Chapter 655, Imprisonment
"Mr. Yuan, the new governor of Zhongzhou, is actually the brother of Consort De in the palace."
In Taohua Temple, Daohua carefully looked through the collection of interesting things from the capital sent back by Zhao Yongwang.
Zhao Yongwang was indeed a smart man. Knowing that they were going to deal with the new governor, he inquired about the situation of the Yuan family in great detail.
"No wonder he's involved with the Eight Kings' followers, but nothing happened to Jiang Canzheng."
Although Concubine De was pregnant with the fifth prince and the second princess, she still had to live in the harem under the control of the Empress Dowager and the Queen. The Yuan family did not dare to offend the Jiang family too much.
The assassin's attempt to infringe upon Chiang's political rights was probably suppressed by this Lord Yuan.
Gu Jian heard his apprentice's muttering and sneered, "The Jiang family is not that easy to deal with. Unless there is irrefutable evidence, not everyone dares to challenge a noble family with two queens."
Daohua nodded without saying anything more. Thinking that tomorrow was the first day of June, she couldn't help but say, "Tomorrow is Xiao Yeyang's birthday. I wonder how he and his third and fourth brothers are doing in Northern Xinjiang?"
Seeing his disciple's worried look, Gu Jian said, "There hasn't been any bad news from the border in the past two months, so I think everything is fine. But the Eighth Prince is very cunning and has the men left to him by the late emperor. They won't be back anytime soon."
Daohua also understood this and sighed, "I hope the border will be settled soon."
Time slipped away day by day, and in the blink of an eye it was July.
Yan Mansion.
Han Xinran was following behind Mrs. Li and busy arranging Yan Wenjie's marriage.
"Wenjie is getting married on the sixth day of the seventh lunar month. Here's the list of names of those who will be accompanying Wenjie to the wedding. Show it to your second aunt later and ask for her opinion."
Mrs. Li rubbed her swollen forehead.
In May, she was busy with her eldest son's marriage, and in July, she was busy with her second son Wenjie's. She didn't have a good rest in these two months.
Han Xinran nodded in agreement and said with concern: "Everything for the wedding has been arranged. Mother can have a good rest now. Don't tire yourself out."
Mrs. Li looked at her daughter-in-law with a smile: "Luckily you married me, otherwise I would be so busy."
Han Xinran smiled and said, "Mother, you're too kind. Even if I'm not here, you still have your elder sister to help you. I've heard that your elder sister is a good housekeeper."
Madam Li shook her head and laughed, "Stop talking about that lazy girl! She's just missing you, so she's been slacking off at her master's place and not coming back. Look, it's already the second day of July, and she hasn't even mentioned coming back soon."
Han Xinran smiled and didn't respond. She had been married into the Yan family for more than a month, and she had a general understanding of everyone in the Yan family. She knew how much her mother-in-law and the old lady doted on her eldest sister.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law talked for a while, and then Han Xinran took the list to find Sun. On the way, she couldn't help but talk about rice flowers with her personal maid Gan Tang.
"My elder sister is living a very carefree life."
Living away from home for several months without anyone to supervise or discipline you is something that is unimaginable in wealthy families in the capital.
The daughters of wealthy families are often kept in seclusion and rarely have the opportunity to go out.
Gan Tang nodded and said, "The girls in the mansion are all doing well. I heard they all have their own shops and farmland now."
Han Xinran showed envy on her face. Perhaps the Han family was richer than the Yan family, but the girls of the Han family were far less comfortable than the sisters of the Yan family.
After giving the list to Sun, seeing that she didn't say anything, Han Xinran returned to her and Yan Wenxiu's newly married courtyard.
As soon as she returned, Nanny Han, who had come with her as a dowry, whispered to her, "Miss, your period has come. Have you decided who will serve your husband?"
Han Xinran looked unhappy, but when she thought of what her husband had said to her last time she had her period, she couldn't help but smile sweetly: "Mammy, please don't mention this matter again in the future. My husband said that the Yan family doesn't have the habit of taking concubines, unless I can't have children for the Yan family."
Nanny Han was stunned: "Really?"
Han Xinran nodded affirmatively.
Nanny Han smiled happily: "I thought that the son-in-law said that last time because he was considering your wedding."
Han Xinran smiled and said, "I also thought my husband was just being polite, but I asked my mother a few days ago, and she said the same thing."
Nanny Han sighed with emotion, "The young lady is blessed. Although she is marrying far away, the Yan family is easy to get along with. The most precious thing is that the son-in-law is considerate. Madam and Master can finally rest assured."
Han Xinran smiled shyly. She knew that her father and mother felt that they had wronged her by marrying her into the Yan family. She had also thought so before, but now, she was extremely satisfied with her marriage.
Not only did her mother-in-law not set any rules for her, she also had no intention of forcing a woman on her husband. In these two respects, she was much better than her married sisters in the family.
What's even more rare is that as soon as she got married, her mother-in-law treated her as a family member and personally took her to familiarize herself with household affairs. Her elder sister had been married into the Luo family for two years but had not been able to get the power of housekeeper, but she got it so easily.
She didn't marry as well as her elder sister, but she felt that she would definitely live a better and more comfortable life than her elder sister.
Daohua returned to the Yan Mansion on the third day of July. After coming back, she chatted and laughed with Old Lady Yan. Now that her eldest sister-in-law had married into the family, she didn't want to take care of the household affairs anymore and acted as a hands-off manager.
On the sixth day of July, the Zhu family sent the dowry to the Yan family early.
Although Zhu Qiyun's dowry was not as generous as Han Xinran's, the thousands of books still attracted everyone's attention for a while.
Han Xinran was also a little surprised, and then she sighed with Han Ma: "The marriage arranged by the second branch is really good." With these books passed down from generation to generation, as long as the second brother can pass the imperial examination, the second branch can be considered established.
Nanny Han nodded. "Yes, it's not unreasonable that the Yan family has risen to prominence. The master has a very good eye for choosing in-laws. I heard that the fourth master has chosen the eldest daughter of the Su family in Zhongzhou. The Su family is an old and established family."
At this time, there was a noise and a jeer. Han Xinran knew that this was the groom welcoming the bride home: "I hope this second brother's wife is easy to get along with."
Nanny Han smiled and said, "The Yan family will split up sooner or later. It's enough for the young lady to get along with the people from the second and third houses."
Han Xinran said "hmm" and saw Daohua taking the girls from various families to the wedding hall, and hurriedly followed them.
"Why are you back so early? I thought you were going to stay home for two more days."
Although Gu Jian was happy to see his disciple come back, he did not show it on his face.
Daohua smiled and said, "With two new daughters-in-law in the family, my grandmother and mother both have company, so I'm redundant."
Gu Jian snorted, with the corners of his mouth rising. How could he not know that his apprentice was worried about him being alone? The weather was hot this year, and he was a little greedy for coolness. Last month, he used too much ice and caught a cold. His apprentice came back to look after him.
In early July, the Eighth Prince intended to seize another border city. Unfortunately, the people stationed in the city were captured by the Jinling Guards led by Xiao Yeyang, causing the Eighth Prince's plan to fail. After that, the war in the northern border fell into a stalemate.
In mid-July, all provinces received orders from the imperial court to collect military rations.
In Zhongzhou, Governor Yuan directly ordered Yan Zhigao to collect 100,000 dan of military rations.
Yan Zhigao looked at the order in his hand, his brows furrowed.
Although Ningmen Prefecture is much larger than other prefectures, the land is barren, and the military rations he has to collect are twice as much as those of other prefects.
Daohua soon found out about this.
Daohua frowned. "What does Governor Yuan mean by this? Did father offend him?"
Yan Shouhou hesitated for a moment and said, "Could it be that after Yuan Shikai took office, he hosted a banquet for all the officials, and the master and his wife didn't go to congratulate him?"
Because they had to observe the mourning period for Grandma Gu, the Yan family postponed all banquets from February to May.
Daohua frowned. "If that's the reason, then Governor Yuan is quite cunning." She was silent for a moment. "Is it possible that father has collected all the grain?"
Yan Shouhou: "I see that the master and the eldest uncle are not too worried, so it should be okay."
Hearing this, Daohua stopped caring and said, "Go back. If there is anything happening in the mansion, tell me immediately."
Yan Shouhou nodded in agreement and left quickly.
On July 29th, Daohua was packing up and preparing to return to Yan's house to attend her coming-of-age ceremony, but unexpectedly Yan Shouhou arrived in a hurry.
"Miss, it's bad! The master has been imprisoned by Governor Yuan!"
(End of this chapter)
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