Another seven years have passed, and this is the year Yongqi prepared to step down.
Rongchun's 18-year-old main cast's age
On the seventh day of the second month of the eighteenth year of Rongchun, the day of Yongqi's 43rd birthday, he issued an imperial edict to establish Yongyan, the fifteenth son of Emperor Qianlong, as the crown prince, and announced to the world that he would pass the throne to Yongyan.
Yongyan, who was enjoying a hearty meal at his fifth brother's birthday banquet, was completely dumbfounded upon hearing this imperial edict.
"Fifth Brother!" Yongyan's eyes were full of confusion, and he really wanted to hear the answer from Yongqi.
However, before Yongqi could give him an answer, his two good nephews, Mianhua and Mianzhi, helped him over to receive the imperial decree.
"Fifteenth Uncle, please accept the imperial decree!"
Yongyan didn't understand, "Why not you?"
Logically speaking, Mianhua is better than him in every way!
Mianhua then said, "Fifteenth Uncle, you know what kind of person my father is, don't you?"
"It's already amazing that my mother managed to get him through this long..."
"So, this throne can only be inherited by you..."
"I'm just like my dad, always thinking about running away and leaving..."
"The palace is not for me, the martial world is my domain..."
Mianzhi chimed in, "Fifteenth Uncle, just say yes!"
"If we find anything delicious or fun outside the palace, we'll still have it sent back to you..."
In short, under the persuasion of Mianhua and Mianzhi, Yongyan accepted the imperial edict.
After everyone had left, Yongyan looked at Yongqi with resentment, "Fifth Brother, you can't play like that!"
"Father, look at him!"
The 24-year-old Yongyan ran to Emperor Qianlong and acted coquettishly. Because of his mother's influence, Emperor Qianlong also favored him. However, at this moment, he had nothing to say.
“Yongyan, you know what kind of person your fifth brother is…”
"Your fifth sister-in-law has stayed in this palace for so many years, it's time for her to return to the martial world..."
"This position used to be something everyone was vying for, but now that it's my generation, Yongqi didn't want to take it at all. If it weren't for Xiaoyanzi keeping him in check, he would have run away with Xiaoyanzi long ago!"
"He's been emperor for eighteen years now; that's the limit..."
Under the persuasion of many people, Yongyan reluctantly agreed to Yongqi's words.
Unexpectedly, Yongqi merely appointed Yongyan as the crown prince, and Yongqi then dumped all the political affairs on him.
Yongyan just wanted to roll his eyes...
No, who exactly is the emperor?
Seeing Yongyan reviewing memorials, Emperor Qianlong was reminded of the time when Xiaoyanzi was pregnant. He, an old man who had retired from the throne, was actually helping the emperor review memorials. He was speechless...
If it weren't for Xiao Yanzi and the child, he wouldn't have bothered at all!
Days passed by, and Yongqi became more and more relaxed, thinking about his wife all the time.
Yongyan was increasingly speechless; he was so busy that he didn't even have time to be affectionate with his wife.
So he wanted to follow Yongqi's example, have a baby early, raise the baby early, and then let the baby take over while he ran away with his wife.
On Yongyan's birthday, the sixth day of the tenth lunar month, Yongqi formally passed the throne to Yongyan.
After witnessing yet another abdication ceremony, the two emperors who had abdicated decided to go out and travel around.
Whenever a fight broke out, he would send his men to handle it, since they weren't exactly young anymore.
Of course, the main reason was that Xiao Yanzi wouldn't let them do it, fearing they would leave before her.
Under Yongqi's deliberate guidance, they passed through Meihua Town, witnessed the Ansai Waist Drum performance, and saw the locals celebrating the harvest in the new year.
I went to the Town of Matchmakers and saw Gao Liang and Hu Ruolan, who had settled down and started a family, enjoying their happy married life.
I met Liu Yixin, who retired and stayed in Xiang County, and saw another rainbow after the rain. I passed through Long County, Xiushui City, Qijiang Town and other places.
Finally, they arrived in Dali.
Emperor Qianlong sighed, "Breathing in the air of Dali again, I finally understand why Xiao Jian insisted on coming here..."
"If I could, I would stay here until the end of my life."
Yongqi laughed and said, "That might not work. Fifteenth Brother will cry in the capital!"
"..." Qianlong was dissatisfied. "Why not?"
Why should he be expected to handle official documents for Yongqi just because he's retired?
After Yongqi retired, Yongyan still had to take care of things.
Is it really fair to target him like this?
Little Swallow looked at the two of them helplessly and laughed, "Hey you two, how old are you? Why are you still bickering like this?"
"We've finally made it to this place, so of course we should rest well and eat well."
The only people who came to Dali this time were Qianlong, Yongyan, Kangwei, Xiaoqing, and Taiya. As for their children, they were all traveling, except for Fu Peidong and Fu Wantong, the two eldest children of the Fu family.
Mianhua and Mianyao were followed by others, and they could keep in touch with the disciples of the three local families, so they didn't need to worry too much.
Fu Peidong and Fu Wantong were to stay and assist the current emperor; they had no way to slip away.
Even if you want to leave, you have to find a reliable and suitable successor before you can leave.
After staying in Dali for half a year, Emperor Qianlong was sent back to Beijing by Yongqi.
Yongqi built his own residence in Dali, which he named Ai Mansion.
Although he and Xiao Yanzi are both in their forties, they still have a lot of energy and go out for walks every day.
Of course, they still had to work most of the time. Yongqi opened a clinic to treat the people of Dali.
Little Swallow didn't want to stay in the school anymore, so she chose to go to the grassland to herd sheep.
After she finished her work herding sheep, she would go to Yongqi's clinic and go home with him.
"Little Swallow, this kind of life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset is really nice."
"What? Is it easier than in that City of Memories?"
Yongqi nodded, "Of course!"
“In that city of memories, every decision I made affected the livelihoods of many people, and each time I had to think about it for a very long time before I could make a decision…”
"But out here, I don't have to worry about so much. I can do my best to heal them, and I'm very content..."
Little Swallow laughed and said, "I'm afraid they would never have imagined that you, an old man in your forties, would be..."
She leaned close to Yongqi's ear and said, "They never dreamed that the person treating them would be someone who was once the emperor, right?"
"So, old woman, are you trying to test my physical strength?"
As soon as Yongqi finished speaking, Xiaoyanzi took off running. "Xiaoyanzi, stop right there!"
"With your old arms and legs, can you still run?"
The next scene shows Xiao Yanzi running wildly ahead, with Yongqi chasing after her.
Upon arriving at the Ai residence, Xiao Jian, the male head of the Xiao family next door, saw the two of them and shook his head helplessly, "How old are you two?"
"How old are you? Why are you still acting like this?"
"With your old bones and limbs, how can you act so recklessly?"
Qing'er came out from inside. "Alright, stop criticizing them. Let's save them some face..."
"Little Swallow, you two old folks, stop fooling around. If you run into any problems, your brother will be angry, and then there will be no one to treat you..."
“…” Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi remained silent.
Afterwards, the two helped each other back to the Ai residence.
Yongqi sighed, "Sure enough, old age makes you useless. Just running a short distance is exhausting..."
"Yes, you can't deny that you're getting old!"
Little Swallow asked again, "Yongqi, when do you think the children will come back?"
Yongqi shook his head. "Who knows? Maybe they'll follow your example. By the time they come back, they might already have children..."
The reality is that both Mianzhi and Mianyi brought their sweethearts back to their parents' side, waiting to pass their parents' test and marry their wives.
However, Mianyi brought his sweetheart home when he was 15, while his older brother Mianzhi brought his wife home when he was 25.
Mianyao, this little devil of the martial arts world, brought her sweetheart home after a year of traveling.
Mianhua, the eldest brother, has always been single.
He firmly stated that he did not want to be a henpecked husband, but only wanted to live a carefree and independent life on his own.
When Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi learned of Mianhua's decision, they respected his choice and let him go.
Yongyan, Xiaoqing, Kangwei, and Taiya spent most of their remaining years in Dali. Their days were ordinary, yet they felt a deep sense of happiness!
This kind of life is truly heaven on earth!
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