Chapter 49

  The news of the Jin family in the capital slowly spread to Linqing. After Xianyi finished her own hairpinning ceremony, she didn't have much to do except go to the library, so she used these gossip messages to pass the time. With the weather getting colder, Chen's mother wasn't at ease with her estate and took a carriage back to the suburbs of the capital. Xianyi lost someone to talk to about her heart matters, so she intentionally or unintentionally paid attention to the news from the capital for a while. However, as time passed, even Xianyi couldn't help but take these follow-up messages seriously anymore.

  Chen Shangshu was impeached, and even Jin Fenghua didn't expect things to happen so suddenly. Although Chen Shangshu had been reprimanded by the emperor a while ago in court, and some officials from his faction were caught and dismissed, those were just small fries. Even if they were stripped of their positions, they wouldn't pose a threat to Chen Shangshu. However, this time, right in court, Chen Shangshu was impeached for participating in the buying and selling of official positions, as well as colluding with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, resulting in last year's dike being destroyed by floods, leaving nearly 100,000 people homeless. Many refugees fled to the capital for shelter but didn't receive proper arrangements, leading to over a hundred deaths from starvation, freezing, and disease in the capital alone. This doesn't include those who died on their way to the capital or in its suburbs. According to rough estimates, during that period, the number of direct and indirect deaths due to poor arrangements in the area around the capital exceeded 1,000 people.

  It's shocking to hear that even if the country of Pei is not a large one, it has accumulated wealth over several generations. Whether it's natural disasters or man-made ones, the capital city has never seen such a high number of deaths before. If this were to happen in another place, it would be okay, as it wouldn't be directly under the emperor's feet and could be blamed on local officials. However, this time it's clear that the emperor was slapped hard in the face. If a country can't even take care of its capital city properly, how will it manage other areas? What about the common people in those places? This isn't just one country under heaven; Pei is surrounded by many countries with similar customs. If due to poor governance, some citizens were forced to flee to other countries, it wouldn't be just a matter of the emperor losing face, but the entire nation's foundation would be undermined. In the long run, if people are gone, where is the country? Would only the imperial family and aristocracy remain? What privileges would there be then? How could one distinguish between the ruler and the ruled? Even if the commoners were in a lowly position, the emperor knew he couldn't afford to lose their hearts. Thus, naturally, Chen Shangshu was investigated.

  Jin Feng furrowed his brow, tapping the paper with his finger as he thought about how Chen's family had fallen. It was either after he had killed Cui Gonggong in his past life and succeeded, or when the old emperor joined forces with him to eliminate this obstacle, causing the entire Cui Gonggong lineage to fall, including his shameless father. However, in this lifetime, Cui Gonggong had been killed by him early on, and he had assumed that Chen's family would wait for him to arrive in the capital before making a move again. But unexpectedly, without Cui Gonggong's protection, Chen's family was unable to stand firm so quickly.

  "If the Chen family has something to do with it, then the Jin family in the capital... " Xian Yi wasn't worried about anything else, just that if the Jin family were to lose, then Jin Fenghua's qualification for the exam would be uncertain.

  "This doesn't scare me, and even if it did, it wouldn't affect me." Jin Fenghua never did anything unprepared, perhaps only Xian Yi was an exception for him.

  Next, for some reason, the emperor's movements suddenly slowed down, and many people said it was because the Chen family's beauty, who had been sent to the palace, had blown pillow wind into the emperor's ear. Some even boldly speculated that this time, the Chen family would be able to get through unscathed. Upon hearing this, Xian Yi and Jin Fenghua did not show any extra expression. Xian Yi merely sighed at how the Chen family's young lady was wasting her youth in the palace, while Jin Fenghua seemed completely indifferent to the Chen family's future. He continued his daily routine as usual, either seeking knowledge with ordinary scholars or playing with his son at home.

  As the autumn days passed, winter arrived, and this year's winter seemed to be the coldest since Xianyi came into this world. She had not gone out to meet friends for several days since the beginning of winter, except for the cold weather, their little family was about to face the first independent New Year, and Jin Fenghua would also prepare to take the county exam after the New Year, and then go to the nearest prefectural city to participate in the prefectural examination. The imperial examination has always been extremely sacred in Pei Guo, and many poor scholars have changed their fate through this way, including Jin Fenghua's father. So, although it is still early now, Xianyi had already asked Mrs. Jiang about the items and rules that need to be brought for the imperial examination a long time ago, and now she has plenty of time to take care of household chores and slowly prepare things for Jin Fenghua's exam.

  Lin Qing is near the mountain, and charcoal is absolutely essential. Due to the many charcoal shops in Lin Qing, the price isn't too expensive either. Xian Yi calculated the cost after consulting with Gong Zhong, then purchased some mid-range charcoal. She even invited a master craftsman to come to her home to inspect the fire kang and fire wall, fearing that there might be problems with the ventilation. If something went wrong during urgent times, it would be too late to fix.

  With the charcoal settled, Xian Yi also invited the mistress of the tailor shop to come to the mansion to take orders for two sets of cotton clothes and pants for each servant. She also ordered clothing for herself and Jin Feng Hua. Since everyone in the mansion was spending their first New Year's there, Xian Yi didn't want to be stingy. Moreover, she didn't know where these people came from, even if they couldn't truly connect, they had to put on a good face.

  As the Chinese New Year approaches, Shi Niang will be leaving and may not come back afterwards. Although another nanny will be sent after the New Year, there will be a gap period where only Xian Yi can take care of Yu Ge. Fortunately, Yu Ge is growing up and even if he hasn't weaned off yet, it's not like he needs to rely on milk for sustenance. Moreover, Xian Yi has been adding supplementary food to Yu Ge's diet since he was six months old, including meat porridge, egg porridge, fish porridge, and various grains and fruit purees in rotation. Even if Yu Ge is weaned off now, there won't be any worries about malnutrition.

  After finishing all these, Xian Yi had to busy herself with the New Year's ancestral worship and preparing gifts for various families. Although they had left the capital city, they hadn't truly cut ties with the Jin family, so Xian Yi still had to prepare a New Year's gift for the Jin family in the capital city. The quantity and quality were somewhat troublesome for her. These weren't major issues, but as a new daughter-in-law, with her mother in the suburbs of the capital, she couldn't casually ask Mrs. Jiang, who was also busy, so she had to sacrifice herself and only asked a few questions after Jin Fenghua's pleasure.

  Jinfenghua has been troubled lately, not because he's worried about the imperial examination or the Jin family in the capital, but because he's anxious about his own self-control. Perhaps he hadn't discovered it before, or maybe he never had in past lives, but he's developed a morbid obsession with Xianyi's body. It's not just that being intimate with her is exhilarating, but even holding her while she sleeps is extremely comforting. This isn't actually a good thing for him, because the education he received in his past life was to cut off all influences on himself and not leave any weaknesses. But can he bring himself to take action now?

  Jin Fenghua lay beside Xian Yi, listening to her complaints about the New Year's gift, then looked up at the embroidered canopy and subconsciously reached out to touch the bedside, only to find it empty. The soft sword that was closest to him in his past life was now lying in a corner of their own warehouse. The window was closed, and he couldn't hear the breathing of the dark guards outside, nor did he need to worry about being stabbed or killed by black-clad men coming from the window or rooftop in the middle of the night. He was just a illegitimate child of the Jin family now, even if he held something that belonged to Cui Gonggong, on the surface, he had no connection with any power, and people who didn't know the details would think he was just an illegitimate son who couldn't return home. He didn't need to think about who to catch or worry about the servant outside his door being a relative of some deceased official, nor did he need to draw his sword at any moment to kill something or someone he cared about.

  The air no longer had the smell of blood, and he didn't have to be forced to hug someone for training. He could sleep with Xian Yi for as long as he wanted. In the future, he could openly walk into the grand hall and rightfully interfere with this country.

  "It's really good now..." Jin Fenghua turned sideways, hugged Xianyi tightly and whispered in her neck.

  Xian Yi had just finished talking about the New Year's gift, and her heart was still slightly worried. However, she suddenly found that Jin Fenghua seemed to be thinking of something else and didn't respond at all. She had no choice but to ask again: "We won't return to the capital for the New Year, will Grandfather really not blame us?"

  "He doesn't care about me, his precious eldest son is still in prison, he won't care where I spend the New Year. If this were a past life, before he was by Lord Cui's side, he would probably worry that his father would give him away to someone for the sake of his eldest son, but now he just needs to treat that whole family as a joke, a play."

  It seems that this time, the young master has really offended someone he shouldn't have. Otherwise, with the Chen family's background, the young master would not still be locked up in prison after several months. It's no wonder that no one from the capital has come to pursue him, and not even a letter of reprimand has arrived. Xian Yi looked down at Jin Fenghua's soft and shiny black hair, skin almost whiter than her own, and secretly wondered if all this was arranged by Jin Fenghua.

  "No need to send anything for the New Year's gift, we are separated from the family as a branch of the clan, no wealth, let alone in their hearts we have not parted ways. Sending some local specialties from Linqing to the old lady is enough." Jin Fenghua's hand wandered over Xianyi's skin, those wonderful curves made him infatuated and enchanted. He forbade her from using any perfume, keeping her natural sweetness untainted by external influences. This was his thing, this lifetime he just wanted to indulge his desires, grasp what he wanted in his hands, rather than timidly letting it slip away.

  Xian Yi only felt the boy on her body getting hotter and hotter, his movements becoming more intense. Soon she was lost in the arms of this pale-lipped, red-cheeked boy who looked like a demon, drunk to the point of unconsciousness.