Joy of Life Episode 24 Recap
> Joy of Life Recap
Liu Ruyu instructed Fan Xian that once inside the imperial palace, he must speak and act cautiously. Fan Xian was curious why they had to see Consort Yi first. Liu Ruyu told him directly that Consort Yi was her cousin and also the birth mother of the Third Prince. According to the custom of Qing Kingdom, the Crown Prince is ranked outside the order of the princes. Although Consort Yi's son was young, he was still considered the Third Prince.
Fan Xian then understood. Liu Ruyu sighed that she hadn't seen Consort Yi for four years. Ever since she entered the imperial palace, their familial bond had mostly been severed because the Liu family had deep roots, and frequent visits to the palace were feared to create suspicion of collusion between inside and outside. When Consort Yi saw Liu Ruyu, she playfully blamed her for not coming to see her. The two sisters seemed to have a very good relationship.
Fan Xian naturally gave face and addressed Consort Yi as Aunt Liu as soon as he opened his mouth. With just a few words, he made Consort Yi beam with joy. Li Yunrui had always sent people to keep an eye on Fan Xian. Knowing that Fan Xian had pleased Consort Yi, she was displeased. Although she wanted to cause trouble for him, she decided against it out of caution.
Consort Yi, rarely seeing a family member, held onto Liu Ruyu and wouldn't let go, asking Fan Xian and Ruoruo to go see Consort Shu. Ruoruo informed Fan Xian that Consort Shu was the birth mother of the Second Prince. Although strict, she was obsessed with reading and cherished talented scholars. When Fan Xian entered Consort Shu's palace, he indeed found bookshelves covering the entire room, filled with books collected from various places.
Consort Shu was holding a book when she met Fan Xian and refused to put it down. She praised Fan Xian's poetry as good and casually asked a few questions about starting a bookshop. Finally, she mentioned that the Second Prince spoke highly of Fan Xian.
Fan Xian politely said that he and the Second Prince could be considered kindred spirits at first meeting, but Consort Shu replied that her son was arrogant and deep-minded and never felt like kindred spirits with anyone at first meeting. Fan Xian felt a bit awkward, not knowing how to respond, so he just chuckled foolishly. Consort Shu didn't care about his feelings and muttered to herself that since he was a junior, she should give him some gifts.
So, she decided to give him two rare ancient books. However, she was worried that she would be reluctant to part with the ones Fan Xian chose, so she said she would pick them out and send them over later. Fan Xian couldn't keep up with her train of thought and hurried to take his leave after she finished speaking. Next, they were to see Talented Lady Ning, the birth mother of the First Prince.
Fan Xian didn't understand why the First Prince, holding military power, didn't participate in the struggle for the throne. Ruoruo sighed that the First Prince wouldn't compete, and couldn't compete, because Talented Lady Ning was an East Islander, who was captured by His Majesty when he was punished back then. At that time, His Majesty was injured, and Talented Lady Ning nursed him day and night, which allowed her to shed her slave status and enter the palace.
Later, she gave birth to the First Prince, but the Empress Dowager disliked her and used an opportunity many years ago to strip her of her consort title and demote her to Talented Lady. After entering the palace, Fan Xian realized that the consorts in the palace were indeed extraordinary. Consort Shu was a bookworm, while this Talented Lady Ning was a martial arts enthusiast.
As soon as they met, she openly sized up Fan Xian and remarked with disdain that he was too fair and not rugged enough. They ran out of things to say after just a few sentences. Eunuch Hou reminded Talented Lady Ning that it was already lunchtime and the Empress Dowager would only receive Fan Xian in the afternoon. Talented Lady Ning suddenly realized that Fan Xian had come to freeload on lunch.
After hearing about Fan Xian's performance along the way, Li Yunrui suddenly found him interesting, so she instructed her attending female officer that she wanted to see him and also told her to call Yan Xiaoyi. After lunch, Eunuch Hou led Fan Xian and his sister to the Empress Dowager's sleeping quarters. However, the Empress Dowager didn't even let them enter the door. She only instructed them to kneel on the corridor and take a distant look.
Although Fan Xian was unwilling, he still knelt as instructed, mumbling that he didn't even kneel before the Emperor, but out of consideration for her old age, he would kneel this once. At this moment, a gloomy-faced old eunuch walked out from inside the door. Eunuch Hou whispered to him that this was Eunuch Hong.
Hong Sixiang walked up to Fan Xian and said coldly, "The Empress Dowager said that you are kneeling here because of the duty between ruler and subject," and reminded him to bow next time he saw Emperor Qing as well. Fan Xian was shocked upon hearing this, not expecting that the Empress Dowager could hear him from so far away, but he immediately realized that it wasn't the Empress Dowager who could hear him, but Hong Sixiang.
Hong Sixiang did not deny it, only warned Fan Xian to be careful with his words and actions in the imperial palace. He also relayed the Empress Dowager's message to Fan Xian, telling him to treat Lin Wan'er well, and if he made her sad, he would probably have to pay with his life. Fan Xian, however, was not afraid of threats.
He said sternly to Hong Sixiang to relay to the Empress Dowager that her words just now would be counterproductive and would instead make people afraid to approach Wan'er. He was good to Wan'er out of his own genuine feelings, not because of what the Empress Dowager said. Hong Sixiang was stunned for a moment, then instructed people to send him out of the palace.
Fan Xian pulled Ruoruo and was about to leave when he suddenly turned around and loudly asked Hong Sixiang if he was one of the Four Grandmasters. Hong Sixiang ignored him and returned to report without stopping. The Empress Dowager saw Fan Xian from afar, and for some reason, she was somewhat displeased, but she had never met Fan Xian before, so she could only attribute it to not having a good impression of him.
Coming out of the Empress Dowager's palace, the constantly worried Eunuch Hou finally breathed a sigh of relief. He congratulated Fan Xian, saying that his marriage to Wan'er was now officially settled. Fan Xian understood the hint, took out a banknote from his sleeve, and slipped it to Eunuch Hou as a congratulatory gift. At this moment, Li Yunrui's female officer stopped the group, saying that Li Yunrui wanted to see Fan Xian, and only him alone.
Fan Xian thought that she was Wan'er's birth mother after all, so he went with her. Fan Xian was taken to Guangxin Palace, which was empty and deserted. Li Yunrui sat alone in the main seat. After Fan Xian paid his respects, Li Yunrui asked him if he knew any folk remedies for headaches since he was Fei Jie's student.
Fan Xian replied that the causes of headaches varied greatly, and he only knew some massage techniques that could provide some relief. Li Yunrui then asked him to come closer and massage her. Fan Xian felt it was a bit inappropriate, but Li Yunrui smiled and said that he was about to become her son-in-law, so there was no need for so much avoidance. Fan Xian stopped overthinking and respectfully complied.
While giving the massage, Fan Xian chatted with Li Yunrui about everyday matters. Li Yunrui initially only asked about the relationship between the Fan family and the Investigator's Office, and then asked about the health of the old lady in Danzhou. Once Fan Xian relaxed, Li Yunrui suddenly brought up the Niulan Street assassination and mentioned Teng Zijing. Fan Xian's voice unconsciously dropped, and he said solemnly that Teng Zijing was not just his guard but also his friend.
Li Yunrui comforted him, saying that parting with the living and saying goodbye to the dead was inevitable. While speaking, she suddenly burst into laughter, saying with a strange tone, "How interesting it is that the one who planned the assassination is now comforting the person who was attacked." Fan Xian was suddenly told this and for a moment didn't know how to react. Li Yunrui continued, saying that although she supported the Crown Prince, she wouldn't tell him everything.
Lin Gong secretly defected to her, and the Crown Prince knew nothing about it. Strictly speaking, Teng Zijing died indirectly at her hands. Li Yunrui smiled and asked Fan Xian, "I heard you always wanted to avenge Teng Zijing. Now that you know the truth, will you still seek revenge? Guangxin Palace is empty now, you can do whatever you want."
Fan Xian looked at Li Yunrui, who was within arm's reach, his mind filled with the tragic image of Teng Zijing dying while protecting him. He knew clearly that Li Yunrui was deliberately tempting him, but he couldn't help feeling impulsive. Fortunately, he calmed down. Fan Xian thanked Li Yunrui, saying that finally, today, he knew who wanted to kill him. Li Yunrui generously admitted that the assassination in Danzhou was also her arrangement.
At first, she was worried about the authority of the Imperial Treasury falling into other hands, but later she found Fan Xian interesting, and to her, killing interesting people was more fun. Fan Xian looked at the woman before him, whose face was beaming with a smile, and felt a chill down his spine. Fortunately, he clearly knew that this was the imperial palace, and if he had made a move just now, it would probably have been his death.
Seeing that her scheme had been exposed, Li Yunrui smiled and called out the female officer and Yan Xiaoyi who were hiding behind her. Fan Xian was not surprised, only telling Li Yunrui that there would be plenty of time in the future and they would see. The war between Qing Kingdom and Northern Qi was very successful.
Northern Qi, under duress, sent an envoy delegation to the capital for peace talks, and the great man of letters Zhuang Mohan also came to the capital. Zhu Ge worried that Zhuang Mohan had a high reputation among scholars and was probably there to influence the advantages and disadvantages of the negotiation. Chen Pingping smiled and said that how to talk was decided by His Majesty, and scholars couldn't influence much.
Zhu Ge worriedly said that in the past few days, there had been undercurrents within the Investigator's Office. He received news that many people were eager to sabotage this negotiation, thereby restarting the war and conquering Northern Qi in one fell swoop. Chen Pingping was still nonchalant. He instructed Zhu Ge to bear more responsibility and that even colleagues within the Investigator's Office, as long as they violated His Majesty's decree, there would be no room for sentiment.
Yan Ruohai and his group received news and met secretly. Yan Ruohai said with killing intent that as long as the Northern Qi delegation died in the capital, the negotiation would naturally not be able to proceed. Someone worried that Northern Qi could send other envoys. Yan Ruohai said coldly, "If Zhuang Mohan is killed, then this matter will be irreversible."
After returning to his residence, Fan Xian told Ruoruo that Li Yunrui was the mastermind behind the Niulan Street assassination and the Danzhou assassination. He recalled Prime Minister Lin's assessment of Li Yunrui and sighed, saying that Li Yunrui was indeed a lunatic, and she was different from others; the more lunatic she was, the more dangerous she was. Fighting Li Yunrui was not something that could be done in a short time.
For Fan Xian, the most important thing at the moment was how to get into the palace to help Wu Zhu find the key. As the two were chatting, Fan Jian sent someone to call Fan Xian to the study. As soon as he entered the door, a man wearing an official's uniform approached with a fawning smile. This person was Xin Qiwu, the Junior Minister of the Court of State Ceremonials.
It turned out that the Northern Qi and East Island delegations had already arrived in the capital. His Majesty had issued a decree appointing Fan Xian as the deputy envoy for receiving the Northern Qi delegation. Xin Qiwu had come to find Fan Xian to discuss the negotiation matters at the Court of State Ceremonials.
