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In the deep of night, the Imperial Palace was shrouded in a dangerous calm.

Hearing the Empress's words, the Crown Prince nearly collapsed to the ground, his face filled with shock as he stammered, "Mother, what are you saying?"

The Empress's expression shifted unpredictably. After a long silence, she whispered, "Fan Xian is the bastard child of your father and that vixen of the Ye family."

The Crown Prince shook his head repeatedly, unable to accept this sudden revelation. He shook his head for so long that he felt dizzy before collapsing back onto the bedside, muttering, "How is this possible? How is this possible?"

The thought that he actually had a younger brother who had been living among the common people since childhood filled the Crown Prince with a sense of life's absurdities. Moreover, this brother was often seen in the capital, more famous than the Crown Prince himself, and seemed to wield power no less significant.

He jumped up instinctively, perhaps in self-consolation or self-decompression, and chuckled foolishly, "So, I have such a younger brother."

The Empress looked at her son as if he were an idiot.

The Crown Prince's face flushed, and in embarrassment, he lowered his voice and roared, "So what? My relationship with him has always been good. Besides, his origins are impure, he can never enter the palace, and he poses no threat to me."

"Poses no threat to Your Highness?"

The Empress sneered, "Don't forget, his mother's death is inextricably linked to your pathetic mother. Do you think he will stand by and watch you ascend the throne? Even if he has the magnanimity not to seek revenge, is he not afraid that you will turn against him after your coronation?"

"Fan Xian, even for self-preservation, cannot allow you to ascend the throne." The Empress's voice was like a death warrant in the palace, "So, Qian'er, you must be prepared. Of course, you must not spread such crucial information, and most importantly, you must not let your brothers in the palace know about Fan Xian's background. Otherwise, what if the eldest or second prince..."

The Crown Prince understood his mother's meaning, and his voice became somewhat faint, "No wonder there have been rumors that Fan Xian is a descendant of the Ye family, yet Father has never taken any action. So… there is something hidden. But Mother, if Father continues to favor him as before, and he has the support of the Fan family and Director Chen, it will not be easy for me to act against him."

A cold glint shone in the Empress's phoenix eyes, "We cannot act against him now. Our power is too weak. No one in this palace is willing to help us, so you must pretend to be amiable with him. But do not believe for a moment that your illegitimate brother harbors any good intentions towards you. Endure it. From today onwards, you must endure honestly, and do nothing unnecessary… After the Spring Examination case, you were right, no power is as important as your father's love. As long as the Emperor continues to trust you, Fan Xian will not dare to do anything. We will endure until the future… there will always be a way."

The Crown Prince remained silent, disagreeing with his mother's ideas in his heart.

...

...

Dawn broke.

In the porridge shops, people continued to gossip about the Fan family and the Ye family. The First Bureau of the Overwatch Council, monitoring the movements of officials, remained vigilant. The Fan family, in fear and trepidation, pretended to be calm. The Emperor had a headache, and so did the Empress Dowager. Minister Fan arrived at the Ministry of Revenue early, his expression as usual, talking and laughing jovially, showing no signs of anything amiss. Chen Pingping did not return to Chen Garden but remained in the Overwatch Council, watching everything happening in Kyoto with his somewhat turbid eyes.

The sound of sweeping echoed through the streets. Fan Xian took his medicine on time according to Fei Jie's prescription, holding the nameless manual of martial arts techniques in his hand, lost in thought. He had long completed the first volume, but he had not found a way to understand the second volume, especially now that his true qi was scattered and his meridians were riddled with holes. He dared not forcibly mobilize his true qi according to the descriptions in the second volume.

Regarding the matter of his background, Fan Xian's mindset had stabilized. If the sky was going to rain, and his mother had not married, so be it. It wasn't his responsibility anyway.

If the palace was so wary of his mother that they wouldn't even tolerate him, this *穿越福康安* (time-traveling Fukang'an), then why should he care? At worst, it would be a battle. If the imperial decree came and he couldn't command the Overwatch Council or the Qi Nian Group, and his true qi was completely gone, and things reached the most dangerous point, then he wouldn't blame himself for following his teacher's advice, disobeying his mother's wishes, and starting to spray mosquito repellent, using poison to break open a bloody path! Using a big knife to chop ants, using a heavy sniper to take out a few Grandmasters!

Ye Liuyun was not in the capital, and it was difficult for the army to exert force on a very small number of people. He couldn't imagine who could restrain such a freakish combination – at this moment, Fan Xian's heart calmed down, and he gradually began to feel a little bit of the atmosphere of that young girl named Ye Qingmei, taking the blind Uncle and that box, and making enemies of the whole world.

A little nervous, a little excited.

Of course, it would be best if it didn't develop to this point. After all, he still had to consider the interests of the Fan family, the safety of his father, sister, and wife, and the lives of many people who were on good terms with him. *图穷匕现* (revealing the dagger at the end of the scroll) was just a last resort. Maintaining the current stability was what Fan Xian needed most urgently.

Because he still had many things to do, and those things required his current power and status.

For two consecutive days, no one came to visit the Fan residence. Even those closest to the Fan family would not choose to come and inquire about news at such a sensitive time. Strangely, Prince Jing did not come either. According to secret reports from the Qi Nian Group, the flower-loving prince, for some unknown reason, sighed with emotion, abandoned his flower hoe and manure bucket, and only leaned on the railing in his residence, drinking wine, tears streaming down his face, as if sensing something.

The officials who were on good terms with Fan Xian, including Xin Qiwu and Ren Shaoan of the Shaoqing faction, were all watching carefully, waiting for the court to react to the rumors.

No one dared to express any opinion at this time.

In the palace.

Consort Ning, dressed in a perfectly fitting outfit, was circling the withered tree in the winter sunshine. This was a habit she had had for many years. This former Dongyi female prisoner, now a noble in the palace, was always restless.

After circling for an unknown amount of time, the First Prince, who had been standing quietly by the side, finally couldn't help but sigh, "Mother, what exactly is the matter?"

The Prince had his own residence outside the palace. Moreover, the First Prince, due to his merits in the Western Expedition, had become the first prince to be granted the title of Prince, so he naturally could no longer live in the Imperial Palace. The imperial family had many rules, and even if he wanted to enter the palace to see his mother, the procedures were somewhat complicated. Today, Consort Ning used some means to bypass many obstacles and directly summoned her own son into the palace, but she had been pacing around the tree in a daze.

The First Prince knew that his mother must have important matters to tell him, otherwise she would not have broken the rules so conspicuously. But… he wondered in his heart, could it be related to the most rampant rumor recently?

"Have you heard? About Fan Xian's background." Consort Ning finally stopped, took out a plain handkerchief from her wrist, wiped the sweat from her forehead haphazardly, her face serious.

The First Prince thought, as expected, it was this matter. He respectfully handed her a cup of warm tea, nodded, and replied, "This son knows about this matter, but it came suddenly and there is no evidence. Judging from the intentions of Father and Grandmother Empress Dowager, they would definitely not believe these villains' rumors. This son does not believe them either."

Consort Ning looked at her son and sneered, "Don't believe them? I think everyone under the sky has started to believe them!" She suddenly slammed the stone table angrily and said resentfully, "I don't know what's wrong with Director Chen this time, he is actually suppressing this rumor vigorously. Does he not know that this will only make others believe it? What will happen to Fan Xian?"

"Fan Xian?" She suddenly became absent-minded, and after a long time, she sighed clearly, "So… she still has a son, so it's Fan Xian."

Of course, the First Prince knew who his mother was talking about, naturally the Ye family's female master who shone brightly in Qing Kingdom and ended tragically. He guessed his mother's intentions and tentatively said, "What do you mean?"

Consort Ning raised her eyebrows and said sternly, "We Dongyi people are the most particular about gratitude and grudges! With Fan Xian's background revealed, regardless of whether His Majesty still remembers the Ye family's past merits, that one in the Eastern Palace… will definitely not tolerate him. Listen carefully!"

In front of outsiders, the First Prince was a brave and skilled general, a strong and valiant man, but in front of Consort Ning, he was like an extremely obedient kitten. He instinctively stood with his feet together, standing in front of his mother like a small soldier, and said in a deep voice, "Please instruct me, Mother."

"If things don't go well…" Consort Ning's eyebrows revealed a hint of ferocity, "No matter what method you use, you must protect Fan Xian's life!"

The First Prince agreed without thinking. He had never disobeyed his mother's wishes, but he still had some doubts in his heart. He knew that his mother had played some role in the Kyoto bloody night incident. He just didn't understand why his mother was so protective of Fan Xian, even ordering him to use his troops when necessary… This was no different from rebellion.

"If it wasn't for Director Chen saving my life, I would never have been able to follow His Majesty back from the mountains and rivers of the north." Consort Ning said coldly about the past, "You know about this matter, but even if I returned to Kyoto alive, what awaited me was still an edict of strangulation in the palace… I was a female prisoner from Dongyi. At that time, no one knew that I was pregnant with you. Back then, if the Ye family's girl hadn't spoken up, you and I would have been wandering souls long ago."

Consort Ning took a deep breath and said, "Fan Xian's mother saved the lives of you and me, mother and son. When she had the accident back then, you were still young, and I had no power at all… But things are different now. Since you have some power in your hands, you must protect Fan Xian's life."

The courtyard was silent. The faint winter sunlight sprinkled down, shining on this pair of true, pure, and happy-go-lucky royal mother and son.

"If Father cannot tolerate Fan Xian," the First Prince said softly, "Although I am in charge of the Imperial Guards, I am afraid it will not be of much use… Fine, I will just return this life to him."

"It's not that scary. You are about to get married, how can I bear to let you take risks." Consort Ning stared into his eyes and said, "You don't need to consider His Majesty's attitude, just watch the Eastern Palace."

The First Prince seemed moved in his heart, and immediately thought of a certain problem. Although he was a carefree person, he was not foolish. After a long time, he said in shock, "If he were just a descendant of the Ye family, Father would definitely not leave Fan Xian alone, and looking at the movements these few days… there is only one possibility!"

Consort Ning smiled noncommittally, "Finally guessed it? That's what I think too. The only explanation for why His Majesty wouldn't pursue the so-called rebellion back then, and even the Grandmother Empress Dowager is keeping silent, is that Fan Xian is not only the son of the Ye family girl, but also… his own son. In other words, Fan Xian is an imperial son that the world has never known, he is your brother."

The First Prince's face became a little ugly, his fists clenched, finding it difficult to accept this fact. After a long time, he hesitated and said, "Could it be… Fan Xian is really Father's son? What about Fan Shangshu then? …If all of this is true, why did Father send Fan Xian to Danzhou back then?"

Consort Ning sneered, "Back then? Who can completely understand what happened back then? Don't forget that Fan Xian's mother was hated to the bone by the two most powerful women in the palace."

The First Prince blinked, unable to believe that he had heard these words from his mother's mouth. He pondered for a long time in his heart and said, "If Mother can guess Fan Xian's true identity, I think it may have already spread outside the palace."

"Guess if you want to guess." Consort Ning brushed the dust off her body and said heroically, "Maybe this is what Director Chen wants to see. Maybe the reason why he made these things happen is that the old man is helping the Emperor solve his problems. After all, His Majesty probably doesn't know how to arrange for his own son."

———————————————————————

How Emperor would deal with Fan Xian? This was the question most concerned by Kyoto officials and commoners these days. If the rumors were true, Fan Xian only had one way out, which was to be thrown into prison. If the rumors were false, the palace should also eliminate the influence through some means, such as rewards or verbal commendations.

The rumors became more and more bizarre, and the reaction of the Overwatch Council and the quietness of the Fan residence seemed to confirm the rumors that Fan Xian was the orphaned son of the Ye family's mistress. The question was: the palace had not sent anyone to arrest him!

This matter became quite interesting.

His Majesty remained silent, the palace remained silent, and people were confused and began to guess. The officials had been maintaining a clever calmness, and even the censors of the Censorate had only cautiously submitted a few memorials, telling about the rumors in Kyoto, but His Majesty did not issue them, and the officials could do nothing.

This speculation finally reached its peak after a bold and low-IQ official jumped out, causing a storm in the court.

This official's surname was Mao, and his name was Yueliang. He was a Secretary of the Office of Scrutiny in the Ministry of Rites, responsible for reviewing memorials and refuting and correcting those who spoke improperly. This confused official was naturally straightforward, longing for the complete rule of the sages, and couldn't stand anything that damaged the court's face. After the rumors about Fan Xian's background spread in Kyoto, Mao Yueliang completely ignored the silence of his colleagues and directly entered the court, asking His Majesty to issue an edict to rebuke these false rumors and restore Director Fan's reputation.

In the court, the Emperor only said lightly, "The clear will clear themselves, the turbid will turbid themselves. The ignorant people like to meddle in things, why should you, my lords, mix in with them, losing your decorum and sense of proportion?"

Who knew that Mao Yueliang would be relentless, insisting that the rumors had damaged Director Fan's reputation. If the rumors were false, the court should explicitly refute them. If the rumors were true, Fan should be investigated for the crime of concealing them from the court and entering the court privately, and the Fan residence for the crime of colluding with thieves and harboring malicious intentions.

Even if these rumors were absurd and unbelievable, at least His Majesty, for the sake of the court's face, should let the two Fan adults defend themselves, and Little Fan was no longer suitable to continue serving as the Director of the Overwatch Council, as for the Internal Treasury...

Before these confused and absurd words could be finished, His Majesty had already angrily left his seat and ordered the guards to drag Mao Yueliang out and beat him with twenty court rods. If it weren't for the Empress Dowager's intercession at the end, this extremely foolish Secretary of the Six Offices would have been beaten to death by His Majesty!

No one knew the Xinyang background behind this Secretary of the Six Offices, and no one knew that His Majesty's final anger came from the Empress Dowager's protection.

For the Emperor, what he feared most was his mother and sisters uniting with his sons. In this situation, a generation of heroes made a cold and even tyrannical response, forcefully retaining Fan Xian's official position and爵位 (peerage), which was a gesture, a gesture of a lion guarding its territory.

But the officials and people of Qing Kingdom did not know the problems in the palace. When the court rod incident came out, Kyoto was shocked! Recalling that the Censorate's impeachment of Fan Xian last time was also severely beaten with court rods, people re-noticed that the unparalleled imperial favor Fan Xian had received over the years was really not comparable to that of several princes!

Thinking about His Majesty's ambiguous attitude towards this matter, people began to guess, guess, and guess.

Human imagination is sometimes extremely poor, but sometimes it is extremely rich. The rumors about Fan Xian's background began to gradually slide uncontrollably towards the direction that some people least wanted to see. As for whether there were shadowy figures of that old man in a wheelchair behind these guesses, it was unknown.

In short, shortly after the first explosive news spread throughout Kyoto, the second explosive news began to spread in the streets and alleys of Kyoto. However, when officials and people talked about this news, they seemed more mysterious, more cautious, and more excited.

"May I ask, do you know? Little Fan is the illegitimate son of our Great Qing Dynasty Emperor."

"That's right, they are carved from the same mold."

"Have you seen His Majesty's face?"

"This... I guessed. But honestly speaking, Little Fan is a genius, both in literature and martial arts, his poetry is amazing, and his reputation is far and wide. Such a figure... can only be born from our wise and martial Emperor."

"That's right, that's right."

"But... Fan Shangshu is... this... this."

"Alas, Lord Shangshu is pitiful. It's also to blame that Master Fan's name was not chosen well."

——————————————————————

In the Xinyang detached palace, the Eldest Princess gently drew her eyebrows, a hint of self-deprecating smile on her lips. This wonderful woman, who had always prided herself on being able to plan everything, finally realized that she had made a fatal mistake under these two successive rumors. Her emperor brother must have begun to suspect her thoughts, and that little thing called Fan Xian...

"Mr. Yuan, I was wrong for not listening to your opinion." The Eldest Princess gently pursed her lip paper and said lightly.

"Little Fan's background is really surprising. The first rumor was shocking enough, and no one thought there would be a second wave."

Yuan Hongdao, who, like Huang Yi, had become the chief strategist of Xinyang, said slowly, "This subordinate advised the Princess to be patient for the time being because he thought the news about Fan Xian being a descendant of the Ye family was a bit strange, but he didn't expect that this news would be followed by this shocking guess. Things happened too suddenly, the peak turned too fast, and we were caught off guard for a while. It was not the fault of the war, but the will of heaven."

The Eldest Princess had lost the Cui family, and her interests had suffered irreversible damage. She truly began to realize the abilities of that good son-in-law. Annoyed, it was difficult for her to maintain the calm she had when she was aloof, and her follow-up response was somewhat too late, or even ineffective. So, when the first rumor reached her ears, she decided to use this matter to bring Fan Xian down, without thinking, or even ignoring Yuan Hongdao's strong opposition.

It was just that the connection between Xinyang and Kyoto was inconvenient. She wanted to use the Empress Dowager's mouth and that seemingly foolish Secretary of the Six Offices to force the Emperor to take away Fan Xian's position first. But unexpectedly, she immediately received the second piece of news!

Fan Xian was His Majesty's illegitimate son?

Others might still guess at this news, but the Eldest Princess believed it the first time she heard it, and began to secretly laugh at her stupidity, how could she not understand such a simple matter, wasting a pawn in the court in vain, using a trace of her mother's affection for her, and the most failed thing was that she had touched Emperor’s reverse scale for no reason, letting Fan Xian stand firm lightly and easily again!

Thinking of this, the self-deprecation and regret in her heart bit the heart of the most beautiful woman in Qing Kingdom like a poisonous snake.

"Ye Qingmei..." Her head began to hurt, and she muttered to herself like a moan, "Can I never be as good as you in my life, even your son can defeat me so easily?"

Kyoto at night.

Wu Zhu, who hadn't appeared for a long time, appeared silently in a small alley behind the Fan residence, covering his face with that black cloth.

At the end of the alley was a noodle shop. The oil lamp on the noodle shop flickered in the cold wind. A man in ordinary cloth clothes was sitting on a long bench outside the shop.

There was no bowl of noodles in front of the man on the bench. He was dressed in thin clothes and did not seem to be afraid of the cold. His face was calm to an eerie degree, as if he had no expression by nature, and his cold and ruthless eyes seemed to be able to see through everything in the world.

(Tomorrow's chapter is a bit difficult to write, I need to think about it carefully. ps, I carefully calculated on the monthly ticket list yesterday for a long time, and found that Qing Yu Nian ranked tenth among the old books. I was very happy to think that I might get an extra thousand yuan, so I seriously asked for votes. Please vote for me... However, my speed can only be like this, with a thick-skinned smile.)