Chapter 1157: Trust You

Fan Zijin had exhausted himself trying to hit Qi Haoran. However, both Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling heaved a sigh of relief when they saw him stop.

Fan Zijin snorted at the two of them and was about to leave when Mu Yangling hurriedly pushed the dumbfounded Little An out. Little An came back to his senses and looked at his father pitifully.

After all, this was his son, and Fan Zijin had already vented his anger just now. Now that half of the anger in his chest had already dissipated, he agreed to give his son a ride.

The couple immediately got onto another horse.

Mu Yangling squeezed his arm and whispered, “Did he hit you?”

“His aim wasn’t accurate enough, so I only got whipped a few times. However, with his feeble strength, I doubt it even left a mark.” Qi Haoran had deliberately allowed himself to get whipped on account that they were brothers, because he didn’t want Fan Zijin to be depressed to realize that all of his attempts had missed.

Relieved, Mu Yangling hugged his waist and sat behind him with a clear conscience.

However, Qi Haoran was a little depressed as he muttered, “Speaking of which, why did you betray me? He definitely wouldn’t have been able to find me if I continued hiding there.”

Mu Yangling snorted. “Who asked you to be so stupid as to hide yourself when your intent was to catch up to him? Can you hide forever? He was already in a fit of anger. Should he find out that you secretly ran away after seeing him make a fool of yourself, he’d definitely explode in anger. Just you wait. Should that happen, he won’t forgive you for sure.”

Qi Haoran was even more depressed. “So I have to thank you for letting me take this beating?”

“Well, it’s not as if you’re really injured. Didn’t you just run a few rounds around the trees?”

That was true. He had only taken a few hits. On the other hand, Zijin tired himself out trying to hit him.

When the four of them returned to the King’s Residence, a group of children surrounded Little Treasure and Little Bear to express their indignation. When they heard the servants report that Fan Zijin had returned, they immediately ran towards the door.

A group of children met the four of them at the secondary gate. Tiger Head ran the fastest and was the first to rush to Fan Zijin. With his head raised, he said seriously, “Second Uncle, don’t be sad. I truly believe that you were deceived.”

Little Lion was only one step behind Tiger Head. After listening to him patiently, he immediately shoved him aside and said excitedly, “Second Uncle, Teacher said that humans are not saints. It’s fine to be stupid once in a while. Those misunderstandings about you will disappear with the passage of time. In time to come, people will know that they’ve wronged you.”

Fan Zijin’s expression darkened. He opened his mouth to speak, but Little Fu had already squeezed in front of Little Lion with all his might. He looked up at his father with his round eyes and said, “Daddy, I believe you too. If they don’t believe you, I’ll persuade them tomorrow with Brother Tiger Head…”

Seeing that Fan Zijin’s expression was getting darker and darker, Qi Haoran hurriedly went forward to stop the children. Unexpectedly, Qi Wensu also squeezed in with his two younger brothers and said righteously that they would help Fan Zijin clear his name.

Little Treasure also stood in front of Fan Zijin and admitted his mistake shamefully. “It’s all my fault. It’s mainly because Second Uncle has always done things flawlessly. That’s why I couldn’t suppress my anger when I saw how dumb the two officials from the Ministry of Revenue were. That’s why I was under the impression that you did it on purpose.”

Little Bear raised his head and puffed out his chest as he told Fan Zijin, “Second Uncle, I believe in your character!”

Seeing the group of children rushing forward to express their opinions, Fan Zijin took a deep breath and shouted, “Shut up!”

Everyone fell silent. Fan Zijin pointed behind them with an ugly expression and said, “Go back to wherever you come from immediately. If anyone dares to come in front of me again, I’ll beat them up. Also, no one is allowed to go out and cause trouble tomorrow. If I find out that you dare to express any opinions on this matter outside, I’ll beat you up too.”

Looking at the excited twins, Fan Zijin gritted his teeth and added, “I’ll also punish you by not allowing you to ride a horse for a month and copy three books.”

Tiger Head and Little Lion looked a little dejected. Tiger Head turned around and asked as he walked back, “Second Uncle, do you really not need us to uphold justice for you?”

Fan Zijin snorted coldly. By now, he already felt that it wasn’t so bad to be misunderstood by outsiders. At least that way, he didn’t look so stupid.

Tiger Head and Little Lion were both a little disappointed. The disappointment on their faces was too obvious, so much so that Fan Zijin couldn’t feel happy about their trust in him.

Little Treasure, who wasn’t quite done with his apology, had also been chased away by Fan Zijin. Only the three of them and Little Madam Xia were left at the secondary gate.

Little Madam Xia looked at her husband and then at Mu Yangling and her husband. For a moment, she couldn’t decide what to say.

Fan Zijin lowered his head and walked in.

Qi Haoran hurriedly followed him in and instructed Mu Yangling in a low voice, “Hurry up and get the kitchen to prepare some dishes and wine. Zijin and I will have a good meal tonight.”

Mu Yangling quickly pulled Little Madam Xia to the kitchen.

As Little Madam Xia rolled up her sleeves to cook, she sighed and said, “Looking at his expression, it seems like he didn’t arrange this on purpose.”

Mu Yangling said in shame, “It’s all my fault for not teaching the children well…”

If not for the fact that the brats’ words were too infuriating, Fan Zijin definitely wouldn’t look so grumpy.

However, Little Madam Xia said with a smile, “Well, thanks to the kids, he didn’t rush out to refute the rumors, thus proving to everyone his stupidity. However, this matter can only be left alone for now since it’s inconvenient for us to do anything. Ah Ling, we’ll have to rely on you to manage the children. They’re too lawless and I can’t suppress them.”

Mu Yangling patted her chest and said, “I definitely won’t let them spread it.”

Fan Zijin was indeed very gloomy. When he came back, he’d wanted to find an opportunity to clarify himself. However, after hearing the children’s “consolation” and “confession”, he felt that if he continued to clarify this matter, everyone would think that he was dumb.

However, if he tacitly agreed to having done it, it would be admitting that he really had ulterior motives.

Fan Zijin felt that he was about to die from injustice.

Since he could not vent his anger on his children, he could only target the four officials and the Spanish envoys.

Fan Zijin gritted his teeth and said, “It’s time to get rid of mediocre officials from the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs.”

“What about tomorrow’s negotiations with Spain?”

“I’ll handle it myself.” Fan Zijin snorted coldly. “The three children are still young. Even if they have the intention to dig a pit for the other party, they don’t have the ability to dig a deep pit. I’ll preside over the negotiations while the three children will be my deputy. Consider it as my training of them.”

“But you have a lot of things to do now that spring has arrived…”

Fan Zijin sneered. “I’m extremely smart and I am sufficiently capable of handling my work. It’s very simple—I just have to take out four hours a day to negotiate.”

Qi Haoran immediately shut his mouth and said softly after a while, “Then I’ll support you guys from the side tomorrow?”

Fan Zijin snorted in agreement.

Qi Haoran heaved a sigh of relief.

Not only was Fan Zijin angry, but Qi Xiuyuan was also angry. However, just like Fan Zijin, he could not flare up at his children, so he directed all his anger at the four officials. He had no choice. Fan Zijin could still vent it out on the Spanish envoys, but he, the ruler of a country, could not be so petty as to flare up at the envoys of another country, right?

Hence, the bureaucracy could only endure his anger. The bureaucracy was cleaned up once more. This time, it was no longer limited to corrupt officials; mediocre officials were also included.

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