Do you know? Do you know? Should be green fat and red thin

  To say that Sheng Hong, the four-book official, is not a waste of time, according to Ming Lan's words, he has a very high political sensitivity. On the third day after the Northern Expedition Army returned, he keenly felt that he was about to be busy.

  The military power of the Great Zhou Dynasty was originally concentrated in the Five Armies Commander's Office, plus the Capital City Garrison Command and various local garrisons. The Five Victorious Armies also had some. After the new emperor ascended to the throne, he experienced two major battles, "Jing Yan's Rebellion" and the Northern Expedition against the Xiongnu slaves. Most of the elite troops who were good at fighting were concentrated in the hands of Shen Guo and his men.

  As usual, after the great army returned to the court, the general in charge of the army had to return the military seal and credentials. However, it has been half a month now, and the Ministry of Officials has submitted several memorials to remind him slightly, but there is no movement from the emperor's side. Finally, Wu Yingdian University Scholar Qiu Shi publicly presented a memorial during the court meeting, as a result, he was severely reprimanded by the emperor, calling it "usurpation".

  Sheng Hong felt that something was amiss, and since he had always trusted the old lady, one day after strolling in the garden, he came to Shou'An Hall to pay his respects and mentioned a few words, then went to discuss with Zhang Bai in detail.

  "Don't let anything happen again." Old Lady Sheng clasped her hands together and silently recited a few Buddhist scriptures. "The chaos of war ultimately brings suffering to the common people. Last year's disturbances caused many good fields along the Jianghuai region to wither away, and it was pitiful for those farmers who had to sell their sons and daughters." The old lady had been a devout Buddhist for many years, and since last year, she had exempted many tenant farmers from paying rent.

  Ming Lan held an embroidery needle and carefully poked at a piece of embroidered fabric, upon hearing this she raised her head, with a bewildered expression saying: "Really? Throughout history there haven't been many emperors who liked to fight wars."

  The old lady hesitated and said: "Could it be that His Majesty... wants to take some action?"

  Minglan nodded heavily: "Grandmother is right, Dengtu Zi holding a butcher knife is to force himself on someone, Xiao Zei holding a wolf-toothed club wants to be a bandit, the Emperor grasping military power and not letting go, it's likely that something will happen."

  Emperor Renzong treated the meritorious and noble with great leniency, so for twenty or thirty years, military power was mostly held by families of hereditary nobles. These families intermarried for generations, their influence intertwined, and military discipline became lax. After the new emperor ascended to the throne, a major purge was inevitable.

  The old lady pinched a handful of Minglan's smooth and greasy little face, seeing her mischievous expression, she was delighted that she had recovered her spirit, and laughed scoldingly: "You little scamp, talking nonsense! You're also talking nonsense about state affairs! I can't help but want to slap your mouth!"

  Minglan covered her small face and desperately twisted open the old lady's magical claws, softly shouting: "It's not about court politics! It concerns our family's great matter."

  "What's all the commotion about?" the old lady asked in surprise.

  Minglan put down her hands and walked over with a serious expression: "Hurry up and tell the madam not to rush into finding a husband for Fifth Sister yet, wait until this matter is cleared up before going to find one, it will be more reliable!"

  She accepted a gold necklace as a token of apology, which was somewhat helpful; something that could have a positive impact on Rulan couldn't be too bad. It's not easy to fall in love sincerely this year, and Minglan hoped Rulan would be happy.

  Actually, Minglan worried too much. The emperor's move was faster than Wangshi's. Before Wangshi could even choose a son-in-law, the first impeachment had already begun.

  Those who followed the four kings in the "Shen Chen's change", those who colluded with the two kings who plotted rebellion in the "Jing Yan's chaos", and those who were ineffective in coordinating military affairs during the northern expedition against the Jie slaves, the emperor ordered the Ducha Yuan to thoroughly investigate and then jointly conduct a strict trial with the Supreme Court.

  According to the basic military principle of not fighting on two fronts, the emperor this time concentrated his firepower on the aristocratic families, and in one fell swoop deprived several kings of their titles, demoted more than a dozen households, and the Yongchang Hou Mansion was also severely punished due to poor coordination within the army. The lord was fined for a year's salary, and the Hou Mansion was also confiscated two imperial-granted estates.

  The Wen Guan Group is temporarily safe, so they spare no effort to offer plans and strategies to the Emperor, and Sheng Hong, as a small head of the Ducha Yuan, is especially busy, often returning home for half a day, sometimes even having to sleep in the department.

  That day, Hua Lan came to visit Hai Shi who was pregnant with a big bag and small bags, and also brought her own son and daughter to play at their grandparents' house. The two children were not much different in age, and at this time, the kids were the most fun, loving to move around and make noise, but they couldn't do anything too impressive, could only walk a short distance, and the most powerful technique was still to open their mouths and cry loudly.

  Not long ago, Minglan designed a row of wooden fences over ten feet high for her brother, wrapped the edges and corners with brocade and cotton wool, surrounded the kang like building blocks, enclosing a small square place, where everything was soft and fluffy, and it didn't matter if children crawled and fell.

  This idea was highly appreciated by Mrs. Hai, who had been pregnant and could no longer get close to her son. She would often sit aside with a smile, watching Minglan tease the little boy in the crib with toys, his chubby body tumbling over four times, then leaning against the railing and taking a few steps sideways, making the adults watching from the side hold their bellies in laughter.

  Hua Lan thought it was interesting, so she put Quan Ge into the mix as well, letting the two little brothers play together. The two chubby and round friends were tangled up in each other, one moment helping each other up, the next fighting over toys and tumbling to the ground. Zhuang Jie clapped her hands in excitement, everyone was holding their bellies in laughter, even the maidservants on the side couldn't help but giggle.

  Finally exhausted, the two brothers cried for a while and fell asleep with their heads against each other, their short legs overlapping, snoring softly, and drooling.

  Zhuang's sister was also tired, holding the mechanical cat plush toy that Minglan had just given her in one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other. Wang Shi quickly settled her into the warm pavilion next door to sleep, telling the maid to keep a close eye on her. Hai Shi rubbed her lower back, feeling fatigued as well, so Old Lady called her back to rest too.

  "Ah……it's still better here, look at how sturdy and energetic Shishi is, not to mention his good temper, he's also very generous and doesn't shy away from strangers." Hualan smoothed out the wrinkles on her clothes that had been messed up from playing earlier, gazing from afar at her son sleeping on the kang in the inner room, letting out a soft sigh. "Unlike Quan, who is dull and stupid, with a weak body too."

  Like Orchid was playing with a spinning top, she raised her head and said to Hua Lan: "Sister often holds Shiguer in the garden and walks around, not restricting him from jumping and jumping, it's all because Big Sister is too tight on Shiguer!"

  Hua Lan's face sank, seemingly displeased. Wang Shi saw that her two daughters were about to quarrel again and hastily said: "What do you know? Your elder sister's household is more prosperous than ours, with more people, who knows what they're thinking? If your elder sister doesn't take care of her brother-in-law, how can she be at ease?"

  Hua Lan's face slightly cleared, and she said bitterly: "Your son-in-law's family is full of troubles, not one of them can be trusted! I've never dared to relax for a moment! It's just that my younger sister has good fortune, her family are all down-to-earth people... me? Ah..."

  The old lady was heartbroken for her eldest granddaughter, and pulled Hualan into her arms, gently embracing her: "Hua, life is full of disappointments, but in the end, your husband treats you well, doesn't he?"

  Hua Lan looked at the old lady's kind and concerned eyes, her heart warmed up, feeling that after all, there was a maternal family to rely on. She smiled and said: "Shi Ge's father treats his granddaughter very well, he just takes care of the flowers and plants in the house, most of the time he spends with his granddaughter, as soon as he has a son, he teases his brother and sister! When his mother-in-law sometimes uses words to tease me, he doesn't dare to confront her face-to-face, but after turning around, he tells his father, and his father scolds his mother-in-law with a stern face: 'Are you living too comfortably?! Your son and daughter-in-law are happy and content, it's the blessing of the family, don't stir up trouble for no reason! As a mother-in-law, what are you doing meddling in your son's room every day?! You're making the home restless, why don't you go to the ancestral temple to copy scriptures instead?' Then his mother-in-law would behave herself for a while."

  Hua Lan spoke in a hoarse voice, perfectly imitating the tone of Zhong Jun Bo. But she couldn't keep it up for long and burst out laughing, falling into Ming Lan's arms. The Madame of the Zhong Jun Bo household was also notorious in the capital for being muddle-headed, often earning her husband's scolding, and even Shou Shan Bo's Madame looked down on her, something that many relatives and friends were aware of.

  Wang's family finally let out a sigh of relief, wiped his eyes and said repeatedly: "This is good, this is good! Your father didn't misjudge, the groom is a good one!"

  The old lady held Hualan's hand and patted it gently, saying with emotion: "Hua'er, you're doing great, just keep a low profile and grasp the key points, and don't be too afraid of her. Your father-in-law and husband are both understanding people, they won't let your mother-in-law bully you!"

  Yu Lan listened and knew that Hua Lan's days were not easy either, feeling embarrassed in her heart. She slowly stood up, hesitated for a moment, apologized, and said: "Big sister, you don't have to worry about Shi Ge, Big Brother-in-law is capable and wise, Little Nephew will definitely be the same, who knows, maybe he'll become a brave and powerful young general in the future!"

  Hua Lan wiped her eyes and deliberately joked: "But, as the saying goes, a son is like his mother. Your brother-in-law's good qualities are not inherited by your brother!"

  Like Orchid suddenly lacked ingenuity, she immediately got stuck, and she casually twisted Minglan's arm. Minglan had already rescued her several times, so she sighed in her heart and quickly added: "...then it would be Nephew Xiao Shuobo, if Brother were like Big Brother, ah..."

  "What's it to you?" Hua Lan asked with a smile.

  Minglan let out a long, deliberate sigh and spread her two small chubby hands, looking embarrassed: "That's just how hard it is to read bad books and fail the exam!" Rulan clapped her hands and laughed: "This is great! Either you'll be a young general or a young scholar!"

  Everyone in the house was overjoyed, and Wang heard it with great satisfaction. Hualan walked to Minglan's side and twisted her several times, as if Lan had come to help. The three sisters laughed and teased each other, laughing loudly.

  Wang looked at his daughter and thought of another married one, couldn't help but ask: "Hua'er, have you recently heard about the Yongchang Marquis's household? Is it serious?"

  The old lady looked at her with displeasure, and Wang's tone was more schadenfreude than concern, too impatient.

  Hua Lan shook her head and sighed, "Alas! The Liang family is too cunning. The dispute between the third and fourth princes for the throne was really frightening. If Jing Wang succeeds in the end, won't those who helped resist the enemy be punished? That's why there are many compromises in the military now. It's also no wonder that they fell out of favor with the emperor. The eldest son of the Liang family did follow the army to the north and made some contributions, but he was promoted by General Gan alone; however, General Gan... has been promoted to Minister of War, vacating his position in the military, so the emperor can appoint his own people?"

  The emperor had a bad time before he ascended to the throne. Not to mention that the powerful and noble families in the vassal states did not give him much face, every time he returned to the capital, he often saw those powerful families fawning on the third and fourth princes, and his heart was probably unhappy for a long time.

  Wang listened with rapt attention, combining it with the gossip she had heard recently, and hastily said: "Nowadays, the most prosperous family in the capital is probably the Shen family. Not only did they produce an empress, but also a national uncle who can fight; tsk, tsk, the Shen family has such good luck!" Her words were laced with envy for the Shen family's choice of son-in-law.

  Hua Lan didn't know what her mother meant, and she covered her mouth with her sleeve and giggled. She mischievously said: "My mother-in-law is now regretting it. Half a year ago, my younger sister Wen Er officially got engaged, who knew that just a month later, Shen Guo's original wife would pass away? Now, those who are proposing to the Shen family are probably breaking down their doors!" Thinking of her own mother-in-law's frustrated expression, Hua Lan couldn't help but laugh.

  Old Lady Sheng shook her head and sighed: "A fierce fire boiling oil, fresh flowers on brocade, entering such a high-ranking family, it's unlikely that the days will be good; I think your husband's aunt is a down-to-earth person, and she loves her own niece, and there are not many people in the Shoushan Bo household, it's truly fortunate for our family's daughter to marry into that family!"

  Hua Lan Su came to admire the old lady's insight, nodding repeatedly: "Grandmother is right! Just look at the Yuan family, because Su's door was deserted before, and now it can't be linked to anything. This time, the emperor made an effort to clean up the noble families, but the Yuan family has nothing to do with it."

  Ming Lan's heart skipped a beat, and she interjected: "Elder sister, you just said that the Emperor might be planning to replace his own people in the military, and someone like Elder Brother-in-law who has no backing or faction might still have a chance to be reused."

  Yuan Wenshao had thought of this long ago, but Hualan was too embarrassed to boast in her mother's home. Seeing Minglan speaking up for herself, she felt happy and pleased, pursing her lips modestly and saying: "It's not necessarily so, we'll have to see what the Emperor thinks."

  The old lady was overjoyed and said, "Your uncle is very capable, your days in the Yuan family will be even better!" Wang Shi bluntly said, "When can we separate from the family, only then can I truly have a good life away from that mother-in-law of yours!"

  The old lady sighed in her heart, this time she didn't even have the energy to be angry with Wang; this was indeed the unanimous voice of the Sheng family, but could such words be spoken in front of her mother-in-law?

  Hua Lan was quick-witted, and with a glance at the old lady's expression, she knew that Wang Shi had misspoken. She hastily changed the subject: "Grandmother, mother, two sisters, do you know what the most interesting thing in Beijing is right now?" Seeing everyone's puzzled faces, Hua Lan smiled lightly and continued, "It's about Gu Tingyan, who went north with Shen Guo's uncle to fight a big battle. Do you all know about it?"

  Minglan was startled for a moment, then immediately calmed down and sat properly.

  Wang heard this and laughed: "How could I not know? The prodigal son of the Ningyuan Marquis's estate has turned over a new leaf and risen to prominence! He is also connected to the Fourth Prince, as well as the Jinxiang Marquis, the Lingguo Duke, and three or four other families who were stripped of their titles and had their homes searched. But the Ningyuan Marquis's estate only had its imperial plaque removed, and it's said that this was because the Emperor spared them for the sake of Gu Er Lang. What happened to him?"

  Hua Lan took the tea bowl, sipped a mouthful of tea, and said slowly: "At the beginning of the year, Ningyuan Houfu told Gu Tingyan about a marriage proposal, which was a distant relative of the Peng family, a remote relative of Fu Anhou. At that time, Gu Tingyan was alone outside and didn't know anything; when he found out later, Ningyuan Houfu had already sent a matchmaker to talk about it. Who knew that at that time, the Peng family saw Gu Tingyan's decline and refused to agree to the marriage? They even called on a collateral branch of the clan to replace her with a concubine daughter, which made Gu Erlang furious. He found several brothers in the army to accompany him and directly went to the Peng family to reject this matter!

  Wang's eyebrows danced with excitement as he exclaimed, "So that's how it is! I only knew half of the story. This Peng family has no idea what a treasure they have, and now they must be regretting it to death!"

  "Really?!" Hua Lan rushed to the old lady with a smile, saying, "Now that Gu Tingyan is not what he used to be, the Peng family actually wants to make this marriage again. They pulled out the matchmaker who went to the Ningyuan Hou Mansion to propose back then and shouted everywhere, saying 'there was an engagement long ago'!"

  The Wang family looked down on them and said: "This Peng family is also too shameless!"

  The old lady also listened and shook her head, saying in a low voice: "Even so, it's not good to make things awkward. After all, that head is still connected to the face of Marquis Fu'an."

  Hua Lan's white and tender fingers lightly touched her lips, unable to conceal the smile: "Would Gu Er Lang be willing to suffer a loss?! He had someone send a painting to the Peng family, and the Peng family was overjoyed. They opened it in front of many people, and inside the painting was a barren field, with a farmer pulling a plow away."

  Minglan was so delighted that she almost spat out her tea. Wang Shi and Rulan looked at each other in surprise, while Old Madame seemed to have a hint of a smile on her face. Rulan didn't dare ask anyone else, so she went back to grabbing Minglan's arm and asked in a low voice, "What does it mean?"

  Minglan swallowed the tea in her mouth first, then caught her breath and said: "...... Thin fields have no one to cultivate, cultivating has someone to contend with!"

  Ruolan understood and laughed so hard she clapped her hands. Wang's face was sarcastic: "Well said! Now the Peng family will be ashamed!"

  Hua Lan smiled and said, "Gu Tingye used this painting to point out the mistakes of the Peng family in advance, and the Peng family couldn't pretend to be ignorant anymore, so they found an excuse to step down. I think Gu Tingye was a bit too much, but your son-in-law said that nowadays Gu Er Lang is much more restrained, if he were still as hot-tempered as before, he might have even scolded them directly at their doorstep!"

  Minglan recalled the incident with Yanran and the Water Bandit brothers being shot into hedgehogs, nodding secretly to herself that this guy indeed had a bad temper.

  Hua Lan wiped away the tears that had come out of her eyes and said, "The Peng family's behavior is just a joke to others, even the Fu An Hou Mansion doesn't want to help them; now many wealthy families want to recruit Gu Tingyan as their son-in-law, Gu Tingyan has been busy in the Metropolitan Governor's mansion for some time and hasn't even returned to the Jiang Jun Mansion, so the matchmakers all flocked to the Ningyuan Hou Mansion, who still remembers that Peng family!"

  Minglan silently sipped her tea, not saying a word; she was secretly thinking that this matter couldn't be entirely blamed on the Peng family. A wandering rogue and a newly risen noble with imperial favor, how could they possibly receive the same treatment? Now it's all good, a swarm of people will come to propose marriage, Second Uncle will definitely find a daughter-in-law who meets his expectations, gentle, virtuous, soft, and considerate, excellent!

  I haven't dared to post recently, afraid of being scolded, but occasionally I still give out points, and I've seriously read everyone's comments, really.