The current Qing Kingdom is hailed as a prosperous age. For ten consecutive years, the weather has been favorable, the people are wealthy and content, with titles such as the "greatest enlightened ruler of all time" and the "greatest golden age of all time." But what's interesting is that along with these come the so-called "most corrupt officialdom of all time" and the "most treacherous prime minister of all time."

This treacherous prime minister is none other than the Chancellor, Lin Ruofu. Lin Ruofu came from humble beginnings, not from a prominent family. He entered the bureaucracy through the imperial examinations, starting as a Judge in Suzhou, then was transferred to the capital to serve as the Registrar of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, then as the Sijie of the Southern Twelve Guards, then as the Supervising Secretary of the Old Censorate, then as an Academician of the Hanlin Academy. During the last New Policies reform, he was transferred to the Six Ministries to be responsible for specific affairs, serving as the Vice Minister and then Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and finally rose to the head of all civil officials – the Chancellor, second only to the Emperor and above all others.

People carefully observed the official positions the Chancellor had held and realized that he had served in civilian and military posts, held positions in the Hanlin Academy, and performed supervisory duties. Although his official rank had fluctuated, he had experienced all aspects of the Qing Kingdom's bureaucracy, and his position had always been slowly but steadily rising.

Rumor has it that Lin Ruofu has no reliance in the inner palace, nor any deep-rooted background connections, yet he has been able to rise and fall in the complex officialdom of the Qing Kingdom and remain standing. This has surprised many people.

This Chancellor appears upright on the surface but is insidious and ruthless inside, accepting countless bribes. In addition, he has offended many people in the struggles between the civil service system and the royal nobles, so he has gained a reputation for being unloved by both the powerful and the common people.

However, over his decades of service, he has grown countless branches in the Qing Kingdom's civil service system, and the tree has remained standing. Censors frequently submit memorials impeaching the Chancellor, but because there has never been any concrete evidence, they have had to give up. Upright individuals in the capital hate him to the bone, wishing they could devour his flesh, but no one dares to provoke him openly in official circles.

In the entire Qing Kingdom, only His Majesty the Emperor can take the Chancellor's life and power; no one else can. This is the consensus of all officials. In the entire Qing Kingdom, only the Director of the Surveillance Institute can spit in the Chancellor's face; no one else has that much courage. This is the unanimous opinion of all the powerful nobles.

And the Director’s act of spitting in the Chancellor's face still cost him three years' salary; this punishment was personally decreed by the Emperor.

…

…

When people discovered that His Majesty the Emperor's trust in the Chancellor had never diminished, those officials and scholars who considered themselves upright began to feel somewhat hopeless. At this time, no one expected that the newspaper would publish the news that Chancellor Lin Ruofu actually had an illegitimate daughter!

It is very normal for any prominent family to have several concubines. If your backyard only has one woman? Sorry, I'm really embarrassed to attend the party. However, the world values bloodlines and etiquette most. Although everyone knows that the Chancellor is cunning and ruthless, he has always claimed to be a member of the literati, so having an illegitimate daughter outside is considered a moral flaw. And that daughter is already a teenager and has not yet been brought back to the manor, allowing her to live alone outside. As a father, this can be seen as proof of his lack of benevolence.

Because the news was released from the palace, it caused a small earthquake in the official circles of the capital. People speculated whether His Majesty the Emperor was tired of the Chancellor and was preparing to replace him, which led to the collective memorial submitted by the Grand Secretary of the Censorate.

Against everyone's expectations, His Majesty the Emperor personally came forward and suppressed the matter. The matter gradually subsided, but the Chancellor's illegitimate daughter became the center of attention.

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Fan Xian smiled wryly, never imagining that the woman he was about to marry would have such a background and be so similar to his own situation. Just then, the commotion outside grew louder. The siblings knew that person had returned to the manor. They looked at each other and said nothing more. Fan Xian just used his eyes to ask his younger sister to take him out for a stroll when she had time, and Fan Ruoruo nodded slightly.

The candle flickered, but the sky outside was not completely dark, so the candlelight appeared very dim.

In the hall, a table full of sumptuous dishes was set, with five people sitting around it, and many maids and servants attending to them. Fan Xian noticed that Madam Liu did not serve the head of the family first, as concubines in ordinary families would, but sat next to the middle-aged man, looking composed.

That middle-aged man is his father? Thinking of this, Fan Xian couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly, creating beautiful little wrinkles between his eyebrows.

Count Sinan looked solemn, with regular features and a four-inch beard that was popular at the time, suggesting that he was of a serious and unsmiling disposition.

After quietly finishing the meal, Count Sinan walked ahead, with Fan Xian following behind, all the way to the study.

This was the first time Fan Xian had been alone with this "father." He smiled and was not particularly excited because, deep down, he had never truly regarded the other person as his blood relative.

Count Sinan looked at the young man in front of him, at his ethereal and handsome face, thoughtfully. After a long while, he sighed softly, "You look so much like your mother."

Fan Xian did not respond because he had never seen what his mother looked like. But for his father, he had countless questions in his heart, but he knew it was not his place to ask first.

"How have you been in Danzhou these years?" Count Sinan looked at him, his eyes seemed a little tired, but still couldn't hide the remnants of his handsome appearance from his prime.

"Okay."

"On the way here, I believe, with your character, you should have already learned from Teng Zijing why I was in such a hurry to bring you to the capital."

"Yes."

"Do you feel wronged?"

"No." Fan Xian replied with a smile, "I'm just hitching a ride to the capital. I never said I had to marry that Lin family girl."

As soon as he said this, the study fell into a deathly silence. After a long while, Count Sinan said coldly, "Do you know what marrying her means?"

"Does it mean that, in addition to the continued favor of the Emperor, the Fan family can also latch onto a leg in the court that is as thick as it can be?"

Fan Xian replied with a sarcastic tone. Originally, he had no feelings for the middle-aged man in front of him. Logically speaking, he should have been able to maintain the calmness of an observer—but when he thought that the other person was, after all, his father, actually using his children's marriage as a political alliance, although he understood and accepted it, it didn't mean he wasn't angry—only this anger had been well hidden by him in the past few days.