Joy of Life / Qing Yu Nian - Part 3

Chapter 403 The Gathering of Abandoned Children

Wan’er had not arrived yet, but the people that Fan Xian placed in Suzhou had sent out began to come back one by one. They scattered Fan Xian’s sinister seeds all around Jiangnan and brought back to the good news Fan Xian needed.

The first to return was Xia Qifei.

Fan Xian did not meet him in Hua Garden, as the Baoyue Brothel was half collapsed they also could not meet there. In the end, he chose to visit the Xia-Ming manor in the south of the city deep in the night. Fan Xian had paid for this garden, but he had only come once with the Third Prince.

The somewhat travel-worn Xia Qifei looked at the approaching Fan Xian escorted by Tiger Guards and jumped in front. He had originally planned to visit Hua Garden in the afternoon but had been instructed to wait in the manor. He had not expected that the commissioner would personally visit.

After he respectfully showed Fan Xian into the study, these two illegitimate children did not spend much time exchanging pleasantries. Fan Xian impatiently expressed a superior’s warmth and immediately dove into the topic.

Through Xia Qifei’s report, Fan Xian’s heart was finally at ease. Ever since Xia Qifei took on those big lots from the palace treasury, he had begun to (with the help of the Overwatch Council) move his jianghu bandit brothers. They began to turn toward the right path, however, after all, these were jianghu people. Fan Xian was worried that the Seventh Master would not be able to deal with the matter appropriately.

It was tonight that he finally felt at ease. It looked like Xia Qifei had indeed inherited somethings from his old man. Bringing in goods, making the bill of lading, opening up a path, and bribing officials, these were all skills necessary to a merchant. He didn’t miss a single one.

What put Fan Xian’s heart most at ease was that after the Xia-Ming merchant group passed through Jiangbei, they had connected with the Northern Qi people in a little town south of Cangzhou.

On Northern Qi’s side, that little Emperor had appointed the son of Marquis Ning, Wei Hua, as the leader of the Brocade Guard. There would be no safety concerns in the sending of the goods, but Fan Xian was curious as to who had personally entered deep into the Qing Kingdom territory and braved the risk to collect this first batch of goods.

“It was the Leader himself.” Xia Qifei also seemed to be slightly shocked at the meeting back then.

Fan Xian was surprised and couldn’t help but readjust his judgement of this Wei Hua. He was in a lofty position, yet he was so daring as to enter the territory of the Qing Kingdom. He also couldn’t help feeling disdain for the defensive abilities in the Cangzhou area.

The Northern Qi Brocade Guards were only responsible for the safety of the roads going North. Back then, it was the Northern Qi empress dowager and Eldest Princess making exchanges that had become very familiar with it. Now, it was the little Emperor and Fan Xian making exchanges. This first trade needed to be done with extra care.

“Where are our people in the North?” he suddenly furrowed his brows and asked.

Xia Qifei looked at him carefully and removed a letter from within his clothes. “This is a letter Sir Wang asked me to bring. There is another present coming toward the South.”

Fan Xian accepted the letter and saw that it was indeed Wang Qinian’s unique penmanship. He did not take the long box that Xia Qifei handed over, he just indicated for him to place it to the side. He shook his head and asked, “Wang Qinian, this guy, he’s even more cowardly than me, of course, he would not stupidly go South…however, we do need someone to follow them. Which merchant in the North is taking over?”

He knew that the Cui family routes in the North had already been completely taken over by himself while the Qing court still thought that it was the controlled by the little Northern Qi Emperor…the matter of Second Fan controlling the Northern smuggling route was only known by a few people in the Fan manor, the Yan family, and a few of Fan Xian’s confidants. The Qing Emperor only knew that Second Fan was in the North, but would not think that Fan Xian had the daring to let his young brother run such a large business.