Chapter 968 Shame or Not

Chapter 968 Shame or Not

Chapter 968 Shame or Not

Before Wang Yan left Beijing, he went to the palace to meet the emperor.

Sima Duan was practicing calligraphy while the Queen was grinding ink. The two of them were in perfect harmony and looked very leisurely and relaxed.

When he met Wang Yan, Sima Duan put down his pen.

"Your Majesty." Wang Yan bowed.

"General, please sit down." Sima Duan said kindly.

Wang Yan sat down with a smile on his face and said, "Your Majesty is a man of peace and tranquility. You are truly blessed."

Sima Duan smiled bitterly and said, "What else can I do? I am not virtuous and I don't know anything about military affairs. I can only write and paint."

"Your Majesty is right." Wang Yan said, "Prince Liang helped the needy and the poor, and hundreds of millions of people have returned to him. This is already—"

"I am truly humbled to be a subject!" Queen Qin couldn't help but say.

Sima Duan's face turned pale.

Wang Yan calmly cupped his hands and said, "The disaster of heaven has befallen the Jin State, and human power cannot save it. The King of Liang was born in a commoner family, but he has had extraordinary bone structure and a strong physique since he was young. Is this not heaven's will?"

"Taiwei, there is no need to say more." Sima Duan said, "I don't want to be unworthy of the position. The sooner you hand it over, the easier it will be for me."

"That's great." Wang Yan said with a smile, "Your Majesty, please ascend the throne during the court meeting on the fifteenth day of this month."

The emperor did not answer, but did not refuse either, obviously agreeing.

Under the current circumstances, he was too lazy to attend court most of the time. Unless someone reminded him to ascend the throne to attend court, he would just play in the palace, write, paint, or even listen to music and enjoy dance.

This time Wang Yan came to remind them specifically, which meant that the court meeting on June 15th could not be missed and had to be held because there was a "big event".

"There is another matter." Wang Yan pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty can send an envoy to Liangzhou to reprimand Duke Xiping for not paying tribute, but do not deprive him of his position. Considering his contributions in protecting the territory and the people, you can grant him several carriages and horses."

Sima Duan was silent for a moment, then picked up the pen and prepared to write the imperial edict.

"Your Majesty." Wang Yan cupped his hands and said, "The edict has already been written. There is no need to rewrite it."

Sima Duan laughed at himself, pulled over a piece of paper, and began to copy Suo Jing's calligraphy.

"I've only ever heard of a woman ruling the country when the emperor was still young." Qin said, "Your Majesty is nearly thirty years old, but the Queen Mother still holds on to the throne and has sent people to monitor the emperor, making the palace like a prison."

Wang Yan smiled slightly and said, "What the Queen said is not in line with the true meaning of filial piety."

Qin was speechless and had nothing to say for a moment.

Sima Duan hid one hand under the table and gently tugged at Qin's sleeve.

"I met the King of Liang before. The king intends to confer upon your majesty the title of Duke of Teng after the abdication of the throne, with a fief of 3,000 households. Your majesty can still use the emperor's ceremonial guards, but you don't have to bow when you see the new emperor." Wang Yan said, "Such a reward shows your courage."

Sima Duan's expression changed slightly when he heard this.

Qin looked at him. Although her expression was unhappy, there was a hint of joy in her eyes.

Although many people told them that King Liang was sensible and would not treat the Emperor of Jin harshly, they could not feel at ease until they got a definite answer.

Now it has finally been implemented!
Since Wang Yan dared to say so, it was a done deal and there would be no further changes.

The only flaw is that "Teng" is a small country, and Duke Teng is the Duke of Teng, which is not good to say. Moreover, he was not made a king or a prince, while the Jin Dynasty at least made the Emperor of Wei the Prince of Chenliu.

However, why Cao Wei conferred the title of Duke of Shanyang on Emperor Xian of Han, while Sima Jin conferred the title of Prince of Chenliu on Emperor Yuan of Wei is not something that outsiders should know.

After Wang Yan finished talking about these two things, he stood up and left.

After walking a few steps, he turned around again, smiled to himself, and said, "I am old and always forget things."

Sima Duan didn't say anything and just practiced calligraphy.

Wang Yan looked at the handwriting on the paper and was impressed. He said, "Your Majesty, your handwriting is quite sophisticated."

"I have nothing else to do on weekdays except practicing calligraphy," said Sima Duan.

"Your Majesty can write the edict by hand now." Wang Yan said with a smile.

Sima Duan became interested and was eager to try it.

"Earlier, Tuoba Yihuai disobeyed orders and resisted the royal army. Now he sends envoys to repair peace. Your Majesty can appoint him as the Duke of Wuyuan County." Wang Yan said.

Sima Duan finished the painting in one stroke, and after the ink dried, he handed it to Wang Yan like a minister.

Wang Yan took it and looked at it. It was very simple and there was no literary talent to be seen, except for the good handwriting.

So he nodded, put away the imperial edict, and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After saying this, he turned and left under the gaze of the emperor and empress.

******
After Wang Yan received the imperial edict, he went straight to the Jiulong Palace where the empress dowager lived.

Suddenly, he met King Liang here.

He was accompanying the empress dowager to appreciate the flowers. When he saw Wang Yan from afar, he immediately went to change his clothes.

Wang Yan pretended not to see it. After some negotiations, he gave the imperial edict and seal, and then handed it to his entourage to send to the court, and then left the palace.

His old wife, Mrs. Guo, was in poor health and did not want to travel, not to mention that she had business in Luoyang, so she stayed.

After Wang Yan gave some instructions to the servants in the mansion, he drove eastward and detoured to Pan Garden on the way to meet his two daughters.

The Wang sisters shared a courtyard.

As soon as Wang Yan approached, he heard Wang Jingfeng's voice coming from inside.

"I can't even serve him, but he still catches fish and makes soup for me." There was some joy and pride in his voice.

"Your Majesty is a man who cherishes the past. You are a blessed man." Wang Huifeng's voice also came out. Wang Yan's face darkened.

What do you mean by fishing with your own hands? Was I dazzled just now? But -

Alas, you have to pretend to be confused when you need to. Maybe everyone is pretending to be confused, but you are the only one who is smart and self-righteous, which is not beautiful.

So she cleared her throat, and after a while, a maid opened the gate.

"Grandpa?" Wang Jingfeng was leaning on the Hu bed, and when he saw Wang Yan, he called out happily.

"Grandpa." Wang Huifeng put down the book in his hand and smiled calmly.

Under the shade of the trees, a gentle breeze blew, ruffling the hair and sleeves of the two girls.

For some reason, Wang Yan suddenly sighed.

There was a man and a woman reading in the room. After hearing the noise, they came out and greeted, "Grandfather."

Wang Yan put away his messy thoughts, smiled, and said, "Yaren and Sangyu are already this old."

They both came to their mothers separately.

"Yaren" is the nickname of Wang Jingfeng's daughter, and also Shao Xun's fifth daughter. She was born in the first month of the third year of Shengui (319) and is nine years old this year.

"Sang Yu" is the son of Wang Huifeng, also known as Wang Jiuzi, who is one month younger than Yaren.

This nickname was given by Wang Huifeng because he was already thirty-nine or forty years old when he was born.

She never thought that she would be able to have a child in this life, or to have a happy ending at the age of forty.

She was a little overwhelmed with this child at first.

Serving King Liang would have been fine, but she was embarrassed to have a child out of it. Perhaps it was because she had given King Liang too many rewards at that time in order to get him to serve the country and the people.

However, she was very good at psychological preparation and she quickly overcame all the emotions and continued to remain calm.

"Father is going to Bianliang?" Wang Huifeng asked.

"Ah? What about mother? How can she bear to close those stalls?" Wang Jingfeng asked in surprise while fiddling with his daughter's bun.

Wang Yan glared at Wang Jingfeng.

Wang Jingfeng chuckled and continued to fiddle with his daughter's hair, but he didn't expect that she would hide behind her aunt.

Wang Huifeng gave Wang Jingfeng a displeased look.

Jing Feng restrained herself somewhat, but once she felt bored, she would start yawning.

"We are going to Bianliang now." Wang Yan said, "Your mother is reluctant to close the stall."

Wang Jingfeng chuckled.

"You are almost fifty years old, yet you are so presumptuous in front of kids and have no manners at all. How disgraceful!" Wang Yan couldn't help but scold.

Wang Jingfeng disagreed: "It is allowed for men to be naked and unruly at fifty, thinking that they are elegant, but women must be decent? I have never cheated on anyone, and I have never done anything against the law..."

Yaren and Sangyu slipped away quietly.

Wang Yan became more and more angry.

Wang Jingfeng smiled and stood up, walked to Wang Yan, gently patted his shoulders, and said: "Grandpa, I will be your daughter in this life. I have been living a life of luxury since I was young. I thought I was unfortunate when I grew up, but I still have a man who loves me and children around me. I can't think of any regrets. Can I still be your daughter in the next life?"

Wang Yan stood there for a long time without saying a word, with a hint of sadness on his face.

Wang Jingfeng saw this and forced a smile, saying, "Grandpa, don't be like this, don't be like this. I massaged your shoulders when I was a child, and I can still massage your shoulders when I am nearly fifty. The world is in chaos, which is already a blessing. Since it is a blessing, you should not be greedy, you should not ask for more, and just go with the flow. Now that you are in this situation and your whole family is here, what else can you ask for?"

Wang Yan, who was always eloquent, was unable to refute what his eldest daughter said.

"Blessing..." Wang Yan chewed it gently.

"Oh my, I actually defeated the world-famous Wang Yifu." Wang Jingfeng covered his mouth and laughed, saying, "Okay, Grandpa, I will definitely be your daughter in the next life, so don't forget me. But I have to find King Liang and marry him first, and see who will come to snatch it away."

Wang Yan shook his head after being interrupted by Wang Jingfeng, and said angrily: "Who wants a child like you who only knows how to eat and sleep? You didn't know how to massage shoulders when you were young, and you still can't do it now. With a prodigal daughter like you, my grandfather has to run around for Shao Quanzhong at my age. It's too shameful."

"Then I will be your son in the next life and share all the chores with you." Wang Jingfeng said with a smile. After that, he imitated Wang Yan's tone and said, "This child standing among the crowd is like a towering green mountain, a thousand-foot cliff, or a beautiful jade lost among the rubble."

Wang Huifeng was also amused.

Wang Yan smiled bitterly and sighed, "You will be looked down upon and will have to carry this burden all your life."

"Grandpa can select more talented people from humble backgrounds to share the difficult and miscellaneous tasks," Wang Huifeng suggested.

Wang Yan nodded slightly.

He didn't like to handle mundane affairs personally. He preferred to grasp the general direction, formulate major strategies, and then hand them over to others.

If you have to handle everything yourself, you will be exhausted. You should take some time off when you need it.

Huifeng was right. If we employ more talented people from humble backgrounds, Quanzhong would be happy and relieved.

Moreover, those people were full of drive and were willing to do anything to climb up the ladder. If they were promoted, they would be more likely to be grateful than the noble families and become his followers, and the descendants of the Wang family would also be able to enjoy his legacy.

Of course, he also wanted to make use of these people.

More than ten counties including Changshan, Zhongshan, Gaoyang, Hejian, Zhangwu, Boling, and Leling needed these people who were not afraid of falling out to lead the charge in surveying land and registering household registration.

On June 14, the day before the Wangri court meeting, Wang Yan left Luoyang.

He left in such a hurry, as if the abdication was not presided over by him.

It seems shameless, but also seems to have dignity.

(End of this chapter)