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The night rains fell upon the soil of that foreign land, making their familiar pitter-patter. Fan Xian swallowed a mouthful of tea. “Write a letter immediately,” he said to Wang Qinian, who sat beside him. “Tell the Council to investigate the relationship between the Cui clan and Xinyang.”

Wang Qinian looked at him. “The Eldest Princess cannot make any sort of move from there.”

“I know that.” Fan Xian knew full well that everything that the Eldest Princess did was done with the Emperor’s tacit consent, but today’s confrontational meeting with Shen Zhong had confirmed a number of his ideas. “I just want to know for sure exactly how much strength Xinyang has in the royal court.”

“Yes sir,” replied Wang Qinian. “Master Cui is still kneeling outside... do you think we should allow him in? After all, the Cui clan is also an influential family in the capital, and they have a number of officials at court.”

Fan Xian looked over the reports from the Council, not paying attention to what Wang Qinian had said. These past few days that the diplomatic mission were in Shangjing, before Yan Bingyun returned, Fan Xian had not dared to utilize their information network in Northern Qi, and so their sources of intelligence had been somewhat reduced, which left him worried. A moment later, he seemed to have heard what Wang Qinian had said. “Let him kneel,” he said quietly. “A subject of Qing allowing himself to be used by Northern Qi like some kind of tool. I shall teach him a lesson, on my mother-in-law’s behalf.”

The rain gradually lessened. It dripped down from the eaves of the building. The courtyard was an old one, so the rain droplets fell and formed small pools in certain places. Fan Xian pulled on a robe and walked out, catching sight of Cui, who kneeled before the stone steps. For a long time, he said nothing.

The others in the diplomatic mission had long departed from this area, so all seemed quiet.

“If your family still wishes to do business in the north, you should know what to do.” Fan Xian looked coldly at Cui, who was soaked from head to toe. “Regarding today’s incident, I shall show mercy. I will send a letter to Xinyang, and as for how the Eldest Princess decides to punish you, that is your business. But while I am in Shangjing, I do not wish to see you sitting alongside men of Northern Qi again.”

Master Cui kowtowed deeply, his upper body laid out along the wet ground as he trembled. He didn’t dare speak.

“I shall remind you once more. I am the Commissioner of the Overwatch Council. Even if the Eldest Princess protects you, if I wanted to see the Cui clan destroyed, I have many ways to make that happen. That may be a very crude threat, but I think for somebody as stupid as you, if I do not spell it out clearly, you will find yourself being used as a weapon by Northern Qi again. That would be most unfortunate.”

Cui remained kneeling miserably. In the rear garden in Panshanlin, he had realized the extent of his error. For the time being, regardless of Fan Xian’s position within the fearsome Overwatch Council, he was the son-in-law of the Eldest Princess. In Fan Xian’s eyes, he was no more than an ant. Today, he had acted on his own initiative, wanting to see what business the Overwatch Council wanted to carry out with Northern Qi. Originally, he was there to consider issues from the Eldest Princess’s position, but if Fan Xian really wanted to make him pay, he feared that she would not be willing to protect him.

When it came to the power that Fan Xian now wielded, the aristocratic families really were of no importance to him at all.

“Let us talk plainly.” Fan Xian looked at him, spelling things out slowly. “You work for the Eldest Princess. I don’t want to make things difficult for you. But there are some things I want to do, so I hope that you will see the situation clearly.”

“Yes, Master Fan,” said Cui, shivering. “I have erred.”

“We are both subjects of the Kingdom of Qing, regardless of what happens at court. But the moment we set foot on foreign soil, do not forget, we are still men of Qing. We cannot allow the foreigners to see us as a joke. That is what angers me most.”

After this little incident, Xinyang made sure to show the diplomatic mission the appropriate respect. And Northern Qi finally felt Fan Xian’s true strength. To be exact, they felt the strength of the Overwatch Council. Shen Zhong had made a deal with Xinyang, so when Fan Xian suggested his deal through Chang Ninghou, he thought little of it. But seeing the current situation, it seemed that the rumors were true – if Fan Xian really was going to take control of the palace treasury in the coming years, the Eldest Princess would lose her power. If Shen Zhong’s Discipline Commission offended Fan Xian again, that would be a way to cut themselves off from a large share of the profits.

They knew this in the royal palace of Northern Qi too. The Empress Dowager ruthlessly laid the blame on Shen Zhong. Shen Zhong was worried. He hadn’t expected Commissioner Fan not to even give him the opportunity to haggle. And the news of Cui kneeling before the diplomatic mission that very night had reached the ears of the Brocade Guard. Shen Zhong knew that he had to see Fan Xian in an entirely new light.

But no one had thought that Fan Xian did not actually want to make the deal at all. A number of times, Shen Zhong dispatched men to entreat Fan Xian; every time, he coldly turned them away, appearing not to want to discuss the matter again.

“Master, what is it that you want to do?” Wang Qinian was Fan Xian’s most trusted aide. He knew some things that even the Overwatch Council did not. He knew that his master had done a number of things in secret to make the Eldest Princess pay, but the Eldest Princess seemed not to have noticed.

But now, Fan Xian appeared to be taking a stance of reconciliation toward the Eldest Princess. This puzzled Wang Qinian greatly.

“I want everyone to not know what I am going to do.” Fan Xian straightened out his clothes, not turning his head as he spoke. “The Eldest Princess now makes demands of me, and I want to make use of this opportunity to derive some benefit.”

Wang Qinian was still confused, and Fan Xian did not explain further.

That afternoon, a carriage entered the diplomatic compound. The carriage looked worse for wear and thoroughly ordinary. Whether it was the decoration of the carriage or the way the coachman looked, there was nothing eye-catching about it. But the guards tasked with protecting the diplomatic mission could sense an air of nervousness from inside the mission. The patchwork of shadows outside all belonged to the Brocade Guard.

Fan Xian looked at the carriage, and said something which seemed to have nothing to do with the current situation. “It looks like Si Lili has also arrived in Shangjing.”

A youth wearing white robes opened the carriage doors and slowly stepped out. Standing there, he looked at the sky, narrowed his eyes, then lowered his head and looked around at the people within the courtyard who were staring at him. From looking at them, he could feel the atmosphere in the courtyard. He couldn’t stop his lips from curling into a wry smile.

Fan Xian stepped forward, respectfully taking Yan Bingyun’s right hand and carefully helping him down from the carriage. “Welcome back,” he said gently.

To the people of Qing, the location of the diplomatic mission was the same as enemy territory. Yan Bingyun had been held prisoner and had long believed that he was soon to die. Although the day had come, he still could not accept the agreement that had seen him exchanged for Xiao En. But now, stepping on the ground of the diplomatic mission, and hearing Fan Xian’s welcome, he couldn’t help but still feel moved.

There were no officials from Honglu Temple in the courtyard. Save for the seven Tiger Guards, everyone else was an official of the Overwatch Council, hidden within the diplomatic mission. Seeing the young man, who had a little difficulty walking, they spoke in unison, kneeling on the ground. “Master Yan, allow us to pay our respects.”

Their voices were neither passionate nor loud, but one could feel their sincerity.

Yan Bingyun smiled and said nothing. After a while, he spoke quietly. “It feels strange to have made it out alive.”

Fan Xian took his hand and laughed. “Your fingernails haven’t been completely pulled out. That is strange.”

The two men – the future leader of the Overwatch Council and his future second-in-command – spoke so quietly that only they could hear what they were saying.

With Yan Bingyun returned to the diplomatic mission, half of their duties in Northern Qi were done with. Fan Xian steeled himself, said a few words to Wang Qinian, then helped Yan Bingyun into the bedroom. “Take off your clothes,” said Fan Xian, “and I’ll see to your injuries.”

Clearly, Yan Bingyun was not given to misunderstandings. He slowly took off his white robes, revealing his sculpted naked body. Fan Xian raised his eyebrows and thought of his own feelings when he had changed clothes for the Third Bureau in the Qing capital. Bingyun seemed much more cool-headed than he was.

He took a small box containing medicine from out of a chest, dipped a finger into it, and then began to rub it onto Yan Bingyun’s body. The places his fingers passed over were covered with frightful scars and bruises that were difficult to describe.

“I always thought you were simply blessed with good fortune,” said Yan Bingyun coldly. “But to remain so calm at the sight of my wounds, it seems you are stronger than I thought.”

Fan Xian’s fingers stopped on the left side of Yan Bingyun’s chest. The bone had clearly been re-set after being broken. It stuck out in a lump, and the flesh surrounding it was red-raw and ugly-looking. “That is because you don’t understand what I went through growing up.”

“I thought I understood very well.” Yan Bingyun stared coldly into Fan Xian’s eyes. “Master Fan, I know a lot about your life from your birth to your 12th year.”

Fan Xian turned his head to look at him and said nothing.

Yan Bingyun was also silent. It seemed that he didn’t want to say any more on the subject. After a while, he spoke. “Thank you for treating my wounds. But I would like to concoct my own medicine. I imagine I am more adept than you at it. Allow me to write a recipe for the prescription, and have the diplomatic mission’s men help me in gathering a few ingredients.”

Fan Xian paid no attention and continued to apply the salve, using the treatment methods he had learned in his childhood.

“Swallow this.” With no regard for politeness, Fan Xian placed a pill into Yan Bingyun’s mouth. “When it comes to treating wounds and infections, save for Fei Jie, there’s no one who’d dare talk such rubbish in front of me.”