79 Autumn Harvest
◎Luring fish to bite◎
"Enough, enough, it's all my fault as a father." Emperor Jin Yuan waved his hand, like an elderly father whose heart was broken by his children.
What else could he not understand? Looking at the Empress beside him, whose eyes were calm, he thought, "Ah Ling, this is what you wanted, isn't it?"
That's good. If he passes away first, with Ah Ling watching over things, nothing too serious will happen.
Chu Pei sighed and said, "A-Ling, let's leave it at that for today."
Empress Zhang looked at the emperor, who looked exhausted, and the huge weight in her heart could finally be lifted.
Her long-term planning finally paid off. This time, Madam Guo should understand that she shouldn't easily challenge her and the Zhang family.
Chu Pei looked at Qi Gu with his slightly cloudy eyes. "Qi Gu, you've been wronged again. I see that Yi County and Yang County are adjacent, so I'll give you both of those counties as your fiefdom." He finally understood that his eldest daughter had suffered an undeserved calamity.
The area of her fiefdom had increased, and Qi Gu was already used to it. She knelt down gracefully to express her gratitude, "Thank you for your grace, Father." She didn't even try to refuse. These things were compensation from her father, so she might as well accept them.
The Empress glanced at Chu Pei. It wouldn't be easy to touch the Second Prince. She hadn't expected that today's events would be enough to get the Emperor to immediately appoint him as Crown Prince. Now that the Emperor's attitude had softened, she believed that day wouldn't be too far off.
She has achieved her goal and will not pursue it further. Some things are best left unsaid; pushing too hard will only backfire.
She thought back to the day Sima Xiuyuan came to see her and said that Lady Guo's people had tried to kidnap Qi Gu in the chaos. She naturally wouldn't let Lady Guo off the hook. But why was Sima Hong so concerned about this matter?
Her eyes were scrutinizing when she heard Sima Hong say, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I only want to make amends to someone."
She was shocked. To be honest, she couldn't believe that the Sima family, who had always remained aloof from the issue of choosing an heir, would actually stand with her!
After a brief moment of surprise and delight, she instinctively wondered if there was some conspiracy involved. "Sima Xiuyuan, why did you suddenly decide to stand on my side?"
It should be noted that no matter how she tried to win him over in private, or even visited Sima Taigong privately, she had not received a clear answer from Sima Xiuyuan.
She knew that the Sima family was worried that if the throne really fell into Yan'er's hands, the Zhang family, as the maternal relatives, would inevitably become extremely powerful in the future. As powerful ministers, the Sima family did not want the maternal relatives to become so powerful that the imperial power could not control them. This would mean that the Great Jin would belong to the Zhang family and the emperor would be controlled by the Zhang family. After all, a weak emperor would definitely rely on her, his mother, and the Zhang family.
At that time, the Sima family's position will be in a very awkward position.
Empress Zhang knew about the Sima family's concerns, but she couldn't change the fact that she was a member of the Zhang family. The fact that the Zhang family would help Yan'er keep an eye on military power was also part of her plan.
Therefore, she could not find a solution that satisfied both sides and dispelled the Sima family's concerns.
Unexpectedly, when Sima Xiuyuan returned this time, he actually offered to help her.
Empress Zhang shook her head again. No, he wasn't helping her, he was helping Qi Gu.
Could it be that he really...? This is a perfect solution, she never expected that even the bright moon would fall to earth.
Judging from today's situation, Qi Gu seems unaware of what Sima Hong has done for her.
The Empress pretended to know nothing and asked, "So what are the Sima family's demands?"
Sima Hong recalled that in his previous life, after Qi Gu died, the Empress asked him if he regretted his past. The Empress, who was then the Empress Dowager, looked so sad that it threw him into a state of turmoil.
He never regretted the decision he made, but when he saw the sadness in the Empress's eyes, a faint, thin thread of pain tugged at his heart.
He then avoided seeing the Empress whenever possible, and would send someone to inform her if he needed to. Strangely, the Empress and he seemed to have the same tacit understanding; except when absolutely necessary, they both avoided meeting each other.
They both knew that when they saw each other, they would unconsciously think of Qi Gu and keep asking themselves that question: Have you ever regretted it? Asking the other person was also asking themselves.
For the two of them, there is no regret, and they absolutely cannot regret it!
The more this was the case, the clearer Sima Hong became about the pain and sorrow that Qi Gu had endured while she was alive, over the long years that followed.
She fell in love with him, but could only ever see his back. She loved her mother, but her mother only cared about the country and the eternal stability of the imperial power.
The people she loved never chose her first, and the two people she chased and protected both eventually gave up on her.
It's ironic that when Qi Gu was alive, he never felt her love or hate; he only enjoyed being loved by her.
Only after Qi Gu died did her suffering become clear to him, and he finally saw her pain. But it was too late; nothing could be changed.
What does he want? If you were to ask him in his past life, he would naturally want the peace and prosperity of the country to come from the Sima family, and he would naturally want the Sima family to become the foremost family, to be remembered for all time, and to clear the world of the slander against the Sima family for their seclusion after the chaos of the previous dynasty.
After his rebirth, he wanted peace and prosperity for the world and for her to live a good life.
"Your Majesty, don't worry, I share the same thoughts as you." Having experienced his previous life, Sima Hong also understood that the Empress and Chu Xiaoyan were the two most suitable people to rule the Great Jin after Emperor Yuan of Jin's death; no one was more suitable than them.
In my past life, the Empress's reputation was even more widespread than the Emperor's. Even my grandfather, on his deathbed, admitted that the only person he had ever misjudged was the Empress. He said, "The Empress's character is as firm as a mountain, her heart as vast as a valley, and her vision is no less than a man's. She is the true uncrowned queen of the Great Jin Dynasty, an indispensable pillar of the Great Jin. I was short-sighted." After saying these words, my grandfather passed away the next day.
The Sima family is not gods, and he is not as infallible as those people say. In his previous life, he painstakingly planned everything, but in the end, something unexpected still happened.
In this second life, let him avoid the things that should have been avoided.
So today's scene, which seems to be planned by Madam Guo and the Second Princess, was actually all planned under the control of the Empress and him.
The Empress looked at Qi Gu and her nephew standing together, then at Sima Hong standing to the side with an inscrutable expression.
Qi Gu's wedding needs to be put on the agenda.
The turmoil in the palace has temporarily subsided. Lady Guo, who should now be called Consort Guo, has seen her Pixiang Palace extinguished as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over a raging fire.
The Second Princess is still under house arrest, while the Ninth Princess must have learned about what happened that night and is being kept in her own palace by Madam Zhao.
During the autumn harvest season, the palace appeared peaceful on the surface. Qi Gu took Hongyan out of the palace and headed straight for Shanglin Garden to check on the experimental seedlings.
Recently, the people under the Ministry of Agriculture have also begun harvesting millet and wheat in the Shanglin Garden. She has to record the data of the experimental seedlings and go with her father to the suburbs to check the harvest. Sometimes she is so busy that she stays at her aunt's house outside the palace, and her mother doesn't say much.
On the outskirts of the city, Qi Gu and her father Li Shi sat on the edge of a field, watching stacks of straw piled up on the boundless fields.
Li Shihao said with great enthusiasm: "Qi Gu, next year on this day, the harvest from this land will surely be 20% or 30% higher. Do you have confidence?"
Qi Gu was recording the soil conditions with a cloth. She thought of the experimental seedlings she brought from Lijia Village. "Father, we have to go back to Huai County next spring to collect the first type of millet and wheat seeds. Then we also have to set aside a piece of land to plant the second type of millet and wheat seeds. We haven't compared these two types of millet and wheat seeds in our experiments yet."
Li Shidao: "It's a pity that we don't have plastic film now, otherwise we could build a greenhouse in winter, which would make it easier to compare the same environment and climate."
Just as Qi Gu was about to ask what the plastic film was, Li Shi chuckled, patted her shoulder, and gestured for her to look behind her. "Hey~ even though it's autumn, I feel like there are so many peach blossoms in bloom."
It turned out that Sima Hong and Zhang Jun had arrived. This was the first time Qi Gu had seen the two of them since that day.
One was serene and aloof, the other dressed in white, with a face like white jade and a tall, handsome figure.
A strong, powerful limb walked with a brisk pace, and before the person even got close, a big smile appeared on their face.
Seeing one in black and one in white, Qi Gu couldn't help but think of the Black and White Impermanence, and couldn't help but chuckle.
“Cousin!” Qi Gu waved her hand, and when facing Sima Hongshi, she gave a standard bow and said, “Lord Sima.”
Sima Hong frowned involuntarily, clearly dissatisfied with the title.
"Cousin, you and Uncle are back from Beidaying?"
When Zhang Tian returned from leading his troops, he had many military affairs to hand over. Therefore, after the palace banquet, he returned to the North Camp, and Zhang Jun naturally followed him. They stayed there for many days.
"Yes, they're back. The soldiers who were fighting abroad have received their pay and rewards, and the soldiers who stayed behind are going to be tested by their fathers. Now that everything has been handed over, they can finally rest at home for a while."
"That's wonderful. How is Uncle's health? I'll visit him at his residence another day." She wanted to ascertain how her uncle's health was.
Zhang Jun asked curiously, "Aunt Qi, why do you seem so concerned about Father's health?" Every time they met, Aunt Qi would ask about Father's health.
Aunt Qi said, "I care about everyone's health. I care about my cousin's health, and I also care about yours."
Zhang Jun smiled and said, "I'm in good health. It's just that my cousin is going to suffer again as the weather gets colder."
Sima Hong watched coldly, the villain acting as if no one else was around. "Qi Gu, do you think you can escape my mother?" he said unhurriedly. "Qi Gu, I have news about Doctor Ye."
One sentence forced Qi Gu to turn and look at him, "What? Really!"
If we really find Doctor Ye, not only will my cousin no longer have to suffer from her illness, but my uncle might also receive treatment sooner and wouldn't have died from just a cold...
Qi Gu excitedly grabbed Sima Hong's hand, looking at him expectantly: "Really?"
Sima Hong looked at Qi Gu with nervousness in his eyes. He knew he was despicable, but if he didn't do this, he could only watch Qi Gu and Zhang Jun chatting and laughing. Given Qi Gu's current attitude towards him, it was even highly possible that one day in the future he would have to watch Qi Gu marry Zhang Jun.
“Of course I wouldn’t lie, but…” Sima Hong’s voice was laced with cunning, enticing the fish to take the bait.
The fish named Qi Gu immediately took the bait. "But what?"
"I need you to come with me to pick up Doctor Ye."
Qi Gu immediately wanted to refuse, but when she thought of her cousin and uncle's health, she finally agreed.
[Author's Note]
He's going to pursue his wife relentlessly!!!
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