Fan Xian walked down the street somewhat numbly, rain soaking his clothes, making them icy and damp, but his heart remained ablaze. Looking at the streets of the Qing Yu Nian capital again, the four-wheeled carriages passing by, the glass windows of the wealthy homes along the street, and the kaleidoscopes he had seen before, those slippery soaps...all these things, in that instant, connected with him.

It seemed that the scent of his mother was imprinted on all these things. This street, this house, this world, everywhere had the taste of that woman.

The letter ended by saying, "This old woman is very lonely."

Before today, Fan Xian was also lonely, but from today onwards, he was no longer alone. He laughed loudly on the rainy street, the sound carrying far, waking some pedestrians who had already gone to bed early in the rainy night.

Someone cursed at him.

He still smiled.

Ye Qingmei was definitely not the little girl she portrayed in the letter, Fan Xian firmly believed. His mother possessed an incomparably strong heart, which allowed her to have such a brilliant life in this completely unfamiliar world, basking in the unfamiliar sunshine.

This familiar yet unfamiliar Qing Yu Nian, you have wronged that woman named Ye Qingmei.

The rain struck Fan Xian's face forcefully, he was like a monster, gradually merging into the dark night. Perhaps this box would not fundamentally help his life, but a feeling of not being alone would allow him to walk in this world, in this rainy night, with increasing ease.

Fan Xian walked alone in the wind and rain, but he laughed. Since he was going to live life to the fullest, he had to live it more freely, just like he had said to his sister, when we look back on the past, don't feel like the word "suffocation" is written all over our faces.

Autumn wind and autumn rain sadden people to death. Sadden people to death.

————————————————————————

The matter of sneaking into the palace at night naturally couldn't be left at that. Lord Ye Zhong, the Kyoto Garrison Commander who had not yet formally taken the stage, began to investigate the matter after receiving imperial orders. Although his official position was Kyoto Garrison Commander, he had been remotely guarding the capital in Dingzhou to the west for the past few years, returning to Kyoto three days after the incident.

The discerning people in the palace naturally knew why His Majesty had chosen him. Firstly, the Ye family had been favored by the emperor for generations and was absolutely loyal, trusted by His Majesty only slightly less than Chen Pingping. And Lord Chen Pingping naturally couldn't drag his crippled body to investigate this trivial matter in his eyes. Secondly, the three top figures in the palace guard system seemed to be under suspicion.

Ye Zhong also knew that this matter was very complicated. Yan Xiaoyi, the Commander of the Imperial Guards, was discovered by the Eldest Princess many years ago, his martial arts praised as the best in the palace. The Deputy Commander Gong Dian was his junior brother, and that Hong Gonggong, who never showed his true colors... Forget it, even Ye Zhong didn't want to provoke him.

Moreover, Ye Zhong would never suspect these three people. He was just curious about what the second person who infiltrated the palace was trying to achieve, and why they killed the Eldest Princess's personal maid outside Guangxin Palace.

The investigation was conducted secretly. The Supervisory Council, due to the exposure of the Northern Qi spy chief, incurred His Majesty's wrath, and cooperation was somewhat lackluster, so it was difficult to make any substantial progress.

Until one day, after carefully inspecting several palaces, Ye Zhong came to Hanguang Hall, and then smelled a faint exotic fragrance, immediately thinking of that old poisoner who followed His Majesty's central army during the Northern Expedition. Then, recalling what the guards said, that Northern Qi scholar Zhuang Mo Han was also in Guangxin Palace when the assassin attacked that night, Ye Zhong, deeply aware of the cruelty of palace struggles, took things in the wrong direction, to an extreme.

So, he immediately entered the palace to plead guilty and resign to the Emperor, prostrating on the ground, his face full of shame.

"Is it that you can't find out, or dare not investigate?" His Majesty's face always wore that smile that seemed to see through everything. True close officials would occasionally suspect whether this was a means of controlling subordinates, but Ye Zhong knew what wisdom his loyal Majesty possessed, so he honestly replied: "Your subject cannot find out, nor dare I investigate. The affairs of the royal family are really inconvenient for an outside official to handle."

"Lord Ye, are you not afraid that I will accuse you of disloyalty to your master, confusing public and private matters, and lacking a sense of self-preservation?"

Ye Zhong was terrified and dared not rise, responding: "Your subject dare not presume to guess His Majesty's intentions, only I am ignorant and do not know where to start."

"This matter does not need to be investigated, I have my own judgment." There was some coldness in His Majesty's smile, but Ye Zhong, kneeling, did not see it clearly.

……

……

On the other side, the real suspect, Fan Xian, had been hiding in his residence these days. Mainly, after his poetic fame soared, going to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to drink tea, or going to the Court of State Ceremonial to observe coldly, had become a luxurious imagination.

Negotiations were over, and the Northern Qi delegation had left Kyoto, but the Dongyi City delegation was still delayed for some time.

After the storm had truly subsided, the Dongyi City delegation, after leaving behind a lot of silver, also left Kyoto with a somewhat unpleasant feeling. They did not know that the Qing Yu Nian Emperor had not imprisoned them all after the night palace intrusion, which was already a result of His Majesty's great generosity.

Now Fan Xian can truly be called famous throughout the capital. No one only focused on the power behind him, but concentrated on himself. After all, he was the only one in this world who could anger the great scholar Zhuang Mo Han to the point of vomiting blood on the spot, not to mention that he was so young.

As if they had discussed it, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince simultaneously increased their efforts to win him over. Li Hongcheng often brought Roujia to the residence to drink tea, and Xin Shaoqing also came to visit under the pretext of not seeing him for many days.

But Fan Xian still had many things to do at this time, so he temporarily pushed both sides away. In the night banquet plan, he only completed two parts: one was to successfully find the key, and the other was to almost successfully frame Yun Zhilan of Dongyi City, causing the court to increase surveillance, making this ninth-rank expert feel overwhelmed and unable to come up with the idea of ​​finding himself for a duel until he left Kyoto, to ensure his own safety.

He had been waiting for the right time to throw the information that the Eldest Princess was colluding with Northern Qi into the pot.

Two days after the Dongyi City delegation left Kyoto, Fan Xian knew that the time had come.

Fan Xian had no way to use the secret agreement between the Eldest Princess and the young Emperor of Northern Qi to attack others, because there was no documentary evidence or human testimony for such a thing. Fan Xian also dared not meet the Emperor, although it was not difficult to meet the Emperor with his current reputation in Kyoto. However, he had a very complex inference about the Emperor in his heart, and he could not guarantee that the Emperor would kill him to silence him after knowing the Eldest Princess's scandal in order to maintain the royal family's face.

If an ordinary Qing Yu Nian citizen encountered this situation, he would only hide this secret in his heart forever, not daring to tell anyone for the rest of his life, suffocating to the point of vomiting blood and dying.

But Fan Xian would not, he was a person with memories and knowledge of two lifetimes. He knew the importance and lethality of public opinion propaganda, and also knew that he should use more crazy means to deal with a crazy Eldest Princess.

After the night banquet, the Xishan Paper Mill and the related industries of the Internal Treasury, which monopolized the paper in Kyoto, were still constantly encroaching on the business of Danbo Bookstore, but the Eldest Princess had no way to instruct the Eighth Office of the Supervisory Council, so it was just some minor harassment. And Fan Xian understood that this was just the calm before the storm.

And he decided to strike first before the storm arrived.

That night, Wu Zhu stood in the corner listening to him speak. Since opening the box, Wu Zhu had been coming to the Fan residence more often, seemingly more worried about Fan Xian's safety. Fan Xian thought and said, "If you want to leave no trace, then you have to grab everything."

Wu Zhu tilted his body, indicating that he understood his meaning.

Fan Xian continued: "These days, the ones suppressing the business of Danbo Bookstore are the Internal Treasury's Xishan Paper Mill and Wansongtang, so we have to grab the Internal Treasury's paper, and use Wansongtang's ink. But... Uncle, has anyone in this world seen the words you write?"

Wu Zhu said coldly: "Don't worry."

Fan Xian knew that his seemingly useless and absurd plan would definitely work, and said with a smile: "Leaflets don't need to be too big." He gestured with his hands to show the size, "The key is that there must be many copies, and they must be posted and scattered everywhere, especially in places like the Imperial College, and the Academy of Literary Profundity after the name change. Post a few more copies there. The students are young and passionate, and are most easily provoked. And those scholars in the Academy of Literary Profundity also like to play with integrity, and it is estimated that they will be so angry after seeing the leaflets that they will pull out their beards."

Wu Zhu said coldly: "Content."

"Hmm?" Fan Xian raised his eyebrows and sighed: "I really look like an underground party member."

He began to carefully reiterate how the leaflets should be sensational, and must tell some details that were both true and false, such as how the Eldest Princess talked with Zhuang Mo Han, how Yan Bingyun endured hardship while lurking in Northern Qi, and how he was ruthlessly abandoned by the noble in the palace. How the Eldest Princess harmed the interests of the court, sought her own interests, and obtained what benefits, how many fake eunuchs were raised in the palace, and how many old lovers were outside...

Wu Zhu calmly analyzed: "No one will believe that the Eldest Princess would sacrifice such great interests just to seek some monetary benefits."

Fan Xian raised his eyebrows again and said: "There are not many smart people in the world like you, as long as the people believe it. As for the Emperor, we are reminding him."

Wu Zhu said coldly: "The Emperor doesn't need you to remind him."