The heir apparent, Li Hongcheng, waited for quite a while, and when the person he was waiting for still hadn't arrived, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. He thought this Master Fan truly had a grand air about him; there were few officials in the court who were qualified to make him wait. A thought flashed through his mind regarding the recent events in the capital, and he secretly admired Fan Xian for the commotion he had caused since arriving. A few poems had caused a minor stir in the literary world, beating someone up in the middle of the night had shaken the officialdom, and as for the marriage to the Prime Minister's illegitimate daughter, it had shocked those in the know.

As he was pondering, Fan Xian called out from afar, greeting him while quickly approaching. It wasn't that he had intentionally made the heir apparent wait, but he had been discussing matters concerning the bookshop with the manager of Qing Yu Tang, which had caused a delay. The two young men sat a few feet apart, took a few sips of tea, and then began to discuss serious matters.

Naturally, Fan Xian was the first to speak, as he had to express his gratitude for what had happened that night. Hearing his thanks, the heir apparent, Li Hongcheng, smiled and said gently, "I thought at the time, we've only known each other for a few days, how could you bear to book the entire Drunken Immortal Pavilion to entertain me? It turns out you had this in mind… but it doesn't matter. That Guo Baokun is an incompetent fool; he's not even ranked highly among the太子's retainers. It's just that his old man at home has some learning. You beat him up, so you beat him up. There was no need to go through so much trouble."

Fan Xian knew that the heir apparent was referring to his actions in court, and he said with a self-deprecating laugh, "Isn't it because I'm inexperienced? If I had known it was so easy to beat people up in the capital, I would have punched him in the 왕府 garden."

Li Hongcheng jumped in fright and quickly waved the silk fan in his hand, "That won't do. If you go too far, I won't be able to come forward and protect you."

Fan Xian chuckled, thanked him again, and then asked what the heir apparent had come to instruct him on today. Li Hongcheng pondered for a moment and said, "I can't hide this from you. Given the relationship between our two families, I have to make things clear. Originally, the Second Prince wanted me to trick you into meeting him, to arrange a natural encounter so as not to offend you. But doing so would still be deceiving you, so I'll be frank. Tomorrow, the Second Prince is holding a banquet on the Flowing Crystal River, specifically inviting you alone. I'll just be there as company."

Fan Xian frowned and said, "I really don't understand. The Second Prince is of such noble status, how could a mere scholar like myself catch his eye?"

"Are you really clueless or just playing dumb?" Li Hongcheng pointed at his nose and laughed, "You're a failure at acting."

Fan Xian gave an awkward smile but didn't reply.

Li Hongcheng noticed that there were no idle people around the花厅 and said solemnly, "I'll say it again, I liked you the moment I met you, and I couldn't bear to hide anything from you. I felt like such tactics would create distance between us. You know, although His Majesty is still in his prime, there's always the saying that one must plan for the future. So everyone in the court is always looking at those princes. The First Prince is naturally brave and martial, but he's leading troops outside. The太子 is the Empress's own son, but he's always been immoral. My Jing Wang residence is impartial, but to tell you the truth, among these princes, my friendship with the Second Prince is better."

Fan Xian was shocked. He thought, what's going on? How is this completely different from what I expected? When I read Eryue He's novels in my previous life, the princes always spoke in complex terms, wanting to put on eighty layers of clothing so they wouldn't be criticized. How could someone like the person in front of me be so straightforward and blunt? Seizing the throne can cost you your head. How can you dare to run around naked and shout about it?

Seeming to realize that his words had frightened the other man, Li Hongcheng said with an awkward smile, "Do you think I'm being too blunt? To be honest, I don't know why, but when I look at you, I don't want to play those fake games. That's right, I'm trying to win you over for the Second Prince. This is like marriage, it's always a voluntary affair."

Fan Xian was stunned. He looked at the heir apparent's clean eyes, seemingly wanting to see if he could discern something hidden within them. He couldn't tell if the other man was truly a noble and upright gentleman, or a schemer who used openness as a means to win people over. But in any case, the heir apparent had already declared his allegiance. Running around naked was fine for him, but Fan Xian, a mere nobody in the capital with no power or manpower, absolutely dared not take off his clothes and hug the other man. He smiled and said, "Can I know clearly why the Second Prince wants to see me?"

"For the wedding in October," Li Hongcheng still seemed very sincere, smiling as he looked over. "After next year's Grand Examination, if you show the corresponding abilities, His Majesty will hand over the management rights of those industries to you. For us, this is a great thing. First of all, the amount of money coming in will be much less, and some things will be inconvenient to do. Secondly, I believe that Lord Si Nanbo has been in charge of the Qing Kingdom's Ministry of Revenue for many years, and he must understand that when new and old management are handed over, the previous accounts must be checked thoroughly. In this way, there might be some unexpected surprises."

Fan Xian was silent, his eyebrows drooping, but he didn't seem very dejected. Instead, he gave off a very docile and harmless feeling. He said softly, "It's still early. The wedding is in October, and I won't be able to get my hands on those things until next year or the year after."

"Yes, so tomorrow is just a meal," Li Hongcheng looked at him very seriously. "Consider it a return gift for what happened last time, how about it? You know, I'm really trusting you when I say these things today… Maybe you'll have some new ideas when you see the Second Prince tomorrow."

Fan Xian smiled, thinking that the Second Prince's competition with the太子 probably wouldn't truly begin until more than ten years later. Starting to pull in insignificant guys like himself now really felt like "starting a revolution from the cradle." He agreed and sent the heir apparent out of the residence. Returning to his father's study, he sat in the chair next to the desk, staring at the pens in the pen holder, his brow furrowed as he thought.

The last time he beat up Guo Baokun, he chose the heir apparent of the Jing Wang residence as a cover, which was giving the other man an opportunity to win him over. In order to survive in the capital, he had to choose a side. His father could always stand on His Majesty's side, but he had also said that future affairs would always be the business of the younger generation.

Fan Xian needed to choose a side, but it didn't necessarily mean standing on the Second Prince's side, but… it would definitely mean standing against the太子. The reason was simple. Four years ago, the Empress had wanted him dead. Four years later, the people in the palace would still want him dead. And in the deep sea-like capital, he seemed to be just a small ant that could be crushed at any time.

Could this ant climb a tree?

—————————————————————————————

The Second Prince's banquet was still located on the Flowing Crystal River. Fan Xian couldn't help but smile wryly when he heard this location. Recently, he had been spending every night with Wan'er, and although it was sweet and occasionally there was skin contact, it was too little. After all, she was his official fiancée, so when she became shy, he didn't want to be too presumptuous. Thinking of the soft, jade-like body he had touched that night, Fan Xian immediately remembered the other party's name, Si Lili, and he couldn't help but feel a little swayed. He secretly recalled how those European medieval powers who used intestines as condoms had actually operated. Then he thought, why did that woman leave the capital so coincidentally on the day of the lawsuit?

The security in the capital had always been excellent, except recently there was a guy from the Fan family who used black boxing. So the Fan residence's carriage only brought four guards, and under the shining spring light, it slowly drove towards the west of the city.

After passing through Wangchun Gate and walking through Oxherd Street, where he had once ambushed and beaten someone, Fan Xian lifted the carriage curtain and chuckled. Among the four guards including Teng Zijing, three had experienced what had happened that day. Hearing the young master laugh, they naturally knew what he was laughing at and felt refreshed, laughing along as well.

There weren't many houses around Oxherd Street, but there were quite a few shops that had fallen into disrepair many years ago, so it had earned another name: Ruined Shops. It was very quiet here; there were few pedestrians, whether day or night. It could truly be called the best place to ambush and strike.

Fan Xian stuck his head out of the curtain, looking at the large sycamore leaves slowly receding overhead, looking at the sky light above, thinking about how he should conduct himself after meeting the Second Prince later. The other party should be very clear about his father's strength, so he shouldn't make any excessive demands. He probably just wanted to connect and build relationships, laying the groundwork for what might happen more than ten years later.

As he was walking, Fan Xian's brow suddenly furrowed. He didn't know why, but he felt that something was wrong. He seemed to feel that there was something strange about the surroundings. He looked around at the surroundings that the carriage was passing through, and found that it was quiet and there was nothing unusual.

Suddenly, he twitched his nose and smelled a very faint sweet scent.

This was the smell of "bitter forbearance alkali," a poison extracted from a frog that the Western barbarians liked to use for arrow poison!

……

……

"Scatter!" Fan Xian shouted, his body already leaping out of the carriage window first, grabbing the guard closest to him with one hand, not even seeing clearly who it was. Although the training he had received since childhood had made his sense of smell extremely sensitive, now that he could smell this strange fragrance, it meant that the archers were already very close to his carriage, and this unheralded assassination was about to begin!

At the moment he jumped out of the carriage, a large stone roller was thrown from behind the alley, whistling with wind, and heavily hit the carriage, the carriage broken into countless fragments of wood splashing into the air!