Chapter 89: Moving

However, things didn’t drag on for too long. Kyoto and other places had contact with each other. Once the palace’s internal turmoil couldn’t be quickly stabilized, news would spread everywhere, and people would come rushing in.

After all, while the royal family’s direct bloodline had weakened, the Chu family name still spread across the land.

The emperor’s position rotates, and this year, it’s my family’s turn.

So, after just one more day, news spread from the palace.

It was said that the prime minister and others, under the pretext of purging the palace, killed the corrupt ministers and eunuchs. The official version was that the empress dowager had been blinded by the corrupt ministers but had now realized her mistake.

The plot to overthrow King Cheng was overturned, and it was revealed that he had been framed by the Liu family, his maternal relatives. His son, who had been wandering in exile, was now bestowed the title of Prince Qin.

Everyone then realized that King Cheng’s son, Chu Ying, hadn’t died.

In the chaos of the other day, the young emperor was captured and killed by eunuchs.

After the prime minister nearly wiped out the eunuchs, he used the empress dowager’s name to execute several elder officials of the Liu family, claiming that they had deceived the empress dowager, causing political corruption.

But everyone understood the real situation: the empress dowager had been controlled by the prime minister and others, and the Liu family had been completely defeated in this turmoil.

The empress dowager was forced to abdicate, and it was clear that she would never regain power.

If she obeyed, she might live and enjoy some honor. If she defied them, her end would likely be violent.

As for the new emperor, the prime minister and others would decide the candidate.

Naturally, all of this would still be announced under the empress dowager’s name.

From now on, Empress Dowager Liu would become a puppet in the court.

But as long as the prime minister genuinely cared for the country, the nation would not fall into the hands of outsiders.

Since King Cheng was exonerated, the logical step would be to pass the throne to King Cheng’s son, who was already a teenager. This would be the wisest decision.

After all, the tradition of the Feng Kingdom was for a son to succeed his father, and it was rare for a brother to succeed his deceased sibling.

So when the palace initially spread the rumor that King Cheng had rebelled because he was eager to take the throne, it was always questionable.

Later, the empress dowager did not choose the children or nephews of the late emperor but selected the youngest brother from the late emperor’s uncles to be emperor.

This was clearly an attempt to choose someone younger and easier to control—a strategy easily seen through.

According to the current order of succession, King Cheng’s son, Chu Ying, had closer blood ties to the late emperor, was young but not too immature, and would be the most suitable to inherit the throne.

However, the court changed King Cheng’s son’s title to Prince Qin, which showed that the prime minister had no intention of making him emperor.

The Liu family’s officials held many important positions in the court and had many followers. Within a day, hundreds of them were killed.

This was just the officials—those with lower ranks were also killed, at least a thousand.

And since the prime minister and his allies deeply hated the eunuchs, very few eunuchs were left alive in the palace.

Half of the court’s positions were vacated, and they had to promote people to fill them.

Someone like Lu Songnian, who did not participate in party struggles, was officially made a reviser.

However, due to the ongoing heavy rain and flooding, which reached their ankles, he wouldn’t be starting his duties today.

The two brothers sat at home, exchanging glances, unsure whether to feel good or bad about the current situation.

Wang Qing lived near the Lu family and could make the round trip in less than a quarter of an hour, so he came to speak with Lu Songnian and his brothers today.

Since there was little else to talk about, the three of them discussed the recent events in the court.

Wang Qing was about the same height as the two brothers but was larger in build. His face was round and slightly chubby, with a small belly. He had a good complexion, and his face gave off a fortunate look.

He wasn’t ugly, but neither was he handsome.

When talking about the chaos in the palace, he was quite animated, his face shaking with emotion. “I heard many men who didn’t have beards were mistakenly killed in the palace.”

Hearing this, both Lu Songnian and his brother instinctively touched their own faces.

Lu Songnian had never kept a beard before, but after passing the imperial examination, he had started growing one, though it was only a light stubble that he trimmed every couple of days.

Lu Ke, on the other hand, had a smooth face and no beard.

Feng Kingdom had an aesthetic preference for men with light beards, and whether or not a man kept a beard was still a personal choice.

To conform to the beauty standards and avoid being called “effeminate,” most men entering government service kept some facial hair.

After hearing what Wang Qing said, even Lu Ke, who wasn’t an official, began to consider growing some facial hair.

Lu Ke rubbed his chin, then heard Wang Qing ask his older brother, “Now that Kyoto is in turmoil, even though you’ve been appointed, the future is uncertain. I was thinking of sending my two children back to the hometown. Our family is influential, and if something happens, at least we, as collateral relatives, won’t be too caught up in it.”

He then asked, “How about you let your family’s old matriarch take them in? I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe we should wait for a while?”

Lu Songnian sighed and said, “Is it peaceful outside of Kyoto? Isn’t it the same everywhere? In fact, Kyoto is probably safer than Qinghe County.”

“What? I heard there have been disturbances in the south. Has it spread to Qinghe County?” Wang Qing asked curiously.

“We received a letter from home saying there are bandits in the mountains nearby, and they’ve burned down temples and killed many people. My little brother happened to be there and got so frightened he became ill.”

“Has it escalated to such an extent? Has the government sent troops to suppress them?” Wang Qing asked, surprised.

Lu Ke said, “Everything is in turmoil now. The bandits looted and ran. Who can track them down? The county is only allowing soldiers to be stationed, so if anything happens again, there will be troops to handle it.”

Lu Songnian sighed again, “Sigh! We can still stop foreign invaders, but internal strife is unstoppable. If it weren’t for that locust plague earlier this year, it wouldn’t be so bad. It’s all natural disasters that caused man-made calamities!”

Wang Qing was silent for a long while before finally speaking, “They say ‘the blessing of the noble family lasts five generations,’ but our family’s line of earls ends with my cousin. In two years, it will be another cycle. Is this the end of the world?”

Just like Wang Qing, people in the capital didn’t feel much turmoil unless it directly affected them.

It wasn’t until hearing about the bandits outside Qinghe County that Wang Qing began to get a real sense of the situation.

Little did he know, while people in the capital were gossiping about palace matters, the local areas of Feng Kingdom were beginning to descend into chaos as well.

The central control was gradually being weakened.

---

Qinghe County, Lu Family.

“Mother, mother, play with me!” Lu Qing stood beside Zhao Shu, tugging at her skirt and demanding attention.

“Be careful with that, don’t knock anything over,” Zhao Shu ordered the servants as she tried to pull her skirt away from her son’s grip, giving him an annoyed glance. “Ah, how annoying!”

Lu Qing pouted at his mother’s scolding and looked at her with a pitiful expression.

Zhao Shu had to try to calm her emotions and said to Lu Qing, “We’re moving, so be a good boy and don’t cause trouble.”

The day to leave for Kyoto was approaching, and there was much to be done at home. Zhao Shu had started working right after finishing her confinement.

The peaceful days were over, and she wasn’t quite used to being busy again.

Since Lu Qing didn’t need to go to school starting today, he, being an energetic child, couldn’t sit still. With all the servants busy, he dragged his mother around to make trouble.

“Be careful, the teacher is still with your grandmother. If you want to study, I’ll ask your grandmother to keep the teacher a bit longer, okay?”

As soon as his mother said that, Lu Qing immediately calmed down.

“I’ll go check on my sister.” With that, he ran towards Zhao Shu’s room.

Baby Bao’er was being watched by a wet nurse in her room, and Lu Qing had been warned several times not to bully his sister, but it was fine to just look at her.

Zhao Shu watched her son run off, then sighed with relief before continuing with her own tasks.

At the other side, Wen Ruyu was seeing off the teachers of Lu Qing and Lu Jinian.

Teachers made a living by teaching, and with the turmoil and high rice prices, it was difficult for anyone to make a living. In these times, it was rare for women to work outside, so men had to earn enough to support the whole family.

Though the teachers were scholars, finding a new position in a time like this was not easy.

Wen Ruyu had decided not to keep them, so she gave the teacher who had taught Lu Jinian twenty taels of silver and the teacher for Lu Qing ten taels as compensation.

It wasn’t as good as an N+1 compensation, but it was something.

Naturally, to the teachers, it was a gesture of goodwill from her as the mistress of the family.

After sending them off, Wen Ruyu called for the third daughter-in-law.

Lin Xiaoyin had been busy around the house these past days, but she wasn’t in the best mental state as they were about to leave for Kyoto.

Wen Ruyu knew the reason behind her mood.

She first asked her daughter-in-law, “About the two hundred taels of silver we were supposed to send to the village, has it been done?”

Lin Xiaoyin replied, “I sent it out today with Tie Chui and a few of our young servants. They should be back soon.”

Wen Ruyu nodded in satisfaction, knowing the matter was handled.

Things weren’t peaceful outside Qinghe County either. Wen Ruyu planned to take everyone from the Lu family to the north, but she had already discussed it with the village beforehand.

She casually asked if anyone wanted to go to Kyoto with them, hoping they could travel together.

But people in the old days had a strong attachment to their land, and the saying “falling leaves return to their roots” was deeply ingrained in their minds.

When someone passed away, if the family had the means, they would try to bring the body back to the hometown for burial.

Though Qinghe County had bandits, as long as the land could still be farmed, ordinary families wouldn’t easily leave their homes.

After all, leaving home meant becoming a stranger in another place.

Wen Ruyu had felt this deeply when she first left home.

She knew the feeling of hearing a familiar accent during her struggles, and it always warmed her heart. So, when she met someone from her hometown, she’d always try to lend a hand when she could.

However, when Wen Ruyu suggested that others join them, no one from the village agreed to leave with them.

They weren’t like Wen Ruyu, who had a son in the capital working as an official.

Seeing no one was willing to go, Wen Ruyu proceeded with her plan to leave Qinghe County.

She left two hundred taels of silver as an emergency fund for the village.

If the Lu family’s business in Qinghe County continued, she would send twenty taels every year.

If the business failed, the support for the village would stop.

After all, they weren’t obligated to help the poor, and doing this much was already quite generous.

Wen Ruyu made her intentions clear, and the village chief and clan leader had no further objections.