IBTSOME Chapter 96 Part 1

I BECAME THE STEPMOTHER OF MY EX-HUSBAND

 

Chapter 96 Part 1: The Wind Blows

 

^^

 

From the end of the sixth year of Yuanjia, the political turmoil that later generations called the Wenzhong Change had already revealed signs.

 

Countless people wrung their wrists when reading through this history. Zhang Xiao Lian had been in the cabinet for half his life, in those ten years he had been the First Assistant. How many people praised him was how many people slandered him. The later generation also half criticized half praised this powerful First Assistant. However, no matter how later generations evaluated, at this time, Zhang Xiao Lian still did what he thought was right with a clear conscience.

 

For example, choosing the Empress candidate for the Emperor.

 

After the New Year, the Emperor would be sixteen years old, not to mention imperial family, even the children from ordinary officials should consider starting a family at this age. As the head of a country, the Emperor naturally had many ministers worrying about his marriage.

 

The ministers carefully selected from the official households of the fifth grade in the capital, the third grade and above in other provinces, and carefully drafted a list of young lady with innocent backgrounds, good morals, and ages between thirteen and sixteen. The Empress Dowager Qian and the cabinet soon got a copy. As soon as the Empress Dowager held the list, she immediately circled the Qian family's young lady.

 

The Empress Dowager Qian’s thoughts were well understood. Three thousand were pampering one person, not hoping to give birth to children only long to become the woman. She herself could stand up because of her family, of course, she understood that the Emperor’s family womenfolk have so many benefits. Now because of her the Qian family had become one of the most honorable family in the capital. It didn’t make sense for them to have so much influence but didn’t send their daughter to the palace.

 

The Empress Dowager wanted to let the Qian family continued to be the empress, but how could First Assistant Zhang agree.

 

First Assistant Zhang had made plans for the Emperor for the next ten years. This year the Emperor would choose a candidate who has both ability and political integrity, has warm and virtuous personality to become the empress. According to the legacy of the founding emperor, the concubines of the harem shall not be selected from the houses of important officials, and to select the best from ordinary families, this was to prevent the monopoly of the maternal relatives. Although the legacy of the founding emperor was not very realistic, but the main idea was not wrong. That was, the Empress’s family should not be too prominent, so as not to threaten the Emperor’s power in the future.

 

And since she was the empress, her appearance must be dignified and generous, too seductive or too outstanding was not acceptable. The sage of the ancient times valued morality and literary talent, because those who were famous for their beauty all without exception became the calamity for the country.

 

In this way, one could imagine what kind of women First Assistant Zhang singled out.

 

When the list that had been instructed by the First Assistant passed on to the Emperor, the Emperor only looked at the first few names and his face turned dark.

 

The Empress Dowager also eagerly lobbied the Emperor and highly recommended her perfect nieces. However, the Emperor had the heart to set up a little palace maid by his side. The little palace maid had accompanied the Emperor for five years. The two thoughts were very much in line. Whether commenting on the ancient history or poetry, the Emperor and this palace maid had endless topics to talk about, endless jokes to tell. The Emperor ascended the throne at the age of eight. Before ascending to the throne, because Bu Guifei was especially pampered in the harem, he did not receive any attention from his father emperor, let alone favor. After he ascended the throne, although he lived in luxury, but outside there was teacher First Assistant Zhang and inside there was adoptive mother Empress Dowager Qian. Before the Emperor could enjoy his childhood, he had to learn to be an ideal sage king. For ten years in the quite Forbidden City, he could only comfortably talk with this little palace. The Emperor pulled this little palace maid as confidant, and naturally wanted to give his sweetheart a good name.

 

The First Assistant and the Empress Dowager had their own ideas, but the Emperor seemed to have a favorite candidate. After the election, the disagreement was on the verge of breaking out and gradually became uncontrollable. Afterwards, who became the empress was no longer important. The Emperor, the First Assistant, and the Empress Dowager all felt that their kindness was not reciprocated. The empress’s selection was actually just a fuse, the crux of the matter was these three people’s estrangement and grievances they accumulated over the years.

 

It was also an eventful period. When the court was rocked by the storm, at the end of the year there was a continuous snow for a month in the northwest. The farmers’ houses collapsed, cattle and sheep were frozen to death, and a large number of starvation even appeared in some places. In order to pass the year decently, the cabinet suppressed the matter, but Zhang Xiao Lian personally wrote a letter, instructing the Governors of Shanxi and Shaanxi to open the warehouse to help people.

 

Zhang Xiao Lian's heart was good, but the final result was quite different. No one dared to neglect the letter from the First Assistant, but without official court orders, many procedures could not be followed. In addition, the local officials also wanted to have a good New Year. When the news from Shanxi and Shaanxi could not be press down anymore and passed on to the Emperor’s ears, in Xi'an Prefecture alone thousands of people had died from freezing and starvation.

 

Because of this incident, the capital once again set off an uproar.

 

This time, the impeachment against Zhang Xiao Lian was vicious and fierce, far surpassing the one in early summer last year. The confusion in the court turned into a complete mess, everyone was busy writing impeachment memorials, or busy protecting themselves. Almost no one remembered that in Guanzhong every second someone died.

 

Yan Wang really couldn't stand by and watch, so he requested himself to be sent out of the capital and went to Qin and Shaanxi for disaster relief.

 

"The snow was heavy last night and the wind blew all night, but it’s sunny this morning, which is really weird."

 

"Isn't it?" Lin Wei Xi's stomach had already bulging. With the support of the maid, she slowly walked in the deep winding corridor of Yan Wang Mansion. There was heavy snow last night, and all trees in the vicinity were covered with white snow, only the snow on the roof were melted by the sun, revealing the green glazed tiles underneath.

 

Liu Su Niang carried her skirt while walking down the steps, she turned around and hurriedly said to Lin Wei Xi: "There are steps here, Wangfei be careful with your steps."

 

Lin Wei Xi cautiously stepped on the ground and said, "I am not as fragile as you think, I still able to walk, why would I be so delicate? I was kept in the house for three months to take care of my fetus, cannot come out to stretch my legs. My bones are about to rust."

 

Yan Wang went out of the capital just after the New Year to fix up the disaster situation, didn’t even celebrate the Lantern Festival. Lin Wei Xi stayed alone in the mansion, with great difficulty the imperial physician’ orders, because of the startled horse’ incident, had finally passed. As long as Lin Wei Xi did not move around too much, daily activities should be safe. Liu Su Niang felt sorry that Lin Wei Xi lived by herself with her first pregnancy, so she dared to run over to accompany Lin Wei Xi. Unexpectedly, the famous Yan Wangfei was very friendly. In the past few days, Liu Su Niang often came to Yan Wang Mansion, and she gradually became familiar with Lin Wei Xi.

 

The two of them came out of the main courtyard and walked around in the garden for half a circle, both of them were sweating thinly. There was a pavilion right in the front, Lin Wei Xi asked the maid to put down the windshield curtain, leaving only one side open, and she sat down opposite Liu Su Niang.

 

The maids filed in with charcoal fire, hot tea and pastries. In just a short time, the pavilion became fragrant and pleasant, warm and harmonious. Sitting in the pavilion, you could see the vast snow scene outside, holding hot tea and a pleasantly warm stove to enjoy the snow, the breeze was gusting, the sky was high and the air was refreshing, the depression in the chest had unknowingly disappeared.

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