Chapter 575: Revealed in Advance
"Ruoruo, don't tell your brother about the grudge between the Queen Mother and our Fan family, understand?"

When Fan Jian returned home and learned of Fan Xian's arrival, he immediately found his daughter and asked her not to tell anyone about the grudge between the Queen Mother and Fan Jian.

"Father, don't worry, I won't tell."

Fan Ruoruo's understanding and thoughtfulness made Fan Jian feel guilty.

That year, after Ye Qingmei gave birth to Fan Xian, she was killed by the Queen's family and the general Qin Ye in the army.

Before being killed, Ye Qingmei predicted the crisis and sent her child to the house of her good friend Fan Jian in advance.

Coincidentally, Fan Ruoruo's mother gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

After Fan Jian returned home, he was unable to cope with the pursuit alone and had to hand over his own son to him, thus performing a "Orphan of Zhao" and saving Fan Xian's life.

However, Fan Jian claimed that his wife only gave birth to a daughter.

Others don’t know how many children Mrs. Fan Jian has given birth to, but Mrs. Fan herself knows.

Mrs. Fan looked at Fan Ruoruo beside her and guessed that the child given away by her husband must be her son. In a fit of anger, coupled with the birth of twins, she was severely exhausted and soon died of depression.

Later, Wu Zhu appeared and took Fan Xian away.

Chen Pingping also appeared and joined forces with Fan Jian to wipe out the queen's family and most of the people who participated in the murder of Ye Qingmei.

It was then that Fan Jian announced to the public that Fan Xian was his illegitimate son, and he sent his daughter Fan Ruoruo to Danzhou to grow up with Fan Xian until he was five or six years old.

Apart from Su Mingzhe, the time traveler, there are only a handful of people who know the inside story of these things.

And Fan Ruoruo definitely doesn't know about this.

It was precisely because Fan Ruoruo was unaware of the situation, but still, like Fan Jian, tried her best to protect Fan Xian.

Only then did Fan Jian sincerely feel that he was sorry for his daughter.

On the second day.

After Fan Jian left the court, he took a carriage to a house with a stone tablet with the words "Su's House" erected on it, and then asked his guards to knock on the door.

However, no matter how the guard knocked on the door, it seemed as if no one lived in the house and there was no response at all.

The guard was puzzled, but could only report back:

"Sir, I knocked for so long and no one opened the door. Could it be that the house is empty?"

Fan Jian frowned, but said:

"Turn around and go to the Iron Guard Prison."

Soon, the carriage arrived at the imperial prison.

Fan Jian asked the guard to take his name card and inform Su Mingzhe, the head of the Imperial Prison, that he was going to meet him.

At this time, Su Mingzhe was sitting in the imperial study handling government affairs. Suddenly, he received a report from Ah Da that Fan Jian was visiting. He frowned slightly and waved to the side:

"I'm a little tired and need to rest for a while. Please don't bother me."

Su Mingzhe spoke and lay down on the bed beside him. He waited until there was no one around and then quietly came to the Iron Guard Prison.

Soon, a small flag led Fan Jian into the back garden of the imperial prison. Su Mingzhe came in hurriedly from outside, apologizing anxiously:
"I didn't know that the Grand Master was coming. I'm sorry for not welcoming you. Please forgive me."

Situ is the title of an official in "The Book of Zhou".

When officials addressed each other, they usually called the Minister of Revenue "Da Situ".

The Minister of Personnel is called Zongzai or Taizai.

The Minister of Rites is called "Da Zongbo".

The Minister of War was called "Grand Sima".
The Minister of Punishment is called "Grand Sikou".

The Minister of Works was called "Grand Marshal".

Fan Jian did not act arrogantly in front of Su Mingzhe, and responded politely:

"Thank you for your courtesy, Lord Su. I came to visit you suddenly, so it may be a bit rude. Please forgive me."

After the two of them greeted each other, they sat down and a maid came over to serve tea.

Fan Jian took a sip and waited until no one was around before speaking:

"Master Su, Fan is a straightforward person and doesn't like beating around the bush, so I'll just tell you what I want to say."

"Da Si Tu, please speak."

Su Mingzhe sat upright, indicating that he was all ears.

Fan Jian hesitated and began to speak:
"Sir Su, there is a girl in your house who looks very similar to a friend of mine. I wonder if I can pay her a visit?"

"My girl?"

Su Mingzhe's eyelids jumped, and he looked at Fan Jian's eyes which were filled with hope. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly nodded:

"Grand Tutor, there are only four girls in my house. Although they are master and servant in name, they grew up with me. I have always regarded them as family. If Grand Tutor just wants to meet, it is definitely no problem. However, if you have other ideas, that is definitely not possible."

Fan Jian didn't expect that Su Mingzhe would agree to his unreasonable request, so he quickly bowed and thanked him:

"Thank you Lord Su for your help. I will not be rude."

Seeing that Fan Jian had a good attitude and did not intend to use his power to pressure others, Su Mingzhe felt more comfortable and said:

"Grand Minister, I have been unable to return home recently due to the case of Prince Pingnan's rebellion. How about waiting for a few days until I am done with this and then inviting you to my home?"

"As it should be!"

Fan Jian nodded and thanked him again.

Originally, Fan Jian should have left after getting Su Mingzhe's consent.

However, when Su Mingzhe mentioned the rebellion of Prince Pingnan, Fan Jian could not help but remind him:
"Sir Su, hasn't His Majesty already handed over the matter of Prince Pingnan's rebellion to the Inspection Office? Why are you Iron Guards still so busy?"

Fan Jian's question means that this is a tough job.

If the Iron Guards want to gain credit and reward, it would be better for them to change their job.

Su Mingzhe smiled bitterly:
"You don't know, Grand Minister, that on the day when Prince Pingnan rebelled, the Queen Mother of Prince Pingnan happened to be in the palace. When Prince Pingnan rebelled, they ran around in the palace and were caught by the palace guards. Your Majesty felt sorry for them because they were women, and was not confident in handing them over to the Inspection Office for investigation, so he had them sent to the Iron Guard."

"I see." Seeing that the matter involved the emperor, Fan Jian stopped talking. Then he chatted with Su Mingzhe for a few more words and was about to leave.

Su Mingzhe suddenly moved closer and congratulated in a low voice:
"I, Su, would like to congratulate the Grand Tutor in advance. In a few days, I will be calling you the Father-in-law of the Emperor."

"Master Su, you can't say such nonsense."

Fan Jian was shocked by Su Mingzhe's words.

There is a lot of commotion in Kyoto City right now regarding the talent show.

There are different opinions about who should be the queen.

Fan Jian didn't think that he had any grudge against the Queen Mother, and that the Queen Mother would choose her daughter as the Queen.

"Grand Minister, Su is not talking nonsense. This matter was decided by the Empress Dowager and His Majesty."

Su Mingzhe also knew that Fan Jian had been upset recently because of Fan Ruoruo's affairs. He told Fan Jian the details of the matter in advance to put his mind at ease.

In fact, the palace had already discussed the selection of the queen.

He was one of the three candidates rumored by the outside world and was indeed the focus of discussion in the palace.

However, Ye Ling'er, one of the three candidates, dared to disobey the imperial decree after learning of it and wanted to escape back to Ye's hometown.

Although the Ye family later captured Ye Ling'er in time and forced Ye Ling'er to participate in the preliminary election, this matter could not be concealed from the spies of the Inspection Institute and the Internal Supervision Department.

Ye Ling'er's behavior, which was almost like running away from her marriage, could be said to have rubbed the royal family's face in disgrace.

When Hong Sixiang, the chief eunuch of the Internal Affairs Department, learned about this, he immediately reported it to the Empress Dowager.

The Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother had never liked Ye Ling'er, who loved to wield spears and sticks.

Now, the incident of "running away from marriage" happened again, and when the two discussed the candidates for concubines and queen, they simply excluded her from the list of candidates for queen.

Without Ye Ling'er as a candidate, the only candidates for the queen were Fan Ruoruo and Lin Wan'er.

The Empress Dowager knew that Lin Wan'er was delicate and weak, so she had no intention of letting her take the throne of Queen.

In addition, she had a close relationship with the Fan family. When she gave birth to Emperor Qing, she asked Fan Jian's mother to be his wet nurse. Therefore, when it came to choosing the queen, she preferred Fan Ruoruo, the most talented woman in Kyoto, to become the new queen.

However, the Queen Mother hated the Fan family so much because Fan Jian destroyed her own family, and was extremely reluctant to let Fan Ruoruo become the Queen.

But she couldn't give this reason, so in the end she used the fact that the eldest princess Li Yunrui was in charge of the inner treasury as an excuse, and said that she wanted to strengthen her relationship with the eldest princess Li Yunrui, so she thought of letting Lin Wan'er be the queen.

The Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager had different opinions, so they called the Emperor over.

After all, this queen was chosen for Emperor Su Mingzhe.

Su Mingzhe was called to Yanshou Palace. Hearing that the Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother each had their own opinions, he mediated:
"Grandma, mother, emotionally, I prefer cousin Wan'er. But the purpose of choosing a queen is to choose a woman who can be the mother of the country. Cousin Wan'er has been pampered since she was young and has never experienced the ways of the world. I am afraid that if she takes charge of the harem, she will not be able to control the other concubines. Miss Fan's biological mother died of illness when she was young. When she was eight or nine years old, she began to learn to manage the affairs of the Fan family. I think that letting her be the queen will be more conducive to the stability of the harem."

Su Mingzhe's statement was deeply recognized by the Empress Dowager.

The old lady also favored Fan Ruoruo. When she heard that her "grandson" was of the same mind as her, she naturally nodded with satisfaction, indicating that she agreed with this statement.

The Queen Mother looked at the two men and saw that they had the same opinion, her brows slightly furrowed, but in the end she said nothing more.

At this point, although the selection had just begun, and even many beauties from other places had not yet entered the palace to meet the Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother, the position of Queen had already been decided.

Now, Su Mingzhe told Fan Jian the inside story.

When Fan Jian got the news, his heart, which had been in a knot, relaxed a little.

When he returned home, he told his daughter the good news.

More than half a month passed.

It was early October.

Beautiful girls from other places came to Beijing one after another.

After the first round of preliminary selection, the total number of beauties was set at more than 2,400.

In early October, the second round of selection began.

This time, more than 300 beauties were selected from more than 2,400 candidates.

These more than 300 beauties will fill Su Mingzhe's harem.

The luckier ladies in this selection will be given titles such as concubine and lady.

Those who were not given titles were either arranged to marry the sons of nobles in the court, or stayed in the palace as female officials, waiting to be met by the emperor one day.

Of course, if their family spent some money, they could be allowed to leave the palace earlier.

At this point, the candidates for the queen finally began to be announced.

The necessary procedures are also gradually being put on the agenda.

October 8th, an auspicious day selected by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory.

The empress dowager first issued an imperial decree to enthrone Fan Ruoruo as empress.

This imperial edict was not given to the eunuchs in the palace to be sent to Fan's mansion, but the emperor appointed the chief and deputy envoys to announce the edict and confer the title.

Among them, the chief envoy was the Minister of Rites Guo Youzhi.

The deputy envoy was Yang Yi, the Minister of Taichang Temple.

When Guo Youzhi read out the imperial edict, the entire Fan family was present to accept it.

Afterwards, Guo Youzhi gave all the clothes belonging to the queen to Fan Ruoruo to keep.

Fan Sizhe waited for his father Fan Jian to receive the imperial edict, then he immediately stood up and asked excitedly:
"Mom, my sister is the queen, so I will be the emperor's uncle in the future, right?"

"Yes, son, you will be the emperor's uncle from now on."

Liu Ruyu wiped away tears with excitement.

Fan Xian also looked at his sister very happily.

Only Fan Ruoruo knew the result in advance, and at this moment she just smiled faintly.

When Guo Youzhi and Yang Yi saw this, they secretly praised: "She remained calm when Mount Tai collapsed in front of her and did not blink when a deer rose to her left. She is worthy of being the choice of the queen!"

(End of this chapter)