socalfunplaces Page 177
Page 177
This man is a literary giant, a master of the Heavenly Vein, and the master of the Shadow Guard!
I heard that the downfall of Shen Zhong and Shang Shanhu of Northern Qi, and the burning of the Zhenfusi Yamen were all his doing!
Li Chengqian suddenly realized that compared to Li Chang'an, he had no advantages other than his father, the emperor, and his aunt!
The Crown Prince and the First Prince stood together, respectfully waiting for Li Chang'an's entourage to enter the city.
The eldest prince suddenly remarked, "Uncle Yong's carriage is quite brightly colored!"
The Crown Prince pointed to the carriage and said, "This is the carriage of the Princess of Northern Qi, and she will be the concubine of Prince Yong in the future!"
The eldest prince then remembered that he was also one of the candidates for the marriage alliance.
Li Chengping, on the other side, whispered to Li Chengze, "Uncle Yong seems quite different today than before!"
"He doesn't even pay his respects to the Crown Prince, giving off an air of arrogance and haughtiness. How cool!"
Li Chengze said enviously, "If I could write so many famous works, I wouldn't even bother to glance at Li Chengqian when I entered the city!"
After welcoming Li Chang'an, Li Chengru, and Fan Xian, Li Chengze returned to his residence feeling utterly bored.
At this moment, Xie Bi'an delivered news that almost scared him to death.
"Your Highness! The Second Young Master Cui of Shijia Town and the accountants of several large shops have mysteriously disappeared!"
With just a few words, Li Chengze instantly lost his composure!
"Shijia Town! These people are of great importance, how could they just disappear without a trace! Who did this?!"
Shijia Town was the hub of land smuggling, and its location was extremely secretive. Local officials were all his cronies.
Xie Bi'an frowned and said, "It's hard to say right now!"
"The Northern Qi Imperial Guards, the Crown Prince's personal guards, Fan Xian, and the Surveillance Bureau are all possibilities!"
Li Chengze urged, "Quickly order people to move the goods from Shijia Town and destroy all evidence!"
Chapter 128 Emperor Qing: Li Chang'an! What are you doing touching my throne? (13)
Li Chang'an's convoy entered the city and then separated from Zhan Pianpian's convoy.
Since it's not yet time for the wedding, Zhan Pianpian cannot live in the Prince Yong's mansion; the Court of Imperial Sacrifices will arrange accommodation for her.
Li Chang'an did not return directly to the Prince's Mansion, but instead went to the residence of Fan Ruoruo's maternal grandfather.
Fan Ruoruo's maternal grandfather was a hereditary marquis in the Qing Kingdom. Although he did not wield significant power, he was wealthy and secure.
"Prince Yong has arrived!"
At the butler's call, Fan Ruoruo's maternal grandfather and several uncles came to the main hall to pay their respects.
Fan Ruoruo came out of the inner hall and, disregarding the many people around, threw herself into Li Chang'an's arms while crying.
Li Chang'an told the kneeling people to stand up, and then said to everyone, "I will take Ruoruo away today. Thank you all for taking care of Ruoruo these past few days."
Fan Ruoruo's maternal grandfather wiped away his tears and said, "Your Highness, what are you saying? Ruoruo is my own granddaughter."
"I am ashamed that I only recently learned the true cause of my daughter's death. Fan Jian is utterly heartless!"
Li Chang'an took Fan Ruoruo's hand and said, "Since ancient times, even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes."
"I will not interfere in the affairs of the Fan family, but I will support all of Ruoruo's decisions."
"Please rest assured, old man. With me here, no matter how much His Majesty favors Si Nanbo, he will never be able to bully Ruoruo again!"
Fan Ruoruo's maternal grandfather said gratefully again, "My whole family thanks Your Highness Prince Yong!"
Then, Fan Ruoruo boarded Li Chang'an's carriage.
"Ruo Ruo, from now on you will live in the Prince's Mansion. If you don't want to go back to the Fan Mansion, then don't go back."
Fan Ruoruo said sadly, "Your Highness, my father killed my own brother and indirectly caused the death of my mother."
"But he is also my biological father who raised me. I can't possibly kill him to avenge my mother and brother."
Li Chang'an could imagine that Fan Ruoruo had been struggling with this issue recently.
"Ruoruo, I am very pleased that you were able to find out the cause of your mother's and brother's deaths on your own."
"You can do whatever you want with Fan Jian. If you want to kill Fan Jian, I can help you. If you want to cut all ties with him, I will support you in the same way."
"Just as I said, no matter what, Fan Jian will not be allowed to force you to do anything in the name of your father."
In the original novel, Fan Jian had a plan: if Fan Xian couldn't find a wife, he would marry Fan Ruoruo to Fan Xian.
Li Chang'an couldn't understand this bizarre thought process of sacrificing both his son and daughter.
Fan Ruoruo said gratefully, "Thank you, Your Highness, but... I no longer consider myself the daughter of the Marquis of Sinan."
Li Chang'an hugged Fan Ruoruo and said, "I've never treated you as Fan Jian's daughter since you were one year old."
“The calligraphy and paintings I gave you were all given to you directly; I never asked you to pass them on to Fan Jian.”
"Whether you are the Earl's daughter or not, you are my queen."
Fan Ruoruo said, moved, "Your Highness, you are so kind!"
When Li Chang'an went to pick up Fan Ruoruo, Fan Xian was directly summoned to the palace by Emperor Qing.
Emperor Qing and Chen Pingping questioned Xiao En in detail about the secret he had mentioned.
Fan Xian recounted all of Xiao En's last words in detail.
After listening to Fan Xian's words, Chen Pingping slowly said, "So Little Yezi came from the temple."
"Before they met us, they also encountered Sean and Kuhe."
Emperor Qing gazed far to the north, thinking, "The far north! The temple is in the far north!"
"But even if we know the location, it is very difficult to send people to find the temple."
Fan Xian also said, "That's true. Even if we send someone to go through it again, it's unlikely that they will be able to match Xiao En and Ku He's route exactly."
Although Emperor Qing said this, he did not think so in his heart.
He thought that once he eliminated the threats from the other Grandmasters and Wu Zhu and Barrett, with his Grandmaster strength, he would have no trouble finding the temple!
"Fan Xian, don't tell anyone else about the temple except for me and Dean Chen."
“Come with me, Chen Pingping, push yourself back.”
Chen Pingping gave a maternal smile, "This old minister obeys."
The smile on Chen Pingping's face vanished instantly after Emperor Qing and Fan Xian left.
As astute as he was, he naturally guessed what Emperor Qing wanted to do with Fan Xian.
"His Majesty is very wary of the divine weapons left behind by Wu Zhu and Miss. He must firmly win over Fan Xian in order to feel safe."
"His Majesty is hypocritical and ruthless. He will surely pretend to be deeply in love with Xiao Yezi again in order to gain Fan Xian's trust."
"Your Majesty, your actions are truly disgusting!"
"Your brother Li Chang'an is back, and it seems he's got ambitions now!"
"Excellent! Let the infighting within the Li family intensify!"
In a pavilion in the inner palace.
Emperor Qing led Fan Xian to the top floor and into a room that had been untouched for a long time.
On the wall of the room hung a portrait of a woman carrying a box; it was Ye Qingmei.
"You are still so young, but I am old."
Emperor Qing adopted a sentimental expression and said to Fan Xian, "Take a good look. This is the only portrait your mother left behind before she passed away."
This was the first time Fan Xian had seen a portrait of Ye Qingmei, the woman who had once stirred up the world.
At this time, Fan Xian had not yet experienced as many twists and turns as in the original drama, and was almost moved by Emperor Qing's deep affection.
Because he lacked experience of those court struggles, he knew very little about his physiologist father.
In fact, this Emperor Qing, whose affection was half genuine and half feigned, was the very culprit who caused Ye Qingmei's death.
"Your Majesty, why does my mother look so young in the portrait?"
Emperor Qing looked at the portrait with deep affection and said, "It was painted when I first met her, so of course she was young."
Fan Xian asked again, "Does this portrait resemble her?"
Emperor Qing frowned and said, "Not as pretty as her!"
After Fan Xian stared for a long time, Emperor Qing called him to the window.
Emperor Qing pointed to the chrysanthemums in the nursery outside the window and said, "Look at those chrysanthemums, they were planted by your mother herself."
"The chrysanthemums used for the royal hanging temple flower viewing, which takes place every three years, are all brought from here!"
Fan Xian asked curiously, "Back then, you took her with you to the flower viewing every three years?"
Emperor Qing smiled kindly and said, "Yes, because she likes it! She likes everything that is alive!"
Fan Xian asked somewhat awkwardly, "You miss her a lot?"
Emperor Qing nodded. "So, I still intend to hand over the Imperial Treasury to you."