GBP Chapter 997: Settled for 5 years
Chapter 997: Settled for 5 years
Time is like an arrow, the sun and the moon are like a shuttle.
Several years have passed in the blink of an eye, and more than four years have gone by, bringing us to the fifth year of Dingcheng.
It was another sweltering summer day. The air was thick with heat, and there wasn't a breath of wind. You could almost see the distorted heat emanating from the branches and leaves.
Leaving aside the changing situation in the capital, the Zhang family residence is quite different now compared to a few years ago.
Zhang Lao Er and Xu Shi have grown increasingly old in recent years, with wrinkled skin and white hair, and failing eyesight and hearing. They no longer want to go out for walks or exercise, and often sit under the eaves of the backyard to bask in the sun for the entire day.
He only moves when his sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons come to visit.
Old Zhang is now very hard of hearing, and he knows it himself. So most of the time he is all smiles. When he sees the children coming over, he picks up a pastry and patiently feeds them. The love in his eyes is just like when he was young decades ago, but he no longer has that sharpness and vigor. Instead, he has a heavy sense of age.
It's obvious to anyone with eyes that the elderly couple is getting on in years and is nearing the end of their lives. Every day they live is a bonus, because who knows when something might happen? Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, no one can say for sure.
After Li entered the family, she gave birth to two sons in a row, having two children in three years. Now she is pregnant with her third child and is about to give birth. Zhang Ping'an specially invited the imperial physicians from the palace to help examine her pulse. It is said that this child has an 80% chance of being a boy again.
With her two sons and the third child in her belly, Li Shi firmly secured her position as the matriarch of the Zhang family.
During her pregnancy, she even elevated her dowry maid to the status of a concubine, earning praise from everyone around her for her magnanimity.
However, before her sons were old enough to understand, Madam Li would not allow them to have any children. Therefore, the only great-grandchildren in the household at present are her two legitimate sons.
Perhaps due to severe morning sickness during her pregnancy, Li Shi, who weighed 150 pounds when she married into the family, has lost more than 30 pounds in the past few years and now weighs only a little over 100 pounds.
When Xu was in good spirits a couple of years ago, she was so worried when she saw how thin her granddaughter-in-law had become that she tried all sorts of ways to help her nourish herself. In her opinion, being a little chubby was a sign of good fortune!
Unfortunately, Li vomited everything she ate during her pregnancy, so even the best supplements were useless if she couldn't absorb them.
In the past two years, Xu's mental state has been poor, and he often makes mistakes, so he has stopped paying attention to these matters.
Now that Li Shi has slimmed down and settled into her figure, at least her features are clearer, she looks more energetic, her features are bold and bright, and she exudes the majesty of a matriarch.
The servants in the mansion generally dared not act recklessly, and the rules were much stricter than before.
Zhang Ping'an and Xiao Yu'er were only responsible for external affairs. As long as things didn't go too far, they generally didn't interfere too much with the affairs of the mansion. Therefore, over the years, the mansion was managed very well by Madam Li, with clear class distinctions, and it was clearly developing in the direction of a powerful and influential family.
Even so, the servants in the mansion were still quite satisfied.
Nowadays, disasters occur frequently in various parts of the world, such as locust plagues, droughts, floods, and epidemics. At the beginning of this year, I heard that there was an earthquake in the south, which killed many people.
Various natural and man-made disasters have caused great suffering to the people.
Their mental outlook and living standards are incomparable to those of the late emperor; the difference is enormous.
In the past, the markets in Beijing were not only bustling during the day, but also crowded with customers in the evening. However, with soaring prices and the high cost of rice, flour, and cooking oil, people are gradually struggling to make ends meet, so they have no interest in shopping and dare not spend money recklessly.
With no business and rising costs, vendors are struggling to make ends meet and are gradually switching to other jobs. The daytime market is alright, but the night market is completely desolate.
Only in wealthy and powerful families could they find protection and live a life free from worries about food and clothing.
So strict rules are nothing to worry about; the worst thing is being sold off.
As the sun began to set, Zhang Ping'an and his son finally returned from their shift.
Zhang Ping'an has been in the position of Privy Councilor for many years now, and it's time for him to be moved up in rank. The next step would be either to join the cabinet or to concurrently serve as prime minister, combining military and political power. Or he could be granted honorary titles and rise to the highest ranks of officialdom, such as being one of the Three Dukes, just like his father-in-law, Grand Tutor Qian, had done in the past.
However, he is only in his forties now, and it would be too young for him to be ranked among the Three Dukes. He will most likely continue to serve as prime minister.
The worst outcome would be to assume real power in a region, become a military governor, and a high-ranking official, just like Lin Junhui.
However, his career has always been smooth, so his transfer at this time is somewhat intriguing, and his future is still uncertain.
Adding to the messy affairs in the palace, Zhang Ping'an couldn't help but feel irritable.
Xiaoyuer is currently a Reader-in-Waiting of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, a fifth-rank official. Among his peers, he has had a smooth career and has been promoted relatively quickly. His daily work mainly involves lecturing to the Crown Prince. Although this position seems to have little real power, it is very respectable and belongs to the elite among officials. Moreover, it allows him to get close to the Crown Prince. When the Crown Prince grows up, he will be the Crown Prince's right-hand man. Therefore, he has a lot of influence among his peers and gets along well with his colleagues.
However, with the death of Empress Qin, the empress was left without a ruler, and then the third prince drowned. Suddenly, His Majesty had only two bloodlines left. As the crown prince, the eldest prince naturally became the target of various forces, and many people were placed around him.
This greatly threatened Xiaoyuer's position in the Crown Prince's heart.
The reason he didn't go to the Ministry of Revenue but instead went to the Hanlin Academy, where he spent so many years, was to keep the Crown Prince firmly under his control and subtly influence him.
Now that the Crown Prince has become a lucrative target, and he is no longer the only one for him, this is not good, and it is not what Xiaoyuer wants to see. He will never allow this situation to continue.
As soon as the father and son entered the main room, the two little ones came to greet them.
The eldest son, Zhang Heng, was only three years old, but Xiao Yu'er had already sent him to the clan school for his first education. He spoke and acted like a little adult, even imitating adults by bowing and making a gesture of respect. His serious demeanor always made Zhang Ping'an feel more affection for him.
The second child, Zhang Zhuo, is only a little over a year old, but he walks very steadily. He speaks clearly and fluently, and can express his meaning very clearly.
The two brothers, one quiet and the other lively, have very different personalities, which are evident even at a young age.
"Grandpa, hug me!" The second son, Zhang Zhuo, couldn't help but whine, stretching out his arms for a hug. Despite his young age, the child knew who the most important person to please in the household was.
When asked who he likes the most, he always says his grandfather is first and his father is second.
Xiaoyuer was in a bad mood, and seeing her youngest son acting so spoiled, she couldn't help but frown and scold him in a low voice: "Stand still! What kind of behavior is this? You're already a year and a half old, and you still want to be carried?"
Little Zhang Zhuo pouted, put his hand down in a huff, and ran back to his brother, not wanting to talk to his tyrannical father.
"Getting angry again?" Little Fish said, heading over.
Zhang Ping'an stopped him, saying, "Alright, the child is so small, not even as tall as his calves, what does he know!"
"Sigh, Father, you can't always protect him like this. He's so fearless because he knows he has someone backing him up. Children are very good at reading people's faces. I told you long ago that we should move the child to the front yard. He can't stay in the back all day. What future can he have if he's raised by women? But you always take their side. This can't go on!"