Chapter 364: Things in the Night
"Young Master's reaction is really quick."
Si Lili praised with a smile, but when she remembered what she was going to say, the smile on her face slowly disappeared. She pondered for a while and sighed.
"My real name is Li Lisi."
After waiting for a while, I saw that she had no intention of continuing. I thought that she was not mentally prepared to reveal that past.
Mei Cheng'an had no intention of asking further questions and just chuckled.
"Li Lisi, Si Lili, the answer is hidden in the name. This hand lamp in the dark is very clever, very interesting."
Si Lili was amused.
"No way~ I just wanted to be lazy when I chose the alias. I didn't mean to play tricks on others. Please don't make fun of me, sir."
Mei Chengan said softly with a smile on his face.
"A good sentence is naturally formed, and it is found by a master's hand. Many good sentences are not the result of hard thinking, but a flash of inspiration."
After a pause, he shook his head slightly.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's get back to your agreement with Chen Pingping. Chen Pingping is a man with a deep mind and unparalleled wisdom. He is a serious old fox. Compared to him, you are too young. It is not advisable to seek the skin of a tiger. If you can settle down in the Northern Qi Palace, put your cooperation with him aside first and ignore him."
Hearing the deep concern in his clear voice, Si Lili felt an extremely strong warm current flowing through her heart and throughout her body.
She was so moved that she bit her lower lip lightly. The gratitude in her eyes turned into an astonishing love that grew wildly.
After a long time, she suddenly raised her two small hands and gently pressed down the pair of big hands that were still playing tricks, and spoke charmingly and firmly.
"Sir, take me."
"?"
……
"What are you thinking?"
Fan Xian came back to his senses, smiled awkwardly and touched his nose.
"Nothing, it's just that my predecessor predicted it right. I accidentally broke the balance and was indeed hit back."
Hearing this, Sean looked him up and down and sneered.
"You? You are just an appetizer at best. Now that the balance has been broken, it won't end easily."
Fan Xian was stunned, but he was not angry at Sean's contemptuous tone. He was more concerned about the meaning of his words.
"What do you mean?"
Sean said calmly.
"I can guarantee you that sooner or later, Kyoto will experience a major earthquake because of this incident! It's even possible... that it has already begun."
Fan Xian was shocked. Seeing that he spoke with great confidence and determination, he couldn't help but become skeptical and began to analyze the situation in the capital.
After a long while, Fan Xian, who had not figured out anything, asked in confusion.
"The chief commander of the palace guards who had a close relationship with the princess has been dismissed and banished from the capital. The minister of rites, who was a foreign minister she had a close relationship with, has also been stripped of his post and imprisoned. Isn't it enough to replace the people in these two important positions?"
Sean sneered.
"That's just the beginning. The two people you mentioned hold important positions, but they are all the princess's men. Now that you have taken action, how can a mere minister and a guard commander possibly satisfy the emperor's appetite? Now that the princess' power has been weakened, it's the civil servants' turn next."
After a pause, he gave Fan Xian a cold smile.
"You are the prime minister's son-in-law, and now you are famous. If Emperor Qing really wants you to take over the Supervisory Council in the future, then for safety reasons, the prime minister must step down quickly."
"..."
Fan Xian opened his mouth in shock and asked subconsciously.
"Why, why?"
As soon as he asked the question, he understood the reason. The corners of his mouth twitched and he revealed a bitter smile.
Yes, if he really took charge of that terrifying behemoth of the Overwatch Council, together with his father-in-law who was the head of all officials, he could overthrow the person on the throne at any time. How confident would an emperor have to be to feel at ease? He would have to kill the father and keep the son.
Thinking of this, Fan Xian's heart was in a mess. If Sean hadn't reminded him, he would never have thought of this. How did it suddenly become a zero-sum game? What the hell was he going to do...
Fan Xian, whose expression had been uncertain for most of the day, asked.
"Then in your opinion, how will His Majesty make me... Prime Minister step down?"
“How to step down…”
After thinking about it, Sean showed a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth.
"If an emperor wants to force a minister to step down, there are countless ways, but your emperor is a little strange. He seems to prefer to use the power of the Overwatch Council."
The reason why he used the word "strange" was because the power of the Supervisory Council was too strong, but Emperor Qing still trusted Chen Pingping very much, which was very abnormal.
Fan Xian was stunned for a moment, then frowned.
"Use the Censorate? Collect evidence of the prime minister's crimes?"
Of course, he was not naive enough to think that his future father-in-law was a clean official. To be able to reach that position, given his father-in-law's unconventional and tactical personality, he must have done a lot of dirty things. The title of treacherous prime minister was not for nothing, but...
After thinking for a long time, he spoke uncertainly.
"If you want to force my father-in-law to step down, you must find solid evidence of his guilt, but my father-in-law is a very cautious person in employing people and doing things, so he must have cleaned up his hands and feet very well in the past.
Even if the Overwatch Council planted spies with my father-in-law, unless they can completely gain my father-in-law's trust, my father-in-law will never let them get in touch with important matters."
After a pause, his brows relaxed slightly and he concluded.
"In that case, the only way to find evidence of my father-in-law's crime is to rely on the accumulation of time, or rely on my father-in-law being careless for a moment. I think nothing will happen in the short term."
"You're taking it for granted. This matter won't drag on for long!"
Fan Xian was stunned.
"What do you mean, senior?" Sean suddenly asked.
"How old is Lin Wan'er?"
"what?"
The topic changed too quickly and Fan Xian couldn't react for a moment.
Sean asked and answered his own questions without waiting for him to speak.
"Since I'm getting engaged to you, I guess you're about fifteen or sixteen."
Fan Xian raised his eyebrows.
"What do you want to say, senior?"
Sean said faintly.
"Fifteen or sixteen years... maybe even earlier. Such a long time should be enough to gain a person's trust."
There was no beginning or end to this statement, but Fan Xian understood it and was very surprised.
"Senior, are you saying... the princess had already planted a spy in my father-in-law's place so early? No, that's impossible?"
Sean smiled.
"According to what you said before, since there is no affection between the princess and your father-in-law, then why not?"
"..."
Thinking about the princess' crazy nature, Fan Xian's already beating drum in his heart started beating again. Damn it, my father-in-law wouldn't...
No, no, with my father-in-law's sharp eyes, it's not that easy to deceive him, hiss~ But after such a long time, what if...
No, there is no chance! Mr. Yuan is watching over his father-in-law. As the first counselor of the prime minister's mansion, he is not a vegetarian.
Thinking of this, Fan Xian raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't dwell on this issue anymore, or rather, he didn't dare to think about it any further, otherwise he would not be able to fall asleep at night.
"The princess has just had a large number of forces cut off by His Majesty, and her vitality is probably seriously damaged. Now she is not busy keeping her tail between her legs, but dares to join His Majesty in targeting my father-in-law? Isn't she afraid..."
Sean looked at him oddly.
"Didn't you say before that she was a lunatic who acted without scruples? Would you be afraid of a lunatic who dared to test the imperial power?"
"..."
Fan Xian was sweating profusely.
After a brief silence, Fan Xian sighed.
"Revenge and counter-revenge, control and counter-control, until finally a delicate tacit balance is reached. It has been the same for decades, and it is not boring. Tsk, it's boring."
Sean looked at him admiringly.
"The summary is very precise and on point, exactly!"
Fan Xian shrugged, slowly stretched his legs, and adjusted his sitting position.
"Hey, senior, if the undercover method doesn't work on my father-in-law, what other methods will they use to force him to step down?"
Sean shook his head.
“With your father-in-law in such a position, if you want to bring him down, you can only rely on someone close to him to suddenly stab you in the back at a specific time.
Because this is the only way to be most defenseless!
Unless your father-in-law is so suspicious that he trusts no one and has to do everything himself, whenever he wants to use someone to do something, that person will definitely find an opportunity to gain his trust. If he doesn't trust you once or twice, what will happen over time?
Doesn’t work? Haha, it definitely works! "
"..."
Fan Xian was not a argumentative person, but he still couldn't help but ask a question in return.
"Senior, are you so sure that my father-in-law will step down because of this?"
Sean suddenly laughed happily.
"Hahahaha, how much can a young man like you know about things hidden in the night?"
If someone else had said this, Fan Xian would have started to criticize him long ago.
But Sean…he’s qualified.
The civil strife in the Qing Dynasty was planned by him. Whether it was people or the regime, he was trying to subvert them!
In other words, the two princes were suddenly killed for unknown reasons at that time, otherwise, the Qing Kingdom might have been destroyed by him.
Fan Xian's eyelids twitched twice when thinking about this. During the nightly conversations these days, he found that although the other party had been imprisoned in prison for many years and knew nothing about the outside world, as long as they explained it to him briefly, he could always find the problem very quickly and clearly, and guess some results that they did not tell him accurately.
This time he asserted that his father-in-law would be forced to step down because of being backstabbed by people close to him. Fan Xian was not sure whether his prediction would come true again, but he could not help but be shocked at the viciousness and accuracy of his vision.
There is no false scholar under the great reputation!
After Fan Xian sighed in his heart, he suddenly spoke.
"I am even more curious now. Why didn't the Overwatch Council kill you immediately when they came across you?"
Hearing the strong fear in his voice and even stopping calling him "senior", Sean was not annoyed. Instead, he smiled triumphantly.
"Because...I have a lot of very important secrets in my head!"
Fan Xian nodded.
"I can understand forcing you to reveal the information, but at least you can use more severe measures, such as destroying your martial arts, chopping off your..."
After a pause, he grinned.
"Five limbs!"
……
(End of this chapter)
