Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 95 Layout
That night, someone easily climbed over the wall of the Fan Mansion, while someone climbed over the wall of the royal villa without anyone noticing.

This situation lasted for several days, and Fan Xian always went out early in the morning and came back late at night.

Until this day, Prince Li Hongcheng of Prince Jing came to visit, and Fan Xian, who was a little sleep-deprived, had to entertain him despite his sleepiness.

“Brother Fan is not in good spirits, but you have insomnia at night?”

"Not really, I just like talking to one person too much."

In the hall of Fan's house, the two sat across from each other and sipped their tea. Li Hongcheng didn't care who he liked to talk to at night, and he just talked about business: "The second prince is hosting a banquet at Zuixianju, and he wants to invite you to meet him."

The Second Prince invited this illegitimate son to meet him, inevitably wanting to win him over for the matter of the inner treasury.

After Fan Xian figured it out, he said directly, "I won't stand on the side of the Crown Prince, but I don't think there's really any need to lean towards the Second Prince."

The reason why Fan Xian thought that he would not stand on the side of the prince was because the old owner of the inner treasury, the princess, had been secretly targeting him. Fan Xian thought very clearly that it was impossible for him to reconcile with the princess over the inner treasury.

He clearly understood from his husband and Wan'er that the eldest princess was a person with a strong desire for power.

The assassination in Danzhou four years ago was the work of the eldest princess and the queen. At that time, the emperor had just finalized his engagement with Wan'er and gave away the inner treasury as a dowry, so they could not wait to do this.

Thanks to the timely reminder from the gentleman in Beijing, Fan Xian was able to resolve the crisis easily.

Li Hongcheng was somewhat surprised at Fan Xian's idea and shook his head, saying, "Brother Fan, do you want to remain neutral? That's obviously unrealistic. Since Brother Fan wants to control the inner treasury, it's impossible for him to just stand aside."

"Besides, Brother Fan is now well-known in the capital, and winning him over will be the norm in the future."

"Can a poem be considered famous?" Fan Xian said with a smile, somewhat lamenting the destructive power of this poem.

Li Hongcheng smiled and said, "Brother Fan, you are joking. Most people cannot write the poem you wrote in their entire lives. I am afraid that even Master Zhuang Mohan of the Northern Qi Dynasty would shake his head and sigh when he saw it."

The exaggeration was so exaggerated that Fan Xian could hardly bear to listen to it anymore. He said frankly, "What if I choose not to go?"

"The Second Prince has been talking about it all the time. He thinks highly of Brother Fan. If you don't go, the Second Prince will definitely be sad." Li Hongcheng said with a sigh.

"Is this how you convince me?" This emotional card was played terribly, without any reason or basis, Fan Xian couldn't help but think.

"Although I have only known Brother Fan for a short time, I have some understanding of him. If I say those high-sounding words, I am afraid Brother Fan will be even more reluctant to go." Li Hongcheng did not want to say anything deceitful to the future owner of the inner treasury.

"The Second Prince is a very interesting person. What to discuss at this banquet is actually decided by Brother Fan." Li Hongcheng continued.

Fan Xian frowned, then relaxed his brows and said slowly, "You mean, I can just go and have a drink?"

Li Hongcheng smiled and said, "Of course, the Second Prince likes to make friends, and maybe he would be happier with a drink."

"Yes, it's hard to find a true friend." Fan Xian smiled slightly. Maybe he could really become a rare confidant with the Second Prince.

"Then Brother Fan has agreed. We will meet you at Zuixianju by the Liujing River in the evening." The tea at the Fan Mansion is good. Li Hongcheng took a few more sips before leaving with satisfaction.

Fan Xian escorted the Prince of Jing out of the palace.

……

In the Supervisory Office, in an office, Lin Ruo stood in front of the table. In front of him stood two middle-aged men in black clothes. Wang Qinian came in from outside the room and bowed, saying, "Sir, Wu Bo'an went to Zuixianju this morning."

Lin Ruo nodded and said in a deep voice: "Zhu Ge, who in the palace took action?"

One of the three officials from the Supervisory Council stepped out and said, "The Princess didn't tell me clearly."

Yan Ruohai put his hands in his sleeves and said in surprise: "It seems that this princess is really thoughtful. As long as she is not involved in this matter, she will not disclose it even to people around her."

"But she could never have imagined that Zuixianju has been under the full control of the Supervisory Council since its establishment in Kyoto." Zhu Ge continued.

Lin Ruo glanced at Lord Zhu Ge, the deputy director of the First Division of the Supervisory Council. This man should have been the most loyal subordinate of the eldest princess, but he was instigated to rebel in the past eight years.

"How could the princess have the courage to collude with Northern Qi? If we report this to His Majesty, she will fall in an instant." Wang Qinian said from the side.

"We take some things too lightly. His Majesty has not allowed us to investigate the eldest princess. Perhaps he knows more about it than we do." Zhu Ge said indignantly.

Yan Ruohai shook his head: "That's because there is not enough evidence. If the evidence is presented, even if His Majesty is willing, he would not dare to ignore personal feelings."

Then, Yan Ruohai handed over a piece of intelligence: "Sir, this is the first-hand clue that my son Yan Bingyun obtained during his four years of hiding in Northern Qi with the help of He Daoren, a popular figure around the Queen Mother. It is enough to accuse the Princess of secretly doing business with Northern Qi."

"After all, if the Lord hadn't noticed it earlier, we would hardly know that the eldest princess was hiding such a deep secret."

Yan Ruohai said with admiration, and after a moment of silence, he added: "There is one more thing, this business transaction also involves the Second Prince."

Lin Ruo picked up the intelligence and took a look at it, then put it on the table and replied, "Let's put the Second Prince aside for now, we have to deal with the eldest princess first."

"Yes, sir, I will send a copy of the information to the dean outside the city." Yan Ruohai bowed and left the room.

Wang Qinian went a step further and reported, "Sir, in colluding with Northern Qi to assassinate Master Fan, Northern Qi sent an eighth-rank master, Cheng Jushu, at noon, in the Niulan Street area."

Lin Ruo smiled and said, "Go and solve it."

Wang Qinian shook his head in resistance: "Sir, I can't do it. I learned Qinggong, which is not suitable for my major."

"Can you please have some courage?" Zhuge cursed.

Wang Qinian showed an innocent expression, selectively ignored the topic, and said: "Sir, Lin Gong, the second son of Prime Minister Lin's family, is also involved."

Zhu Ge sneered and said, "Lin Gong is such a fool. Doesn't he know that Wu Bo'an is close to the princess? I think he wants to use this case to protect the inner treasury and please the prince, so as to bring the relationship between the prime minister's residence and the Eastern Palace closer again."

"Little did they know that the Prime Minister's Residence and the Eastern Palace were drifting further and further apart. On the surface, the conflict between Prime Minister Lin and the Princess was intensifying, but in reality, it was His Majesty who was secretly trying to force Prime Minister Lin to step down. Few people could see this."

"So that's how it is. Lin Xiang treats his son very laissez-faire and doesn't even tell him this." Wang Qinian sighed, feeling that he was really betraying his son.

Zhu Ge said: "I guess Prime Minister Lin didn't expect his son to dare to do this."

Seeing that the two were addicted to chatting, Lin Ruo slapped the table and said, "The discussion has gone off topic."

(End of this chapter)