Heavenly Dao Formula

The talks take place in the bedroom.

But when Shangguan Cai walked into the room, Xia Fan almost didn't recognize her.

She seemed to be a completely different person, and her facial features were no longer the flat ones before, but much more delicate and smaller, making her seem to have lost a year or two in age. It can be seen that the freckles and raised cheekbones on her previous face were all faked. The only thing that remains the same is the pair of willow-leaf eyebrows and raised eyes—or after the change in appearance, her eyebrows are more energetic than before.

But it feels... shorter too.

But thinking about her identity and her performance on the back mountain, Xia Fan decided to keep these thoughts in his heart.

"How, my bedroom is still comfortable?" Shangguan Cai spread his hands, "Especially that bed, I tried it, it is not worse than the one in the palace."

This opening remark made him twitch the corners of his mouth, "...is that your bed?"

"Don't worry, I have more than one bed, it doesn't hurt to let you lie down."

"Are you really a princess?"

"Bold!" The maid who walked in with her reprimanded, "How dare you speak to Her Royal Highness like this—"

It's just that before he finished speaking, Shangguan Cai's cold gaze interrupted the other party.

"So... I should stand up and salute first?" Xia Fan sighed.

"No, you are injured, and I can tell that you don't like those red tapes." Shangguan Cai sat down opposite him, "As for your question - yes, I am indeed the third princess of Qi Kingdom, Shangguan Cai is also a pseudonym. How about it, am I pretending to be an alchemist?"

"...impeccable."

"Thank you for the praise. My real name is Ning Wanjun, but you can continue to be called Shangguan when there are no outsiders. To be honest, I quite like the status of an eighth-rank alchemist."

Xia Fan has heard of the surname of the current royal family, and most people dare not call themselves this surname.

"Why does Your Highness pretend to be an alchemist, even disguising his appearance?" He asked puzzled, "I don't think it's possible that you came here specially for the affairs of Gaoshan County?"

Of course, he wouldn't take the other party's politeness seriously. In any case, it would never be wrong to call His Highness.

"Of course not. Before you investigated this matter, I didn't know anything about Gaoshan County. The reason I came here is very simple-this is my fiefdom."

The fief...or for the princess?

Xia Fan was very surprised.

"The canonized administrative order should have reached the boundary of Shenzhou. I just sneaked out of Gyeonggi one month in advance." The princess said relaxedly, "The news in the palace is strict, so there are only a handful of people who know my whereabouts."

"Your Highness!" the maid reminded in a low voice.

"If you're so free, why don't you make us a cup of tea?" She waved her hand.

The latter could only lower his head helplessly, "Yes."

"The purpose of sneaking away is to make a private visit on Weifu, so as to inspect the real appearance of your territory?" Xia Fan's curiosity also came up.

"What's so interesting about that? Observing from a personal point of view is also blind, like an ant spying on a phenomenon, and it's not much better than being coaxed by others." Shangguancai—or Ning Wanjun shook his head and said, "I want to really understand a A place can only be controlled completely. I don’t have so much time to waste, so before coming to Jinxia, ​​I went to Qingshan Town.”

Xia Fan was stunned, "Qingshan Town?"

"I watched a scholar examination and selected an alchemist to be my representative in the Privy Council." She stretched out a finger and pointed at Xia Fan, "And that person is you."

"I know you want to ask, why is it you? In fact, the reason is not that complicated. Your performance is outstanding enough, and you come from a casual family. You don't have much to do with the family, and your background is clean and traceable. This is the basic condition."

Ning Wanjun didn't wait for him to open his mouth, so he continued on his own, "But that's not enough. If a person is content with the status quo, and is even willing to enjoy the convenience and rights brought by the status of an alchemist, then sooner or later he will stand On the side of the Privy Council. So I replaced a newly promoted alchemist to observe your words and deeds closely-no one can do this part for you, I only believe what I see."

"And your performance exceeded my expectations."

At this time, the maid also brought up the brewed tea.

Xia Fan was the first to pick up a cup of tea, and even got a covert look from the maid.

"Is it good or bad?"

"If it's bad and beyond my expectation, you've already died in Gaoshan County Magistrate's Mansion." Ning Wanjun raised the corner of her mouth, "You really are very bold, and your temper is also extraordinary."

From the corner of Xia Fan's corner of the eye, Li, who was on the side, also nodded.

"I appreciate what you have done. Not everyone has the courage to dare to confront the Privy Council. In addition, I must thank you, after all, you have removed an ugly scourge for my territory not long after you came to Jinxia. If With you in the Privy Council, I will undoubtedly feel much more at ease in the future."

Xia Fan couldn't help frowning. Thinking about it now, couldn't it be that what she said at the time... were all tests in disguise?

"You didn't arrange this, did you?"

"Arranged decades ago? I don't have the ability to predict. It's just that as a royal family, I have more channels to understand the Privy Council, so I can naturally think further."

This statement coincides with what Li said - "I don't know the situation in Gaoshan County, but I know the Privy Council."

The princess paused, "Don't doubt your role, Xia Fan. If I only found out about this after I officially arrived in Jinxia City, it might last for many years. Because I can't directly make the alchemist take orders from me."

"Even if you can go to Shikaoli to select candidates in advance?"

"That's right, I can't let the alchemists of the second and third grades return from the capital to the local Privy Council. Besides, those people's every move will be followed by many eyes. It is the limit to adjust the ranking a little bit and choose a newcomer for me. .”

In other words, his ranking was not Ding at the beginning.

"You want to control the Privy Council?" Xia Fan asked.

"I want to control everything in my territory." She said without hesitation, "You just mentioned the true appearance of the territory, only in this way can we really know. As you can see, Jinxia City is not a rich place, There are only a handful of people I can bring, and with the restraint of the Privy Council, if I don't do this, I will only be an empty shell for a long time, and let the real ruler play in the hands of me. "

But isn't canonization a disguised form of devolution? After all, the East is not like the West, and the enfeoffments are comparable to China. Staying away from the imperial court means staying away from the center of power, finding a remote place at random, and enjoying the rest of your life with peace of mind. This is the state that a conferred should be.

Why did she want to truly take the fief as her own?

Xia Fan didn't know the specific reason, but one thing Xia Fan knew very well was that the other party had ambitions.

It's normal for people in the royal family to have ambitions, but it's not a good thing for him.

This level of power struggle is often a fight between gods, and in this era, don't want any human rights protection, he doesn't want to be a victim of political struggles at all.

"Thank you, Your Royal Highness, for your love, but I think it's an embarrassing task—"

"Don't rush to refuse, you haven't heard the reward yet, have you?"

Xia Fan remained unmoved, and the reward was nothing more than high officials and rich salary, but the premise was that he had the life to enjoy it.

Ning Wanjun took a sip of tea calmly, "What if I let you do whatever you want?"

He couldn't hold back for a moment, and sprayed out a mouthful of water foam.

Li Yi raised his tail.