Book 7: Ode to the Son of Heaven Chapter 124: Bloodshed in Both the Capital and Jiangnan
Residing in Jiangnan was no easy feat; how deep, then, lay the snows of Jiangnan? The successive secret edicts from the Southern Qing court threw the entire Jiangnan region into turmoil. That not-so-heavy snowfall added countless chills to the lives of tens of thousands of common folk. All the great merchants felt the pressure and killing intent emanating from the capital. The Xiong family of Lingnan and the Sun family of Quanzhou had always maintained good relations with Fan Xian's faction, yet under the court's pressure, they dared not make a move. As for those salt merchants who, under the patronage of the powerful nobles in the capital, had been pilfering the wealth of the land from the margins, they began to grow restless.
The change in the Internal Treasury's merchant recruitment method fundamentally struck at the power held by Fan Xian. This point was clear to everyone, especially Xia Qifei, Fan Xian's representative in Jiangnan and the current head of the Ming family, who felt the imminent danger most acutely. Of course, he believed that given the Ming family's influence in Jiangnan, and most crucially, the fact that the Ming family's survival or collapse would affect the livelihood of Jiangnan's people, the court would have some scruples when taking action. At the very least, they wouldn't directly drive the Ming family to ruin in the eleventh year of the Qingli era. If the Ming family truly fell apart, the court wouldn't gain any benefits either.
However, the trend was already set. If the situation continued to develop like this, within a few years, the Ming family would gradually be marginalized and swallowed up by the dozen or so other Jiangnan merchants supported by the court. The lives and deaths of tens of thousands of people rested on Xia Qifei's shoulders, forcing him to be vigilant and prudent. Furthermore, his long conversation that night with Lord Xue Qing, the Governor of Jiangnan, made the court's demands on him perfectly clear.
After that night, Xia Qifei fell into deep contemplation. He had to choose a side between Young Master Fan and the court. Troubled by this deliberation, when he received the notification from the Qinian Group, he did not choose to sneak into the capital to meet Fan Xian immediately. It wasn't that he had begun to waver, but because he knew Fan Xian's summons was merely to assess his loyalty. The current situation didn't afford Xia Qifei the time to demonstrate his loyalty; the circumstances in Jiangnan were too perilous. Thus, he merely sent a personal letter to Fan Xian, expressing his intention to remain as steadfast as ever.
For any other merchant, choosing between the court and the already fallen Fan Xian wouldn't be an extremely difficult decision. Merchants seek profit and inherently lack the real power to influence the current situation. They must, willingly or forced, align themselves with the stronger side; this is the natural disposition of merchants. Even if Xia Qifei were to abandon Fan Xian now, it likely wouldn't surprise or draw contempt from too many people.
However, Xia Qifei was not a merchant in the ordinary sense. This was precisely why Fan Xian had chosen him as his representative in Jiangnan years ago. This illegitimate son of the Ming family shared a life trajectory remarkably similar to Fan Xian's. Having wandered the Jianghu since childhood and once the leader of the Jiangnan Water Stronghold, he possessed a sense of Jianghu righteousness beyond the inherent mercantile blood.
Xia Qifei was clear: without Young Master Fan, he could never have returned to the Ming family, let alone taken control of it and avenged his mother. For such great kindness and virtue, Xia Qifei dared not forget, nor was he willing to betray Fan Xian.
The Ming family had operated in Jiangnan for countless years. Even when Fan Xian came south back then, he found it somewhat difficult to make progress. Now, under Xia Qifei's leadership, they began to resist – resisting the pressure from the Jiangnan Governor's Yamen, resisting those secret edicts from the capital. For a time, the entire Jiangnan region was thrown into panic.
It was at this time that Xue Qing, the Governor of Jiangnan, who had previously cooperated seamlessly with Fan Xian yet remained relatively low-key, stood up. This highest-ranking frontier official of the Southern Qing court coldly began suppressing the Ming family and, most unexpectedly, brought the Fourth Master of the Ming family back into the spotlight.
This was a tactic Fan Xian had once used, and now Xue Qing simply followed suit, achieving excellent results. The Ming Garden itself was divided into several factions. Although the old Ming family members held few shares, they were still insiders of the Ming family. Now, with their disagreements brought into the open, it became extremely difficult for Xia Qifei to continue safeguarding Fan Xian's interests in Jiangnan.
Yet, Xia Qifei persisted. With the strong support of the Merchant Bank, he transformed money into power, infiltrating the entire Jiangnan officialdom from the bottom up, obstructing the full implementation of the court's decree at all costs. This head of the Ming family understood clearly that the general trend was irreversible. Young Master Fan was merely waiting for something in the capital. What his followers needed to do was try their best to preserve his strength, enabling his wait in the capital to continue. But the question was, how long must they wait? How long must they endure this desperate struggle before it ends?
They didn't have to endure for long. The Qing court clearly lost patience with the lack of cooperation from the Jiangnan gentry and merchants. Just three days after the Internal Treasury Transport Department's late-winter tea party, where the Ming family head Xia Qifei had vehemently opposed the new Internal Treasury bidding rules, he was assassinated outside Suzhou City!
The number of black-clad assassins targeting Xia Qifei exceeded five hundred. No one knew how these ruffians passed through the Qing Empire's strict internal defenses to reach the outskirts of Suzhou, nor where these fiercely skilled, militarily-trained assailants came from. Why was the response from the Suzhou Prefecture and the Jiangnan Governor's Yamen so slow when Xia Qifei was attacked? Why did the tens of thousands of provincial troops in Jiangnan Road fail to capture a single assailant afterward?
The five hundred black-clad assailants swarmed over Xia Qifei's convoy like a tide. Although Xia Qifei was the leader of the Jiangnan Water Stronghold, with countless brave men willing to die for him, in the face of such an utterly unexpected assault, they exhausted their courage and shed their blood, yet ultimately saw their defensive perimeter breached.
The newly appointed retainer of the Jiangnan Water Stronghold died fighting valiantly. Guan Wumei, who had returned to Suzhou to help handle affairs, also died in this assassination attempt. Xia Qifei should have had no chance of survival. However, at this critical moment, an inconspicuous Ming family servant, carrying the severely wounded Xia Qifei on his back and wielding a cold sword, fought his way out through the heavy encirclement and carried Xia Qifei back to the Ming family!
The Ming Garden was sealed shut and remained closed for three days.
By the time the provincial troops arrived at the assassination site, they found nothing except the fallen bodies of the Ming family's servants and guards. The black-clad assailants hadn't left a single corpse behind.
That night, in the Jiangnan Governor's Yamen, Governor Xue Qing and his two advisors pondered over the intelligence in their hands. The court's brazen action,不顾 of shocking the world, was already an all-or-nothing move. His Majesty the Emperor in the capital had lost patience with playing those empty, deceptive games with Fan Xian. Yet, despite such a thunderous strike, Xia Qifei had actually survived. This fact left Xue Qing feeling somewhat disappointed. Now that the Ming Garden was sealed, the court couldn't very well openly storm the Jiangnan Ming family's estate.
The report mentioned a swordsman who had carried Xia Qifei away, drifting off into the distance. This caught Xue Qing's attention. To fight their way out against hundreds of the Qing Empire's elite soldiers required a martial artist of the ninth rank. There were only a handful of such ninth-rank masters in the world. The one who could remain潜伏 by Xia Qifei's side and turn the tide at the last moment could only be... a disciple of the Sword Hut sent by Fan Xian.
The matters in Jiangnan did not end there. In this storm of bloodshed, the assassination attempt on the Ming family head was just the beginning. After the Ming Garden closed, the Jiangnan Water Stronghold's Shazhou headquarters began dispatching skilled fighters to reinforce Suzhou. However, this force sent to aid the Ming family was intercepted and disarmed by the court's provincial troops midway.
Meanwhile, the Jiangnan Naval Fleet stationed in Shazhou took advantage of the Water Stronghold's internal emptiness to carry out a ruthless purge. The Jiangnan Water Stronghold, surrounded by lake waters, was set ablaze. Countless people died. The fire raged for three days and three nights,仍未停歇, as if intent on boiling the lake dry and burning the reed roots into memorial incense...
The court could have countless reasons for suppressing the Jiangnan Water Stronghold. However, what disappointed Xue Qing further was the excessive brutality of the Jiangnan Naval Fleet's actions. The intercepted Water Stronghold men on the road were either killed or injured, and those captured remained stubbornly unyielding, not a single one willing to talk. Thus, the attempt to link the Ming family with Jiangnan water bandits was forced to halt here.
On the third day of the Ming Garden's closure, the Ming family's Fourth Young Master was found dead in a well, reportedly having committed suicide out of guilt. Subsequently, the old guard of the Ming family began to wither away one by one. Having lost too many kin and brothers, Xia Qifei launched a cruel counterattack. At least for now, the Ming Garden finally stabilized under his iron-fisted methods and with the help of the powerful experts from Dongyi City.
... ...
The court's use of such methods against the great merchant family, the Mings, had a severely negative impact,极易 causing unrest among the people of Jiangnan and fostering distrust towards the court among other merchants. Moreover, one must not forget that Xia Qifei currently held an official position – his status as the Jiangnan Supervising Commissioner of the Overwatch Council had not been revoked. Therefore, the Governor's Yamen, of course, refused to acknowledge any official involvement in this matter.
Under the Ming family's furious accusations and the vague inquiries, perhaps from the Overwatch Council headquarters in the capital, the Jiangnan Governor's Yamen took the lead, and the authorities of several major prefectures jointly launched an investigation into the assassination attempt on Xia Qifei. Of course, everyone could guess that this investigation would never yield any results.
Interestingly, neither the officials nor the Ming family mentioned the Jiangnan Water Stronghold that had perished in the fire, as if that once prominent Jianghu force in Jiangnan had never existed.
Compared to the inexplicable battle outside Cangzhou and the decisive great victory at Red Mountain Pass that determined the course of history, the turmoil and killings in Jiangnan were not as eye-catching. The death toll wasn't as high as those two places, and the impact seemed less significant. The nobles and citizens of the capital only vaguely knew that a very wealthy family in Jiangnan seemed to be facing difficulties recently. However, the contest in Jiangnan was, in fact, the real struggle, for it bore the burden of a significant portion of the Qing Empire's tax revenue and the peaceful livelihood of one-third of its population.
Furthermore, Jiangnan had always been peaceful and prosperous. Even when Fan Xian came south years ago and stirred up trouble, he carefully contained the turmoil within certain limits. Although it provoked a movement of Jiangnan scholars taking to the streets, it ultimately did not throw Jiangnan into chaos. But this time, Jiangnan was truly in turmoil. If Xia Qifei had not侥幸 survived and used even fiercer methods to soothe his grieving heart, perhaps Jiangnan would have entirely fallen under the court's control. Regarding this, one could only say that Fan Xian's luck in this life was indeed remarkable. The trusted subordinates he chose had repaid his trust with loyalty far beyond expectation.
The cold war between His Majesty the Emperor and Fan Xian had turned into hot conflicts in three crucial locations across the realm. Beyond these three places, however, another incident occurred just outside Yingzhou City—one that did not attract much attention. Su Wenmao, an official of the Oversight Council and the chief administrator of the Imperial Treasury Transfer Office, had been stripped of his position by the court and was being escorted to the capital for trial. As the prisoner convoy had just departed Yingzhou City, it was ambushed by a group of bandits. That day, countless officials from the Ministry of Justice responsible for escorting the prisoner were killed or injured. Su Wenmao had one of his arms brutally severed, and his fate remained unknown, his whereabouts a mystery.
...
"The bandits in Yingzhou back then were actually Guan Wumei, weren't they... That year, when I traveled downriver to Jiangnan, she was the first person I made contact with. It was through her connections that I eventually found Ming Qishao, also known as Xia Qifei."
On the 28th day of the twelfth month of the tenth year of the Qingli era, intelligence from Jiangnan finally reached the Fan residence through the Moon-Embracing Pavilion. Fan Xian stared at the report in his hand for a long while before speaking: "The Jiangnan Water Gang had long been secretly pardoned and absorbed into the imperial fold. The Hangzhou Association’s focus has always been on Yingzhou. The devastation after the great river’s breach that year is long gone. The current prefect of Yingzhou is a virtuous official I personally selected—how could so many bandits emerge again?"
Fan Xian laughed, but his smile was tinged with sorrow. He turned to glance at Lin Wan’er and said, "After all our efforts over the years, it seems we’re no match for His Majesty’s reckless and indiscriminate slaughter."
Back when Fan Xian passed through Yingzhou on his way to Jiangnan, he had witnessed the hardships of the local populace. Later, after the Imperial Treasury was revitalized and the court’s coffers swelled, Lin Wan’er, leading the Hangzhou Association, began funneling silver to the impoverished prefectures along the great river. At that time, with Fan Xian and Princess Chen’s reputations as a deterrent and the Oversight Council’s ominous oversight, no officials dared embezzle the funds. By now, the livelihood of the people in Jiangnan should have improved compared to those earlier days.
"The Sword Cottage sent six people to Jiangnan. I stationed three in the Imperial Treasury because it’s of paramount importance. The other three were primarily tasked with protecting Xia Qifei and Su Wenmao. I didn’t want those who followed me to die." Fan Xian’s expression was impassive as he continued, "Even so, such a major incident occurred. I can only hope Wenmao survives."
Lin Wan’er watched him quietly, aware of the bitterness and pressure weighing on his heart. Fan Xian lowered his head in thought for a moment, then slowly raised it, his eyes seeming to ignite with a flame. That flame resembled the fire that had burned for three days and three nights on the lake, as if countless tormented souls were writhing, wailing, and screaming within it.
The situation in the capital was equally bleak and stormy. Yan Bingyun was still in Dingzhou dealing with the aftermath of the great battle in Qingzhou. Even if he had already left Dingzhou, he would be delayed on his journey. It was during this period that the Censorate seized the opportunity to pressure the Oversight Council. With its two successive directors now dead and disgraced, and Yan Bingyun unable to command the Council’s heartfelt loyalty, the organization was leaderless. Emboldened by the Emperor’s indulgence and with the cooperation of the Grand Secretariat, the censors of the Censorate, led by He Zongwei, launched a ruthless purge against the Oversight Council.
The First Bureau bore the brunt of the assault. In just three days, over thirty officials of the Oversight Council were arrested and imprisoned in the Great理寺. The seemingly mild-mannered civil officials,难得有机会 to strike at the Oversight Council, showed no mercy. Every torture device in the prisons was put to use.
...
Defeated. Fan Xian was defeated. He suffered defeat after defeat, a complete and utter rout. Fan Xian knew he was wrong. The Emperor was like Mount Da, that great eastern peak. No matter how many storms Fan Xian stirred up across the realm, as long as that mountain stood firm, the court of Qing would not falter. The greatest storms would still be met with冷酷.
And today, that deeply concealed piece of news emanating from the palace was like the final straw pressing down on Fan Xian’s heart, forcing him to make an immediate choice. A palace maiden selected for the imperial harem was said to be carrying the Dragon Seed—upon hearing this, Fan Xian couldn’t help but sneer. It seemed the spermicidal effects of consuming celery had little impact on a monstrous Grandmaster like the Emperor.
"Xia Qifei in Jiangnan is struggling immensely. If I don’t act now, he won’t even be able to protect himself, let alone back me up." Fan Xian narrowed his eyes slightly. "The more my power diminishes, the harsher His Majesty’s methods become. It’s a mutually reinforcing cycle. He started slowly, but as my capacity to counter-attack wanes, his inhibitions lessen, and his tactics grow increasingly frenzied... until finally, I am left utterly alone."
"The court’s actions in Jiangnan... are truly unwise." Lin Wan’er said softly. "Anyone with clear eyes can see what the Ming family’s predicament is about. The court’s methods this time are too blatant and too bloody. I fear the merchants of Jiangnan will become estranged from now on."
"Not just unwise, but downright foolish. However, it’s evident that His Majesty doesn’t care. He only cares about using the shortest possible time to completely crush me, to shatter any lingering hope I might have." Fan Xian’s expression was wooden. "For some reason, it seems he’s growing impatient too."
Lin Wan’er looked at him, her heart trembling slightly. Though the couple had not explicitly discussed it, a single glance was enough for her to know what was on his mind, especially in such circumstances. His expression was proof enough of his thoughts.
Two clear trails of tears silently streamed from Wan’er’s eyes. She gazed at Fan Xian, stunned, her voice trembling as she said, "But what can you possibly do?"
Fan Xian remained silent for a long time. Then, he gently drew her close, holding her as tenderly as one would hold a child, and whispered, "Although I have been defeated repeatedly, seemingly powerless to fight back, it actually proves one thing I very much wanted to know."
"His Majesty is growing old after all. He is no longer as patient, as沉稳, as冷漠ly formidable as he once was, leaving no openings for others." Fan Xian lowered his head and spoke softly into his wife’s ear. "Stripped of that dragon robe, His Majesty seems more like an ordinary man. This... might just be my opportunity."
...
Circumstances had shifted, and time was moving on. Fan Xian no longer had the luxury to wait for that relative shrouded in black cloth to return from the icy, snowy wilderness. If he continued to wait like this, even if the Emperor restrained himself from killing Fan Xian, and even if he eventually waited for Uncle Wuzhu’s return, by that time, all the people he cared about would likely be dead—just like those from the Jiangnan Water Gang, Guan Wumei, Su Wenmao, and the officials of the Oversight Council.
He had to counter-attack. And indeed, he still held secrets unknown even to the Emperor. But he understood clearly that once he truly launched a counter-attack targeting the Imperial Treasury, there would be no room for reconciliation between the Fan faction and the figure in the palace. The entire Qing nation might plunge into turmoil as a result. And if Fan Xian failed, countless people would die in his wake.
Fan Xian lacked the confidence to defeat his father, the Emperor. Therefore, when he courageously stepped forward, prepared to stake his life, he had to secure a retreat path for the relatives and friends he cared about. After that autumn rain, he had ceased to care about his own life or death, but he still cared deeply about the lives of others.
For the sake of this retreat path, the Fan residence remained unusually quiet and subdued for a long time after the 28th of the twelfth month. Even the two little treasures seemed to sense their father’s unusual mood and no longer dared to shout or make noise.
They passed a particularly bland New Year celebration. After casually eating some dumplings, Fan Xian sequestered himself in his study. He remained there for seven days straight, only emerging on the seventh day of the new year.
The entire household waited outside the study. Lin Wan’er watched him with concern, while Sisi brought him a bowl of ginseng soup.
Fan Xian took the bowl and drank the soup in one gulp. He smiled and said, "Of the four great maids from Danzhou, you still make the best soup."
Sisi’s heart skipped a beat, a sense of foreboding suddenly washing over her. But she clenched her lips tightly and did not utter a word. She believed in the young master she had watched grow up—he was never an ordinary mortal. No matter what difficult situation he faced, he would resolve it effortlessly, just as he had over the past twenty-some years.
Today was the seventh, the day the Grand Academy reopened. After washing up, Lin Wan’er straightened his robes and saw him off to the main gate of the residence. All the way, her hands trembled slightly.
The morning sunlight broke through the cold clouds that had shrouded the capital for so long, spilling down with a chilly gleam. Lin Wan'er gazed痴痴 at Fan Xian's handsome profile, wondering if she would ever see it again. Suddenly, she noticed a single white hair at his temple, glinting in the morning light. Her heart twisted painfully, a sour ache spreading through her chest.
She asked as calmly as she could, "After seven days of thinking, have you come to any realizations?"
Fan Xian sighed, his expression returning to the lazy resignation he'd had when he first entered the capital. He smiled wryly and said, "Hoping to become a Grandmaster in seven days of contemplation—do you think I'm being too delusional?"
Lin Wan'er covered her mouth with her hand and laughed. "Utterly delusional."
"That message I sent into the palace through Duke Dai before the New Year has received a response. His Majesty wants me to enter the palace this afternoon." Fan Xian looked at his wife with pity. "His Majesty has always doted on you, and now that he's older, I doubt he'll make things difficult for you. If life in the capital becomes too uncomfortable, return to Danzhou. His Majesty will always show some consideration for Grandmother's sake."
Lin Wan'er continued to cover her mouth, smiling as she asked, "I'm too lazy to move. I'll wait for you here at home. But what about you? Have you really come up with some plan?"
Fan Xian shrugged, behaving like a street ruffian. "What plan could there be? His Majesty has no weaknesses anywhere... Ah, I remember now. Someone named Xiong once said that if a person has no weaknesses at all, then that person themselves is the weakness."
"You're joking again," Lin Wan'er said, covering her mouth as she laughed, nearly coughing up tears.
"Of course, I'm joking," Fan Xian said. He bent down and gently kissed Wan'er's forehead, then turned and boarded the carriage without looking back.
Watching the carriage head toward the Imperial College on Dongchuan Road, the smile on Lin Wan'er's face instantly turned into one of misery. She lowered the sleeve she had used to cover her mouth, revealing two spots of blood on the white fabric. These past seven days had been very hard on her; her old illness had flared up, causing her great suffering.
...
...
"Confucius spoke of achieving benevolence, Mencius of upholding righteousness. Only when righteousness is fulfilled can benevolence be achieved. What is the purpose of studying the words of the sages?... To act without shame. Since ancient times, those with great aspirations who wished to uphold righteousness in the world have not been swayed by success, failure, gain, or loss..."
A calm, even cold, voice rang out in front of the small lake at the Imperial College. Over a hundred students listened quietly to Lord Fan's lecture. Many sensed something unusual about Lord Fan's mood today because he seemed to enjoy cracking jokes, yet those jokes weren't particularly funny. Many felt that Lord Fan had something on his mind.
Under a large tree, Grand Academician Hu watched this scene quietly, feeling comforted. He believed he knew what was troubling Fan Xian, and that brought him solace. Today was the seventh day of the lunar month, the first lecture after the Imperial College reopened. In the afternoon, His Majesty would summon Fan Xian to the palace. The upper echelons of the Qing court knew that this audience had been requested by Fan Xian himself, so Grand Academician Hu naturally assumed that, after the successive blows from His Majesty and Qing's great military victories, Fan Xian had admitted defeat.
The thought of future harmony between the Qing monarch and his subjects, father and son united, conquering the world, filled Grand Academician Hu with immense comfort. He didn't even pay close attention to the specifics of Fan Xian's lecture today.
"Confucius isn't the nine-hole Wang Leehom impersonator, nor the fan-waving Zhuge Liang, and certainly not the meaning of 'piercing.' As for Mencius... well, I'm not too fond of him. The fellow loved arguing too much, too much like me."
Fan Xian smiled as he addressed the over hundred students by the lake. He didn't care whether they could understand him. This world indeed had its classics and philosophical texts, but there was no Confucius or Mencius, nor many other philosophers. The concepts of benevolence and righteousness existed but were rarely articulated as clearly as Confucius had done.
"Things like sacrificing one's life for righteousness... well, one should still do them occasionally. But... I'm not that kind of person. I've always been afraid of death."
At this, all the Imperial College students laughed, feeling that amidst Lord Fan's chaotic lecture today, they had finally encountered a joke they could understand.
"But!"
Fan Xian's expression suddenly turned cold. After the surroundings quieted down, he spoke word by word: "What little difference is there between humans and beasts? Is it only the emphasis on righteousness? Not necessarily... Human instinct is to seek life and avoid death. Yet, what makes humans admirable is that at certain times, they can march courageously to their deaths. Why? Naturally, because there are things in this world more important than life and death."
"This still has nothing to do with me," he said with a laugh. Yet, the surroundings remained utterly silent. Everyone sensed something unusual. All the students stared blankly at him by the lake, not a single one laughing.
"I've always believed that nothing in the world is more important than one's own life and death. But later, I realized that human desire is a remarkable thing. The right to choose is a remarkable thing." After a moment of silence, Fan Xian continued, "Since we all must die eventually, we should choose a way to die that brings us some satisfaction. Words like 'no regrets' may sound cliché, but they are ultimately quite practical."
"How should one spend one's life?"
Fan Xian looked around and posed this question. Naturally, no one answered. After a period of silence, his voice echoed through the quiet Imperial College.
"I've thought about this question my entire life and never found a clear answer. Copy many books, earn lots of money, marry many wives, have many children... Well, it seems I've achieved all that. Then I thought for a long, long time and finally reached a conclusion: live however you want, as long as you can live with a clear conscience."
"This, roughly, is what I wanted to say today."
After saying this, Fan Xian left the Imperial College and boarded that lonely black carriage, leaving behind a crowd of bewildered, confused, and mutually perplexed young Imperial College students, as well as Grand Academician Hu, who had finally understood what Fan Xian was implying and whose face had drastically changed color.
Grand Academician Hu hurriedly left the Imperial College and rushed toward the palace. It was still early; Fan Xian wasn't due at the palace until the afternoon. He hoped he still had time to say something to His Majesty, to advise him, to prevent something from happening.
Fan Xian's rambling speech at the Imperial College spread through the capital in the shortest time possible. It didn't need any deliberate promotion by interested parties. In fact, throughout the capital, those sensitive individuals had been waiting for this idle man of the capital's reaction.
Unlike all these hurried and tense people, Fan Xian remained calm. There was still time before his audience at the palace. He went to the New Wind Restaurant and began to enjoy what might be his final winter indulgence—several steaming baskets of Jietang steamed buns and, sitting at the table with a round, bun-like face, Dabao.