The second thing is that Marquis Yongding passed away.
A month ago in Kyoto, Marquis Yongding accidentally caught a glimpse of a woman's back who looked very similar to his wife.
Marquis Yongding chased after her and found that the woman had already boarded the carriage. He heard her talking to a maid, and the voice was clearly that of his wife.
It has been nearly twenty years since she passed away, and including the ten years she spent kneeling and chanting scriptures at Yunlan Temple, he has not seen her properly for about thirty years.
Even after her death, he heard her last words that she should be buried as a lay disciple in Yunlan Temple, and he became so angry that he turned around and left.
Since she didn't acknowledge herself as the wife of the Shen family and was no longer Shen Xiao's, why did he go to collect the body and hold the funeral?
The Marquis of Yongding was born into a military family and had a bad temper. What good was his legitimate son, Zhaoming, being the top scholar in the imperial examinations? He turned to literature and was no match for his father.
Or it was his eldest son Shen Ming who suited his taste. Even if he followed his path in the army and served as a small colonel, he was also practicing martial arts and could be considered as inheriting the mantle of the Yongding Marquisate.
But now, no one, whether they were good at literature or martial arts, is around anymore...
After being separated for thirty years, even if she had not died, Marquis Yongding felt that they would not recognize each other if they met again.
But now he knew it wasn't.
The carriage was going faster and faster, and farther and farther away. Marquis Yongding was no longer the same person as before. He could not catch up and could only watch the carriage go away.
After asking others, I learned that it was the old lady of the Sui family in Shazhou County.
At that time, his eldest son, born to a concubine, stood up to protect his younger brother and sister-in-law when a frightened horse was charging and about to hit his wife's legitimate children. His own sternum was broken by the horse, and the broken bones pierced his heart and lungs, causing him to die.
After her son died, the concubine struggled on her sickbed for three months before finally dying, leaving behind only a daughter.
He was so angry at the time that he thought it was his wife's fault and that she had done something very cruel. But when he thought about it, he remembered that his eldest son had spat out blood before dying to tell him that it was just an accident and had nothing to do with his wife. The Marquis himself had also carefully checked his wife's case and it was indeed not related to her.
But he could not accept the death of his beloved concubine and eldest son. Someone had to take over his nameless anger and resentment towards heaven and earth.
He forced his wife to go to Yunlan Temple to kneel and copy scriptures for his concubine and his eldest son Ming'er.
But three years later, he had thought about taking her home. It was said that the cushions he used for kneeling and chanting scriptures were broken many times. But he didn't say it out loud. After all, it didn't matter.
After that, another year passed, and he accompanied the prince to Yunlan Temple. After a busy day, the prince smiled in the twilight and told him not to work anymore, as they had to stay in the mountains for one night anyway, so he asked him to go and see his wife.
He hesitated for a long time and finally went to the back mountain. The lights in the Zen room of the wife of Marquis Yongding were off. He sat on the stone bench under the tree in the Zen courtyard for a while, quietly looking at the door of the Zen room, and finally got up and left.
Later, Shen Zhaoming and Shen Zhaoshu returned home from the academy and women's college in other places. The old lady was overjoyed to see her grandson and granddaughter coming back, and asked him to go and bring his wife back for a reunion.
He did not go, but asked his son and daughter to pick someone up from Yunlan Temple. Although he was on duty as usual, he was a little nervous that day, and he was also looking forward to a family reunion when he returned home.
She didn't come back. So what?
He had no idea how Zhao Ming and Zhao Shu reported to their mother. He didn't ask and just went on with everything as usual. However, the next day, Yu Mei's daughter Zhao Yu also returned home.
He thought Zhaoyu was always different, so he asked for leave and waited at home, and asked the whole family to open the main gate to welcome him. Except for the old lady, all the servants who were not on duty had to go out to greet him.
This means that Zhaoming and Zhaoshu, who had just returned home, also had to stand in line at the middle gate to greet them.
Originally, Zhaoyu was born to a concubine and could not be named according to the Zhao generation. But after Yumei died, he was so sad that he wanted to record Yumei as his first wife.
The original wife, Lady Yongning Hou, was changed to a concubine in the family tree, and the eldest children of concubines were renamed and recorded as legitimate children. The original eldest legitimate son Zhaoming and eldest legitimate daughter Zhaoshu were moved one place back to become the second legitimate children.
But the old lady was determined to protect Zhaoming's position as the eldest legitimate son and not let the deceased illegitimate son take away Zhaoming's status.
Only Zhaoyu was mentioned then, and the Marquis's wife was able to retain her status as the original wife, but with an additional daughter under her name, which raised Zhaoyu's status.
The marquis buried his concubine Yu Mei according to the standards for his wife, but it seemed that this was not enough to him. Her son died for Zhao Ming and Zhao Shu, and she also died, but it was only an empty title, which was not enough!
Since that was the case, he had to make plans for Zhaoyu. After Zhaoyu was recorded as the eldest daughter, he changed the marriages of Zhaoyu and Zhaoshu. Zhaoyu married into the Rongguo Mansion, while Zhaoshu married into the family of a sixth-rank official.
This sixth-rank official was originally a prominent family in Kyoto, holding the first-rank position. He was demoted to another place for committing a crime. When this high-ranking official died, he was only a sixth-rank official, and his son was still going to Beijing to take the imperial examination, with an uncertain future.
But after all, his grandfather is still in Kyoto and they have a house there. His family has two generations of first-rank officials, so it is hard to predict whether it will be good or bad now.
Seeing this, Zhaoyu was unwilling to get married. Marquis Yongding felt that breaking off the engagement would be bad for Zhaoyu's reputation, so he secretly changed her marriage.
Zhaoyu's dowry almost emptied the entire marquis's mansion, so Zhaoming and Zhaoshu's marriage could only rely on 60% of the marquis' wife's dowry.
Sixty percent, because after he emptied the money from the Marquis's Mansion, he asked the Marquis's wife to take out 40 percent of the dowry to add to Zhaoyu's dowry.
Because her half-brother risked his life to save Zhao Shu and Zhao Ming, the Marquis's wife agreed, so only 60% remained.
When Zhaoyu got married, she was dressed in a dazzling array of red.
Things are unpredictable. The young man from the Wang family that Shen Zhaoshu married was quite talented. He passed the imperial examination and was sent to work in a remote area. Zhaoshu accompanied her husband through all the ups and downs, and was promoted to Kyoto.
In the meantime, her husband was banished from Kyoto because he worked for the minority interpreter Suleiman.
But after being brought back to the capital by His Majesty, he was given more and more important positions. He once served as the Minister of Personnel and is currently the Minister of Revenue and the Prince's Tutor, and has become the head of the civil officials.
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