The eighth bureau of the Overwatch Council, formally known as the Imperial Wenying General School Bureau, was somewhat akin to the News Censorship Bureau of the Republic of China government in a previous life. It was specifically responsible for reviewing all reading materials submitted through official channels. Only articles that passed the eighth bureau's review were allowed to be published. In previous years, most of the Wenying General School Bureau's duties were transferred to the Education Academy, but it still retained the right to review privately printed books.

Therefore, articles involving depictions of human anatomy, violent aesthetics, or reform proposals not approved by His Majesty were impossible to pass the eighth bureau's review. However, people in any world have a shockingly fervent love for pornography and politics, so underground booksellers naturally emerged.

Books on politics were generally avoided by booksellers, but erotic novels were widely copied and printed, entering different cities through different channels and then delivered to the citizens who needed them.

The aunt holding the baby was undoubtedly the last link in this distribution chain.

Throughout Kyoto, people were long accustomed to this scene, and no one would make a fuss. Even the government turned a blind eye, let alone the people who benefited from it.

"What is this 'Av' that young master speaks of?" The aunt selling forbidden books clearly did not know of the wonderful existence of Av, staring blankly.

Fan Xian smiled and asked, "What books do you have?"

The middle-aged woman shifted the baby to one hand and took out a large book from her arms, about eight inches square. The pages were all red, and the binding looked quite good. Fan Xian only admired how she could carry such a large book in her clothes without damaging the corners while holding a baby.

"The most popular novel in Kyoto recently," the middle-aged woman said mysteriously.

Fan Xian took the book, naturally not taking her feigned mystery to heart, and smiled as he opened a page… then his expression instantly became very interesting.

The book cover had no title, but the title page read four large characters: "Could Not Think Of It."

Turning another page, he saw the following words: "Who knew this daughter-in-law had a natural charm? Once a man touched her, she felt her whole body go limp, making the man feel like he was lying on cotton."

Fan Xian's mouth dropped open, unable to speak for a long time. He recognized the book at a glance; it was naturally his own copy of "Dream of the Red Chamber" for his sister. The passage on the title page was from the twenty-first chapter, "Smart Ping'er Softly Rescues Jia Lian," which tells the story of Sister Duo.

The middle-aged woman, thinking the handsome young man was moved, whispered with a smile, "This is just a passage from the book; the best parts are inside."

In his previous life, Fan Xian was often confined to bed, and his body was not convenient, so he naturally could not trouble the nurses to help him turn the pages. Therefore, he had to read this section of "Dream of the Red Chamber" over and over again, relying entirely on Sister Duo's "jade-like figure in the book" to entertain his brain countless times.

Today, in the middle of Kyoto's bustling city, suddenly seeing this passage that was so familiar, how could Fan Xian not be greatly surprised and filled with emotion, but he did not understand how "Dream of the Red Chamber," which only he and his sister knew about, had already been printed into a book and was being sold on the street.

Without even haggling, Fan Xian took out the money to pay, not at all stingy. This money was all earned from selling newspapers in Danzhou, and he used it with extreme extravagance.

After the middle-aged woman walked away with a face full of smiles, Fan Ruoruo led Fan Sizhe to the front of the restaurant. Fan Sizhe did not have a dough figurine in his hand, but was licking a sugar figurine.

"What were you doing just now?" Fan Ruoruo asked her brother with a smile.

Before Fan Xian could answer, Fan Sizhe sneered with a cold face, "I saw him. He bought a book from that woman. He didn't even try to avoid it, buying such indecent things on the street."

Fan Ruoruo was slightly stunned, not knowing what was going on. Fan Xian was now thinking of finding a place to ask his sister, so he was too lazy to talk to the boy. Just then, Teng Zijing came out of the restaurant to report that the private room was ready. Fan Xian pulled Ruoruo's cool little hand and walked upstairs.

Fan Sizhe was stunned, licked his sugar figurine, and quickly followed.

There were many people in the restaurant, but the third floor was very quiet. However, the private rooms were all booked early, so it seemed that Teng Zijing's ability to get a room was indeed good. Fan Xian felt that it was a very correct decision to ask his father for him.

Sitting at the table, Fan Xian glanced at Fan Sizhe, whose eyes were rolling around, smiled slightly, and without avoiding him, handed the red-paged book in his hand to his sister.

Fan Ruoruo frowned slightly and took it. Just opening the title page, a look of surprise appeared in her eyes. After flipping through it a few more times, she was even more shocked and quickly turned around to explain nervously, "Brother, this is also the first time I've seen it."

Fan Xian smiled and comforted her, "I didn't blame you." He had long guessed that his sister would have his copy of "Dream of the Red Chamber" bound into a volume, and would definitely not be able to resist sharing it with her close friends. But he thought that Ruoruo's friends were probably all young ladies from royal and wealthy families, so even if there was some circulation, it would not have spread to the public market.

Only today, seeing this "Dream of the Red Chamber" on the street, did he realize that he had underestimated the power of pirates, even in another world.

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Fan Ruoruo recalled an incident. Last year, she had all sixty-eight chapters of the "Dream of the Red Chamber" bound together and was pressing them with hardwood in her boudoir. One day, Princess Roujia of the Jing Prince's Mansion came to the house for a casual chat and happened to see the book. After picking it up, she refused to let it go, saying she wanted to take it back to the mansion.

But in Fan Ruoruo's heart, this was her brother's painstaking work, so how could she dare to let it out of the house? What if it was lost? So, no matter how Princess Roujia begged and pleaded, or even threw a tantrum, she did not agree. In the end, the Jing Princess Consort came up with a solution, letting a female official from the Prince's Mansion come over to copy it for a few days.

Since things had come to this, Fan Ruoruo could no longer stop it, so she let her go. Who knew that this book would spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and become a well-known secret, circulating secretly among the mansions of various princes and nobles.

And then it spread to the market.

"No one knows that I wrote it, right?" Fan Xian took the book, flipped through it, and found that the author's name was Cao Xueqin, which made him feel slightly relieved.

Fan Ruoruo blamed herself, "Brother regards fame and wealth as floating clouds. I carelessly let this book spread out, which is already a big mistake. How dare I reveal that this book came from your hand?"

Regards fame and wealth as floating clouds? Fan Xian smiled awkwardly, rubbed his sister's head, but found that he had accidentally messed up her hairstyle a bit. He quickly apologized and then comforted her, "Since I wrote it, I naturally prepared for the world to see it." Thinking of the money he had spent earlier, he felt a bit of heartache again, sighing, "It's just that I didn't expect the pirates to get the first taste of the soup. It's a pity for the white and shiny silver."

The siblings talked for a while, and the waiter began to serve the dishes, so they stopped talking.

Just then, the two of them simultaneously noticed that Fan Sizhe suddenly broke free from his silence, his eyes looking at Fan Xian with some shock, his words somewhat unclear, and enviously said, "That book… you wrote it?"

……

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