Chapter 508 Finale
The Emperor smiled faintly, "Mother, there are rumors spreading in the palace. I have ordered those foul-mouthed servants to be dealt with. The Queen's baby is very healthy. The imperial physician says it is very likely to be a prince. Mother, I am pregnant with a prince. Why do you look so grim? Aren't you happy for me?"
What is the Queen Mother happy about?
This news was like a bolt from the blue, and the empress dowager fainted immediately.
The emperor looked on coldly, with no ripples in his heart, and even a little pleasure.
The Empress Dowager's illness did not heal until the Queen gave birth.
When everyone heard that the queen had given birth to a prince, they celebrated. The queen mother, who was drinking medicine, choked and coughed until her face turned red and she almost couldn't breathe.
The maid who was serving her turned pale with fear and felt extremely terrified.
A year later, the Queen Mother passed away.
The emperor no longer had any constraints.
Prince Yuchang's only son, Yulang, was sent to guard the Queen Mother's tomb and atone for his father's sins.
All the civil and military officials in the court and the people of the world praised the emperor for his kindness.
A chronic poison was added to Yulang's diet, which doomed him to be infertile and weak for many years. As for how long he could live, it all depended on his own ability.
But one thing is certain, if the emperor is about to die and he is still alive, the emperor will definitely send someone to kill him first and will never leave such a hot potato to his son.
Five years passed in the blink of an eye.
Liang Mingxuan became the top scorer in the imperial examination. The emperor personally tested him and praised him highly.
He entered the Hanlin Academy as a scholar, but everyone knew that he was different from other scholars. He had a brother who was the Marquis of Wuxuan and had made great contributions, a sister-in-law who had made great contributions to the country and the people and had a very good relationship with the Empress, the future head of the Jinling Ji family was his teacher, the little prince was his junior fellow student, the chief academician of the Imperial College also admired him, and the emperor himself praised him.
His future is bright.
Two years ago, the former County Magistrate Lu and his family also came to Beijing, and County Magistrate Lu was transferred to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing.
It is especially joyful to see old friends again.
It was natural for the two families to get married.
With the affection they had in their childhood, Liang Mingxuan and Lu Xiaoyue lived in harmony with each other.
After Liang Mingxuan became the top scorer in high school, the two families held a grand wedding.
All the civil and military officials in the court came to offer congratulations, making it a very lively occasion.
The bride's dowry of 180 sets aroused the envy of countless people. It was truly a luxurious wedding.
What is even more enviable is that the bride not only received a pair of jade ruyi and a pair of treasure vases for a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons as dowry from the empress, but also a full eighty of the 180 sets of dowry were betrothal gifts from the Liang family, and the Lu family gave all of them to their daughter as dowry.
When the Liang family proposed marriage, it caused a sensation in the capital.
Everyone knew that Mrs. Xu was rich, but no one expected her to be so rich!
The betrothal money alone was one hundred thousand taels!
There are countless other gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, curios, and valuable items.
After a short while, all these things became the private property of the bride. Which wife or bride-to-be wouldn't be envious? Don't you say Miss Lu is lucky!
The entire Xinyang Marquis family was embarrassed, especially the Xinyang Marquis's wife, who was so frustrated that she almost fell ill.
Five years ago, the Marquis of Xinyang took a fancy to the Liang family and intended to form a marriage alliance with them.
The Xinyang Marquis' Mansion has a good family tradition. Liang Minglang and Xu Zhichun heard that the young lady of the Marquis' Mansion has a good appearance and personality, and is well-read. They will probably be able to get along well with Mingxuan in the future. They asked Mingxuan what he thought. Mingxuan did not object. He believed that his brother and sister-in-law would definitely choose a good wife for him.
So the two families began to discuss marriage.
Unexpectedly, the wife of the Marquis of Xinyang came from a scholarly family and looked down on the Liang family. She always felt that Liang Minglang and Xu Zhichun were of humble origins and had luckily achieved what they had today. In fact, they were still vulgar people at heart and were not worthy of marrying her precious daughter.
When discussing marriage, she was disrespectful, openly sarcastic and even arrogant.
Influenced by her mother, the young lady of the Marquis's Mansion also had the same attitude. When she saw Xu Zhichun, she held her head high with a look of disdain and didn't even say hello.
How could Xu Zhichun be so indulgent? He immediately discussed it with Liang Minglang, saying frankly that he was out of his league, and the matter was dropped.
For this, the Marquis of Xinyang angrily accused his wife of being short-sighted and personally went to her house to try to make amends, but was politely rejected by Liang Minglang and Xu Zhichun.
This made the Marquis of Xinyang angry, and he felt that the Liang family was ungrateful.
Two years later, the young lady from the marquis's mansion got married.
Now the young lady from the Marquis's Mansion is already a mother.
Well, she only had one biological daughter, and three illegitimate children. The dowry given to her by the Marquisate was not much to begin with, but her husband stole it and spent it on a life of luxury. By the time she discovered it, it had almost been stolen.
She went back to her parents' home and cried, but what could she do?
If they had not missed the Liang family's marriage, perhaps the mother and daughter, as well as the Xinyang Marquis's Mansion, would not have felt anything. After all, there were many families in the capital who had concubines, illegitimate children, and unmotivated husbands.
But people are most afraid of comparison. This comparison makes them feel so depressed that they want to vomit blood.
I will probably feel uncomfortable in my heart for the rest of my life.
Three months after Liang Mingxuan got married, Liang Minglang received the transfer order to a remote post.
Liang Minglang took Xu Zhichun and their two children, bid farewell to his relatives and headed for Lingnan.
This is the place chosen by Xu Zhichun.
Liang Mingxuan and Lu Xiaoyue are taken care of by the Lu family and Ji Yingxuan and Lu Yin. Yu Ji, who is already married, also stays in the capital. Liang Minglang and Xu Zhichun are very relieved. It would be boring to stay in the capital, so they might as well go out for a walk.
Chunfen refused to stay and wanted to follow Xu Zhichun.
There are many tribes in Lingnan, big and small, with backward economy, poor living conditions, frequent conflicts and unrest. Liang Minglang and his wife went there, one to suppress and the other to develop, using both firmness and flexibility, and a two-pronged approach. One day, they will be able to make that area peaceful.
This matter would require countless silver coins to be invested, and the imperial court was naturally reluctant to spend money on such a thing. But it didn't matter, Xu Zhichun could earn money on his own.
It can be said that she has endless money to spend, and it is impossible to spend it all. Using it here will benefit future generations, so why not do it?
The family of four took a detour home to worship their ancestors.
Although Xu Zhichun has not been in Qingshan County in recent years, his investment in Qingshan County, especially Liangjia Village, has never been reduced, and even the neighboring Qingyang County and Changshui County have benefited from it.
Today, Sanxian is a famous potato, sweet potato, konjac and cotton planting area. The potato vermicelli, sweet potato vermicelli, konjac silk and cotton produced are sold to all parts of the country in an endless stream. Because they seized the market opportunity and opened up sales channels, even if competitors join in later, they cannot compete with Sanxian.
The lives of the people in the three counties are getting better and better, and they are all grateful to Mrs. Charity.
When they heard that they had returned, everyone in Liangjia Village was jubilant.
The old village headman's hair was already gray, and he was smiling from ear to ear while holding Liang Minglang's hand. Zeng Xiaoyan, Aunt Zhu'er, Xiaojuan and others were crying and laughing when they saw Xu Zhichun. They had so many things to say that they didn't know what to say. They just kept saying that they missed her and everyone missed her.
It is also a great joy to see my parents during the Spring Equinox.
Xu Zhichun and Liang Minglang offered sacrifices to their ancestors and parents at a three-day banquet. The county magistrates and county magistrates of the three counties all came to pay their respects, and local gentry and wealthy people such as Mr. Qin all came to visit.
After a few days of bustle, things gradually quieted down.
As for the families of Uncle Liang and Uncle Liang II, it is difficult to describe their experiences over the years.
Liang Mingxiang failed the imperial examinations repeatedly. When the good news that Liang Mingxuan had won the top spot spread back to the village, Liang Mingxiang could no longer bear the shock and ran away from home. He has been missing and his whereabouts are unknown to this day.
Zhang became crazy because of this and sat in the village all day long cursing Mingxuan, Xu Zhichun and Minglang, saying that they were the ones who harmed Mingxiang.
The head of the village was very angry and warned Uncle Liang that if he could not control her and allowed her to cause trouble, he would lock Zhang up in the ancestral hall and let her out when her madness recovered.
Uncle Liang was eager to do so and offered to take Zhang away and lock her up immediately.
But the village is responsible for locking up the person and taking care of him, he doesn't care.
The village head was full of contempt and agreed with a sneer.
The village really doesn't lack this little money now.
No wonder this family is getting worse and worse, look at their achievements!
Unexpectedly, Zhang overheard these words and rushed out to fight with Uncle Liang, cursing him for being heartless. Unexpectedly, Zhang was too aggressive and Uncle Liang broke his leg when she hit him.
It was obviously impossible to let Zhang go as she was so crazy. She was placed under house arrest in the ancestral hall at that time and is still under house arrest today. It is unlikely that she will be able to get out in this lifetime.
The eldest wife was reluctant to spend money on Uncle Liang's treatment. His leg, which could have been cured with bone correction and medicine, was eventually broken. The entire leg was necrotic, and he could only move it a few times with the help of a crutch. He couldn't even leave the yard.
The second family was not doing well either. The wives of their two sons were people with ulterior motives, causing chaos all day long.
Xu Zhichun never forgave the two families. The village head knew that good things would not happen to them. But he did not deliberately make things difficult for them, otherwise they would have been driven out of the village long ago.
Unfortunately, they themselves are not doing well and are becoming increasingly destitute.
Everyone talked about it with contempt.
Xu Zhichun felt relieved, this was good.
She doesn't suppress them, but they can't expect to get any benefits either.
It was ridiculous that the two families were still thinking about mending their relationship and wanted to ask for benefits by relying on their ridiculous bloodline status. Butler Zhang and his family went there with two sword-wielding guards, and they all became obedient.
The Qin family was different from other families. They specially invited their entire family to a private gathering.
The little girl Qu Ling from the past has married Qin Ning'an. She has lived up to the Qin couple's appreciation and cultivation, and has gradually gotten to know the Qin family's business and done exceptionally well.
Madam Qin promised her that she would not let Qin Ning'an take a concubine, and the Qin family would only have children born by her.
Qu Ling had no one to rely on and was a little worried at first, but after hearing these words, she felt relieved and devoted herself to her career, trying to earn a fortune for her future children.
Qin Ning'an was very disappointed when he didn't see Mingxuan come back.
Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "What's the big deal? If you have some free time tomorrow, why not go to Beijing and stay there for a year or half a year?"
Qin Ningan was very excited and soon went to Beijing with Qu Lingzhen.
Qu Ling was a little tied up in business and didn't want to go, so Master Qin smiled and said, "I can still hold on for a few more years, so just go ahead and relax. Traveling thousands of miles and seeing the world has its benefits."
Qu Ling thought so too and went there.
Qiao'er has grown up and is now in charge of several workshops.
Zeng Xiaojuan and Uncle Yang Ming did not have any more children. Having Xiaoan and Qiaoer was enough for them.
Xiao An also got married and had children. Uncle Yang Ming handed over all the affairs in his hands to Xiao An, and helped with Zeng Xiaojuan to take care of the grandchildren.
Both of them were worried about Qiao'er's lifelong affairs.
The girl refused to marry and declared that she would never marry again, which made Zeng Xiaojuan so angry that she cried.
But even though she felt guilty, she still refused to get married.
She has her own money and can buy property, so why would she marry? She has no interest at all.
Zeng Xiaojuan came to Xu Zhichun for help. Xu Zhichun was also very surprised and asked Qiao'er privately. Qiao'er's eyes turned red. She really didn't want to get married. Whenever she thought of the life her mother had lived in her biological father's house, she felt like she was having a nightmare.
She and her mother were lucky enough to escape from the fire pit.
But who can guarantee that you won’t meet the wrong person in the future?
If it happens again, who will save her?
Can't she just earn her own money and spend it herself? Why should she marry someone and be a slave to them? She doesn't want to.
Xu Zhichun was at a loss for words. This girl had some ideas, which was rare. After thinking for a moment, she smiled and said, "How about this? We're in need of some people when we go to Lingnan. Do you want to come with me?"
Qiao'er's eyes lit up and she nodded repeatedly.
Of course she does!
She was an outlier in the village. Although no one dared to say anything openly for Xiao An's sake and the village head's sake, she knew there were many gossiping behind her back. Her mother couldn't stand it and cried and tried to persuade her, which annoyed her greatly. But she knew her mother had no bad intentions and was truly thinking about her, even though she didn't need it.
It’s better to follow Mrs. Xu!
With Madam Xu protecting her, who would dare to bully her?
Zeng Xiaojuan was reluctant to leave her daughter, but Xiaoyan persuaded her: Just think of her as marrying far away.
Zeng Xiaojuan miraculously felt that it was not impossible and relaxed.
Chunfen also refused to stay at home and insisted on following Xu Zhichun.
Marry? Sorry, she doesn't want to either.
Apart from the two of them, a dozen or so young people in the village were willing to follow Xu Zhichun and Liang Minglang.
Now that the family has money and the village has a school, many people can go to school and learn to read and write. They have gone out and seen a little bit of the outside world. Even this little bit is enough to bring about a drastic change in their thinking.
The opportunity is right in front of us. Who doesn’t want to go out and see the world?
On the day Xu Zhichun, Liang Minglang left with their two children and many young people from the village, the whole village saw them off for a long distance. When they saw the carriage team was so far away that they could no longer see them, they sighed and went back.
Thinking about the future, I am full of energy again.
Mrs. Xu said that in the future they would open up a road between Lingnan and this side and build a wide official road. If everyone works hard, goods can be sold to Lingnan in the future.
Lingnan will give priority to buying things produced here, and Lingnan's specialties will also be sold to everyone first. They are just exchanging what they have. By doing this kind of business back and forth, can't we make more money?
Inside the carriage, Xu Zhichun, Chunfen, and Qiao'er were accompanied by their two children, chatting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere. Outside, Liang Minglang rode alongside them on horseback.
Qiao'er was delighted, his eyes sparkling.
Xu Zhichun's heart is also full of hope. A new challenge is about to begin. The difference is that this time there is someone walking side by side with him. He can show his talents confidently and leave a strong mark on this world.
The sea is wide enough for fish to leap, and the sky is high enough for birds to fly.
(End of the book)
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