Chapter 165
Yang Man is very clear about her position and responsibilities.
On the one hand, she studied hard to please her father; on the other hand, she managed the household strictly, which instilled fear in the servants. She was fair in her dealings, which left the elders speechless, and gradually they all respected her.
Her two mothers couldn't teach her the arts like playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but after she went out and socialized more, someone introduced her to a female tutor.
She is literate, hardworking, and able to endure hardship, which makes Yang Xun very happy. He hopes that his daughter will grow up to be a well-bred lady, and that she will have a good life after marriage, bringing honor to the family.
As the year draws to a close, it's the busiest time of the year again.
While focusing on taxation, Wen Shi also began to study Go.
To this end, he even bought a chess manual and practiced with it.
It was late at night, and the cold wind was howling outside. It was pitch black, but the main house was relatively bright. Yingxiang sat to one side, put down the storybook in her hand, looked at Wenshi's focused expression, picked up the teapot next to her, and poured him a cup of hot tea.
Wen Shi was clearly preoccupied with the chess pieces; after taking them, he drank them down in one gulp.
"How did you come to like this?"
Yingxiang asked, puzzled.
"Could it be that he's really getting old?"
This was a joke; Wen Shi used to spend most of his time practicing calligraphy and reading.
Wen Shi's eyes were clear and bright. He put down the chess manual in his hand, got up and sat down next to his wife.
He didn't feel young; the eldest in his family already had children, and his seniority had long since risen.
"Drinking tea and playing chess, isn't that wonderful?"
Yingxiang frowned.
"That's too mentally taxing. You've been very busy lately, coming home so late every day and then playing chess for half an hour. How many hours a day do you have to rest?"
"Not tiring at all."
After hearing this, he kissed his wife's cheek. When he was young, he was busy earning money to study, which was physically demanding. Now, even though he is busy all day long with tasks like inventory and cataloging, he is mostly sitting down.
This is his second year as prefect.
After the New Year, it will be the third year, and he is about to enter the second half. It's impossible for him not to worry about his future.
He often submitted memorials to the emperor, partly because he genuinely had something to report, and partly because he hoped the emperor wouldn't forget him.
As long as he can successfully move back to the capital, he doesn't necessarily need to secure a lucrative position in one of the Six Ministries; an ordinary one would be fine too.
Seeing that he seemed to be in relatively good spirits, Yingxiang stopped talking. Sometimes she thought to herself, "This guy has a lot of energy."
Let's play then. Go is a profound and mysterious game that she doesn't understand, but Wen Shi is willing to study it, which can't hurt.
Before long, Yingxiang couldn't stay awake any longer and went to bed.
Becoming an official is neither easy nor difficult; it mainly depends on personal ability. Wen Shi understood this well. As long as one does not have excessive greed and takes things one step at a time, even if one cannot become a high-ranking official, one can still have a normal career path.
Beijing
Wen Chuanzong had been ill before, and after he recovered, he became much more well-behaved, but Liu and Old Man Wen were still very worried about him.
At the same time, the Shuchang Hall was about to be disbanded, and Wen Xiaowu received a new appointment document. He was to go to a county town in Suzhou, a thousand miles away, to serve as the county magistrate.
He failed to stay in the Hanlin Academy and, like Yang Xun before him, was directly released.
But that doesn't mean he has no future.
When Liu and Old Man Wen learned that he was also going to another place, they felt a little uncomfortable. They didn't want to leave the capital, but if Xiao Wu left, they wouldn't be able to stay in the city.
They didn't want to go to places that were too far away. They originally thought that Xiao Wu would definitely be in the capital before Wen Shi came back.
"Father, Mother, let's go back to Ping'an Village first."
Xiao Wu wasn't much of a talker, but he knew exactly what his parents were thinking.
Taking your elderly parents with you when you take up your new post is fine if they are willing, but since they clearly are not, there is no need to take them along.
This is a critical time. If his parents really can't handle the long journey and something happens to them, it will also affect his third brother's career.
Old Man Wen remained silent for a long time before finally nodding.
After the two elders returned home, Wen Xiaowu wrote a letter to Wen Shi, and he and his wife quickly packed up and set off for Suzhou with their daughter, who was less than a year old.
As the emperor grew older, his sons had all entered the court to participate in government affairs, and Wen Xiaowu did not resist being sent to a post outside the capital.
The struggle for the crown prince is currently raging behind the scenes, with many veteran officials even contemplating suicide to plead with the emperor to establish a crown prince as soon as possible to stabilize the country.
At this critical juncture, most officials have their own thoughts, but for some lower-ranking officials, this has nothing to do with them and they can't be won over. To avoid being caught in the crossfire, going out at this time may not be a bad thing.
The following morning, inside the Hall of Diligent Governance
The emperor was still in relatively good spirits, but he had aged considerably compared to previous years, with more pronounced wrinkles on his face and a significant increase in gray hair.
He sat on the dragon throne, looking radiant, as he gazed at the kneeling ministers.
His gaze swept over his sons again. He knew that this matter could not be delayed and a decision had to be made as soon as possible.
In the past, the eldest son was still young, so there was no need to worry about that now.
The practice of ministers forming cliques and factions in private must also be curbed.
He only had a few sons he favored. The emperor's eyes darted back and forth. In the spacious Hall of Diligent Governance, many astute people noticed that the emperor seemed to have begun to seriously consider this matter.
Many people had tried to gauge the situation before, but with little success.
Among them, the two with the best chance of winning are the emperor's eldest son, whose eldest grandson is his son, and his legitimate son, born to the empress. He was young a few years ago, but now he has grown up and is married. The emperor has also given him some tasks, which he has handled well.
His maternal family was quite powerful, and many veteran officials thought it was highly likely that he would be chosen, while others believed that the heir should be the legitimate heir.
However, there were also many ministers who suggested establishing a seniority system, and everyone had their own opinion.
"I already have someone in mind as the Crown Prince. You may all return to your quarters. The Ministry of Rites will begin preparations for the Hall of Establishment of the Crown Prince today. The imperial edict will be issued soon."
After Emperor Jingyuan finished speaking, he flicked his sleeves, got up, and left.
The court officials looked at each other, but they were no longer as anxious as before. It seemed that a decision was about to be made, but they didn't know who it would be.
The princes looked at each other knowingly, outwardly displaying brotherly respect, but who knows what they were really thinking.
Two days later, news spread that the emperor had appointed his eldest son as crown prince. With the imperial edict issued, everything was settled.
Most people could accept it. The emperor gradually transferred his sons, who had previously been entrusted with important responsibilities, from their original positions and gave them respectable and leisurely new jobs.
Now everyone understood that emperors still valued their legitimate sons more.
The news of the crown prince's appointment spread quickly, and within a few days, Wen Shi in Jiangzhou also learned of it.
He wasn't surprised. The emperor had once summoned them to inquire, but he had always remembered his teacher's words and hadn't spoken rashly. As it turned out, he was right.
Without absolute certainty and a clear plan, one should not get involved in the struggle for the heir apparent. The overall situation is now settled, which is a good thing.
Although Wen Shi has been away from home in recent years, he has heard of the prince's wisdom and virtue, which is no less than that of his father. Emperor Jingyuan is not a fool either; he could not have chosen him as the crown prince simply because he liked him. He is also quite capable in handling state affairs.
Whoever is the emperor, he only needs to do his job well.
If you encounter a wise ruler, you should work diligently and serve the court. If you encounter a foolish ruler, you should hide and lie low, and not offend the emperor.
Some things in books are written in a very grand and dignified way, but in practice, they should be applied more flexibly.
Wen Shi is currently well-versed in history books. Looking at the interactions between emperors and their ministers throughout history, they are all pretty much the same. In times of chaos, some rulers of fallen kingdoms are mad, while others try to turn the tide but ultimately fail.
When he was young, he would feel regret when he read stories of virtuous ministers, but as he grew older, he gained a different understanding.
Another New Year has arrived, and as Lunar New Year's Eve approaches, a sudden blizzard has struck Jiangzhou.
If the servants didn't sweep the courtyard every hour, it would be difficult for people to move around.
Yingxiang was more worried about Wen Leqian. The official road was different from the local trade road. It was managed and cleaned by someone. Fortunately, Leqian arrived in the city the following afternoon.
Now she was relieved.
She had encountered a severe weather event before when she was in Daliu Village, but she was unharmed. This time it will probably be similar.
Based on her limited knowledge, the Great Qi Dynasty is currently ruled by its third emperor, and the next two emperors are likely to be in similar positions. As long as it is not the end of the dynasty and there are no major natural or man-made disasters, everything is generally quite stable.
Late at night, Wen Shi still hadn't returned. Ying Xiang lay in bed and suddenly felt a terrible headache.
Not long after, just as she was hesitating whether to call for a maid, a few cold, electronic voices suddenly appeared in her mind.
"The system's final upgrade is complete. The host's life in ancient times is now entering its final countdown."
"When the time comes, the system will automatically send the host back to the original era."
"The Great Journey is coming to an end, and the sign-in rewards will be cancelled starting today."
Yingxiang quickly sat up, looking at the charcoal brazier not far away in disbelief. Why was this happening? Countdown? Countdown to what?
Even if she couldn't live to be seventy or eighty in ancient times, she should at least be fifty or sixty. She'll be thirty this year, so she's not old.
"System, you've gone too far."
"My life has only been good for a few years, how come it's already on a countdown?"
Yingxiang questioned herself in her heart, but she was more worried than anything else.
She was met with a long silence. After the glittering golden sphere in her mind slowly disappeared, she saw the countdown clearly.
With six thousand days left, she breathed a sigh of relief.
There are still less than sixteen or seventeen years left. The sign-in rewards are gone, but that's not important. They've already saved up enough to not be so poor as to not be able to afford food or have nowhere to live in the future.
Yingxiang lay back down on the bed and started counting on her fingers.
She was initially worried that the countdown would be 30 to 50 days, which would have really made her angry. But now it seems okay, there are still more than ten years left. By then, her two children will definitely be grown up.
Wen Shi is getting old, and if she were to die of old age at this time, she wouldn't be unable to accept it, since she has no more attachments.
How old will my husband live to be?
"You are not authorized to view this."
The cold, electronic voice sounded again, and Yingxiang sighed.
Sometimes, she wondered if she and Wen Shi were lovers in a past life, otherwise she wouldn't have encountered such a melodramatic thing as time travel.
"The system time is different from the time calculated by the host. Please remember this and check it in real time to prepare accordingly."
"I understand. Just don't make my departure too painful. If I return to the modern world, will there be a reward?"
"No, when you go back to the modern world, you'll still be the same person you were before."
"I've worked here for half my life, and I'll have to keep working hard when I go back. Can I take those antiques and stuff with me?"
"Don't forget about the laundry tub. If it's removed from its original time and space and seen by someone who shouldn't see it, it will automatically shatter."
Yingxiang turned over, feeling somewhat sentimental, but mostly wistful.
"So how exactly do you calculate this countdown time? Is it one day for the system and ten days for the Great Opening, or ten days for the Great Opening and one day for the system?"
"Time is a natural phenomenon, without any specific reference point."
"I returned to the modern era, but even after searching through all the history books, I couldn't find a single record of this dynasty. It was truly a dream."
The electronic voice in her head disappeared, and Yingxiang turned over, unable to fall asleep again.
She thought, no matter what, it should still be ten years or so, I can't let her suffer like this.
As she pondered, drowsiness crept in. Since she couldn't change anything, she could only accept it. She didn't know when Wen Shi had arrived.
The next morning, she woke up still half asleep. The bed beside her was already cold, and the children hadn't gotten up yet. She subconsciously remembered what had happened before she went to sleep.
Yingxiang suddenly sat up and entered the system. The reward was gone, but the backpack was still there, and she could put those items back in.
Yesterday it was 6,000 days, how come it's 5,998 days today?
She had only slept for one night, yet the system had given her two days. Yingxiang looked at the familiar room and sat up straight.
She said she needed to observe for a few more days, but she didn't believe it; there really was no pattern, which was really unsettling.
She hasn't even returned to the capital yet, nor has she moved into the mansion. How could time have passed so quickly?
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