Union

Chapter 185 Closest Relatives Arrive

While Yunying was enjoying the pampering of her family at the Duke of Xuan's mansion, a great commotion was taking place in the imperial court.

The matter is still related to the Marquis of Chang'an's residence.

The entire Chang'an Marquis's family was imprisoned, and not a single member emerged unscathed from the jail.

Yunying heard this from Gu Yuanxi.

Gu Yuanxi was barely satisfied with the result, but he was still somewhat indignant.

"They got off too easy! The court officials who participated in the rebellion were all executed along with their entire families by His Majesty."

He was too young to remember the incident. It wasn't until he grew up and was secretly searching for his sister that he learned what had happened next.

His Majesty was furious and showed no mercy. All those who participated in the rebellion, whether masterminds, co-masters, or unsuspecting victims, were all hanged, and their entire families were implicated.

In contrast, His Majesty's punishment of the Marquis of Chang'an's residence is as follows:
All adult males of the Chang'an Marquis's household were sentenced to death by hanging, while the female relatives and underage males were exiled to Lingnan Prefecture.

No wonder Gu Yuanxi was unhappy. He originally thought that after this incident at the Marquis of Chang'an's residence, His Majesty would wipe out the entire Marquis of Chang'an's family.

As a result, this is it?
Gu Yuanxi suspected that someone might have pleaded on his behalf before the Emperor, while Gu Yuanming had some guesses about it, saying, "His Majesty is getting old and has become a devout Buddhist in the past two years, seeking immortality..."

Yunying: "..."

Understood.

The point is to reduce the amount of killing, right?
The Marquis of Chang'an's family was quite lucky.

Yang Lingjia said, "Compared to the previous rebels, they were a bit luckier. But for those innocent clansmen and women, wasn't this also an undeserved disaster?"

Although the members of the Chang'an Marquis's family had committed crimes to varying degrees, the verdicts were not fatal. Some of them only had to pay some money and did not even have to go to jail.

Now look what's happened; the heavens have thrown a huge pot at them, and it's all been dumped on top of them.

Yang Lingjia wanted to say that the Lady of Chang'an was even more of a pity.

From an outsider's perspective, this lady was truly capable and shrewd, with a respectable character and a good reputation in the capital. But because she married the wrong person, she got herself completely entangled in the mess.

But she can't blame anyone else; she can only blame her own bad luck.

Gu Yuanming and Gu Yuanxi stayed with Yunying for a while longer before leaving together.

After finishing his duties in the household, Yang Lingjia returned to speak with Yunying.

She said softly, "Lin Shuqing was also exiled to Lingnan."

There was a tacit law in the court that criminals did not extend to married women.

Once a woman is married, she belongs to another family. Unless it's a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of her family, a married woman is generally not implicated by her natal family.

Like Lin Shuyu, she was a married woman, and during the turmoil in the Chang'an Marquis's mansion, she was not implicated. Although her maternal family fell, which greatly affected her status in her husband's family, at least she was not exiled.

Lin Shuqing was different, because she was divorced.

If she divorces and becomes a woman herself, the affairs of the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion will not affect her.

In fact, according to normal logic, even if she returned to the Chang'an Marquis's residence after the divorce, she could have escaped if she wanted to after the incident at the Chang'an Marquis's residence.

Her situation falls into a category where she could be imprisoned or not.

If the fetus in her womb is still alive, the affairs of the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion have nothing to do with her.

The problem is that she miscarried and is no longer of any value.

The presence of such a woman has truly humiliated the Second Prince, and those whose interests align with his have every reason to deal with her.

Fearing that Yunying might not understand what was going on, Yang Lingjia subtly hinted at it.

Actually, Yunying could have figured these things out herself without Yang Lingjia specifically pointing them out.

She already knew that Lin Shuqing's fate would not be good.

Even if she wasn't implicated by her maternal family and managed to escape with her life, without their protection, given her arrogant nature, what good would come of her?

Perhaps she could rely on the Second Prince's remorse to get him to settle her down. But the Second Prince's residence is already rife with infighting; without anyone's protection, how many days could she survive there?

She just felt a little sad.

Lin Shuqing had been making a fuss, refusing to go to Lingnan Prefecture with Chen Yanzhou and unwilling to suffer with him.

But after going around in circles, she still wanted to go to Lingnan.

Yunying suddenly realized that the secrets of heaven are unpredictable, and that everything is arranged by the heavens.

She paused for a moment, then asked Yang Lingjia, "Has the exile date been set?"

“That’s not settled yet,” Yang Lingjia said. “The cases involving the members of the Chang’an Marquis’s family must be thoroughly investigated.”

Those people are all carrying cases on their shoulders, and the trial is already halfway through; we can't just let it go like this.

In fact, according to the normal procedure, all matters should be thoroughly investigated before any action is taken.

But the rebel king was too much of annoyance to His Majesty, who would become furious at the mere mention of anything related to him. Therefore, without waiting for a joint trial by the three judicial departments or for a report from the cabinet, His Majesty acted unilaterally and disposed of these people.

"However, it should be soon."

These people's futures are already set. Even if they stubbornly refused to say anything before, now, unless it's something that will cost them their heads, they'll probably all give up in despair.

Yang Lingjia estimated that the group would head south in no more than half a month.

Then, considering that these people were heading to Lingnan Prefecture, which might even be under Chen Yanzhou's jurisdiction, Yang Lingjia's expression suddenly became distorted.

What's the matter!

I don't know if His Majesty did it intentionally or unintentionally. If it was unintentional, that's fine. But if it was intentional, His Majesty might be implying to Chen Yanzhou that he can retaliate against this group at will.

On the other hand, given how pampered these people are, could they really make it all the way to Lingnan Prefecture alive?

Yang Lingjia sat with Yunying for a while before going to the kitchen to check on the preparations for the evening's banquet.

There is a small banquet at the mansion today.

My father-in-law is hosting a few close friends at home today.

Yang Lingjia learned from Gu Yuanming that the banquet was at the instigation of the Duke of Rongguo. For some unknown reason, her father-in-law also agreed and even set the banquet venue at the Duke of Xuanguo's residence.

Gu Yuanming also told him that the Duke of Rong must have had ulterior motives for doing this.

The couple knew perfectly well what they were plotting. But since they were elders, even if they were really up to something, they didn't want to gossip about it behind their backs.

Yang Lingjia thought about all this, and then about Chen Yanzhou. Chen Yanzhou was handsome and talented, and he and Yun Ying had long been in love; the two were indeed a good match.

But Yunying had gone through so much hardship to be found by her father-in-law, so he probably wouldn't easily agree to marry her off. Not to mention, Chen Yanzhou is currently an official in Lingnan, a desolate and chaotic place. Would her father-in-law really let Yunying go there? But if he doesn't agree to let Yunying go, what if another beautiful woman appears in Chen Yanzhou's life?
After thinking it over and over, Yang Lingjia also started to have a headache.

She simply gave up on thinking about it.

My sister has two more generations of elders above her. Her grandparents and father are all watching her marriage. Why should she, as her sister-in-law, need to worry about it?
Instead of worrying about Yunying's marriage partner, we can start preparing her dowry early.

Preparing the dowry doesn't mean rushing Yunying to get married. Rather, it's a complicated matter, and some valuable items can't be found overnight. Besides, Yunying has suffered a lot, so her dowry must be substantial. Preparing it early will prevent chaos at the last minute.

I need to remember this. When my husband is free tonight, I'll talk to him about it.

……

There was a banquet at the manor that night, and Yunying was the last person in the manor to know about it.

She learned the news when the banquet was already halfway through.

Today, her health had improved somewhat, and Yunying had been lying in bed all day without feeling sleepy. This allowed her to overhear the whispers of the two gatekeepers.

When Yunying learned that her father's close friend was coming to the mansion today, and that the banquet was organized at the instigation of the Duke of Rong, she couldn't help but think of Chen Yanzhou, and her heart skipped a beat.

Thinking of Chen Yanzhou, Yunying couldn't listen to the gossip of the old women.

Actually, they couldn't really come up with a fancy explanation.

After all, the rules in the manor were strict, and they couldn't speak ill of their masters behind their backs. Besides, they didn't serve in the front courtyard, so they didn't know what was going on there. So, as they talked, they mentioned that the old lady had sent someone to the temple to donate money for incense oil today. This must be because the Bodhisattva of Joy was blessing the family and that the general would find the girl again.

The courtyard fell completely quiet, and Yunying, feeling drowsy, finally began to drift off to sleep.

It was at this moment that she heard some faint sounds.

The owner of the voice seemed to be greeting someone. Yunying, half asleep and half awake, wondered, who would come over at this hour?

Could it be my grandfather?

My grandfather now lives mostly in the front yard, and it's already quite late; he should be asleep by now.

If it wasn't my grandfather, then who could it be?
She listened intently and heard the person's footsteps lightly approaching her room.

The two old women guarding outside the door made some rustling noises and faint breathing sounds. Yunying tried hard to make out what they were saying: "The young lady is probably asleep."

"They were turning it over and over before, but now there's no movement at all."

Another low "hmm" sound came, and at the same time, a faint aroma of wine seemed to drift into the room through the crack in the door.

Yunying suddenly realized that it was her father who had come.

The thought had barely crossed her mind when Yunying was fully awake.

Is Dad here?

Has the banquet over there ended?
What is Dad doing here now?
Yunying opened her eyes, her brows furrowed slightly, and continued to listen to the sounds outside.

But then they heard heavy footsteps stop at the bottom of the steps.

He stopped there, neither going upstairs nor turning back. The old woman guarding the gate asked nervously, "Should we wake the young lady?"

"No need, let her sleep."

"That general..."

"I'll be leaving in a bit."

The two old women exchanged a glance and said nothing more.

Gu Wangchen stood at the door for a moment. Perhaps the alcohol was taking effect, he couldn't stand still and swayed.

"General..."

"It's alright, don't speak, don't disturb He'er."

After speaking, Gu Wangchen sat down on the steps by the door, staring intently at the dark sky, lost in thought.

There was no moon or stars tonight, but a cold wind blew in gusts, making the branches and leaves of the flowers and trees tremble, and the doors and windows creaked from time to time.

Gu Wangchen sat there for what seemed like an hour or two, until the lights in the old lady's room were already on, and he still hadn't left.

The old nanny who served the old lady walked out shakily and led Gu Wangchen into the main house. After a long while, Gu Wangchen finally sat up from the steps and followed her into the main house.

As Yunying listened to the heavy footsteps disappear into the distance, she pulled the blanket up higher and drifted off into a deep sleep.

……

Because she went to bed late the night before, Yunying overslept the next day and woke up when the sun was high in the sky.

When the old lady learned that she had woken up, she rushed over to see her.

Yunying said embarrassedly, "I overslept."

The old lady looked at Yunying with loving eyes and held her hand, saying, "At home, you can sleep as long as you want. You're still a young girl, growing and need more sleep to stay healthy. Besides, you've injured your head, so you should rest and recuperate."

Yunying's breakfast was brought over. This time, the old lady didn't feed her granddaughter, afraid of upsetting her again.

But as she watched longingly, Yunying didn't know how to start eating.

Yes, after Yunying argued her case, she was able to sit up and eat at the table today.

As she ate, the old lady watched her closely, Yunying…

Yunying said, "There's too much food prepared for breakfast. I have a small appetite, how can I finish it all? Grandmother gets up early and has breakfast early too, so she must be hungry now. Why don't you have some more with me?"

Upon hearing this, the old lady beamed with joy. She no longer had time to wonder how her granddaughter knew she was up early; instead, she eagerly asked the maid to add another pair of chopsticks and began to eat breakfast with her granddaughter.

Perhaps it was the delicious breakfast today, or perhaps it was the joy of seeing her granddaughter, but the old lady ate a small bowl of rice porridge and two small wontons, which was quite rare for her.

After eating and drinking her fill, the old lady was in a better mood and said to Yunying, "Yesterday, two aunts from the clan came to see you, but you weren't feeling well, so Grandmother didn't let them come. After all, they're distant relatives, so it's fine if they don't come. But this afternoon, your own cousin is going to the capital..."

Yunying's maternal family was also very prominent. Although they did not have a hereditary title, their ancestors had produced a Grand Secretary and a Second Grand Secretary, and their uncles had served as Vice Ministers in the Six Ministries. They were a true family that valued both farming and scholarship, and were quite well-known in the Jinzhou area.

It was quite a coincidence that this year was a major year for the imperial examinations, which were held every three years, and Yunying had a cousin who was going to participate in this year's spring examinations.

To participate in this year's imperial examinations, families with the means should have settled in Beijing before the new year. However, my cousin's wife gave birth at the end of the year, but labor was delayed even after the due date. My cousin didn't get to see his children born, so naturally he didn't dare to come to Beijing.

They only rushed to Beijing on the third day of the Lunar New Year after the mother and child were safe and sound.

It's unclear whether someone sent him a message by carrier pigeon about something happening in the capital, but once his cousin received the message, he rushed to the capital as fast as he could.

The trip, which was originally supposed to take about ten days, was compressed into seven or eight days, and we're about to head to Beijing.

The old lady said, "After all, he's a close relative of your mother's side. This person hasn't even arrived in the capital yet, and three or five letters have already been sent, saying he wants to see you, He'er..."

(End of this chapter)