Chapter 141 Chapter 141 A few days ago, the leader of the Hu people led his troops again...
There were only the mother and daughter in the sedan chair. Hong'er was already nineteen months old and could walk and run, so how could she stay here?
Fang Ying had no choice but to lift the curtain to let her see the excitement outside. Her troublesome father heard the noise and came to ask, which made her want to ride a horse. After glaring at Fang Ying, he quickly spurred the horse and ran away.
After this commotion, Hong'er didn't want to ride in the sedan chair anymore, so Fang Ying took out her purse and coaxed her to open it herself and find a piece of candy to eat.
After a while, Hong'er's troublesome father, to atone for his mistake, bought a bag of cold cakes and had them delivered. Fang Ying fed her half a piece and played with her for a while with a stuffed tiger. Finally, she heard someone outside say, "Home is just ahead."
"Home?" Hong'er imitated.
Fang Ying smiled and nodded: "We're at our new home."
Hong Er seemed to understand, but continued to mimic: "We've arrived at our new home."
Fang Ying couldn't help but lift the curtain and take a look. She found that the road was no longer as wide as before. There were houses surrounded by walls on both sides. It was much quieter.
When Ji Yanlang saw her, he reined in his horse and waited for the sedan bearers to come over, saying, "We'll be there just around the corner."
Fang Ying nodded, lowered the curtain, and sat patiently for a while. She felt the sedan shake, turn a corner, and then quickly stop and land steadily on the ground.
Lichun and the wet nurse lifted the curtain of the sedan chair. Fang Ying handed Hong'er to the wet nurse and came out holding Lichun's hand.
Ji Yanlang saw her and her fifth sister-in-law get out of the sedan chair and stand still. He pointed inside and said, "This way."
This house was formed by connecting two adjacent houses. Fang Ying and Gao Shi already knew about this, so Ji Yanlang only talked about what it looked like now.
"Fifth brother and his wife live in the east courtyard, and the gate is also on this side." Ji Yanlang pointed to the west side of the courtyard wall and said to Fang Ying, "We live in the west courtyard."
"Is the outer courtyard not connected?" Fang Ying asked.
Ji Yanlang nodded: "The front yard of the west courtyard will be converted into a garden, so it will not be connected."
As they were talking, the group entered the second gate. They were greeted by three halls with side rooms, and two side rooms on the east and west sides. Ji Yanlang pointed to the north side of the west wing and said, "There's a door there."
Fang Ying and others walked along the corridor and saw a moon door on the west wall. They could see the peonies planted inside at a glance.
"The front hall in the east courtyard is used for receiving guests, and the west courtyard is used as a flower hall. The furniture was delivered two days ago and has already been put in place."
Gao nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Liu Lang."
Ji Yanlang smiled and said, "It's not hard. My sister-in-law and nephews have worked really hard on this journey. Come in and take a rest."
Gao said goodbye to him and Fang Ying and led her people into the inner courtyard.
Fang Ying and her family of three also entered the west courtyard through the moon gate, walked along the corridor to the north, and passed through a door before they finally saw their future residence.
It also has three main rooms and two side rooms, with wing rooms on the east and west sides, and two very tall trees planted in the yard.
"This is a persimmon tree. I heard that the original owner has planted it for many years, and it bears a lot of persimmons every year. The managers said that persimmons are auspicious and have good meanings, so they left it alone." Ji Yanlang said when he saw Fang Ying looking at the tree.
Fang Ying nodded: "It looks like a persimmon tree to me." She added, "This yard is more spacious than ours."
"The room is more spacious too. I asked them to set up the beds, tables, chairs, and everything else just like in our house. Take a look and see if it's right."
"What's right or wrong about this?"
Fang Ying laughed. She thought these things all had their proper places, but she didn't expect to find that the armchairs were placed incorrectly as soon as she entered. She endured it without saying anything, but when she entered the east room, she saw that the high and low chairs were all mixed up, and she couldn't help but stop.
Ji Yanlang was still beside him and asked, "What's wrong? What's the wrong place?"
Fang Ying shook her head: "It's not wrong, it's just that the armchairs in the study and the hall are mixed up. I'll ask them to switch them back. You can take Hong'er to play in the courtyard."
"Aren't all armchairs the same?" Ji Yanlang thought they were all the same.
"The colors vary." Fang Ying urged him, "Go and comfort Hong'er. He's been yelling about wanting to ride a horse all the way."
Ji Yanlang was in the wrong in this matter. He laughed twice, turned around, took his daughter's hand, and took her to play in the yard.
Fang Ying asked the maids to move the furniture around, and then brought in boxes and crates. She opened the boxes and hung up curtains and drapes everywhere. Although Ji Yanlang had lived there for more than a month, he was impatient with these trivial matters. Only the bed in the inner room was hung with a gauze curtain, and the rest of the room was bare.
After she hung up all these and changed the bedding, the father and daughter came to call her for dinner.
"Tell them to clean up and we'll go to the flower hall to have dinner." Ji Yanlang said.
"Okay." Fang Ying held Hong'er's hand and asked where the kitchen was as they walked.
"In the east courtyard, behind the screen wall."
As they were talking, the family of three entered the flower hall from the back door. Fang Ying saw that the servants had already brought water, so she took Hong'er to wash their hands, sat down at the table and drank half a cup of water before finally feeling hungry.
"You should take a good rest after dinner. We're home now, so just take your time to clean up." Ji Yanlang said as he served her food.
"I just moved my mouth." Fang Ying said with a smile, "But you're right, we can take our time to clean up, there's no need to rush."
There was no one visiting anyway, and there were only two families here, so the population was simple and there wasn't as many things going on as before in the Bian Jing government.
After dinner, the wet nurse took Hong'er to play in the garden in front. Ji Yanlang waited for Fang Ying to rinse her mouth and drink some water before saying, "I haven't had time to talk about it. The Hu people's leader led his troops to fight again a few days ago. I'm afraid they've already reached Xiongzhou."
Fang Ying was surprised: "Another personal expedition?"
Ji Yanlang nodded. "Their Hu tribes originally took turns to be Khan. The leader of this branch killed several major tribal leaders, unified the tribes, and established the country through military force. Therefore, martial arts are highly valued in the country. Since we conquered Northern Zhao and besieged Youzhou, they have fought back several times but have not won a major victory. Ultimately, they cannot explain themselves to the people."
He paused, then continued, "Besides, the current ruler's accession to the throne is somewhat illegitimate. His predecessor was his cousin..."
In the past few decades, the world was in chaos, and various military governors declared themselves emperors one after another. Everyone wanted to be emperor, and the Hu people in the north were no exception. Whenever the throne changed hands, there would always be some unexpected things happening.
Before the death of the first king, he did not appoint a crown prince. His wife, out of selfish preference, appointed the second son as the crown prince. She also took precautions against the eldest son in many ways. The eldest son was afraid that one day he would be killed by his mother and younger brother, so he simply rebelled, but was ultimately defeated and killed.
"This eldest son is the grandfather of the current king." Ji Yanlang said.
Fang Ying was surprised: "His grandfather's rebellion didn't bring disaster to his descendants?"
"It's said that his grandfather's confidants hid his father. Most of the powerful in the kingdom also felt that his grandfather had suffered an injustice and, since he was already dead, his descendants shouldn't be affected. After the new ruler put down the rebellion, he became suspicious and killed many members of the royal family and civil and military officials. Then, when the ruler suddenly fell ill and died in the palace, his subordinates took the opportunity to support his father."
"Will the court recognize this? The king also has a son, right?"
"Of course the court refused to acknowledge him. The king's mother was still alive. After learning the news, they sent troops to attack him. They lost the first battle, but then members of the imperial clan intervened. After all, they were all descendants of the clan, and the throne didn't want to fall into the hands of an outsider. In the end, they acknowledged the new king and agreed to make the second-generation king's son the heir."
Fang Ying asked, "Does this mean that the lineage will be passed down to the second generation of the king?"
"That should be what it means."
"You just said that the previous ruler was the current ruler's uncle. Did his father really keep his promise?"
Ji Yanlang shook his head: "How is that possible? His father was killed by the royal family for treason, and that's why the news was passed back."
The fourth king reigned for more than ten years, but he had no son and was always undecided among his nephews. It was not until his death that he summoned one of them and wanted to pass the throne to him.
Fang Ying asked, "Isn't this the person being summoned?"
"My wife is clever." Ji Yanlang praised with a smile, and then continued, "The one summoned should be my nephew, but this man has already won over the king's confidants. As soon as the former king passed away, he arrived at the coffin."
As a result, it was inevitable that there would be people in the country who would be dissatisfied with the king and even rebel, and there would be factional struggles among civil and military ministers. In order to quell domestic disputes and show off military power, the best thing to do was to personally lead an expedition to the Chen Dynasty and capture cities and territories.
"There's nothing to be afraid of," Ji Yanlang said finally. "The government even issued an order yesterday that starting this year, both Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival will be a seven-day holiday."
Fang Ying had long ceased to worry about the war in the north. She simply asked curiously, "When did you become so clear about these things in the Hu people's country?"
Ji Yanlang said, "Haven't we discussed this before, knowing both ourselves and the enemy? Whenever I get a chance, I'll inquire about the Hu people. Unfortunately, not many people in our court knew about it until I went to Yinzhou last year. Did you know? The Hu people's leader has actually been trying to win over the Dingnan Army."
"You want to attack me from both sides?"
"Well, fortunately, the Dingnan Army has always been vassal to the Central Plains Dynasty, and our dynasty has treated them well since its founding."
Although the Dingnan Army refused to submit to the Hu people and refused to accept rewards, they still had exchanges with the Hu people before the Chen Dynasty recovered Northern Zhao.
"Besides that, I also met a few military officers who had served in Northern Zhao and had been to places like Yunzhou." Ji Yanlang leaned closer to Fang Ying and lowered his voice. "I took them out for a few drinks, and they finally solved the doubts we had back then."
Fang Ying understood. This was to explain why the Hu people could win the hearts of the people.
"According to them, firstly, the Hu people have been using Han officials and implementing Han systems since then, even adopting our imperial examination system for selecting officials. The people are living the same as before, and scholars still have the opportunity to become officials, so naturally they have no intention of resisting. Furthermore, the Sixteen Prefectures have been spared from war and have been able to recuperate in recent years, while the Central Plains has been plagued by frequent wars..."
The emperor had changed several families. One military officer, while drunk, even said, "How can they know who will take the throne in the south?"
This was certainly true, but even if it was Fang Ying, Ji Yanlang would not dare repeat it. He continued, "Secondly, after the establishment of our dynasty, we gradually reduced the power of the feudal lords and even began to let civilians lead the troops. The emphasis on civil officials over military officials became increasingly obvious. Naturally, those Han generals who held military power in the Hu people were unwilling to submit."
"These people have complained a lot, right?"
Ji Yanlang smiled. "They do have a lot of complaints, but since they all think so, I'm sure the Han generals on the Hu side must be thinking the same thing. But I didn't count on them anyway. These sixteen states must eventually be taken back with real swords and guns."
By this time, it was already late, so he urged Fang Ying to go back to her room to rest, saying that he had only taken half a day off and still had to go back to the camp.
Fang Ying returned to her room and saw that the wet nurse had coaxed Hong'er to sleep. She also lay down on the couch. She had been on the boat for the past few days. Although she was not seasick, the boat was on the water, and even if it was moored at the shore at night, the boat still swayed slightly. Now she felt particularly at ease lying down and fell asleep in an instant.
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