Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 92 Zuixianju

On the second day in the East Palace, Guo Baokun knelt at the door to apologize. The poem he wrote yesterday spread throughout Kyoto, and the news that Guo Baokun participated in the poetry meeting in Prince Jing's Mansion also spread.

To show his loyalty, Guo Baokun, the palace editor and the prince's tutor, went to the palace early in the morning to plead guilty.

"The endless fallen leaves rustle down, and the endless river rolls on." Crown Prince Li Chengqian sat on a high seat, holding the poem from yesterday in his hand and muttering to himself, and said to Xin Qiwu beside him: "This illegitimate son of the Fan family is indeed a talent, and he can write such a good poem."

Xin Qiwu nodded without saying anything in response.

Li Chengqian sighed, put the poem aside, rubbed his temple, and said in distress: "It's a pity that my aunt doesn't like it. This person robbed the inner treasury and will definitely be a big enemy in the future."

Xin Qiwu naturally knew the position of the eldest princess in the prince's heart. Ever since His Majesty arranged the marriage four years ago, transferred the inner treasury as a betrothal gift, and ordered that it be handed over to the illegitimate son of the Fan family after the marriage, the eldest princess had regarded Fan Xian as an enemy.

So in the past few years, he kept stopping it in the name of his mother, and then with the clever help of Dean Chen, His Majesty temporarily put the marriage on hold. Unexpectedly, two months ago, Dean Chen returned to his hometown to visit his relatives, and Lord Fan rushed to the palace to persuade His Majesty, and brought Fan Xian back to Kyoto by fast horse, catching him off guard.

This marriage now seems to be a done deal.

The eldest princess cried everywhere in the palace, but it was of no use.

"Your Highness, there is really no need to be hostile to the Fan family because of the inner treasury." Xin Qiwu was silent for a long time, but finally spoke out his true feelings.

"The Fan family has not joined the Second Prince and is currently in a neutral position. Making enemies is the most undesirable thing."

He has always advocated distancing himself from the eldest princess and not getting too involved.

The reason why the prince is the prince is that his position is stable. As long as he does not do anything out of line and does not cause too much controversy in the court, he will be accepted and remain loyal to the emperor.

Even if the Second Prince outside the palace caused a huge commotion, the Crown Prince's position was still unshakable.

The struggle in the inner treasury is likely to drag the crown prince into a vortex, and Xin Qiwu has always disagreed with following the eldest princess's actions.

Li Chengqian didn't seem to want to hear this, and raised his head with some disgust: "Don't say such disloyal words in the future, we are on the same front with my aunt."

Xin Qiwu lowered his head and said angrily, "If the illegitimate son of the Fan family really gets the position of the head of the inner treasury in the future, wouldn't it be more loss than gain for us?"

Xin Qiwu's meaning was very simple. There was no need to attack even if he did not want to win them over. In this way, even if the power of the inner treasury really fell into the hands of others, the Eastern Palace would still have room to maneuver.

Xin Qiwu did not want to put all the control in the hands of the eldest princess.

"No, this will disappoint my aunt." Li Chengqian refused without hesitation. He could listen to many things except his aunt's.

Xin Qiwu had no choice but to shut his mouth. What he was worried about was not the enmity with the Fan family, but the fact that the relationship between the Prime Minister and the eldest princess seemed to have reached a dead end.

The Prime Minister never opposed His Majesty's engagement, but he did not explicitly support it because of the eldest princess's intention. If Princess Chen is satisfied with the marriage, the Prime Minister will definitely stand on the side of his son-in-law, and then the power of the Eastern Palace will be split again.

Li Chengqian obviously didn't think about this. He took a sip of tea and finally looked towards the door: "Guo Baokun, get up."

The Ministry of Rites was loyal to the Eastern Palace from beginning to end. Li Chengqian was lustful and indeed cowardly in some aspects, but he was not a fool. He would not doubt the hearts of his subordinates because of a poetry meeting.

"Be careful with your words and actions in the future." The prince said impatiently.

Guo Baokun kowtowed twice before he stood up, grabbing the corner of his trousers.

Li Chengqian took a look and asked about what had just been said: "Are you saying that Mr. Lin drove you away from this matter?"

Guo Baokun's eyes sparkled, and he said hastily, "Mr. Lin may still be concerned about the Eastern Palace. We may be able to recruit him."

After hearing this, Xin Qiwu snorted disdainfully: "Editor Guo had better ask the Shangshu for his opinion before saying this."

He thought that the prince's companion would have some brilliant ideas, but he turned out to be a fool who spoke without any basis. Xin Qiwu was puzzled as to why the Eastern Palace accepted such a person as a companion.

Guo Baokun explained: "The past grudges can be completely resolved. If we can bring Mr. Lin in, the strength of the East Palace will undoubtedly be much stronger. Besides, Mr. Lin is the prince's teacher, so this kind of relationship should not become hostile."

The prince was slightly moved, and he still remembered his teacher's kindness in his heart.

Seeing this, Xin Qiwu poured a basin of water on his face and said directly: "Let's not talk about whether Lord Lin has any intentions or not. Just talking about the enemies he has made in the court, the East Palace should not have too much contact with him, and there is no need to offend him."

"Mr. Lin had already shown his goodwill to the Eastern Palace yesterday. How could he not have any thoughts?" Guo Baokun questioned.

Xin Qiwu said coldly: "Ten years ago, I, Xin, was a close friend of Lord Lin. In my opinion, Lord Lin simply thought that Editor Guo was too stupid to do such a irrational thing, and he couldn't help but say a few words."

Guo Baokun's face turned red and he gritted his teeth.

Li Chengqian waved his hand to stop the farce of the two people's argument, and asked: "What is Mr. Lin's position?"

Xin Qiwu leaned forward and said in a deep voice, "Lord Lin hates evil and will never take sides in the court. We should not even think about winning him over. We can just treat him normally, neither fighting nor welcoming him."

Li Chengqian responded helplessly: "Let's do as Lord Xin says."

Xin Qiwu added: "Due to Guo's reckless behavior, I'm afraid many people in the court will think that Lord Lin is on the side of the Eastern Palace. The most urgent task is to spread the news and sever the relationship as soon as possible."

Li Chengqian thought about it and decided to let Xin Qiwu handle everything. …

On the carriage to Zuixianju, Fan Xian dozed off, wondering what Li Hongcheng meant by inviting him to a gathering today.

I guess he wants to win me over to the Second Prince who doesn't have much influence.

Teng Zijing's voice came from outside the car: "Master, the sacks are ready, and Guo Baokun's route back home has also been investigated."

Fan Xian nearly fell into the carriage. He was stunned for a moment before he realized that after the last restaurant incident, he had secretly instructed Teng Zijing to investigate Guo Baokun.

At the poetry gathering at the palace yesterday, Guo Baokun's words were full of thorns and he kept pressing Fan Xian at every turn. Fan Xian had the urge to beat him up.

This impulse was not a momentary impulse, but a careful calculation on his part. He wanted to use it to destroy his reputation and force the palace to cancel the engagement.

But now it seems that, given that it is certain that the princess is most likely the Chicken Leg Girl, Fan Xian would undoubtedly be shooting himself in the foot if he took action.

Fan Xian gave up the urge to beat up Guo Baokun and shook his head towards the outside of the car: "Put it aside for now and see how it goes later."

If the princess wasn't a chicken-leg girl, it wouldn't be too late to beat Guo Baokun up and break up the marriage.

Teng Zijing was very confused, thinking that after preparing for so long, it's all over if you say you don't want to do it.

But on second thought, although Guo Baokun was disgusting, he was of noble status after all, and it was a good thing for him not to cause trouble. It was just hard for him to investigate day and night these days.

"Zuixianju, this restaurant has a very interesting name." Fan Xian turned to discuss the invitation from Prince Jing.

Teng Zijing outside the car paused and replied: "Master, this is a brothel..."

Fan Xian was also stunned, and almost forgot the habits of Prince Jing. When he thought about the engagement, if the chicken leg girl misunderstood... he immediately backed out.

Teng Zijing smiled outside and said, "Master, there is nothing to do. We will be back before sunset. As long as we don't stay overnight, it won't be a big deal."

You don't have to entertain guests in a restaurant. The thousands of pleasure boats on the Liujing River are indeed more elegant.

These are often the places chosen by dignitaries for their gatherings, not to mention the romantic Prince Jing.

"I heard that the most popular courtesan Si Lili lives in Zuixianju. This girl is on good terms with Prince Jing, and I'm afraid she will be brought out to entertain the young master." Teng Zijing joked. He was a little worried that the young master would lose control and stay out all night.

Fan Xian coughed twice, not caring at all, thinking that he still had a strong sense of self-esteem.

After feeling relieved, he dozed off in the carriage.

……

In the Supervisory Yuan, the number of cases has decreased during this period, and officials inside and outside seem to have a lot of free time.

Wang Qinian came back from outside the courtyard and went straight to an office: "Sir, Master Fan went to Liujing River. I think he is going to Zuixianju. Do you need to send someone to protect him secretly?"

Lin Ruo sat down, put down his pen, and said thoughtfully: "Zuixianju has never made any moves, so don't worry about it."

“Who knows, there might be some action today.” Wang Qinian laughed.

Lin Ruo glared at him, and Wang Qinian immediately said seriously: "Listen to the adults, your judgment must be correct."

“We still need to make some preparations. Send people from the fourth and sixth offices. They don’t need to monitor Zuixianju, but they must fall into the trap without knowing it.” Lin Ruo said.

"Yes, sir." Wang Qinian responded, and then he became casual again, laughing, "Zuixianju is a spy agency of Northern Qi, and it is very hidden in the capital. You can see it at a glance. Wow, you are born to be a spy. I guess no one would have thought that Si Lili, the famous courtesan in Kyoto, is also a spy of Northern Qi."

Lin Ruo looked over coldly: "Don't you have anything to do? Are you so bored that you are just flattering me? Otherwise, I'll find you something to do."

Wang Qinian shut his mouth and went out obediently.

Just after he took a few steps out, Wang Qinian ran back and hurriedly looked for a place to hide in the room.

Seeing that there was nowhere to escape, he simply stood behind the adults and pretended to be calm.

Senior Brother Leng rushed into the room, extremely happy: "Master Lin, try the new poison I developed. After learning from the last lesson, I made some slight improvements. This time it will definitely kill people."

"Lord Wang is bored, so let him try the medicine on you." Lin Ruo took a look and said lightly.

Senior Brother Leng's eyes lit up, revealing a greedy look, and he pressed on: "It would be great if Lord Wang could test the medicine."

Wang Qinian was sweating, his body tilted, and he broke through the window and ran away.

Senior Brother Leng was stunned: "I remember this broken lattice window was quite strong."

Lin Ruo was covered in sawdust and was a little angry: "Not only is it hard, it's also very expensive. Pass it on and Wang Qinian's salary will be deducted in half this month."

(End of this chapter)