Chapter Thirty-Three: The Pain of the Sackcloth

  The flower boat stopped by the shore, and Jing Wang's son stood at the bow, smiling as he watched those people disappear into the night. He held Yuan Meng in his arms, and Yuan Meng curiously asked, "Where did Master Fan go?"

  The young master tapped her slightly cool nose tip, laughing and scolding: "In front of me, you still want to pretend to be innocent?" Yuan Meng smiled sweetly and said: "No matter what Master Fan does, he doesn't avoid you, but rather it's Miss Si Li who might not know anything yet."

  "He didn't avoid me, which means he's clever." Li Hongcheng smiled and said: "I'm just a shield he pulled over, but if I have to be willing, I can't be kept in the dark." He suddenly asked: "What do you think Fan Xian thinks of Miss Si Rui?"

  Yuan Meng seemed to be particularly familiar with the young master, and after thinking for a moment, she replied: "This Mr. Fan seems to like Li Liang's daughter very much, but I didn't expect him to bear the spring breeze without feeling anything, and instead went to do other things." Her smile, covering her mouth, was completely different from that of Qing'er.

  "You'd better get along with Lǐ Lǐ in the future, who knows, Fàn Xián might come to Zuì Xiān Jū often later." Li Hongcheng furrowed his brow.

  "Yes." Yuan Meng replied like a subordinate, although he was somewhat curious why Shizhi was so interested in Fan Xian.

  Li Hongcheng reached into her collar, grasped the soft flesh and rubbed it, Yuan Meng let out a soft cry, her body almost went limp. "Do you know who Fan Xian is?"

  "He is the most beloved illegitimate son of Minister Fan Jian of the Ministry of Revenue." Yuan Meng's voice was as soft as a kitten, but her eyes were very bright. "I understand, sir wants to grasp the financial lifeline of Qingguo."

  Li Hongcheng smiled and shook his head: "I don't have that kind of ambition, I just think Fan Xian is a friend worth making. This statement was somewhat sincere, but there were also some things that weren't made clear. Li Hongcheng knew about the secret alliance between Fan Lin and others, so he was very aware that this young man named Fan Xian would possibly manage the huge commercial system behind the royal family in the future.

  If the second prince wants to compete with the crown prince, then silver and money are among the most important weapons.

  —————————————————————————

  Guo Baokun lost face at the poetry gathering today, and his mood was terrible. So he went to a brothel tonight and had a good time, which slightly relieved his mood. But as soon as he thought of his old-fashioned father at home, his mood turned bad again. He was planning what fun things to bring into the palace for the crown prince tomorrow when he found that the sedan chair had stopped.

  He was unprepared for a moment, and for some reason, his head felt dizzy, his forehead hit the front, and he was furious: "You bastards, how did you carry the sedan?"

  No one answered him, and outside the sedan chair was a dead silence. Guo Baokun awkwardly crawled out of the sedan chair that was about to collapse, only to find that the street was quiet, and it was just Cow Lane Street, which he had to pass by before returning to his mansion.

  There were three black-clad men with masked faces surrounding the sedan chair, while the sedan bearers and guards of the Guo residence had all fallen to the ground, their lives unknown. Guo Baokun thought they had encountered highway robbers and was so frightened that he was half dead. He wondered when the capital's security had become so poor. Stammering with fear, he asked: "Who are you people? What do you want?"

  Niu Lane Street was always quiet, especially after nightfall, with almost no pedestrians. Guo Baokun also felt a bit desperate and didn't expect that shouting loudly could bring someone to rescue him, so his voice was very low.

  "There was a soft and gentle voice replied: 'I am Fan Xian, I want to hit you.'"

  Kuo Bao-kun turned around in shock, but found a sack coming towards him and covering himself, so he didn't see Fan Xian's wicked smile.

  There was a faint fragrance in the sack, but it made Guo Baokun's dizzy head much clearer. However, this only made things more miserable, as he was immediately followed by a violent beating, with punches and kicks coming down on him without mercy.

  Fan Xian watched as Tong Zi Jing and the others made their move, feeling a slight sense of satisfaction in his heart. He just wanted to let others know not to try to provoke him easily, and he also had some other thoughts. Guo Baokun, the son of a high-ranking official, had never suffered such humiliation and pain before, but he knew that Fan Xian was the one who had made the move. In the struggles between the sons of powerful families, it was customary not to take things too far, so he thought he wouldn't be killed, and thus continued to speak harshly:

  "You bastard with the surname Fan! Come on and kill me if you dare!"

  Fan Xian heard this and got angry, waved his hand to let the silent Fujiko and others step aside, walked over, squatted down, first gave a good beating, then whispered to the constantly rolling sack: "Brother Guo, do you know why I wrote that poem in the afternoon?"

  Fan Xian's strength was great, and Guo Baokun in the sack had long been in so much pain that he couldn't speak, only wailing and whining.

  "The wind is strong and the sky is high, the apes wail in sorrow. The river is clear and the sand is white, the birds fly back. Endless leaves fall rustling down, the great river flows on and on. For a thousand miles, autumn's sorrow makes me a constant guest, for a hundred years, illness has made me climb alone to the tower. Hardship and bitter resentment have turned my temples grey, I've just put down the turbid wine cup. You deceived me twice, now I want to beat you - your sorrow, grief, and illness are not like this, how can they make me feel satisfied?"

  As soon as the words were spoken, he had already punched through the sack and heavily hit Guo Baokun's face, and it was unknown how in the middle of the night, through the cloth bag, he could have such precise aim, and actually hit Guo Baokun's nasal bridge. Guo Baokun only felt a sharp pain that rushed to his brain, blood flowing out, and finally couldn't bear to wail and cry out for mercy without stopping.

  Fan Xian looked at the sack on the ground, still twisting and turning, and only then did he realize that his ruthless side was slowly breaking free from years of concealment. Still unsatisfied, he kicked the sack a few more times before waving his hand to lead the three thugs behind him to retreat into the night, truly coming and going in haste. Guo Gongzi regretted not meeting him.

  Half a day later, Guo Baokun finally crawled out of the sack, his body covered in bruises, and saw that the guards and sedan chair bearers were still lying on the ground. He couldn't help but curse them countless times, using his feet to kick them awake. It was only then that he realized his men had been drugged, but that despicable Fan Xian had actually put an antidote in the sack, which made him feel even more pain.

  The guards were holding their heads in a daze, seeing that the young master of their own family was actually beaten into a pig's head, they were so frightened that they rushed forward to support him, and didn't even sit in the sedan chair, but directly carried him back to the Guo Mansion.

  That night, the Guo Mansion was in an uproar. The next morning, they hastily sent someone to the Kyoto Prefecture and handed a petition directly to Mei Zhili, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice and Governor of Kyoto Prefecture. They bitterly recounted the tragic events of the previous night and vowed to severely punish those bastards from the Fan Mansion. They couldn't let off that audacious and heaven-defying private son of the Fan family who dared to commit murder in broad daylight on the streets of Kyoto. If they couldn't even bring him to justice, where would this esteemed Minister's face be placed?

  (Tomorrow it will be on the shelves, so I have to say something. Well, now I am indeed relying on VIP income for a living, so everyone's subscription is really important to me, and I hope you all subscribe more, this is true. After going on the shelves, in the first month, the new book monthly ticket chart must be rushed, votes must be pulled, otherwise it would not live up to everyone's kindness, one's own efforts and the prize money on the chart, so here I am firmly and deeply looking at you all, hoping that tomorrow you will vote for more monthly tickets, thank you very much.)