Chapter Thirty-Seven Eve

  In the quiet hall, the grandfather and grandson were speechless for a moment. In the courtyard, the flower tea purchased by people from Kyoto was piled up in one corner, and the fragrance of tea flowers slowly seeped out of the bags, overwhelming all the other fragrances in the courtyard. Among the flower trees, several yellow butterflies fluttered up and down, and occasionally, the clear chirping sounds of young birds could be heard from above the flower trees.

  "Go, the young phoenix will eventually have its first cry. You're already grown up and need to see the world." The old lady continued with a smile: "But you're going to Kyoto alone, just a child from a good family, I'm afraid you'll suffer a lot of hardships. Can you bear it?"

  Fan Xian knew what his grandmother meant and smiled sweetly: "Second Aunt has been good to me all these years, often sending things over, Grandma doesn't need to worry."

  The old lady smiled and shook her head, knowing that this outwardly calm but actually clever little guy must not be thinking like this deep down. She patted his head, remained silent for a while, then suddenly sighed: "If... something happens in the future, considering your father's and my relationship, bear with it a bit more."

  "Hmm." Fan Xian smiled and nodded slightly.

  "To be honest with you, I didn't want to let you go to Kyoto." The old lady said cautiously: "But...you still have to go to Kyoto, so I need to tell you some things."

  "Idle son listens to grandma's instructions."

  "Do you still remember Zhou Guanjia from four years ago?" The old lady smiled at him.

  Fan Xian's heart skipped a beat as he dared not look directly into his grandmother's eyes, and after a while, he smiled wryly and said, "Of course I remember."

  After this response, the two of them could be said to have broken through this layer of paper. The old lady spoke seriously: "You child are steady and intelligent, originally there's no need to worry about anything. But that time, it was clear to see that your temperament is still a bit too kind."

  Fan Xian sighed inwardly: "Isn't 'pure and good' a compliment?"

  It seems that she had guessed what he was thinking, the old lady's slightly narrowed eyes gleamed with a cold light as she said coldly: "If you really want to go to Kyoto, then you must do one thing for me."

  "What's going on?" Fan Xian vaguely guessed.

  "Be a bit more ruthless." The old lady seemed somewhat tired, leaning back and resting against the armchair, "This world may seem peaceful, but if you're not ruthless enough, you'll end up suffering in the end."

  Fan Xian remained silent. In fact, he was not a good person, but in Danzhou, he had never had the opportunity to show his dark side, so listening to the old lady's teachings, he understood that this was a valuable lesson.

  The old lady half-closed her eyes and said, "In those years, your mother was so clever, but just too kind-hearted, that's why she...". She suddenly opened her eyes wide and stared at Fan Xian, word by word: "Rather than let others harm you to death, it's better to harm others yourself."

  Fan Xian nodded vigorously.

  ……

  ……

  "Go and pack up, your father is urging you to hurry, I'm afraid something has happened in Kyoto." The old lady looked at the child who had spent 15 years with her, her face full of warmth. "I won't go to Kyoto, just stay in Tanzhou, if... things don't go well for you in Kyoto and someone tries to bully you, you can come back whenever you want."

  "Ah." Fan Xian responded with a single word, stood up and walked straight into his bedroom without saying anything else.

  He silently sat down on the bed, pulled up the quilt and wiped his face, messing up his hair, muttering to himself: "Damn it, almost cried out, grandma really knows how to stir emotions."

  ———————————————————————

  As soon as night fell, the lights in the room lit up faintly. Fan Xian's face was expressionless as he picked up his pen to write a letter to his sister in Kyoto, telling her about his upcoming arrival. After finishing writing, he thought that the postal route horse might not be much faster than the carriage of the Earl's mansion, and perhaps by the time she received the letter, he would already have arrived in Kyoto, making it seem unnecessary.

  But Fan Xian was a person who was very frugal with his energy, and since he had already written it, he simply sealed the letter in an envelope. He was just about to remind SiSi to mail it tomorrow when he turned around and saw that his maid SiSi was standing beside him, lost in thought, staring at him blankly.

  "Think, think, what are you thinking?" He waved the envelope in front of Yaya.

  Si Si suddenly woke up and said with a blush: "Nothing. Is this a letter for the young lady? Give it to me."

  Fan Xian withdrew his hand and looked at her with great curiosity: "What's wrong?"

  After thinking for a moment, he finally gathered his courage and asked: "Young master, you're going to Kyoto, aren't you very excited?"

  Fan Xian straightened his body and smiled at her: "Why did you suddenly ask this?"

  "Young master, I've heard that people from Kyoto are all very bad. And... after all, you don't have any status, going to the Kyoto prefecture, in front of the second madam, it's probably not good."

  Fan Xian laughed and said, "So you were worried about me? I'll just avoid her then. In the future, even if I don't make a name for myself in Kyoto, I can always open a medical clinic to make a living. As long as I'm not stuck in the Earl's residence... actually, I just want to take a look at Kyoto."

  Sisi said: "The young master will not be mediocre all his life, the young master has read so many books, next year he will take the imperial examination and must pass, in the future he will become a high-ranking official and bring glory to his ancestors."

  Looking at her serious expression, Fan Xian smiled slightly and didn't respond. In his heart, he had no thoughts of bringing glory to his ancestors. Deep down, he didn't have much affection for the cheap old man in Kyoto, which was vastly different from how he felt about his grandmother.

  "Why doesn't Master want to take me to Kyoto?" This was actually the source of SiSi's worry, she looked pitifully at Fan Xian, "Those maids in Kyoto must all be listening to Second Madam, you don't have a reliable person by your side, what can we do?"

  Fan Xian sighed, thinking that Si Si was two years older than him. If she were in another family, she would probably have been married off already. But because of his own two lifetimes, he seemed more mature and stable, which made Si Si feel that he was very reliable.

  He looked at SiSi with a serious expression and said: "It's precisely because I don't know what Beijing is like, so I couldn't possibly take you there."

  Si Si actually understood this principle, but thinking that in the future she and Young Master would be separated by vast distances, fearing they would never meet again, her heart felt a slight pang of sourness, so she quickly turned her face away and tidied up the things on her desk.

  Fan Xian looked at her busy back, his heart also a dull gloom, but he knew that he was fundamentally unable to say anything.

  Kyoto may have good scenery, interesting people and things, but there must also be swords in the light and crossbows in the dark. He is willing to take some risks to experience these things, because if he has a second life, it doesn't make sense to stay alone in the small town of Tangzhou until old age. However, he can't guarantee that he can protect the people around him, so Sisi won't be able to follow him.

  At night, he quietly went to a grocery store.