Chapter 988 5

Chapter 988 Fifteen
After the cold wind blew hard in the middle of the night, the snow finally fell.

It fluttered all night long, and by the time the rooster crowed, a thick layer of it had accumulated on the ground.

The palace maid who got up early opened the palace door.

It was pitch black outside, and a cold wind rushed into the hall, rippling the thick piles of documents on the desk.

"Jibei County: Five counties, 15,700 households, 72,000 people."

"Jinan County: Eight counties, 16,600 households, 81,000 people."

Below the black words are a few lines of tiny red annotations: "In the Former Han Dynasty, Jinan had 14 counties, with more than 140,000 households and more than 640,000 people; in the Later Han Dynasty, Jinan had 12 counties, with nearly 80,000 households and more than 450,000 people. Now, there are only 80,000 people in the eight counties? It seems that there should be 100,000. Check again!"

As if he was in a bad mood, he added another line after the red words: "During the prosperous period of Emperor Wu of Jin, the six counties of Qingzhou had only 50,000 households. The population of the whole country at that time should have been 60% of that of the prosperous period of the Later Han Dynasty. The population of the six counties of Qingzhou was only one-third of that of the county of Jinan in the Former Han Dynasty? This is ridiculous! Sima Yan, you are exaggerating!"

"Donglai County: six counties, 11,100 households, 58,000 people."

"The state of Lai in the east of Jin only had 6,500 households, but now it has exceeded 10,000. You have done your best! I will send someone to look for the old officials of Sima Rui's palace and check their records. You can just sit back and relax."

"Leling County: Five counties, 1200 households, 49,500 people."

The small essay comment came again: "This county of Cao Wei had 10,000 households, 10,000 households in Jin, and 10,000 households in Liang! No matter who ruled, no matter what epidemics or disasters there were, no matter how long the war lasted, there were always 10,000 households. I believe it!"

……

"Creaky!" The door was closed gently.

The document stopped at the last page: "Not counting Xia Pi, there are 19 counties and 1,120 districts, with a total of more than 278,000 households and 1,254,300 people."

At the end, there was a big red cross with two words written on it: "Incompetent!"

The palace maid carefully put away the books, files, pens, ink, paper and inkstone, and wiped the table top.

They moved very gently because there was a slight snoring sound coming from inside.

The emperor is busy with affairs of state during the day and continues to deal with them at night. He was so tired that he did not get up to practice martial arts today.

After changing the bucket of water, the tables in the west dining room were also cleaned.

The door was pushed open a crack, and someone outside asked softly, "Has Your Majesty risen yet?"

"Never."

The visitor seemed a little anxious and sighed, "Today we have a meeting to climb the mountain. If you don't get up, the Queen will have to."

The palace maid was silent. What could she do? She could only say, "Prepare breakfast first. Your Majesty will not practice martial arts today. Just prepare some pork, chicken, and fish."

The footsteps of the person approaching faded away.

The palace maid stood in the hall, looking towards the side hall on the east side.

It was warm as spring in the palace.

Under the brocade quilt, Shao Xun opened his eyes.

The soft body in my arms moved, as if waking up.

The woman had her back to him, their abdomens pressed against each other, and they slept together all night.

Liang Lanbi blinked her eyes, and blushed when she felt something clamped between her buttocks.

At the same time, I also felt a little worried. Although I felt comfortable, what should I do if Yu Wenjun found out?
Wenjun was really good to her. She often visited her, comforted her, and told her that she could go home and live in seclusion, and no one would make things difficult for her.

But she didn't want to leave, and His Majesty wouldn't let her go.

She felt indescribable guilt in her heart, but when she was bullied by His Majesty, she thought of Wenjun and felt a shudder from the bottom of her soul.

It was like stealing the thrill of something she loved.

She could only numb herself by saying that she was forced.

His Majesty wants to favor her, and as a woman from a fallen country, she has no way to refuse, right?

Wenjun cannot serve His Majesty now, so it is better for her to help Wenjun than for others, right? She will never hurt Wenjun...

The man rubbed her roughly for a while, and her breathing became a little disordered.

The purple grapes also suddenly stood up.

Fortunately, it was already late, so the man just played with it for a while, then tucked in the quilt for her and got up to change his clothes.

There were intermittent voices coming from outside, as if asking whether we were having breakfast at Jiuhua Terrace.

The man seemed to refuse and only ordered breakfast to be prepared for her.

Not long after, there was movement outside again, as if the imperial carriage was coming over, and the sound of orderly footsteps of guards.

He is leaving!
Liang Lanbi turned sideways and looked at the window frame.

The sky was still dark. She used to hate this kind of deep darkness, but now she wished the night would be longer, because she could curl up in the man's arms comfortably, even if he had to torment her.

After the man finished washing up, he quickly left in the car.

Liang Lanbi smelled the aroma of food, but she had no appetite recently and didn't feel like eating much.

Especially since that food might be prepared for His Majesty. He was a martial artist and had to eat meat in the morning, but Liang Lanbi just felt a little nauseous and didn't want to eat it.

The palace maid came in again.

This person has been with her for a long time. He used to be a maid in the family. He was summoned into the palace three years ago and now practices with her in the Buddhist temple.

After seeing Liang Lanbi wake up, the palace maid said crisply: "Empress Dowager, the Minister of the Court will come to the Buddhist temple today."

"Father is coming?" Liang Lanbi asked, but she was not surprised.

"Yes." The palace maid replied, "The Minister of State is going to Chang'an to review the scholars of Yong, Qin, and Liang. Before he leaves, he may have something to say to you."

"A war is about to break out..." Liang Lanbi said in a low voice.

Yesterday, His Majesty was warming wine on Jiuhua Terrace and chatting with the scholars of Liangzhou. At that time, she was practicing in the Buddhist hall inside Yunlong Gate on the east side, and she could hear the laughter of the emperor and his ministers.

Liang Lanbi had a high level of political sensitivity and was able to analyze it immediately.

This is the biggest and best opportunity for the Guanxi scholars. After this, they will have to follow the rules in the future. Unless Daliang establishes its capital in Chang'an, it will be difficult to defeat the Guandong scholars.

However, it seems to have nothing to do with her anymore.

Her status was not good enough, and no matter how powerful the samurai in Kansai were, they couldn't help her, so she didn't have any extravagant hopes.

"Let's go back to the Buddhist temple and practice." Liang Lanbi sat up and looked at the depression where the man had lain beside her, feeling a little melancholy.

******
In the afternoon, Liang Fen came as expected.

Liang Fen felt a little sad when she saw her daughter coming to greet her in plain clothes.

There are not many descendants in his lineage.

At this time, he only had this one daughter left, and only one grandchild, who had caught a cold in the winter. His branch was on the verge of extinction.

Whenever I think of this, I can't help but feel sad.

"Grandpa." Liang Lanbi bowed.

"You're still willing to call me Grandpa." Liang Fen smiled bitterly and asked, "Why don't you want to go home?"

Liang Lanbi avoided her father's gaze and asked, "Grandpa is going to Chang'an?"

"Yes, I will go with Yao Yizhong and others." Liang Fen said, "In February or March, Your Majesty will also travel west to inspect Yongqin."

“Why patrol?”

"This is an ancient custom." Liang Fen said, "When a new dynasty is founded, it will tour the four directions to let people know what year it is."

This is not a joke. In fact, not many people in the world know about changes of dynasties. Basically, they are the powerful and literate people.

Even literate people may not know all of it.

It has only been more than two months since the founding of the country. Some people who are isolated from the news and like to live their lives behind closed doors may not know about this.

Not to mention farmers, local garrison soldiers, tribal herdsmen, and people in fortresses.

"They don't even know about the Han Dynasty, let alone the Wei and Jin Dynasties" is an artistic exaggeration, but the actual situation is not much better.

"Oh." Liang Lanbi nodded slightly.

"Are you going home or not?" Liang Fen continued to ask after her daughter changed the subject just now.

Liang Lanbi lowered her head, as if trying to get attention, and didn't say anything.

Liang Fen was angry at his daughter's attitude, but when he thought that he only had this one child, and remembered that his late wife Huangfu held his hand before she died and asked him to protect their child, he couldn't say anything harsh.

The words "I don't care about you" lingered for a long time, but he couldn't say them out. Finally, he could only sigh and said, "You take care of yourself. If you want to go home, just send someone to let me know. I have worked hard for my father and the emperor for many years, so I still have this face. I am old and can't protect you for a few more years."

When Liang Lanbi heard this, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.

Liang Fen's eyes turned red when she saw this, and she said, "Forget it. Your father is sorry for you and has wasted your life. This world—"

Liang Fen left the palace in a daze.

When I returned home, the lights were already on.

The house is empty.

The eldest son was killed by rebel soldiers more than 20 years ago, and the second son died of illness nine years ago.

His wife also passed away due to illness a few years ago.

The only person left at home was the eldest grandson, who was 11 years old (born to the second son), and he had been bedridden since winter.

There is a cold and lonely atmosphere everywhere.

Fortunately, the children of the Liang and Huangfu families came to visit him from time to time, so he would not be left without anyone to talk to.

Huangfu Chang, the Minister of the Left, came today. He was the nephew of Liang Fen's wife Huangfu, and the adopted son of Huangfu Zhong, the former governor of Qinzhou.

After the founding of the country, Zuomin Cao became Zuomin Department, with one Shangshu as the chief officer and two vice ministers, one of whom was Shangshu's deputy Huangfu Chang.

"It's too cold. Mr. Liang, please come quickly. The wine has just been warmed up." Huangfu Chang greeted him as he walked out the door with a smile.

Liang Fen nodded and said, "His Majesty has appointed you as an official accompanying the emperor on his western tour. You should prepare yourself these days. Don't waste the opportunity by not knowing anything when the time comes."

"Yes." Huangfu Chang brushed the snow off Liang Fen's shoulders, then helped him walk inside and asked, "How is it? Does the Queen Mother want to go home?"

"It's the Liang Dynasty now." Liang Fen glared at Huangfu Chang and didn't answer.

Huangfu Chang did not ask any more questions. After returning to the house, he asked, "Does Lord Liang still remember Yan Ding?"

"Him? The official?" Liang Fen paused, then smiled bitterly, "A official! He was too ambitious. When I was stationed in Nanyang, he was still thinking about establishing his own regime. Didn't he surrender to the Xiongnu later?"

"Yan Taichen later went to Liangzhou. A while ago, he secretly communicated with Yu Yuandu from the Honglu Temple." Huangfu Chang poured a small glass of wine for Liang Fen and said, "I received his handwritten letter today, so I hurried here."

Liang Fen pondered for a moment, shook his head and said, "The minister is still blinded by fame and fortune. However, this time he made the right choice by accident. He is also lucky. With this incident, he will not have a bad ending."

"Yes." Huangfu Chang said, "The Yan family has descendants in Tianshui, Wuwei, and Jincheng, so they are no longer a small family. If Yan Taichen can persuade the Yan family to return to their country and abandon Zhang Jun, it will be a great achievement and can be used by you in the future."

"I am over sixty years old. How many more years can I stay in office?" Liang Fen waved his hand and said, "What I am doing now is just paving the way for the children of the Liang family. After pacifying Xiliang, it is time to step down and let others take over."

"Why do you say you are old?" Huangfu Chang said with a smile, "Even the King of Zhao respects you very much."

"Hmm?" Liang Fen's eyes suddenly focused and she looked at Huangfu Chang.

Huangfu Chang was frightened by his gaze, and he laughed dryly and said, "I'll go close the doors and windows, it's too cold."

Just then, an old servant came in and whispered something in Liang Fen's ear.

"Bang!" Liang Fen slammed the table.

Huangfu Chang was frightened and didn't know what to do.

"Are you sure?" Liang Fen asked.

The old servant looked at Huangfu Chang, then leaned close to Liang Fen's ear and whispered, "There is more than one person in the Imperial Medical Bureau who made the diagnosis, so there should be no mistake."

"You are such a good bastard Shao Quanzhong!" Liang Fen said angrily.

Huangfu Chang looked left and right, smiled awkwardly and said, "I'll go warm up another pot of wine."

After saying that, he turned and walked out.

Liang Fen had slowly calmed down by then.

The old servant observed his expression and whispered, "Mingsir, the doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau have seen countless evil deeds in their lives. They are very tight-lipped and will never say anything. When Emperor Hui was poisoned, the people in the Imperial Medical Bureau have not said a word to anyone until now. They are trustworthy. There is still room for recovery."

"Is the unfilial daughter willing to go home?" Liang Fen asked.

"The Queen Mother wishes to return home to rest." replied the old servant.

Liang Fen snorted coldly.

"Mingsir, this is not a bad thing." The old servant said: "The eldest house--"

"Shut up." Liang Fen sat down and said, "I will handle this matter myself, just obey me."

"Yes."

Liang Fen's face was uncertain, and finally he sighed and said, "Do I owe Shao Quanzhong anything in this life?"

Mr. Shao, whom Lao Liang was talking about, had just finished a mountain climbing party on the 15th day of the first lunar month and was now drinking with guests at the foot of Mangshan Mountain.

The five people including King of Chu Shao Gui, Xiurong Lu, Secretary General Lu Chen, Imperial Secretary Xu Shi, and Palace Attendant Zu Ying were also present. The guests were Xu Liu and Zu Daozhong, the son of Zu Ti.

(End of this chapter)