stonecrandall Chapter 1153 Don't get the order wrong, Fan Xian!
Chapter 1153 Don't get the order wrong, Fan Xian!
A sudden gust of wind swept through the woods, rustling the leaves like countless whispers. Fan Xian felt a chill rise up his spine, not from the wind, but from the stark truth revealed in Di Renjie's words.
"Why?" Fan Xian's voice was hoarse. "If I were his son..."
“Precisely because you are his son.” Di Renjie’s gaze was profound. “Even tigers don’t eat their cubs, but the heart of an emperor is no ordinary man. Think about it, if you had grown up in the palace, with the dual identity of being the son of Ye Qingmei and the son of Emperor Qing, what would the court be like now? How would those loyal former subordinates of Ye Qingmei—Chen Pingping, Fan Jian, and the generals in the army—view you? You would have become another center of power, a living successor of Ye Qingmei, with royal blood flowing through your veins.”
Fan Xian closed his eyes, the image of Emperor Qing's perpetually unfathomable face flashing through his mind. That man who was sometimes stern, sometimes kind, sometimes inscrutable... was actually his biological father? And this very man might have orchestrated his mother's death?
"Where's the evidence?" Fan Xian opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife. "These records alone cannot prove anything."
Di Renjie took out another item from his sleeve. It was a jade pendant, semi-circular, with a warm and smooth texture and exquisite carving, but with irregular crack marks on the edge, clearly only half of a complete jade pendant.
“This is something Ye Qingmei always carried with her,” Di Renjie handed the jade pendant to Fan Xian. “The other half should be in Emperor Qing’s hands. It was their token of love back then, and also a symbol of some kind of… tacit understanding. On the night Ye Qingmei was murdered, this jade pendant was taken from her body, and after several changes of ownership, it ended up in the hands of our lord.”
Fan Xian took the jade pendant, feeling its warmth against his skin. He could sense a faint, lingering aura within it, a glimmer of light belonging to his mother, a light that had transcended time.
"Why is Gao Yao investigating these things?" Fan Xian suddenly asked, looking directly at Di Renjie. "What exactly is Gao Yao's purpose? He comes from another world, so why is he getting involved in the grievances of the Qing Kingdom?"
Di Renjie remained silent for a moment, seemingly considering how to answer. "My lord often says that history is the inevitability among countless coincidences, but some coincidences can change the course of inevitability. Lady Ye Qingmei... comes from the same place as him. In a sense, she is his fellow townsman."
Fan Xian was startled. He recalled Gao Yao's earlier words, that he was only half a transmigrator. According to Gao Yao, Ye Qingmei was more suited to the identity of a transmigrator, or rather, an awakened one.
"My lord has always believed that Ye Qingmei's death was not only a loss for the Qing Kingdom, but also... the annihilation of a certain possibility," Di Renjie said slowly. "His secret plans over the years were both for self-preservation and to uncover the truth of what happened back then. And your appearance has brought this game to life."
"Am I just a pawn?" Fan Xian smiled bitterly.
“No,” Di Renjie shook his head, “You are a chess player, but you don’t yet fully understand what kind of pieces you hold in your hand. Fan Xian, you know your background, whether you want to know the truth about your mother’s death, and what choices you make next, are all up to you.”
"A choice?" Fan Xian murmured.
"Should we return to Qing Kingdom and vie for the supreme throne as princes? Or should we continue as Fan Xian, navigating the complexities of various factions as Fan Jian's son? Or..." Di Renjie paused, "take the third path, the path Ye Qingmei once wanted to take but was unable to complete."
The sounds of commotion outside the woods could be faintly heard, suggesting that Haitang Duoduo, Guo Baokun, and the others were getting impatient but dared not venture into the woods.
Fan Xian gripped the jade pendant and the stack of yellowed papers tightly, feeling an unprecedented weight. These were not merely objects, but a buried history, a distorted truth, and a weighty inheritance.
"What else did Gao Yao say?" Fan Xian asked, his voice now calm.
A hint of appreciation flashed in Di Renjie's eyes. "My lord only said that no matter what choice you make, he will wait for you in the capital. Also... be careful of Chen Pingping."
"Chen Pingping?" Fan Xian frowned. "Isn't he Mother's most loyal subordinate?"
“Loyalty changes with time and circumstances,” Di Renjie said meaningfully. “The head of the Censorate is, after all, an official of the Qing Kingdom. Remember, in this game of power, the only thing that will never change is that everyone will change.”
"What do you mean?" A very ominous thought arose in Fan Xian's mind. This thought was like a stone thrown into a still lake, stirring up ripples in his heart, which continued to expand until they submerged all his previous understanding.
“You need to understand something,” Di Renjie’s voice was steady and powerful, like a precise scalpel, ready to dissect the festering wound of history, “Ye Qingmei’s ideas are just Ye Qingmei’s ideas, and she is powerless to resist the order of the whole society.”
Fan Xian's lips moved, but no sound came out. He knew Ye Qingmei's ideals—those concepts of equality, freedom, and science, those attempts to sow the seeds of modern civilization in this feudal imperial society. He had once been passionate about these ideals, and felt proud and resonated with the existence of such a time-traveling predecessor.
“Ye Qingmei is not trying to touch the interests of any one person,” Di Renjie continued, each word like a heavy hammer blow, “but the interests of the privileged class of the entire era. From the royal family to the aristocratic families, from civil officials to military generals, the entire power structure of the Qing Kingdom is threatened by her ‘unorthodox’ ideas.”
Fan Xian's mind conjured up images of the reforms Ye Qingmei might have proposed—abolishing aristocratic privileges, implementing the imperial examination system, limiting imperial power, developing commerce and industry, and perhaps even mentioning the concept of "equality before the law." These ideas, commonplace in modern society, were nothing short of an ideological nuclear explosion in this era.
“Ye Qingmei may not be wrong,” Di Renjie leaned forward slightly, the light of the oil lamp flickering in his eyes, “but Ye Qingmei’s existence has had too many effects. These people cannot allow Ye Qingmei to continue to exist, otherwise it would be a challenge and trampling on power and order, and that is the fundamental issue.”
Di Renjie didn't mince words, directly stating the key reason: Ye Qingmei wanted to accelerate societal progress, which was essentially the same thing Gao Yao had wanted to do. However, Gao Yao understood that some things couldn't be accomplished by one person alone, nor could they be changed in a short time.
“But Ye Qingmei wanted to achieve everything in one step,” Di Renjie’s voice carried a complex emotion that was hard to describe. “This in itself is a huge mistake. She forgot that history never changes course because of one person’s ideals. It’s like a great river, with its own flow and rhythm. You can try to dig new channels, but trying to change the course of the entire river in an instant will only result in being submerged by the river.”