An edict had come from the Palace the previous night that had completely ended the surveillance on Fan manor. Everyone had thought that the cold war between the Emperor and Fan Xian had ended. Unexpectedly, after Fan Xian entered the Palace to see the Emperor, no news of his rise came from the Palace. There wasn"t even a related edict. Putting aside what the officials and various factions were guessing, the Fan manor"s carriage just going out like this still surprised many people.

What surprised people more was that this Fan manor carriage went through the Jingdou gate inspection smoothly. It was not inspected at all. Was the Emperor not worried that Sir Fan junior would leave Jingdou in a fit of anger? Although the royal family did not have a habit of children getting angry and leaving the home, the scene on the execution field, as well as the conflict these days, had made people confused as to Fan Xian"s response.

Many people were worried that Fan Xian would leave Jingdou. Clearly, the Emperor was not worried. Otherwise, he would not have removed all of the surveillance outside the Fan manor or given Fan Xian such freedom.

"My sister is in the palace, and the Emperor"s edict has gone out. Those subordinates and family that depend on me to live are all in Jingdou. How can I leave?" Fan Xian tilted his head and looked at autumn scenery outside Jingdou basked in dusk"s light. Quietly, he said, "We"ll bring back Xiao Hua and Liangzi and live our lives happily at home."

Lin Wan"er"s heart trembled slightly. She was not sure if these words came from Fan Xian"s heart or if he meant something else. If staying in the Fan manor and being a man of leisure was the Emperor"s order, then Lin Wan"er knew very well why Fan Xian was forced to accept this edict. When the Fan manor opened its doors earlier, they had immediately received bad news.

That day, the first decision Lin Wan"er made was to have Teng Zi Jing take the young lady and young master to the Fan country estate outside the city because she was worried about what could happen. She had planned to quietly send the children back to Danzhou. Now, news had just arrived from the country estate that after the carriage reached the country estate, they were unable to leave again.

There wasn"t an army waiting for him. Instead, a eunuch was there waiting. Under these circ.u.mstances, Teng Zi Jing did not dare act impudently. If he did quietly send the young master and lady back to Danzhou, who knew what would happen on the way? Perhaps the court would actually turn hostile, seize the two children, and take them into the Palace, just like Fan Ruoruo.

Fan Xian"s brows furrowed. "In the end, we still underestimated the meticulous nature of the Emperor"s thoughts. Counting backward, the day you decided to send the children back to Danzhou, things had just gone wrong in the royal study. Chen Pingping had just been sent to the Overwatch Council. At that time, the Emperor was heavily injured, yet he still did not forget our children."

A cold smile rose to the corners of his lips. The benevolence of the Emperor is mighty indeed. We officials should really thank him."

"It"s my fault for not making thorough arrangements. At that time, I shouldn"t have sent them to the country estate first. I should have thought of a way to send them straight to Danzhou." A darkness flashed across her brows. She also had not expected for her Uncle Emperor to be so severe as to not even pa.s.s up on two children.

"At that time, the most you could do was make contact with the First Bureau. My people are all scattered outside Jingdou. There was no way to send them to Danzhou." Fan Xian gently pulled over her thin shoulders and said comfortingly, "You"ve worked hard these few days, and you"ve worried enough. This has nothing to do with you. Our Emperor even dares to make use of the Temple, much less two children."

"What exactly did you talk about with the Chengping in the Palace?" Lin Wan"er sighed and thought that although they were trapped in Jingdou, the Emperor had not really shown his power. However, this faint threat was enough to stop Fan Xian and her acting rashly. Thus, she changed the subject and continued with her previous question. Since she knew of the choosing of the concubines, she guessed the Emperor"s intentions. As clever as she was, she still wanted to hear from Fan Xian Shufang Palace"s reaction.

"What could we talk about?" Fan Xian smiled meaninglessly. "Hong Zhu, that little eunuch, followed at my side the entire time. He had the Emperor"s edict to send me out of the Palace, was Chengping and I going to kick him aside?"

There was an ambush in these words. For the sake of Hong Zhu"s safety, Fan Xian had kept this secret close to his chest. Even the Third Prince did not know about the true relationship between him and Hong Zhu. Earlier, in Shufang Palace, the Third Prince had been very rude toward Hong Zhu.

"There is no need to be too worried. After all, Chengping has behaved very well these years. The Emperor will not be willing for the court to fall into chaos again just because of me." Fan Xian"s brows rose. "In front of Hong Zhu, I gave the Third Prince a good scolding. In any case, it"ll probably be difficult for me to have an opportunity to enter the Palace in the future. I had to take the opportunity to scold him. It would be best if I could make Chengping actually angry at me."

The carriage b.u.mped gently along the road. In the sky to the west, the sun dragged out its long red tail and trailed a brush over a mountain close by. Then, it turned toward the head of a tall mountain they could see further in the distance.

"Who could this fool?" Lin Wan"er leaned into his embrace, feeling an unusually heavy mood. "Putting on a show for Hong Zhu, will the Emperor believe it?"

"Regardless of whether the Emperor believes it or not, I won"t see Chengping in the future. I will also cut ties with Duke"s Alley. It would be best if you don"t enter the Palace much in the future either." Fan Xian gently stroked her face. After a moment of silence, he said, "It is best if we don"t implicate others in our business."

Lin Wan"er calmly looked at him. "What do you want the Emperor to believe? That Chengping has no true affection for you? Don"t forget that elder brother is still in Dongyi. As long as he doesn"t have all you brothers gathered in the palace, the Emperor will not be at ease. Doesn"t the choosing of the concubines make this clear?"

"Yes, severance." Fan Xian gazed at his wife. "A true severance. Even if something happens to me, I don"t want to implicate Chengping. That is what Chen Pingping did in the past. I also want to do this. However, I am not a person who sees far ahead, so I have prepared late."

Lin Wan"er sighed helplessly and said, "According to what you have said, the Emperor still intends for Chengping to inherit. So, why have the choosing?"

"Just in case. Such a matter is easy to understand," Fan Xian said with a smile. "But, a pregnancy takes 10 months, and having children isn"t so easy. The girls at the choosing are no more than 14 or 15. They"ll still have to wait a few years to be mothers."

Speaking of this, Fan Xian sank deep into thought thinking about the problem of the Emperor"s might. If one took careful count of the Emperor"s age and given his Great Grandmaster Realm"s body, the matter of men and women should not be too difficult. However, he was getting on in age. His essence might be lacking in vitality.

Fan Xian knew better than anyone when it came to the repercussions of the Tyrannical Martial Secret. In addition, based on the last conversation he had with Sigu Jian in Dongyi, Fan Xian was sure that there were no normal meridians in the Emperor"s body anymore. Instead, it had become a channel or container without any stagnation. Only with this could he contain so much Tyrannical zhenqi in his body to pour what seemed like half a lake of zhenqi into Ku He"s body on Dong Mountain, forcefully bloating a Great Grandmaster to death.

No matter how tyrannical, it was still the Tyrannical Way. With just a Way of the Emperor"s name, how could it actually change in nature? Thinking of this, Fan Xian"s brows rose slightly. He proved that the Emperor"s physique was cold outside and hot inside, disturbing his nature through rest. He would probably have to take a few more Cold Fragrance Pills to balance everything out.

If there were no Cold Fragrance Pills, then eating more celery or things from the garlic family was also good. Fan Xian lowered his head slightly and thought of the Imperial Academy of Medicine"s combined decision. He prayed to heaven that a Great Grandmaster"s body was not different from that of a mortal"s body.

Celery, garlic, and tofu products had powerful essence killing effects, particularly the first one. This knowledge was known, without a doubt, only to Fan Xian. The Imperial Academy of Medicine did not know. Hong Zhu did not know. Even the Emperor did not know. Whether or not Fan Xian"s secret meddling would have any result, that would have to depend on whether heaven gave him a hand.

As long as the Emperor had no other children, then the Third Prince"s position was as stable as Dong Mountain. This was what Fan Xian hoped for.

Stopping the Emperor from having more children perhaps sounded like a ruthless plan. Fan Xian did not think so because the Emperor already had three sons. It was enough. If he had more, it would just cause more succession problems for the Qing Kingdom.

At least he wasn"t going to end the Li line. Thinking of this, Fan Xian remembered Chen Pingping and couldn"t resist smiling.

"Although I do so much, I have no right to see the Emperor."

Lin Wan"er realized Fan Xian was, on the rare occasion, making poetry again. After savoring it closely, she realized that these words spoke only of the resentment of an official. She looked at Fan Xian in a daze and wondered if he was really willing to forget the execution in front of the Royal Palace and murder case in Taiping Courtyard decades ago.

Fan Xian had already told Wan"er everything about the Emperor, Ye Qingmei, Chen Pingping, and Fan Jian. Only now did Lin Wan"er know that there were such heartless choices and vengeance hidden behind history and in the sinister shadow of the Royal Palace. Thus, she had no hopes that Fan Xian would actually stay quietly in the manor and be a man of leisure. Yet, now she heard these two lines of poetry.

As she thought this, the carriage arrived at the Fan country estate. All the elders and youths of the tribe had received the message ahead of time and were waiting outside the country estate for the young lady and young mistress to arrive. Although Fan Xian no longer had any official positions, he was still the backbone of the Fan tribe. Other than his hate, he still had to be responsible for these people his father had entrusted to him.

The dusky light struck the front doors of the country estate. Sisi was holding Fan Lang while Shuning, in large flowery farmer"s clothing, held onto her legs and looked curiously at her parents coming down from the carriage. She was already three years old and had no problems remember people.

Fan Xian took Fan Lang from Sisi to hold. He quietly said some things by her ear. He then smiled and had the people waiting for him disperse quickly. He walked toward the central room pulling on Shuning"s little hand and asked, "Have you been good, Xiaohua?"

Reaching the central room, the obedient Shuning let go of her father"s hand and leapt into Lin Wan"er"s arms. Sisi quickly went to make the sleeping arrangements for the night. Fan Xian turned his gaze and saw a eunuch in the central room.

He nodded toward the eunuch, but the eunuch"s expression was uncomfortable. His face was pale with fear. He quickly moved forward and kowtowed to Fan Xian. He then left the country estate. Only after the eunuch"s figure had disappeared through the doorway did Teng Zi Jing come out with his walking stick and spat in the direction of the retreating figure.

"Be careful of hygiene." Fan Xian said with a smile. In the fourth year of the Qing calendar, Teng Zi Jing had taken a heavy injury in order to protect him. One of his legs had been broken by an a.s.sa.s.sin. Although it improved greatly afterward, he often walked around the home with a cane.

Teng Zi Jing looked at him with shame and said, "I was useless. I wasn"t able to send the young master and lady away. I was planning to kill that eunuch, but I was afraid of causing trouble for you."

"He looks like a young eunuch who doesn"t know how to do anything. But, he represents the Emperor. He is not someone you can kill on a whim." Fan Xian said carelessly. He stroked the large flowery robe Shuning was wearing and said with a smile, "So pretty."

The wife of the Teng family brought out hot tea and smiled with embarra.s.sment. "It belongs to the daughter of my third sister-in-law. The young lady shouldn"t be wearing it, but…"

Teng Zi Jing scratched his head and said, "It was impossible to know anything about the manor these days. The elders of the tribe discussed it with my family. It would not be difficult to fool the eunuch, but there might be court ambushes on the road. So, we were going to dress the young lady and master as rural children. If something went wrong, we would see if we could sneak them out."

Fan Xian"s mind turned. He knew what they were preparing to do then he thought of the murder case in the Taiping Courtyard on Liujing River back then. Ruoruo"s birth mother seemed like the wife of the Teng family before his eyes.

His face darkened. "In the future, do not think of such silly things. How could you fool them? Don"t needlessly send other people"s children to their deaths."

Seeing that, Teng Zi Jing only gave a careless reply and did not take it seriously. Fan Xian sighed and scolded, "The elders of the tribe could be said to be confused, but how could you be like this?"

Fortunately, the Fan manor was opened up. Fan Xian had made it over without anything happening. There was no need to talk about these things now. However, remembering the sight of the members of his tribe outside the country estate in welcome earlier, even the cold-hearted Fan Xian couldn"t help but be moved. He was moved but sank into a deeper level of distress.

Traveling alone through the world, one could be pleased with grat.i.tude or hatred and spill hot blood and lose one"s head. It would be nothing except an exchange for the words "no regret."

Chen Pingping wanted to send the girls in the garden to Dongyi. Fan Xian had so many people beside him, how many could he send away? It was not easy to lie without regrets throughout one"s life.

Their family only stayed in the manor one night. They next day, they picked up the and the five of them left the country estate to return to Jingdou. Just as the Emperor said in the royal study and as the Eldest Princess had said one day to her strategist, Fan Xian"s weaknesses were too fatal. As long as one had hold of it, even if he grew wings, where could he escape to? Even if he could escape, did he want to?

Without escape, there was only confrontation, but the snowy mountain was very tall and cold.

Holding his son and daughter, Fan Xian sat smiling inside the carriage. His gaze periodically looked through the window at Cang Mountain reflecting the early morning white light from the east. Cang Mountain was to the west of Jingdou and far from the road. It was still tall, mighty, and extraordinary, piercing right through the clouds. It was only the beginning of autumn, but the summit was already covered in white snow. It added a sense of coldness to this world.

"Do you still remember the two winters we spent on Cang Mountain?" Fan Xian suddenly asked.

With these words, expressions of contentment appeared on Lin Wan"er and Sisi"s faces. The first year, Sisi had been purposely left by Fan Xian in the Jingdou manor. She had come with them the second year. For these young people of Fan manor, the snow on Cang Mountain could be used to cleanse one"s heart and wash one"s face. It was a beautiful little world completely cut off from Jingdou. There, Fan Xian could fully reveal feelings and emotions that were not the same as this world.

Regardless of whether it was playing mahjong or chatting leisurely, the warming stove in the winter snow always made one recall these memories. The inside of the carriage gradually fell silent. Lin Wan"er thought of Ye Ling"er and Rou Jia, who could occasionally appear on the mountain. The days the Fan manor had been surrounded, presumably Ye Ling"er, far away from home, was anxious. Other than worried about the Fan manor, younger sister Rou Jia was probably also worried about King Jing"s matter in the Palace.

"How is King Jing?" Lin Wan"er asked with worry.

"Once the Emperor"s anger has dissipated, he will allow him to return home. Even I wasn"t punished, much less him." Fan Xian shook his head. He had thought of his young brother, Sizhe. So many things had happened in Jingdou. He wondered if he would have any problems after hearing the news in the North.

Sitting by his side, Shuning suddenly saw the snow-capped summit on Cang Mountain. Pressing together her little lips, she said childishly, "It"s so tall."

It was very tall and difficult to get up. Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at the snowy summit of Cang Mountain. He then took a deep breath. Inside the snowy mountain were his best memories in the Qing Kingdom, as well as the time Uncle Wu Zhu led him in climbing the mountain and hiding in the snow. He knew just how difficult it was to climb to the peak of that snowy mountain.

His eyesight was startling. Suddenly, he saw a few eagles circling and doing their best to fly toward the tallest snowy peak of Cang Mountain. Unconsciously, he pointed and said to Shuning, "Look, if it"s possible to get up, it"s actually very beautiful."