Fan Xian looked around, finding no one nearby, so he simply found a rock and sat down. He took the water pot from the old gardener and, without hesitation, took a few sips, chatting casually about planting flowers and grass. He knew basically nothing about it, so he listened to the gardener's animated explanations with some novelty, but after listening for too long, he became a bit bored. He thought about leaving, but then considered the even more boring poetry gathering, and decided against it, sighing.

Hearing the young master sigh, the gardener curiously asked, "Why is the young master unhappy?"

"The Prince Jing's poetry gathering is very boring," Fan Xian winked at him, thinking that the other man was just a servant and certainly wouldn't be interested in poetry gatherings.

Sure enough, the gardener nodded very solemnly, "Writing poetry and composing rhymes are things for idle people to do. They can't be exchanged for a bowl of rice. They're just stupid pigs."

Fan Xian was stunned, thinking, "Isn't that calling me a stupid pig too?" Then, a thought struck him, and he laughed heartily, "Indeed, stupid pigs!" He finally understood something and waved goodbye to the matter of writing poetry.

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After the poetry gathering dispersed, everyone went home or skipped home. As for what happened later, it wasn't until the next day that it spread throughout the entire capital.

That night, at the Prince Jing's routine family dinner, the heir apparent had been preparing to head to Drunken Immortal House for some fun, but was called back by the old butler, and sat somewhat uneasily at the dinner table, waiting with his sister for his father's scolding.

Prince Jing was sitting at the head of the table, and was surprisingly the old gardener Fan Xian had chatted with for half the afternoon in the nursery. He looked at his son below, who always thought so highly of himself, and with anger he didn't know where it came from, scolded, "You stupid pig! All you do is go to those places every day!"

The heir apparent, Li Hongcheng, knew that "stupid pig" was his father's favorite phrase, so he wasn't particularly angry, and replied with a wry smile, "Father, what are you angry about today?"

Prince Jing snorted and didn't continue his outburst, asking, "Did you have that poetry gathering of yours today?"

Li Hongcheng was taken aback and replied with a wry "yes." He knew his father didn't like these literary matters, but he needed to win over the capital's scholars for the Second Prince, so these things always needed to be done. To his surprise, Prince Jing wasn't angry, but instead asked with interest, "There was a young man at the poetry gathering today, wearing a light chestnut-colored single robe. Who's son is that?"

Li Hongcheng thought that many people had come today, how could he remember so many?

Prince Jing frowned, seeming to be thinking about the man's features. After a long pause, he said, "That young man was very pretty, like a woman."

Li Hongcheng chuckled, knowing who his father was talking about, and quickly replied, "The person you're talking about must be the one from the Fan residence."

Prince Jing raised his eyebrows, revealing a few traces of ferocity, and shouted, "What? Are you saying he's Fan Jian's son from Danzhou? Damn it, how dare Fan Jian look like that and give birth to such a beautiful son!"

Princess Roujia, listening to her father's coarse language, blushed with shame, but she was also very interested in what kind of person the man that Ruoruo-jie always respected as a mentor was. Li Hongcheng glared at his father somewhat angrily, thinking that it was lucky no servants were nearby, but then realized that the servants should be used to Prince Jing's mouth, and quickly asked, "Father, why are you asking about that young man?"

"What for?" Prince Jing grunted twice. After meeting Fan Xian that afternoon, who didn't know his identity, he felt that the other man looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before. And because Fan Xian disliked poetry gatherings but could listen to him talk about his proudest gardening methods for a long time, he somewhat liked the young man. But he didn't expect that the pretty young man was actually Fan Jian's son. A fire rose in his heart, and he continued to lecture, "You need to learn from that… what's his name?"

"Fan Xian."

"Learn from that Fan Xian. Don't look down on him because of his humble background, he still has a good eye." Prince Jing sighed, looking at his son, and lectured, "Fan Xian is the kind of person who can talk to a gardener for half a day, but you are too self-important. You need to know that such a self-important character is really not suitable for the things you are doing now."

The heir apparent, Li Hongcheng, knew that his father, who was ostensibly honest and hot-tempered but actually extremely shrewd, certainly knew about his friendship with the Second Prince, and quickly replied "yes." After dinner, the heir apparent was preparing to return to his study to read, so that his father would be happy, but unexpectedly, Prince Jing pondered for a long time and said, "Weren't you planning to go to Drunken Immortal House earlier?"

Drunken Immortal House isn't a restaurant, but a brothel. A difference of one word, but a world of difference. The heir apparent's heart tightened, and he quickly said he wouldn't dare. Prince Jing stared into his eyes and scolded, "A real man should go if he wants to go. Don't be so irresponsible." After saying this, he ordered someone to kick him out.

Li Hongcheng, even while sitting in a private room at Drunken Immortal House, holding Yuan Meng, the most popular courtesan in the capital, was still thinking with some chill, why his father had suddenly changed his tune today.

Late at night in Prince Jing's residence, Prince Jing was drinking wine while cursing, "Damn Fan Jian, he loved visiting brothels back then, and actually gave birth to such a pretty son! I'll let my son go too, so he can have a pretty grandson in the future."

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Leaving aside Prince Jing's family matter of forcing his son to visit brothels for the time being, let's first talk about Fan Xian. After the poetry gathering dispersed, he quickly climbed into the sedan and met up with Teng Zijing and several guards. After the poetry gathering dispersed, people were discussing Fan's family's poem. Seeing the Fan residence's sedan, some scholars came up to say goodbye. Fan Xian quickly got out, smiled and saw them off one by one, and then ordered the guards to send Ruoruo back to the residence.

Fan Ruoruo nodded to him before getting into the sedan. Fan Xian knew that the matter had been arranged properly, his spirits lifted, and he began to arrange the evening's affairs.

"Guo Baokun is definitely living in the Shangshu residence. He enters the palace about every three days, nominally for compiling documents, but actually as the Crown Prince's companion."

Fan Xian frowned, "How old is the Crown Prince this year that he still needs a companion?"

"The Crown Prince is the Empress's biological son, the third in line among the princes, and is already eighteen years old this year."

Fan Xian found it amusing, "An eighteen-year-old adult, what does he need a companion for?"

Teng Zijing smiled wryly, "He's just playful, so he finds some people to accompany him openly."

"Doesn't the Emperor care?"

"This… I'm not sure."

After the incident at the restaurant a few days ago, Fan Xian was worried that Guo Baokun wouldn't be able to swallow the anger in his heart and would resort to some underhanded means, so he ordered Teng Zijing to investigate and also found out several places that Guo Baokun frequented and his route home.

At today's poetry gathering, that Guo brat's words were barbed. Even if Fan Xian had a good temper, he could only maintain a smile on the surface, and he was still very annoyed in his heart. But he only realized at this time that he had asked Teng Zijing to investigate those things because he had subconsciously prepared to bully Guo, rather than worrying about being bullied by Guo.