Chapter 367: Cause and Effect
The birds in the trees chirped and twittered. Tweet, tweet, tweet.
With Princess Caiyi bringing two children into the palace, the palace became incredibly lively.
Wherever there are children, the air becomes a bit more lively and bustling.
It feels as if the air flows faster.
Where children are present, the floating particles in the air seem to come alive, dancing more joyfully.
The family ate a reunion meal together.
Jiang Feng had married, Jiang Yu had wed, and they both had children. Qin Luoxia and Jiang Changtian were at most forty, having become grandparents, but they had already exceeded the average life expectancy, belonging to those who lived long lives.
In this era, if one was over thirty and unmarried, it was roughly equivalent to being single at over sixty in modern times.
Jiang Changtian and Qin Luoxia felt quite good about their son-in-law and daughter-in-law.
They both looked like honest people.
The son-in-law was steady and kind-hearted, but not a pushover. They knew from their first meeting that even when saving people, he would have his good friend, Young Master He Chen, look after the rescued young women. He had a sense of boundaries and followed rules.
The daughter-in-law looked naive and innocent, but she was not stupid; at least, she was a bit smarter than their own Sister Yu.
That was quite good.
Even with someone as simple-minded as Sister Yu, the Meng Family treated her well and was extremely good to her. After getting married, she hadn’t grown much more worldly, which showed that her life was relaxed and easy.
If a girl is naive and innocent but becomes shrewd and mercenary after marriage, it can only be because her living environment after marriage is not as good as it was when she was a maiden, requiring her to become shrewd and mercenary, to fight and snatch, in order to avoid suffering losses.
Originally, they were worried that Jiang Feng was rather cold-hearted. Although Jiang Feng would call the courtesans in the county’s pleasure houses “Sister, oh Sister” when he was young, he was merciless when drawing his sword, making absolutely no distinction between men and women. Jiang Feng looked like he was on good terms with everyone, but in reality, he didn’t take anyone to heart.
Qin Luoxia was worried that Jiang Feng wouldn’t find a partner; after all, his younger sister was already married with two children, while Jiang Feng had made no progress at all.
Now it was good; Jiang Feng had married. Although his wife was a daughter from a prominent family, she didn’t have that high-and-mighty air of superiority. As a mother-in-law, Qin Luoxia couldn’t stand that kind of girl—pretty, yes, but moping around all day, needing constant coddling, and acting out. If Jiang Feng had fallen for such a girl, she would have wanted to sever their mother-son relationship. It was mainly because she couldn’t bear to see her son constantly playing the subservient, fawning role endlessly.
Dong E was very good, joyful, and looked happy. Moreover, her heart and eyes were filled with Jiang Feng; they even held hands when walking. Jiang Feng also had a smile on his lips, much more lively than usual.
Jiang Changtian was also very happy today.
Having started a family, he could be considered truly grown up.
He didn’t even give Jiang Feng any wedding leave, sending him straight to the government office to work.
After gaining a few more years of experience, he could retire early.
Besides, he had the task of raising children. He always felt that because he had been too busy in recent years, he had neglected Mianmian’s education and should spend more time with her.
The Grand Empress Dowager and the Grand Princess were also present at the family banquet. To be honest, the Grand Princess was a bit unaccustomed to such a family banquet.
It was just very close, very casual, and very unpretentious; she was really not used to it.
She was more used to the feeling of being high above, with everyone present being inferior.
However, among those present now, her son was the Emperor, very fierce—smiling on the surface, but actually very fierce.
The daughter-in-law was the Empress, swift and decisive, super fierce.
The little granddaughter was smiling, not to be offended, and she still wanted to hear her tell stories.
The elder granddaughter was pregnant again, needing special attention.
The elder granddaughter’s husband had just returned from the battlefield; although he appeared very docile, it was said he killed hundreds of enemy soldiers just to accompany his meal…
The elder grandson looked a bit like her son; although his smile was gentle, she always felt he was actually a bit fierce.
Finally, the granddaughter-in-law looked like the kind of noble lady of the capital that Princess Huiyun was familiar with. However, listening to her speak and watching her movements, she couldn’t maintain that image for even one meal—it was very “Jiang Family” style…
Actually, the Grand Princess felt a bit awkward. She saw that her Father and Elder Brother didn’t rule as Emperor like this, and she wondered if she should teach her son.
But it seemed that her Elder Brother and Father hadn’t been very successful as Emperors either.
And she wasn’t sure she knew how to be an Emperor either.
She had lived for more than half her life, and the reason she could survive until now was by not meddling in other people’s business. Now that she was old, she was going to teach her son how to do things? How to be an Emperor? Princess Huiyun felt she didn’t have that ability, so she decided to forget about it.
Children and grandchildren have their own blessings; she hadn’t taught them a day when they were young, so it was too late to teach them now that they were grown.
The whole family ate and drank together, a very private family banquet with very few people invited.
The foster Father, Eunuch Yan, was in attendance.
Eunuch Yan always maintained a strict sense of hierarchy in the palace, but this time he sat at the table.
Because after attending Jiang Feng’s wedding, he was preparing to take people out to sea.
Come to think of it, he was already the most awesome eunuch in all dynasties. Other eunuchs also adopted foster sons and daughters, but those foster children would rely on their influence to go out and commit crimes. He, however, adopted actual princes and princesses as foster children, so he could rely on his foster sons and daughters to go out and commit crimes…
Attendant of the Yellow Gate Gong Qichi was also invited to attend as a family member.
Gong Qichi was neither humble nor arrogant, just as he had been in the past.
On this day, Eunuch Yan drank alcohol. The New Emperor didn’t drink, but he kept Eunuch Yan company.
After eating and drinking, it was already dark.
In a dark corner of the Imperial Garden, without any chance encounters with concubines, The New Emperor pulled Eunuch Yan aside for a heart-to-heart talk.
No one knew what the two of them said.
Only that Eunuch Yan was appointed as the Eunuch of the Directorate of Palace Servants and Chief Envoy Eunuch, and he led a large group of eunuchs, preparing to go out to sea, disappearing from everyone’s sight.
Some rumored that Eunuch Yan had gone to seek the elixir of longevity for The New Emperor.
However, two days after Eunuch Yan left, a major case occurred in the capital.
The Grand Princess’s former husband was found stabbed to death at home, his death miserable, his body riddled with holes like an hourglass, and his testicles had been cut off.
It was a major case.
The former husband was, after all, a member of the imperial clan, and this was in the capital, a place with such good law and order; yet he had actually been killed here.
The Ministry of Justice intervened to investigate, but didn’t find anything conclusive.
Some suspected The New Emperor had done it, but Heir Han and his family were all fine. If The New Emperor had done it, there would be no need to spare Heir Han.
Moreover, The New Emperor looked like the kind of upright, rigid scholar; he did things by the book and required his officials to be realistic. He didn’t let people guess. When the former husband’s incident occurred, The New Emperor was discussing tax issues with his officials. When someone came to report it, The New Emperor appeared very surprised, which couldn’t be faked.
Some also said it was the Chief Envoy, the great Eunuch Yan, who did it. It was said there were eyewitnesses, but the “Nine-Thousand-Year-Old” had no grudge against the former husband and had a bright future ahead. He had already set sail on the ocean, so there should be no need to make a surprise move to kill the former husband before leaving.
In short, the death of the former husband became an unsolved case.
Setting sail from Jincheng, the great banner was hung high, fluttering in the wind.
Chief Envoy Yan, dressed in red, sat on the large ship, holding the telescope gifted by the little princess.
He could see a white bird flying over the blue ocean, soaring high, breaking through the wind and waves.
He could see small islands.
Looking back, he could also vaguely see the houses on the shore, getting further and further away.
The group of people Eunuch Yan brought with him had done a major deed together before leaving the capital, which counted as Eunuch Yan’s oath of allegiance.
They had killed someone together, and everyone had slashed a blade.
White blade in, red blade out, blood splattering.
Eunuch Yan said this was their ritual before departure.
Although they didn’t have testicles, they had mettle. From then on, as they went out to sea, they would be men of mettle: killing enemies when they met them, facing near-death experiences, returning alive, bringing honor to their ancestors, and entering the history books.
This year.
The first year of the New Chu Dynasty, on the seventh day of the seventh month, The New Emperor, Jiang Changtian, ordered Chief Envoy Eunuch Yan Jiexi to lead a fleet on a voyage to the far ocean.
The first stop reached the Xi Kingdom, which happened to be in the midst of a civil war. The team led by Chief Envoy Yan helped one of the factions, the Royalists, win, gaining a great deal of supplies and manpower. They continued to sail west, finding a small country on the other side of the ocean with brown hair and green eyes, rich in produce, where one didn’t need to farm; one could just look up and pick fruit to fill their stomach. Initially, there was a language barrier, so Chief Envoy Yan and his men stayed for two years before continuing on…
The second year after The New Emperor of the Chu Kingdom ascended the throne, a natural disaster occurred, lasting for three years. The supplies sent continuously from overseas greatly alleviated the internal and external troubles of the Chu Kingdom.
(Originally, the Seventh Prince ascended the throne, and there was a three-year natural disaster. The New Emperor said that Heaven wanted to destroy Chu, implementing a brutal rule, with the dead piling up in the markets, and the Chu Kingdom was in precarious danger. The Crown Prince, Chu Xi, was ordered to take over in the face of danger, The New Emperor committed suicide, and Chu Xi ascended the throne…)
The ocean, seagulls, red flags.
Corpses.
Yan Jiexi killed a pirate who wanted to board the ship. Blood splattered onto his face. He tasted a bit—the metallic taste, fishy and salty, yet it made him even more excited.
“Men, charge! Kill!”
The birthmark on his knee had become deformed because several scars had been added to it.
On an uninhabited island, a red flag was planted, with the word “Chu” written on it.
The blue ocean, green islands, red blood, red flags.
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