There was one thing in this world that was a G.o.d to people, and the spirit of G.o.ds. Even spirits fight for this incomparable, remarkable thing.

The Fan clan house crest could often been seen on the Fan family carriage. One square, and one circle, was the shape of this thing. Fan senior was the Minister of Revenue and controlled the national treasury, and Fan junior was about to travel to Jiangnan to take over the palace treasury. The wealth of the Qing Kingdom was completely controlled by the people of this family; even their family crest was filled with the stench of bronze.

Money, that which people loved and hated; that which could help people enter heaven or fall into h.e.l.l. It could make people laugh foolishly on a mountain of swords, and dance mindlessly in a sea of flames!

Commoners loved money, but the imperial court loved money even more, and so they set up many kinds of taxes. They wished they could strip the earth of its valuables. As for the court of the Qing Kingdom, from the very onset of the country they levied tax on salt, metal, and tea, as well as on land and labor. Later, when the Ye clan suddenly disappeared, the palace treasury became the court"s largest source of silver. They naturally placed heavy taxes on the gla.s.sware, alcohol, toys, and ships that were produced by the palace treasury. Furthermore, it had always been closely guarded and was the sole responsibility of the Overwatch Council.

Once the Overwatch Council discovered the matter of the Cui clan smuggling, the world was immediately shocked. The people of the Qing Kingdom hadn"t known that the palace treasury had such a large drain—the court lost a fortune in

taxes from this!

The Imperial Censorate was silent, the officials who had been bribed were silent, yet there were still those of different factions or upstanding officials who submitted proposals asking for the court to investigate the matter. Although no one mentioned the Eldest Princess by name in their write ups, the spear was pointed directly at Xinyang.

The young Emperor of Northern Qi also seized the opportunity and struck a great bargain. Whether purposely or not, the matter of Commissioner Fan recovering in Cang Mountain was left out. Although everyone knew that Commissioner Fan was the main instigator behind this move, which made his takeover of the palace treasury later smooth, no one dared say anything.

On the contrary, scholars of the Imperial College were pet.i.tioning for the Emperor to quickly hand the jurisdiction of the treasury to Fan junior—Fan Xian"s reputation was indeed better than that of the Eldest Princess. Credit must, of course, also be given to his careful manner of speech.

In recent days, rumors had again been floating around the tea shops and restaurants of Jingdou, saying that the one in Xinyang had gone crazy and had sent out a.s.sa.s.sins to kill Fan junior!

The Eighth Bureau of the Overwatch Council indeed had a very high work efficiency.

Not everyone was able to completely understand the conflict between Fan Xian and the Eldest Princess.

Many aloof scholars were confused as to why mortals were so interested in money, to the extent they were willing to give up their heads and spill blood. For example, although Shi Chanli was in the limelight of the entertainment industry, and the owner of the Baoyue Brothel, and had evolved from a poor student to a wealthy merchant, he did not understand this.

Why had the Eldest Princess always been unwilling to let go of the palace treasury? She was stubborn even to the point of using bloodthirsty methods of dealing with her own son-in-law.

She used the Cui and Ming clans to smuggle items to Dongyi and even overseas, what was her purpose in leeching so much silver from the palace treasury? Where exactly did the giant fortune she seized over a dozen of years ago go?

"Raising soldiers." Fan Xian looked at the only student by his side and explained, "All of the army is the Emperor"s, the court"s. Although Yan Xiaoyi is positioned as the Zhengbei Viceroy, if he wanted to do something in the future, it would likely not stand against a decree by the Emperor… you in our country, particularly in the army, just how far the Emperor"s prestige goes.

"If this kind of prestige is to be challenged, there is only one thing in this world that will have any kind of effect. And that is money." Fan Xian smiled and said, "Large amounts of money. The monthly pay for the army officers under Yan Xiaoyi would stun you, and it is because of this that Yan Xiaoyi is able to firmly control his troops."

Shi Chanli stopped his currently-writing right hand and smiled weakly.

He had entered the mountain this time on a task entrusted to him by the Imperial College. He was here to write the biography of Fan Xian, one of this generation"s civilian officials. Ever since Fan Xian published "Thoughts from Banxianzhai," his position in the Qing Kingdom"s poetic circle had become cemented, and after he went to Northern Qi and brought back a cart load of Master Zhuang"s works, his influence had spread far and wide.

The Imperial College was naturally proud of one of their own who rose from being a proctor to being Fan junior. They wouldn"t pa.s.s up on this resource and so decided to write a biography of him to be published by the Danbo Bookstore and spread far and wide. They hoped to use this to draw in more students from the north and from Dongyi City, as well as bring in more prodigies to the Qing Kingdom for the spring imperial exams.

However, ever since his injury, Fan Xian had hidden away in Cang Mountain and had not visited the Imperial College in a long time. Even Shu the Scholar had been unable to find him. They could only use various connections to finally find Sir Fan"s only student in Jingdou, Shi Chanli.

Shi Chanli also thought this was a good idea. Adding to the fact that the Imperial College had approached him personally, he decided that this was far more honorable than being the owner of the Baoyu Brothel. And so he had tottered his way into Cang Mountain. He was fortunate in that he hadn"t seen the dead bodies in the snow.

How could he have known that things would develop in a manner he had not expected?

Although his teacher had consented to staying in the study after his pleas… he just wouldn"t talk about his life, his studies, or his poetry. Instead, he kept talking about the inner workings of the court, such as how the Overwatch Council had toppled the Second Prince, and why the Eldest Princess would not let go of the palace treasury!

How could Shi Chanli dare to copy these things down? Even if he did dare, the Imperial College would not dare to publish it—even if they had 800 lives to spare!

He watched his teacher and braved the tension to slowly say, "Teacher, these things… cannot go into the biography."

As to this whole biography matter, Fan Xian thought it was absurd. He thought, I am so young. Are the people in the Imperial College preparing to build me a coffin? Seeing Shi Chanli"s awkward expression, he jokingly scolded, "Screw the biography!"

After he swore, he added, "Is the Imperial College bored with nothing to do? When will they finish sorting out Master Zhuang"s books? The Danbo Bookstore is waiting to start printing and the Emperor is in a rush. It"s not like you don"t know, the Emperor has asked that I have finished ordering it in three years… these useless people, they only know how to suck up to me and don"t know how to go about their proper business."

Shi Chanli carefully explained on behalf of the Imperial College, "Batches of Master Zhuang"s books have started to be printed."

Fan Xian shook his head. "Then tell me about this absurd biography matter.

So I have written a few things in my life, sang a few songs, had a few conversations with Master Zhuang—but don"t you understand? My most glorious times, the undertakings I am truly proud of… are these dirty things that cannot be shown to people."

These words were honest, and seemed close to Roseau"s self-a.n.a.lysis, except there wasn"t a trace of regret.

"What I am most proud of are the murders with poison, not those romantic things. Can you write that, do you dare to write that?" Fan Xian stared into Shi Chanli"s eyes. "If you want to write my biography, then wait for a day when I am dead. Or when everyone in this time is dead. If you are still struggling for life at that time, it won"t be too late to talk then."

Shi Chanli let out a sorrowful sigh and knew that he wouldn"t be able to complete his notes. His teacher had made up his mind and he would not be able to convince him otherwise. However, he was already interested in the inside stories Sir Fan had told him earlier, so he picked up his teacher"s previous topic and said, "As to the matter in the north, General Yan Xiaoyi used money to buy loyalty… even if he wanted to rebel, I don"t think it would have done anything."

Under the influence of his teacher for the last half year, Shi Chanli was like Sisi from Danzhou. He was braver, and his words were sharper.

"The Emperor keeps a close eye on the army." Fan Xian"s eye twitched. "The Eldest Princess could find no gaps to squeeze into, and she only had Yan Xiaoyi, this one ally. Of course she needed to hand out large amounts of money—every bit of loyalty she could buy counted."

"Although it is expensive to keep a standing army… we are talking about the palace treasury. In ten years, is this all she could do?"

"Of course not." Fan Xian explained like a teacher, "The Second Prince needed to bribe officials in the capital—this needs money. She needed to control public opinion—this needs money. She needs to make deals with officials in Xinyang, and various Princes—this needs money. Their mouths are open very wide, if you want to satisfy these people… a lot of money is needed."

Shi Chanli furrowed his brows. "This is essentially a rebellion."

"You said so earlier," Fan Xian smiled. "Right now they are only at the stage of taking the position of heir by force. If the Second Prince succeeds, once he has imperial power, it will be a simple matter for him and his aunt to take back the money they gave out."

Fan Xian suddenly thought of the part of "The Deer and the Cauldron" where Wei Xiaobao framed Wu Sangui, and he smiled bitterly. "Of course, once he is emperor, he won"t even care about such a petty amount of money. The whole world will belong to him."

Shi Chanli sucked in a cold breath. "Teacher, you are about take control of the palace treasury, and you have also preemptively destroyed the Cui clan. Haven"t you severed the other party"s source of money and severely damaged the Second Prince"s attempt to take the position of heir? No wonder Xinyang is so enraged. Compared to the waves in Jingdou last time, their reaction is much stronger."

Fan Xian laughed coldly. "Reaction? My mother-in-law started reacting five, six years ago."

His mind flashed to five, six years ago, to the tower in Danzhou that had been burned, leaving nothing but charred wood. It was in this tower that he had killed for the first time in his life. After he came to the capital, he used the power of the Overwatch Council and investigated the truth of this matter. That year, the Liu clan tried to poison him because of the plans of those two women in the Royal Palace.

It was also in that year that the Emperor first raised the matter of a marriage between the Fan and Lin families. The Emperor had also brought up the subject of transferring the jurisdiction of the palace treasury in the future. Although the marriage was temporarily put on hold due to Chen Pingping"s vehement opposition, it still caused the Eldest Princess to become more wary and cautious. Of course, she did not want to lightly let go of the fortune she controlled, and so she had organised an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt against Fan Xian.

However, no one had expected for Fan Jian to raise the issue again four years later, taking advantage of the time Chen Pingping returned to home to venerate his ancestors. Finally he received the Emperor"s consent, and so Fan Jian had Teng Zijing hurry to Danzhou to bring Fan Xian back to Jingdou.

Thinking of how his muddle-headed and ignorant 12-year-old self already carried such a heavy load on his shoulders and had already brought upon himself such trouble, Fan Xian, who now held great power, still felt an echoing fear.

And after that was the Niulan Street incidence. The Second Prince had arranged a feast and invited him. Secretly, the Eldest Princess had ordered the second son of the Prime Minister to organize a plan for murder.

Come to think of it, this mother-in-law had tried many times to kill him, but just hadn"t managed to succeed. Fan Xian smiled bitterly at the thought. Almost all the danger he has been met with in this life has stemmed from that ageless beauty, the Eldest Princess. Furthermore, the Eldest Princess had never acted personally; she had only used conspiratorial means to have other people dirty their hands… This woman, this fastidious woman, was actually using people from Xinyang to a.s.sa.s.sinate him. It seemed that she was truly angry, and panicking

A confident smile rose the corners of Fan Xian"s mouth. As long as you are angry, that is good. If you were as calm and peaceful as always, I wouldn"t know how to strike.

He was deeply convinced of the Xinyang Princess"s ability to plot. Just from how she"d cleverly changed the Niulan Street incidence to an opportunity to take land from Northern Qi, and how she"d sold Yan Bingyun in exchange for chaos in the Qing court the ability of the Eldest Princess to plot and scheme was clear—but he did not fear this. The Overwatch Council specialized in plotting, and the young Mister Yan was a prodigy in this and also held a deep, immoveable hatred for the Eldest Princess. The most important thing was that the Overwatch Council had, other than plots, power. And this is what Xinyang most lacked.

Against schemers, the most effective method was simple force.

"The Eldest Princess is an extraordinary woman," Fan Xian woke from his thoughts and sighed. "Truly extraordinary. Back in the day, everyone in the court thought she was helping the eastern palace. No one thought she had an alliance with the Second Prince. Those in court who loathed her, such as my father-in-law who had long left the court, leaned toward the Second Prince, and she could, at any moment, set up those she controlled in the eastern palace as the enemy. At that time, the enemy would be weakened and she would be well-prepared. If this situation continued for seven or eight years, perhaps the Second Prince really would have been able to move into the eastern palace once the Emperor was old."

"Unfortunately, she met you," Shi Chanli said.

Fan Xian said, without modesty, "I was just luckier. Besides, do you think that the Emperor and Director Chen really knew nothing about this?"

Shi Chanli was slightly surprised.

Fan Xian smiled bitterly. "No matter how extraordinary a person the Eldest Princess is, she was not a match for those old folks. I am only the hand they have pushed to the front of the stage. Perhaps the Emperor… does not want to anger the empress dowager."

Suddenly he tilted his head slightly and looked at the snow-covered mountain scene outside of the gla.s.s windows, and somewhat abruptly said, "However, out of all of these extraordinary people, I actually most admire… my father-in-law, who left the capital a long time ago."

Shi Chanli did not understand. He thought that his teacher would say he most admired Minister Shang.

Fan Xian said with a smile, "That father-in-law of mine is known by the people as a traitorous official, yet he was a rare competent official. The last few years, it could be said the Qing Kingdom has been truly a country at peace and the people are happy. Although there are small problems, they don"t affect the bigger picture. Much of this is to his credit. What I admire about my father-in-law is his forbearance and resolve. At that time… because of the Eldest Princess, Sigu Jian killed my uncle. Father-in-law immediately allowed my marriage to Wan"er and stood, without the slightest hesitation, on the side of the Overwatch Council and my father. Don"t forget, he had battled with the father of Director Chen for years in court. Such an important decision, and he acted decisively. An extraordinary person."

He then sighed. "Furthermore, my father-in-law held great power, yet was not reluctant to leave his post. One day, he discovered the Emperor had wayward thoughts and immediately resigned his position. Although he lost the power he held, he managed to keep his family and his clan safe."

After Fan Xian"s father-in-law, the Prime Minister Lin Ruofu, retired, he moved to Wuzhou to live out his retirement as a wealthy old man. He occasionally communicated with his family in Jingdou through letters. It seemed that recently he had been well, and his physical health was better than it had been in Jingdou.

"It is easy to understand others, but difficult to understand oneself." Fan Xian sighed once again. "Father-in-law understood others, understood himself, and understood the situation. There is much for me to learn."

A thought came to Shi Chanli. He thought about the empty positions in the court, and how the political affairs were being managed by a few palace secretaries, and said softly, "Teacher, you will also be the Prime Minister of the court one day."

Fan Xian smiled bitterly. "Don"t try to probe me," he scolded. "I"m not in the mood, nor do I have that ability. It is not an easy matter to run a country. For me, I control the Overwatch Council because that is where my interests lie, and I manage the palace treasury because that is the Emperor"s will. Other things... I will not do them."

Shi Chanli smiled. "Teacher, you words are interesting. The two things you mentioned are enough to make others envious of you."

"I will tell you something, and you will realize that the Emperor does not plan to reinstate the position of Prime Minister after Father-in-law retires."

Fan Xian stood, grasped his walking stick and moved to stand beside the window. He pushed open the window to smell the clean breeze coming off the snow-covered ground, and said slowly, "The retiring head of the Cabinet of Official Papers, Sir Hu, is already headed to Jingdou by order of an imperial edict."

Shan Chanli was shocked and his face paled. "Which Sir Hu?"

"How many do you know?" Fan Xian did not turn around and continued faintly, "The Sir Hu who promoted literary improvement when I was just a child. The Emperor has summoned him to the capital to, once again, be a scholar. I suspect that there will be no place for the Minister of Civil Personnel, Yan Hangshu, among the future palace secretaries. Qin Heng will go to his Jingdou garrison, the palace secretaries… will be led by a few Scholars. There will not be a need to reinstate the position of Prime Minister."

Shi Chanli was silently, and spoke quietly a moment later, "Previously, I only knew how to repay the court through study. But now I realize that the workings of the court are extremely complicated, and not something an outsider can guess at."

A moment later, he cheered up again. Although what he heard today could not enter the biography and was not useful at all in helping the Imperial College spread their influence, these kinds of secrets were usually never told to those not involved. Since his teacher had shared this with him today, if, dozens of years in the future, he was able to write this into the country"s history, or release the "Notes of the Owner of Banxianzhai," there was no doubt that his name would live on in Qing history.

Of course, Teacher had to be the victor in history.

Thinking of all this, he felt a quiet joy grow in his heart, and he heard his teacher laugh for some reason, "Did you know, Director Chen"s true age is a bit younger than the Emperor?"

Shi Chanli reigned in his joyful heart and felt stunned. He had once seen Chen Pingping from a distance, and knew that the old Director was weighed down with age; it was clear he was about to enter the earth. Could it be he was younger than the Emperor in his prime?

"Younger by a month," Fan Xian said with something almost a smile. "The court is too complex, and there are too many things to worry about. Naturally, he would age like this. I wonder if, in the future, I will also be old before my time."

Outside the window was a desolate and snow-filled landscape. From the end of corridor came the sounds of girls laughing as they played mahjong. Ruojia, that girl had brazenly come with them again, and Ye Ling"er, bold and thick-skinned, had also arrived from Dingzhou. The Fan Manor"s villa at Cang Mountain was always this lively in the winter. Compared to last year, there seemed to be only missing the fat one far away in Northern Qi.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and stared into the cold wind blowing into his face, his deep silence was at odds with the happy mood from his family. To give his life for this Emperor in this sh*tty court, like Chen Pingping had, was not an easy task. It seemed that everyone simultaneously had many faces, and he didn"t know what cards each person held. Fan Xian didn"t know other people"s trump cards, and so he had always kept his trump card close to his chest, and would not play it lightly.

With a rustling sound, Deng Zi Yue approached the room in a black snow coat. As he was about to knock, he saw the window was open and Commissioner Fan beckoning towards him. He paused, walked over, and said in a low voice, "The rest of the Xinyang people have retreated. The Director has sent Zong Zhui and he has chased after them."

Fan Xian nodded. The official Zong Zhui, and w.a.n.g Qinian, were both known as Double Wings, and specialized in tracking. He wasn"t concerned about his safety. Seeing Deng Zi Yue holding a paper bag, he stretched out his hand.

In the bag were a.n.a.lysis reports by the Third Bureau, as well as letters.

Deng Zi Yue"s face turned a strange color; he chuckled and said, "There is a letter from the north."

Fan Xian paused, then immediately understood. He laughed and scolded, "A grown-up man... don"t be like those women who talk in circles."

Deng Zi Yue handed him the paper bag and covered his mouth before turning and leaving.

Looking at his subordinate"s funny appearance, Fan Xian couldn"t resist laughing again.

With the excuse that someone needed to be watching Jingdou, he shooed Shi Chanli out of the door. It was only then that he broke the first wax seal on the outside of the paper bag and took out a stack of letters. He flipped through them and, just as expected, found one from Haitang. Deng Zi Yue"s strangeness was, naturally, because of this letter.

The Overwatch Council made their wax from rosin and vermillion, without the use of coal. This increased their security, and they could seal letters without any gaps, so there was no need to worry about the seal being tampered with while being delivered.

He first read the message from Qinian"s group in Jingdou, and then read the various intelligence reports from the Third Bureau. Fan Xian nodded his head, pleased. The various developments were going very smoothly. Yan Bingyun had struck very quickly, and the Cui family had nowhere to run. The rumours had already reached Jiangnan and even the Cui clan"s in-laws, the Ming clan, were starting to move their wealth. This trick to strike the mountain and scare the tiger was starting to work.

At last, he skimmed the Bureau report before picking up the letter Haitang had sent. This had always been his principle in doing things: public first, then private. However, after he had read Haitang"s seemingly normal letter, he regretted having read it late, even if it was just this little bit later.

The contents of the letter were shocking. Fan Xian"s slender fingers gripped the thin paper of the letter and could not stop shaking. His expression was grave.