Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 106 The Secret of Taiping Villa

Fan Xian didn't know what he was busy with these days. Ever since he took up the position of Assistant Law Officer of the Taichang Temple, even though it was a nominal position, he had to do some superficial work to maintain it.

For several days in a row, he went to the Taichang Temple early in the morning, exchanged greetings with his colleagues, and then sat in the yamen in a daze until sunset before returning home.

The officials of the Taichang Temple were clear-minded and showed great courtesy and enthusiasm, but they would not ask the Xielülang to do any work.

During Fan Xian's absence, everyone in the Fan family was worried about his marriage. Liu Ruyu was busy selecting many expensive gifts to send to the Prime Minister's Mansion, and Fan Ruoruo was naturally involved in the planning and arranging the son-in-law's visit.

Finally, on the day when he did not have to report to the Taichang Temple, Fan Xian set out on the journey to the Prime Minister's Residence to meet his father-in-law.

Sitting in the carriage, Fan Xian smiled bitterly and took out the crumpled monthly newspaper published exclusively by the palace.

The newspaper recorded two contents. One was about the war in the north. The whole article described how Northern Qi surrendered without a fight and how mighty and domineering Qing State was. It was a pity that there were no illustrations, so it was a bit inferior to the authentic newspapers of Fan Xian's era.

The second is the private gossip of the rich and powerful. Fan Xian would never have thought that the content in this month's newspapers actually refers to his marriage with Wan'er. There is no intrigue, it is really just pure gossip.

The official who wrote this newspaper wanted to dig up all the secrets of the two people, but due to some resistance, he did not list the eldest princess as the illegitimate mother, and Prime Minister Lin only mentioned her briefly.

"His Majesty in the palace is willing to expose the privacy of his subordinates in order to make money." Fan Xian couldn't help but complain. He knew as early as when he was in Danzhou that the goal of the newspaper business was to fill the national treasury, not to engage in political propaganda.

And every published newspaper has to be read by His Majesty first. As for why he knows so much gossip about high-ranking officials and their families, it must be related to His Majesty who always keeps an eye on every move of his ministers.

In the end, every family sees the joke, and then it falls on everyone’s family. They laugh when it doesn’t happen to them, and cry when it happens to them.

……

After entering the Lin Mansion and presenting many gifts, Fan Xian finally met his future father-in-law as he wished.

He was not afraid of the prime minister's reputation, but every time he thought of what Uncle Wuzhu had done, he felt extremely depressed and didn't know what to say.

Depression and guilt are two different things. Fan Xian would not feel guilty just because others failed to kill him but he succeeded in killing them.

All he had was worry about the truth being exposed, which was a very normal emotion.

As for his fiancée Wan'er's opinion, she didn't really have deep feelings for this brother whom she had only met a few times in many years, so how could it be the innocent Fan Xian's turn to feel guilty?

"who are you?"

"and who are you?"

"My name is Dabao, which means big, big, and treasure."

"Oh." Fan Xian in the back garden said "Oh" indifferently, and he felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy with the eldest son of the Lin family who was so fat that he could almost crush him to death.

Fan Xian thought that perhaps because he was innocent and harmless, he was much easier to get along with than the many scheming people he had met.

During the conversation in the study, the prime minister just said a few simple words, then excused himself on the pretext of official business and left him into the huge back garden.

Seeing his chubby brother-in-law, Fan Xian was finally not bored anymore.

"I am Dabao, my brother is Erbao, so from now on I will call you Sanbao."

"No, that's an awkward name."

"Your name is Fan Xian, so from now on I'll call you Xiao Xianxian."

Fan Xian accepted the title reluctantly and looked at his foolish brother-in-law with a smile. He thought to himself, they are both fat, so why is it that he is much more pleasing to the eye than Fan Sizhe?
"Dabao, is there no one to play with you?"

"Yes, Erbao used to play with Dabao a lot, but recently Erbao hasn't been home. Daddy said he was away on a trip, but Dabao knows the reason very well."

"What's the reason?" Fan Xian frowned.

"Erbao must be unable to find the way home." Dabao said confidently.

Fan Xian sighed, his emotions were complicated, and he patiently stayed to talk.

It is always difficult to chat with people whose IQ is not equal to yours, especially those with dementia.

But Fan Xian is different. Having spent ten years in bed in his previous life, he longs to listen to people talk to relieve his depression.

"Xiao Xianxian, why is Dabao so strong but you are so thin?" Dabao sat on the chair, very confused.

Fan Xian thought for a moment and said, "There is also a fellow in my family's house who is about as strong as you. I'll introduce you two to each other some other day. Go ask him."

"Great, great, I have friends again." Dabao clapped his hands excitedly.

"Fan Sizhe is pretty stupid too, so he should be able to have fun with us." Fan Xian thought to himself.

"Do you like listening to stories?" Fan Xian asked.

"Yes, Dabao loves listening to stories the most."

Fan Xian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Who could have thought that one day in the Lin Mansion he would not be spending his time discussing politics with the Prime Minister, but chatting with his brother-in-law about everything under the sun.

"What's the situation?" Lin Ruofu's dull voice came from the study.

Yuan Hongdao smiled and said, "We are chatting enthusiastically. Dabao is smiling more than in the past two days combined."

Walking to the window, from a distance, Lin Ruofu finally couldn't help but observe the situation in the back garden. He didn't have much hope, but his eyes lit up, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he sat back at the table, "I don't have high expectations for him now, it's enough for him to take good care of Dabao and not let Wan'er down."

Yuan Hongdao nodded and said, "The smile is genuine, I don't think it's fake, I guess he really gets along well with Dabao."

"I hope so."

In the afternoon, the prime minister met his son-in-law again, and the scene was very different from that in the morning.

Not only did they treat him warmly, they even kept Fan Xian for dinner before letting him leave.

After walking out of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Fan Xian hadn't even reacted yet when he suddenly saw a black shadow passing by him.

Chasing all the way into the hidden alley, Fan Xian took a breath, his heart in his throat: "This is the stormy time, Uncle Wu Zhu, you better be careful."

"It's okay. I don't want anyone to find out, so no one will find out." Wu Zhu answered him coldly and said, "We have to go to Taiping Villa outside the city."

"Taiping Villa, what is that place?" Fan Xian frowned in confusion.

Wu Zhu shook his head, not knowing what was going on. "I don't know, but I remembered a lot of memories. I remember that the young lady had put something very important in it. Maybe it's related to the box. I have to go get it back."

Fan Xian rubbed his hands in surprise: "Could it be the key to open the box?"

"I don't know yet."

Fan Xian immediately made a decision: "Okay, let's find a good excuse and leave the city in two days." He couldn't wait to explore the secrets in the box.

Wu Zhu said again: "Call Lin Ruo."

"Okay." Fan Xian said subconsciously, and after a moment's pause, he realized: "Why?"

"It's not an easy place to get into, and you're too new, so we need a helper."

After saying this, Wu Zhu disappeared into the alley without giving Fan Xian any chance to embarrass himself.

"You're so direct in your words." Fan Xian couldn't help but complain.

……

"Camping? What new word is this?" Just one day after the appointment with Wu Zhu, Fan Xian dragged his sister and stupid brother to the royal villa early in the morning.

He planned to organize a grand outing, which would not only allow him to take Wan'er for more walks, but also allow him to accomplish his set goals. It was the best of both worlds, so why not do it?

Fan Xian's mouth was about to burst with laughter, but he forced himself to explain, "It means an outing."

"Then why should I go?" Fan Sizhe, a fat otaku, protested.

"Of course I'm introducing you to a playmate." Fan Xian said with a smile, not knowing whether these two people could get along well.

The carriage stopped outside the royal villa. The guards were accustomed to seeing this prince consort, so they turned a blind eye and let him go in.

As for Lin Wan'er, her condition has almost improved, so the palace has issued an order that she can go out for a walk as needed.

The strict old nanny agreed to the outing, but when she heard that the young master of the Fan family was leading the group, she panicked and prepared to intervene, vowing to accompany the princess, fearing that the young master of the Fan family would do anything out of line.

Her prediction was accurate, but Fan Xian was not happy to hear it. He silently gave her a laxative to stop the old lady's request to be a light bulb.

In the royal villa, the maids and servants became busy. Although the prince consort tried to persuade them not to bring any extra items, the carriage was still filled to the brim.

With a dozen guards leading the way and four or five pretty maids accompanying her, Lin Wan'er finally walked out of the royal villa wearing a white dress, supported by Ye Ling'er.

Fan Xian stepped forward, and Ye Ling'er gave him a resentful look before she reluctantly let go of his hand and stood aside so as not to disturb him.

Fan Xian discovered that this Miss Ye was quite sharp-tongued but kind-hearted, and not some bad best friend.

"Master Fan, let's go our separate ways. It's not appropriate to ride in the same carriage with the princess at this time." The maids spoke politely.

Fan Xian smiled slightly, lamenting that this was not possible, otherwise Wan'er would be ashamed and the maids would go crazy, so he could only watch Wan'er get on another carriage.

He gritted his teeth in frustration, thinking that it would be no problem for him to ride a horse and act as a guard, accompanying the car all the way and chatting through a curtain.

This is a brilliant idea, and Fan Xian admires his wisdom.

The carriage set off, made a detour to the Lin Mansion, and then left the city from the north gate of Tianhe Street.

When they arrived at the city gate, they stopped for a long time. Ye Ling'er got off Wan'er's carriage angrily and got on another carriage.

This damn Fan Xian was riding a horse and chattering beside the carriage, making Wan'er laugh. Even though Ye Ling'er was a fool, she knew she shouldn't be there.

She originally wanted to tell Wan'er some private conversations, but now she could only keep silent and swallow it down.

In this way, Fan Xian achieved his goal of being alone with Wan'er, which was something no one had expected.

.

(End of this chapter)