There was an awful racket. Fan Xian simply smiled, not looking the least bit arrogant, but instead entirely sincere. He had played his part as brother-in-law, and spent the appropriate amount of money as an official, letting all the bureaucrats see it. No one would have imagined that this matter, causing offence by scrambling to enter first, had been his idea.
Fan Xian had a natural advantage - he was a scoundrel with an honest demeanor, an insidious fellow, more than willing to offend and bully others, but on the surface he was completely accommodating. This had served him to great benefit, such as with the Eldest Princess, who Fan Xian had forced out of the palace with his leafleting campaign, but who still to this day did not know that her own son-in-law was responsible. She presumed that her son-in-law was willing to suffer in silence, and to take her at her word in the north, not daring to be hostile.
