kingnovel Chapter 271 Hexagram 8
Chapter 271 Hexagram 8
Princess Qingning, who had been tricked away by the old nanny, wandered over to Li Xiaonuan's residence and simply told Li Xiaonuan about the current situation.
It turned out that on that day, after Wei Yu brought his men back to support Zhao Wangchuan, he hurriedly entered the city.
When he learned that Li Xiaonuan was missing, he searched the entire Prince Jing's villa.
Finally, it was Wei Yu who remembered Xiao Si's quirks that led to the blasting of an opening in the burned-down corner tower.
At the time, Wei Yu thought that even if people were injured in the explosion, it would be better than them being trapped and dying underground.
Just as Wei Yu had predicted, Xiao Si had indeed buried himself and Li Xiaonuan underground.
The moment Wei Yu picked up Li Xiaonuan, his whole body was trembling.
He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he had returned any later, and Li Xiaonuan had passed away peacefully.
Wei Yu, who saved Li Xiaonuan, took Xiao Si, who was still running a fever, away.
They were about to set off for the Northwest.
Also, Zhao Wangchuan led his men to hunt down General Wang and the First Prince.
Seeing that she could not escape, the empress hanged herself outside Guang'an Gate. The emperor hung her body outside the gate, saying that it would be left to rot for forty-nine days.
Now, the remaining fewer than 30,000 Imperial Guards are purging the Empress's faction within the city.
The emperor seemed to hate the empress's faction to the core. Regardless of whether they had committed serious crimes, all members of the empress's faction had their homes confiscated, were dismissed from their posts, and imprisoned.
It is said that those ministers who fiercely resisted were executed on the spot.
General Wang was actually quite selfish; he did not take his family members from Beijing with him.
The Empress's nephew, Wang Jihuai, was used as a shield by the eldest prince during their escape and was shot into a pile of thorns.
However, many people say that the Wang family uncle and nephew had already started their own families when they were in the Northwest.
The families of the princes in the capital were nothing more than a smokescreen placed before the emperor by General Wang and his nephew.
The chaos has ended, and we are now in the final stages. The emperor has ordered that the families of those who were accidentally injured or killed be properly compensated.
The compensation for the innocent civilians was paid out of the confiscated property.
After appeasing the innocent people and merchants in and around the capital, the emperor began to arrange for the vacancies left by the ministers whose properties had been confiscated.
Because this case involves a large number of officials, there is a shortage of personnel to appoint and dismiss.
Therefore, the emperor had no choice but to demote those inexperienced Hanlin scholars to local official positions. Then, he would gradually promote capable individuals through a step-by-step process.
Even so, there are still many vacancies in official positions. Therefore, the emperor can only wait until after the imperial examinations next spring to make appointments.
Thinking about the imperial examinations next year, Li Xiaonuan thought of Zhou Fangfang and her brother.
When things got chaotic in the capital, Li Xiaonuan had sent someone to fetch the brother and sister to stay temporarily in another courtyard.
But the brother and sister refused, saying they would go to the refugee camp with the crowd.
It's just unknown whether the two of them have safely returned to their rented place.
"Don't worry, your parents went to see the brother and sister this morning. I heard from the messenger that the brother and sister had a wonderful encounter." The little princess said, then covered her mouth and laughed.
"A serendipitous encounter? What kind of serendipitous encounter?" Li Xiaonuan asked curiously, looking at the mischievous little princess.
"Of course it's a good thing. Do you know that your brother Zhou actually mistook a young lady for a man and brought her back to his residence?" The little princess laughed even more happily.
"Ah~ was that woman dressed as a man?" Li Xiaonuan asked.
These days, if another story like Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai came along, it would be too beautiful.
"How did you know? That woman was dressed in men's clothing. But your mother recognized her as a woman at a glance. I really don't know how dense your Zhou brother is, he didn't even know she was a woman. It's said that they even slept in the same bed in the refugee camp." The little princess couldn't help but giggle as she said this.
This is really...
Couldn't Zhou Fangfang see it either?
“I can see it, how could I not? That woman lives in the same alley as your brother Zhou. She’s the daughter of a sixth-rank Hanlin Academy compiler. She knows your sister Fangfang. But why didn’t your sister Fangfang reveal the woman’s identity during that time? That still needs to be investigated.” The little princess finished speaking and raised her eyebrows.
"Didn't the Hanlin scholar's family stop the two of them from getting close?" Li Xiaonuan was very puzzled.
“No. That girl went to a refugee camp by herself, which is why she was able to fall in love with your Brother Zhou for more than ten days.” After the little princess finished speaking, she looked at Li Xiaonuan without saying a word.
Looking back at the little princess's mysteriously smiling face, Li Xiaonuan understood everything.
"Those two are completely mismatched in terms of status and family background, how could they possibly be together? Besides, they've already returned to their doorsteps, why doesn't the woman go back to her own home?" Li Xiaonuan found this matter extremely unbelievable.
"That Hanlin scholar is quite a loser, actually. That girl was born to his first wife. His current wife is his second wife. She wants to marry off the beautiful eldest daughter of the Hanlin family to her dissolute nephew." The little princess's gossip was actually very thorough.
That Hanlin scholar was truly obedient to his second wife. The reason was that his second wife had borne him two sons.
As for his stepmother's nephew, he was nothing but a good-for-nothing scoundrel.
In order to rebel against his stepmother, the young lady from the Hanlin family disguised herself as a man and ran away from home.
Coincidentally, the capital was in turmoil at the time. So, for some reason, the young lady from the Hanlin family went to the refuge camp with Zhou Fangfang and her brother.
After listening to the story of the young lady from the Hanlin family, Zhou Fangfang agreed to conceal her identity.
And that's how things turned out. When the war ended and everyone returned to their homes, the young lady from the Hanlin family went back to their own homes with the Zhou siblings.
That young lady from the Hanlin family was quite a remarkable person. She learned a great deal from her Hanlin father and helped Zhou's brother a lot with his studies.
Of course, the above was what Zhou Fangfang said when she came to visit Li Xiaonuan the next day.
"Fangfang, what does your brother plan to do? Is he going to keep this a secret, or does he have other plans?" Li Xiaonuan asked Fangfang.
"Sister Xiaonuan, it seems I was wrong. I should have told my brother about Sister Qu Ying's identity back then. It would have saved us from this trouble. My brother wrote back home, asking my grandparents and parents to come. He said he wants to go to their house to propose marriage," Fangfang said sadly.
"Fangfang, what's wrong? Did your brother scold you? Or did that sister blame you?" Li Xiaonuan asked when she saw Fangfang's eyes redden.
"Nothing. My brother and Sister Qu Ying are so good to me. They're both so nice. It's just that Hanlin's wife, she said she's going to the yamen to accuse my brother of abducting a respectable woman." Fangfang pouted, on the verge of tears.
"It's alright, Fangfang, I'll take care of this for you. Go back and talk to your brother properly. Tell him that I've asked Prince Jing to help him secure this marriage. However, you should tell him to study hard and try to pass the imperial examination next spring." Li Xiaonuan couldn't bear it and impulsively took on the responsibility.
"Really?" Fangfang looked at Li Xiaonuan with shining eyes and said happily, "Sister Xiaonuan, I'll go back and tell my brother right away."