Happiness Consist in Contentment

Chapter 22 The Scholar’s Wife

“Heh.” Emperor Wenjin smiled, “Plot a treason against the emperor, and none of them died.
All of them are still alive? Even the people in the palace were not implicated?” 

The eldest princess replied calmly as before: “That’s right.”

Emperor Wenjin threw away the chess piece in his hand, turned around, and looked at her, “Is this what you desire?”

The eldest princess looked back lightly, “Yes.” 

Emperor Wenjin stared at her imposingly, “Then, what to do afterward?” 

The eldest princess replied calmly: “No disposal required.” 

Emperor Wenjin widened his eyes, “No disposal required? Did you make such a fuss and just do nothing?”

The eldest princess shook her head, looked at Emperor Wenjin steadfastly, and said in a cold voice, “It’s not like that.”

Emperor Wenjin understood, and he laughed.
.

“Okay, good! You are worthy of being my daughter! You have courage!”

He smiled and asked the eldest princess, “Aren’t you afraid that they will make trouble in the future?”

The eldest princess was very calm: “Then just give them another beating.” 

Emperor Wenjin smiled, “Okay, it’s up to you.”

After finishing speaking, he turned around and said, “Come and play chess with Dad.”

A rare smile appeared on the face of the eldest princess and said with a slight smile: “Okay.”

Emperor Wenjin’s eyes were red and teary.
He looked at his daughter who came to sit opposite him.
In a trance, he recalled the Lantern Festival banquet that year.
He was still young, and he saw her in a red dress!

The red was warm and the red is dazzling!

It was as if she was the only one in the whole world, standing alone and proudly!

Enter his heart after a glance, and he can never forget it!

    …………

On the eleventh day of the Chinese New Year in the twenty-first year of Emperor Wenjin’s reign.
Emperor Wenjin abdicated and passed on the throne to his eldest daughter, Princess Zhaoying, and changed her name to Jinzhao, known as Emperor Jinzhao in history!

Since then, the Great Jin Dynasty had entered a new era!

    ………

When Liu Fang woke up, she felt into a trance.
It felt like the whole world had been replaced!

Emperor Wenjin abdicated after one night, and the eldest princess became the empress all of a sudden.

It was fine if that’s all, but Duke Liu Mansion also suddenly turned upside down.
All the sisters-in-law and elder sisters suddenly became members of the special female army led by the empress herself – the Huangling Army, and all the elder brothers and brothers-in-law seemed to know about it and were not surprised.

Liu Fang immediately rode back to Duke Liu Mansion.

The servant guarding the gate saw that it was the eighteenth young lady returning to the mansion still riding in haste.
He hurriedly opened the corner gate, stepped forward respectfully led the horse, and welcomed her in.

Liu Fang walked quickly into the mansion, walking in a hurry, turning a blind eye to the respectful and saluting servants all the way.

In the main courtyard, Madam Liu sat on a soft couch making tea and waited.
She said to Cuiru who came to report: “There is no need to report again.
When little Anfang comes later, just let her in.”

“Yes.”

Liu Fang walked into the main courtyard unsteadily, and when she stepped into the warm pavilion, Madam Liu just poured two cups of tea.

“Come here and take a sit.
I just made some tea.
I know you don’t like strong tea, so I bought some fresh tea.
Would you like to try it?”

Seeing Madam Liu’s calm and leisurely appearance, Liu Fang felt mixed feelings.

What the hell happened last night? What happened to her mother? And elder sisters, how are they doing now?

Left her in the outer city without knowing all of this.
Until now, she was still full of worries.

She didn’t really relax until she saw her mother.

But at the same time, she felt wronged: she also wanted to help, but the family just wanted to hide it from her! ! (︶︿︶)

This feeling was really uncomfortable.

Liu Fang knelt beside Madam Liu, hugged her and buried herself in Madam Liu’s arms, and wept silently.

“Mother… I, I’m really scared!”

Madam Liu silently stretched her hand to stroke her hair, quietly letting her cry.

When she calmed down completely, Madam Liu said softly: “Drink tea, it’s already cold.”

“Un”

Liu Fang didn’t ask anything.
All of them were family, she didn’t need to ask.
As long as they’re all safe and sound.

Therefore, Liu Fang only drank a cup of tea in Duke Liu Mansion, and then returned home.

Yang An was waiting at home, and when he saw her come back, he hurried forward to lead the horse for her, helped her down, and asked, “How is it? Mother-in-law and the others are all right?”

Liu Fang nodded, “Everything is fine.
Mother is still in the mood to make tea for me.”

Yang An breathed a sigh of relief.
While leading the horse into the mansion, he took her hand and said: “So, you can rest assured.
Mother-in-law is in the mood to make tea.
Presumably, everything is fine in the mansion.
Everyone is safe and well.”

Liu Fang nodded in agreement.

She looked up at the sky and said, “The weather is really good today!”

Yang An looked up, the sun was shining brightly with white clouds and blue sky, it was indeed good weather.

    ……

After the Empress ascended the throne, the entire Great Jin Dynasty took on a completely new look!

First of all, the Empress was not interested to pursue what happened on the night of the tenth day of the Chinese New Year.
Only buried all the truth.
But it didn’t stop the historians from recording the truth.

She only made a decree.
When she was alive, there was no need to let the world know about these things.
When someone finds out in the future, then let the future generations comment on it.

Secondly, the empress reformed the system of officials’ admission and appointment.
She also revised the laws of the Great Jin Dynasty and gave great support to merchants and craftsmen.

Finally, there were many more female officials related to Duke Liu Mansion in the court! It also uncovered many unknown corruptions and other acts.
Therefore, the entire court was completely overturned in an instant!

For example, the eldest sister⎯⎯Ansu directly became the Minister of the Household Department.
For the former Minister of the Household Department, sorry, corruption, collaborating with the enemy, and all kinds of evil things.
It was enough to exterminate the whole family.

Fortunately, the Empress refined the law and only dealt with criminals, and did not implicate the innocent.
It was only searching the house and confiscating the property, that was definitely inevitable.
After all, we should recover all illegal gains involved in corruption during the term of the Minister of Household.

The fifth elder sister⎯⎯Anfei was thrown into the Ministry of Punishment.
Although she was not the minister, she was a special envoy, directly under the Empress.
Specialized in assisting Dali Temple in investigating and prosecuting all personnel from the Six Ministries of the imperial court, imperial clan court, and all personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other national institutions.

[The Imperial Clan Court or Court of the Imperial Clan was an institution responsible for all matters pertaining to the imperial family under the Ming and Qin Dynasty]

Who asked her to tell Prince An about what happened on the tenth day of the Chinese New Year, and then Prince An ran to the fourth prince to brag, and then the empress found out.

Being tricked by her own husband, this can’t be helped.
╮(︶﹏︶)╭

The second elder sister⎯⎯Anying took over the defense of the capital.
The third elder sister⎯⎯Anyun became the clerk who followed the empress.
The fourth elder sister⎯⎯Anfu joined the Ministry of Personnel or Appointments.
The sixth elder sister⎯⎯Anwaan entered the imperial clan court.
The seventh elder sister⎯⎯Anmo joined the Ministry of War.
The eighth elder sister⎯⎯ Anfen joined the army of fice cities.
The ninth elder sister⎯⎯Anrong joined the Honglu Temple and became the minister of the Honglu Temple.

[Honglu Temple is in charge of foreign guests, court ceremonies, and festivals.
It is one of the nine temples.
The central government of the Tang Dynasty was in charge of ethnic affairs, foreign affairs reception activities, and funeral ceremonies]

The tenth elder sister⎯⎯Anying joined the Ministry of Industry.
The eleventh elder sister⎯⎯ Anru joined the imperial army as a commander.
The twelfth elder sister⎯⎯ Anxuan entered the Ministry of Rites and became a minister.
The thirteenth elder sister⎯⎯Anming joined the Imperial Censor and became a censor.
The fourteenth elder sister⎯⎯ Anli, and the fifteenth elder sister⎯⎯An Yin, became the empress’ personal bodyguards.

What surprised Liu Fang the most was that the sixteenth elder sister⎯⎯Anxi, went to the capital government office and became a member of the governor’s reserve.

The seventeenth elder sister⎯⎯Anhe still stayed in the Huangling Army and she was a female general, she has no time to wander around.

Looking at it this way, more than half of the people in the entire imperial court were from Duke Liu Mansion!

After all, Liu Fang still has twenty-two older brothers and brothers-in-law.

It really surprised Liu Fang.
She never knew that her elder brothers and elder sisters were so powerful!

At the same time, Duke Liu Mansion became a hot upstart in the capital The empress trusts Duke Liu Mansion very much!

Duke Liu Mansion was also suddenly crowded with visitors and every day was full of endless streams of horses and carriages, which was very lively.

But Madam Liu was very annoyed.
She directly twisted Duke Liu’s ear and asked him to write a memorial, and left the Duke’s title to the eldest son to inherit, and the couple went to travel around the world with all their money.

Liu Fang: … Well, mother has worked hard for most of her life, so it’s time to be unrestrained.

Just like that, Liu Fang and her elder brothers and elder sisters stayed in the capital, watching the empress gradually govern the Great Jin Dynasty, which still had the concept of male superiority and female inferiority into a prosperous and powerful country!

In six short years, Liu Fang gave birth to children, took care of the housework, and lived a peaceful, warm, and happy life with her husband⎯⎯Yang An.

And in the whole of the Great Jin Dynasty, there were women’s schools, military colleges, technical colleges, and women’s imperial examinations.
Men accepted women as officials wholeheartedly.
Women came out to work, and women could be self-reliant…

Even for common people in remote farmer’s homes, there was no such thing as preferring sons to daughters like in the past.
At least, there was no such thing as a girl being drowned as soon as she was born like in the past.

The laws of the Great Jin Dynasty, with the promotion and attention of the empress.
Nowadays, people were more and more accustomed to going to the Yamen when they have problems.
Seeking the truth from the officials.

This was the same as going to the police if you encounter something in later generations.
(-^〇^-)

With the popularization of the law, both etiquette and moral standards of the people of the Great Jin Dynasty gradually improved…

Liu Fang now feels quite emotional every time she went out: Maybe, in the eyes of her mother, what she once longed for was the present world!

It is said that the empress was promoting the abolition of slavery recently.
Maybe Shu Mo and the others will be able to live more freely in a short time!

What a wonderful time!

Liu Fang also finally understood her mother’s reluctance.
She was not doing it for her own glory and wealth, nor for the sake of fame.
She just wanted to fight against the unfair world and wanted to tell the world that women were never dodder and also not golden birds.
Women are phoenixes! Can withstand the fire of nirvana, can withstand the storm, and can even fight against the world! Women are never weak!

Those men who imagine women to be weak, force them to abandon themselves, and keep them in cages at their mercy were actually the biggest weak ones!

Seeing women walking freely on the street.
Liu Fang who sitting in the carriage was smiling brightly.

Yang An now runs an enlightenment school at home, which did not accept many students.
He was very leisurely on weekdays, so he often went out with Liu Fang.

Seeing her smiling happily, Yang An asked, “Just going out, you are so happy?”

Liu Fang nodded, “Look, there are more and more girls on the street now.
There were not so many girls in the past.”

Yang An smiled.
“It’s naturally different when the empress is in power.”

Liu Fang turned to look at him, “What if the empress is gone? Will it be back to the way it was before, or even worse?”

Yang An shook his head, “No.
The empress is still very young!”

Liu Fang smiled.
Indeed, the empress was only forty, still very young!

“By the way, mother and father are coming back to the capital.
After all, they are also old.
It’s not good to wander around all the time.
The elder brother has already picked them up in person…”