Yan Bingyun, separated by the rockery, looked at Fan Xian behind the moss-covered, snow-covered gate. His face was expressionless, but his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. After a moment of silence, he spoke coldly, "You know too much. Don't forget, I've been by your side for so many years, my lord. I've managed to learn a thing or two about the Internal Treasury. And in recent years, you've been shifting your focus towards Northern Qi. Fan Sizhe is still in Shangjing. How can I believe you haven't been planning to betray the court and move to Northern Qi all along?"

Fan Xian coughed lightly a couple of times, forcing a smile. "I am a Qing person, and I have an agreement with His Majesty. If His Majesty survives this and doesn't purge my people, I naturally won't break with the court and side with the Northern Qi. You can rest assured about that."

"This concerns matters of state, the lives of millions of citizens. How can I be at ease?" Yan Bingyun's voice was extremely low, laced with restrained anger. "I don't care what strange agreement you have with His Majesty, but what if things change in the future? What if you leave Qing and go to Shangjing? Who knows if you'll be driven mad by anger and do something disgusting."

"Disgusting? You mean selling the Internal Treasury's secrets to Northern Qi, or leading the Qi in an attack on Qing?" Fan Xian gave a slight, sardonic smile. "A man lives only once and must keep some promises. As long as His Imperial Majesty keeps his promise, none of that will happen... You should be aware that the assassination attempt in the palace was just a small-scale war. I didn't use all my weapons."

"As long as I live, His Majesty will be forced to accept the agreement I made with him last night." Fan Xian's eyes turned icy. "He doesn't want the world to descend into chaos, so he can't harm my people, no matter how angry he is. He has to endure it for the sake of his grand ambitions... Don't forget, those people are familiar to you too. They were once your partners, your friends, your colleagues! If you kill me now, my forces will be without a leader. If I may say so myself, a flock of dragons without a head can be slowly cut down by His Majesty."

"Are you saying you want to watch those people you once knew so well fall one by one under His Majesty's blade?" Fan Xian stared into Yan Bingyun's eyes, emphasizing each word.

After a moment of silence, Yan Bingyun replied, "It seems that you have thought about this matter for a long time, my lord. But you must understand that there can only be one sun in the sky, one ruler in the land. If you live, even if you remain hidden, the superficial balance of our Great Qing will still be forcibly divided into two... This is not a good thing for our Great Qing."

"I just want to keep those I want to protect alive. To achieve this goal, I must live. In the future, I will stand far away on a high hill, coldly watching His Majesty and you in the court. I imagine that will make you both vigilant."

"But don't forget, if you die, the officials and subordinates in your courtyard will eventually have to accept reality. His Majesty, with his great talent and ambition, will surely find a way to take back the Supervising Bureau and even your deployments in Jiangnan." Yan Bingyun stared into his eyes and said, "On the surface, you want to ensure their lives, but in reality? You are just using the power of these people to threaten His Majesty, to threaten the court. Your insistence on not dying is just using the Supervising Bureau as a personal tool, to fulfill your own desires."

"What's wrong with that?" Fan Xian coughed lightly twice, gazing at Yan Bingyun with narrowed eyes.

"Both the Director and you have said it before." Yan Bingyun's face was calm. "The Supervising Bureau is a public instrument, not a private one. How can you use a public instrument of the state for your own selfish gain? This is what I disagree with."

"Is that so?" A hint of coldness flashed in Fan Xian's eyes, and he said with cold sarcasm, "The Supervising Bureau is a public instrument, and I can't use it for personal gain... Then why didn't you bravely stand up and refute His Imperial Majesty when he used the Supervising Bureau for his own selfish desires?"

These words struck Yan Bingyun's heart directly. He stared blankly at Fan Xian, unable to digest these words. In the hearts of all officials in this world, His Majesty is the court, is the Qing Kingdom, is the public... The Supervising Bureau is a public instrument, naturally a blade in His Majesty's hands.

"Don't forget what you yourself said. The Supervising Bureau is a public instrument, not His Imperial Majesty's private tool. The person on the dragon throne is ultimately just a person. Don't use him to represent the will of the world." Fan Xian looked coldly at Yan Bingyun and said, "Since it is a public instrument, it should naturally belong to the virtuous. I am not a virtuous person, but dare you say that His Imperial Majesty is also a virtuous person?"

"Since he and his son are just two old and young bastards, then who this Supervising Bureau public instrument belongs to is very simple."

Fan Xian stopped looking at Yan Bingyun's expression, picked up the water pot with difficulty, took a sip, and said coldly, "This courtyard was established by Ye Qingmei, left to me by Chen Pingping. Why does the Emperor think he can take it? What right do you have to say such meaningless words to me?"

"The Supervising Bureau is an organization used to supervise His Majesty. If it becomes His Majesty's secret service agency, you might as well not be the Director of the Supervising Bureau." He put down the water pot and rebuked him in a disdainful and unamused tone.

...

...

A deathly silence fell. Yan Bingyun's heart was truly stirred up by a storm. He had always thought that Fan Xian was just heartbroken by Chen Pingping's death, so he bravely stood against His Imperial Majesty. But he didn't expect that in Fan Xian's heart, there was no inherent dignity of imperial power at all! Such a rebellious and subversive argument was truly difficult for the young Master Yan to digest. He remained silent for a long, long time, but still couldn't understand this point, because Director Chen hadn't taught him this back then, and Fan Xian hadn't mentioned it before. The Supervising Bureau is used to supervise His Majesty? What a joke!

Casting a faint glance at Yan Bingyun's facial expression, Fan Xian felt an extremely strong sense of disappointment in his heart. He knew that in this world, no one but Chen Pingping and himself, who were deeply influenced by his mother, could accept these things. Even his father, who was far away in Danzhou, was probably unable to accept them. His father was just gradually drifting away from the Qing court because of himself.

Yan Bingyun raised his head, quietly looking at Fan Xian, and was about to make a decision. For the fundamental interests of the Great Qing Dynasty, for the life goal he had been striving for, he could not allow Fan Xian to take too many secrets and too much power into the arms of the enemy in a foreign land. But if he really had to send him to the palace, Yan Bingyun knew that Fan Xian would surely die today.

Fan Xian didn't seem to be in a hurry either, just waiting for Yan Bingyun's decision. At this moment, a somewhat tired, somewhat aged, and somewhat indifferent voice sounded from the shadows of the rockery, "It's so late, what's there to talk about? What good will it do to let those old women hear idle gossip?"

Yan Bingyun's body stiffened, and he recognized that the speaker was his father. He turned around with extreme difficulty, his fists clenched tightly in his sleeves. After a long silence, he knew that his father was reminding him of something. If others knew at this time that Fan Xian was hiding in his mansion, then he would have no choice but to kill him. And his father had spoken out at the moment he was making a decision, naturally giving him the strongest warning.

If Yan Ruohai hadn't helped, how could Fan Xian, whose meridians were completely disordered after being seriously injured, have hidden in the secret room in the rockery? How could his body have been bandaged, and how could there have been food and water beside him?

Yan Bingyun understood that his father's seemingly gentle and ordinary words were threatening him with the love between father and son. If he really decided to harm Fan Xian, then this family... I'm afraid it would be ruined from then on.

Fan Xian calmly looked at Yan Ruohai in the darkness, looked at this old man who was everywhere, forced a smile, and said in a low voice, "Let's not talk about this. You should go back first."

Then, he said coldly to Yan Bingyun, "You naturally won't listen to what I say. There are a few files I retrieved from Jing Prince's mansion in Jia Pavilion in the courtyard. When you have time these days, go take a look."

These words were spoken lightly, and Fan Xian seemed to have seen through that Yan Bingyun would not attack him. Yan Bingyun stood silently for a long time, his eyes tightly closed, and finally left the rockery, heading towards his own residence. This decision to leave quietly, I'm afraid, had destroyed some of his obsessions, making his back appear somewhat desolate.

"No one will come to this side of the rockery. Don't worry." Yan Ruohai walked to the foot of the rockery and said with a gentle smile, "What you said earlier about the courtyard was extremely true. I hope he can understand something."

Fan Xian smiled slightly and replied, "It's not as good as the old gentleman's personal instruction, using his own head to protect my head... Everything is for the Qing Kingdom. Yan Bingyun is still unwilling to use your life and death to prove his belief. Since everything has a price, he will probably think clearly."

...

...

Apart from the Yan family, no one in the entire Kyoto knew Fan Xian's whereabouts. The search and arrest work in Kyoto was still proceeding vigorously, without the slightest relaxation. Countless streets, alleys, and private residences were searched thoroughly. However, what made the Qing court feel extremely strange was that Fan Xian, who was seriously injured and unable to move, had disappeared from people's sight like a ghost.

The Supervising Bureau was also cooperating with the court's decree, carrying out intelligence sorting work in all aspects, but it was also fruitless. And this time, the pursuit was mainly led by the military and the inner court, and the Supervising Bureau was only cooperating, so the affairs were not particularly busy. Yan Bingyun, the current Director of the Supervising Bureau, was not as busy and nervous as Ye Zhong and Eunuch Yao, unable to sleep. On the contrary, there were many scenes of him reading books seriously in that square, gloomy building on Tianhe Avenue.

After listening to Fan Xian's words that night, Yan Bingyun began to seriously read those letters and files that were hidden in Jia Pavilion. He read them carefully for three days and three nights before he realized that these were the memorials and letters that Ye Qingmei had written to His Majesty back then. They systematically described many of her visions for the future of the Qing Kingdom. However, these visions were too bold, no, they should be said to be treasonous!

These words, which were like poison, made Yan Bingyun feel that the fingers holding the paper were beginning to burn. He was shocked and didn't dare to look closely, only picking out the words about the origin of the Supervising Bureau's establishment to read carefully, because he knew that the Supervising Bureau was originally the yamen created by Fan Xian's mother, that Miss Ye family.

Why should there be a Supervising Bureau in the world? Perhaps the answer can be found in these letters and files. Isn't the Supervising Bureau's purpose everything for the Qing Kingdom, everything for His Majesty? But why didn't those papers mention the one on the dragon throne and the one who might sit on the dragon throne in the future in too many places.

Whether Yan Bingyun wanted to read it or not, dared to read it or not, those not-so-graceful words still seemed to be ingrained in his heart like demons. He began to ponder, began to daydream, and began to feel that his father's threat that night, forcing him to take Fan Xian into his mansion, might not be a completely wrong, completely harmful decision to the Great Qing court.

He walked to the window of the secret room, looking at a corner of the imperial city under the twilight through the glass window, squinting slightly, feeling that the reflected red light was a bit dazzling. After a slight pause, he took out a piece of black cloth from a corner of the desk, reopened the black cloth, and carefully and cautiously covered the glass window, blocking the view of the imperial palace. It seemed that only in this way could he feel at ease.

His Imperial Majesty in the palace was seriously injured by the assassin that day, but fortunately he didn't return to heaven. He only fainted from time to time, and woke up from time to time. It was unknown what the situation was today, but it was this powerful Emperor who occasionally woke up and calmly and even indifferently issued orders for pursuit, vowing to keep Fan Xian within the territory of the Qing Kingdom. On the contrary, the court didn't care much about those assassins from Northern Qi and Dongyi City, those few assassins who survived by luck.

Yan Bingyun lifted a corner of the black cloth, squinting at the magnificent imperial city, and thought of another thing. It seemed that in addition to hunting down Fan Xian or searching for Fan Xian's body, the inner court was faintly looking for something. In His Majesty's heart, it seemed that that thing was more important than Fan Xian. What could that be?

...

...

The light snow fell intermittently. The square in front of the imperial palace no longer had any traces of the past few days. The blood mixed with snow had long been cleaned away, revealing the clean and tidy bluestone blocks below. Those arrows that filled the sky also didn't leave any proof. Only the blue bricks on the red walls of the imperial city, and the terrifying deep holes on the bluestone ground in the west, showed the cruelty of that day, and at the same time proved to passers-by that the terrifying heavenly blow had indeed existed, and it was not just the movement imagined by people.

Fan Ruoruo, draped in a snow-white overcoat, stood quietly in front of the deep palace gate under the imperial city, waiting for the imperial guards and guards to jointly verify the waist badge for entering the palace. After Grand Academician He of the Ministry of the Interior was assassinated, the defense forces of the various yamen in the entire Kyoto became as strict as during wartime. And she knew very well that what really frightened the court was the Emperor's assassination. It's just that this matter was still concealed within a certain range and hadn't spread to the people.

Entering the palace today was by the Emperor's personal decree after he woke up. The Imperial Hospital personally went to the Fan mansion to invite her. This was not only because Fan Ruoruo's medical skills inherited from the Qingshan and Fei Jie lineage had reached a certain realm, but more importantly, the serious injuries suffered by the Emperor were not the internal injuries and sword wounds left by those assassins. The most fatal thing was the pieces of steel that were splashed into the flesh in the middle of the chest. And as everyone knew, this strange treatment method called surgery seemed to be only available to Miss Fan family in the entire world.

On the way here, Fan Ruoruo had already learned about His Imperial Majesty's current physical condition from the mouth of the Imperial Physician, knowing that His Majesty hadn't died from her shot. Fan Ruoruo didn't know what kind of feelings she had in her heart, but what was very strange was that she didn't have too much disappointment. She was just a little dazed.

She had lived in the palace for a whole five months, and stayed in the Imperial Study for five months. It could even be said that she was the woman who had stayed by His Imperial Majesty's side for the longest time in recent years. She knew very well what kind of person that gradually aging monarch was, but the key was that this monarch treated Fan Ruoruo differently.

"Be careful yourself after entering the palace. If... His Majesty is temporarily inconvenient, and you have to stay in the palace for treatment, you also have to send a message to the mansion." Li Hongcheng, the son of Jing Prince, stood beside Fan Ruoruo and softly told her, with unconcealable worry between his brows. Treating the Emperor was originally an extremely terrible thing, and what was even more terrible was that the injuries His Majesty suffered were inseparable from Fan Xian. But Fan Ruoruo was Fan Xian's most beloved sister.

The thought of Fan Ruoruo being placed under house arrest in the palace a few months ago made Hongcheng feel very worried.

"Yeah." Fan Ruoruo smiled slightly, and the indifference and frostiness on her face gradually melted. She bowed her head to Hongcheng and saluted, then followed the Imperial Physician and the guards into the palace.

She had always known Li Hongcheng's intentions, and was deeply moved by them. Especially in recent days, the Fan mansion had been searched repeatedly. Whether it was Lin Wan'er's status as a princess or Fan Ruoruo's position in His Majesty's heart, they had become things that didn't need to be mentioned in the face of Fan Xian's heinous crimes. And at this time, Li Hongcheng, who had returned from Xiliang Road and served as the Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council, didn't avoid suspicion at all and bravely sat in the Fan mansion, suppressing those soldiers who were like wolves and tigers.

If it weren't for Li Hongcheng, I'm afraid the Fan mansion would have had a much harder time now.

Walking through the quiet and cold palace gate cave, the sound of footsteps quietly rang out. Fan Ruoruo lowered her head slightly, feeling in her heart that what her brother had said back then was right. This life was originally a play, and it was often an absurd drama. His Majesty almost died from her gun, but at this time she was going to treat his injuries...

Until the moment she entered the palace, Fan Ruoruo still hadn't decided how to deal with it later. She knew that His Majesty had woken up, and it was fortunate that His Majesty had woken up and issued an edict so the Fan mansion hadn't suffered a devastating disaster. Judging by the crimes Fan Xian had committed, the entire Fan mansion would probably be arrested and imprisoned. At most, only Lin Wan'er, Fan Ruoruo, and the children would be taken into the palace.

But His Majesty didn't issue this edict. This made Fan Ruoruo admire her sister-in-law's choice not to leave Kyoto to the extreme. Although no one still knew what Fan Xian and His Imperial Majesty had said and reached before the palace coup, at least Lin Wan'er should have guessed something. At present, Kyoto was only desperately chasing down Fan Xian, and hadn't used thunderous means to suppress the people Fan Xian was protecting.

The Fan mansion's decision not to leave Kyoto to return to Danzhou undoubtedly also expressed an attitude, an attitude of testing how much sincerity the Emperor had in fulfilling his promises.

At the thought of this, Fan Ruoruo greatly admired her sister-in-law's calm mind in the face of danger, and felt even more admiration for her brother Fan Xian, which had long been rooted in her heart. Who else in this world besides her brother could force a powerful monarch to suppress his anger even after being assassinated?

The palace was close at hand, and Fan Ruoruo gradually calmed her mind. Back then, she was just helping her brother escape from Kyoto on the Zhaixing Tower. In fact, she couldn't have too much resentment towards His Imperial Majesty, after all, the death of that poor baby more than 20 years ago, whom she had never met, was too far away from her.

...

...

The last day of the first month finally arrived, and the footsteps of Qingli the twelfth year finally landed firmly on this land. However, the footsteps of the Southern Qing court were still unable to walk steadily. Although His Imperial Majesty was already able to sit up halfway and review the memorials, he couldn't expend too much energy after all. And He Zongwei had died in the Ministry of the Interior, and key officials in the various ministries had been ruthlessly purged by Fan Xian. For a time, the court was somewhat chaotic. Fortunately, Grand Academician Hu risked his old life and hadn't returned to his mansion for seven consecutive days and nights, and he hadn't delayed too much of the major political affairs.

And the footsteps in the shadows were still trampling in chaos. Kyoto seemed to have returned to normal, but it was actually still under very strict control, especially the work of hunting down those assassins, which had never been relaxed. The Qing court must feel proud of this matter. Those ninth-rank powerhouses who were first seriously injured by His Majesty and then shot by ten thousand arrows should still be trapped in Kyoto, spending their days in fear. In such a metropolis, they could strictly seal off the possibility of these powerhouses escaping. On the one hand, it was because these powerhouses were too seriously injured, and on the other hand, it must be admitted that the Qing Kingdom's state machine was terrifying.

At present, the deaths of five assassins had been confirmed, and the corpses had been transported into the imperial palace. The known assassins who were still missing were at least three, namely, Wolf Peach, the number one expert in the Northern Qi Imperial Palace, Wang Shisanlang, a young apprentice of the Jianlu in Dongyi City, and Haitang Duoduo, the Saintess of Northern Qi. These three had been almost captured several times in Kyoto, but they had managed to escape the encirclement in embarrassment after paying the price of blood.

As for... Fan Xian, even his shadow hadn't been discovered. Yes, Fan Xian was gone, and Shadow was also gone. The Qing Kingdom officials in charge of the hunt realized at this moment that the people trained by the Supervising Bureau were indeed too talented in these aspects.

However, the officials still had confidence, because Master Fan was too seriously injured, and His Majesty had made a decree that this person's meridians had been destroyed and it was impossible for him to recover within a year.

On the other hand, those court officials who entered the palace every night to report progress and submit memorials to seek His Majesty's approval couldn't help but see another scene that they had long been accustomed to, but now it was particularly strange. His Majesty was lying weakly in a pile of cotton quilts, and a woman wearing ordinary girl's clothes was coldly and carefully serving His Majesty, feeding him medicine and food.

That woman was Miss Fan family. The court officials had long been accustomed to her appearance in the past five months, but they couldn't have imagined that it had only been out for a day, how could she have returned again? Master Fan had become a wanted criminal for assassinating the monarch, how could his sister still be serving by His Majesty's side? What was Grand Eunuch Yao thinking? Wasn't he worried that Miss Fan family would do something bad?

Not only was Miss Fan family serving His Majesty in the palace every day, but the Fan mansion, which was regarded as a dead place by everyone, didn't seem to have turned into hell. The people inside were living as usual, and the Princess of Chen, Lin Wan'er, would enter the palace every other day to bring His Majesty some fresh food and tell some jokes.

What was going on? His Majesty was probably going crazy wanting to kill Master Fan, but he didn't want to make things difficult for his wife and sister at all? This scene was too absurd and ridiculous, and it was really a bit incomprehensible.

...

...

The dull atmosphere in Kyoto was finally broken on the first day of February. Eunuch Yao received a top-secret message. After a long talk with His Majesty, who was weak after being injured, in the Imperial Study that night, countless people from the inner court and the military quietly gathered from all directions the next day and came to the gate of the Earl of Chenghai mansion.

At the first moment the dawn appeared, the green buds on the trees were still sleeping under the bark. The gate of the Yan mansion was suddenly kicked open. The soldiers who had surrounded it from all directions guarded all the positions, and more than twenty experts directly leaped over the high courtyard wall. They seemed to know where the target was and rushed directly to the rockery in the back garden.

Eunuch Yao stood outside the Yan mansion with his hands in his sleeves and a calm expression. He didn't mean to enter the mansion and speak at all. This mansion was not a simple place. Not to mention how long Master Yan Ruohai had been in charge of the Supervising Bureau back then, and to say that the young master of the current Yan mansion was also the Director of the Supervising Bureau after all.

This operation didn't reveal any information to the Supervising Bureau, because if the distinguished person was really caught in the Yan mansion, I'm afraid Yan Bingyun wouldn't be able to explain it clearly.

Master Yan was wearing a sleeping robe, looking at the rampant soldiers searching everywhere in the mansion with a dignified expression. The anger in his eyes was getting stronger and stronger, but his expression was still calm. The most successful spy in Qing Kingdom back then, his will was so strong that ordinary people couldn't compare.

He didn't rush to his father's residence in the back garden. He just stood in the doorway of the bedroom, coldly watching this scene happen. Behind him on the bed, his wife, Miss Shen, slowly sat up and asked in a trembling voice, "What happened?"

"Don't you know what happened?" Yan Bingyun didn't turn his head back. His voice was squeezed into a cold line.

Sitting on the bed, Shen Wan'er's face changed drastically. After a long while, she replied in a trembling voice, "What are you talking about?"

"Only my father and I know, and you were the one who reminded me first." A very bitter smile appeared on the corner of Yan Bingyun's lips. "I did wrong you back then, but it's been so many years. I thought you had already forgotten. And we are husband and wife after all. I didn't expect that you still wouldn't be willing to let my old Yan family be destroyed."

Shen Wan'er's body trembled. Knowing that her husband had seen through what she had done, she said sadly to Yan Bingyun's back, "Where do I have this idea? It's just that he is a wanted criminal after all. If the court finds out, how can our family escape? Besides, he is a powerful person. If you say that he sneaked in himself and the mansion didn't find out, the court can also believe it."

"Yes, our family has the merit of reporting him, but also the crime of sheltering him." Yan Bingyun's smile seemed so cold and bitter. "I still don't understand why you did this. You are a Northern Qi person, when did you become so loyal to my Great Qing court?"

There was a commotion in the courtyard of the Yan mansion, but the bedroom of the master was so quiet. Shen Wan'er behind Yan Bingyun lowered her head and remained silent for a long time. Finally, she bravely raised her head, her eyes full of lingering resentment. "Why? What are you talking about? Don't forget, I am always your wife. Yes, that matter has nothing to do with you, but dare you say that it has nothing to do with him, Fan Xian!"

Miss Shen's voice was not very loud, but it seemed particularly sad and resentful. She looked at Yan Bingyun's back and cried in pain, "My father was killed by Shang Shanhu, used by the Northern Qi Emperor, and then the whole family was raided and destroyed... You don't know what it means to be destroyed! More than two hundred members of my family died! My three-year-old brother also died! Who did this?"

"This was done by the Northern Qi Emperor, but do you think I really don't know that this was all Fan Xian and that woman named Haitang's idea!" Miss Shen's eyes were full of hatred. "But what can I do? Fan Xian is your boss, your friend, the person you admire most, even if you never say it... Could I still expect you to avenge the more than two hundred members of my family?"

"Since he dared to escape to my side and let me find out, I can't miss this opportunity." After Miss Shen finished saying these words, she knew that no matter how things developed, it was impossible to save the heart of the man in front of her. She slumped on the bed. She couldn't help but feel a little horrified. Why did she, a woman who originally didn't understand anything, do such a bold thing under the drive of hatred?

Yan Bingyun's body stiffened slightly, but he didn't react. He just sighed in his heart, feeling a little lost.

The rockery in the back garden had been dug open by the soldiers. However, looking at the dust-covered secret room inside, looking at the space that seemed to have never been stayed in, they couldn't help but be stunned. Yan Ruohai, who was awakened out of the room by the sound, frowned at the soldiers in charge of hunting down the wanted criminals and the experts of the inner court, as if he didn't know anything, and said in a cold voice, "What's going on!"

...

...

"I was hiding in the mansion, but I never worried that something would happen." In the carriage, Fan Xian comfortably leaned against the soft cushion. Although the meridians in his body were still a mess, and although he was less than a useless person at this time, this didn't affect his good mood. At least he was already out of Kyoto, looking at the more vivid scenery of the Kyoto wilderness, he felt inexplicably happy.

When he left the Yan mansion, he didn't know what had happened, and he didn't know that Miss Shen had never forgotten the massacre of the Shen mansion in Shangjing, Northern Qi, in the fifth year of Qingli, but he trusted Old Master Yan's ability. The Yan family were all refined characters in the Supervising Bureau, how could they not even notice the changes in their own homes?

It was still the Yan mansion's powerful ability that finally took advantage of an opportunity to send Fan Xian out of Kyoto. At this time, the carriage was traveling on a dimly lit road in the mountains. The person driving the carriage was an official of the Supervising Bureau, but it was not an old subordinate familiar to Fan Xian, nor was it an old member of the Qinian Group. Since the Yan mansion was willing to let this official preside over this matter, they must have had enough confidence in his loyalty.

"That's because Director Yan is blessed with good fortune." The official of the Supervising Bureau said with a smile, "Otherwise, Director Yan wouldn't have been able to find such an opportunity to send you out of Kyoto."

Two Director Yans, the former was naturally Fan Xian, and the latter was naturally Yan Bingyun. After a moment of silence, this official suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Director Yan wants me to ask you one last question. You promised him that you wouldn't go to Northern Qi and that you wouldn't betray the court. Can you really do it?"

"This dead ice cube..." Fan Xian scolded with a laugh, "If I said I would do it, then I will definitely do it. I'm not like that Old Limp, who is unrestricted."

"After you return to Kyoto, help me give this letter to Yan Bingyun and let him find a way to send it to His Imperial Majesty's desk." Fan Xian pondered for a moment and ordered, handing over a thin letter.

The content mentioned in the letter was very simple. It said that he had left Kyoto and would fulfill the content of the agreement between him and His Imperial Majesty that night. He also asked His Majesty to abide by the promise that the Emperor's words were more valuable than four horses, and wished His Majesty good health and to take good care of himself.

The main purpose of going to such lengths was still because of those friends who were still locked in Kyoto. Fan Xian knew that His Imperial Majesty's main target was himself. If he could escape Kyoto alive, then it wouldn't make much sense to keep Wang Shisanlang and the others in Kyoto, even if it cost the country's power and caused controversy.

The carriage turned around several times in the wilderness of Kyoto, making several detours. With the help of the secret paths in the mountains and the several transfer points prepared by the Supervising Bureau, it took a full three days to travel outside a large state city that was close to it.

The carriage would naturally not enter the state city, but would choose to hand over here. Looking at that familiar face, Fan Xian couldn't help but smile and said, "I'm relieved to see that you've come."

Wang Qinian, who had rushed back to Southern Qing from Shangjing, Northern Qi, and had been preparing to respond outside Kyoto, disguised himself as an old man with wrinkles all over his face. He checked Fan Xian's injuries in the car and couldn't help but feel heavy-hearted. He wasn't in the mood to joke and shook his head.

"What should I pretend to be?"

Wang Qinian took out rouge and flower cloth clothes from his arms and said with a forced smile, "Pretend to be the daughter-in-law of my old man..."

Fan Xian gave a bitter smile and didn't make a pretentious appearance. He directly took it over and said, "It's much more convenient for you to pretend to be an old man than me."

While he was changing clothes, Wang Qinian couldn't help but lower his voice and asked, "Master, from the very beginning, did you already plan that you could leave Kyoto?"

"I'm not a fairy, plans always change."

Fan Xian smiled slightly bitterly, then replied, "If I could have won in the palace, naturally I wouldn't have had to leave Kyoto. But since I lost, then I must ensure that I survive. Fortunately, my luck is as good as ever."

"I heard that that's not a place for people to go, and not many people can go. Anyone who dares to go... is dead."

"Who said they're all dead? Ku He is alive, Xiao En is also alive, and aren't my uncle and my mother doing well?" Fan Xian's eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was chasing after the backs of those characters back then, and said softly, "Just surviving is not enough. I lost this time in Kyoto. So, besides going to the Temple to find my uncle, what other choice do I have? This is something I've thought about for a long time, you don't have to stop me."

Wang Qinian's face was a little ugly, and he muttered, "It's not that I want to stop you... Who in this world dares to stop you? Besides His Majesty, the people who dare to stop you are probably all dead. It's just that the Temple... is not the imperial palace. That's where the immortals live. I'm afraid I'll take you around for decades and won't be able to find the place."

"Our goal is not to make trouble." Fan Xian coughed twice, forcibly controlling the burning pain of the meridians in his body with his mind, and said with a forced smile, "You don't have to be too scared either."

This was what Fan Xian had thought about from the beginning. He had more knowledge about that ethereal Temple than anyone else in the world. He could even vaguely capture the true background of the Temple. Of course, all of this was just speculation.

His Majesty was so powerful that he still survived and woke up after that gunshot. Fan Xian knew that after this battle, His Majesty would never personally leave the palace again to take risks. The situation now between Fan Xian and the Emperor was a mutual restraint based on the long conversation they had before their father and son took action. This was ultimately a war between two people. Neither Emperor Qing nor Fan Xian wanted the war to spread to the world. Therefore, since Fan Xian had suffered a crushing defeat in this battle, he had to find a force strong enough to defeat His Majesty.

He couldn't find it in the world, so he had to go up to the sky to find it. Fan Xian's mood was slightly heavy. He knew how lofty the Temple was in the hearts of the world, but he was worried about Wu Zhu's safety. For the sake of his own meridian injuries, for many, many purposes, he had no choice but to go to the Temple on a difficult journey.

"How do we go?" Wang Qinian lightly pulled the reins and asked a very practical question. Everyone in the world respected the Temple, but no one knew where the Temple was.

"North, always north