The day when County Magistrate Sun set off with his family was cloudy, and no one from the Sun family's side branches saw him off, let alone offered him any money.
Only Prime Minister Gu and Mrs. Gu Chen came, and the couple at least gave some clothes and silver.
It is a distance of five or six hundred miles to the remote town, and even with a horse-drawn carriage it would take half a month to get there, not to mention special circumstances like illness or childbirth.
Gu Qingqing looked at her parents with tears in her eyes, and felt extremely sad in her heart.
"Qingqing, the journey is long, you must take good care of yourself." Gu Chen tidied the messy hair around Gu Qingqing's ears with tears in her eyes.
Gu Qingqing bit her lip and nodded, tears falling down her face.
"Dad, Mom, take care of yourselves. Qingqing is leaving now." Gu Qingqing followed Sun Chongming, looking back every few steps.
The family, including Yunniang and Qiaoniang, had only ten members: two couples, two concubines, two maids and two servants.
Most of the servants have already dispersed, and now the four of them have signed death contracts and cannot escape.
Following such a poor master, the servants naturally complained, but they had no choice but to be caught wherever they went because they had no indentures.
Yunniang and Qiaoniang's bellies were as big as buckets, making it very difficult for them to move, so they had to sit in Sun Chongming and Gu Qingqing's carriage.
The carriage was not big, and the four of them felt a little stuffy.
Unfortunately, all the cushions, pillows, quilts and blankets were given to the two pregnant women. Gu Qingqing's buttocks and back hurt from sitting so much.
Then I saw Sun Chongming holding a jar of wine and drinking in a daze.
Gu Qingqing was furious. She rushed forward, snatched his wine jar and threw it out of the car window. The wine jar hit the ground and shattered into pieces, and all the wine was spilled.
Sun Chongming was stunned for a moment with his eyes blank. After realizing what happened, he stared at Gu Qingqing with a frown, as if the person in front of him was not his wife but a robber who was trying to rob him.
Gu Qingqing felt a little nervous when he stared at her, but she still stiffened her neck and looked at him.
"Sun Chongming, if you drink any more, you will die!" Gu Qingqing put her hands on her hips to give herself courage.
"Gu Qingqing! Why did you steal my wine?" Sun Chongming stepped forward and grabbed her chin. "I'm in this state, what's wrong with drinking a little wine?"
Yunniang and Qiaoniang were trembling on the side. They were pregnant, so it was better for them not to interfere in other people's affairs.
How could Gu Qingqing let him bully her like this? She slapped his hand away and pushed him hard.
Sun Chongming was caught off guard and was pushed back by her. His body suddenly leaned back and the back of his head hit the wall of the carriage hard.
With a "bang", Gu Qingqing was startled and looked at him helplessly.
Sun Chongming took a deep breath, glared at her, and simply lay down to sleep.
Seeing that he was such a hopeless case, Gu Qingqing felt so angry that she couldn't vent it. When she saw the two pregnant women next to them, and thought about how she had been married for many months but her pregnancy was still not moving, she became even angrier.
Yunniang felt uneasy when Gu Qingqing looked at her, and she subconsciously held her belly with her hands. The two sisters leaned against each other and lowered their heads to avoid Gu Qingqing's gaze.
I don’t know what she was thinking, but Gu Qingqing suddenly smiled and all the anger on her face disappeared.
Yunniang and Qiaoniang became even more frightened.
After the Queen passed away, the position of Empress Dowager was left vacant. Not long after, the ministers proposed that Gu Wanying be allowed to take over the Empress Dowager's throne to give birth to an heir for the Emperor.
The emperor did have this idea, but it had only been half a month since the queen passed away, and it would seem very heartless for him to bring it up.
Now that a minister had hit the nail on the head, he suddenly felt extremely relieved and looked at the man with much more favor.
All the ministers and civil officials in the court were headed by Prime Minister Gu, and these ministers said this with the intention of currying favor with Prime Minister Gu.
"I asked the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to choose an auspicious day to enthrone Concubine Wan as empress and to take charge of the harem. Moreover, Concubine Wan gave birth to my eldest prince and is now pregnant again. This is truly a blessing for the Dayu Dynasty. I want to enthrone the eldest prince Jingyan as the crown prince. Do you have any objections, my dear ministers?" The emperor grinned, not concealing his inner joy.
The ministers knelt down one after another and all believed that Gu Wanying was worthy of being the queen, and that the crown prince should be chosen as soon as possible to avoid any further complications.
After discussing these two important matters, the emperor was very pleased.
On the day Gu Wanying was crowned queen, people all over the capital rushed to tell each other. Even Gu Qingqing, who had just arrived in a remote town in the south of the Yangtze River, knew the news.
She was petrified and couldn't believe it was true.
"Qingqing, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and move your luggage." Seeing her standing there in a daze, Sun's mother couldn't help but urge her.
She didn't hear the conversation between the passers-by, so she just thought Gu Qingqing was trying to be lazy.
Their Sun family is now in decline and has few servants, so Gu Qingqing, a strong laborer, was promoted.
Sun Chongming, the eldest son, was already drunk and collapsed on the bed.
Seeing him like this, Gu Qingqing was furious again. The contrast between Gu Wanying's rapid rise and her own descent into the abyss was simply infuriating.
When he looked at Sun Chongming, who only knew how to drink, he became furious.
She went up and scratched Sun Chongming's arm, waking him up, and the couple immediately started fighting.
When Sun's mother came to mediate, she was also hit by Gu Qingqing, and the whole yard was in chaos.
On the second day after Gu Wanying was crowned empress, a black gauze hat and a crimson-purple court robe appeared on the dragon table in the imperial study.
The emperor looked at the official uniform in front of him with a calm expression.
"Have you made up your mind, Minister Gu?" The emperor had long seen that Prime Minister Gu intended to resign, but he did not expect it to happen so soon.
"I have thought it over. I am old and frail, and it is time for me to retire and return home. I hope Your Majesty will grant me permission." Prime Minister Gu knelt down and kowtowed three times to the emperor.
The emperor stepped forward, helped him up, and agreed to his request to resign.
Gu Chen was in a bad mood when she learned that Prime Minister Gu had resigned. She wanted to go to the palace to meet Gu Wanying, but was turned away.
The deep palace was no longer something a common woman like her could enter.
"Your Majesty, Madam Gu is waiting at the palace gate and wants to see you." Yue Tao said softly.
Gu Wanying lowered her eyes. Gu Chen came to see her just to ask her to think more about Gu Qingqing, or to beg her father not to resign.
The same old conversation was repeated over and over again, and Gu Chenshi was not annoyed at all. Her ears were so tired of hearing it that they were callused.
"Just say that I'm not feeling well and can't see guests." Gu Wanying closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, as if she was really asleep.
Yue Tao went to reply.
When Gu Chen returned home, she looked at Gu Taikang in cloth clothes and burst into tears.
"Madam, there is no need to shed tears for your husband. The king is the king, the minister is the minister, the father is the father, and the son is the son. Yingying is already the queen. If your husband becomes the prime minister, it will arouse the emperor's suspicion, and the Gu family will never have peace in the future." Gu Taikang patiently explained the reason to her.
Gu Chen then realized that what he said made sense. She was suddenly glad that Yingying didn't see her, otherwise it would have caused her trouble again!
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