What kind of person was Fan Sizhe?
Actually, he was a fairly ordinary young man of the capital, whose heritage was that of a wealthy family. Due to his family’s affluence, he had always been a popular child in the city. He was only a small boy when Fan Xian arrived at the capital, and at 12 years of age, hated his brother with a passion. Of course, he was a smart guy, and so he knew that he had been restricted by the baron’s heir. He was the sort of person that could not stand losing, but when it came to his personal interests, he was always keen to read ledgers and other financial documentation. Perhaps he did not even realize it himself, but he was exceptionally articulate and knowledgeable when it came to business and financial management.
There are many sides to a person, and that most certainly applied to Fan Sizhe. As a 14 year old noble of the capital, he was naive, enthusiastic, presumptuous and he even contained a streak of a callousness. It would not be fair to look at him from solely one perspective.
His father was a prominent man in the government, for he was the minister of the Ministry of Revenue. His name was Fan Jian. Fan Sizhe’s grandmother was a nanny for the Emperor, and his birth-mother was a valued friend of Yi Gui Pin. His big sister, Fan Ruoruo was perhaps the most famous, intellectual woman in the entire city and soon, she was to be married to the Crown Prince, Li Hongcheng.
And with his big brother, to which it seemed as if he held great contempt towards, they actually got along fairly well with each other. His brother was perhaps the finest linguist of the generation, the Emperor’s most trusted young officer, and to top it all off, he was the commissioner of the Overwatch Council. The man was an idol to every scholar, student and remote intellect in the entire world. He had married a princess, sorted out the palace treasury and even sat in the Emperor’s study room! His brother must have been the luckiest person to ever exist and his name, at this point, must have been distinguished enough to be heard by all. It was as if he had garnered so much renown, he was like a shining statuette of gold whenever he walked amongst the populace.
Yes. That was his amazing big brother, Fan Xian.
With an illustrious heritage such as this, they seemed to be a one-in-kind entity. It was doubtful that any other family had achieved as much success ever since the very establishment of the Qing Kingdom. Being born into such an environment, however, what could be expected of him, Fan Sizhe?
Before Fan Xian entered the palace, Fan Sizhe was already an infamous thug of the capital. Back then, it was due to him being young and still undecided as to what he wanted to do with the life he had been given. Therefore, what he chose to do was to be little more than a delinquent, in which he would spend his days eating freely, thieving from others, riding horses in the street and being a plain, old bully to others. He never went overboard or was responsible for huge misdeeds and grievous crimes, however, for Ruoruo was in charge of familial discipline. But this was the sort of life he had grown accustomed to. It was in his bones and it beared the seeds of today’s recklessness.
After Fan Xian entered the capital, he was allied with his big sister and big brother, and with them, they reigned in Fan Sizhe; they attempted to turn his life around and have him become a well-behaved individual. His parents were always putting pressure on him as well, forcing him to study arduously to become an officer, but such burdens were reduced upon the arrival of Fan Xian. It was if Fan Xian had opened a whole new door for Fan Sizhe, providing opportunities no other nobleman had ever given him.
And now, Fan Sizhe finally knew what he wanted to do. He discovered what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to obtain the sort of wealth that the hostess of Ye possessed. That sort of wealth would be enough to threaten an entire country. Therefore, he set to utilizing all the knowledge he had accumulated about accounting, business and finance he had gathered over the years.
As he grew older, his life goals became clearer and clearer. Through both his intellect and noble authority, he became reckless; he became Fan Sizhe, he who was afraid of nothing.
If he desired to do business, what would garner him the most revenue? Even though the Danbo bookstore was being looked after by Fan Sizhe and was being managed by Shopkeeper Ye of the Qingyu Hall, the books they sold did not yield a terrible amount of profit. And this was even after several other branches of the business had opened up, in different corner of the kingdom. Furthermore, the bookstore was still under Fan Xian’s name. Even though the latter point did not concern him too much, Fan Sizhe desired to build a career of his very own.
At the same time, the third prince of the palace, the cousin of Fan Sizhe, held great disdain for the prospect of receiving education. He could not stand listening to scholars talk all day long. But still, the prince had a mind of greater maturity and so, these two began to plot and devise the founding of something grand in the capital.
One was 14 years of age, and the other was eight. It was this strange combination that led to the creation of the much renowned Bao Yue house.
While this collaboration may have seem childish, the outcome was indeed quite fruitful for them both. And undoubtedly, it was the result of both of their unique backgrounds. The restrictions employed by the government turned out to be of benefit to them. And much to Fan Sizhe’s surprise, he later learnt of Crown Prince Li Hongcheng’s tight business relationship with the Liu Jing He brothel. It was from this place that he borrowed the manager, Yuan Meng.
It was the results of Fan Sizhe’s business acumen, Yuan Meng’s ability to run a brothel effectively and the third prince’s power and authority that led to the Bao Yue house becoming what it was. The brutality and reckless nature of their operations also aided their ambitions, and served well to close down most of the competing brothels in the capital, all within two to three months. But as for the death toll they had incurred, and the lives they had ruined? They did not care at all.