Fan Xian didn't dare to be presumptuous, quickly stood up and offered a salute. He then cupped his hands towards all directions, looking at the Qing Yu Nian Kingdom's diplomatic officials with a warm smile. He said sincerely, "This humble official has only been at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices for a few days and hasn't even sorted out the court's music. The palace must have appointed me as a deputy envoy so that the Northern Qi rogues can see that the people of Qing Yu Nian Kingdom cannot be killed at will. They just want me to be a figurehead, not actually do anything in the negotiations." He chuckled and continued, "This humble official knows nothing about international relations, and I only hope not to hinder you esteemed officials. I ask that you all be generous and instruct me."

Being someone who hadn't spent a long time in officialdom, Fan Xian's words were a bit excessive and rash. However, this straightforward statement made the Honglu Temple officials feel quite comfortable. Originally, upon learning that Lord Fan's son was joining the negotiation process, these officials, who considered themselves the most professional diplomats in Qing Yu Nian Kingdom, felt somewhat uneasy, as if a vulture eager to snatch bones had suddenly flown into a flock of crows skilled at eating carrion.

Since young master Fan had made it clear that he wasn't there to compete for merit, everyone in the Honglu Temple was naturally much happier, and Xin Qiwu nodded slightly in approval. Of course, everyone knew that if the border demarcation was successful this time and a large amount of tribute silver was obtained, this noble son, who was clearly here to gain experience, would certainly receive his due share of the rewards.

After the meeting, Xin Qiwu led Fan Xian to the small single room prepared for him, pointing to a large cabinet filled with documents and said, "The relevant information is all here. The most crucial thing in this negotiation is that Northern Qi wants to use some silver to buy back a large piece of land, land that is currently occupied by us. The Dongyi City side has no demands, they only want to settle the two assassination attempts that happened last time. One is the Niulan Street incident related to Lord Fan, and the two female assassins have been proven to be disciples of the Second Disciple of Si Gu Jian. The second is the matter of the manor beneath Cang Mountain, but..."

He glanced at Fan Xian, hesitated slightly, but continued, "As you know, that matter is somewhat complicated, so the imperial court cannot present very strong evidence."

Fan Xian nodded, smelling the musty air in the room and began to get a headache. Was he going to be dealing with these things for the next ten days or so? Seeming to understand his thoughts, Xin Shaoqing smiled and said, "If Lord Fan doesn't want to work in the office, you can take them home, but files marked in red with the secret classification are absolutely not allowed to leave the government office."

Fan Xian was overjoyed. Although he knew that the other party didn't want him to be an eyesore here, he still said gratefully, "To be honest, I'm still completely clueless about all this today. If you don't mind my laziness, I'd rather sleep in every day at home."

Fan Xian estimated that he was an anomaly rarely seen in Qing Yu Nian Kingdom, a mere eighth-rank Assistant Secretary dared to joke like that with the fourth-rank Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial. Xin Qiwu was stunned by the words, then laughed heartily, immediately lowered his voice and said, "Young Master Fan, the Crown Prince has high expectations for you."

Fan Xian smiled slightly, knowing the other party's identity, he dared not be vague, and quickly replied, "Please rest assured, my lord, I understand. My father often teaches the children in our family to adhere to the way of a subject as a subject."

Hearing this reply, Xin Qiwu, a confidant of the Crown Prince, nodded in satisfaction and said, "Earl Sinan is wholeheartedly devoted to the country, and I have always admired him."

After exchanging some more bland words, Xin Shaoqing left. Fan Xian watched his departing figure, gradually narrowing his eyes. His father, Fan Jian, had indeed said that as long as the Crown Prince was in power, the Fan family would naturally be loyal to the Crown Prince, but even he didn't believe those words, and the other party, who was clearly from the Crown Prince's faction, naturally wouldn't simply believe it either.

Appointing Fan Xian as the deputy envoy for the negotiations was just a cautious attempt by the Crown Prince to see if there was a possibility for the Fan family to move a little bit closer to the Crown Prince's chair, even if it was just a tiny bit.

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In the following ten days or so, Fan Xian truly did as he had said that day, locking himself in his residence every day to sleep. Of course, for him, sleeping itself was a necessary part of his cultivation. As for official matters, after taking back some documents, he handed them over to Wang Qinian, letting him handle them and striving to come up with a very appropriate negotiation plan.

Fan Xian knew very well that Wang Qinian would secretly report to that old cripple in the Bureau of Internal Affairs. Since that was the case, he entrusted this complicated and uninteresting work to Wang Qinian. Whether it was for the sake of his mother or his father, Chen Pingping would certainly not allow him to lose face in the court and among the people, and would naturally handle it properly.

He was always unscrupulous in utilizing the resources he could utilize.

As expected, a few days later, Wang Qinian arrived at the agreed-upon small house with a haggard expression, handing over a thick folder. Fan Xian curiously opened it, and his eyes lit up. He saw that it was divided into two parts: one was internal reference material only for senior officials of the Honglu Temple, and the other was a draft of the negotiation record with Northern Qi.

The material clearly analyzed the internal situation of Northern Qi, the power struggles between the young emperor and the empress dowager, and that Grandmaster Ku He was a pacifist, and so on. The material clearly stated that Ning Guohou, the empress dowager's younger brother, had been attacked by Northern Qi's civil officials because of his defeat in the war, so the young emperor didn't care how much money or land he had to cede. As long as popular resentment arose, he could take the opportunity to weaken the Empress Dowager's faction. The Empress Dowager's side, eager to quell the situation in order to free up her hands to rectify the court, also instructed that the negotiation should be focused on concession.

These hidden things were certainly not something that Qing Yu Nian Kingdom's diplomatic officials could see. Only the vast hidden power of the Bureau of Internal Affairs, through secret agents all over Northern Qi, could gather bits and pieces of small events, and then combine and analyze them to reach such a clear conclusion.

"Wonderful." Fan Xian sighed, "With this information in hand, the officials of the Honglu Temple will be overjoyed." He paused, and asked curiously, "How reliable is this information?"

Wang Qinian's eyes drooped, it seemed that he hadn't slept well in the past few days: "The reliability is very high. Yan Bingyun has already opened up the situation in Northern Qi, and the entire intelligence network is laid out very reasonably, cross-referencing each other, there should be no problems."

Fan Xian couldn't help but feel a bit of respect for that young master named Yan Bingyun. For the sake of national interest, he was content to be a rat hidden in the shadows for many years. As the son of a high-ranking official, it was indeed not easy. Little did he know that the reason why Yan Bingyun was pitifully stuck in Northern Qi was entirely because of that attempted assassination when he was twelve years old. If Fan Xian knew about this, he didn't know if he would feel guilty or laugh out loud.

"Wang Qinian, I didn't expect you to be good at intelligence analysis besides tracking." Fan Xian knew very well where the document came from, but he didn't expose it.

Wang Qinian had unspeakable suffering, and had to reply submissively, not daring to take credit.

"Okay, I'll go to the Honglu Temple tomorrow to discuss it with Lord Shaoqing." Fan Xian looked at Wang Qinian's hesitant expression and asked curiously, "Is there anything else?"

Wang Qinian said embarrassedly, "My lord, this information cannot be given to the Honglu Temple."

"Why?"

"Because... the secrets involved are all top-level, and the entire Honglu Temple, including the Minister of the Honglu Temple, is not qualified to access them."

Fan Xian slapped his forehead and said with a wry smile, "Then what do you say we should do? Why not just let the Bureau give it to the Honglu Temple through normal channels?"

Wang Qinian sighed. He thought, if it weren't for the Director wanting you to amaze everyone in this negotiation and pave the way for your future career, why would he order the entire Sixth Bureau to work overnight to write such a document? This document looks ordinary, but it is actually the result of the hard work of a dozen intelligence analysis experts from the Bureau of Internal Affairs. If you just give it to the Honglu Temple casually, the Director is afraid that he will jump up from his wheelchair in anger.

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In late summer, the lotus flowers showed signs of wilting, and the heat was still strong. The pedestrians and stray dogs on the road in the capital were all listless because of the weather. August 8th of the lunar calendar was an auspicious day, and the Northern Qi and Dongyi delegations arrived at the last official post on the northwest side of the capital at the same time. The Qing Yu Nian Kingdom's emperor specially issued an imperial decree, allowing the two delegations to stay in the emperor's temporary palace. The ceremonial officials from the three parties fussed for several days, finally determining the schedule and arrangements for entering the capital.

The people of the capital perked up, feeling that a refreshing autumn rain had suddenly appeared in their ordinary and boring lives. In their minds, the envoys of these two countries were not here to negotiate, but to submit their letters of surrender.

As the deputy envoy for the negotiations, Fan Xian was naturally among the welcoming party. He waited for the officials of the two countries at the west gate of the capital and arranged for them to stay in the capital's official post. The Northern Qi delegation clearly didn't look very happy. After all, they were the losers in this battle that involved vassal states under their command, and many Northern Qi soldiers had been captured, and most importantly, they had lost a lot of land.

"Lord Shaoqing, who is this?" The highest-ranking member of the Northern Qi delegation was the younger brother of the current Empress, the Marquis of Changning. He looked down at the handsome young man, feeling extremely annoyed. Qing Yu Nian Kingdom didn't value him very much. It was already enough that the officially appointed ambassador was only a Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, but for them to have such a young man as the deputy ambassador, he couldn't help but feel a sense of contempt towards him.

"This humble official is Fan Xian, greetings, Marquis."

Fan Xian wore a clear smile on his face as he looked at the enemy guests. The Bureau of Internal Affairs' intelligence clearly stated that this gentleman was a mere figurehead, and that Zhuang Mohan, the generation's great scholar in the sedan chair behind, who was snatched away by the palace people and arranged to live in a separate courtyard, was the real person.