All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

"I am Fan Xian, and I thank Your Highness Prince Yong for saving my life."

Li Chang'an said with a smile, "Uncle Si Nan and his son don't need to be so polite. Just let Ruoruo come and play more often in the future. There's no need for a special thank you."

Fan Jian, who had just sat down, then realized that the person in front of him was Li Chang'an, who had been trying to abduct his daughter for many years.

His intention to abduct Fan Ruoruo did not change even after he traveled the martial arts world and became the owner of the Dragon Guard Manor.

Fan Xian immediately thought of the letter Li Chang'an wrote to Fan Ruoruo when they were young. The reason why Ruoruo and Fan Xian are not close now is because of Li Chang'an's preconceived notions.

Fan Jian cupped his hands and said, "Ruoruo will soon be a young lady, so it's not convenient for her to come to Prince Yong's mansion so often."

Upon hearing Fan Jian's words, Li Chang'an said as if he suddenly realized something, "It's inconvenient. When Ruoruo grows up, we can ask His Majesty to grant her a marriage."

"After we get married, we'll live in the Prince's Mansion. We won't have to keep coming here from the Marquis of Sinan's Mansion. It's so inconvenient!"

Fan Jian's smile froze instantly. Li Chang'an was certainly straightforward.

In fact, Fan Jian knew that the Emperor trusted Li Chang'an precisely because of this.

Hearing Li Chang'an's words while kneeling on the ground, Fan Xian felt that this Prince Yong was somewhat shameless, as if Ruoruo was born to be his princess.

Li Chang'an and Fan Jian were chatting while Fan Xian just knelt there.

Fortunately, the two didn't discuss important court affairs and didn't have much to say. Before long, Fan Jian helped Fan Xian up and left.

As he was leaving, Li Chang'an said with a smile, "Uncle Sinan and this idle nephew, please come visit more often in the future."

Li Chang'an's mother was a generation older than Liu Ruyu, so he always called Liu Ruyu "elder sister," while Fan Sizhe called Li Chang'an "uncle" when he was a child.

Li Chang'an's way of arranging seniority isn't wrong, especially since Fan Xian is Li Chang'an's nephew.

Fan Xian, however, did not think so. According to Li Chang'an's intentions towards Fan Ruoruo, shouldn't he be the elder brother-in-law? How come he is still the younger one in terms of seniority?

As soon as the two went out, Fan Ruoruo and Fan Sizhe ran in.

They originally came together, but Fan Jian and Fan Xian had to discuss serious matters, so they came in first.

Upon seeing Li Chang'an, Fan Sizhe readily slid to his knees and said, "Greetings, Your Highness Prince Yong!"

Then, without waiting for Li Chang'an to call him, Fan Sizhe got up on his own.

Fan Xian grinned as he looked on; he would never visit the Prince Yong's residence often!

If you come often, you'll have to kneel often!

Fan Ruoruo said to Fan Jian and Fan Xian, "Father, Fan Xian, you go back first. Sizhe and I will go home after dinner."

Fan Xian glanced at the sun; it was less than half an hour past noon, yet Fan Ruoruo spoke as if it were already evening.

As Fan Jian and Fan Xian left, they heard Fan Ruoruo's words from afar: "Your Highness, I felt that Si Lili had ill intentions four years ago, and now she has finally been exposed!"

Li Chang'an said solemnly, "Si Lili is indeed a bad woman, she should be given a good beating!"

After leaving the palace, Fan Jian said with some surprise, "Xian'er, why didn't you say anything just now? Why were you kneeling for so long?"

Fan Xian was somewhat surprised to hear this. "His Highness Prince Yong didn't tell me to get up. How can I speak while kneeling?"

Fan Jian stared wide-eyed and said, "If you don't speak, how will His Highness know that you've remembered?"

"You haven't said a word, I thought you were going to kneel down to express your gratitude."

Fan Xian was speechless. It seemed he hadn't knelt long enough and didn't know there was a lesson to be learned in kneeling.

"Father, you've misunderstood!"

"My legs are just numb and I can't get up!"

In the Yongwang Mansion, Fan Sizhe eagerly followed Gao Wuniang to learn the art of business planning.

Gao Wuniang is one of the few women in the Shadow Guard. She has an eighth-grade talent in martial arts and a eighth-grade talent in business, which are very rare talents.

She was discovered by Shen Wanshan, studied under him for four years, and then went to Langya Mountain to further her espionage skills.

After completing her studies, Zhao Gao sent her to the capital at Li Chang'an's request.

After Gao Wuniang arrived, she took charge of managing the salaries of the Shadow Guards to prevent some commanders from skimming off the money.

Since Fan Ruoruo is not deeply involved in Fan Xian's affairs, she is currently focusing her energy on studying music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

Especially after Lin Wan'er became famous for her poetry and chess skills, Fan Ruoruo felt a strong sense of crisis.

After seeing Fan Ruoruo and her brother off after dinner, Jingni continued to report the information that had been interrupted.

"Your Highness, Chen Pingping is currently still at the Black Cavalry camp on the outskirts of the capital and can return to the capital at any time."

The Black Riders of the Overwatch Council are battle-hardened elites with two ironclad rules: their numbers must not exceed a thousand, and they must never set foot in Kyoto.

"Jingni, how many people have we infiltrated into Shijia Village?"

Shijia Village, located at the border of the Northern Qi and the Eastern Yi, was originally called Yejia Village.

Shijia Village is a base built by Chen Pingping. Chen Pingping actually secretly visited this place when she returned to her hometown this time.

Jingni replied, "Not yet. Only those who are die-hard loyalists of Chen Pingping within the Oversight Bureau have a chance to be sent there."

"After Chen Pingping left, my subordinates mobilized three top-level eighth-rank undercover agents from various places to investigate the situation in Shijia Village."

"Even so, they dared not go too far in, because the defenses there were very tight, almost like the Langya Mountain Net base."

The Ten Villages of the Surveillance Bureau and the Net Base set up by Zhao Gao in Langya Mountain both incorporated various covert protection measures.

It's fair to say that Li Chang'an would have had a hard time finding this place if he hadn't been so prescient.

"Are there Black Cavalry hiding in Shijia Village?"

Jingni said, "Our initial estimate is that there are more than three thousand of them, and they are all Black Cavalrymen who can take on ten men each!"

"It's unbelievable that the head of the Qing Kingdom's Surveillance Bureau would actually keep a private army!"

Chen Pingping secretly harbored Black Riders, and Fan Jian raised assassins within the Tiger Guard. These two were truly capable, using Emperor Qing's money and provisions to support their own forces.

Fan Xian's fathers are all formidable figures, none of them are pushovers.

Li Chang'an said with a smile, "Let's not talk about Chen Pingping anymore. How many troops does Zhao Gao currently control?"

Jingni replied, "The 50,000 troops of the Western Qin Kingdom are all under Lord Zhao's control."

With the funds and supplies from the Wanshan Chamber of Commerce, their fighting strength is gradually increasing.

"In fact, with the financial resources of the Wanshan Chamber of Commerce, Lord Zhao could expand the army by at least three to five times, but that would definitely attract the attention of Northern Qi."

Without a Grandmaster, the Western Qin state could only be a vassal state of the Northern Qi; only states with Grandmasters could dominate a region.

"Let Zhao Gao and Shen Wansan accumulate money and grain first. Once I break through to the Grandmaster level, the Western Qin Kingdom can begin to rise."

Shen Wansan's wealth was growing ever larger, and he might be targeted by the Southern Qing or Northern Qi at any time. In the imperial era, wealth without the protection of power was like a tree without roots.

Therefore, the headquarters of the Wanshan Chamber of Commerce has been moved to the Western Qin Kingdom, where the military strength of the Western Qin Kingdom is the strongest protection for the Chamber of Commerce.

Although Zhao Gao was skilled in political maneuvering, he was not adept at leading and maintaining troops.

When the system settles accounts next time, Li Chang'an plans to summon a famous general from all ages to lead the army of Western Qin.

To gain a foothold in this world, power and wealth are merely supplementary; martial arts are the foundation.

Therefore, breaking through to the Grandmaster level is Li Chang'an's most urgent goal.

……

After leaving Prince Yong's residence, Fan Xian headed straight for the Supervisory Council.

With Yan Ruohai's support, Fan Xian was quickly given a hall, which became his office, by the Supervisory Council.

Fan Xian and Zong Zhui sat facing each other. Zong Zhui was the person Fan Xian trusted most after Lao Zhang and Lao Zhao.

"Sir, Ruowei has revealed Lin Gong's name, but she absolutely refuses to publicly identify Lin Gong?"

Lin Gong was a retainer of the Crown Prince, a fact known throughout the officialdom of the capital.

The Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess wielded immense power, and anyone who exposed Lin Gong risked having their entire family wiped out; this almost happened.

Fan Xian was unwilling to see Fang Daren's entire household silenced, so he shifted the risk of confessing Lin Gong onto Ruowei.

In contrast, Ruowei was much safer than Fang Daren in the Supervisory Council's dungeon, and Fan Xian could use his power to protect her.

"Yes, and Ruowei is a spy from Northern Qi. Her testimony alone is not enough to bring Lin Gong to justice."

"Lin Gong has the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess behind him. Even if Lin Gong confesses, will he receive the punishment he deserves?"

Zong Zhui tentatively asked, "My lord, have you ever considered that Lin Gong was also acting under someone else's orders, and that there is someone else who truly wants to kill you?"

As a seasoned veteran of Kyoto, Zongzhui had witnessed far too many assassination attempts; the Second Prince had even attempted to assassinate the Crown Prince several times.

But how can you possibly get to the bottom of something like this? If you investigate to a certain extent, someone will always come out to stop you.

Trying to bring the real culprit to justice through overt legal charges is several times harder than climbing to heaven.

Upon hearing Lin Gong's name, Fan Xian's expression turned indignant. "It's so difficult to even find Lin Gong now, let alone investigate further."

"Cheng Jushu, who directly assassinated me, is dead. Now that Lin Gong has been identified, Lin Gong must die!"

Zong Zhui then raised another concern, "Lin Gong and Princess Yichen have a close relationship, and Lin Gong has taken good care of the princess since childhood..."

“Once you kill Lin Gong, the person behind Lin Gong will definitely tell Prime Minister Lin and the Princess that you are the murderer.”

Upon hearing the name of Princess Yichen, Fan Xian hesitated. If he killed Lin Gong with his own hands, then there would be no possibility for him and Lin Wan'er to be together again.

Although Lin Wan'er clearly stated that she did not want to marry him, the Emperor's intention to bestow the marriage still remained, and Fan Xian still had some confidence in himself.