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The repeated pounding of stone echoed across the vast palace, as Lai Mingcheng struck the ground with his bloodied forehead upon each vigorous kowtow.

The Emperor looked at him with dismay, and gestured for the guards to take him away. Then, he turned to Fan Xian and said, “Commissioner Fan, as an officer of the Overwatch Council, your privileges exceed those of many. It is because of this that you need to exercise greater caution with all your dealings, no matter the size or gravity they would possess. Do not embarrass me again.”

It had been difficult for the Emperor to think of a method that would resolve these issues harmoniously, but this seemed to be as good as it was going to get. Before Fan Xian could speak once more, the Emperor quickly waved his hand, which called upon a eunuch to declare that the court proceedings had come to an end.

Fan Xian sighed, knowing that he had put a strain on his favor with the Emperor, and that perhaps the man in question wasn’t so keen on protecting him as much as he had assumed.

Inside, Fan Xian felt rather unsatisfied, despite how every other officer thought the Emperor had stuck his neck out for him far too much already. Before the officers took leave of the Taiji Palace, they each expressed their regards to Fan Xian and as they did so, it seemed as if the Imperial Censorate had fallen out of favor with each and every chancellor there.

Fan Xian was left bearing a wry smile. As Fan Xian took leave himself, he espied his father across the plaza, walking with a hunched back. Fan Xian ran over to his side, as nearby officers complimented the view of such a loving father and son together at work in the palace.

Minister Fan felt a grip upon his shoulder and when he looked to his side, he saw his son offering support. He sighed and then he too showed a wry smile. He said, “An Zhi, why can you not stay out of trouble?”

Fan Xian felt as if he had been wronged when hearing his father’s words, but then he thought to himself, “Who would have thought Xinyang would have kept us within their sights all this time?”

When they reached the gate of the palace, a eunuch softly approached them both and relayed to Fan Xian an order from the Emperor. Hastily, the eunuch brought Fan Xian all the way across the palace once more. Minister Fan looked on in bewilderment and watched him as he went. He thought to himself that even though his son had always donned the appearance of someone who would be accounted for as calm and serious, he could tell from his running posterior that the facade was wearing thin and that he didn’t look serious one bit. Juxtaposed with the current solemn atmosphere of the palace, it didn’t quite seem appropriate.

Colleagues approached Minister Fan from behind and so he dropped his train of thought and concerned expression to present them with a smile. Together, they all exited the palace. The rain had already stopped, but the area had yet to dry up. The officers of the Imperial Censorate were still down upon their knees in front of the palace’s gate, soaked to the bone. It wasn’t long before Officer Lai exited the court, as well, and his face was one of tremendous scorn. He approached his men, kneeled and then placed his hat across the left side of his chest.

After seeing Officer Lai’s actions, the men of the Imperial Censorate knew that this ordeal was not yet over. Shu the Scholar approached to comfort them, but it was to no avail, and feeling the futility of his concerns, he shook his head and promptly walked away. The rest of the officers, however, were already rushing back towards their carriages. They knew it was only a matter of time before things got worse, so they thought it best to stay away.

Only Minister Fan did not rush, and he called for his servant to retrieve umbrellas for each of the Imperial Censorate’s officer’s that continued to kneel on the stone floor, in the event that it began raining once again.

Fan Xian, led by a young eunuch, had jogged by many buildings and walls to reach the palace’s study. The young eunuch was gasping for air by the time they arrived, but through the use of his zhenqi, Fan Xian managed to maintain his total composure.

He was a little nervous when entering the Emperor’s private study, for he did not know what to expect. Following the instructions of the young eunuch, he gingerly stood beside the Emperor’s sofa. After a while, the curtains at the back of the room rippled, and from behind them came the Emperor who was dressed in his ordinary regalia. He looked at Fan Xian and gestured with his hand to excuse the regular formalities of bowing and the like.

Fan Xian did as he was told and merely accepted the stool that was offered to him by the young eunuch.

The study was much quieter on this day than the other day. Only the Emperor and Fan Xian were now present, and a peculiar awkwardness permeated the air. Fan Xian feigned an amiable appearance, but his heart was more than a little unsure. Conjecture was conjecture, and no matter how much Chen Pingping had taught him, or how much of his own experience would aid him, no amount of conjecture could predict the way a meeting such as this could unfold.

When Fan Xian thought the Emperor was prepared to put on the guise of a loving father, what the Emperor said broke all of his expectations.

“Fan Xian, you don’t lack money. Why do you yearn for more?” The Emperor was not fanciful with his words; they were spoken plainly, guided by his cold stare towards Fan Xian.

A droplet of cold sweat took leave of Fan Xian’s forehead. He knew he had been a little prying in the past, and he was starting to believe that the Emperor was aware that he had accepted money from the Liu family. He thought it impossible to lie and hide something so grave from the Emperor, so he stood up and told him, “My Lord, because I am the chief of the Overwatch Council’s First Bureau, I need to receive such money.”

“Oh?” The Emperor expressed curiosity towards what Fan Xian was planning on telling him.

“If you really want to investigate officers, you must first blend in with them. In the past, the Overwatch Council’s First Council was like water,” Fan Xian began, “unable to integrate with oil. Even though we have this large spy network, and the power to investigate freely, it can often be like the search for a flower in thick fog; it can’t be seen clearly. And in regards to the corruption whose source flows from somewhere upstream, higher-up in the government, it cannot be something that is seen from the outside.” Then Fan Xian carefully told him, “If you want a thorough investigation to be conducted, I will have to become one of them.”

With a wry smile, Fan Xian kept going, “As you know, I am from Danzhou.” When he said this, he looked down, but he could feel the Emperor react to these words ever so lightly.

“When I first entered the capital, hailing from Danzhou, things were considerably different from the get-go. I was just a nobody, but now here I am, in charge of such an important position within the Overwatch Council. My nervousness aside, I always felt as if there was a barrier that prevented my assimilation with the other officers in the government.”

The Emperor acknowledged what Fan Xian was trying to tell him before he had finished, and so he coldly told him, “If you are a crane, even if you dye yourself black, you will not fool the crows. I believe that this practice of yours is childish, but as long as you are loyal to the kingdom, no one will prevent you from doing this. But do not forget what befell Zhu Ge. He was a fellow who had the same ambitions as you, but he fell in too deep and could not return.”

Fan Xian knew that the Emperor was repeatedly urging him to become an officer devoid of allies. Although he did not say it, he disagreed with the Emperor; so instead, he laughed and said, “My Lord, but just this morning someone was attempting to put me in a rough spot...”

The young eunuch who stood silently in the room was shocked at these words, believing them to be highly inappropriate. He thought to himself that Fan Xian was an arrogant person and that despite the Emperor’s adoration for him, such a statement could still induce his fury. Even the prince was one to speak with great fear before the Emperor, so what spurred Fan Xian to talk in such a manner?

Against the eunuch’s quiet assumptions, the Emperor smiled to Fan Xian and said, “I wanted to clear your name, but this was between you and your father, and I did not want to get involved.”

Fan Xian himself was surprised, learning that the Emperor was aware that the Imperial Censorate was connected with Xinyang. But why would he suppress Fan Xian’s desire to resolve this entire situation? Fan Xian thought it was unfair of him and just as he was about to act pitifully towards the Emperor, he saw him rubbing his forehead. The Emperor then spoke, “Come. There is a portrait that I very much wish to show you.”

Fan Xian’s mind raced with a thousand ideas as for what this portrait could possibly signify. He thought of what Chen Pingping had once said; that the last remaining portrait of Fan Xian’s mother resided in the palace.

At that moment, someone pushed the door of the study room open; it was Eunuch Hou. Eunuch Hou was close with Fan Xian, but he ran inside in a rush. He hurried to the Emperor’s side and whispered something. Unbeknownst to the others present, Fan Xian still possessed his tremendous hearing abilities, and so he overheard what was said perfectly clear. At what was said, even Fan Xian was brought to shock, believing that the officers of the Imperial Censorate had most certainly gone too far this time.

The Emperor’s face sunk and as he looked at Fan Xian, he said, “Kneeling in front of the palace and removing their hats? They are accusing me of being a moronic emperor! If this is what they believe, then I will show them. Deliver them this message; the Imperial Censorate is framing other officers for crimes they have not committed, targeting other councils with ruin and not adhering to the tasks they were established to perform. In response to their incessant disobedience, I declare that they each receive thirty lashings!”

This was Fan Xian’s first time seeing the Emperor erupt into such a hurricane of fury and after hearing this, a chill ran down his spine. “Thirty lashings? Such a punishment would rob them of half their life.”

The fact of the matter was that this was all bad timing on the Imperial Censorate’s behalf. The Emperor was interrupted just as he was about to reveal to Fan Xian a portrait of grand importance. This was unforgivable.

Near the palace’s exit, there was a small stream which had to be crossed by a stone bridge. On the wet pavement of the plaza, each officer was stripped of their clothing and the commencement of their brutal punishment was to begin. The cracking of the whip was like thunder, and each time it came down and was lifted up, blood was cast into the air.

The other officers, as soon as they heard the news, returned to the palace with great haste. After seeing the brutality on display, they attempted to convince the Emperor to refrain from committing this deed and halt the violence. When they looked upon Fan Xian, who was there watching, their eyes possessed great fear. After what had occurred this day, even if it was the Imperial Censorate’s officers that started it, the Emperor had brought back a disciplinary technique that had not been seen for many years. It was then that they realized how important Fan Xian was to the Emperor.

Fan Xian stood beside Eunuch Hou, and with every crack of the whip, his eyes squinted. Even though he felt no remorse, he made sure to feign some manner of pity toward the old men. He then said, “Eunuch Hou, tell them not to strike with such force.”

Eunuch Hou said, “Fan Xian, you have a good heart, but you already told me this earlier. It may look extremely ruthless, but fret not, they are not causing any internal damage.”

Fan Xian looked down toward the ground and as he did so he noticed that the eunuch’s toes were spread apart widely. He knew this was in fact the secret signal for hitting them harder. He quietly sighed and decided not think of it any further.

Not far from them both, the Imperial Censor of the Left, who was spared punishment by the Emperor, looked on with a pale face. He was sitting on the floor, forced to watch, and seeing his subordinates treated in such a manner was like a slap to the face. The servants that Fan Xian’s father had sent still held their umbrellas. They felt tremendous pity for each of them, and even for the Imperial Censor of the Left, who was sat there, speechless, lost-in-thought.

Fan Xian walked towards them and waved to tell the servants that they could leave and return home. And then, in a lamentable tone, he spoke to Officer Lai. “Why did you get yourself involved with all of this?”

Officer Lai was unsure of how much Fan Xian actually knew, and so just continued to sit there in silence, as if he were petrified.

Fan Xian sighed and begged Eunuch Hou to call off the lashings. With no result, he then ran back to the palace and asked the same of the Emperor. His desire for halting the punishments was not due to the sight of blood, nor because he didn’t want those who had targeted him to be disciplined; it was to save face before all the officers who might now view Fan Xian as a vicious man.

Fan Xian was running toward the palace and in his heart, he thought, “You old man, trying to use this beating as a way to isolate me from all the other officers. I will not stand for this! I worked hard to get where I am these past two years. I can’t lose it all over a few pointless lashes!”