Yuan Hongdao frowned, then listened as the Prime Minister said softly, "I've been in the court for too long, and I don't know how many people I've offended. I have two sons and a daughter. I had originally hoped that Gong'er would amount to something, but unexpectedly, he suffered this misfortune. Now I only have Da Bao and Chen'er... I have to make proper arrangements for them."

Yuan Hongdao frowned again, "This change seems a bit too drastic."

Lin Ruofu's gaze suddenly softened, "As a father, one shouldn't be too cautious. As for the matter of seizing the throne, His Majesty is in his prime. I'm afraid you and I will be dead by then, so why worry so much?" He then asked, "Is it confirmed that Si Gu Jian was behind it?"

Yuan Hongdao nodded, "Yes."

Lin Ruofu took a deep breath, "Sometimes I find that the power in my hands can't buy anything... But since the Fan family and the Overwatch Council have been secretly communicating for so many years, I think, if you add me, they shouldn't refuse."

Yuan Hongdao smiled, "Vice Minister Fan, relying on his relationship with His Majesty, is doing his best to promote this marriage. He must have been hoping for this from you for a long time."

Lin Ruofu smiled, "In a few days, I want to see that Fan Xian with my own eyes, to see if he's worthy of my daughter."

Yuan Hongdao added, "What about the Eldest Princess..."

Knowing that the Prime Minister's second son's unnatural death was inextricably linked to the Eldest Princess's plan, Yuan Hongdao cautiously mentioned her name.

"Li Yunrui planned the first assassination through Wu Bo'an, a triple-win scheme. By killing Fan Xian, she could regain control of the Internal Treasury. By persuading Gong'er, she could use this as a rope to firmly bind my Prime Minister's residence to her. But she didn't expect that Fan Xian wasn't so easy to kill, and that Wu Bo'an, that lowly dog, and my child... died." A cold glint flashed in Lin Ruofu's eyes, "But she still has the most important link. She has accurately judged His Majesty's thoughts. Even if Cheng Jushu and his group had escaped from Kyoto, I'm afraid she would have falsely conveyed my orders to let Fang Xiu kill them in Cangzhou, to solidify the claim that the Northern Qi were the murderers."

Yuan Hongdao frowned, "So, the Eldest Princess guessed that His Majesty wanted to launch a major war."

Lin Ruofu shook his head, "His Majesty's Northern Expedition in the past didn't achieve complete success, and he's always been brooding over it. The Eldest Princess is now giving him such a good excuse. Even if His Majesty doesn't like her acting on her own initiative, he will still appreciate her favor. It's just that the peace treaty from back then was too complicated. At most, His Majesty will seize a few small countries this time and show the Northern Qi a little color."

Yuan Hongdao sighed, "The Eldest Princess's intelligence is astonishing, she's really difficult to deal with."

Lin Ruofu slowly closed his eyes and said, "I never thought about dealing with her... Let the younger generation do it."

"Yes, my lord."

Just then, a commotion came from outside the study. It was late at night, and who dared to make such a noise? But looking at the Prime Minister and Yuan Hongdao's expressions, it was clear they knew who it was. The door was pushed open, and a fat man in his twenties walked in. The old maids and servants behind him couldn't hold him back and quickly stood outside the study, begging the Prime Minister for forgiveness. The rules of the Prime Minister's residence were strict. Without the Prime Minister's permission, anyone who privately entered the study would be severely punished. Lin Ruofu waved his hand, indicating he understood, and then looked at the fat man with a gentle expression and said softly, "Da Bao, why are you being naughty again?"

This fat man, called Da Bao, had a wide brow and somewhat dull eyes, seemingly with some mental development issues. But hearing Lin Ruofu's words, he immediately calmed down and said shyly, "Da Bao is being good, but brother hasn't come back yet."

This was Lin Ruofu's eldest son. He had been ill as a child and had become what he was today, with an IQ of only three or four years old. So he rarely went out. The people of Kyoto sympathized with the Prime Minister's residence's misfortune and didn't mention this matter much. Da Bao was closest to Lin Gong in normal times, and he had been upset these past few days because he hadn't seen his younger brother.

Lin Ruofu felt a pang of pain in his heart, a pain like being twisted, and covered his chest. It took him a while to stabilize himself before he softly persuaded, "Er Bao has gone out, he'll be back in a few days. Da Bao, be good, go to sleep."

Da Bao finally calmed down, wearing a simple and honest smile on his face, and was led to the backyard to sleep by the old maids.

After a moment of silence, Lin Ruofu said coldly, "I only have one son and one daughter, and Da Bao is like this. Yuan-xiong, what do you think I should do?"

Yuan Hongdao frowned, "If you're thinking of the Eldest Young Master, it's not a good idea for Miss Chen to marry Fan Xian. After all, Young Master Fan seems unlikely to escape political strife, and his future life will be difficult to stabilize. It won't be too convenient to entrust the Eldest Young Master to Miss Chen in the future."

Lin Ruofu shook his head, his words carrying a chill, "As long as he's surnamed Fan, he's destined to not escape these nets. So I'd rather he be a ruthless person, so he can protect Chen'er and her older brother for the rest of their lives..."

After saying these words, he immediately regained his composure and walked behind the desk. He pulled open the gauze curtain, looked at the map of the world behind the curtain, and began to frown in silence. His gaze occasionally swept towards Dongyi City, but more often it lingered on the north of Qing, those intricate small vassal states between Qing and Northern Qi.

After a long while, Lin Ruofu frowned and said, "We have to come up with a strategy immediately. Although it may not be a major war, and the two sides may not directly contact each other, the northern counties need to transport grain and horses to those small countries, and we must prepare in advance."

Yuan Hongdao responded, and then he heard the Prime Minister begin to cough. He coughed so hard that it seemed like tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. The Prime Minister stood in front of the map with his hands behind his back, planning with a frown, as if he hadn't lost a biological son today. Yuan Hongdao looked at his back and sighed in his heart, feeling a little moved and guilty, thinking that although Ruofu had lived a life of wealth and honor, he had not had any comfortable days. It could truly be said that meeting the princess was a mistake for life.

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All of these events were concentrated in one day. No one knew what these undercurrents of transactions or arguments meant. The meeting between Count Sinan Fan Jian and Chen Pingping, the private meeting between the Prime Minister and the Eldest Princess. Those who knew about these two things in the court would not exceed Fan Xian's ten fingers.

So Fan Xian didn't know that his future had already been arranged on a golden path.

If the past few months after entering Kyoto were like the darkness before dawn, so thick and black that it stuck to his senses like viscous ink, making him feel pressure and unable to relax, then these following days suddenly felt like a god had brought a basin of clear water and splashed it on his face, making him feel extremely refreshed and also incredibly awake.

In these days, he had been hypnotizing himself that the death of his brother-in-law had nothing to do with him. Only in this way could he face Lin Wan'er, whom he had the most difficulty facing at this time. Lin Wan'er had been in low spirits since learning of her second brother's death. Although these siblings hadn't met many times, they were connected by blood, and it was still somewhat sad. Fan Xian saw this and felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. Although that second brother-in-law was the mastermind behind trying to kill him - he sometimes felt that he was a bit cold-blooded and morbid because if he had heard that Fan Sizhe in Kyoto had died when he was in Danzhou, perhaps he wouldn't have felt the slightest sadness.

Of course, the situation was different now. Liu Shi seemed to have acquiesced to the current situation, and the Liu family in Kyoto had also smelled some unusual aura, giving Liu Shi enough information for reference. So Liu Shi was unusually well-behaved and no longer prevented Fan Sizhe from wandering around Kyoto with Fan Xian.

What put Fan Xian's mind most at ease was that no one seemed to suspect that the death of the Prime Minister's second son had anything to do with him, including the Prime Minister himself. In fact, this matter was something he and Prince Jing had worried about too much. Wu Bo'an and Lin Gong had hidden themselves so well that even the Overwatch Council couldn't find out for a while. Then who else could find them besides the four Grandmasters in the world? As long as no one knew about Fan Xian's relationship with Wu Zhu, no one would think that Fan Xian was related to Lin Gong's death.

Even more unexpectedly, after multiple transmissions, he vaguely received news from the Prime Minister's residence that the Prime Minister had expressed some degree of approval for the marriage in October. Just when Fan Xian was constantly guessing whether the old man had lost his son and was truly disheartened, the sly Count Sinan Fan Jian understood the reason behind this matter earlier than anyone in the court: the Prime Minister had some sort of disagreement with the Crown Prince or the Eldest Princess for some reason. This was Lin Ruofu looking for new investment opportunities, perhaps an indication that the Prime Minister's residence's political center of gravity was beginning to shift to the Second Prince.

The two assassination attempts, one after the other, were like two spring thunders resounding in the sky above Kyoto, but after the spring thunder, there was no residual rain. Gradually, things faded away. It was just that the Prime Minister seemed heartbroken over his son's death and had become somewhat dispirited, rarely attending court due to illness. That lame Director Chen also didn't attend court much, just staying in the courtyard, occasionally issuing a few orders. Thinking of this, Fan Xian was always a little puzzled why Chen Pingping didn't summon him after returning to Kyoto. He didn't know yet that in the Heavenly Prison, that old cripple had already been spying on him. What was even more puzzling was that now that Chen Pingping had returned to Kyoto, where had Fei Jie run off to?

In any case, after this brief but fierce confrontation, the various forces in the court paid the price of several lives and restructured a somewhat fragile balance. Some people accepted the changes they had to accept, such as the change of hands of the Internal Treasury control in a few years. Some people began to look for another path to protect themselves and their families, such as the Prime Minister. These changes were undoubtedly extremely beneficial to Fan Xian. At least he didn't have to worry too much about his personal safety. Only at this time did he write a letter to his grandmother in Danzhou, telling the old lady that he was doing well in Kyoto and asking her not to worry too much.

After spring comes summer. Although this was a truism, for Fan Xian, who had finally gained a foothold in Kyoto after all his hard work, his life finally had less continuous rain and more bright sunny days. Happy days seemed to be waving to him slowly from over there.

Summer has come, will the wedding day in autumn be far away?