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Poetry Gathering
T/N: Translated by Jen on Broken Jinsei! Please do not repost my translations! All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Xun Che stared into Yu Lingxin’s eyes, lightly nodding, “This matter occurred too suddenly, and because General Cheng got injured, his Majesty temporarily still has shock over anger, but once General Cheng recovers, this offense of failing to govern the army, sooner or later will come down. Judging from the speed in which Duanyi Xianzhu rushed back, she definitely must know something. That’s why, I’ve already requested a decree from his Majesty to head to the Chen province to investigate this matter.”
“Just investigating this matter? You don’t have other plans?” Yu Lingxin slowly inhaled a deep breath, “In the last lifetime, xianzhu had guarded over the Chen province, so the Chen province simply have any problems occur. At this time, since xianzhu has gone back, could it be that she’s unable to take care of it?”
Xun Che caressed Yu Lingxin’s shoulder. He knew where this deep uneasiness of his wife’s came from. Ever since their marriage, on the surface, everything seemingly was all calm and tranquil, the Xun family and Yu family both harmonious. Even the imperial court and inner palace’s state of affairs were also gradually leaning towards Qin Wang according to his calculations.
But, just like how Yu Lingxin was deeply aware of how exhausted he was during this process, Xun Che was also aware that Yu Lingxin was similarly closely following the changes in politics, as well as how one of her heartstrings was constantly tense, preparing for Li Consort’s or even Empress Wen’s counterattack.
Everything that they knew of and experienced in the past life, as things develop to this point now, already don’t have much help, because following Xun Yan’s death, and the Zhu family dropping in rank and going into hibernation, as well as the princes’ imperial selection and marriage, the state of affairs of the imperial court and inner palace were already completely different.
But, the tragedies and sorrows that happened to the Xun family and Yu family nevertheless still left behind a deep scar in their hearts. This kind of pressure, as the situation develops and become increasingly unpredictable, will instead become an even greater pressure, fearing that if not careful, the tragedies will just repeat at anytime.
On Yu Lingxin, the most obvious was probably when outside, she practically didn’t dare to let Xun Ying leave her line of sight for a second, as well as in this moment, her worries towards Xun Che’s trip to the Chen province.
She really was very scared of separating with him.
This bit, during that separation that time prior to their wedding, Xun Che was already aware.
Starting from when they first reunited, Xun Che actually already understood, regardless of how the environment appeared, or how reserved and aloof Yu Lingxin appeared, neither of them were able to the leave the other.
“Huijun.” Xun Che suddenly reached out to have Yu Lingxin pulled into his arms, kissing her forehead. “Don’t worry, I should be able to return before the end of the year. I’m just going to investigate the incident this time. If General Cheng can recover from his injuries quickly, and this matter can be thoroughly investigated, then the Chen province perhaps will still have the leeway of not changing the main commander, so this trip, I have no choice but to go.”
“You really can return by the end of the year?” Yu Lingxin buried her head in his arms. She naturally trusted Xun Che’s abilities, and she also knew that since this kind of thing occurred, it was impossible for Duanyi Xianzhu to be the only one going over to handle. Xuan Emperor certainly will send people from the Central Secretariat and Ministry of War over to investigate. If Xun Che doesn’t go, someone else naturally will go. Once matters become even more detrimental to the Cheng family, the situation will just become even more complicated.
But, she really was somewhat nervous.
Wu Wang’s and Wei Wang’s marriage and candidate showed that Li Consort has lowered her head towards the empress. This can be said as Li Consort putting on a humble and modest appearance on the surface for the sake of winning Xuan Emperor’s pity, but at the same time, there was another possibility, and that was that Li Consort and Empress Wen reall have reached a certain kind of consensus.
After all, Qin Wang was just raised by Empress Wen and not Empress Wen’s actual son. And during Qin Wang’s wedding preparations, the Ming family and Xun family’s memorandums against Empress Wen have already had the entire state of the imperial court shifted from the previous two-side opposition between Zhaoyang Hall and Changchun Hall, gradually towards Qin Wang, Empress Wen, and Li Consort, this kind of triangular stand-off.
Then, under this condition, if Empress Wen really chooses to first work with Li Consort to suppress Qin Wang, then changes in the capital afraid will be imminent.
“Certainly.” Xun Che lowered his head to kiss her cheek again, “Don’t worry, a month is more than enough. Besides, Duanyi Xianzhu will also be there, what can possibly happen to me? As for the capital, you also don’t need to worry too much. At present, his Highness Qin Wang has already left the palace and established his own manor, no longer residing in the palace. If something were to happen, coming and going in between will also be much more convenient than before. Additionally, there’s also Jincheng and Jinrou. Nothing will happen.”
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Yu Lingxin no longer said anything, just biting her lip and nodding her head. At the same time, she also held him even tighter. Even if clearly aware that Xun Che was deliberately having these things said particularly relaxing and simple, at this time, she could only believe in him first.
As soon as the court session began the next day, the news regarding the unforeseen event in the Chen province army finally can be considered officially announced to the nobles and officials. Xuan Emperor’s initial fury naturally had already finished digesting, and after urgently summoning and discussing with the cabinet ministers the day before, he already has a list of candidates to send to the Chen province to thoroughly investigate this matter. But, controversy upon the imperial court nevertheless immediately exploded as Xun Che’s name was mentioned.
The biggest reason was that Xun Che was too young. At present, he had just turned twenty. Such a young high fourth rank Chief Secretary of the Central Secretariat accompanying the emperor everyday, being able to listen in on major political affairs in the Central Secretariat, has already triggered countless controversy. And now, for the Chen province mutiny, this serious of a matter, it was actually this immature brat going to investigate? Furthermore, the Cheng family also had layer upon layers of marriage ties with the Ming family and Xun family. In this way, how can it be considered fair and impartial?
However, fortunately, thanks to the secret discussion the night before, Xuan Emperor had already made up his mind, directly overruling the great majority of the doubts in court, expressing that at present, it wasn’t the time to question the heavily injured General Cheng whether or not he was strict in governing the troops. Xun Che’s goal, along with the people of the Ministry of War, was to first figure out the cause of the incident, and not directly going over to sentence the main commander, destabilizing the army.
But, even so, there were still all kinds of questions and doubts. That’s why, when the court session ended on the twenty-first of the tenth month, Xuan Emperor had no choice but to add two more people to the list of names for the Chen province to investigate the mutiny incident, so as to ensure fairness.
At this time, the Xun family interior was already busy. On one hand, Xun Che will soon set out for the Chen province in two days, and at the same time, the Wen’an Marquis Xun Nanheng also received a decree, needing to head to the Yu province and Chang province garrisons to carry out inspection. To put it bluntly, it was just to prevent the Chen province army from having even bigger changes, ensuring in advance that the nearby garrisons were stable and also have the ability to provide backup.
That’s why, for a moment, the Xun family went from the whole family all at home, thinking that this year, they can peacefully and comfortably wait until the end of the year before seeing how busy they will be next year, to suddenly having Xun Nanheng and Xun Che both needing to leave home at the same time. Ming Huayue and Yu Lingxin naturally became busy, temporarily pressing down the worries, preparing for their respective husband’s journey first.
At first, Ming Huayue was still somewhat worried about Yu Lingxin. After all, she and Xun Che had just married for a few months, yet already need to send Xun Che off on a trip.
Although Xun Che said that he can come back in a month, Ming Huayue still very much understood inside that it was very hard say for sure with military affairs. A thorough investigation and reorganization of the army will need to take at least several days. At present, the Chen province was already to the point where the main commander was injured in a mutiny, how can it be a small matter?
Never mind being able to return before the new year, being able to return within half a year will already be considered not bad.
However, Yu Lingxin appeared to be rather calm, at the same time busily preparing Xun Che’s luggage, she was also able to attend to the domestic affairs at home, even going to ask about Xun Ying’s daily life and Xun Cong’s studies. In the two three days, she was busy like a spinning top. On her pretty face, her expression was gentle and composed the whole time, seemingly not minding that Xun Che will be leaving home.
All the way until the twenty-fourth of the tenth month, on the way back from sending off Xun Che and his father outside of the city, Xun Ying finally saw Yu Lingxin lower her head in the carriage, not saying a word for a long while. And the handkerchief in her hand also had unknowingly became soaked.
“Sister-in-law…” Xun Ying thought for a moment before softly consoling Yu Lingxin, “Don’t worry too much, didn’t second brother say he will be back by the end of the year? The time is still quite fast.”
Yu Lingxin nodded. Actually, she also didn’t know why her eyes suddenly reddened. In terms of reason, the state of affairs, the severity of the situation, and everything, she all understood, but she just…………..
“Oh, right, sister-in-law, isn’t it the Wenhua poetry gathering in a few days? The one at the plum forest in Jingfu Temple? Didn’t the Wenhua Academy say that they wanted to hold a poetry gathering for a long time, the dates changing again and again? Recently, they have finally settled on a date. Why don’t you go with me for a look, while also relaxing the spirit in passing?” Xun Ying voluntarily coiled around Yu Lingxin’s arm, “Jinrou previously said that she also wanted to go for a look, mainly wanting to go see the plum flowers over there.”
Yu Lingxin curled her lips. The date for the Wenhua poetry gathering indeed had changed many times, mainly because the academy’s reputation went from the former hot topic to gradually not having any attention. The so called great scholars they invited also repeatedly turned down the offer, so the date of the poetry gathering constantly got pushed back. Others perhaps didn’t care, but for Xun Ying, this little bookworm that genuinely wanted to consume verses and poetry, she nevertheless couldn’t stop thinking about it.
However, just as she was about to agree, she suddenly recalled something else, immediately turning to look at Xun Ying, “You wanting to go to the poetry gathering this much, is it for the poetry, or for someone at the poetry gathering?”
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