Chapter 423 Peaceful Happiness
The Empress Dowager Shui also followed the retired emperor out of the palace to live in a separate courtyard. Shui felt that since she was only the emperor's legal mother, it would be better not to compete with the biological mother for the spotlight in the palace. This way, they could still have some kinship, and the emperor would be able to pay more attention to his daughter Fushou and her family in the future.
It’s great that she can still enjoy her old age in peace!
The emperor and the emperor emeritus both appreciated Shui's understanding. She didn't live in the villa for long. The emperor and the emperor emeritus quietly sent someone to send Shui to Fushou on the coast, where she could live a life surrounded by her children and grandchildren.
After both of her children passed the imperial examinations and became scholars, Zhao Lingmeng did not make a big deal about it. Instead, she just let them go.
Because the imperial examination would take three years to pass! So Zhao Houjing and Zhao Houming should have some fun and attend poetry gatherings.
At first, Zhao Houjing and Zhao Houming enthusiastically attended various poetry gatherings every day. As men of letters, they would drink wine, admire flowers, and write poetry, feeling that their talent surpassed that of Li Bai, and their inner satisfaction grew infinitely.
Later, for some reason, every time Zhao Houjing and Zhao Houming attended such poetry gatherings, they would always meet all kinds of women, some selling themselves to bury their fathers, some losing their handkerchiefs, some losing their sachets, some falling into the water, some whose carriages broke down. It really opened their eyes.
When their mother gave them and their brothers scientific knowledge in the past, they thought she was worrying too much, but they were slapped in the face quickly and violently.
There was no other way, so Zhao Houjing and Zhao Houming had to cancel all the banquets and return to their nine-to-five study life.
Zhao Houyang and Yang Chengchen now have infinite enthusiasm for reading. They go to the Royal Academy to study seriously every day. In the past, they only stayed in the academy for half a day, but now they stay there for a whole day as long as they have nothing to do.
Zhao Lingmeng saw how hard her children worked, so she couldn't just go live on the farm alone. She could only stay in Yuanjing to accompany them.
The Emperor's departure to the other courtyard resulted in Lord Zhao and his wife, Madam Wei, moving to live in a courtyard surrounding the other courtyard. This made Zhao Ling's dream of visiting his father and mother seem far away.
But Old Lady Wei was still happy living on the farm. When she was bored, she would follow Zhao Lingmeng's example and plant vegetables, flowers and fruit trees on the farm. She was very busy all day and had no worries.
It's like only at this age can you truly do what you love. You can sleep until you wake up naturally, do whatever you want, and don't have to worry about family, husband, or children.
Zhao Ling dreamed that her mother was living happily on the farm. She had no intention of bringing the old woman back to live with her. She would just take her son to her mother's farm to stay for a few days from time to time.
As for Lord Zhao, he must have played with the emperor every day. The two old men would go hiking, fishing, and playing chess together. Sometimes they would even imitate the people in the books and go on incognito visits.
Anyway, every time the retired emperor saw something bad during his incognito visit, he would write back to scold the emperor. Gradually, the retired emperor also realized the benefits of having someone to shoulder this burden.
Every time Zhao Lingmeng went out of the city and saw the smiling faces of the people outside Yuanjing, she was very happy. In the past year or two, there has been no war around Jingguo, and many families have hope again. They don't have to worry about their sons going to serve in the military tomorrow.
Although life is still hard, as long as the family is together, there is hope and everything we do will be enjoyable.
Time kept rolling forward, and soon the day of the new emperor's selection arrived. After all, the new emperor was still so young, and who wouldn't want to send their daughter into the new emperor's harem? If they had a son or daughter, they would be blessed with wealth, glory, and protection in the future.
However, Zhao Lingmeng didn't think this matter had anything to do with her. After all, she didn't have a daughter. Her nieces were still young. Her two brothers couldn't possibly allow such young nieces to enter the palace! Wouldn't that be insane? If that happened, her two brothers would probably be beaten to death by their father, Old Marquis Zhao.
But Zhao Lingmeng didn't think it mattered. However, the noble ministers in Yuanjing were all staring at Zhao Lingmeng's movements. After all, in the eyes of these people, her two eldest sons were old enough to get engaged. Zhao Houjing was over twelve years old, and Zhao Houming was eleven years old.
They were engaged this year, and after completing the three books and six ceremonies, getting married around the age of fifteen was the norm in this era. Furthermore, they were both considered accomplished men now, so they were definitely very popular!
Seeing Princess Funing's favor, everyone speculated that her two sons would be granted marriages. Therefore, the quality of these concubines was extremely good.
The Crown Prince's backyard is still empty! Not to mention the Crown Princess, there's not even a woman with a title. The backyard is so clean it's a bit scary. Prince Ruihe doesn't have a princess either. And then there are the two children of Princess Funing. Plus, this is the first time the new emperor has chosen a concubine since he ascended the throne. Who wouldn't be excited?
Zhao Lingmeng finally woke up early that morning, ready to order a search of the Princess's residence. This was a long-standing ritual for Zhao Lingmeng. Every once in a while, she would conduct a thorough search of the residence. After all, in this era without surveillance, she was afraid someone might have smuggled something dangerous into the mansion.
The day Yang Chengchen came was when their Royal Academy was on holiday. He came early, and Zhao Lingmeng had just gotten up when she heard the servant report that Prince Ruihe had arrived.
Zhao Lingmeng originally wanted the several masters in the mansion to have breakfast in their own rooms, and then he led his men to start searching. Now that Yang Chengchen had arrived, Zhao Lingmeng ordered his men to set up breakfast in the courtyard of Menglinyuan, and they searched the rest of the house.
When Yang Chengchen, Zhao Houjing and the other two brothers came in together, breakfast had already been set up in the courtyard of Menglinyuan, filling up the table.
Zhao Lingmeng had already been sitting at the table waiting for them.
The older Zhao Houyang gets, the more outgoing his personality becomes. From a distance, before he even greeted anyone, he saw a table full of delicious food.
She immediately started to tease Zhao Lingmeng, "Mom, you're so partial. When my cousin wasn't here, you let us have our own food in the yard, but now that he's here, look at this table full of delicious food!"
Zhao Lingmeng glared at her lively little son speechlessly and replied calmly, "If you don't want to eat breakfast here, you can go back to your yard."
Zhao Houyang
Yang Chengchen didn't care whether his cousin was embarrassed or not! Anyway, he immediately stepped forward and saluted Zhao Lingmeng.
"Auntie, pay your respects to Auntie!"
Zhao Houjing and Zhao Houming also immediately stepped forward and saluted.
Zhao Houyang, who was one step behind the three, was a little furious. "You three brothers have no moral integrity."
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