How much interest there is, how much lie will be bred, and what an excellent actor will be cultivated, Fan Xian deeply believes this. Standing on top of the court, each other's temptation is about the ownership of the chair, which is the greatest interest in the world, so it is not surprising that the prince tells a big lie in front of him.

The problem is that Fan Xian has no way of judging how true or false what the prince said, if he is in the position of the prince, will he make such a promise?

Forget about the previous things?

With the prince's innate status, the love of the queen mother, and the relationship with the eldest princess that no one knows, if you add the support of Fan Xian with the Supervision Yuan and the Inner Library, his ascension to the throne after rì is unstoppable, so if he can seek Fan Xian's support, the prince seems to be able to make enough sacrifices.

The problem is that with Fan Xian's life experience and cognition, he simply thinks that this kind of transaction is impossible, unless the prince really becomes a fatherless and motherless person, and if the other party really becomes this kind of person, how can Fan Xian dare to sit side by side with the other party?

He chatted with the prince gently, occasionally thinking of the good attitude of the prince of the East Palace towards him and those stories when he first entered Kyoto, and the clouds of complicated faces in his heart became thicker and thicker.

"Sister Wan'er is okay?"

After walking in the palace for so long, only the prince of the East Palace was the first person to ask Wan'er directly, and he asked very directly.

Fan Xian smiled, his mind was a little dazed, and he said to the prince without saying a word, but his eyes fell on the other party's cheeks, and he looked at it seriously, and gradually saw some details that he had not noticed in the rì.

The prince was very lonely and pitiful.

............ Walking from the East Palace to the outside of the palace, the sunset had gradually set, and the pale red twilight shone on the vermilion palace wall, gradually fading, so that the cold-resistant dwarf trees and the main hall buildings around him were covered with a layer of red sè, inauspicious red sè.

Fan Xian put his hands behind his back, his face was calm, thoughtful, and now he was thinking about the prince. Just like the feeling of the previous moment, at this time, Fan Xian realized that among the five princes, including himself, the most pitiful is actually the prince, this prince of the East Palace is only a little older than himself, and the Ye family was destroyed before he was born, and what about the prince?

...... Four years after the fall of the Ye family, the night of bloodshed in Kyoto, the prince's matriarchal family was slaughtered, his grandfather died at the hands of his father, and he lost far more relatives than himself. Since then, the crown prince has lived alone in the palace, living in tension and anxiety, and the only person he can rely on is the queen mother and queen who love him.

No, the queen doesn't count, as my father said back then, the reason why the emperor is not abolished and it is not easy to save is precisely because the queen is extremely stupid and her relatives are slaughtered, and such a situation is exactly what the emperor needs.

The only thing the prince can rely on is the queen mother, and when he grows up, because of the palace environment and the queen's deep memory of the events of the year, the prince has created a mediocre and slightly cowardly love, he has no friends, and he can't have friends, only silence.

However, the emperor of Qingguo was unwilling to choose his successor to remain silent forever, so he picked out the second prince, intending to sharpen the prince's knife more sharply, and finally picked out Fan Xian, defeated the second prince, and continued to grind the prince.

Such a deformed life will naturally produce a lot of psychological problems.

Silence, silence, not in silence, just perverted in silence, the prince seems to have chosen the latter, but his heart doesn't seem to be too terrifying.

Fan Xian walked under the palace wall, looked back at the majestic Taiji Hall glowing like fire in the curtain light, squinted slightly, and sighed in his heart, why do you want to stand on the opposite side of you?

Compared with the second prince, Fan Xian actually preferred the prince, because he knew the ruthlessness of the second prince's gentle expression.

However, he can try to knock the second prince off the horse, so as to save the other party's life, but he can't apply the same means to the crown prince. Because the prince's status is too special, he will either enter the clouds and turn into a dragon, or he will seep blood under his scales and fall into the Yellow Spring.

The second prince had to do something to inherit the throne, so he gave Fan Xian too many opportunities. The crown prince, on the other hand, does nothing, can do nothing, and will naturally inherit the throne, once the crown prince thinks through this, he will remain unusually intelligent and calm as he has shown in this year, and look at this qiē coldly.

However, calm does not mean generosity, if Fan Xian is really deceived by this illusion and softens his heart, once the other party really ascends the throne, what greets Fan Xian will inevitably be the queen's crazy pursuit and revenge, and the eldest princess will be ruthlessly purged.

At that time, will the prince still pity his own life?

It's just that the second prince was not repelled by Fan Xian, and the prince also rushed up...... He clenched his fists gently, making his heart cold and hard, and secretly thought, it is not easy for anyone in this world to live, don't blame me.

He took one last look at the burning twilight of the palace, tilting his head slightly, the source of this qiē qiē was actually the middle-aged man sitting on the dragon chair.

Fan Xian suddenly had a hint of happiness, he wanted to see the middle-aged man's old and embarrassed appearance of anger, he wanted to break through the emperor's calm disguise, it really hurt his heart.

At the end of the day, we're all cruel people.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――――― the sky is high and the clouds are light, the sky has not yet arrived, the sky is clear, and the winter trees on both sides of the official road outside the gate of Kyoto are spreading their branches high, intimidating those who are far from home.

A convoy of black horses streamed out of the city gates, lined up on the side of the road, and waited for the crowd in front of them to disperse. A young man lifted the curtain and stood in front of the car with a canopy to look over there, frowning slightly, and muttering to himself, "Why is this?"

The young man is Fan Xian, the time has entered February, he can no longer find more excuses to stay in Kyoto, and in this situation, of course, he knows that the farther away he is from Kyoto, the better, and he will not drag himself into the water afterwards, but the fact that Sisi is pregnant makes him have a headache - Later, Fuzhong Haosheng discussed it and decided to let Wan'er stay in Kyoto to take care of him, and let him go to Jiangnan alone.

Today is the rìzi who left Kyoto, with the experience of the past, he did not notify many people, even the young scholars in Taixue did not receive the news, this trip seemed quieter, a little more lonely.

Fan Xian looked at the Qingguo soldiers who were forming a team in front of the official road, and frowned slightly.

After a while, a few horses broke out of the more detached army sending team, and these horses went around directly and drove towards Fan Xian's convoy, and the sound of horses' hooves sounded, Fan Xian smiled slightly, got off the carriage and waited.

The first of the horsemen was an officer, wearing thin cotton armor and looking heroic, followed by several deputies.

The officer rode in front of Fan Xian, whipped off his horse, and his movements were not neat, and when he took off the armor on his face, revealing his handsome and gentle face, he found out that this person was actually Li Hongcheng, the son of King Jing.

"I didn't expect our brothers to go out of Beijing at the same time. Li Hongcheng patted Fan Xian's shoulder heavily and said with a smile.

Fan Xian shook his head and sighed: "If you stay well in Kyoto, why do you need to join the army......? If it weren't for the prince suing me, I wouldn't have known you had this arrangement. ”

Qingguo immediately won the world, the folk customs are simple and strong, that is, the children of the royal family have learned equestrian martial arts since childhood, and they have the habit of going out to the army since the previous generation.

Li Hongcheng was silent for a moment and then said, "You also know that if I stay in Kyoto, my father will keep me locked up in the palace...... That's no different from going to prison, I'd rather go to the west and fight the weird-looking Hu people than suffer these grievances again. ”

After Fan Xian was silent for a long time, he raised his head and said slowly: "You must take care, otherwise I will be sorry." ”

"If it can make you feel guilty, this expedition is not a loss. Li Hongcheng was slightly stunned and laughed: "In life, you always have to find a few goals for yourself, this time I joined the Western Army, why not satisfy my thoughts since childhood." ”

Fan Xian said: "I didn't know that you still had this kind of life ideal, I thought that your life ideals were all on the flower boat......"

The two smiled at each other, noticing that there were many people around them, and it was inconvenient for them to have a deep conversation. Li Hongcheng led the reins of the horse and Fan Xian side by side, and came to the slope below the official road, where the leafless and dead branches were denser, separating the dim light in the sky into patches of cold.

There was silence, and no one could hear them.

Li Hongcheng was silent for a moment, a relaxed smile gradually appeared on his face, and he said happily: "The things of the past two years have made me understand...... In Kyoto, I can't play with you, and I can't play with your second child...... That's fine, I'll leave Kyoto to you to play, and I'll go to the west. ”

Fan Xian smiled bitterly, he didn't know how to answer for a while, and said sincerely after a while: "The road to Xihu is long and difficult, you have to take care...... Although it is a quick way to make a name for yourself in the army, it is also a fierce path, although His Royal Highness now holds the military power, but the few years of suffering in the west, you know how hard it is. ”

Li Hongcheng nodded thoughtfully, and said seriously: "Since I joined the army, I naturally have been mentally prepared, and my father also knows my thoughts, otherwise I wouldn't have nodded." ”

The so-called idea is to really decide to get rid of the tiresome and dangerous battle in Kyoto, but Fan Xian thought that the backbone of this expedition to the west was still the Ye family, the father-in-law of the second prince, and he couldn't stop feeling some strange feelings in his heart, he looked at Li Hongcheng's face, endured and endured, and finally didn't hold back, and said: "Ye Chong...... It's the second brother-in-law, since you decided not to get involved in the affairs of the capital......"

Before he finished reminding him, Li Hongcheng had already waved his hand to block his words, and said calmly: "Don't worry, what I promised you, I will naturally do it." I'm not a stupid person...... It's just ......," he laughed, "it's just that you're too smart, so it's hard for us people to find opportunities to play, especially in the past two years, you have crushed me to death with your father, and I don't bow to you, I'm afraid that I will be under house arrest." ”

Fan Xian smiled bitterly: "It's not that I am using Prince Jing to press you, it is Prince Jing who is borrowing me to press you, this point must be clarified." ”

"Whatever is fine. Li Hongcheng sighed: "Anyway, my father and you both think the same, in this case, why should I force myself to struggle for anything, it is good to go to the West, the blood and fire on the battlefield must be more direct." ”

He suddenly calmed down, looked at Fan Xian's eyes, and said sincerely: "I have always had a good relationship with my second child...... Something is required of you. ”

Fan Xian immediately guessed what he would say, and frowned first and said: "I'm just a courtier, some things are not my turn, and who can calculate the outcome of the whole thing?" ”

Li Hongcheng shook his head calmly: "You didn't let me say it in advance, because you were afraid that you wouldn't promise me anything...... You're right when you say that the outcome is uncertain, and you can't defeat them in just a few years, but I don't know why, I just think you'll win in the end. ”

"Passing the prize?" Fan Xian smiled bitterly.

"But don't forget Jì, he is also your brother after all...... Brother-german. Li Hongcheng looked into his eyes and said seriously: "If there is really such a day, I hope you can let him live." ”

"You're looking too highly of me. Fan Xian turned his body slightly, looked in a certain direction on the side of Kyoto, and said calmly: "He is the prince, and even if we are courtiers, no matter how powerful we are, it is impossible to decide his life and death...... And you said let me let him live, but if a certain rì catches me, will he let me live?"

His voice gradually became colder: "I gave the second child enough time to think about it, and you know what I have cut off his wings for more than a year...... But he doesn't do it, his heart is too big, so big that he can't control himself, in this case, if I still control myself extravagantly...... Then I'm looking for death. ”

Li Hongcheng slowly lowered his head and said, "Since he was ten years old, he was forced to embark on the road of winning the heir...... After so many years, it has become his unchangeable purpose in life. Even if you beat him until he is the only one left, he will not be reconciled. ”

"That's the truth. Fan Xian's face gradually became indifferent, raised his right arm, pointed to a certain direction he was facing at this time, and said: "Dozens of miles out from here, it is my Fan family's grange, do you know what is there?"

Li Hongcheng glanced at him.

"There are four people buried there. Fan Xian lowered his arm and said, "The four guards who buried the Fan family were the four guards who had been following me since I entered Beijing, and they were killed on Niulan Street." ”

He continued: "The sniping on Niulan Street is the meaning of the eldest princess, the arrangement of the second child, although you are the one who is being used, you can't deny it...... How can you count yourself as an accomplice...... From that day on, I swore that if anyone else in this Kyoto wanted to kill me, I would not show any mercy to them. ”

"In the past three years, too many people have died, many people have died on my side, and many people have died on their side, and the enmity between the two sides has long turned into blood in the soil, which cannot be washed away. Since the second child thought that with the help of the Ye family, he could spend it forever...... Then I'll go with him. ”

Fan Xian looked back at Li Hongcheng and said slowly: "Since the second child refuses to withdraw, then this matter has become a life-and-death situation...... Have you ever thought that you were trying to kill my own life? Have you ever thought that you made such a request to me...... It's unfair?"

It's unfair...... Li Hongcheng laughed self-deprecatingly, sighed and said, "I just hope that things can end peacefully." ”

"That depends on the hearts of the crown prince and the second prince!" Fan Xian said something very similar to the emperor, "I am just the knife in the hands of His Majesty, if you want to end peacefully, it depends on how these two behave in front of Your Majesty." ”

He paused, and suddenly felt that at this moment of separation, it seemed too mean to Hongcheng to speak so ruthlessly, and couldn't help but shake his head and make his tone a little softer: "It's a very wise decision for you to go west this time, you don't have to stay between me and my second child." From my standpoint, I have to thank you. ”

"Thank you for what?" Li Hongcheng said with a wry smile: "Thank you for running away, so that you won't be a little unbearable when you wield a knife in the future?"

Both laughed.

Seeing Li Hongcheng's hand holding the reins, Fan Xian's heart moved, and he said for the third time: "It's difficult to go to the west here, you have to take care." ”

After Li Hongcheng was silent, he nodded slightly, turned over his horse, turned around and looked at Fan Xian for a while, and then said softly: "If I die in the west...... Remember, tell me the news of my death...... Everyone is dead, and she doesn't have to hide in the north all the time, after all, it's a foreign country, and it's not as good as home. ”

Fan Xian knew that Shizi had guessed the truth about his sister's study abroad thoroughly, and he couldn't help but feel ashamed in his heart, arched his hand, and scolded forcibly: "Come back alive." ”

Li Hongcheng laughed, whipped his whip, and the horse rushed up the slope, leading the three horsemen, and drove straight along the official road to the west, shaking up several clouds of smoke and dust.

Fan Xian squinted at this scene and secretly prayed for Hongcheng's safety.

――――――――――――――――――――― at dusk, the convoy of the Supervision Yuan under Jiangnan passed through the small valley that had been attacked again, all the way, and occasionally saw the traces of battle left on those rocks, Fan Xian licked his lips that were a little dry, and a powerful killing intent surged in his heart, this is the end of going to Jiangnan, and after he has done all the qiē, he will always think of a way to cut off the head of the old man who grows cabbage in the Qin family.

Since Qin Heng was transferred to the Privy Council as the deputy envoy and lost the position of guarding Kyoto, the old man of the Qin family still did not go to the court as before, and Fan Xian did not go to the Qin family to pay New Year's greetings during the New Year, but just gave a generous gift, maybe the other party must not know that Fan Xian had guessed who the real culprit of the sniper in the valley was.

Fan Xian was thinking about how the emperor arranged it at this time, through the sniping in the valley, several important positions in the court had been replaced by new people, and a successful metabolism was carried out, but the prestige of the old Qin family and the Ye family in the army was still full, and the emperor was definitely not satisfied with the current state.

What exactly will the emperor do? Fan Xian often asked himself that if he were sitting on the dragon chair, the transfer and purging of the military would definitely be done more thoroughly, instead of making a small fuss like now, and still giving these military elders enough opportunities to move.

Maybe it was Xihu's sudden advance that disrupted the emperor's overall plan, or maybe it was the clever hand of the little emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty who released the Uesugi Tiger, so that the emperor had to keep Yan Xiaoyi temporarily.

However, there are still four ways of Qingguo that have not moved...... The battlefield where the backbone generals cultivated by the Great Prince during his Western Expedition have not yet been played, do they need to rely so heavily on the old forces of the three factions of Qin Yeyan?

Fan Xian shook his head, vaguely guessing some kind of possibility, such as showing weakness, such as seducing, seducing like a red card girl...... It's just that this kind of plan seems too ridiculous, too desperate, even if it is as presumptuous as Fan Xian, I can't believe that the emperor dares to make such an arrangement regardless of the survival of Qingguo.

The convoy had crossed the valley, and after a few miles had gone further, it had joined up with five hundred black horsemen. After Jing Ge, who was wearing a silver mask, came to salute, he silently retreated among the black horsemen, there were about five hundred black horsemen, and in the hinterland of Qingguo, no force could threaten Fan Xian's safety.

Fan Xian's heart suddenly moved, his brows furrowed, and he patted his palms gently.

The carriage of the carriage moved slightly, and an ordinary official of the Supervision Yuan lifted the curtain and walked in. Fan Xian glanced at him and said in admiration: "He is worthy of being the number one assassin in the world, and his ability to disguise is really much better than mine." ”

The shadow assassin didn't smile, but asked in a dead voice, "What do you command?"

"You go back to Beijing. Fan Xian stared at his eyes and said in an unquestionable tone: "Return to the dean immediately, from this time on, you must not leave an inch, and you must ensure his safety." ”

The shadow frowned, he was personally arranged by Chen Pingping to come to Fan Xian's side, but at this time, Fan Xian suddenly asked him to return to Chen Pingping's side. Fan Xian didn't explain anything, and said directly: "You know my strength, he is a cripple, you also know it, go ahead." ”

The shadow thought for a moment, nodded, and in a moment broke away from the large convoy of convoys, turned into a black shadow, and suddenly passed through the valley and fields, and fled towards Kyoto.

Fan Xian confirmed that the shadow would return to Chen Pingping's side, and the tense heart finally relaxed, I don't know why, this time he left Beijing, he has always felt very uneasy in his heart, if it was just the prince's matter, it should not be dangerous to the safety of the old cripple, but Fan Xian just felt faintly afraid, and always felt that there would be a big event in Kyoto beyond his imagination.

Once a big event comes, there is a hidden power around my father, and those people in the palace are not very clear, and my father has always concealed it very well, even if Kyoto is turbulent, he will not be the primary target.

And Chen Pingping is different, if something big really happens, the first thing those people have to do is to gather all their strength and try their best...... Kill him, kill this old black dog that the emperor relied on the most.

This is a truth that has been proven by the turbulent history of the mainland for decades - if you want to kill the Qingguo Emperor, you must first kill Chen Pingping.

Although Fan Xian knew what kind of strength and city government the old dean had, and how terrifying the defense force outside Chen Yuan was, there was no shadow by his side, and Fan Xian was always uneasy.

............ The convoy went all the way south, south, through the hills beside the Wei River, through the mountains north of the river, across the river, through the newly built embankments, and came to the vicinity of Yingzhou, where a branch office of the Yamen, the governor of river transport, was located.

That night, Fan Xian did not summon his protégé Yang Wanli to see him, on the one hand, he wanted to see in person how Wanli was doing now, and secondly, he was anxious to check the hospital newspapers from Kyoto these days, as well as the folk news from Jiangnan Water Village.

Kyoto was calm, the things Fan Xian had planned had not yet begun, and there were no dangerous signals coming.

Fan Xian sat at the table, looking at the file with a faint light, and couldn't help laughing at himself, maybe he had stayed in a dangerous place for too long, so that he was too sensitive, with the supreme prestige of the Qingguo Emperor in the civil army, and the stable loyalty of the Qingguo court official system, who would dare to rebel in this world?

In the middle of the night, there was a sound of beating on the street, and Fan Xian had already come out of the post station alone, wearing a black sè night walker to cover his face.

Since the general trend of the world has not moved, a few small things of your own must begin.

In a dilapidated earth temple outside the city, Fan Xian found the green banner and saw Wang Shisanlang who was looking at the statue in a daze with his eyes open under the green flag.

"I'm very satisfied with Brother Xiaoji's matter. ”

Fan Xian sat across from him and said with a smile: "I just heard that you were also seriously injured, but I didn't expect that you look good now." ”

Wang Shisanlang smiled bitterly and said, "My body may be stronger than others." ”

"It's too good to be strong, because I'm about to arrange for you to do something. Fan Xian smiled and said: "I will slowly go back to Hangzhou and Suzhou, but you have to go first, go and meet someone, and then you come forward for me and help me collect some debts and come back." ”

"Debt?"

"yes. Fan Xian sighed and said, "What a big account." ”

Wang Shisanlang glanced at him and said, "I can't help with the affairs of the Ming family, you know that my Senior Brother Yun has been staring at it." ”

"Nonsense, if it weren't for Yun Zhilan staring, what would I let you do?" Fan Xian said with a smile: "This is a business matter, I don't want to fight and kill with you Dongyi City, so it is most suitable for you to come forward." ”

Wang Shisanlang smiled bitterly and said: "I just show the attitude of the family teacher, it does not mean that I will go to suppress Senior Brother Yun on behalf of the family teacher." ”

"I'm not stupid enough to believe that you Dongyi City will be infighting. Fan Xian shook his head, looked at the green banner beside him, and said, "It's just that the owner who owns this account is me...... But it's inconvenient for me to come forward, even my protégés and subordinates are inconvenient to come forward, I originally wanted to transfer a stranger to do it, but I was afraid that the Ming family would be forced to be anxious and slaughter that stranger...... You have a high level, so naturally you don't have to be afraid of these vulgar threats to your life. ”

Wang Shisanlang was surprised and said, "Why do you trust me so much? Aren't you afraid that I will swallow these accounts? Aren't you afraid that I will make it clear to the Ming family?"

"You can't swallow it, you're just pretending to be a professional manager. Fan Xian didn't care whether he understood these new terms or not, and said directly: "As for the Ming family, they have been tied to death by me, but you come forward to tighten the rope buckle." ”

Wang Shisanlang sighed and said, "Lord Xiao Fan, I am not your killer. ”

"Attitude. Fan Xian smiled and said with relief: "Attitude determines a qiē, since your master wants to stand on the wall, you must make your attitude clearer, otherwise after the Ming family collapses, I dare not guarantee whether the goods channel on Xingdong Road can be unblocked." ”

"Xingdong Road is not smooth, and those who suffer also include you Qingguo. "Wang Shisanlang doesn't like to be threatened.

Fan Xian said seriously: "Qingguo is His Majesty's, not mine, so I don't care about losses, and Dongyi City is your master's, so he cares about losses, this is ...... That's the biggest difference. ”