Chapter 378 Moving

Chapter 378 Moving

Being reprimanded and punished by the emperor for gossiping was a very shameful thing for those officials and their families.

For a long time afterward, these people didn't dare to go around making up stories about others as they used to.

They were naturally very unhappy, especially those who were scolded, punished, or even expelled from the mansion by the head of the household. Those who depended on relatives for survival, due to their sudden change in circumstances, cursed Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan in private for making a mountain out of a molehill.

However, they only dared to vent their dissatisfaction behind closed doors at home.

Because they were afraid of being retaliated against by Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang again, they didn't even dare to complain to their relatives, let alone talk nonsense in any situation like before.

Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan didn't care at all. They always adhered to the principle of "Don't talk about it in front of me, or I'll assume you're talking about yourself. If you talk about it in front of me or it affects my and my family's normal life, I won't be polite to you."

After stopping the unhealthy trend of spreading nonsense outside, the two of them stopped paying attention to the matter.

Jiang Yuan continued to perform his duties as usual, while Xie Wanniang focused on raising her two children.

She offered up the methods for making glass and planting corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. The emperor not only bestowed upon her the title of princess, but also gave her a great deal of material reward.

First was the princess's residence bestowed by the emperor, then two large and prime shops in the East Market, and two large, adjacent estates only sixty li from the capital.

These two estates, together comprising 1,200 mu of fertile land, were all beautifully constructed and flawless in every way. They originally belonged to the second prince's uncle and the third prince's father-in-law, respectively.

After the two princes were placed under house arrest by the Emperor Emeritus, their followers were also punished by the Emperor Emeritus according to the law.

Especially those who participated in the coup, and those who were closely related to them, basically all of them went through the whole process of first confiscating their property, then executing the accomplices and exiling their families.

What Xie Wanniang saw as a bloody purge was, in the eyes of others in the dynasty, a show of mercy from the retired emperor.

After all, rebellion and forcing the emperor to abdicate were crimes that were originally punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family.

The fact that the retired emperor was able to avoid implicating innocent people, and instead only executed the accomplices and exiled the elderly, women, and children from their families, instead of dragging out their clansmen who stayed in their hometowns to farm, study, or do business and punishing them as well, was already seen by the court officials as an act of leniency beyond the law.

Xie Wanniang had also discussed this matter with Jiang Yuan in private, and she felt that it was most likely that the Emperor Emeritus was "treating everyone equally".

After all, he didn't directly kill his two rebellious illegitimate sons.

The ringleader and his wives and children are all still alive and well, so why should the accomplices be entitled to a nine-piece match-3 game gift pack?

Jiang Yuan was already used to Xie Wanniang's occasional naive thoughts, but he still had to remind her, "The Emperor Emeritus is the Emperor, and his son is a prince. They are different from us ministers."

If you demand "fairness" and "equal treatment" from the emperor of a feudal dynasty, the emperor will immediately suspect you of disloyalty.

Upon hearing this, Xie Wanniang immediately realized that the so-called "princes are subject to the same laws as commoners" was nothing more than a nice-sounding but false slogan.

Regardless of the dynasty, princes were generally in a special position where they could die in power struggles but would never die for breaking the law.

Of course, there are emperors who can be truly ruthless enough to kill their sons, but their retired emperor is clearly not among them.

Perhaps when the retired emperor passes away, the new emperor will eliminate a few brothers who don't like him or who still harbor rebellious intentions for some reason. But as long as the retired emperor is alive, the new emperor will be mindful of his feelings and will generally not put the blade to the necks of those brothers.

Under these circumstances, it is indeed remarkable that the retired emperor was able to show leniency towards the relatives and in-laws of the accomplices.

Of course, this mercy comes with a condition—if the retired emperor were not about to abdicate and no longer needed to establish his authority through such matters, he would never give anyone a chance to judge him as "soft-hearted".

After all, being kind and soft-hearted is not a good adjective for an emperor to maintain his rule.

Perhaps out of a sense of compensation, the retired emperor gave all the proceeds from the confiscation of his property to the new emperor, instructing him to use them to reward meritorious officials.

Because Jiang Yuan had obtained a secret decree from the Emperor Emeritus beforehand, he pretended to be ignorant on the night of the turmoil. Even though he knew something was wrong with the eunuch, he still followed him out of the mansion.

The eunuch thought he had acted rashly and without thinking, or that even if he sensed something was wrong, he had no choice but to take a gamble because it concerned the safety of the emperor and the crown prince. Little did he know that he was simply going with the flow.

Not long after leaving the manor, he and his men swiftly killed the ambushers, and then, thanks to the secret decree in his possession, he arrived at the military camp without any obstacles.

Of course, things were not peaceful in the military camp either. How could a prince who aspired to vie for that position not have designs on the army?

Although they dared not make any obvious moves here, and their infiltration was far less extensive than that of the Five Cities Garrison, it still caused some unrest.

Fortunately, Jiang Yuan had a secret edict issued by the then-emperor emeritus, and those who intended to cause trouble were quickly arrested by Jiang Yuan, who had the righteous cause.

After resolving the minor disturbance in the military camp, Jiang Yuan immediately led his troops to the palace.

Thanks to his timely arrival, the emperor and the crown prince only experienced a false alarm.

Of course, the emperor didn't rely entirely on Jiang Yuan. Unlike the cautious crown prince, the emperor, as the master of the country, didn't have to worry about what others thought.

The reason why the second and third princes were still held up despite their desire for a quick victory was because the emperor had already arranged for several elite guards to protect them.

With a large number of guards, both overt and covert, firmly protecting the emperor from all directions, and given the emperor's control over his subjects, the second and third princes couldn't obtain weapons like bows and crossbows or firearms. Therefore, no matter how anxious they were, the people they brought couldn't immediately put the emperor under their control.

As for Jiang Yuan, his arrival only made the previously stalemate quickly turn into a one-sided affair.

Although he was promoted and received material rewards from the new emperor, he felt that his contribution was actually very limited.

He and Xie Wanniang received rewards twice, and the total amount of their rewards was equivalent to the salary of a second-rank official in the Great Wei Dynasty for 120 years.

Of course, this is on the premise that the second-rank official does not embezzle or accept bribes, nor does he receive rewards for meritorious service like they do.

The two were not short of money to begin with, and now with the shops, estates, gold and silver jewelry, silks and satins, calligraphy and paintings and antiques bestowed by the emperor, they are even less short of money.

After Xie Wanniang's princess residence was repaired and cleaned, her family packed their things and moved in.

Honestly, Xie Wanniang didn't want to move. Her family was small, and it was really unnecessary for them to live in such a large princess's mansion. Moreover, she didn't want to be neighbors with those princes, dukes, princesses, and so on who were of impeccable lineage. Anyone with a brain could tell that there would be trouble in the future.

But she couldn't just do as she pleased. She was a princess, and the princess's residence represented the emperor's recognition and favor towards her. If she didn't move there, it would seem as if she disliked the princess's residence.

If someone nitpicks again and makes a big deal out of this, she and Jiang Yuan will inevitably be attacked again.

Just thinking about that scene made Xie Wanniang feel incredibly troubled. She didn't want to deal with it anymore, so she simply packed her things and moved directly to the princess's mansion bestowed by the emperor.

As for the various disadvantages of moving, she had no choice but to accept the lesser of two evils in order to avoid being nitpicked.

After they moved, Xie Wanniang naturally had to entertain the relatives and friends who came to help with the warm-up of the house.

It is worth mentioning that Du Guogong's wife not only brought her own two children this time, but also the wives and children of her husband's two legitimate sons.

She whispered to Xie Wanniang, "They're all curious about you."

Xie Wanniang asked in surprise, "What are you curious about?"

Although she was not a native of the capital, her life story was so legendary that she was not as mysterious as other ladies and young women from other places. While ordinary people and lower-level officials might not know much about her, prominent officials, nobles, and imperial relatives had definitely heard about her experiences.

Under these circumstances, Xie Wanniang didn't think she had anything left for others to be curious about.

Du Guogong's wife smiled and winked at her, her expression a mix of playfulness and teasing. "I'm curious how you managed to make Lord Jiang's eyes and heart only see you."

Xie Wanniang: ......

How could she explain that? That Jiang Yuan was head over heels in love with her? That answer clearly didn't fit the prevailing narrative of the time. That she was skilled at managing her husband and could control Jiang Yuan? The problem was, she hadn't actually tried to control him. She hadn't even told Jiang Yuan that she couldn't accept him taking concubines.

She fidgeted with her fingers, looking somewhat troubled. "If I said I didn't actually do anything, would you believe me?"

Lady Du couldn't help but chuckle. "Whether I believe it or not is not important. What's important is whether the other ladies and young ladies believe it or not."

Although she and Duke Du were an older man and a younger woman, both she and others still believed that she was marrying above her station, since she was just an illegitimate daughter of a small merchant family in a small town.

She was already very content with the life she had today, and dared not hope that Duke Du would be devoted to her.

On the contrary, her two nominal daughters-in-law, because they came from families that were of equal social standing to her two stepsons, disliked their husbands taking wives and concubines.

If it weren't for Xie Wanniang's precedent, they might not have expressed such thoughts. But after witnessing Jiang Yuan's strict control over other women and Xie Wanniang's happy and carefree daily life, they couldn't help but start to get restless.

In fact, many women in the capital had the same idea as them: to learn from Xie Wanniang. However, since they were not familiar with Xie Wanniang, it would be impolite to rashly go to her door to deliver invitations, and they might not even be able to meet Xie Wanniang in person.

Unlike Du Guogong's two daughters-in-law, who had Du Guogong's wife acting as matchmaker, meeting Xie Wanniang was not difficult.

Of course, the two women did not come to Xie Wanniang's house under the guise of learning from her; nominally, they were just there to befriend Xie Wanniang, this rising star of the Great Wei.

Reserved and vain ladies would not readily express their love and affection.

Even if seeking knowledge is their primary goal, they will use the word "incidentally" to mask their curiosity and eagerness.

The problem is that Xie Wanniang really has no experience in this area that she can pass on to others.

There was no one else between her and Jiang Yuan; their relationship was largely due to the tacit understanding they had developed over time.

Even without Xie Wanniang saying it, Jiang Yuan could tell from her daily words and actions that she had zero tolerance for her husband taking concubines and having affairs.

Jiang Yuan was not the kind of person who was lustful. Rather than having many wives and concubines, he would rather grow old with Xie Wanniang.

Most importantly, Jiang Yuan knew from a young age that every desire comes at a price. He could not possibly have multiple wives and concubines while still being as loving and affectionate with Xie Wanniang as he is now.

In order to maintain his current happy life, he is willing to keep himself pure and clean.

Xie Wanniang was not the kind of woman who would swallow her anger for the sake of the so-called greater good. If Jiang Yuan really had affairs and took concubines, she would either take her children and run away, or find a way to quietly lose her husband and become a happy widow with money, leisure, and children.

She had the means and the courage to be willful, qualities that most other noblewomen of that era lacked.

They were raised like delicate flowers in a greenhouse, like vines clinging to a big tree. The pressure from public opinion, customs, and other people around them made it impossible for them to make choices without restraint.

Let alone their husbands' families, even their own families generally do not approve of them quarreling with their husbands over such a "trivial matter" as "taking concubines and having casual affairs".

Everyone would use phrases like "All men are like that," "Have you ever seen a man who doesn't take concubines?" and "A wife should be virtuous and gentle" to persuade them to "be mindful of the bigger picture, consider the overall situation, and safeguard the family's reputation and interests."

In this situation, let alone choosing to divorce because of their husbands' infidelity, even if they only show a slight hint of jealousy, they will be criticized by many people.