Joy of Life

As a first-time father and after finding a long-missing warmth on his wife’s knee, Fan Xian slept peacefully. He didn’t wake until the sun had risen high in the sky. In the moment he awoke, there was still a contented smile at the corner of his lips.

Opening his eyes, he found Wan’er was no longer at his side. He guessed that she had probably gone to see their daughter. Unconsciously, he rubbed his head and smiled. He thought that now that he was a father, his actions and thoughts should be more proper and reliable. Thinking of this, he managed to toss the thoughts of all the deaths in Jingdou to the back of his head. His long depressed emotions finally opened up a little.

The day was already bright. He quickly returned to the dangerous world. Fan Xian sighed and carelessly washed up with the help of a serving girl. After putting on his official robes, he entered the Flower Hall. Unwilling to eat properly, he picked up a bowl of swallow’s nest porridge and walked into the east room. He watched his sleeping daughter and talked and joked a bit with Wan’er and Sisi before he went to greet his father and Lady Liu. After that, he left the manor and headed to the Royal Palace.

There was still a somber atmosphere in the streets. However, the Emperor’s safe return to the capital had settled the hearts of the common people a great deal. Gradually, more people returned to the streets. Fan Xian watched this scene through the window in the carriage and felt slightly reassured.

He passed through the Palace gates, along the long corridor, and arrived at the royal study. Fan Xian, unsurprisingly, saw the diligent Emperor reading memorials with an unlined coat thrown over his shoulders. He paused slightly before bowing. He then stood up, silently waiting at the side. Peeking out of the corner of his eyes, he watched the old Emperor’s expression.

With this peek, he was surprised to find a mysterious smile at the corner of the Emperor’s lips that naturally revealed a sense of joy. It was completely unlike his lonely appearance last night after the father and son mutually hurt each other. Fan Xian was a bit confused. He thought to himself, I just had a precious baby girl, which was why I’m somewhat happy. Where did the Emperor’s happiness come from?

Fan Xian felt even more admiration for Director Chen, who had been summoned into the Palace last night. Only that old cripple would be able to cheer the Emperor up so much that he would forget the series of recent tragedies.

The Emperor put down the memorial and raised his head to look at Fan Xian warmly. “There isn’t a court conference today. Why have you come in so early?”

Jingdou had just settled down. Of the Six Ministries, some officials were locked up, some escaped, some were hurt, and some were dead. Everything was still under martial law. The Imperial Army was at the head, while the Jingdou government was the backup, maintaining order. It was impossible to host the court conference as usual. However, Fan Xian felt it was strange. Although the present situation was tense and there were countless things to deal with in the Palace, even if the Emperor wanted to immediately remove him from the position of regent, as a close official, he still had to come in to help share the worries. Did he dare close his manor doors and live his simple life?

He carefully replied, “The generals of the rebel army have fallen, but there is still unrest in various areas. I thought about it closely and worried that Your Majesty may have things to instruct, so I hurried to enter the Palace.”

The Emperor smiled and said, “You’ve just had a daughter, yet you’re not asking to stay longer at home. Do you really have a busy life?”

Fan Xian smiled and knew that Chen Pingping must have told the Emperor last night. “Once I’m off duty, I’ll go home and hold her for longer.”

“You’re not an official in the Hall of Governmental Affairs. When have I ever put you on duty?” The Emperor glared at him. “You’re still so absent-minded even though you’ve had a child. You don’t seem like a father at all.”

Fan Xian paused. Only now did he understand the Emperor’s meaning. He wanted him to go home and spend time with his child. This had been what he had hoped in his heart. Hearing the Emperor’s harsh criticism, he felt discontented. When it came to being a father, although it was his first time, presumably he would be much better than the Emperor. After all, just look at how Chengqian and the Second Prince ended up.

Thinking of those two brothers, he also thought of Chengqian waiting in the Eastern Palace to die while he had just had a daughter. The expression on his face began to turn strange as his mouth moved slightly. He was unsure how to reply to the Emperor’s words.

He wasn’t sure if the Emperor had seen something in his expression since his face changed slightly, but he didn’t give him any instructions about handling the aftermath of the rebellion. Lightly, he said, “There is no need for you to wait in the Palace today. You can go home. It’s your first day being a father. You should be attentive…” The Emperor paused and then abruptly turned his head as if thinking about something. A moment later, he slowly said, “Tomorrow, have Chen bring the child in for me to see.”

Fan Xian quickly gave thanks. He could see that his mood had become bad again. Having received the order, he quickly backed out of the royal study. The moment he left, he was stopped by Eunuch Yao. He had also heard of Fan manor’s joyous news and repeatedly and respectfully offered his congratulations. Fan Xian did not have time to talk with the eunuch, but as he handed a red pocket over, he abruptly thought of something. Lowering his voice, he asked how the eunuchs and serving girls captured in the Palace, as well as the guards of the internal court, would be dealt with.

Although the time to settle accounts should be after the situation had mostly been set, discipline in the Palace was always much faster than outside it. Even if they hadn’t done anything, the Emperor should have drafted regulations. Fan Xian was a bit worried, so took this opportunity to ask the eunuch closest to the Emperor’s side.

Although he was worried, his face did not express a sliver of anxiety. He asked as lightly as possible, pretending that it was a concern a regent ought to have. Eunuch Yao knew the status of this young man and his future power, so he did not think too much of it and picked a few of the important cases to tell.

Fan Xian had also wanted to ask about the situation in the Eastern Palace. After thinking about it closely, he closed his mouth.

After saying goodbye to Eunuch Yao, he was a bit shocked and couldn’t pull himself together for a moment. He was shocked at how lenient the Emperor’s punishment had been on the eunuchs, serving girls, and guards. It was completely unlike what he had guessed. Putting aside Hong Zhu, the head eunuch who appeared on the surface to not have done anything, of the old housemaids in Hanguang Palace, the new eunuchs in the Eastern Palace, and the serving girls in Guangxin Palace, almost no one had been killed. Most of the people had kept their lives. Only a group of people were going to be let out of the Palace.

Fan Xian shook his head as he walked out of the Palace. He wondered to himself if the sun had perhaps risen from the west today? How could the Emperor suddenly become such a gentle person? Suddenly, his heart jumped. He thought of the Emperor’s gloomy expression last night and then thought of the Emperor’s gentle conversation earlier with him. He couldn’t help but think that perhaps after receiving such a stimulus, he had finally thought through some matters and was beginning to accumulate good fortune for himself and future generations of the Li family.

The reality was actually not far from what Fan Xian was thinking. The Emperor was not a person to kill indiscriminately, nor was he someone who enjoyed killing. It was just that his personality was persistent and severe, and he wasn’t afraid to kill people. The servants in the Palace were only listening to the empress dowager’s orders and did not have deep connections with the rebellion. Furthermore, the Emperor did not care about cleaning out the roots when pulling out the weeds. In addition, the Crown Prince and Second Prince had both used their deaths to show their resistance. This made small changes to the Emperor’s state of mind.

…

…

The next day, Fan Xian and Lin Wan’er brought their daughter into the Palace. This was the first time the Emperor showed the benevolence an elder should have in front of them. Holding the female infant, he looked at her closely for a long time happily. When the Emperor used his finger to gently stroke the infant girl’s brows, Fan Xian felt alarmed. In Hanguang Palace, he had learned just how powerful the Emperor’s finger could be.

It seemed that the Emperor liked this child immensely, particularly her brows and eyes. Fan Xian watched this scene. His heart trembled. He wondered if the Emperor was remembering some trace of the past again.

As he thought this, the Emperor had him take the child and go to the various Palaces to show the concubines, but he kept Wan’er back. Fan Xian paused slightly but didn’t say anything. He followed the order and left. Presently, there was no mistress in the Palace, so there was no reason for a gift to bestow on the child. Thus, it was left to be dealt with later. However, Lady Ning’s words about having the Palace send over nannies and wet-nurses as she held the child was firmly rejected by Fan Xian. This puzzled Lady Ning and Yi Guipin at the side.

This was originally a matter for joy, but too many people had died in the Palace. It was impossible to be happy. No matter how loudly Lady Ning laughed, she was unable to wash away the strange atmosphere in the Palace. Yi Guipin also only smiled warmly. The Third Prince, Li Chengping, insisted on holding the infant, even though his injury was not healed, and repeated cooed “baby sister” to the infant.

The corner of Fan Xian’s mouth twitched. He thought the kid was scarily mature. However, the incorrectness of the generations seemed a bit excessive. For some reason, he thought of his sister and Sizhe far away in Northern Qi. The Dong Mountain incident involved three countries. Ku He was certain to die. He didn’t know if the two of them would have problems over there.

Before too long, Fan Xian took the child and left. Going to the royal study to pick up his wife, he asked permission to leave and return home. The Emperor muttered to himself and then allowed it. He then said that the matter of granting a name would be discussed in the future. Fan Xian knew the Emperor was busy handling court politics after the rebellion. He did not think he would remember such a small matter, so he was very surprised.

After leaving the Palace, Fan Xian didn’t ask Wan’er what the Emperor had held her back to talk about. Looking at his wife’s swollen eyes, he knew that the conversation this time between uncle and niece had to be about the Eldest Princess and the deaths of the two princes.

…

…

In the following month, under the Emperor’s powerful efforts, the Six Ministries and three departments in the court gradually returned to the right path. The remaining rebel soldiers that scattered into the wilds were caught and killed. Ye Zhong led his troops in a triumphant return and stabilized the entire situation. Jingdou returned to a state of peace. The atmosphere of the rebellion gradually dimmed.

Fan Xian quit his position as regent. The same night the royal entourage returned to the capital, he returned the Emperor’s royal seal. Although whether or not he quit, no one treated him as the regent now anyway. No one knew whether these small mistakes would later become major problems. Each day later was an extra day of danger.

He continued being the Commissioner of the Overwatch Council and the transport official of the palace treasury. He never had to care about problems in court again. The two scholars led a group of civil officials to handle the affairs of the court. The military had the Bureau of Military Affairs to take care of it. Neither had anything to do with him. With this, other than Yan Bingyun occasionally coming to the manor to make a report and Jiangnan’s Su Wenmao and Xia Qifei handing in reports on time, there was not much for him to care about.

There were some interludes, such as how did Sir Yan junior survive, but Fan Xian never asked a single word about it. He didn’t even much want to go to the Overwatch Council, much less know about those things that made one feel troubled. On the contrary, it was Xia Qifei’s letter, which said after the old Ming master in Jiangnan learned of the Eldest Princess’s success he committed suicide, that made Fan Xian feel deeply moved.

Ming Qingda had finally died. He thought of how long he had battled with that old man in Jiangnan. He hadn’t expected he would die like that. Fan Xian couldn’t help but feel perplexed. He thought that when the old Master hung himself, perhaps he had actually used the white cloth he had given him.

Perhaps he was tired from the series of things that happened in Jingdou or perhaps he was caught up in his old injury, but Fan Xian fell completely sick. After he recovered, he only stayed home to hold his child, cheer up his wife, be filial to the elders, and hide in the little tower. What did he care about the goings-on outside? He enjoyed his family bonds and was happy.

Jingdou gradually calmed. After the spirits of the officials who had survived had settled, they recovered their usual toadying for personal gain.

Everyone knew that Sir Fan junior, who had played the greatest role in the rebel incident, entered the Palace rarely. He only stayed home to play with his child. This inevitably confused them. Some people, who thought themselves clever, thought that the Emperor had a change of heart. Later, information gradually leaked out of the Palace that said the Emperor greatly liked the little girl in Sir Fan junior’s family and his month of rest had been a gift from the Emperor.

Thus, everyone knew what they should do.

The empress dowager had just died, so the capital was covered in white. According to the rites, all entertainment was canceled. Even restaurants had to close for a month. Fan manor had a child, but they could not do anything excessive. They didn’t even hang one red lantern outside. It was impossible to see the happiness. However, every day at dusk, there would always be officials who sneaked into the Fan manor and left gifts before leaving without a sound.

Father and son quietly accepted the gifts but couldn’t be bothered to deal with the request made by those officials. They knew why those officials still took the risk to deliver gifts and fawn on influential people during these strict and tense times. After the rebellion was quelled, a large number of the officials who usually followed the Crown Prince, Second Prince, and Eldest Princess had been taken down and locked up in the Overwatch Council’s prison. Those officials whose stance during the Jingdou incident was not firm enough had also been removed from office with a swipe of the Emperor’s brush. In the entire Six Ministries, along with the Dongsheng Road and Jiangnan Road to the east, there were hundreds of posts that had opened up.

Officials love posts. These hundreds of positions had made them all red-eyed with longing. They didn’t have time to think about too much. The changes in the Palace had been too drastic. Many of their old paths had been broken. Most of the people had no connection to the Dingzhou army, so no one dared to give gifts to the cold-faced Great Prince. Coincidentally, Sir Fan junior had just had a daughter. It gave them a great opportunity to give gifts. They could not let the opportunity go by.

After a month, matters in Jingdou were finally settled. As for the positions in various ministries, temples, and departments, as well as the two Roads in the east and south, the Hall of Governmental Affairs made a list. They chose a great number of reserve candidates from the spring examination to fill the posts. Most of them were capable people. Those who had their names written down were overjoyed and thought the gifts that they had delivered to the Fan manor had worked. Those who had not been chosen were secretly angry they had not prepared enough silver. Sir Fan junior turned his nose of at it.

That day, Fan Xian held his child. As he teased the little girl’s tender red lips, he said to his father, “I didn’t say a single thing.”

Minister Fan took a drink of winter cherry and smiled slightly. “I am about to quit my post; who can be bothered to go to the Palace to say it?”

“Xiao Hua’er, Xiao Hua’er…” Fan Xian smiled at his father. He then lowered his head again to coo at the child. Holding her every day during this month, he truly loved her more and more.

Minister Fan glanced at him then suddenly said, “Although the Emperor has ordered you to rest, you’ve been resting for a month. You’ve never gone to the Overwatch Council yamen… Just what are you hiding from?”

Fan Xian’s heart jumped. He was terrified that his father would see his thoughts, so he smiled and said, “I’ll hide while I can. After Wan’er and I got married, other than the time I got injured at the Hanging Temple, we’ve never had such leisurely days together.”

Bringing up the Hanging Temple, the corners of his lips trembled slightly. His father did not notice.

There was actually only one reason he had hidden in his manor this month and not been willing to go to the Overwatch Council. He was scared that he would run into Chen Pingping. If he really did run into Chen Pingping, he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to resist asking him and confirming certain things. Although the old cripple had still chosen silence and severance out of care for him, if the elder and the youth actually met, how would they interact? A lot of things the Emperor did not understand, Fan Xian was gradually seeing more clearly. The clearer he saw, the colder his heart felt and the more worried he became.

A number of days passed quietly. The sense of autumn thickened as the days grew gradually colder. Jingdou was also becoming more and more stable, while the Palace was also becoming more and more peaceful. Most of the eunuchs and serving girls had survived and continued their service. Eunuch Dai who had returned to his post. He secretly sent word about the people Sir Fan junior asked about. Some were alive, and some were dead. He also said, very gratefully, that in this world, only Sir Fan junior would pay such attention to those pitiful people.

Asking after a bunch of people was just a ruse. Fan Xian only had to confirm Hong Zhu’s punishment. However, the other news that Eunuch Dai said made his expression harden.

Tomorrow, the Palace was sending out a public announcement.

Fan Xian knew exactly what the contents of the public announcement would be. The purpose of the Emperor’s heaven worship was to depose the Crown Prince. This public announcement had finally come. It only proved that the one in the Eastern Palace had already gone, or perhaps he had already been gone for several days and no one knew. Fan Xian lowered his head and drank his tea, not saying a word. There was no expression of sorrow on his face. It was so calm that it was scary.

Li Wan’er stood to the side and watched his expression. She knew he was thinking of some problem again. Carefully, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I need to enter the Palace tomorrow,” Fan Xian said to her quietly. “There are some things I have to report to the Emperor.”

Lin Wan’er gazed at him worriedly.

Fan Xian comforted her. “Nothing major. I just promised a person some things.”

There were about 340 Jingdou officials involved in the rebellion. In addition, there were their subordinates, confidantes, and relatives in their manors. The Emperor captured around 4,000 people. The Overwatch Council prison long ran out of space. The Ministry of Justice and Taichang Temple were also stuffed full of people. In the end, even the west hall of the Imperial College had been emptied to use to hold criminals.

According to Qing law, rebellion was a crime that implicated nine generations. Even if there was unusual leniency, 2,000 or 3,000 heads would probably fall.

Fan Xian smiled bitterly and shook his head. He thought that if it was him in the past, perhaps these heads would just have fallen. What did it have to do with him? Having lived to today, he had long understood some things. At the least, the things he had promised others should be done.

Furthermore, judging from the situation this month, the Emperor was becoming gentler and gentler. Fan Xian had some degree of confidence that at least a few more women and children would survive. Putting aside the accumulation of good fortune, the Crown Prince’s surrender had allowed at least a few thousand Qing soldiers to survive. Fan Xian had to repay this.

Bright and early the next morning, Fan Xian tidied his official robes. His mind spun as he turned to pick up a piece of cloth to put in his clothing. This piece of cloth had Fan Xiaohua’s red footprint from when she turned a month old. At that time, the entire manor felt that Fan Xian’s actions were strange. They had not thought that he was simply missing a tradition from many years ago. Taking this cloth today, he was going to use it to attack the Emperor’s heart.

All prepared, he climbed into the carriage. Unexpectedly, he saw a familiar person across the street watching him with a smile. Fan Xian lowered his head to look at his black Overwatch Council robes. He then looked at the pure white clothing on the other person. In a deep voice, he said, “I said I’m not going. Even if you dress up every day like White Wuchang to come drag me, I still won’t go.”

Yan Bingyun walked over with a slight smile on his cold face. “This is the Director’s will. As a subordinate, of course, I can only bother you every day. Are you going to the Palace? Since you can go into the Palace, then you can return to the Council to deal with Council affairs. You can’t wait until the Director goes to the Palace and asks for an edict.”

Fan Xian spat onto the ground and abruptly remembered the reason he was going to the Palace. He furrowed his brows and said something in a low voice beside Yan Bingyun’s ear. Yan Bingyun looked at him strangely and thought, All the rebels were going to be punished, which would follow Qing law. The Emperor had not implicated people on a wide scale, so why was the Commissioner going into the Palace to demonstrate?

He looked at Fan Xian like he was looking at a strange creature. He shook his head and said, “The Council has not randomly captured people. Those people are definitely not wronged. I don’t understand. When did your heart become so gentle?”

In the eyes of these confidantes and friends, below Fan Xian’s gentle appearance was hidden a ruthless and vicious heart. Thus, Yan Bingyun was confused and looked at him with a frown. Fan Xian felt somewhat ill at ease by his look and sighed slightly. “After you and the young lady of the Sheng family have married and had a child, you’ll probably be able to understand.”