Chapter 609 The Grand Finale 1
On that day, the sun shone brightly and the sky was a clear blue.
On Madam Gu's birthday, all the prominent families in the capital came to celebrate with her, and the Changxing Marquis's residence was filled with guests.
Gu Jingxi was already enjoying great favor with the emperor, and there were quite a few people who wanted to curry favor with him. Since he was promoted last year, even more people have wanted to curry favor with him.
Last year, Emperor Jingwen promoted Gu Jingxi to the position of Minister of Personnel, a promotion that was considered exceptional. The position of Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was to be chosen from among the two junior ministers. Emperor Jingwen favored Qi Yunwen more and appointed him as the new Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.
As for the former Minister of Personnel, he was executed along with his entire family for embezzlement, bribery, favoritism, forming cliques, and plotting to harm the imperial heir. His eldest granddaughter, who was also the Fourth Prince's consort, was stripped of her title, demoted to a commoner, and given a white silk noose.
Since the sickly fourth prince was cured by the divine physician and married the eldest granddaughter of Minister Wen, he should be one of the people closest to the throne and able to compete with the sixth prince. The sixth prince is the second son of the legitimate wife and has the status of being born of the legitimate wife, while the power behind the fourth prince should not be underestimated. In fact, the fourth prince is more intelligent and has more literary and military talents than the sixth prince, so he has a greater chance of winning.
However, Emperor Jingwen clearly favored the sixth prince. The fourth prince followed the same path as the second prince, who successfully murdered Crown Prince Huizhao, but was himself demoted to a commoner and imprisoned for life.
The fourth prince's attempt to murder the sixth prince nearly succeeded. Although the sixth prince was seriously injured, he was out of danger after being treated by the imperial physician.
Enraged, Emperor Jingwen severely punished the fourth prince, demoting him to a commoner and imprisoning him for life. Later, it was discovered that the Wen family was involved in the matter. After a thorough investigation, other crimes committed by Minister Wen were found, and he was punished for multiple offenses, with his entire family executed.
The other officials involved were either dismissed from their posts, exiled, or, in serious cases, beheaded and their heads displayed in public.
Because of this incident, the civil and military officials thought that Emperor Jingwen wanted the sixth prince to be the crown prince, and they dared not be reckless and take sides. They all submitted memorials to Emperor Jingwen to establish the sixth prince as the crown prince.
Emperor Jingwen eventually established an heir apparent, but he bypassed all the princes and made Prince Jin, the son of Crown Prince Huizhao and Crown Princess Huizhao, the imperial grandson.
The civil and military officials suddenly realized that Emperor Jingwen's heir was his eldest grandson. Crown Prince Huizhao was Emperor Jingwen and Empress's eldest son, and Emperor Jingwen was most favored by him. He had high hopes for him and would have been the next emperor if not for the second prince's plot against him. Now, out of love for his son, Emperor Jingwen made his eldest grandson the Crown Prince.
The ministers who initially supported the sixth prince thought that since the crown prince was still young, the sixth prince might be able to become the final winner if he fought for the throne. However, they did not expect that the sixth prince would support his own nephew and had no interest in the throne at all.
The third prince married a princess from another tribe and had no chance of the throne. The fifth prince had few supporters because his mother's clan was weak. The seventh prince only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun, and was almost as fat as a ball. It was obvious that he was not up to any great task.
Therefore, the Crown Prince's position as heir is very secure.
Grandma Gu was delighted by the younger generation's coaxing, and her smile never faded. Not seeing her beloved grandson, she turned her gaze to Meng Jinyao: "Ayao, where's Wanwan? Why isn't Wanwan here?"
Meng Jinyao replied, "Many children of the same age came today. Wanwan went to play with those children. If Mother wants to find him, your daughter-in-law will bring him over now."
Upon hearing this, Madam Gu showed a knowing expression and then said, "It's rare to have so many playmates, so let him have fun."
Meng Jinyao agreed with a "okay," but sighed inwardly. Her son used to be quite well-behaved, not difficult to take care of as an infant. But the older he got, the more lively and mischievous he became. Now he's only seven, and she already feels like she can't control this little rascal anymore. Her mother-in-law used to say that Wanwan was like her, which is why he was so well-behaved. Now her mother-in-law says that Wanwan is like her husband, which is why he's so unruly.
However, despite his mischievousness, Wanwan is quite intelligent. Like his father, he has a photographic memory and a talent for studying. He can apply what his teacher teaches to other situations, which makes his teacher quite fond of him. However, this child has a serious procrastination problem. He will not do his homework until the last minute and is usually the last to hand it in. Sometimes he will only start writing slowly after his teacher asks him for it.
Therefore, Meng Jinyao once thought of changing Wanwan's nickname to "Zaozao".
Upon learning this, Gu Jingxi replied, "It has nothing to do with his nickname. This is just his personality. Even if we had given him the nickname 'Zaozao' from the beginning, he still might not be able to avoid procrastinating now."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao abandoned the idea of changing her son's nickname.
Not long after, a maid came to report that the Earl of Yongchang and his wife had arrived.
When Meng Jinyao heard that her family had arrived, she immediately went to greet them. After walking a few steps, she saw a loving couple walking towards her. She quickened her pace and greeted them with a smile, "Second brother, second sister-in-law, you've finally arrived. By the way, where is Mother?"
Meng Chengzhang replied, "Mother caught a chill last night and developed a high fever. Miaoyun and I helped her take her medicine before we came over, so we are a little late."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao hurriedly asked, "How serious is it?"
Guo Miaoyun said, "Don't worry, elder sister, Mother's high fever has subsided and she is fine now."
Meng Jinyao nodded gently: "That's good then." Then she added, "Let's go inside first. Not long ago, the old lady was talking about the two of you, especially your second sister-in-law."
The couple smiled and agreed, and went with her to wish Madam Gu a happy birthday.
Meng Jinyao watched her second brother and his wife walk together. They were a perfect couple, pleasing to the eye. The more she looked at them, the happier she became. Several years had passed, and her second brother had finally won the heart of his beauty this year.
Initially, Meng Chengzhang, because Guo Miaoyun didn't think much of him, shamelessly went to ask Guo Miaoyun to be his apprentice. Guo Miaoyun, a daughter of a military family, didn't hold back at all and trained him like a soldier. She originally thought that Meng Chengzhang would give up, but unexpectedly, Meng Chengzhang persisted and is now skilled in both literature and martial arts.
During their time together, Guo Miaoyun gradually became attracted to Meng Chengzhang, and the two fell in love. However, when they were about to get married, something happened to the Meng family.
Having been confined for a long time, Meng Chengxing secretly climbed over the wall and left his courtyard. On a dark and windy night, he murdered his father and stabbed Meng Dongyuan twice. He was eventually captured by a servant. Zhao ordered Meng Chengxing to be handed over to the authorities and asked a doctor to do everything possible to save Meng Dongyuan, but Meng Dongyuan still died from being stabbed in a vital spot.
Meng Chengxing was sentenced to beheading for patricide.
Meng Chengzhang inherited the title and became the new Earl of Yongchang.
When Madam Meng learned of her son's death, she was not too sad. However, when she learned that her most beloved grandson had been sentenced to beheading, she became too emotional, fell into a coma, and her condition worsened. She passed away after only half a month.
Within a month, two elders passed away, which delayed Meng Chengzhang and Guo Miaoyun's marriage. Fortunately, Guo Miaoyun was willing to wait until Meng Chengzhang's mourning period was over before Zhao Shi began to arrange his marriage.
As soon as Guo Miaoyun married into the family, Zhao Shi handed over the management of the household affairs to her, and she finally began to live the leisurely life she had always dreamed of.
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(The final chapter is too long and is divided into four chapters. There are three more chapters to come, so please scroll down.)
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