Chapter 80 080 A loyal minister, though despised, should never be killed...
The late emperor passed away in the winter month, but even though the 30-day national mourning period ended in the twelfth month, the people of the capital consciously refrained from putting up red couplets and setting off firecrackers during the New Year. Official families were even more cautious, cutting off banquets among relatives and friends. They would only have a quiet New Year's Eve dinner together as a family, barely managing to savor the festive atmosphere.
At the New Year's Eve dinner at the Marquis of Zhongyi's residence, Xiao Rong choked twice while eating. When Luo Fu heard the noise and looked up, she saw her father-in-law almost instinctively shaking the rice grains that he had sprayed onto the back of his hand onto the ground next to him. She also saw her father-in-law's reddened eyes and the hot tears in them.
"Grandfather, why are you crying?" Sanlang asked quickly.
Xiao Rong shook his head, not looking at his son and daughter-in-law, and forced a smile, saying, "It's nothing. Grandfather just misses your great-grandparents, and the times when they ate New Year's Eve dinner with me when I was little."
Some of the children believed it, and some did not, but Luo Fu knew very well that her father-in-law was crying for the late emperor. Her father-in-law's parents had only given him one life before passing away early, leaving him alone and poor. The late emperor, however, had given her father-in-law a great fortune that would benefit his descendants, which was equivalent to a second life.
Luo Fu believed that her father-in-law's tears at this moment were genuine, just like the night the late emperor passed away, when she suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and heard Xiao Yu's soft sobs.
Realizing that Xiao Yu was crying, Luo Fu didn't rush to comfort him. Instead, she lay motionless as if she were still asleep. As she lay there, several major events that she had experienced since marrying Xiao Yu came to mind.
The first incident involved Xiao Yu offending Emperor Yongcheng during the imperial examination and being imprisoned. Luo Fu was extremely worried at home. When Emperor Yongcheng granted Xiao Yu the favor of still appointing him as the top scholar, Luo Fu, as Xiao Yu's wife and an ordinary commoner who was afraid that Xiao Yu's case would also implicate her family, also received a favor from Emperor Yongcheng.
Secondly, Xiao Yu was demoted to the position of magistrate of Loujiang for two years because he petitioned to depose the crown prince. Admittedly, Xiao Yu was able to return because he had made contributions, but Emperor Yongcheng could have killed Xiao Yu at the beginning. Emperor Yongcheng was willing to give Xiao Yu the opportunity to return to the capital after making contributions. Xiao Yu was grateful for the emperor's grace, and Luo Fu was also grateful.
The third incident involved Xiao Yu impeaching Prince Qi. The case wasn't particularly serious, but Prince Qi was still Emperor Yongcheng's own son. Emperor Yongcheng still didn't blame Xiao Yu and even arranged for him to become a close advisor to the new crown prince in the Eastern Palace.
Emperor Yongcheng reigned for thirty-six years. Perhaps he made some foolish mistakes and did some unwise things during that time, but to Xiao Yu, Emperor Yongcheng was undoubtedly a wise ruler. Xiao Yu was moved to tears by the emperor's grace, and Luo Fu was also brought to tears by Xiao Yu's words.
Xiao Rong was unaware of his youngest son's deep sorrow for the late emperor; he was truly grieving, experiencing a grief akin to that of losing one's own father.
In terms of age, Emperor Yongcheng was only fifteen years older than Xiao Rong, barely old enough to be his father. However, Xiao Rong was only in his twenties when he distinguished himself on the battlefield protecting the emperor. Emperor Yongcheng's promise transformed him from a common soldier into a noble marquis. Moreover, Emperor Yongcheng didn't simply abandon him after fulfilling his promise. In the following twenty years, Emperor Yongcheng occasionally bestowed favors upon him, even after the third son of Xiao Rong had caused so much trouble...
I can't think about it, or Xiao Rong will start crying again.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, the children had all left. Deng accompanied her husband back to the central courtyard of Wanhetang. Seeing that Xiao Rong still looked listless, Deng sighed, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I really wouldn't believe that you would miss the late emperor so much."
Xiao Rong waved his hand and first called a maid to bring in water. After washing up, the couple lay down on the bed side by side. Xiao Rong then held his wife's hand and said, "I've made up my mind. After I return to my post after the New Year, I will ask the Emperor for my resignation and say that I want to stay home to mourn the late Emperor for three years. After that, I will be almost sixty years old and can retire directly without having to return to officialdom."
Deng asked in surprise, "You, aren't you very proud of your position as commander of Jianchun Guard?"
Previously, her husband felt that staying in this position was humiliating because he was concerned about his reputation and wanted to be promoted. In fact, the Imperial Guards consisted of thirteen commanders, including the Upper Four Guards and the Lower Nine Guards. Any one of them was a trusted minister of the late emperor, and many military officers might not be able to win one of them even if they spent their entire lives.
Xiao Rong sighed, “I am proud of it, but a new emperor brings a new court. The late emperor promoted me because I had served as his protector, but do you not know how capable I am? Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, the former guards of the Prince of Fu’s mansion and the guards of the Eastern Palace are all waiting for promotion. Even Commander Zhang of the Imperial Guard resigned once after the national mourning. As an old minister of the late emperor with no talent or merit, if I take the initiative to resign, I can still get a word of praise from the new emperor. If I keep lingering, then I can only wait to be disliked by the new emperor.”
Looking at her husband's no longer young face, Deng suddenly felt a pang of heartache: "If you've resigned, so be it. It's just a matter of losing a salary. Our family never really relied on your salary to make a living anyway. You could just retire and live a comfortable life. Why do you insist on mourning the late emperor? During the mourning period, you can't eat meat or drink alcohol, and you can't go out and mingle with your brothers who are dukes and marquises. Are you willing to give that up?"
Xiao Rong snorted, "What's there to be reluctant about? A bunch of opportunists who change their minds at the slightest provocation. Do you think I really care about them? As for mourning the late emperor, firstly, I am truly grateful for his kindness and am willing to do so. Secondly, I have to think about the future. With the third son's temper, he might cause trouble again at any time. I can't control what he says, but I have to consider the interests of the eldest and second sons' families. So I'm letting the new emperor witness my loyalty and filial piety to the late emperor early on. That way, when the new emperor punishes the third son in the future, perhaps he can take my loyalty and filial piety into account and not hold a grudge against the entire Xiao family."
Deng: "..."
After a long silence, Deng leaned closer to her husband and said with a mix of relief and pride, "When I married you, I knew you were different from other farmers and that you would definitely amount to something. Listen to this insight and planning; you're in no way inferior to the heads of those old, prestigious, or noble families."
Xiao Rong smiled. After all, he had been in the elite circles of the capital for almost thirty years, witnessed the rise and fall of several families, and had learned some ways to avoid misfortune and seek good fortune.
The day before the sixth day of the month when he went to court, Xiao Rong called his three sons over and told them his plans, but omitted his long-term intentions for the sake of his family.
While admiring his father's loyalty and filial piety towards the late emperor, Xiao Hu looked at his second brother with concern: "Father is worried about losing his position in the Lower Nine Guards, and you hold the important position of commander of the Vermilion Bird Guard in the Upper Four Guards..."
Each of the thirteen Imperial Guards had only three thousand elite soldiers. Although the rank of commander of a thousand men was not high, only the emperor's confidants could hold the position.
Xiao Lin looked displeased: "Brother, are you saying that my appointment as a commander of a thousand households was entirely due to the late emperor's special favor to our family or the Li family, and that I have to give way to his confidants as soon as the emperor ascends the throne?"
Xiao Hu: "...I mean, your appearance might not put the Emperor at ease."
Xiao Lin: "Yes, you are the only one in our family who looks reassuring. You look innocent and guileless. I think it's good that Father resigned. The Emperor might recommend you to succeed Father as the commander of Jianchun Guard. After all, you look like someone who can guard the city gate."
Although he did not have his elder brother's military achievements in suppressing bandits, he was rated as top in both the civil and military examinations, and his military strategy had been praised by the old Duke. He was selected as a commander of the Vermilion Bird Guard based on his true talent and learning. At most, the old Duke helped to recommend him to the late emperor, which made the late emperor notice for the first time that the Xiao family had a truly promising young man.
Xiao Hu was determined to become a great general and didn't bother to look at the city gate, so he was about to retort.
Xiao Yu promptly advised his two elder brothers: "Actually, neither of you are suitable to guard the city gate. Father is the most suitable for this job, but as Father said, he is already too old..."
"I'm only fifty-five... fifty-six!" Xiao Rong suddenly slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and glared at his youngest son.
Xiao Yu glanced at his father's strong arms: "Yes, Father is still vigorous despite his old age."
Xiao Rong: "...Get out of here, all of you. Keep your family matters to yourselves and don't tell everyone."
He glared at the most cunning of the three a few more times.
Xiao Hu: "..."
The following day was the first court assembly of the first year of Xianping. With the new year comes a new atmosphere. The Xianping Emperor on the dragon throne no longer had the heaviness that followed the death of the previous emperor. He was full of expectations for a peaceful and prosperous new year. Compared to the old and frail emperor of the past, the new emperor, who was only thirty-five years old and in his prime, did indeed boost the morale of the civil and military officials.
After the court assembly, Xiao Rong submitted his resignation to the Imperial Study.
Emperor Xianping had long planned to relocate some of the Imperial Guard officers, mainly to replace them with his trusted confidants from when he was a prince and crown prince. This is something all new emperors do, since the Imperial Guard is directly related to the emperor's safety. The loyalty of high-ranking Imperial Guard officers is often more important than their talent. Of course, the higher the rank, the greater the power, and their wisdom and courage must be commensurate with it.
After reading Xiao Rong's memorial, Emperor Xianping pondered for a moment and then sent someone to summon Xiao Rong.
Xiao Rong entered, his gaze swept around the imperial study, and his eyes reddened as he looked at the objects and knelt before Emperor Xianping, begging the emperor to forgive his loss of composure.
Emperor Xianping was moved by Xiao Rong's words and felt a pang of longing for his father. After offering some words of comfort and confirming that Xiao Rong genuinely wanted to resign to mourn the late emperor and was not merely putting on an act, Emperor Xianping granted his request. After encouraging him, Emperor Xianping personally escorted Xiao Rong out of the imperial study, leaving the waiting ministers outside wide-eyed in astonishment.
Returning to the imperial study, Emperor Xianping took out the list left to him by his father.
The list of civil and military officials ranged in age from just over twenty to just over forty. Xiao Yu was ranked first among the civil officials, while Xiao Lin was in the middle of the military ranks.
Since Xiao Rong had voluntarily resigned, sparing him from a difficult position, Emperor Xianping decided to promote Xiao Lin from the rank of commander of a thousand households, as there happened to be a vacancy for deputy commander of the Upper Four Guards.
As for Xiao Yu...
Xiao Yu was one of the few officials whose names were followed by annotations from the late emperor. However, while the late emperor's annotations for others were mostly comments on their character and talent, which were sometimes praising and sometimes criticizing, Xiao Yu's annotation was quite special: "A loyal minister, he may be demoted if he is hated, but he must not be killed."
Emperor Xianping smiled as he looked at his father's powerfully written words.
He had already learned about Xiao Yu's character from his past deeds, and he was broad-minded enough that if Xiao Yu offered any advice, as long as it was reasonable, he would not only not kill Xiao Yu, but he would not even demote him.
Emperor Xianping, who aspired to be a wise ruler, genuinely intended to do so, at least at this moment.
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Author's Note: Hehe, I still decided to write it out. 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~
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