Chapter 156 Absolutely
Mei Cheng'an got up and returned to the Mei Mansion at early noon. After lunch, he sat on a recliner and read quietly.
Hongshu was peeling an orange for him. After tearing off the white flesh from the orange segments, he handed it to Mei Chengan's lips.
Mei Cheng'an opened his mouth gently, put it in, chewed a few times and swallowed it.
"Well, the oranges are sweet enough today."
"Is it really that sweet? Can I have a taste?"
A voice came from the direction of the courtyard gate.
Mei Cheng'an had already heard his footsteps. Hearing this, he did not move the book in front of his face away and spoke softly.
"You're here to clock in, right? Are you so free?"
Fan Xian smiled.
"My name has the word 'idle' in it, how can I not be idle?"
After saying that, he walked to Mei Cheng'an and greeted Hongshu with a smile.
"Hello, sweet potato girl."
Sweet potato bowed and responded with a smile.
"Hello, Mr. Fan."
Put the orange in his hand on the table and said Sweet Potato.
"Master, I'll go down first."
Mei Chengan hummed.
Fan Xian watched the sweet potato leave, sat down on the empty recliner next to Mei Cheng'an, adjusted himself to a comfortable position, then stood up, took an orange from the fruit plate on the table, and began to peel it.
Mei Cheng'an said.
"You have so much free time, why don't you stay at home and write Dream of the Red Chamber? The bookstore will open soon, right? How many manuscripts have you saved?"
Fan Xian stopped peeling the orange, rolled his eyes, reached into his arms, pulled out a stack of papers and threw them on the table.
"I knew you were going to say this. Luckily I was prepared to prevent you from barking like a dog. Here, let's go back to Chapter 29."
Mei Cheng'an glanced at the table.
"Just one chapter?"
Fan Xian broke off a slice of orange and put it into his mouth.
"What do you mean by just? I've been in so much trouble these days, and it's good enough that I can spare some time to write a chapter. Just be content. What do you want from a bicycle?"
After saying that, he started chewing with a grunt.
"Well, you know what, it's really sweet."
Mei Cheng'an turned a page of the book, reached out to pick up the peeled orange on the table, broke off a slice, put it in his mouth and started eating.
"Why don't you go meet your chicken leg girl? Haven't you already known each other's identities?"
Hearing this, Fan Xian sighed and put a slice of orange into his mouth.
"I went there, and something unexpected happened. I beat up her second brother."
Mei Chengan's eyes moved slightly.
"Lin Gong?"
Fan Xian shrugged.
"Yes."
Mei Chengan put down the book and tilted his head to look at him.
"what's the situation?"
Fan Xian explained the general situation.
"That's the situation. It's my fault for being slow to react. I should have guessed that only Wan'er's relatives would dare to act so arrogantly in the Royal Courtyard. Alas, it's too late to regret it now."
Mei Cheng was happy.
"You are really good. You only pick on the prince's men, right? Once you did it, you could say it was just youthful vigor, but if you do it again, it's obvious that you are targeting him. I'm afraid the prince will hate you even more this time."
Fan Xian was also helpless about this.
"Before the fight, I didn't know he was the prince's man. If he hadn't attacked me right away, I wouldn't have beaten him. I feel really wronged about this."
Mei Cheng'an thought for a moment and added another sentence.
“太子那边还好，反正已经得罪了，不差这一回，但是你老丈人林相那边什么态度就不好说了，你把人家儿子揍成那个熊样儿，人家还肯不肯把姑娘嫁给你就要打一个问号了。”
"..."
The expression on Fan Xian's face froze instantly, and he forgot about it.
"Uh... it's just a fight between kids. Prime Minister Lin wouldn't take it seriously, would he?"
Mei Chengan smiled.
"If it's just an ordinary fight or a conflict, with Lin Xiang's vision, it's possible that he can just laugh it off. But is this an ordinary fight? You're the man's father, you're stepping on his face, and you're even calling him a beast. It's not very harmful, but it's extremely insulting. I think you're going too far, not to mention that he's his own son."
"..."
Fan Xian smiled awkwardly.
"At that time... I was indeed a little angry, but that's not my fault. If the princess's people hadn't spread Wan'er's lies and wanted to drive me away, I wouldn't have been so upset. If Lin Gong hadn't been unethical and rashly attacked me, I wouldn't have been so upset, so..."
Mei Cheng'an said.
"Well, I can understand, but it's useless for you to explain to me. You have to go and explain to Lin Xiang, provided that he is willing to listen to your explanation."
"..."
The corner of Fan Xian's mouth twitched, and after thinking for a while, he shrugged.
"It's okay. I've offended Wan'er's mother, so I don't need her as my father. As long as Your Majesty doesn't change his mind and Wan'er doesn't change her heart, that's enough. I'll take care of the rest."
Mei Chengan laughed.
"Is this a mess?"
Fan Xian spread his hands, looking helpless.
"Things have come to this, what else can I do except give up?"
Mei Chengan smiled.
"Too."
……
Lin Xiangfu.
Lin Ruofu was busy with official duties the whole morning and was oblivious to what was happening outside. He didn't see Lin Gong during lunch, but he didn't care.
After lunch, Lin Ruofu planned to take a nap on the couch in the study. As soon as he lay down, Yuan Hongdao came.
"Master Prime Minister."
Lin Ruofu sat up when he heard the voice.
"Why don't you go rest?"
Yuan Hongdao smiled.
"I was planning to take a rest, but I heard some news by chance, so I thought it would be better to tell you."
Lin Ruofu became interested. If it was some insignificant gossip, Yuan Hongdao would not have made this special trip.
"Oh? What news is worthy of your anxiety? Come on, sit down and talk slowly."
Yuan Hongdao followed suit, and after sitting down, he said, "This news concerns the second young master. I heard that he went to the Royal Courtyard this morning, and he came out with a bruised face. I didn't believe it at first, but I looked up the news from our people who stayed in the Royal Courtyard, and it really happened."
Lin Ruofu instantly thought of the fact that Lin Gong did not come for lunch. He was not too worried, but was just a little curious about what had happened.
"What does the news say?"
"The news said that Fan Xian went to the Royal Courtyard early this morning, and the Second Young Master arrived later. The two met in the front hall. The Second Young Master first drew his sword and questioned him, and then Fan Xian...had an argument with the Second Young Master, and then the Second Young Master directly attacked. Afterwards, the princess arrived, and Fan Xian left first. The Second Young Master stayed for a while before returning to the Lin Mansion."
Lin Ruofu listened with great interest.
"Gong'er fought Fan Xian on equal terms?"
"Forehead…"
Yuan Hongdao didn't know how to start for a moment.
Lin Ruofu raised his eyebrows.
"I hope Fan Xian won't be hurt."
"Forehead…"
"..."
Lin Ruofu's face was a little dark.
"Is Fan Xian injured?"
Yuan Hongdao breathed a sigh of relief. It was easy for him to answer Lin Ruofu's question.
"Nothing was hurt."
"..."
Lin Ruofu's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
"Oh, so Gong'er started it first, but Fan Xian was not hurt at all, while he himself was beaten into a pig's head, right?"
Yuan Hongdao nodded awkwardly, thought for a moment and then made up for Lin Gong.
"You can't blame the Second Young Master. Fan Xian was taught by Fei Jie, so he is very good at using poison. The Second Young Master was caught off guard and was ambushed by Fan Xian, so..."
Lin Ruofu interrupted directly.
"Bullshit! You're provoking someone without even knowing their strength. This is stupid and embarrassing. Someone, ask Lin Gong to come to my study to see me."
The servant guarding outside the door responded and was about to call someone.
Yuan Hongdao yelled towards the door.
"Wait, don't go!"
Lin Ruofu glared and yelled outside again.
"Go, go now!"
The servant outside the door replied "yes" and left quickly.
Yuan Hongdao became a little anxious.
"Prime Minister, if I had known this earlier, I would not have told you about this! You are putting me in an unkind and unjust position."
Lin Ruofu said unhappily.
"Don't try to play this trick on me. Why are you pretending to be innocent? I think you have a lot to do with Lin Gong's current behavior. I can see that you have been covering up for him all the time!"
"..."
Yuan Hongdao uttered a "Hey".
"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want, Prime Minister. What does this have to do with me? Well, you can do whatever you want. I won't care. I'm leaving now!"
After that, he turned around and left.
Lin Ruofu looked at his back and sneered.
"Why are you running away if you don't feel guilty? I'll come and settle the score with you after I've dealt with Lin Gong!"
Yuan Hongdao turned a deaf ear and walked out of the study at a quick pace.
……
Changxin Palace.
After listening to the report from the woman in plain clothes, the princess sighed.
"This child has grown up and has her own ideas. She thinks I am overreaching and meddling in her affairs."
The woman in plain clothes kneeled on the ground.
"Your Highness, the princess was just angry and said that. Your Highness, please don't take it to heart."
The eldest princess waved her hand.
"Forget it, let her be, as long as she is happy."
The eldest princess said after taking a look at the woman in plain clothes.
"You should return to Changxin Palace from now on."
"Yes! Your Highness."
"Are there still any of our people in the courtyard?"
The woman in plain clothes was a little hesitant.
"Um... yes, there is."
The eldest princess raised her eyebrows.
"Yes means yes, no means no. What does it mean to have yes or no?"
The green woman said.
"The princess asked me to take away all the message pigeons. I placed them in a yard not far from the Royal Courtyard. However... we can no longer receive messages from the Royal Courtyard in a timely manner, and it is not convenient for those who stay behind to go out."
The princess opened her mouth and suddenly laughed.
"This kid is quite smart and knows how to grasp the key points. This time, he has blinded most of the eyes and ears in the yard."
The woman in plain clothes said.
"The princess's intelligence and wisdom are inherited from His Highness."
The eldest princess smiled happily.
……
Mei Mansion.
"What stage has the preparation for the bookstore progressed to?"
"Versace said it was almost done, all that was left was to order the paper."
"When are you going to open?"
"I don't know. I'll ask Versace later."
"So you don't care about anything at all."
"That's not the case. At least I picked the name. Danbo Bookstore, Danzhou's Dan, how about that? It sounds nice, right?"
"I didn't realize you were such an artistic young man. What a rustic name."
"Damn, this name is so tacky. 'Anchored in Danzhou' means Danzhou is my harbor. It sounds like 'indifferent', which means indifferent to fame and fortune. Scholars should be indifferent to fame and fortune. It's a double entendre. It's absolutely perfect."
……
(End of this chapter)
