Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 436 (Final Chapter) (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The news of the emperor's death arrived in the early hours of the morning.

After the death knell tolled, all the lights in the city came on.

Officials from various households hurriedly searched their chests and drawers for linen clothes, while stewards ordered servants to repaint the vermilion gates white. Memorials originally intended for submission the next day were all stuffed back into the study.

The shopkeeper of the funeral clothing shop, who had been asleep until midnight, slipped on his shoes and got up to open the shop. In an instant, it was crowded with officials and commoners who came to buy white paper and hemp clothing.

Silk shops also took action in advance, removing all "five-colored" satins from their shelves.

Overnight, the whole country was in mourning.

The men of the Shen and Lu families also got busy.

The Crown Prince ascended the throne and observed the mourning period, taking over all state affairs. No one dared to be idle. Fortunately, everyone was prepared for this day, and some things had been planned in advance, so everything proceeded in an orderly manner amidst the busyness.

However, Shen Qingzhou left early and returned late, and Lu Jia hardly saw him during those twenty-seven days. Meanwhile, she herself had to go to the palace to kneel and pay homage with the ladies of various noble families every day.

The Crown Princess was ordered to preside over the funeral, but she was pregnant and it was not advisable for her to overwork. Therefore, the Dowager Consort asked Lu Jia to assist her.

Lu Jia was young and had never taken on such an important task before, so she had to be put in the job and learn as she went, and she didn't make any mistakes.

Before the imperial mausoleum was fully completed, the emperor's body was temporarily placed in the mausoleum's sacrificial hall after several months in the funeral palace.

After the Crown Prince completed his mourning period, he held a coronation ceremony according to custom, changed the era name to "Changlong," and on the same day, he made his Crown Princess Empress and honored Consort Yi as Grand Empress Dowager. He also appointed his eldest grandson as Crown Prince.

The downfall of the Yan family and the change of dynasties were completely different from those of the previous life.

At this time in the previous life, Lu Jia was still suffering in the inner quarters of the Yan family mansion, Shen Qingzhou was still plotting behind Shen Bo's back, and Lu Jie was still playing along with Jiang Shi. From the day Yan Song was executed, history took a complete turn and went in another direction.

After the coronation ceremony, the new emperor granted a general amnesty. In addition to the Yang family and others who had been exonerated by the late emperor, many upright officials who had been arrested and imprisoned by the late emperor were also pardoned.

A large portion of the pardoned officials were reappointed by the new emperor and proposed many useful measures.

The emperor also reduced taxes for half a year, and since the national treasury was still relatively full, he also allocated funds to strengthen military defenses.

Qin Qian, the eldest son of General Qin, accepted the mission and went to the Northwest Camp to become the new general in charge of defending the city.

In the imperial court, the new emperor still appointed Lu Jie as the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and granted him the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince.

Shen Bo was appointed Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, but he declined the position of Minister of War and preferred to remain as Minister of Personnel.

The emperor tried to persuade him several times, but he recommended other suitable candidates for the position. He also recommended several promising young generals to the emperor and promised to attend the consultations whenever there was war.

He Ping remained the Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and was granted the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince.

Because of their merit in saving the emperor's life, the emperor wanted to repay these people. After thinking it over, he couldn't think of a suitable reward, so he arranged for He Ping's eldest son to marry the empress's niece, which led to a happy marriage later on.

Inspired by this, he thought of arranging a marriage for both Lu and Shen.

He offered Shen Bo a widowed wife of a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. She was known for her virtue and kindness, but Shen Bo declined the offer. Instead, he granted her a lot of fertile land.

Lu Jie didn't object, but he was extremely picky. When the emperor introduced the wife of a scholar to him, he said she was too virtuous and that he could only keep her as a figurehead if he married her; he was not worthy of her.

The emperor then tried to match him with the 26-year-old daughter of the General of Wuwei's household. Lu Jie felt that since she was in charge of the household affairs in her family and no one dared to make a mistake at home or outside, she must have a bad temper.

The emperor, having figured out his bad temper, simply gave up.

However, these words somehow reached the Wuwei General's Mansion, and thus, the group of people cursing outside the Lu Mansion was joined by another elderly lady from the Wuwei General's Mansion. Among the group, the older people became idle, while the younger generation was busy.

Shen Qingzhou was transferred to the position of Vice Minister of Works and was appointed to oversee river transport throughout the country. From then on, he was required to travel frequently.

Because Lu Jie seized the imperial edict before the emperor's death, Grand Commandant Shen generously promised Hu Yucheng that if he could pacify the southeast within a year, he would clear Hu Yucheng of his crimes.

So in just three or four months, Hu's army had already reclaimed part of the sea area. At the same time, several powerful naval forces and several generals who would be remembered for generations emerged.

The area of ​​sea that was taken over became a new target for the Ministry of Works to explore.

A year later, the Japanese pirates on the sea were finally all captured, and Hu Yucheng was rewarded with merit and promoted to the rank of second-grade general.

However, because the imperial edict that Lu Jie had snatched from the emperor's bed was unknown to anyone except those present, Hu Yucheng, who had returned victorious, always felt that he had something on the Grand Tutor and remained well-behaved, not daring to act rashly.

This, ironically, allowed him to live a peaceful life.

When the ships return to port, true peace reigns throughout the land.

Time flies.

Three years after the new emperor ascended the throne, He Ping relinquished his position as commander-in-chief and retired early. He was succeeded by his eldest son, He Wei, who was the son-in-law of the empress's brother.

Li Quan declined the emperor's bestowal of titles and, after spending forty-nine days accompanying the late emperor at the imperial mausoleum, returned to resign from his position as the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Later, he lived out his days in his private residence, visiting his old friends' homes whenever he had free time, and occasionally going to the palace to chat with the Empress Dowager. He lived a long and healthy life until the age of eighty-three, when he died peacefully in his bed.

The palace was also very stable.

Shortly after her coronation, the Empress gave birth to her second child. The delivery was difficult, but thankfully, she recovered without serious complications and delivered the Emperor's second son; both mother and child were safe.

When Lu Jia went to visit her, she seemed to see the emperor behind the curtain, asking the imperial physician a question, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Perhaps it's because they no longer need to rush into taking concubines.

After all, the emperor's own health wasn't very good, so he probably couldn't spare much energy to take care of the harem.

When the osmanthus blossoms were in full bloom, Lu Jia gave birth to her child.

As luck would have it, Shen Qingzhou was returning from his trip to Tanzhou that day, and Qiu Niang, knowing that she was about to have her grandson, also came back.

Everyone was happily holding a welcome banquet at the mansion, and they were even discussing how to name the place. Just as Lu Jia was about to go back to her room to rest, she started experiencing labor pains.

very smooth.

It's a girl.

Its eyes and brows were bright, and its cry was loud and clear.

Before a name was chosen, everyone unanimously called her "Guai Guai" (meaning "good girl").

Only Lu Ying, carrying her whisk—after glancing at the child, Zhi Xin ran back to the Lu residence without a word, retrieved a portrait of Madam Lu from Lu Jie's pile of paintings, and presented it to Lu Jia:

"Look! Her eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth look exactly like her maternal grandmother's, don't they?"
"Is it? Is it?"

"..."

(End of the article)