A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 672 Little Diao Chan

Li Yi walked out of the south gate of the East Palace.
Zhang Anan, accompanied by a young eunuch, called out to him from behind, "Big Sable, wait a moment."

"Marquis of Wenshui." Li Yi was very polite to this eunuch who had been granted the title of Marquis, Pillar of State, and General of the Imperial Guard. He had heard that this gaunt-looking eunuch was also known as the Sword Saint.

He was once a ruthless warrior who fought his way through the enemy lines seven times.

He was also one of Li Shimin's most trusted confidants.

"Big Sable, you forgot to bring your Diao Chan," Zhang Anan said with a laugh.

Li Yi pointed to the sandalwood chests in the hands of his retainers Song Yi and Chen Lingjiao, "The Diao Chan crowns are inside, two of them."

"No, there's also Diao Chan."

Li Yi was completely confused.

"There's also a Diao Chan crown that belongs to the Duke of Ying."

“Big sable, come with me.”

Li Yi followed the legendary eunuch for a while, wondering what he meant by forgetting Diao Chan.

However, he was even more puzzled when he saw that Zhang Anan had brought him to see a beautiful woman.

The woman was young and beautiful.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"General Zhang, what's going on?"

"This beauty is no ordinary beauty; it's said in Chang'an that she's the Little Diao Chan."

"She is Diaochan?"

Zhang Anan chuckled, "It seems the Prince of Dai has heard of her before."

“Yes, she is a woman from the Wei family of Jingzhao, the daughter of Wei Kuangbo, the Duke of Shuguo of Yun, and the great-granddaughter of Wei Xiaokuan, the Duke of Yunguo,” Li Yi said.

This young Diao Chan was very famous in Chang'an, both for her beauty and for her background.

Li Yi also knew that she had an older sister, Wei Nizi, who married Wang Shichong's crown prince at the end of the Sui Dynasty and became the Crown Princess of Zheng. Later, after Luoyang was captured, Wei Nizi and her cousin Wei Gui, two young and beautiful widows, entered Li Shimin's harem.

"I heard that this little Diao Chan is engaged to the son of the Yang family of Hongnong?"

"Yes, when Wei Kuangbo was still alive, he married his eldest daughter to the Du family of Jingzhao, his second daughter to Prince Zheng, and his third daughter to Yang Wang's son."

Yang Wang was a member of the Sui Dynasty imperial family. During the Daye era, he served as the Minister of Justice and the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. Later, he supported Wang Shichong's usurpation of the throne and was appointed as the Minister of Personnel in the Zheng Dynasty.

Both Yang Wang and Wang Shichong's sons were betrothed to Wei Kuangbo's daughter.

However, a few years ago, Wei Tante was still young, so before they could get married after their engagement, Wang Shichong was defeated and killed, and Yang Wang was also executed by the Tang Dynasty.

"This woman is twenty-eight years old this year,"

"The Wei family originally intended to send this girl to the Eastern Palace, but the Crown Prince still remembered the Prince of Dai's great achievements and specially bestowed her upon the Prince of Dai."

Wei Tan Te, courtesy name Pi Ye Li, was as beautiful as Diao Chan and as fragrant as orchids and chrysanthemums.

Wei Kuangbo died young.

There were still many members of the Yun Gong branch of the Wei family in Jingzhao, and Wei Kuangbo had many children. The Wei family was very good at marriage alliances. In the past, Wei Kuangbo not only married his eldest daughter to the Du family in Jingzhao, but also wanted his second son, Wei Siqi, to marry Du Shiniang, the daughter of Du Yan from the Fengxiang Marquis's Mansion in Jingzhao.

However, this plan was later ruined by Li Yi.

The Wei family even tried to take action against Li Yi once because of this, but they didn't gain anything in the end. They lost both their wife and their troops, and suffered heavy losses both inside and outside the family.

did not expect,
After all these years of twists and turns,

This Wei Erlang, now even his own sister has to become Li Yi's concubine.

Back then, even the steward of the Wei family dared to look down on Li Yi.

Now, even the pampered third young lady of the Wei family has to become Li Yi's concubine.

Li Shimin was indeed good at business.

He bestowed the daughter of the Wei family upon Li Yi as a concubine. Although she belonged to the Wei family, he used her to win over his confidants.

Of course, Li Shimin also made sacrifices, after all, this Third Lady Wei was originally engaged to Yang Zhengben, the son of Yang Wang of the Hongnong Yang family.
After the fall of the Zheng Dynasty in Luoyang, Yang Wang was executed, and the Wei family was no longer willing to continue the marriage alliance. When Wei San Niangzi was fourteen or fifteen years old and had become even more beautiful, the Wei family wanted to send her to the Eastern Palace to become Li Jiancheng's concubine.

But before they could even...
Li Jiancheng thus became a concubine's son.
The Wei family quickly tried to salvage the situation by having the Wei sisters from Li Shimin's harem step in, hoping to send Wei Tante to Li Shimin's side as well.

Li Shimin, however, was somewhat disdainful.

I find the Wei family's actions disgusting.

No matter how beautiful Vyndand was, so what?

In the face of true power, beauty is never a scarce commodity.

Wei Tantuo was both beautiful and of high status, but Li Shimin was not surprised. Seeing through the Wei family's intentions, Li Shimin directly bestowed Wei Tantuo upon Li Yi as a concubine.

Knowing that Li Yi had a past grudge against the Wei family, they still bestowed the gift upon Li Yi.

Li Yi gazed at the stunningly beautiful and captivating Wittant in the distance.
She could be considered Li Shimin's sister-in-law.

"General Zhang, I have many wives and concubines,"

Zhang Anan laughed and said, "The Prince of Dai is still young; wouldn't it be wonderful to take in many beautiful concubines and maids? I heard that after the Prince of Zhao returned to the capital..."
In just a few days, the Prince's mansion has gained over a dozen beautiful concubines, maids, and courtesans. Now he enjoys beautiful women singing and dancing at home every day.

The new crown prince's gifts cannot be refused.

"Doesn't this matter require the Wei family's consent?"

"Who in the Wei family needs to agree? Wei Kuangbo has been dead for ten years. Among those young men in the Wei family, who can be in charge?"
"His Highness the Crown Prince is both a ruler in public and a brother-in-law in private. Can't he be the head of the Wei family?" Zhang Anan chuckled twice. "I've already handed the man over to the Prince of Dai. I still need to go to the Taiji Palace to serve as a gatekeeper, so I won't take up any more of the Prince's time."
When I have some free time, I'll go to the Prince of Dai's residence and ask for a couple of drinks.

This guy walks so quietly.

Before Li Yi could go over, Wei Tant came over on her own initiative. Judging from her expression, she was already aware of the current situation.

“Viyali pays his respects to Minister Li.”

The beautiful woman bowed to Li Yi; she was not only good-looking, but her voice was also melodious.

They are born with a clipped voice.

Everyone has different aesthetic standards.
But Vidal is an absolutely stunning beauty that everyone would praise.

“What does Vilaya mean?” Li Yi asked.

"Vishali is a Sanskrit word, often referring to Vaishali in Buddhist scriptures. In Sanskrit, it originally means 'vast and pure rice paddies.' In Buddhist scriptures, it is recorded as the place of the Buddha's Nirvana, and in Chinese it is often translated as 'vast and pure'..."

By detaching oneself from the physical and mental aspects, one can attain the perfection of virtue (Vīrya Paramita).

Li Yi eventually brought Diao Chan along.

This is the new crown prince's sister-in-law, given to Yi as a concubine. How could he refuse?

On the way home,
The procession was enormous. A hundred guards and constables from the Yongzhou government cleared the way, while plainclothes officers kept watch.

The patrol cavalry of the Left and Right Martial Guards

The left and right guards are swordsmen and shieldmen.

The innermost layer consisted of the Imperial Guards stationed there, along with Li Yi's personal guards.

A large group of over three hundred people.

All pedestrians on the road had to step aside and bow respectfully to let Prime Minister Li pass first.

This stance,
Even Li Yi felt it was too extravagant and ostentatious.

But this was arranged personally by Li Shimin.
Li Yi had been assassinated in Chang'an a few years ago.

In this special period, beneath the calm surface of Chang'an, there are still undercurrents, and Li Shimin dares not be careless.

of course,

As the minister who made the greatest contribution to the enthronement of Yuan Mou, Li Yi now holds many titles, so it is only right that he has more guards.

Grand Master of the Palace, Minister of Works, Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, Attendant-in-Ordinary, Governor of Yongzhou, General of the Left Guard, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Pillar of the State, Prince of Dai,

Any one of those titles is impressive enough.

Back at the Shengyefang Mansion,
Du Shiniang didn't care about Wei Tante, who was brought by Li Yi.
Instead, he warmly pulled Lady Wei into the house, introduced her to the women in the family, and immediately arranged a courtyard for her, as well as providing all kinds of food, clothing and daily necessities for the servants and maids.

at night,

The whole family had dinner together.
This is a tradition that Li Yi always maintains when he's at home.

Only when he is not home will each household have special meals prepared for them. Once he returns, dinner will definitely be served in the main dining room, with the whole family eating together.

In Li Yi's view, it was very lively.

Moreover, he is currently away from home for extended periods.
With many wives and concubines, and a large family, he was rarely home, and even when he was, he was always busy. Dinner was a time for family gatherings, providing a lively atmosphere and opportunities for interaction, especially with the children.
Otherwise, he was really worried that these children wouldn't be close to him when they grew up.

Weyton also joined the dinner.

She was still a little unaccustomed to it, and even a little shy.

Du Shiniang was quite warm towards her, and the other concubines were also polite. They didn't seem to care much about the reputation of the Wei family of Jingzhao.

After all, most of them came from noble families.

Dugu is the current crown prince's cousin; her family is one of the eight pillars of the state.

Zheng Rou Niang was a woman from the Zheng family of Xingyang, one of the five prominent families in Guandong. Although her father was originally a member of the Crown Prince's faction, he was certainly not as powerful as before, but the reputation of the five prominent families in Guandong still existed.

The Pei family, that's the Pei family of Hedong...

After dinner,

The servants caught many fireflies.

Li Yi then took out a glass water bottle from his spatial storage, filled it with some grass, put the fireflies inside, and sealed it.

Blow out the lights in the room.

Suddenly, the fireflies twinkled like little stars.

The children cheered excitedly.

Every child wants that glass water bottle filled with fireflies.

The usually harmonious siblings suddenly erupted into their first major battle, fighting fiercely for control.

Li Yi couldn't persuade him no matter what.
Finally, he had to call the children's mothers over, and they each took their own children away. But hearing the children crying and screaming, Li Yi had no choice but to take out smaller glass water cups from his spatial storage.

Each cup was filled with fireflies, and the mouth of the cup was covered with a cloth, and a simple firefly star cup was made.

"One for each of you, no more fighting or grabbing, you can exchange them to play with."

The children stopped crying and started laughing.

Everyone held their own firefly like a precious treasure, and quickly blew out the lights in the room to watch the fireflies twinkle.

"Children are so innocent. Even though they sometimes bicker and fight, they make up as soon as they're done."

"Ah Lang, do you think our children will fight so fiercely when they grow up?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "What is there for our family to fight over? This title can only be inherited by the eldest son of the legitimate wife. Others can't compete for it even if they want to."

This right to enter officialdom through hereditary privilege was also subject to limitations.

What one can fight for is only some money and land, but these were already stipulated in the laws of the Tang Dynasty.

Family assets, property, divided across the street, land, gardens, and servants each receiving half.

The system of inheritance of family property was actually quite unexpected for many people. When Li Yi first came to the Tang Dynasty, he thought that legitimate sons would receive more, while illegitimate sons would receive less, or even nothing at all.

It turned out that the children of legitimate and illegitimate children received equal shares, except for those born out of wedlock.

The eldest son, or the legitimate heir, can inherit privileges such as titles, official positions granted through family connections, or the right to continue the family line.

But for the vast majority of families, there is neither a throne to inherit nor a noble title to inherit; what they can inherit is property.

Of course, in reality, it may not necessarily be divided equally.

The laws of the Tang Dynasty did not allow separate registrations or separate property; that is, while the parents were still alive, brothers could not divide the family property. However, to prevent future disputes over the division of property among their children, the vast majority of people would pre-divide their property, which was equivalent to making a will in advance.

While the parents are still alive, the property is still jointly owned, but it has already been divided in advance. After the parents die, it will be distributed according to the pre-determined distribution. Generally, such pre-distribution is witnessed by the maternal uncle, village head, village chief, and other relatives.

In this way, some people will definitely get more and some will get less.

Daughters do not have independent inheritance rights, but a woman's dowry belongs to her personally and is not included in the distribution of family property.

Li Shimin, Li Jiancheng, and Li Yuanji, the three brothers, were willing to kill each other in their struggle for the throne, but Li Yi's sons would at most fight over some property. Moreover, if Li Yi didn't divide it up beforehand, it would be divided equally among the brothers, whether legitimate or illegitimate.

"I suddenly brought Wei Shi back today, why aren't you angry?" Li Yi asked Du Shiniang.

"The daughter of the Wei family of Jingzhao, who is from the Yun Gong branch, is becoming a concubine for our son-in-law. That would be a great honor for our Sikong Mansion."

Du Shiniang nestled into Li Yi's arms, her voice becoming gentle and tender, "I'm so happy that Wei Sanniang has come to our mansion, but tonight, Ah Lang has to sleep in my room."

She said sweetly, "My love, you have to plant one for me tonight."

Li Yi put his arm around her waist and smiled as he agreed.

I won't bother calculating any auspicious dates; I just need to spend quality time with her and cherish her.

"You've lost some weight, you don't have much meat on your bones. You need to eat more. How can you get pregnant without nutrition? If you have more meat on your bones, the baby in your belly will have enough nutrition, and you'll have enough breast milk after the baby is born..."

Du Shiniang blushed and said, "Okay, I'll make it up properly tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)