Chapter 143 Extra Chapter 2 (1) Sweet Treat: In the fifth year of Yuanzheng, Yi'an was transferred to the Northwest as a garrison commander. This transfer order came a year later...
In the fifth year of the Yuanzheng era, Yi'an was transferred to the Northwest to serve as a garrison commander.
A year and a half before this transfer order was issued, Prince Zhi had already gone to the Northwest. This time, no one in the court said anything, because Galdan was dead.
Even the best food and drink couldn't keep up with the ravages of life. When news of Galdan's death spread, Yulang had just been promoted to Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard and concurrently Grand Secretary. Why concurrently Grand Secretary? Because the position hadn't yet become vacant, but in reality, there was no matter how big or small the affairs of the court were beyond Yulang's control.
With Galdan's death, his already weakened power in the Dzungar Khanate will soon be annexed and inherited by Tsewang Arabtan.
Tsewang Arabtan was a capable man. In recent years, the officials and spies sent by the imperial court to the northwest had not made much progress.
Although trade along this northwestern route was more prosperous than in previous years, it was still constantly controlled by the Dzungar Khanate. When things were good, everything was fine, but when things were bad, trade would stop abruptly without any explanation.
Merchants and caravans from the Central Plains and Jiangnan were constantly being robbed and killed. Although as long as the profits were large enough, there would be no shortage of people willing to do business, this situation could not continue indefinitely.
The Dzungar Khanate was so large that this threat could not be eliminated unless it was completely defeated. Therefore, this war was inevitable sooner or later.
The development of maritime trade in the southeast was not very fast. The only advantage was that Yinreng did not intend to ban maritime trade during his reign. Trade with the Southeast Asia, whether by the imperial court or the people, steadily increased year by year.
When Yi'an said he wanted to leave the capital, Yu Lang and Yinreng took it to heart. In the past two years, he was officially a guard of Yuqing Palace, but Yinreng and Yu Lang had assigned him many tasks and jobs, some of which were insignificant and others required careful consideration.
Hongxi only complained about this at the very beginning. The eldest prince, who was engaged, was also pulled out of the Imperial Study by the Emperor to attend to state affairs and take up his post. After he actually took up his post, Hongxi never mentioned again that he was unhappy about Yi'an leaving the capital.
He finally understood that Yi'an was not only two years older than him, but also saw further ahead in many things. He really needed a confidant who, in addition to knowing the high places in the court, could also understand the people's sentiments.
Hongxi couldn't think of anyone else who could be this trusted confidant besides Yi'an. After all, no one could gain the maximum support from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel after leaving the capital for an official post, not even Shi Xin and the Shi family.
In recent years, the policies of returning the fire tax to the public treasury and the allowance for maintaining integrity have been fully implemented by Yu Lang and Yin Zhen, with one guarding the purse strings and the other controlling the appointment and removal of officials.
He handled several major corruption cases and executed a string of officials to establish his authority. Even if there were still some instances of outward compliance but inward resistance in certain places, they did not amount to much.
With these two matters settled, Yu Lang began to consider sending his son out on missions. After all, the biggest concern in not letting him leave the capital before was that he was too young and lacked experience in holding a real post, making him easily fooled if he went out into the world.
If he himself is restrained and has his hands tied, that's one thing, but if he angers the local officials and Yi'an gets into trouble, that would be really bad.
Now, under the deliberate training of Yu Lang and Yin Reng in various tasks, Yi An has gained some experience. Keeping him around is just how it is; after all, given Yi An's status in the capital, who would really dare to challenge or oppose him?
On a relatively quiet afternoon, Yu Lang called his son to the study and gave him two choices.
First: Go to a county under the jurisdiction of Fuzhou to become a county magistrate. If you choose this route, you must bring three clerks with you to take up your post. To put it bluntly, once you arrive in the place, the three clerks will teach you how to be an official and how to be a good local official.
Second: Going to the Northwest to serve as a fifth-rank garrison commander, you will inevitably encounter conflicts with the Dzungar Khanate. Whether you can achieve merit or not will depend entirely on your own abilities.
These two paths, one intellectual and the other martial, seemed obvious to Yi An, who would definitely choose the second one. However, Yi An remained silent for a long time.
Yu Lang didn't urge his son. Instead, he got up, took a box from the bookshelf behind him, opened the box, took out a stone, and began to polish and refine it.
This hobby originally belonged to the original owner of Shen Wanqing's body, but after Shen Wanqing took over it, she never had time to develop it further. It wasn't until the last year or two, with Jing Shao joining the family and her having more free time, that she rediscovered it and occasionally tinkered with it.
When Yu Lang was young, he didn't like these things, or rather, he didn't have time to like them. Now, perhaps he's really reached the right age, and he's put away all the swords, bows, and arrows that needed to be put away. So, one afternoon, after spending some time with Shen Wanqing tidying up her study, he took over this hobby.
Shen Wanqing took the opportunity to give him all the stones and tools she had accumulated over the years. Surprisingly, Shen Wanqing preferred mounting and restoring old paintings and making her own fan surfaces to carving seals and stamps. She couldn't explain why, but she just liked it.
Originally, the two of them each had half of the courtyard, and neither of them bothered the other.
Now, Yu Lang's half of the courtyard is completely covered in dust, and Shen Wanqing has a shadow following her in and out every day. Everyone in the manor finds it both funny and curious. How come their master can't be separated from his wife for so many years?
Watching his father intently carving the stone, Yi'an knew that his father was now making him make choices and sacrifices, telling him not to want everything, because wanting everything would result in getting nothing.
A fleeting sense of grievance crossed his mind, but he quickly regained his composure. He knew better than anyone that what his father gave him was always better than what a stranger could give him.
After thinking it through thoroughly, Yi'an still chose to go to the Northwest first.
There are people's livelihoods and worldly affairs in the garrison. He can't let himself go down that path just because he needs a certain kind of confidant for Hongxi in the future. He has to live up to the martial arts skills and ambitions he has never relaxed over the years.
Once the decision is made, the rest is much easier.
The transfer orders submitted by the Imperial Guard to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel were quickly placed on the Emperor's desk. However, Emperor Yinreng suppressed the documents for quite some time without responding, and only approved the transfer order after the winter solstice. The departure could only take place after the New Year.
In recent years, Yulang has done a lot for Yinreng, and as the emperor, Yinreng should give Yulang more consideration.
It's hard to say when he'll be back after leaving Beijing. Although there's no fighting with the Dzungars yet, it's unpredictable when something unexpected might happen. Yi'an is Yulang and Shen Wanqing's only son, so he should at least spend another New Year at home before leaving for a long trip.
This winter, the snow was heavy. After the winter solstice, Yu Lang handed over most of the tasks. He was only responsible for returning to the city to enter the palace every three to five days. He spent most of his time at the hot spring resort outside the city.
When Yulang was young, he suffered greatly when he accompanied the late emperor on two campaigns against Galdan. Especially the first time, when he led his personal guards as scouts, he had to lie in the mud all day to scout out the enemy's situation. Only those who have experienced it know what it was like.
For many years afterward, Yu Lang never mentioned those things again. Until three years ago, in the winter, before he had officially turned forty, Yu Lang woke up one morning and suddenly found that his knee was swollen and it hurt a little when he straightened it or exerted force.
At first, he didn't think anything of it and didn't even tell Shen Wanqing. He still put on his cloak, rode out on horseback, and acted incredibly flamboyant.
Over the years, whether he was a bodyguard or an official in the Ministry of Works or the Ministry of Revenue, Lord Yu always insisted on riding a horse to court, as if it were a shameful thing for him to ride a sedan chair to the yamen or to court.
I have always understood and supported Shen Wanqing's attitude towards this. Yu Lang has grown from a puppy into a big dog and is still very attractive. This spirit is very worthy of encouragement. After all, he is the biggest beneficiary of his good looks.
Yu Lang originally planned to visit the government office after court and then go home, but there happened to be something going on in the palace that day, and Yu Lang spent the whole day running back and forth between the Imperial Household Department, the Military Affairs Office, and the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
When he was busy, he didn't notice it. But in the afternoon, when he was finally able to sit down and catch his breath, Yu Lang, who was about to get up and go home, felt a sharp pain in his right knee. Caught off guard, Yu Lang sat back down.
The clerk in the duty room noticed something was wrong and came over to ask Yu Lang if he was feeling unwell. He immediately planned to send someone to fetch the imperial physician. After all, Lord Yu was the most capable official in the Emperor's court at putting out any trouble. If something were to happen to him, no one would be able to stop the Emperor from getting angry next time.
Yu Lang was concerned about his image, after all, he was almost forty years old at the time. Many older people couldn't stand that he was still acting like a young boy every day, and they kept advising him to be more mature and reserved. Some even wanted to persuade him to believe in Taoism, Zen, and alchemy.
In short, the idea is that people should act like they are their age and not always be so tense, because that makes them look too old and decrepit.
Yu Lang had always listened to these words without taking them seriously. But now, how could he back down just because his knee hurt? If they found out, they would definitely laugh at him behind his back, for trying to act like a young guard riding around in the dead of winter. Now he knew what pain was.
Thinking of what the crickets had said to him, Yu Lang gritted his teeth, stood up, and pretended to be nonchalant as he left the palace and mounted his horse.
Afterwards, Yu Lang couldn't remember how he got back to the manor. He only knew that when he arrived at the manor gate, his right leg was burning with pain and almost numb.
He felt that if he dismounted then, he would definitely fall face-first into the gate of the mansion, so he simply pulled on the reins, turned around, and entered through the side gate, riding directly into the East Courtyard.
The gatekeepers were dumbfounded. They wanted to ask their master what he meant, but when they looked up and saw Yu Lang's pale face, they didn't dare to ask.
Shen Wanqing came out after hearing the commotion. Standing on the steps of the hanging flower gate, she looked at her husband sitting stiffly on the horse. Her first reaction was to reach out a hand: "Can you get down?"
"Yes, you can help me."
Yu Lang only wanted Shen Wanqing, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her. He let go of the horse's reins and tightly grasped Shen Wanqing's hand before trying to pull his feet out of the stirrups.
As soon as he dismounted, Yu Lang couldn't stand up, and Shen Wanqing practically half-carried, half-helped him into the house. After taking off his cloak, boots, and socks, and rolling up his trousers, she could finally see how frighteningly swollen and shiny his knees were.
The imperial physician arrived quickly, and the illness was not difficult to diagnose. It was a chronic illness caused by catching a chill during the war years ago. It didn't show when he was younger, but now that he's older, it's become harder to suppress.
The old imperial physician spoke frankly, as he had seen many such old injuries. Prince Zhi had developed this problem when he was just over thirty, and Yu Lang had never neglected his riding and archery skills over the years; it was quite remarkable that he didn't experience pain until he was forty.
This ailment is difficult to cure completely, but fortunately, the Imperial Hospital has a secret medicinal oil that was used from Prince Zhi to Shi Wenbing and then to the last few years of the late Emperor. Now it's Yulang's turn to use it.
One of the key ingredients in this medicine is rare and has always been reserved for the imperial family. As soon as the medicine was prepared, Yinzhi, who had been in charge of the Imperial Household Department for many years, found out.
Yinzhi was a very considerate person. He always treated Yulang with the utmost courtesy. He knew that Yulang was not on the same side as him. He knew this when Yulang followed the Crown Prince in and out of the Imperial Study.
However, he also knew that as long as Yulang was willing to put in the effort, his status and trust in the emperor could be even greater. As for why he didn't do that, Yinzhi couldn't understand it. Therefore, he had always been very interested in Yulang.
Yinzhi opened the Imperial Household Department's storeroom and took out a batch of medicinal oil, and also sent another batch of medicinal ingredients to the Imperial Hospital. In this way, not only did Yulang have to thank him for this favor, but the palace also quickly learned what was really going on with Yulang's excuse of taking leave due to a cold.
Therefore, the Emperor personally sent Gao Laixi, who used to guard the gate of Yuqing Palace and is now guarding the gate of Yangxin Hall, to visit the patient at his residence.
Once Gao Laixi made a move, the entire capital naturally followed suit. It was impossible to hide the reason for Yu Lang's sick leave any longer; that was the most talked-about topic in the court that winter.
The older folks lamented that Yulang was still too young and didn't know how to take care of himself. Then they sighed about how time is merciless, and how the once tall and spirited young man from Hesheli had grown old.
As Yinyou said this, his feet trembled with laughter as he stood on the bronze foot warmer. With Yulang gone, the Fourth Prince was even busier, and since he didn't have time to come, only Yinyou and Yinqi came together to visit him.
These two brothers, though not born of the same mother, have always been close. Last year, the Emperor and Empress discussed releasing a group of senior concubines and consorts from the palace to retire, including Consort Yi and Consort Cheng.
The Ninth Prince is still young, and his title is only Beile. Although Yinqi has not done anything major in the Court of Colonial Affairs over the years, he has steadily built up a considerable fortune. In addition, when the Empress Dowager passed away, she left most of her private savings to Yinqi. It can be said that Yinqi's family has a solid foundation.
The two families lived not far from each other, and after the Dowager Consorts and Concubines were brought out of the palace, the two families would get together every few days. It became a habit for Yin You to bring his fifth brother along on everything, so naturally, Yu Lang's relationship with this Fifth Prince was not far off.
Yinqi was an honest man. Seeing Yulang lying on the couch with a fox fur rug covering his knees, he assumed that Yulang's old injury was particularly serious. He even asked him earnestly if he wanted to find some craftsmen to come over in advance and make some assistive devices to make it easier for him to travel.
Before Yu Lang could even say anything, Yin You refused. He knew Yu Lang's temper all too well. Pain is pain, illness is illness; once this illness is over, he'll go back to how he always was before.
Yinqi thought it was unnecessary; why should he suffer for such a trivial matter of face?
But Yin You really figured out Yu Lang's pulse. After that improvement, Yu Lang was still the same as before. In his opinion, except for when he was a little more obedient and well-behaved during the coldest winter days, why should he spend the rest of the year taking care of himself for just a few days? That would be a joke.
"Let Jingshao take care of things at home this year, and we'll go back after the Little New Year?"
“Alright, I’ve already asked the Emperor for a long leave. It’s time for me to rest after all these years.”
The hot spring estate was given to Yinreng, and the three courtyards were not very large. Fortunately, there was a hot spring at the back of the estate, and all the houses and courtyards were built around this hot spring when the estate was built.
It's perfect for a small family to stay here when they have some free time. Just close the outside door and you have your own little world inside.
The first year, Yu Lang and Shen Wanqing took Sui Ning with them, but the second year Sui Ning herself didn't want to go. In her words, it seemed like no one could get between her mother and father on the estate, and sometimes she felt like she was in the way, so she thought it was better not to go.
It was still snowing outside, and it was already dark.
The snow falling on the tree branches in the yard made a rustling sound that was hard to distinguish. Tea was brewing on the clay stove in the house. Around the tea was a circle of chestnuts and oranges arranged by Shen Wanqing. The sweetness of the chestnuts and the fragrance of the oranges intertwined, filling the whole house with a sweet aroma.
Old wounds are best left alone; it's best to maintain their condition as is. Whenever Yulang stayed at the estate, he would soak in the hot spring for half an hour every evening after dinner before returning to his room to apply medicated oil.
At times like this, there's no need to keep anyone to serve you in the house. Shen Wanqing rubbed the medicated oil in her palms to warm it up: "Come here, why are you hiding so far away?"
"The imperial physician said that sitting in a hot bath can also improve blood circulation, so let's not use it today." Yu Lang had already hidden in the farthest corner of the warm bed, hugging the leather rug and refusing to move, looking exactly like a lamb to the slaughter, which made Shen Wanqing roll her eyes.
"Hurry up, or the medicine will wear off. Look how red my palms are. You should have said you weren't going to apply the medicine today."
"Why didn't you say so sooner? Even if I did, it would have to be something you, Madam, are willing to listen to."
Good medicinal oils are all powerful. Seeing that Shen Wanqing's palms were already red from rubbing, Yu Lang stopped arguing and obediently came over and rolled up his trouser legs. Then Shen Wanqing pressed hard on his knees and calves, making him grimace in pain. He was so in pain that he almost called Shen Wanqing "ancestor".
After they finished massaging, both of them were covered in sweat. Even after washing her hands, Shen Wanqing still felt that her hands were full of the smell of medicine and didn't want to touch anything. It was only thanks to Lord Yu feeding her peeled chestnuts and oranges that she ate them and her breath smelled sweet with chestnuts.
At night, it started snowing, and the sound of the snowflakes mixed with snowflakes hitting the windows and glass woke up Yu, who was dreaming of eating pine nuts for his great-grandmother.
He woke up with his eyes still closed and reached out to hug Shen Wanqing. But when he reached out, he grabbed nothing, instantly banishing the last bit of sleepiness he had.
"Why are you up? Did I wake you?"
"Where did you go?"
Fortunately, Shen Wanqing was outside. Hearing the noise, she came in with her things. Seeing Yu Lang, who was still sleepy and looked frightened, she quickly put down what she was holding, sat down on the edge of the bed, and gently hugged him.
"When I got up in the middle of the night, I found that the weather had changed again. The snow will probably be even heavier tomorrow. I went to get the medicine packet that the maid had prepared earlier."
Seeing that Yu Lang's complexion wasn't good, Shen Wanqing reached out and touched his forehead to make sure he didn't have a fever before feeling relieved. This man was full of energy all year round, but he was unusually fragile lately. Even if she raised her voice a little, he would hesitate for a long time, wondering if she was getting tired of him again.
Shen Wanqing knew he was just being spoiled and arrogant, making such a big deal out of a knee pain. But since Yu Lang was willing to rely on her like this, Shen Wanqing was also willing to indulge him. After all, life goes on no matter how you live it.
This time, Yulang was incredibly well-behaved. He took the medicine pack and tied it to his knees before whimpering and pulling Shen Wanqing into his arms to lie down.
"Wake me up next time, don't go out and do this yourself."
"Lord Yu, how old are you? Can't you sleep alone for a while?"
"No, I feel uneasy when you're not around."
At this moment, Yu Lang didn't want to be stubborn at all; he just wanted Shen Wanqing to be with him every day, right in front of him.
When the imperial edict was issued ordering Yi'an to leave the capital, some people asked Yulang if he was willing to part with his only son. Now that I think about it, there's really nothing I'm reluctant to part with.
If there's one person I'd never want to part with in this life, it's only one person. But I can't tell her that now. After all, Shen Wanqing already has the upper hand between them. If I were to tell her my true feelings, she would have me completely under her control.
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Yu Gouzi: Where's the master? Where did he go? [dog head with rose in its mouth][dog head with rose in its mouth][dog head with rose in its mouth]
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