Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 115 Dongyi City

In autumn in Kyoto, the sky is high and the air is crisp.

The usually deserted Prince Jing's Mansion became lively again, but not because of the monthly poetry conference, but because of the grand banquet for Prince Jing's birthday.

It was ridiculous when the news got out, because Prince Jing was only a middle-aged man in his thirties, and it was too early to talk about his birthday.

In ancient times, birthday celebrations were held every tenth day after the age of sixty. A person with a distinct personality like Prince Jing was extremely rare in Kyoto.

I think he wanted to save face, but couldn't bear to give up the excitement. Although the birthday celebration at Prince Jing's mansion was grand, there was no one else. Only the Li and Fan families gathered together.

The birthday banquet at Prince Jing's Mansion began. Li Zhi sat at a large round table, his long beard fluttering in the wind and his clothes gorgeously dressed. He finally no longer looked like a farmer and his spirits were much higher.

It was just that his wealthy face gave him some of the characteristics of a nouveau riche, especially his high-handed and pretentious demeanor, which made him look ostentatious and artificial.

But Prince Jing didn't notice it. He raised his chin, looked proud, and stared at the groups of people who came to the hall to celebrate his birthday.

The butler stood outside with his hands folded and bent over, doing the valuable task of receiving gifts.

A large red carpet was spread out along both sides of the road. The first to arrive were Lord Fan and Madam Liu. As the heads of the Fan family, they naturally arrived earlier than their children.

When he saw Fan Jian, Li Zhi's mouth twitched, he snorted, and folded his hands with a look of disdain.

But when he saw the gifts of all sizes piled into the butler's hands, he was so overwhelmed that he couldn't see the way.

Li Zhi's expression changed immediately, and he stood up to greet him: "Brother Fan is here, please take a seat quickly."

At the same time, he secretly thought in his heart: "Damn Fan Jian finally found his conscience today and gave you so many gifts. I won't scold you at the banquet later."

"You're polite." Fan Jian also smiled and took Liu to sit down. The two of them looked at each other, wondering what the other would come up with.

As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Fan Jian paid more attention to his words and deeds. Adhering to the principle of "I won't scold you unless my enemy does", he decided to wait and see what happens.

As soon as they entered the banquet, the atmosphere was as silent as death, and only Liu was there to moderate the situation. Unfortunately, the wife of Prince Jing died young, and the concubines in the palace were not worthy of attending the banquet. Liu was caught between two grown men, and even though she was eloquent, she could not escape the pain of having to bear the brunt of the situation alone.

Fortunately, after a while, Ruoruo brought the little girl Roujia to the table with light steps.

When they arrived at Prince Jing's Mansion, the sisters hadn't seen each other for a long time. Ruoruo found her way to Roujia's boudoir as if she was familiar with it and made some noise for a while. When the servants notified them that the banquet was ready, the two pretty girls joined hands and slowly came over.

"Hello, Your Majesty." Ruoruo bowed.

"Ruoruo, get up quickly. You're getting more and more..." Li Zhi glanced at Fan Jian and suddenly felt that this was a bit of a loss of prestige for him, so he stopped the words that were about to come out of his throat.

Ruoruo catered to her interests and gave her some ancient books on gardening. Li Zhi smiled even more happily. He immediately ignored his elder brother's prestige and praised this sensible girl.

Roujia, who was of simple character, wrote a birthday calligraphy for her father. Li Zhi rolled his eyes silently, thinking that his little girl was really bad at dealing with people and things, and she couldn't even treat him, her father, in a satisfactory way.

He smiled gently, patted his daughter's head, and the matter was over.

Little did they know that there were even worse people to come. Li Hongcheng had just returned from outside the mansion, looked confused, and sat at the table empty-handed.

When Prince Jing saw this, his face turned pale and he cursed: "Where have you been again, you stupid pig? You haven't been seen all day."

Although Li Hongcheng was already used to his father's scolding, he saw that there were many visitors, especially his sister Ruoruo, and hurriedly said, "Father, I'm going to do some business."

"Hanging out with the second brother all day, is this called doing serious work?" Li Zhi knew what was going on.

When Li Hongcheng heard this, he shut up obediently. It had been a long time since his father disliked him working for the Second Prince. What else could he say?

He prided himself on being clever, and thought that the Second Prince was very capable and was highly regarded by His Majesty, so his chances of ascending the throne in the future were no less than those of the Crown Prince.

Little did they know that in the eyes of the shrewd Prince Jing, this was simply the most unrealistic joke in the world.

Before everyone arrived, Prince Jing waited patiently for a while at the table. He was full of resentment and wondered when this brat Fan Xian became so ignorant.

Fan Xian was not ignorant. He just made an extra trip to the royal villa to pick up his long-cherished fiancée.

"Wan'er greets uncle." Lin Wan'er's complexion has completely improved. She has seldom coughed recently, and her little face is rosier than that of ordinary people.

As soon as Li Zhi saw his niece, his attitude towards Fan Xian changed instantly.

In addition, Fan Xian had carefully prepared a generous gift and his words were very thoughtful. Just a few words he said made everyone at the table laugh.

Prince Jing couldn't bear to say bad words to this handsome boy, so he could only vent his anger on his stupid son and said a few indirect complaints.

Fan Sizhe tucked his tail between his legs and took his seat in a manner that was least noticed.

Soon, the birthday banquet finally started amid laughter and joy.

But to Li Zhi's surprise, this birthday banquet was not as lively as he had imagined. With both sets of adults present, the children were inevitably much more restrained.

After drinking a few sips of wine, Li Zhi's absurdity came back. He looked at the side unhappily and said, "Why are the kids afraid to speak when you are here? I can see that you discipline them strictly and lose your temper with them on weekdays."

Fan Sizhe agreed with this and stood up to watch the show.

Fan Jian had expected this moment, so he put down his chopsticks and turned his face away: "No matter what, it's better than you. I don't swear, and I don't embarrass the child in front of everyone."

Li Hongcheng said he was hurt again.

"Fuck you..." Li Zhi almost broke down, but couldn't help but whisper, "Damn it."

Little girl Roujia was sitting next to her father, her face flushed red, she felt embarrassed and angry.

Fan Jian snorted coldly and cursed: "With your temper, you must not lead the two children astray. It would be better to send them to the Fan Mansion and let me take care of them."

When arguing with Li Zhi, he couldn't help but call him "Laozi".

Seeing this scene for the first time, Lin Wan'er was worried, but Fan Xian was indifferent and kept his head down to hold back his laughter. "Did you teach them? Just take it. Your two children were obviously taught by that kid Lin Ruo. You are just a little luckier. You should have some shame." Li Zhi pretended to pat his face to show his contempt.

Fan Jian almost choked and said angrily, "I don't want to waste my time talking to you. If Lin Ruo is a member of my family, what's the matter? Are you dissatisfied?"

"We'll see. After a few years, I'll marry my daughter to him and he'll be a member of my Li family."

"You think so."

Little girl Roujia could no longer raise her head.

Fan Ruoruo lowered her head, having anticipated these words and blocking them out. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on the official report that had just been delivered to Prince Jing's mansion from the palace this morning, and she was shocked.

She quickly raised her little face to ask for confirmation: "Prince Jing, is the content of your report true or false?"

Li Zhi, who was arguing until his face turned red, raised his head and said confidently, "I went to the palace this morning and begged for this from Your Majesty with great effort. How could it be fake? It should be issued in Beijing the day after tomorrow."

"Brother... Sir... fought with Ye Liuyun in Qingzhou." For the first time, Fan Ruoruo spoke very slowly and spread the news in the hall.

"Ye Liuyun, the great master..." Fan Xian was slightly stunned. He had seen him before on the cliff in Danzhou twelve years ago. He quickly realized what was happening and said, "Sir, are you okay?"

Everyone in the hall was nervous.

Li Zhi, who already knew the result, laughed and said, "What's the problem? There's no winner."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and passed the court newspaper around. After reading it, Fan Jian was somewhat relieved and said, "Fortunately, I showed mercy."

Liu Ruyu asked with a hint of doubt: "Why did Master Ye attack Lin Ruo?"

Li Zhi cursed at Fan Jian, "What the hell, you mean show mercy? Didn't you see the mountains move and the earth crack? What the hell, you mean show mercy? It's obvious that they are evenly matched and there's no winner."

"If His Majesty doesn't say anything about this and the Supervisory Council doesn't say anything, then we won't get involved." Fan Jian ignored them and spoke to the people in the hall, also telling everyone not to think about getting involved in the details of this matter.

Within a few days, the news would spread among the nobles who regularly subscribed to the palace bulletin, and then spread to the common people.

Once the incident became a big deal, Fan Jian did not think it was bad news.

"Maybe it's just a competition." Fan Xian echoed, easing the atmosphere. He certainly knew that this fight was not a competition, but if the news spread to the people, most people would agree with his idea.

As for the real inner reasons, they are to be shown to those hiding in the dark.

Fan Xian easily thought of the eldest princess who was far away in Xinyang, but why a great master could help her... remains to be verified.

And why did His Majesty in the palace publicize this matter so openly? Could it be that he really likes to see this kind of scene happen...

It is even more incredible...

Fan Xian planned to go to the Supervisory Office another day to ask the dean to answer his questions.

After three rounds of drinking, Li Zhi was already drunk and almost unconscious, but he kept muttering to himself, "Your Majesty really likes this child."

There was a hint of frustration in his words.

……

"Ye Liuyun appears to be entrusted by the princess, but in fact, His Majesty is the real instigator behind the scenes, just to test your strength."

"Once you enter Dongyi City, you must do something great to reassure His Majesty."

There were some things that Fei Jie didn't say openly. At this moment, as the carriage was heading towards Dongyi City, after making sure that no third person would hear their conversation, Fei Jie truly spoke out what was in his heart.

The strong will always be feared. Either they can wander around the world like Ye Liuyun and not get involved in court affairs, or they must get the absolute trust of the Majesty in the palace.

Although they seem to be different choices, in fact they all have to submit to the imperial power.

After traveling for five days, the carriage finally entered Dongyi City. Zong Zhui took a group of secret agents to contact the secret agents of the Supervisory Office in the city.

Fei Jie was driving his carriage around the city at leisure.

Dongyi City is worthy of being the largest city in the world. People from all over the world gather here, goods from land and sea are gathered here, and the city is bustling and crowded.

There are all kinds of buildings in the city, and the atmosphere of the market is particularly real. Over the years, since the rise of Qing Kingdom, the development of commerce has been following the pace of Dongyi City.

As early as twenty years ago, Quanzhou City had become the largest commercial port in Qing Kingdom. Together with Jiangnan, a large commercial city under the full control of the Neiku, it constantly attacked Dongyi City from both inside and outside.

But many years have passed, and Dongyi City is still the number one shopping city in the world, and its status has not changed at all.

Why did this result occur? The reason is that the degree of freedom in Dongyi City is too high, which makes it far more attractive than the imperial business system under the strict control of Qing Kingdom.

Along the way, Lin Ruo didn't see too many government officials and soldiers. It was obvious that Dongyi City had formed a very complete free contractual relationship in trade.

Anyone who dares to disrupt the business order will be attacked by the crowd.

The carriage was printed with the logo of the Qing State Supervisory Council, and many sharp-eyed vendors noticed it, but they just glanced at it with disgust and then did not make any unnecessary movements.

The Kingdom of Qing was not worthy of their excessive attention. Dongyi City was an independent city-state and would not participate in any treacherous struggles.

The carriage drove into an alley with fewer people and found that the City Lord's Mansion was very indifferent. After receiving the news early, they had no intention of welcoming them immediately. So the two of them temporarily stayed in an inconspicuous inn and waited.

It was not until late in the evening that someone from the City Lord's Mansion came to report that the negotiations would be postponed to the next morning.

Of course, this is Fei Jie's business. Lin Ruo will not pay special attention to it. His goal is to go to Jianlu and meet the grandmaster who has been in seclusion for nearly half a year.

……

(End of this chapter)