Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 224 Little Princess

When spring came and flowers bloomed, Su Qingwan finally embarked on the journey home and returned to Huainan.

A spring rain has just stopped, and the fallen flowers are colorful. The spring crabapples in the old city of Huainan are in full bloom, and the rich fragrance of flowers fills every street. Su Qingwan recalled that when she fled Huainan in a panic, she made a vow: she would not return until Huainan was vindicated.

For her, her hometown is the place that she yearns for deep in her heart. But when she sees it again now, Huainan is no longer the same as it used to be.

Huainan was once a prosperous place of Dayuan. After six generations of Huainan kings, it enjoyed long-term stability, with the people living and working in peace and contentment, frequent trade and developed agriculture. Its former prosperity was even better than that of Jiangnan.

However, after the Huainan Palace was executed, the wealthy merchants fled one after another, border wars broke out again, and the land fell into chaos, and the prosperity gradually came to an end. The city, which once had a permanent population of nearly 800,000 and a peak population of nearly one million, has now fallen into decline, with a population of less than 100,000.

The city was in disarray, with bandits often appearing nearby, committing murder, looting and other crimes, and the people were in dire straits. There were only more than 2,000 guards in the city, and the government's repeated attempts to suppress the bandits had all ended in failure, which only made the bandits more rampant.

Su Qingwan looked at the dilapidated streets, sadness spreading from the bottom of her heart.

Lu Zhu whispered to comfort her: "Girl, don't be too sad. No matter what, we are finally home." Yes, no matter how destitute Huainan is now, this is always her home.

Chen Feng led the way. They were dressed as ordinary merchants and dressed simply. They did not attract attention along the way. They passed through the central street of Huainan City and headed east. At the end of the street was the Huainan Palace.

Su Qingwan originally thought that the palace had long been in ruins, but the scene before her was beyond her expectations. The palace was actually well preserved.

Chen Feng explained: "The people in Huainan City often come here secretly to take care of the palace, and some people also go to the ancestral tomb to pay tribute. After the prince was rehabilitated, the old people in the city built two temples to worship the prince and renovated the palace. Although there are no old servants in the palace, it still retains its original appearance."

Su Qingwan slowly climbed the stairs and pushed open the door that had been sealed for many years. She saw that the people had kept the palace clean, without a trace of dust or spider webs. Although there were some weeds in the palace, there were also peonies and spring crabapples blooming wantonly, and the century-old locust tree in the palace was lush and green, with tender green new buds.

Su Qingwan's eyes couldn't help but well up in tears; these flowers, plants and trees instantly brought back memories that were buried deep in her heart.

The past scenes of playing with her sister, brother, father, and mother flashed before her eyes one by one, and their laughter seemed to still echo in her ears, and their friendly voices and smiles seemed to reappear in front of her. "Father, mother, brother, sister... Xiaowu is back!"

Luzhu, Qingyun, Chenfeng and others tacitly did not disturb Su Qingwan, allowing her to wander around the palace at will. Only Luzhu followed her from a distance, while the others began to clean up the palace. Chenfeng also sent someone to deliver a document to the Huainan government to inform the government of the news that the little princess of the Huainan King had returned.

After twelve years, the Huainan Palace finally welcomed its owner back.

Qingyun led his men to remove the weeds in the courtyard. The palace had suffered a fire, and although it had been simply repaired, it was no longer intact and glorious as it was in the past. Back then, the Jinyiwei broke into the palace and caused extensive damage. The former splendor of the palace had long since disappeared, and it would be difficult to restore it to its original state in a short time.

Qingyun could only lead people to clean up the main courtyard and the kitchen first, while Chenfeng led people to clean up the front yard. Everyone was busy. Su Qingwan unknowingly wandered to the yard where she and her sister used to live. Her name was Su Qingwan, and Xie Zhaolan's real name was Su Qinglan. They were twin sisters who once lived together in Qingfengyuan.

Back then, the yard was full of beautiful peonies, but now it is overgrown with weeds. The swing that the eldest brother built for them has now decayed, but the vines in the corner of the wall bloom year after year and never wither. Su Qingwan sat quietly on the steps, letting the spring breeze blow, and her thoughts gradually emptied.

At this time, Qingyun hurried over and whispered a few words to Luzhu. Luzhu stepped forward and said softly, "Miss, the governor of Huainan wants to see you." The Huainan Palace welcomed back the old master, and this matter would inevitably alarm the local government.

After the King of Huainan was rehabilitated, the fiefdom returned to the Huainan clan. However, the fact that the nine clans of Huainan were exterminated was known to everyone. Now that a young princess suddenly appeared, the prefect naturally had to come to confirm her identity. Once her identity was confirmed, Su Qingwan would become the owner of the Huainan fiefdom. At that time, the prefect of Huainan would also have to obey her orders, and the military, economic, and land power of the entire fiefdom would be under the control of Su Qingwan.

The prefect of Huainan is named Yun, he is thirty-five years old this year and has been in the position for fifteen years.

When the King of Huainan was in power, he was an official sent by the imperial court, and he was also the youngest and most talented top scholar in the history of Dayuan.

In theory, the appointment and dismissal of officials in the Huainan fiefdom were under the jurisdiction of the Huainan Palace. However, over the past hundred years, a tacit understanding had been reached between the Huainan Palace and the imperial court, which tacitly allowed the imperial court to send people to Huainan to serve as prefects.

In the Huainan fiefdom, apart from the King of Huainan, the Governor of Huainan was the highest-ranking official.

However, the King of Huainan did not care about the court sending people over. Although the prefect was nominally the second-in-command of the fiefdom, he actually had no real power. No prefect of Huainan could mobilize a single soldier in the Huainan fiefdom.

Even if the King of Huainan was gone, there were still the crown prince, his adjutant, and many cronies. The prefect was still unable to mobilize local officials because these local officials had long been deeply rooted here. Most of them had intricate marriage ties with the Huainan Palace, and their power had been difficult to shake after six generations of entrenched rule.

When Yun Zhizhou first came to Huainan, he was in the prime of his life and full of ambition. He was originally a spy sent here by the imperial court to monitor the every move of the palace, but later he became a capable assistant of the Huainan Palace.

Even after the Huainan King was executed, many wealthy merchants and common people left their hometowns, but he always stayed in Huainan City. For twelve years, he worked diligently to protect this land, and the court seemed to have gradually forgotten him. Every time he returned to Beijing to report on his work, he came and went in a hurry. Zhongzhou often detained Huainan's silver. The entire Huainan relied on the wealth accumulated in the past to barely support itself, but it was difficult to cover up the trend of decline.

After Yun Zhizhou was welcomed into the palace, he saw Su Qingwan at first sight.

The girl was seen standing gracefully in the spring breeze, with a faint smile on her lips and her clothes fluttering in the wind, like a fairy walking out of a painting.

Yun Zhizhou couldn't help but think of his late wife Su He, who was also the third daughter of the Huainan King. She was married to him at a young age. Later, when the King's Mansion was convicted, she resolutely hanged herself in order not to implicate Yun Zhizhou.

Because the two had no children, and Yun Zhizhou was ordered to marry a woman from the Huainan clan, the late emperor forgave him. In terms of seniority, Su Qingwan had to call him brother-in-law.

"Third brother-in-law, do you still recognize Xiaowu?"