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After the officials from the Eighth Bureau of the Overwatch Council took away the two literati, the Yishi Tavern quieted down a lot; but alcohol was liquid courage, and soon they were all chatting merrily away again. All of the discussions were about the rumors of Commissioner Fan’s past.

“The Ye family was charged with rebellion. After the mysterious mistress died, all of their fortune was seized by the palace treasury.”

A man said worriedly, “If Sir Fan junior really is the orphan of that mistress... I think there will be trouble.”

“Rebellion? Then why are the masters of Qingyu Hall still white and fat?” A literati with extremely thick eyebrows mocked, “I think the court took advantage of when the orphan was motherless to forcefully seize their fortune. But now that the Ye family suddenly has an heir, I think the court is going to panic.”

“What’s there to panic about?”

“Doesn’t the Emperor want Commissioner Fan to manage the palace treasury? This treasury originally belonged to his family. How is he going to manage it?”

“The palace treasury?” another sneered coldly. “I think Commissioner Fan is more likely to find misfortune soon.”

The tavern owner wiped away his cold sweat and slid over. “Sirs, can you please keep your voices down? If the officers at the Overwatch Council hear, how will I run my business?”

The owner of the Yishi Tavern very rarely ventured out to see guests. Today, however, he had come upstairs. The few familiar guests all rose to greet him, and the owner gave his attention all around while also paying close attention to all the post-drinking conversations.

Yishi Tavern was owned by the Cui family. The Cui family had recently been on the verge of collapse when they suddenly heard rumors of their biggest enemy’s, Commissioner Fan’s... past. The people of the Cui family couldn’t help but celebrate in secret, and watched with eager eyes the development of this matter.

The young man who had previous said the court had forcefully seized the Ye family fortune was indeed getting his courage from alcohol. He laughed and said, “What are you so scared of? Can the Overwatch Council really block all the gossiping mouths in the world? Even if they dared, the Emperor would not allow it. Did you see those that were captured by the Overwatch Council yesterday? Weren’t they all released perfectly fine today? It’s only a few casual words, not enough to break the Qing law.”

These words were not entirely correct. After all, he was not an official, and this was in a tavern in broad daylight—no one dared to say what they truly thought. In these people’s hearts, they all thought that once the court heard about Fan Xian’s past, first they would take his positions away, second... they were afraid the court would take his life.

The man beside him remained worried-looking. “Commissioner Fan is in difficult straits now. If he really is a... descendent of the Ye family, I suspect his career will not go any further.

“What will happen to Fan Manor?” The man continued, sighing. “Minister Fan has been managing the treasury all these years, and is a famous, competent official. Will his family be destroyed because of a passing responsibility all those years ago?”

After the rumor entered the capital, other than guessing at Fan Xian’s past, the topic that most delighted the people of Jingdou was the Minister of Revenue, Fan Jian. How had he managed to trick that mysterious mistress of the Ye family? And how did he convince her to secretly have his child? Everyone knew that Minister Shang was once a master of romance on the Liujing River, yet they did not imagine him capable of attracting the mistress of the best business in the world.

However, in the process of the rumor spreading, those daughters of wealthy and middle-class families developed a completely different feeling for Minister Fan. The Ye family had been convicted of the great crime of rebellion. Back then, Fan Jian had been just a lowly official, yet he had been able to preserve the life of the child he’d had with that woman. He had even been able to hide this from the people of the palace, and braved unspeakable dangers to raise him for so many years.

This part of the story was enough to start a new one: it had the potential of a great love story.

It was not until today that people finally understood why Fan Jian had Fan Xian stay in Danzhou for 16 years, and would not let him enter the capital.

Seeing the panic of the Eighth Bureau of the Overwatch Council, people knew that this rumor had a high chance of being true. Only, the Emperor was on the throne, and Commissioner Fan was, in the end, not Chen Pingping. He was unable to block out the sky with one hand, and did not dare to invite everyone who liked to gossip to have tea in the Eighth Bureau. In the end, he could only stare open-mouthed as the matter slowly expanded.

For example, the people captured yesterday were released today. This was clear proof.

And so, people no longer resented the young Commissioner Fan for doing such a taboo thing as stifling the voice of the people. Rather, they felt a thread of sympathy for this young official whose future was uncertain, and whose “life hung in the balance.” After all, Fan Xian had gained a good reputation in the Qing Kingdom over the last two years, both inside and outside the city. He had also won a lot of face for the court. Every time they thought of how he’d fallen into misfortune, the people held biases in their hearts. Particularly after remembering his mother, who seemed to have also disappeared without a trace because of a groundless rebellion case.

“Ye Family? Which Ye family?”

At this moment in the tavern, a young man suddenly called this out ignorantly. He had been listening for a while, yet could not understand the history of the Ye family connected to Sir Fan junior. After all, the events of that year had happened a long time ago. Time was like water, and many people in the Qing Kingdom had almost forgotten that sparkling name.

“You don’t know the Ye family?” Some of the older people began to laugh scornfully. As expected, it was a kid whose beard had yet to grow in fully. They all felt they needed to give him a lesson.

“The Ye family were once the greatest merchants in the world,” a middle aged man said with his thoughts wandering away. “The family that made glass and sold it like silver. That Ye family.”

Someone objected and thought this point didn’t describe them clearly. “The Ye family, the one that made soap and perfume. That Ye family. Ah, they stopped making perfume long ago. I guess you’ve never smelled any.”

“It’s the Ye family that made liquor.”

Someone else added, “It’s that family that provided the court with the majority of their armaments. That Ye family.”

“Do you know the palace treasury? Do you know where all the money our Qing court spends every year comes from?” the middle-aged man mocked. “It is the treasury that earns its wealth from Northern Qi, Dongyi, and even from overseas. And what is the palace treasury? It’s nothing other than Ye family business!”

The young man who raised the question could only stare dumbfounded; he opened his mouth wide. “My god, that’s incredible.”

That literati who was the bravest, who had directly accused the court of underhandedly taking the Ye family fortune, shook his head with a cold smile. “If the Ye family were only merchants, how could they have expanded to such an extent back then? If she were only a merchant, then why would she be... destroyed?”

The middle aged man was curious. “Oh, perhaps Xiongtai knows of something?”

“The Ye family...” the literati rolled his head and sighed. “It’s said that they’re deeply connected to the Overwatch Council. I heard that at the inception of the Overwatch Council, all of the income was provided by the Ye family. Of course, these are just rumors.”

The middle aged man was silent for a while, when a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him. He said to those around him, “Everyone, do you remember that stone tablet outside of the yard of the Overwatch Council?”

Everyone nodded, and suddenly their faces changed color. They had thought of something, and they all began to exclaim, “Is that to say that passage... that one called ‘Ye Qingmei,’ was the mistress of the Ye family!”

The face of the literati had also changed a little, he sighed, “No wonder, no wonder... no wonder Sir Fan junior relinquished his reputation and entered the Overwatch Council to work for them in spite of the stain on himself. I think he knew very clearly. Alas...” he spoke in shock. “When Sir Fan junior was first installed as the commissioner of the Overwatch Council, I thought this matter was a bit strange. Could it be that Director Chen knew much earlier...?”

Before he had finished speaking, the middle aged man urgently picked up a cup of wine and shoved it to his mouth, to block the next words. After the literati paused, he also felt an echoing fear.

The Qing Kingdom had pure and straightforward folk customs; the people were not that afraid of the officials, and were not that afraid of Sir Fan junior. Otherwise, how else would they dare to sit in a tavern and gossip about him? It was only that old man in a wheelchair that everyone was terrified of, and did not dare to talk much about.

Finally, the tavern truly quieted down, and everyone began to drink and eat. After an indeterminable amount of time, a sudden sound of delighted surprise came from the corner.

Everyone turned their heads to see the young man who didn’t know of the glorious history of the Ye family stand up. He was incomparably excited and was waving his hands and dancing around. “I remember the Ye family now, I remember. The Ye family that made the double-bang firecracker!”

Everyone laughed and then turned away.

In reality, for most of the people of the Qing Kingdom, the Ye family was just one name among many. No one had purposely tried to keep them in their memory. Even among the people of the Yishi Tavern who talked about them with assurance would have been hard pressed to remember, just days ago, the many changes the Ye family had brought to the Qing Kingdom. It was only after the rumors of Commissioner Fan being a descendant of the Ye family had spread into the capital, and many people began discussing it, that their long-slumbering memories awoke. It was only then that they began to recall that the Qing Kingdom after the appearance of the Ye family seemed very, very different to the Qing Kingdom before their appearance.

Perhaps it was just some lady in her manor remembering the smell of perfume, or the soldier at the city gates remembering the miraculous workings of soap, or it was a soldier who stared dumbfounded at the bow and arrow in his hands. Perhaps it was a merchant in the north in Shangjing who used silk to carefully clean his glass horse, or it was a poet who was happily drunk, or it was that old man in the yard of the Overwatch Council who lifted the black curtains to stare at the world. Perhaps it was only the young man who remembered the first firecracker of his childhood.

All in all, because of the rumors about Fan Xian’s past, people began to, for one reason or another, remembering the Ye family.

...

...

Fan Xian walked out of the door and welcomed the rare warmth of a winter’s sun. He stretched and a refreshing smile appeared on his face. Because of this matter, it was not convenient for him to return to Cang Mountain. Following his father’s orders, everyone in the Fan Manor pretended nothing had happened, and indifferently watched everything, welcoming the secret whispers from all sides.

Deng Zi Yue approached and handed him today’s reports from the Council, as well as the intelligence report of Qinian’s group. Fan Xian read them by the sun’s light and asked, “Regarding that rumor, have any of the officials in the capital made any moves?”

Deng Zi Yue stole a glance at the Commissioner’s imperturbable face and felt great admiration in his heart. After this huge event had happened, he was still able to stay so calm. Was he not afraid the palace would immediately send people to arrest him? He didn’t know of Fan Xian’s panic in Cang Mountain, and couldn’t help but put him on a pedestal.

When they first heard the rumor, Deng Zi Yue and all the officials in the Overwatch Council were shocked and in a state of disbelief, much like the common people. However, after some thought, many people realized that although this rumor had no proof, it explained many of Commissioner Fan’s actions after he’d entered the capital. The evidence made the rumor very easy to believe. If he weren’t a descendant of the Ye family, why did the Director treat him so tenderly? If he weren’t a descendant of the Ye family, why would Minister Shang work so hard for his son to take control of the palace treasury?

Deng Zi Yue was woken from his daze by the glare of the sun. “No major moves.” After an apology he said, “The message to each manor is very clear. The Imperial Censorate are secretly communicating with them. However, last time they suffered a big loss, so they seem much more cautious this time. Rather, there are officials in a few other departments who are ready to make trouble. However, rumors are just rumors and there is no true evidence. They don’t dare to write petitions, and so everything they do is in secret.”

Fan Xian asked, “The eastern palace?”

Deng Zi Yue shook his head. “The officials who are close to the eastern palace are just watching, but...yesterday, some of the officials’ wives entered the palace to greet the empress. After they returned home, those officials met in secret as well. As to what they said, no one knows.”

“The empress?” Fan Xian furrowed his brows and sighed, thinking, I haven’t even had time to make trouble for you, are you going to come knocking on my door instead? The empress would naturally fly into a rage, but what was she thinking?

It was not until today that he realized of the power he had on hand. Other than the uncle Wu Zhu trump card, the others were not assured. Given this current situation, even if he was able to get through this peacefully by depending on the Emperor’s trust in himself, and the scheming of his father and Chen Pingping, what about the future? The situation should always be completely controlled in one’s own hand for complete assurance.

...

...

Inside Hanguang Hall of the Royal Palace, the empress was kneeling beside the bed of the empress dowager with tears streaming down her face. Her hand held that of the old woman’s and she said, desolately and miserably, “Aunt, you have to help me.”

The empress dowager signed and asked, “How can I help you?”

The empress gritted her teeth and said, “Usually when I see Fan Xian, I have always felt a little frightened, and now I know why. It turns out he is son of that witch! The Emperor... the Emperor’s heart is so cruel, to have hidden this from me for so long. Unbelievably, that witch still has descendants!”

The empress dowager stroked the empress’s dishevelled hair and comforted her, “These things happened so long ago, why still hold on to them? You’ve seen the young man, the Emperor will never claim him. You struggle and fight, but what will that get you?”

At this moment, there was absolute silence inside the Hanguang Hall. Other than Eunuch Hong who stood half-asleep on guard, outside the door, all the other eunuchs and serving girls were as far away from this palace as possible.

“Let go?” Tears rolled down the empress’s face, and the wrinkles beside her eyes could be seen. “Aunt, have you forgotten my father? Even though the Emperor refuses to say it, that was your brother. And who can’t guess the reason? Doesn’t the Emperor continue to hate him because he killed that witch back then?”

Hearing the empress say this, the empress dowager’s face immediately became serious and she forced herself to sit up. “Shut up!” she said severely. “In this palace you should call me mother, not aunt! How dare you talk about what happened that year. I don’t know what you were jealous of to have your father go do something like that. To kill the whole family... the Emperor only told me of this months ago. If Fan Jian’s family had not acted quickly and sacrificed dozens of lives, you wouldn’t have just killed that woman, you would have... killed Fan Xian too!”

The empress dowager moved her face close to the empress’s and said in a voice cold beyond compare, “Don’t forget. Although Fan Xian is the son of that woman, the blood in his bones is that of the Emperor’s! No matter where he is, he is always of our flesh and blood. If you want to kill him, you have to at least ask what I think.”

The empress felt a shiver run down her spine and felt an overwhelming fear. She stared dumbly at the empress dowager’s stern and righteous face and thought, The raid that year on the Taiping Courtyard, didn’t you agree to it? How come you won’t own up to it now?

Seeming to have guessed the empress’s thoughts, the empress dowager’s expression cleared a bit and she said lightly, “Somethings that cannot be said should not be said. Better to take it to the grave.”

The empress’s gaze was filled with rage. She stared at the empress dowager without speaking and said without courtesy, “So... the formidable empress dowager is afraid of her son.”

The empress dowager’s cold gaze bored into the empress’ face, and she said clearly, “It’s not fear, it is love. I do not want to see the Emperor go through the same pain as that year, and I also do not want Jingdou to once again run red with blood... those of the royal blood are already few. Many of the royal and aristocratic families have been decimated. We cannot stand to have history repeat itself.”

The empress sat dumbfounded for a moment before suddenly bursting into crazed laughter, “Cannot stand it? Are we going to let my poor father, your poor brother, die like that in vain? Fan Xian is the son of the Ye witch... yet the court will not make a statement? And just let the officials talk? What is the Ye family? The crime of the Ye family is rebellion... are you not afraid the royal family would completely lose their face?”

The empress dowager replied soothingly, “You’re tired, go rest. As for Fan Xian... who says he is the son of the Ye girl? I don’t believe it. As for the foolish people of this world, they can say what they like.”

The empress finally lost all hope. The hands in her hundred phoenix sleeve clutched tightly at her handkerchief. She forced herself up to salute the empress dowager before turning to walk towards the exit of the Hanguang Hall.

As she was about to reach the doors of the palace, the empress dowager’s cold voice rang out, “I heard that some official’s wives often visit your palace? It almost the new year, things are going to be busy in the palace. You are the head of the Six Palaces, and the mother of the nation. Don’t always worry about matters beyond the palace... that’s all, you may go.”

The empress turned and saluted again. The trace of a cold smile hovered around her lips, and she left.

“Go watch her. Her attitude has become very strange these past few years.” The empress dowager sat on the bed, and barely managed to push back the silver strands of her hair with a shaking hand. She gave the order to Eunuch Hong before her. “Don’t let this thing bother the Emperor.”

Eunuch Hong replied with a “Yes” before leaving the Hanguang Hall like a ghost. The palace door squeaked, and the eunuchs and serving girls who received their orders all entered quickly to serve the empress dowager.

A serving girl moved her hand holding the comb slowly and carefully over a patch of silver hair.

The empress dowager suddenly gave a cold sneer and slammed her hand against the table. The serving girl combing her hair was startled by this sound and pulled out a few silver hairs. She saw the hairs on the comb and was scared soulless. Without thinking, she knelt and kowtowed repeatedly, not daring to say anything.

“You may get up.” The empress dowager closed her eyes and said, “I am not one of those unreasonable old monsters.”

She forced down the rage in her heart, but was unable to find peace for a long time. The Emperor had asked her to suppress the queen because after the night Jingdou ran red with blood most of the connected people had died. Only the empress knew the true relationship between Lady Ye and the Emperor back then, and only the empress knew the truth about Fan Xian’s past. If it was left to the empress, who knew what those Princes would do after they had recovered from their shock.

Thinking of the Ye family, the empress dowager’s temples began to thud, a streak of pain began to radiate out—the empress dowager had always believed the Ye woman a curse that would haunt the Qing royal family for countless years. Unexpectedly, she was right in thinking this. She had left the Emperor a child!

The empress dowager had the power to deal with this matter. Otherwise, the Ye family would not have been completely destroyed back then. The events of that year left the old woman with a sufficiently vile impression; when she heard the truth from the Emperor’s mouth, and thought about how Fan Xian’s mother was named Ye, a red-hot pain burst open in her head. And so, each time Fan Xian entered the palace, she avoided him, because she was not sure she could act in the kind and humane way an empress dowager was meant to act.

On the topic of how to deal with Fan Xian, her thoughts were vastly different from those of the empress’s. For the empress, Fan Xian was first and foremost the son of an enemy, the Ye woman. However, in the empress dowager’s eyes, even if the Ye woman had committed many wrongs, many crimes, and had been treacherous to the court... her son was, after all, the flesh and blood of the royal family. He was her true grandson.

...

...

Deep in the night, after making sure that Eunuch Hong had returned to the little room outside the Hanguang Hall, the white-faced empress bit her lip and gestured with her eyes at her personal serving girl. In just a moment, the person who had recently been very calm, and had done nothing wrong, appeared: the Crown Prince. He saluted the empress.

The empress’s words could not be heard, only that her lowered voice was becoming more and more urgent, yet the Crown Prince kept shaking his head.

Mother and son faced each other without words. After a moment, the Crown Prince quietly comforted her, “Mother, even if Fan Xian is the descendant of the Ye family, what of it? He is only a merchant.”

“Merchant?” The empress laughed coldly. “Do you think that woman is a normal merchant? She’s a cursed star!”

The empress stared at the Crown Prince and said in a cold voice, “Fan Xian, is your father’s son.”