Chapter 1155: Misunderstanding

Putting aside the two officials from the Ministry of Rites, Zijin had personally chosen the two from the Ministry of Revenue. Qi Haoran frowned slightly. Had Zijin been deceived?

Other than Qi Haoran, who believed that Fan Zijin was deceived, everyone else felt that he did it on purpose.

The ministers, who had heard about the negotiation process, sneered. “Assistant Minister Fan went all out to let his son stand out by choosing these two people.”

After the Emperor received the complaints from the three children, he ordered them to personally handle the negotiations and only sent them three clerks.

Having previously supervised the country, the Crown Prince was more than qualified to be in charge of this external matter. Qi Wenjin had also obtained military merits. Although he did not have a military position now, if he were to become an official, his merits would have gained him a position not lower than the fifth-grade. Thus, it was not impossible for him to be an envoy either.

People only doubted if Fan Zhiyuan was qualified to be an envoy. After all, though talented, he was merely a child.

Therefore, the ministers unanimously thought that Fan Zijin was paving the way for his son.

Even Qi Xiuyuan and Wenchen felt that Fan Zijin did it on purpose.

Of course, they didn’t think that Fan Zijin did this because he wanted to let Little An stand out. Instead, they felt that he wanted to train the three children.

Even Little An asked Little Bear curiously, “Do you think my father deliberately arranged for these officials to train us?”

Little Bear scratched his head and said, “I don’t think so. If that’s his intent, he could’ve just suggested sending us as envoys. Why even bother sending those four people?”

“But didn’t Fourth Aunt say no?”

“When has your father ever cared about my mother’s opinion? If he really made up his mind to do something, not to mention my mother, even if my father wouldn’t be able to stop him.”

Little An tilted his head. “Could it be that my father has poor judgment and can’t tell that the four of them are incompetent?”

Little Bear stroked his chin and shook his head. “People are not saints. It’s understandable that your father misjudges occasionally.”

Little An pouted. Then he would rather his father did it on purpose.

However, Fan Zijin really didn’t do it on purpose. When he found out about the performance of the four officials, he nearly exploded from anger.

Forget about the two from the Ministry of Rites since they weren’t under his control. But the two officials from the Ministry of Revenue were his subordinates, and he was the one who appointed them. Yet they made such a huge mistake. Thankfully Little Treasure and the others went to listen in. If not, Great Qi would have suffered a massive loss.

Fan Zijin was so angry that he did not even eat dinner. He ordered his subordinates to investigate the two of them thoroughly and insisted on questioning them. It was useless no matter who tried to stop him.

When he came out of the Ministry of Revenue and learned from Yanmo about the ministers’ private guesses, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. In the end, he was even called into the palace by Qi Xiuyuan to have a conversation. “Are you deliberately training the three children? Why do you have to do something so unnecessary? Just send them as envoys. Although sea trade is important, Great Qi really doesn’t have to pay so much attention to the Western countries.”

What he meant was that there was no need to spend so much effort on the Western countries. Although the children were young, there was nothing wrong with handing such a matter to them.

Fan Zijin held his breath and said, “I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t know that those two had such character.”

Qi Xiuyuan looked at him suspiciously while Fan Zijin was so angry that his eyes turned red. Qi Xiuyuan quickly waved his hand. “Okay, I now know you didn’t do it on purpose. Alright, let’s forget about this matter and just leave the negotiation with Spain to the three children. Seeing as it’s getting late, you should go back.”

Fan Zijin could not help but sniffle. He turned around and left.

Before he could leave the palace, he bumped into Qi Haoran.

Qi Haoran jumped off the horse. Seeing that his eyes were red, he hurriedly asked anxiously, “What’s wrong? Did you get scolded by Royal Brother for messing up your work?”

Fan Zijin asked him with red eyes, “What are you doing here?”

When Qi Haoran heard his question, he remembered why he was here. He clenched his fists and said angrily, “Did the two people from the Ministry of Revenue deceive you? How did such incompetence escape your eyes, allowing them to sneak into the negotiation team?”

Fan Zijin’s expression softened. He stared into his eyes and asked, “Do you believe that I was deceived?”

“Of course.” Qi Haoran was stunned for a moment before saying angrily, “Did those ministers say something in front of Royal Brother? What nonsense. You’ve always been selfless. How could you have deliberately arranged something like this when it concerns the interests of our country? Besides, you could just tell Royal Brother if you wanted to do something. Was there a need to go through so much trouble?”

Fan Zijin sniffed and said with red eyes, “That’s right. I could just speak to His Majesty. Do I need to scheme to let my son stand out?”

Qi Haoran could also tell that Fan Zijin was sad, so he agreed profusely, “That’s right! Little An is your future successor. Even if he does nothing, he will still be a Prince in the future, an Iron-Cap Prince1!”

Eyes slightly moist, Fan Zijin pushed Qi Haoran aside, grabbed his horse, and rode away.

Qi Haoran opened his mouth wide and muttered, “That, that’s my horse…”

Other than the Emperor and the Crown Prince, only Qi Haoran could ride a horse in the palace. Hence, none of the guards around him brought a horse into the palace. Now that his horse had been snatched away, Qi Haoran could only use his qinggong to chase after Fan Zijin.

The sky was already dark, and the guards guarding the palace gate did not have good eyesight. When they saw King Rong’s horse running over from afar, they did not take a closer look to see if it was King Rong on the horse. Seeing that he did not slow down, they knew that King Rong was in a bad mood and immediately opened the palace gate to let him out.

Hence, Fan Zijin rode out quickly on the horse. Only when he was far away did a guard at the palace gate say belatedly, “The person on the horse doesn’t seem to be King Rong.”

The guards: “…”

“This seems to be King Rong.” A guard stared blankly at a person who had run up to them with qinggong.

Qi Haoran shouted, “You’re mistaken. I’m Prince An!”

Before he could finish his sentence, he had already flown out of the palace gate and chased after the horse.

The guards: “…”

The guard commander: “Hehe, so Prince An’s qinggong is also so impressive.”

The guards looked at the commander with astonishment.

The Emperor soon heard about what happened at the palace gate and quickly realized that he had misunderstood Fan Zijin. However, he did not have the time to explain to him. Instead, he immediately found Eunuch Wan and ordered, “Send a message to the guards and commanders guarding the palace gate today. Not a word of what happened today is allowed to spread. Make sure to inform everyone stationed along the path where Haoran and Zijin took. I won’t allow any gossip to spread.”

Fan Zijin galloping on a horse on palace grounds was neither a serious nor insignificant matter, but he would never allow Fan Zijin to be attacked because of this.

Eunuch Wan only finished dealing with everything when the lights went off. After all, too many people had seen Prince An galloping by on a horse and King Rong chasing after him with his qinggong.

He stole a glance at the Emperor and tried to figure out the Emperor’s intent before asking carefully, “Your Majesty, should we send someone to look for Prince An?”

Qi Xiuyuan shook his head. “No need. With Haoran around, nothing will happen to him. I’ll apologize to him tomorrow.”

Fan Zijin rode out of the Imperial City in one breath. By the time he forced back the tears in his eyes and came back to his senses, he was already out of the Imperial City. Knowing that he had caused trouble, Fan Zijin simply went to his new residence. Spacious and with no one there, it was the perfect place for him to wipe his tears.

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