Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Anyone could hear the meaning and resentment hidden within these two sentences. Yan Xiaoyi stood on the stone steps and stared into Fan Xian’s eyes as if he wanted to use his gaze to coldly nail the other person.
He knew that he could not kill Fan Xian in Jingdou, which was a sorrowful reality. After all these years, he still realized, uncomfortably, that even though this pretty boy on the horse in front of him cursed his son in such a sinister manner and threatened him in front of the entire Jingdou—no, it was terrorized him—he still couldn’t do anything ahead of time.
He was the son of a hunter while the other person was the son of the Emperor.
Yan Xiaoyi was not like the other elders in the military. He was not from aristocratic families like the Qin and Ye families nor did he descend from the royal family like the Great Prince. Although he had the Eldest Princess as a support, in reality, his rise in the military depended on his own abilities.
His current glory and high position as the Governor of the North had come from him fighting with his life in the North, West, and South.
Under his arrows, there was no one who could go even one round against him, and there was no commander who could stand against his army for three days. He had accomplished countless meritorious deeds.
Thus, he was where he was today.
Even though the Emperor knew clearly that he and the Eldest Princess were overly close, he still trusted him greatly and showed him extraordinary favor. A few years ago, the Emperor had even asked him to take on the responsibility as Commander of the Imperial Army.
What was all of this for? It was because Yan Xiaoyi had a determined and powerful heart.
As a super ace of the ninth-level in the Qing Kingdom military, only Ye Zhong could stand against him, or perhaps also that mysterious figure hidden deep in the Qin family. Thus, throughout Yan Xiaoyi’s life, he had never feared anything. He had even occasionally thought that when his troops faced a Great Grandmaster, would the Grandmaster be able to escape his arrow?
Why would he be afraid of a young man? Even this one looked at him from atop a horse below the steps was just a young man who depended on his father’s and mother’s influence to obtain some recognition. Even if this young man’s gaze was so cold and ruthless, but…
Don’t come and provoke me!
He stared at Fan Xian. Like the sky shaking arrow on his face, his gaze seemed to be telling Fan Xian that if he wanted to, he could kill him at any time—even if his identity was special. But there are some things that are better not done.
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…
Fan Xian was not afraid to raise his face. With his eyes slightly narrowed, he dissolved the slight piercing pan and greeted it with a cold smile.
He wasn’t sure whether or not the ambush in the valley this time was done by Yan Xiaoyi. Although the Eldest Princess was the most suspicious in this matter, some points of suspicion made him unable to be certain of this judgement. However, he continued to say this because one day Yan Xiaoyi would kill him. Since it was so, he didn’t have to think about too many things.
Regardless of whether or not Yan Xiaoyi did it, Fan Xian knew he had to do something shocking to warn those who had secret designs for himself. If they wanted to kill him, they had to decide whether or not they could afford this price.
The 200 great heads in the front of the stone lions outside the Bureau of Military Affairs was the proof.
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…
The people up and down the stone steps outside the Bureau of Military Affairs seemed to have been frozen by a gust of icy air.
Yan Xiaoyi stood proudly on the stone steps while Fan Xian sat straight-backed on his horse. The two people’s gazes were perfectly matched. The murderous intent in their eyes made one very uncomfortable. The stench of blood surrounding them and the stench of the heads under the stone lions seemed to be afraid of these two people’s matching stares and dispersed away.
Someone coughed gently.
Qin Heng, leading his horse, walked over to the stone steps. In a low voice, he apologized to the Right Deputy of the Bureau of Military Affairs and straightened his body. He gave a slight and warm smile to Yan Xiaoyi and said,
Greetings to the Governor.
His coming was very well-timed and clever. It coincidentally blocked Fan Xian and Yan Xiaoyi’s confrontation of gazes and warmed the clash that could happen at any moment.
Yan Xiaoyi pulled back his piercing gaze and calmly said,
Hello, Marquis junior, how has the old master been recently? Having returned to the capital, I’ll have to visit the old master at some point.
Qin Heng had long been granted the title of Marquis. The old master that Yan Xiaoyi was talking about was, the old Qin master who had long been ill and stayed at home. With Yan Xiaoyi’s position as the Governor of the North, in front of the pillar of the military, he could only refer to himself as a general.
With Qin Heng coming out to ease the tension, Yan Xiaoyi had to give him this face.
But Fan Xian didn’t have to. He lowered his head and played with the horse whip in his hand.
You’re blocking me and Governor Yan.
…
…
Qin Heng was speechless and stunned. He didn’t understand what Fan Xian was thinking. Was he going to challenge Yan Xiaoyi to a duel right in front of the Bureau of Military Affairs? Although everyone knew that Fan Xian and Haitang were equals, and he was the publicly accepted first ace in Qing Kingdom of this younger generation, he was facing Yan Xiaoyi. No one was optimistic about his chances.
Furthermore, these two people’s status’ were not the same and the location was special. How could they fight without restraint?
Qin Heng slightly tilted his head and said in a lower voice,
You’re injured.
Fan Xian’s expression was incomparably calm, but Qin Heng’s heart began to tremble. After hearing the news of the ambush, everyone in Jingdou had been worried about the situation.
Everyone was scared that Fan Xian would go crazy.
If Director Chen Pingping was an old black dog, then naturally Fan Xian was a little black dog. The little black dog had been poked by someone viciously with a knife. Going crazy, it would bite friend and foe alike. The court full of civil and martial officials were afraid that in Fan Xian’s anger, he would go to war and rock the foundations of the entire Qing court.
Fan Xian listened to Qin Heng’s words and slowly replied,
I just want to inquire about some questions. If one is treated with propriety, they shall return the virtue. If met with swords, one would return with a knife. Governor Yan, is this not the logic?
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…
Fan Xian wanted to ask some questions to his face but did not have the opportunity.
Hearing him speak of knives and swords, the people of the Bureau of Military Affairs thought that Sir Fan junior was about to go crazy. Unconsciously, they made preparations to go into battle. Although the Bureau of Military Affairs were mostly consultant military officials and their martial power was not as strong as that of the Fiver Roads military, they had housed the essence of the Qing army for the past dozens of years. They had just been confusedly bullied by Fan Xian at their door and had endured for a long time, so there would have to be a time for them to retaliate. All of the military officials grasped the hilts of their knives.
Entering the capital, Yan Xiaoyi could only bring 100 personal soldiers. At this moment, these 100 personal soldiers had long been arrayed in the corridor by the side door of the Bureau. They nervously watched the 100 or so First Bureau officials of the Overwatch Council in front of the yamen.
The soldiers who had returned from the North had a look of hardship about their faces. They had long been hammered by Yan Xiaoyi into an invincible army. However, unlike the soldiers of the Qin and Ye families, these personal soldiers all carried bows.
Jingdou forbade crossbows but not bows. This was the self-confidence showed by the martial-orientated royal family.
The two sides stared at each other. The constantly worried leader of the Jingdou garrison, Qin Heng, could not relax. If Fan Xian had used his words earlier to provoke Yan Xiaoyi and issued an invite to a duel, as long as Yan Xiaoyi agreed, even the Emperor would be unable to stop it. The two sides would certainly be stuck in a situation from which there could only be one survivor.
However, as the battle array involved a clash between the Overwatch Council and the military, Qin Heng knew this battle would not happen. There were countless eyes watching this place. Whether it was the Emperor or the officials’ system that ran state affairs, neither could simply watch the foundations of Qing Kingdom, which had a leading role in the world, collapse because of the heads in front of the Bureau of Military Affairs.
As expected, a yell and the sound of urgent horse hooves came from the distance.
A group of soldiers from the Imperial Army rode forth in bright armor. The Bureau of Military Affairs was between the Overwatch Council and Royal Palace. The reactions of the Imperial Army seemed to be a bit slow. However, some bright-eyed people knew that this was time the Imperial Army had purposely left to allow Fan Xian to vent some of his anger and resentment.
The Imperial Army symbolized the Emperor’s might. No one dared look down on them, at least on the surface.
When the group from the Imperial Army wound their way through and separated the people of the Overwatch Council from the soldiers of the Bureau of Military Affairs, no one expressed any objection. Furthermore, the person leading the soldiers was the Great Prince.
He was once the Commander of the Western Expedition and had close connections with the military. Now, everyone knew that his relationship with Fan Xian was relatively close.
Seeing that he was here to mediate, everyone present let out a breath at the same time and deeply felt that the Emperor was very wise. This choice in person was too perfect.
The Great Prince took his reins and walked to Fan Xian’s side. The worry on his face appeared and disappeared immediately. He nodded his head slightly to indicate his understanding. Without saying anything unnecessary, he only said,
Father knows of this matter. Go home and recover.
Fan Xian looked at him with a not-quite-there smile and remained silent, waiting. Naturally, he was going to leave. He couldn’t actually go on a killing spree against the Bureau of Military Affairs here. However, the people he was waiting for had not all arrived.
In a moment, three royal eunuchs ran in panting from outside the crowd bringing with them the Emperor’s verbal edict. Expressing shock and concern toward the full authority Jiangnan Road imperial envoy’s assassination attempt, he carried out a stern scolding of the Jingdou Garrison and secretly reminded and intimidated the people of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Then, he ordered Sir Fan junior to immediately return to his manor to look after his injuries and wait for the court to fully investigate the matter before coming to conclusions.
In another moment, two clearly not very healthy officials also ran over panting. They were Shu the Scholar and Hu the Scholar. These two major officials of the Hall of Governmental Affairs expressed their concern for Fan Xian as well as their incomparable rage toward the attacker.
Shu Wu was an old friend of Fan Xian’s, but this was Fan Xian’s first time seeing Hu the Scholar’s appearance. He found that he was even younger than he had imagined. He was at most 40-something years old.
Sitting on his horse, Fan Xian was silent for a moment and then said to the Great Prince,
You understand me. There is enough face in this first round. For now, I won’t go crazy.
The Great Prince nodded and said,
I’ll see you off.
Fan Xian pulled on his reins and turned in circles on Tianhe Avenue. Lifting it, he pointed it directly at the military personnel on the stone steps of the Bureau of Military Affairs, waved it, and didn’t say anything more.
The people of the Bureau of Military Affairs felt that this distant whip had landed on their faces.
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…
Returning to the Fan manor, the Great Prince asked about some of the specific circumstances while in the valley. He was silent for a moment and then left the manor. Fan Xian knew he had to rush back to the palace to receive the Emperor’s storm-like inquiries. However, he didn’t want to warn him too much because he still had a lot of misgivings.
The Palace sent three royal doctors from the Imperial Academy of Medicine to the Fan manor, but Fan Xian did not use them. He only allowed brothers from the Third Bureau to apply medicine and tend to his wounds. The remaining poison would completely be gone in a few days. As for that wretched wound on his back, it was unclear how many days it would need to heal.
Not until he was lying in his warm bed in his own home did Fan Xian’s body and mind finally completely relax. Immediately, he felt a difficult to resist exhaustion. Although his back was on fire from the pain, he still hugged his pillow and fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke, the day was already dark. A serving girl went out and brought back a rice porridge kept warm with hot water. The person who had stayed by Fan Xian’s bed the entire time accepted the rice porridge and helped Fan Xian sit up. Digging out a spoonful, they blew on it carefully, and slowly fed it to him.
Fan Xian had a bite and pressed together his rather dry lips. Gazing at his father beside him, who was currently carefully spooning up the porridge, he found that in just a year apart, his father had more white hair and his wrinkles were deeper. For some reason, he momentarily felt a twist in his heart.
I’ve made you worry.
Fan Jian didn’t say anything. He only fed him a few more mouthfuls before putting the bowl of porridge on the table. He then calmly said,
That year, when you wanted to enter the Overwatch Council, I had told you that one day there would be problems. However, since the problem had already appeared, there is no need to talk about this anymore.
Fan Xian was silent for a moment before saying,
There are many things I don’t understand.
Fan Jian warmly said,
Tell me about them.
Fan Xian told his father all of the questions he had in his heart when he was beside the destroyed carriage in the valley. He hoped that this father of his, who appeared to be of little significance in the court but who actually had very strong foundations and well-practiced tricks and was someone that the Emperor was unable to force to resign, would be able to give him some hints.
Since you have determined that it was the military who acted,
Fan Jian said,
then we can analyze it. Other than the royal defenses in Jingdou, Qing Kingdom has five roads of border soldiers and seven roads of provincial soldiers. With the border soldiers as the most powerful, Ye family’s Dingzhou is one and the Qing family is another. The border guards in Cangzhou are under the control of Yan Xiaoyi, and there was another at the border of the Nanzhao Kingdom. In reality, the strength of the provincial soldiers could be ignored and not calculated. However, it was like this. In reality, the border soldiers of the five roads were not divided so clearly. Students and old friends of the Ye and Qin families scattered throughout the military. They all had a certain influence in various aspects.
Fan Xian paused slightly and then continued,
When the Great Prince had gone on the Western Expedition back then, the great army was actually pulled together from among the border soldiers from the five roads. After the battle was over, they would return to their various places.
Fan Xian was silent for a moment.
This was also the Emperor’s idea.
Correct. Because of the Western Expedition, these generals were promoted to important positions and essentially became the hands and feet of the royal family, so they could not be directed by the Ye and Qin families. Thus, the border guards of the five roads were not controlled by any single family.
Very strangely, faced with such a major matter as Fan Xian being targeted for assassination, the father and son were not overly emotional or angry. They only coldly analyzed the situation.
As for the Jingdou defenses, within a radius of 40 li outside of the capital, it is all under the jurisdiction of the Jingdou garrison. The garrison has about 20,000 people. Inside, there is Qing Kingdom’s strongest Imperial Army, 10,000 people. There are also 13 city gate officials. Although they seem unremarkable, they are directly ordered by the Emperor’s edict to manage the jurisdiction of opening and closing the Jingdou city gates and is also an important yamen. The Palace also has first-rate guards. Although, according to the traditions of the court, the Commander of the Imperial Army also manages the Internal Guards, in reality, only Commander Gong Dian truly did so. At other times, the Internal Guards are all managed by that eunuch in the Palace.
Eunuch? Naturally, it was Eunuch Hong. Fan Xian suddenly heard something strange in his father’s words. Only Gong Dian truly managed both the Imperial Army and the Internal Guards?
He suddenly raised his head and said in surprise,
Gong Dian…is so trusted by the Emperor?
Fan Xian’s first interaction with the power of the Palace’s defenses was that strike against Gong Dian at the door of the Qing Temple. He knew clearly Gong Dian. He also knew that a big reason for the incidence at the Hanging Temple was because the Emperor wanted to chase the Ye family’s power out of Jingdou and have Gong Dian chased down from the position of Commander of the Imperial Army. However, according to what his father had said, the Emperor’s trust in Gong Dian, or it could be said the Ye family, was truly very terrifying. Why did the Emperor forcefully push the Ye family to the side of the Second Prince and to the side of the Eldest Princess?
Fan Xian faintly felt that he seemed to have grasped something important, but he still did not understand and couldn’t help his head hurting.
Fan Jian quietly said,
Don’t think about it too complicatedly. Although the Emperor is very calculating, he wouldn’t interfere in the power of the Jingdou defenses. As for why he wanted to chase the Ye family out, I think…I can guess a little bit.
Fan Xian furrowed his brows and said,
Father, what is the reason?
Fan Jian smiled and gently helped him lie down. Slowly, he said,
Don’t forget, your mother is also surnamed Ye…that year, when she first entered Jingdou she had once fought with Ye Zhong. Wu Zhu has also battled with Ye Liuyun. Even though there is no connection between your family and theirs, the Emperor would still probably worry about some things. During the Hanging Temple incident, the Emperor did not trust you as much as he does now, but he was already preparing to place you in an important position. Naturally, he had to take precautions against certain matters.
Fan Xian was shocked. Shortly after, he took in a cold breath. As the Emperor, one’s schemes were indeed…however, this kind of life, what meaning was there in it? Only, he had not thought that no matter how incredible his father was, there was still a time when he would guess wrong.
The Ye family and I have little feeling between us,
Fan Xian said, but he remembered that girl with eyes as bright as jewels.
There isn’t any now, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future.
Fan Jian raised his eyebrow.
What I am interested in is why the Emperor would take such precautions against you.
Fan Xian was silent for a long time before he quietly said,
Father, do you think the incident this time…was arranged by the Emperor?
To be in the outskirts of Jingdou and mobilize the military to kill, and to be able to move the city-guarding crossbows…In the end, as the Commissioner of the Overwatch Council, one who controlled all the intelligence reports in the world, he had absolutely no preparation at all. Every time he thought about this matter, Fan Xian felt that behind the ambush in the valley, there wasn’t just the Eldest Princess’ craziness, there was something hidden deeper. In his list of suspects, the Emperor was in the first position. As for who was in the second…
It’s not the Emperor.
Fan Jian suddenly said faintly,
At this time, he doesn’t even have the time to love you and favor you, how could he try to kill you…unless…he is going to die.
Fan Xian was silent and asked,
To be able to make the Jingdou garrison and the Overwatch Council lose effect at the same time…other than the Emperor, who has this power? The Eldest Princess with Yan Xiaoyi?
He shook his head. Yet, Fan Jian smiled slightly and answered with another question,
You should be guessing at something, otherwise, when you came back from the Bureau of Military Affairs, why didn’t you go into your own garden to have a look?
