Wang Qinian acknowledged the order and was about to leave to make arrangements, also intending to discuss it with Lin Wen and Lin Jing. After all, the returning mission would be escorting a princess of unparalleled status. However, he heard Fan Xian suddenly say, "Those horses we prepared on the way here, Wang Qinian, you must dispose of them cleanly. Don't let them cause any trouble for the farmers."

Yan Bingyun hadn't been involved in the initial plan, so he didn't quite understand.

Wang Qinian glanced at Fan Xian. Fan Xian waved his hand, and he pushed the door and left. Yan Bingyun's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Three people, three actions, each with its own meaning. Fan Xian smiled and said, "In front of me, why must you restrain yourself so much?"

Yan Bingyun didn't smile, but slowly raised the teacup in front of him and took a sip, with a subordinate's respectful manner, "Since Supervisor Fan doesn't want me to know, even if I'm curious, there's no need for me to ask."

Fan Xian didn't think too much and said directly, "That was just the initial plan. Now that it's been discarded, of course, we have to clean up the mess." Then, in simple terms, he explained to Yan Bingyun—since early spring, Fan Xian had been searching in Kyoto for a young official of the Overwatch Council who resembled him in appearance and had been keeping him hidden away.

In the initial plan, this impersonator was supposed to play a role on the journey back from Northern Qi, impersonating Fan Xian and traveling south with the mission, while the real Fan Xian would remain in Shangjing to handle matters that needed to be handled.

"You initially planned to stay in Shangjing alone?" Yan Bingyun frowned. "What matters did you need to handle?"

Fan Xian glanced at him and said, "Chen Pingping wants Xiao En dead, so I planned to stay in Shangjing to kill him and then rush to the border to meet up with the mission, to prevent the Northern Qi people from playing a trick after Xiao En's death and slaughtering our mission."

Yan Bingyun asked, "What about the horses along the way that you mentioned to Wang Qinian earlier?"

Fan Xian smiled and explained, "Before the mission departed from Kyoto, I had already asked people from the Council and certain individuals from the Internal Treasury to help raise some good horses along the road south. Of course, these horses were secretly raised in baoma households, hoping not to alarm the Northern Qi government."

"You planned to kill Xiao En in Shangjing and then change horses all the way, using the fastest speed to reach the border?" A hint of mockery appeared on Yan Bingyun's lips.

"Is there a problem with traveling alone for thousands of miles?"

Yan Bingyun sighed and said, "This is the real world, not a novel. If you had followed the initial plan, after you killed Xiao En, Northern Qi would definitely close Shangjing city, and the garrisons in all the states would seal off the roads south. How could you return to the south alone?"

Fan Xian smiled and said, "Chen Pingping was able to fight his way back south with so many people back then. What's wrong with me doing it alone?"

"Courage may be there, but this plan is somewhat foolish." Yan Bingyun shook his head and said, "Supervisor Fan is a supervisor in the Council and should cherish his life. Moreover, even if Northern Qi relaxed its vigilance due to the mission's departure, you couldn't assassinate Xiao En in this city full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers."

Fan Xian naturally wouldn't tell this frosty man about the heavy sniper rifle. After all, Fifth Bamboo was missing, the box was missing, the Eldest Princess had colluded with Shangshan Hu, and Xiao Xianxian had profited. Things had changed again and again, and the plan had become what it was now.

——————————————————————————

Tomorrow and tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. Of course, this is nonsense.

The Qing tree-lined banks of the beautiful Yuquan River in Shangjing City were occasionally graced by the flight of returning white egrets. This was the upper reaches of the river, close to the imperial palace, so the regulations were strict, and the common people of Shangjing had no way to set foot on these pebble paths. Fan Xian walked side by side with Haitang along the riverbank, chatting idly, not feeling too depressed. The gloomy mood of several days seemed to be improving with the companion of this country girl.

Strangely enough, Haitang wasn't particularly beautiful, her demeanor wasn't particularly graceful, and her temperament was very much like a country girl, but this feeling made Fan Xian feel at ease.

After a few words of idle chatter, the topic immediately turned to the main point. Haitang slightly furrowed her brow and asked, "The Empress Dowager hasn't relented. Can you really come up with a way?"

Fan Xian sighed and said, "Your emperor wants to marry a wife, but he insists on asking me for help." He suddenly looked at Haitang, his eyes calm with a hint of displeasure. "Since you're Si Lili's friend, you should know some things. Don't you think asking me for help would make her feel uncomfortable?"

Haitang put her hands in her large pockets, dragging her feet on the bluestone ground by the riverbank, her eyes calmly watching the drooping willow trees ahead, and said, "If what Si Lili thinks, you can do, then she wouldn't have come to Shangjing. Since you are a heartless person, why pretend to be so sentimental? Her entering the palace is probably what you want to see, after all, even if you are far away in the south, you will have someone in this Northern Qi palace who can speak for you."

Fan Xian never expected her to say everything so clearly, without giving him a chance to hide anything. He felt a slight chill and embarrassment in his heart, feeling that his thin shirt seemed to have been stripped off at that moment, revealing the selfishness and ruthlessness inside. After a long silence, he gave a bitter smile and said, "I am just a subject and don't have enough power to change everything."

"So you default to this happening." Haitang's tone wasn't aggressive, but that straightforwardness gave an inexplicable sense of oppression. "Since that's the case, what's the point of saying more?"

Fan Xian shook his head and said, "Once you enter the palace gate, you'll be worrying until your hair turns white. You and Si Lili are sisters, how can you bear to see her enter the palace?"

"His Majesty is a good man." Haitang smiled. "And after all, Lili is from Southern Qing. If she wants to live in Shangjing, it seems that only the imperial palace can protect her from the wind and rain."

Suddenly, Haitang turned her head, and Fan Xian saw in her eyes that brilliance that was brighter than the lake. In Fan Xian's life, the brightest eyes were those of Ye Ling'er and Haitang, but Ye Ling'er's was an innocent and pure brightness, while the brightness in Haitang's eyes had more understanding and indifference after seeing through the world.

"Lord Fan, don't you feel tired living a life of scheming all day long?"

……

……

Fan Xian lowered his head slightly, then resolutely raised his head, put his hands behind his back, kept his upper body still, and moved his lower body slightly, swaying like Haitang on the bluestone road by the riverbank. He opened his mouth somewhat abruptly and said, "Not everyone in this world can be as carefree as you, because we all have our own different purposes. You may just want to grow a few good vegetables and manage a small garden, but I have to consider myself and the people around me, consider the present and consider the future."

After saying these words, he took out a letter from his bosom and handed it to Haitang, saying, "I'm not a person with great wisdom, at most, I have some cleverness. See if these methods can be used."

Haitang opened the envelope, carefully read it under the sunlight, and after a long silence, took a deep breath. Her bright eyes looked at Fan Xian, with a different look in her eyes, "Will the Empress Dowager believe it?"

"If the Empress Dowager doesn't want to fall out with the Emperor over this matter, then what she needs is face and a way out. Whether she believes it or not, these two things can bring enough persuasiveness."

The plan Fan Xian offered was actually very simple. In the history of that world, he always remembered very clearly the episode where Emperor Wu of Han was hooked by Lady Gouyi.

At that time, when Emperor Wu was touring Hejian, a sorcerer suddenly claimed that there were auspicious clouds in this area, indicating that a wondrous girl must have grown up here. Emperor Wu immediately ordered a search on the spot and found this beautiful girl.

However, although she was beautiful, she had been ill since childhood, eating little, and her hands were clenched into fists, and no one could make her stretch them out. Emperor Wu was captivated by her beauty and personally tried to break her fists for her. Then a miracle occurred: her hands easily returned to a healthy state, and what was even stranger was that she was holding a small jade hook tightly in her right hand.

Emperor Wu of Han was extremely happy and immediately took her into the palace, naming her "Lady Fist," who later became Lady Gouyi.

……

……

"Who is this emperor you're talking about?" Haitang asked.

Fan Xian smiled: "This is a story I made up myself." He paused and said, "This matter is naturally false, that Emperor Wu of Han was not a fool, maybe it was a story he came up with."

Haitang was somewhat naive in matters of men and women, and asked hesitantly, "Then what should we do?"

Fan Xian shook his head speechlessly, reminding him, "Who are you?"

Haitang subconsciously fell into silence. Fan Xian's heart jumped, wondering if this girl who was studying the Dao of Heaven and Man had been brought into philosophical questions by him? He quickly coughed a few times and said, "You are Ku He's disciple. Master Ku He is the National Preceptor. If Ku He says that there are auspicious clouds in Western Kyoto and a wondrous woman under the clouds, that persuasiveness will naturally be much stronger."

Haitang smiled bitterly and said, "How could Master play around with me?"

Fan Xian snorted secretly in his heart, thinking that your teacher even dares to eat human flesh and has always doted on you, his little disciple, so it's not too much to play around with you.

Haitang then asked, "But... Si Lili's identity is known to everyone in the entire Shangjing nobility, so it can't be hidden."

Fan Xian smiled and said, "First, take Miss Si to live in the Qi Temple for a few months, it's best to let her become a nun."

"What does becoming a nun mean?"

"Devoted to serving the temple and not thinking about marriage."

"Then?"

"When things calm down, we'll make a secret transfer, send her into the palace, and what's done is done."

"That's it?"

"There are some details in the letter, pay attention to them. Of course, if you can persuade the National Preceptor to accept Miss Si as a disciple, that would be even better."

"Lord Fan's suggestions seem absurd and ridiculous, but on closer inspection, they are indeed somewhat feasible." Haitang bowed slightly and thanked Fan Xian.

Fan Xian smiled for no reason. This was the successful experience summed up by the two beauties, Wu Zetian and Yang Guifei, in his previous life, so it was naturally feasible, of course it was feasible. But he still had big questions in his heart: why did the Emperor insist on Si Lili entering the palace? Why didn't the Empress Dowager let Si Lili enter the palace? Haitang must know the secret, but she definitely wouldn't tell this official of the outer court.

Suddenly, Fan Xian's heart stirred, and he thought of the demeanor of the young Emperor he had seen when he entered the palace several times, and an extremely absurd and extremely bold idea arose.