The imperial edict from the capital arrived five days later. In addition to the edict detailing the crimes of the princes' mansion, there was also Gu Yankai's oral order to escort the criminals to the capital.
A separate imperial edict was issued for Princess Qinshu, also known as Molan. The new emperor was merciful after all. Because she had made a meritorious report, he offered her a slight punishment for her previous failure to report the crime. Molan's status as a princess was demoted to that of a county princess, and she was adopted by the royal family under the name of Prince Wen.
Molan naturally had no objection to such an order. He bowed his head and kowtowed deeply to accept the order and express his gratitude.
After Molan became a princess, she naturally had to return to Prince Wen's Mansion in the capital, and escorting the princess to the capital became Gu Yankai's task.
After all the supplies and personnel in the Prince's Mansion were counted, Gu Yankai led a group of people to the capital.
At the front of the procession was Princess Pingqin, also known as Molan. Some of the servants accompanying them were selected from the post station. The older palace maid who had accompanied Molan to Sichuan and Yunnan was gone, but Guo'er and Li'er were still there.
In the middle of the procession sat Gu Yankai's men and their luggage, while at the end were the people from the prince's palace. The prince's wife rode alone in a nearly new carriage, accompanied by a maid. The prince and the crown prince walked on foot in chains, while the rest of the group was led along on foot.
This was also Gu Yankai's last time guarding the border. Having achieved two great feats in a row, Gu Yankai was now considered to have no more titles to offer. The new emperor could only attribute the merit of capturing the vassal king to his female relatives, and Bai's rank was promoted two ranks, becoming a first-rank imperial consort.
After Gu Yankai returns to the capital to report on his work, the new emperor will send new generals to guard the border, and among those who will replace Gu Yankai to guard the border is the Marquis of Xiangyang.
The Marquis of Xiangyang's wife was due to give birth in a few months. He was too old to have another child, so he had long since neglected the backyard and spent his days in the main room. Now that he knew he might have to serve on the frontier, he begged the new emperor not to choose him, hoping that he would be eliminated.
Princess Pingning returned to the Marquis's residence that day and, as expected, met the diligent and attentive Marquis of Xiangyang in the main room. The Marquis's wife was leaning on a soft couch while the Marquis sat on a stool massaging her legs.
After paying respects to the two, Princess Pingning sat down and said, "Mother, this is the hundred-year-old ginseng that my mother-in-law specially asked me to bring over. It looks better than any we've seen."
The wife of the Marquis of Xiangyang took it, looked at it, and said, "Yes, it must have grown high up in Changbai Mountain."
The Marquis of Xiangyang, who was massaging her legs, came over to take a look and said, "Well, it's quite good. I'll keep it for your mother."
The mother and daughter exchanged a glance, and the wife of the Marquis of Xiangyang said to him, "Sir, I want to eat the blood swallows you cooked two days ago."
The Marquis of Xiangyang raised his head and said with a smile, "Very well, I will personally go and make bird's nest soup for you."
After finishing speaking, the Marquis of Xiangyang walked out with a smile on his face. Princess Pingning bowed and said respectfully, "Your daughter respectfully bids farewell to your father."
When only mother and daughter were left in the room, Princess Pingning took off her shoes, squeezed onto the soft couch, and leaned against the side of the Marquis of Xiangyang's wife and said, "Mother, what happened to father? He wasn't like this the last two times."
The Marquis of Xiangyang's wife embraced Princess Pingning and said with a smile, "It's just that you're eager to have a child. Once the child is born, everything will be back to normal."
Princess Pingning said dissatisfiedly: "There are still so many women in the mansion."
Stroking the hair on Princess Pingning's forehead, the Lady of Xiangyang said, "Nothing's wrong. No matter how much you worry, you won't be able to get excited. Just live your life well and don't worry about me."
The two of them talked about the border defense. Whether the Marquis of Xiangyang went to Sichuan and Yunnan or not, his wife didn't care. Now, as long as the child in her belly was born safely, the Marquis of Xiangyang would have nothing to worry about.
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