly, and he solemnly responded, "Yes, Your Majesty."

……

……

No one knew what the Emperor and Fan Xian had said in the Imperial Study, but at least when Fan Xian walked out of the Imperial Study, his body was intact and unharmed, and he hadn't turned into a wisp of soul. This fact made the majority of the people in the palace breathe a sigh of relief.

His Majesty also issued an edict to restore Fan Xian to his original position. There weren't even any implicit hints of conferment. On the contrary, almost at the same time that Fan Xian had just walked out of the Imperial Study, several pre-prepared edicts were issued. The imperial court, jointly by the Six Ministries and the Three Temples, began to continue to strengthen the cleansing of the Supervisory Council and the Internal Treasury. The edicts summoning Cheng Jialin, the prefect of Suzhou, Hou Jichang, the assistant prefect of Jiaozhou, and Su Wenmao, the director of the Internal Treasury's transportation division, to enter the capital for a report were also issued. At the same time, the edict appointing Yan Bingyun as the Director of the Supervisory Council was issued out of the palace one step ahead.

Obviously, the inner court had been prepared long ago. His Majesty the Emperor saw through his son Fan Xian too clearly. Even if he wasn't willing to kill him, he had enough ways to trap Fan Xian in Kyoto, daring him to not move rashly, and not be too dishonest.

As for whether the information that Fan Xian had sent to the surrounding areas through the Qi Nian Group could ultimately become a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Emperor, it would depend on whether His Majesty the Emperor had such sensitivity and powerful ability to act beforehand.

And in fact, regarding these two points, there should be no one in this world stronger than His Majesty the Emperor.

Fan Xian walked out of the palace with a sullen face. Hong Zhu, who was sending him out of the palace, was cautious and followed beside him with a slight sense of trepidation.

……

……

(This section was too difficult, so I simply slid my hands to write it. The last conversation between the Emperor and Fan Xian used the story of Alexandre Dumas and Alexandre Dumas, fils. This story was mentioned by Bad Smile when he and I were chatting a long time ago. It's very fitting and very good. There's only one chapter today. There will be less writing tomorrow as well. I'll probably start going crazy again on Tuesday, gritting my teeth.)