The heavens set sail from the courtyard

The day after Fan Xian learned about his life experience, Emperor Qing suddenly issued an edict, asking him to come to the palace for dinner.

At first Fan Xian didn't want to go, but it was Fan Jian who persuaded him and he finally entered the palace reluctantly.

After entering the palace, Fan Xian discovered that Emperor Qing not only wanted to have dinner with him, but also the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and the Third Prince were all there, making it like a family dinner.

"Your Majesty, Fan Xian, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and the Third Prince." Fan Xian clasped his fists in salute, but did not kneel.

Crown Prince Li Chengqian said displeasedly: "Master Fan, you are so arrogant. How dare you not kneel when you see me!"

Fan Xian paused when he heard this. The Second Prince Li Chengze said with a smile, "Your Highness, Master Fan is a man of character and does not mind small matters. Why do you have to embarrass him?"

The prince said with a stern face: "I am the crown prince of the Eastern Palace. How can the crown prince save his dignity if a minister stands to pay his respects to me?"

Li Chengqian didn't like Fan Xian in the first place, so naturally he didn't have a good face and would take every opportunity to make him behave inappropriately.

The third prince hid aside, his eyes fixed on the food on the table, not wanting to get involved in the dispute.

Emperor Qing had five sons in his life. The eldest prince was born to Concubine Ning. Because his mother was born in a humble family, he was sent to the army by Emperor Qing to be trained at an early age. Now he is still at the border.

The second prince, Li Chengze, was born to Concubine Shu. He was loved by Emperor Qing since childhood and was the first one to be crowned king among his brothers.

Crown Prince Li Chengqian is the third oldest, but because he was appointed as the heir to the throne, he does not participate in the ranking of princes.

The third prince, Li Chengping, had a biological mother, Concubine Yi. Because he was still young, he did not participate in state affairs.

The fifth prince is naturally Fan Xian, but he is the illegitimate son of Emperor Qing and Ye Qingmei. Now he is nominally the son of Fan Jian, and his identity is not public.

Now that Fan Xian knows his identity, he naturally doesn't want to kneel down and kowtow to Crown Prince Li Chengqian. After all, he thinks like a modern person and is naturally disgusted by kneeling.

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I recently injured my leg and it is inconvenient for me to kneel down." Fan Xian said to Li Chengqian indifferently.

"How bold." Li Chengqian was immediately furious, thinking that Fan Xian was looking down on him.

"What are you arguing about?" At this time, Emperor Qing came over, heard the noise, and asked casually.

Li Chengqian had no choice but to let Fan Xian go and pay his respects to Emperor Qing.

"Your son greets His Majesty the Emperor." said the Crown Prince, the Second Prince and the Third Prince.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Fan Xian still did not kneel down, but just clasped his fists and bowed, but he lowered his head very low, not wanting Emperor Qing to notice anything.

"Please stand up! Today is a family dinner, there aren't so many rules." Emperor Qing said with a smile.

When Fan Xian heard the words "family dinner", his pupils shrank slightly.

"Fan Xian, come sit next to me."

Emperor Qing pulled Fan Xian and sat him directly on the main seat, letting Fan Xian sit on his left, the Crown Prince on his right, and the Second Prince and the Third Prince sitting in the first row.

When Li Chengqian saw this ranking, his jealousy towards Fan Xian increased by three points.

"I have some free time today, so I'll ask you brothers to come to the palace to have dinner together." Emperor Qing said with a smile: "Don't be restrained, eat!"

Upon hearing this, the second prince picked up the chopsticks without hesitation and started eating and drinking with big mouthfuls, and his eating manners were quite ugly.

The Crown Prince and the Third Prince were much more polite, especially Li Chengqian, whose every move was in line with royal etiquette.

Fan Xian hardly moved his chopsticks. Although the royal chef prepared delicious dishes, he couldn't eat a single bite.

Emperor Qing picked up a piece of fish for Fan Xian and said, "We are all family here, eat as much as you can!"

Upon hearing this, Fan Xian trembled and almost couldn't hold it together.

Emperor Qing picked up another piece of fish for the second prince and said, "You, kid, have always had a bad eating manner. Be careful not to choke."

This was the first time that Fan Xian saw the gentle side of Emperor Qing. At this moment, he didn't seem like a high and mighty king, but more like a father.

"Prince." Emperor Qing suddenly looked serious and said to Li Chengqian: "Tomorrow I will host a banquet for the Yuan and Mongolian envoys. You go and host it!"

"Yes, Father." The prince put down his chopsticks and returned the greeting. Emperor Qing glanced at Fan Xian again and said, "Come to the banquet tomorrow night!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Fan Xian said calmly.

"Second brother, third brother, get closer to Fan Xian when you have time. You are about the same age, so you should be able to chat well."

The prince's hand trembled, feeling that there was something else behind Emperor Qing's words.

"Fan Xian, you will marry Prime Minister Lin's daughter soon. If you need anything, just ask me." The second prince said with a smile.

The prince's face turned even worse. He had always been against Lin Wan'er marrying Fan Xian and had even suggested it to Emperor Qing, but Emperor Qing did not listen.

Fan Xian was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly clasped his fists and said to Emperor Qing: "Your Majesty, I feel that I am not worthy of Your Highness the Princess. Please withdraw your command."

Emperor Qing paused for a moment and said, "Fan Xian, have you heard anything?"

Fan Xian bowed his head and said, "I was born in a humble family. Your Highness is a princess of noble descent, and it is really unfair for her to marry a humble minister."

Emperor Qing put down his chopsticks with a sullen face, and no one else dared to continue eating.

"Since I have already granted the marriage, you should not have any worries. After entertaining the Yuan and Mongolian envoys, you should immediately marry Princess Chen." Emperor Qing glanced at Li Chengqian coldly.

Li Chengqian became nervous.

Ever since the rumor that Fan Xian was Ye Qingmei's son spread in Kyoto, Princess Li Yunrui was very opposed to the marriage between Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er. She even went to the Queen Mother to cry several times, and also frequently went to Emperor Qing and the Crown Prince.

However, Emperor Qing's attitude was very firm. Fan Xian must marry Lin Wan'er, and after the marriage, Li Yunrui must hand over the financial power of the inner treasury.

The reason why Fan Xian didn't want to marry Lin Wan'er was that he felt that they were too closely related by blood, and were close relatives in any case. Also, he had never met Lin Wan'er, and his mind was always on his white moonlight, the "chicken leg girl".

Because of Wang Gang, Fan Xian had been going to Wang's cloth shop since arriving in Beijing. In addition, many things had happened in Kyoto recently, so he had not gone to see Lin Wan'er privately. Naturally, he did not know that the "chicken leg girl" was Lin Wan'er.

Fan Xian scoffs at blind marriages and yearns for free love.

"Your Majesty, marriage is a serious matter and should not be taken lightly. I feel that Your Highness and I have never met each other, and it would be too hasty to rush into marriage."

Emperor Qing threw his chopsticks in anger and shouted, "Fan Xian, don't be ungrateful. Marriage is always decided by parents and matchmakers.

You still want to see the princess first, what's the matter, if the princess is ugly, you still don't want to marry her?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down." Everyone knelt down, and Fan Xian knelt down reluctantly as well.

Emperor Qing stood up and said to Fan Xian: "Sir, I am serious. Since I have issued an order to grant you the marriage, Fan Xian, you can just rest assured to be your groom. If I find out that you dare to treat the princess badly, you will have to be careful of your head."

Fan Xian suddenly felt a chill on his neck, and said tremblingly, "I dare not."

Emperor Qing shook his sleeves and said, "No more eating. I have no appetite."

After saying this, Emperor Qing strode away, and the family dinner ended in a bad mood.

After Emperor Qing left, the Crown Prince stood up first and said to Fan Xian: "Fan Xian, don't think you can do whatever you want just because His Majesty favors you. His Majesty has arranged a marriage for you, so how can you go back on your word? Do you really think the majesty of the royal family is just for show?"

Fan Xian gritted his teeth and finally came to his senses. He realized that his identity was different from that of the person named Li.

"Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian snorted coldly and walked away.

The Second Prince helped Fan Xian up and said with a smile, "Little Master Fan, your father still dotes on you! If you were an ordinary person, and dared to refuse the royal marriage, you would have nine heads chopped off."

Fan Xian had a gloomy face, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"Don't have any wild thoughts and prepare for your marriage! Although your cousin Wan'er is in poor health, she is still a stunningly beautiful woman. It won't be a shame for you to marry her!" the second prince teased.

"Second brother, Fan Xian is marrying my cousin, not getting married." The third prince kindly reminded.

"It's all the same, isn't it!" The Second Prince laughed. (End of this chapter)