Fan Xian was not good at bargaining, but back in his previous life, the pretty little nurse often chatted with him, telling him that girls would start bargaining from a third off when buying clothes. Fan Xian wasn't as skilled as those girls, so he bargained for two-fifths off.

Who knew that the shop owner would glare at him, seemingly annoyed by this young master's lack of appreciation. He coldly closed the box, preparing to take it back to the inner room. Fan Xian grew anxious and opened his mouth to call him back, wanting to discuss the price further. Unexpectedly, Wang Qinian, who had been silently standing by, winked at Fan Xian. Suspicious, Fan Xian followed him outside.

"It's only worth four hundred taels."

Wang Qinian respectfully said to him, "My lord, please wait while I go and ask." After saying that, he re-entered the store without a sign. A moment later, he emerged again, but this time he held a strikingly green snuff bottle in his hand. Then, he took the four hundred taels of silver notes from Fan Xian and handed them to the shop owner behind him, who looked ashen-faced.

...

...

Once in the carriage, Fan Xian said softly, "Don't abuse your official power to oppress good people." He touched the snuff bottle in his belt and couldn't help but chuckle, "But occasionally bullying this kind of unscrupulous merchant is not bad."

Wang Qinian smiled slightly, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes blooming like chrysanthemums, after all, he was already in his forties. He explained carefully, "It's not exactly unscrupulous, it's just that the price he bought that snuff bottle for was at most three hundred taels. We gave him four hundred taels, which isn't really bullying him."

"Oh?" Fan Xian looked at Wang Qinian in surprise. "Could it be that Lord Wang is quite knowledgeable about antiques and curios? Otherwise, how could you have spotted the real purchase price at a glance? You know, there's a lot of fake stuff in this business."

Wang Qinian smiled again and said, "My lord, have you forgotten what I did before entering the Department of Treasury?"

Fan Xian suddenly understood and laughed heartily, "So, when you were a lone thief back then, you even learned these things on the side." Wang Qinian responded awkwardly, "I was selling things back and forth in those small vassal states by myself, and I didn't dare hire any helpers, so I naturally had to sharpen my eyes." With such an expert in the world of antiques, no wonder he could so easily cut down the price of the snuff bottle.

Back at the gate of the Fan residence, Wang Qinian's team withdrew, handing over to the Fan residence's own security. Just then, the threaded screen fans that Fan Xian had ordered earlier from another store arrived at the gate. The servants hurriedly took them inside, but when it came time to settle the bill, the accountant said to Fan Xian with some heartache, "Although these fans are good, they are too expensive. Young Master, you bought five at once, and it will be difficult for me to report this to the Second Madam."

Liu Shi happened to walk into the accounting room at this time. Hearing the accountant's words, she gave Fan Xian a meaningful look and nodded, saying, "Record it."

Fan Xian smiled slightly and bowed to the concubine, "Auntie, good day." Their current situation was too awkward. There was no closeness to speak of, and there had been no opportunity for hostility to erupt into enmity. Fan Xian was puzzled by something and frowned, asking, "Auntie, I think these fans are cool to use and would be most comfortable placed in the main hall, but why haven't I seen them used in any other household?"

Liu Shi smiled and shook her head, saying, "You'll understand better than anyone else about this matter in the future. Isn't it just that the business is asking for too high a price? No one is willing to buy them. Summer is only a few days long, even digging an ice cellar wouldn't be much more expensive than those fans."

Fan Xian was quick-witted and understood immediately, "This is... a deal from the Internal Treasury?" Liu Shi nodded. Fan Xian sighed, "Selling them so expensive, how is that possible? With this craftsmanship, any merchant can learn it. Why isn't anyone else selling them?"

Liu Shi laughed, "Although no one says it openly, everyone knows in their hearts that this is a business that the Emperor is selling to enrich the Internal Treasury. Who would dare to imitate it? The Censorate can easily slap on a charge, and it would be a crime punishable by imprisonment and exile."

Fan Xian shook his head, feeling that this was inappropriate. Liu Shi asked curiously, "Why did you buy five at once?" Fan Xian explained gently, "One needs to be placed in the flower hall, one needs to be placed in Father's and Auntie's room, and the other three are for gifts. One for Prince Jing's residence, one for the Prime Minister's residence... and one for the Duke's residence."

Liu Shi's family was also a prominent clan in the capital, and a Duke had emerged from within three generations, so within the Fan residence, whenever the Duke's residence was mentioned, it referred to the Liu family - Duke Hongyi Liu Heng.

Liu Shi was slightly taken aback, not expecting that this handsome young man would be so considerate, and even more surprised that he would proactively show goodwill. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond, smiled somewhat distractedly, and left the accounting room.

Actually, Fan Xian only occasionally thought about improving his relationship with Liu's family and Liu Shi after seeing her. If he wanted Fan Sizhe to firmly stand by his side in the future and avoid the infighting that he disliked so much, then he must ensure that Liu Shi would not do anything again... that would make things irreparable between them.

Small favors and little courtesies would naturally not achieve this effect, so he had to take it step by step. Fan Xian was confident that Liu Shi's heart was divided into three parts, one belonged to Count Sinan Fan Jian, one belonged to Fan Sizhe, and as long as their mutual benefits could be co-developed and expanded, it seemed that Liu Shi shouldn't have too much opposition. As for the assassination attempt at the age of twelve... Fan Xian frowned, forcibly controlling his mind and convincing himself that the Empress and the Eldest Princess were his real adversaries.

—————————————————————————————

In the Prime Minister's residence, Lin Ruofu gently stroked the snuff bottle in his hand and said softly, "This is made from top-quality emerald. The stopper is cleverly designed, but although it uses internal painting, the artwork is good, but it seems a bit redundant." Yuan Hongdao listened from the side, knowing that the Prime Minister was hinting at something. He smiled and said, "A new son-in-law is visiting his father-in-law, bringing some gifts is only right and proper."

Lin Ruofu smiled slightly, stood up, and lifted the scroll in front of the table with one hand. It turned out to be a painting, depicting an old man fishing alone by the river. The river's path was endless, with no end in sight. The entire painting was covered in ice and snow, and beside the painting was a poem.

"A thousand mountains, no birds in flight; Ten thousand paths, no human trace. A lone boat, an old man in straw cloak; Fishing alone in the cold river snow." Lin Ruofu chanted the poem on the painting softly, sighing, "Although the painting is ordinary and the calligraphy is unremarkable, this poem is quite good. I've always heard that Fan Xian has a great reputation for poetry, and it's true. But with just this poem, do you still think he only brought the proper gifts between a son-in-law and his father-in-law?"

Yuan Hongdao smiled wryly, thinking that this Young Master Fan was really inexplicable. Knowing that the old man was still recovering from the loss of his son, he still sent such a bleak poem and painting. After a moment of contemplation, his eyes lit up and he said, "Lord, look here." He pointed to a spot in the painting.

The spot was a blank space with ink dots, right beside the mountain peak, on the side of the cliff. Faintly visible in the snow were two extremely thin light ink lines branching apart like a small grass trying to bravely straighten its back from the snow.

"This is...?"

"This is a touch of green on the snowy cliff of a cold river." Yuan Hongdao explained with a smile.

Lin Ruofu looked at the small grass in the painting that was extremely difficult to spot, his expression gradually softening, and said softly, "It seems even you like this young man named Fan Xian."

Yuan Hongdao didn't avoid anything and said with a smile, "Young Master Fan has a good family background, good talent, and a very good temperament."

"In your words, he's like a perfect person." Lin Ruofu shook his head with a smile, "If Chen'er can be happy marrying him, then that's naturally good." Suddenly, he lowered his voice and said, "But that matter, can you really confirm it?"

Yuan Hongdao replied very seriously, "The matter at the foot of Cang Mountain has been confirmed. I heard that Fei Jie is currently negotiating in Dongyi City."

"Hmm." Lin Ruofu said with his eyes half-closed, "That's what I think too. Actually, I don't care about Fan Xian's talent or family background, I only care about his temperament and methods. As long as his temperament is good and his methods are ruthless, he can protect our Lin family and my only pair of children after I die, then that would be good."

After Lin Gong's death, the Prime Minister did feel somewhat disheartened. His eldest son was an idiot, and his daughter could not be seen for many years. However, he still had to consider and plan for the officials and clansmen who depended on him. Therefore, who Lin Wan'er married was the most important thing he was considering at the moment.

"How is it outside?" Lin Ruofu said with a gentle expression.

"Very good, better than you and I imagined."

...

...

"Why is the sky blue?"

"Because the sea is blue."

"Why is the sea blue?"

"Because when light enters the seawater, it turns blue... well, don't listen to me, I haven't done much research on these things. I'm basically just talking nonsense."

"Why is the water in the pond clear and not blue?"

"Because the water in the pond is shallow."

"Ah?"

"Hmm?"

In the garden, Lin Wan'er's eldest brother sat on a wicker chair, his plump body almost filling the entire chair. He asked Fan Xian curiously, his eyebrows and eyes full of the innocent harmlessness of a child, but his gaze occasionally revealed a bit of dullness.

Fan Xian knew that the Prime Minister's eldest son seemed to be unwell, but he didn't expect, before coming, that Wan'er's eldest brother would actually be an idiot. For some reason, the Prime Minister hadn't received him yet. He was staying in the back garden and happened to run into his brother-in-law, so he had no choice but to chat with him casually. He smiled to himself, wondering if this chubby idiot would occasionally get angry and beat him up.

"What's your name?" Fan Xian smiled and looked at his silly brother-in-law. After chatting for a while, he realized that the other party was just a bit slow to react, like a child of a few years old, silly and somewhat cute, at least cuter than the accountant Fan Sizhe.

The brother-in-law pouted, his chubby cheeks looking even rounder. Two fleshy lines wrinkled on either side of his lips. "My name is Da Bao, my younger brother is called Er Bao. Er Bao hasn't been home for a long time."

Fan Xian's heart skipped a beat, thinking of the deceased Lin Gong. In an instant, looking at the silly brother-in-law in front of him, he didn't know what to say.