Another New Year passed quickly in a joyful and peaceful atmosphere, and Daxia entered its seventh year.
Officials from various departments were busy again, and the merchants who had returned to Chang'an to celebrate the New Year also embarked on new trade routes.
When thousands of lights lit up the streets and alleys of Chang'an, Yun Xiyan dragged his somewhat tired body back home.
You Xifeng looked at him with some distress and took off his official attire for him. "The higher the official position, the busier it is. I actually hope you can return to the Ministry of Commerce."
She hung her official uniform on the wall, took a plain cotton robe from the closet and put it on Yun Xiyan, then said with some complaints: "Although Daxia was just established back then, it was not as busy as it is now... I think, this is not a good thing to continue. People are not made of iron. Otherwise... Let's quit and start our own business like Zhong Yu. We can live a leisurely and comfortable life, right?"
Yun Xiyan put his arms around You Xifeng's waist and said with a smile, "If I wasn't the Minister of Commerce back then, would you have fallen for me? Would your father have betrothed you to me?"
You Xifeng rolled his eyes, "Are you calling me that snobby?"
"Hey, it's a little itchy, let go!"
"Actually, I had other reasons for liking you."
Yun Xiyan was startled and asked, "What's the reason?"
"That 'Collection of Poems and Essays by Fu Xiaoguan' you got! I bought a copy and found that it sold quite well in Guanyun City, so I thought you were quite interesting."
"That's it?"
"... Of course, when I saw you later, I thought you looked pretty good too. Hehe, let go. I'll go get you a bowl of freshly cooked chicken soup."
Yun Xiyan did not let go.
He still held You Xifeng's waist and suddenly said seriously, "Thank you for all these years."
You Xifeng lowered her head shyly, "We are an old married couple, what is there to thank me for?"
"These past few years have been really busy, and I've had little time to spend with you. You've worked tirelessly to take care of our family and the children, bringing a sense of homeliness to our home."
"A few years ago, we had a hot pot meal at Yan Xiwen's house. Yan Xiwen said that if Fu Xiaoguan came back, he would resign his position as Shangshu Ling and follow Fu Xiaoguan..."
"I didn't tell you this then, because I wasn't sure what I needed. I also thought we had settled down in Chang'an. This home is great, and our memories are everywhere. I couldn't bear to leave like this."
"But something happened today that deeply shocked me and made me think carefully about what kind of life I want."
You Xifeng looked up at Yun Xiyan in surprise, then after a moment's hesitation, asked, "What's the matter?"
"The matter of the withered cicada."
Yun Xiyan took You Xifeng's hand and walked out of the room and came to the yard.
The snow in the yard has not melted yet, and there is still a chill in the night wind.
"Today, Kuchan officially signed a document with Daxia, turning the Dafan Kingdom he painstakingly founded into Daxia's Dafan Dao!"
"At that time, I was thinking, if I, Yun Xiyan, had worked so hard to build such a huge empire, could I give it up as easily as Kuchan?"
"Then I thought of Fu Xiaoguan."
"If I, Yun Xiyan, had unified the five kingdoms and founded this vast Great Xia... could I have been as carefree as him and simply given up my power and walked away without caring about anything?"
"I found that I couldn't do it. I found that I was the mortal. Fu Xiaoguan's thoughts had long since transcended to become a saint, and Ku Chan's thoughts had long since left the world and become a Buddha!"
"Fu Xiaoguan led the fleet far away. Although he was seeking greater development for Daxia, we all know that he was also looking for a place where he could live out his days in peace."
"Ku Chan will leave the capital tomorrow and head for Chi Le Chuan, where there is a temple he built after years of collecting alms."
"He said... the country is so big, but his heart has nowhere to rest. Although the temple is small, it is his paradise."
"In fact, Fu Xiaoguan and Ku Chan are the same kind of people."
"Back in Jinling, Fu Xiaoguan had no ambition to become emperor. His heart was never in the imperial court, and he never took power seriously."
"He didn't want to be imprisoned in this cage, so... he ultimately chose to go far away, to pursue the freedom he desired."
"And what is it that I seek?"
Yun Xiyan sat in the pavilion and looked outside the courtyard wall.
Outside the courtyard wall are red lights and a few not-so-bright stars in the distant sky.
You Xifeng sat beside him and held his hand tightly. "I don't know about the messy things you men think about. I only know that I will wait for you to come back home every day, prepare a table full of hot meals for you, serve you well, and send you out before dawn the next day."
"I don't want you to be overly tired, and I certainly won't ask you to become a higher official or make more money. I just hope you'll be safe and sound, and then... continue on the path you desire."
"If you have no interest in this officialdom, I will go with you, take our children, and go somewhere else to sell 'Fu Xiaoguan's Poems and Essays'!"
Yun Xiyan smiled with satisfaction, "I really can't bear to leave Daxia."
"Daxia is getting better and better, and the future will definitely be even better."
"In the blink of an eye, we've already passed our thirties and are heading straight for our forties. I've been thinking, this fellow Fu Xiaoguan has expanded the territory of Daxia to such a large extent, he must have already reached that European continent by now."
"If we don't visit these places now while we can still walk, will we regret it when we are old?"
"Just like what Old Master Qin said when he came to Chang'an last time, his greatest wish in life was to travel to every corner of Daxia by train, but he had to guard the school in Xishan."
"His health is getting worse every year. He won't be able to go to those places. The most regrettable thing is that he can't even go to the continent of Leah, let alone the distant continent of Europe."
You Xifeng asked, "Isn't Grandpa Qin still in good health?"
Yun Xiyan shook his head. "Grandpa Qin and Old Yan... are already in their seventies, after all. Yan Xiwen is busy with state affairs and can't get away, so he asked Qin Ruoxue to return to West Mountain. West Mountain is closer to Jinling after all. After Qin Ruoxue goes to West Mountain, she will take Grandpa Qin back to Jinling by boat. They will spend the rest of their lives in Jinling."
"On our way through Linjiang, Xiwen said Grandpa Qin wanted to stop by and visit the former Linjiang Academy."
"Also, I heard that Elder Wen Xingzhou, who lives in Guanyun City, is not doing well. Wu Tianci wanted to offer sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Guanyun City, and Elder Wen wrote a document for the sacrifice. Zhuo Bieli returned and took the imperial seal that Fu Xiaoguan had left with Yan Xiwen to stamp the document."
"After being locked up for half a year, Tianci has finally become more sensible. He said he wanted to offer sacrifices to the Taimiao and the heaven and earth, and pray for the country of Daxia and for the elders of Daxia."
"He hopes that the great scholar Wen Xingzhou can preside over this Taimiao worship ceremony. This is a good thing. Yan Xiwen and the others mean that if Tianci has grown up, they can wait until after this Taimiao worship ceremony to welcome him back to Chang'an and ascend the throne!"
You Xifeng was slightly startled, and Yun Xiyan smiled again, "After all, he is Fu Xiaoguan's son. Besides... I don't know when Fu Xiaoguan will return, and Daxia will eventually be handed over to one of his sons. As for Yan Xiwen and the others, I have also made this decision now. We will follow Fu Xiaoguan."
"Doesn't he want to be a free and easy landlord?"
"I'll manage his accounts, and then we can live a more carefree life."
You Xifeng nodded and looked at the lights of Chang'an outside the wall, with some nostalgia in his eyes, because it was so peaceful under the lights.
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