Niao Ni
Chapter 706 The Fan Family Miss in the Palace
The Imperial Study was not quiet. After Grand Scholar Hu left, Emperor Qing began to play chess with Fan Ruoruo, a habit he had developed in recent days. Emperor Qing gently held a black chess piece with his middle and index fingers and placed it on the slightly reflective chessboard, saying in a gentle voice, "It seems Fan Jian didn't teach you these things at home."
Fan Ruoruo had been in the palace for a full eight days, wearing homely clothes that the Fan family had painstakingly managed to send in through several imperial concubines. Everything was mainly in plain colors, a somewhat disharmonious simplicity in this magnificent palace. Although everyone knew that Miss Fan of the Fan family was being held hostage in the palace, this hostage had a good status. His Majesty treated her well, Princess Chen was taking care of things outside the palace, and there were nobles in the palace to look after her. There were no major problems with her diet, daily life, and clothing.
She sat respectfully opposite Emperor Qing, her hands gently placed on her knees, and replied, "Chess strategies are too complicated..."
Emperor Qing slightly raised his eyelids and asked with interest, "I remember that before Anzhi entered the capital, you were already a famous talented woman in Kyoto."
"It's just those idle and troublemaking men who like to gossip. I can't write poetry or paint, so I really don't know where the reputation of being a talented woman comes from."
After entering the palace for eight days, from the initial nervousness, fear, and helplessness to the current quiet, calm, and expectant state, Fan Ruoruo fully released her iceberg-like calmness. On the one hand, it was due to her innate temperament, but more importantly, it was due to Fan Xian's subtle influence over the past ten years. Although the man opposite her was the Emperor of Qing, in the end, he was just a person, not some monster.
Of course, this was also because Emperor Qing behaved exceptionally like an ordinary person in front of Fan Ruoruo.
"I've read your poems. They're not bad for a young lady in her boudoir, but naturally, they can't be compared to Anzhi. No wonder you say that," Emperor Qing said with a smile. "Talent doesn't lie in showing off various skills, but in the firmness of one's heart. You saved my life, which can be considered a miraculous recovery. The title of talented woman is well-deserved."
"Your Majesty is blessed with good fortune. This subject's daughter only..." Fan Ruoruo naturally responded in the tone of a conversation before the Emperor, but unexpectedly, Emperor Qing laughed and said, "Death is naturally impossible, but having more steel pellets in one's body probably wouldn't be too comfortable."
At this moment, Eunuch Yao quietly slipped into the Imperial Study, stood in front of Emperor Qing, and said softly, "One person died at Qing Temple. They are waiting in the front hall."
"Waiting? Are they waiting to be punished?" Emperor Qing gently played with the black matte chess piece, his voice turning cold. "I'll spare them this time. If there is any more reckless action, let them go to Great Dong Mountain and jump off the cliff themselves."
Eunuch Yao responded in a low voice and then said, "After leaving Qing Temple, Little Fan went to the Imperial Academy and met Grand Scholar Hu."
Emperor Qing was silent for a moment and then smiled, "I already knew that. At Qing Temple… Shadow has returned."
Eunuch Yao remained silent. He had no right to offer any suggestions on these matters. He understood His Majesty's intentions very well. He would never be as foolish as those ascetic monks wearing bamboo hats. Who was Fan Xian? He was His Majesty's most beloved minister, his illegitimate son. Even if His Majesty wanted Fan Xian to die, he would not allow these people below to act on their own.
"The problem is that we still don't know how Little Fan left the Fan residence and how he entered Qing Temple. And in the meantime, we don't know where he went," Eunuch Yao said, slightly hunching over.
Emperor Qing frowned slightly, said nothing, and waved his hand to dismiss Eunuch Yao from the Imperial Study. Throughout this conversation, Fan Ruoruo had been listening quietly on the sidelines. Eunuch Yao did not avoid her because the servants in the palace had long been accustomed to the fact that there was always such a fair-skinned woman with a quiet, cold aura listening beside Emperor Qing, regardless of whether it was a meeting in the Imperial Study or more important political affairs. His Majesty did not avoid her.
However, today's discussion was after all about Fan Xian, her closest brother, so Fan Ruoruo still lowered her head slightly, seemingly not wanting to hear these things and even more so not wanting Emperor Qing to notice anything unusual.
Emperor Qing did not look in her direction, but remained silent. After a moment, Emperor Qing suddenly smiled slightly. The Internal Affairs Office had not found any signs of what Fan Xian had done after risking his life to leave the residence today, but at least they knew that Shadow from the Sixth Bureau of the Surveillance Institute had returned, and that at Qing Temple, more than a dozen ascetic monks had fought a great battle with these two people.
Thinking of those bald ascetic monks, the smile on Emperor Qing's face suddenly disappeared, and a hint of disgust appeared in his eyes. He did not expect that these fanatical Qing Temple monks would dare to act against Fan Xian without asking for his permission, which made Emperor Qing feel quite displeased.
And thinking of Shadow, the true head of the Sixth Bureau of the Surveillance Institute, Emperor Qing narrowed his eyes, revealing a hint of great interest. Chen Pingping had served him for decades, but had always kept many secrets of his own. In the past, Emperor Qing had not cared about anything because he deeply believed in his loyalty. So, although he knew that there was always a shadow floating beside that black wheelchair, Emperor Qing had not delved into the true origin of that shadow.
Now, of course, he knew. A flash of light passed through Emperor Qing's eyes. It was the sword light that the white-clothed swordsman had thrust out at Suspended Temple a few years ago. This light was a bit dazzling, making his eyes narrow even more, and he was even faintly looking forward to what the younger brother of Sigu Jian would do.
There was no need to consider what Fan Xian had done after leaving the residence today. Emperor Qing knew very well that Fan Xian must have contacted his most trusted subordinates in Kyoto and sent some extremely important information to the west to Xiliang, east to Dongyi, and south to Jiangnan.
This was a very simple matter. The situation was such that if Fan Xian wanted to maintain his independence in the face of the pressure of the dragon throne, he had to mobilize all his strength. However, Emperor Qing simply could not be bothered to pay attention to the specific content of those messages because, in his opinion, no matter how Fan Xian jumped, he was still on this land.
This land was originally in Emperor Qing's palm.
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Moreover, the Emperor was very curious about what kind of things this son of his, whom he loved and admired the most, could do while being confined in Kyoto. If he was facing Ye Qingmei back then, for the sake of the common people on this land, for the sake of the survival of the entire Qing Kingdom, for the sake of the wishes of too many people, perhaps there was no need to say anything at all. Ye Qingmei would only silently leave and no longer exist on the land of the Qing Kingdom. And what choice would he, the son of him and Ye Qingmei, make? This was something Emperor Qing was very interested in.
Was this a kind of evil taste of calmly watching the struggles of the next generation with absolute confidence? In fact, Emperor Qing had not even thought about throwing Fan Xian into the abyss until now because, in his opinion, this son had only misunderstood him.
Emperor Qing simply did not want to explain, disdained to explain. This was a process of questioning one's heart. He sat domineeringly in the palace, waiting for Fan Xian to enter the palace to explain, to plead guilty. And then, His Majesty would tell Fan Xian in a gentle voice that the old black dog who died was not as kind as you imagined. That old black dog just wanted to kill all the members of the Li clan and had even tried to kill you. Although your surname is Fan, you are actually a Li.
Things like that? But how to explain about Ye Qingmei? Perhaps Emperor Qing simply did not want to touch upon that aspect.
"I want to go for a walk," Emperor Qing said. Although his voice was very calm, it was obvious that because of the words that Grand Scholar Hu had said when he entered the palace earlier, His Majesty had some grasp on how to handle Fan Xian's matter, so he was in a relatively relaxed mood and thought about going out in the middle of the night.
There were only two people in the Imperial Study. Emperor Qing's words were naturally addressed to Fan Ruoruo. Fan Ruoruo was slightly stunned, stood up, took a thin cloak lined with black fur and gold silk, carefully put it on Emperor Qing, and then supported his right arm, slowly walking to the wooden door of the Imperial Study.
As soon as the wooden door opened, more than a dozen eunuchs and maids were waiting outside. Eunuch Yao humbly lowered his body, pushing a wheelchair and waiting. From the moment Emperor Qing spoke to the time the eunuchs outside prepared everything, it only took a very short time, reacting extremely quickly.
However, Emperor Qing looked at the wheelchair outside the threshold, but did not show any admiration on his face. He just gave Eunuch Yao a cold look, ignored the servants outside the door, and walked towards the night palace with Fan Ruoruo's support.
Having been given a cold look by His Majesty, cold sweat flowed from Eunuch Yao's body. Eight days had already passed. In fact, not many people knew that the war between the monarch and his subject in the Imperial Study that day had caused Emperor Qing to suffer extremely serious injuries. Although it was not enough to threaten his life, the Emperor's body was still damaged in a way that was difficult to recover in a short period of time. In addition, Chen Pingping's words that day were cutting to the heart. His Majesty's mental state did not seem to be particularly good.
That was why Eunuch Yao had prepared this wheelchair, but he had not expected that Emperor Qing would be extremely displeased. He immediately reacted. Whether it was because he did not want the officials to know the true state of his body, or because this wheelchair reminded His Majesty of that old Dean who made him angry and painful, Eunuch Yao had made a big mistake today.
This kind of mistake could not be made. Fortunately, Emperor Qing was a master who was more magnanimous to his servants than to his own relatives and would not easily shift his anger. Eunuch Yao did not have to worry about his life.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and led a group of eunuchs and maids, silently holding their breath and following behind, watching Miss Fan of the Fan family gently help His Majesty move forward. No one dared to follow too closely.
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The lights hanging in the corridors of the palace were not bright, only enough to illuminate the bluestone road underfoot. In the past, once night fell, the nobles would close themselves in their palaces and not come out. Only the eunuchs and maids who had work to do would walk in these quiet corridors. Today, the dim light shone on Emperor Qing and Fan Ruoruo, casting shadows of varying lengths, making the eunuchs and maids they encountered feel a chill and quickly kneel down on the side of the road.
Just as Eunuch Yao had guessed, Emperor Qing's displeasure earlier was precisely because of the wheelchair at the door of the Imperial Study. Once he saw this wheelchair, His Majesty naturally thought that in the past decades, that old black dog sitting in the wheelchair often walked side by side with him in the palace in the dead of night, discussing the general trend of the world, the infighting of the royal family, making plans, and estimating the number of dead people, as if they were talking about everyday matters.
Emperor Qing was a person. He missed those scenes of the past very much. It was precisely because of this, because of Chen Pingping's betrayal, that these beautiful scenes worth recalling suddenly had many more strange and unbelievable aspects, so he felt angry.
In addition to anger, there was also a complex emotion in his heart. Several years ago, because of the Suspended Temple incident, Fan Xian was seriously injured and nearly died. After he recovered from his injuries in the winter snow, that young man also entered the palace in a wheelchair and talked with Emperor Qing for a very long time.
That was the first time Emperor Qing had spoken with Fan Xian, although he still did not explicitly state the relationship between them, not like that time in the small building. But for Emperor Qing, it was also an extremely important meeting.
Tonight, seeing the wheelchair, he thought of Chen Pingping, thought of Fan Xian after his injury, and his emotions became complicated. He slowly said, "The reason why I want to have that old dog cut into a thousand pieces and die is because this person is extremely vicious and extremely hypocritical."
Fan Ruoruo held his arm, maintaining a distance, not feeling too tired, but when she heard these words, she felt that His Majesty's body was as heavy as Mount Tai. The monarch wants his subject to die, and the subject has no choice but to die, especially with the treasonous actions of the old Dean Chen being clear for all to see. No one could possibly question His Majesty about this matter, except for Fan Xian… Even more crucially, His Majesty did not need to explain anything at all. Just like in the past few days, he had never thought about taking the initiative to explain anything to Fan Xian. However, on such an early autumn night, when it was just the two of them, His Majesty had spoken.
Were these words meant for her, or were they meant to be spoken to her brother through her mouth? Fan Ruoruo lowered her head slightly, did not respond, but was constantly pondering in her heart.
"That old dog deliberately died in my hands in the end, in order to make Anzhi resent me, hate me. How could I allow such a person who does not forget to be vicious even in death to die happily?" Emperor Qing's voice was a bit tired. He turned his head and glanced at Fan Ruoruo, then turned his head back again, looking at the quiet night palace, and said, "Tomorrow, I will issue an edict to summon Anzhi to the palace to pay his respects."
Fan Ruoruo's body stiffened slightly. One hand was holding His Majesty's arm, and her body squatted down very slightly, giving a blessing, and said sincerely, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Emperor Qing was expressionless, as if he did not think that he should have a daughter of a subject's family express gratitude after taking a step back in this cold war first. But what moved him slightly was that after saying these three words, Miss Fan of the Fan family did not make any further expressions. She just steadily held his arm and continued to walk in the palace, not mentioning anything about leaving the palace herself.
"You… are different," Emperor Qing turned his head and gave her a meaningful look. "I used to often come to this palace with Chen丫头 (丫头 is a loving way to call a young girl), but she has been here less often since she got older, and she is much more mischievous than you."
"I am naturally not as good as my sister-in-law," Fan Ruoruo lowered her head and replied softly. Emperor Qing smiled and said nothing, feeling that this little girl beside him was indeed extremely aloof and self-respecting. But it was also pitiful to say that since Lin Wan'er had grown up, there had probably been few people who would accompany the Emperor like a "true" junior, because the Son of Heaven has no family affairs. In the hearts of those princes who were alive or dead, the father emperor… could never be a real father.
And in Fan Ruoruo's heart, she was also full of doubts and feelings. After these days of getting along, this unfamiliar and incomparably dignified Emperor Qing seemed to have gradually come down from the altar and taken off the dazzling golden outer coat, becoming more like an ordinary elder, or rather, an elder who was gradually showing his age after being seriously injured.
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In the quiet night palace, Miss Fan of the Fan family supported His Majesty for a walk. This scene fell into the eyes of many people, and it was not the first time that people had discovered the abnormality of His Majesty's treatment of Miss Fan of the Fan family. Since His Majesty was injured in the Imperial Study and Miss Fan of the Fan family entered the palace to treat him, everyone in the palace knew that His Majesty treated this young lady differently.
Anyone with a little bit of intelligence knew that Miss Fan of the Fan family's current status was that of a hostage. But there was no such hostage in this world. Her daily life in the palace followed the rules of Princess Chen in her early years. Except for returning to the palace to rest at night, Miss Fan of the Fan family would accompany His Majesty in the Imperial Study throughout the day. His Majesty even did not avoid her when discussing state affairs.
The Grand Scholars of the Ministry of Affairs and the Chancellery were naturally shocked by this scene. However, they were all people of status and status and would naturally not spread rumors. However, that Grand Scholar He often looked somewhat unnatural when he saw Miss Fan of the Fan family in the Imperial Study.
However, the inside of the palace was different. There were many people with many mouths, and rumors were rampant for a while. Humans are always an extremely forgetful species. The eunuchs and maids in the palace may have forgotten the thunderstorm in the seventh year of Qingli, the bloody purge in the palace that was caused by rumors, and once again threw themselves into the great work of gossip.
Perhaps it was because too many people had died three years ago, and many new eunuchs and maids had been added to the palace at this time. They did not know the murderous intent hidden in the imperial aura. Perhaps it was because His Majesty's attitude toward Miss Fan of the Fan family was really incomprehensible. So, rumors about the Imperial Study gradually spread in the palace.
Emperor Qing was a wise monarch who did not particularly like women, and he was even less like a licentious master. Over the years, there were only a dozen or so female masters in the palace, and only four of them had children. Originally, according to the principles, no one would have guessed in those areas. However, His Majesty's attitude towards Miss Fan of the Fan family was indeed different, plus another major event that had occurred in the palace in the past two days, which could not help but touch the minds of too many people.
This major event was the Imperial Harem Selection. The imperial harem selection, which had been suspended for more than ten years in the Qing Kingdom's Imperial Palace, had reopened three days ago.
No one understood why at this juncture, His Majesty would suddenly have the idea of enriching the harem. Could it be that the crisis of middle age had suddenly made this monarch have the idea of engaging in youthful pursuits?
Starting three days ago, the imperial harem selection activity, which was presided over by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and co-organized by the Inner Court and the Ministry of Rites, began. Because the Qing Kingdom was unfamiliar with this entire set of procedures, the Ministry of Rites appeared somewhat flustered. The seven prefectures and counties of the Qing Kingdom were probably yet to receive the imperial edict, and those young women who might be fortunate enough to be selected into the palace had yet to hear any news. So, what started moving first was still Kyoto.
This was a rare opportunity. Those princes, nobles, ministers, and celebrities who had been lurking in Kyoto for too long all wanted to seize this opportunity. Even in such a chaotic procedure, they still rushed to send the first batch of officials' daughters of the appropriate age into the palace the night before yesterday.
The imperial palace, which had been peaceful for many years, suddenly had a lot more youthful and lively intentions because of the entry of those youthful and graceful women. Even though it was already night, there were still clear and cheerful laughter coming from the palaces where the young women lived.
The palace was full of spring, permeating the palace in early autumn. That was why the people in the palace would cast some suspicious glances towards the Imperial Study. If the Emperor's heart was truly moved, how would Miss Fan of the Fan family, who had won the Emperor's heart, be placed?
"They are all a bunch of idiots," Consort Yi said with a sneer, her eyes drooping slightly, gently holding the Third Prince's hand. "What kind of person is His Majesty? And who is your teacher? How could such absurd words spread in this palace?"
"Most of the people in the palace are idiots, and there are too many new people. Perhaps they have already forgotten many things," Li Chengping, the Third Prince, said with a smile. However, the smile on this young prince's face was somewhat forced, and there was a faint, heavy look of worry between his increasingly clear brows.
Consort Yi looked at her son, sighed softly, and said, "His Majesty is a wise ruler and will naturally not do those absurd things. This time, selecting young women to enter the palace has nothing to do with that person in the Imperial Study. Your father emperor… is just…"
She did not finish her words. Li Chengping raised his head and said with a worried expression to his mother, "I heard that Father Emperor will summon Sir into the palace tomorrow. But selecting young women… I'm afraid Father Emperor will ultimately not trust Sir as he did in the past."
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(For the story, Fan Ruoruo being in the palace is a very important thing, to avoid the human touch of that person becoming less and less. As for the imperial harem selection, it is naturally a matter of the fertility machine. Emperor Qing is not an absurd person, but he is a far-sighted person. It is normal for the Third Prince to worry about this.
Today I bought medicine for my mother and ran to several pharmacies, which delayed me for some time. I am still writing, and there will be another chapter later. I will try my best, haha, I don't know if I can write that many words.)