Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 641 - 597: News from the Capital (2)

On the day of returning to her mother’s home, Li Yu En spent her time either playing with Guoguo and Jingjing or being pulled by Li Yuzhu to climb mountains or learn embroidery, leaving her no time to think of anything else.

Princess Consort Luling smoothed things over with a smile, saying, "Isn’t it true? Yu En often thinks of Chengye’s name and occasionally counts the days on her fingers to see when you’ll come to pick her up."

Li Yu En turned to look at her mother; she hadn’t, had she?

Princess Consort Luling was frustrated enough to want to hit her silly daughter but had to smile and wink at her.

Li Yu En, "..."

Lou Chengye was moved to tears, "Yu En, you were missing me so much you lost weight? But don’t worry, I brought back plenty of goodies from the Capital, and you’ll soon regain your original figure."

Li Yu En was amused and exasperated; she didn’t want to regain her original figure, as losing weight was hard work, wasn’t it?

During the initial two months of losing weight, every day at dawn, Li Yuzhu would pull her out of bed to go mountain climbing.

Although Niu Tou Mountain wasn’t high, the slope from the top to the foot was only about three miles.

But walking that route four times in the morning and another four times in the evening wasn’t an easy task.

"By the way, Chengye, are there any new stories from the Capital?" To avoid gaining weight again, Li Yu En diverted the conversation.

The Li Family was concerned about matters of the Capital.

Both Prince Luling and Princess Consort Luling looked at him.

Li Xingmao stopped playing around with Li Jing and asked, "Chengye, tell us about affairs in the Capital."

Li Xingsheng also had a hopeful expression.

The Li Family all showed an eagerness to hear stories, which greatly satisfied Lou Chengye.

He promptly began to talk spiritedly.

Lou Chengye first spoke of amusing tales from the streets but realized the Li Family showed no interest; when nobody asked about what he ate or played with, he quickly switched to talking about the affairs of the high officials and the happenings within the palace.

Sure enough, the expressions of the Li Family changed immediately.

In fact, his knowledge of the Capital was limited to street anecdotes, and the news of the court and palace came entirely from his father.

Previously, his father never discussed politics with him, but this time he made an exception.

He said that if Li Family and Brother-in-law Pei asked him, he should speak, but not to anyone else.

He asked why he was only to inform Pei Shenyan and Li Family members.

His father explained that they were his wife’s close relatives, so of course, he should share; sharing news between husband and wife is part of marital duties.

"The Beiyang people are clamoring for a marriage alliance. The Emperor sent several daughters from noble families as princesses, but unexpectedly, the Beiyang people saw through it and punished our ambassador. Then, Prime Minister Pei proposed sending more textiles and tribute, after which the Beiyang Country stopped mentioning the Princess of Heqin." Lou Chengye explained.

This information was very important.

After hearing this, the Li Family all breathed a sigh of relief; the matter of marriage alliance was finally resolved.

"Oh, there’s more, but this isn’t good news." Lou Chengye furrowed his brow.

For people in the Capital, aside from Princess Consort Luling’s Wei Family, the Li Family didn’t care whether other news was good or bad.

"Which family’s matter is this?" Princess Consort Luling quickly asked.

"It’s regarding the Emperor." Lou Chengye shook his head and sighed.

Oh, it’s about the Little Emperor!

Any bad news about the Little Emperor was considered good news for the Li Family.

The Li Family’s expressions all relaxed again.

"What’s wrong with the Emperor?" Prince Luling slowly sipped his tea, had he died?

Li Xingmao went back to watching Li Jing and Baili Rui play go.

Under Chai Eying’s guidance, the two brats learned to play go, and whenever they had free time, the two would engage in a few rounds.

Playing go develops one’s mind and keeps them from running around; hence, the Li Family supported the two children in playing go.

They didn’t understand what the adults were saying and were deeply engrossed in their chess game.

"He’s been sick since last winter, on and off, and the Imperial Physician can’t diagnose the illness. It’s said that people in the palace didn’t even celebrate the New Year properly—they didn’t dare set off too many firecrackers for fear of startling the Emperor while recuperating." Lou Chengye shook his head. "The Emperor is only twenty-one; how could he be ill for so long and not recover?"

Hopefully, he doesn’t recover!

Li Xingsheng shook his legs with delight, tapping his sleeves, almost blurting out those words.

Moreover, except for the oblivious children, all other Li Family members were thinking it internally.

Guoguo sat beside Princess Consort Luling, playing with the ribbons on her skirt. Hearing Lou Chengye talk about the Emperor’s illness, she raised her head, smiled slightly, and then lowered it again.

"The younger they are, the less they know how to take care of their health." Prince Luling stroked his beard, looking serene.

Prince Luling’s remark that the Little Emperor Li Can neglected his health wasn’t made lightly or without basis.

The number of consorts in Li Can’s harem was unprecedented, three times that of all the concubines of the four previous emperors combined.

Moreover, he engaged in unrestrained indulgence, reveling day and night.

When he grew bored within the palace, he would often disguise himself and sneak out to seek pleasure.

He would end up at the brothel, spending all his silver, only to be stripped of his outer garments by the madam and chased onto the street.

The ministers, embarrassed, refrained from rescuing him, leaving only Prime Minister Pei to muster the courage to dress like a servant alongside a few eunuchs and bring him back.

Once, while Prince Luling was in the palace, he stumbled upon Li Can engaging in illicit affairs amidst the flowers in the Imperial Garden, in broad daylight with a concubine.

This made the old face of Prince Luling turn livid with anger.

He stood with his back turned and gave Li Can a harsh reprimand.

Traditionally, after a father’s passing, direct uncles had the right to admonish their errant young nephews. Yet, Li Can bore a grudge against Prince Luling for this, found a pretext to punish Prince Luling, and later seized an opportunity to confiscate the Lu Ling Royal Mansion’s property, exiling the entire family to a life of hard labor here.

Reflecting on the cause of his demotion, Prince Luling appeared calm on the surface but sneered coldly inside.

Lou Chengye, unaware of these events, merely took the comment as advice to rest more and nodded earnestly, "Father-in-law’s reminder is right."

Then, Lou Chengye spoke of matters in the harem.

The Little Emperor had named a beauty as the imperial concubine, who, under the protection of favor, disregarded the Empress.

Both women came from prominent families, relying on their natal families’ support, fighting each other fiercely.

The palace intrigue also affected the previous court.

The court’s ministers are now divided into three factions: one siding with the Empress, another with the imperial concubine, and only a minority of loyal senior ministers remaining neutral.

"Oh, isn’t that quite the spectacle?" Li Xingsheng said with a smile. "Have the two factions ever come to blows?"

Political disagreements among ministers sometimes did lead to physical altercations.

However, with high-ranking figures like Prince Luling present, the lower-ranking ministers hardly dared to strike more than a few times before hastily retreating, avoiding escalation to armed conflict.

Now, with Prince Luling absent, the few high-ranking old ministers are timid, fleeing at the sight of a fight, let alone mediating peace.

Lou Chengye, a martial enthusiast and young in age, did not understand governance, reveling in the excitement talk of brawls could bring.

"Of course they fought; the imperial concubine’s father punched the Empress’s uncle, the Empress punished the concubine, and the concubine complained to the Emperor, who then confined the Empress for half a month. In short, this year’s New Year was quite lively." Lou Chengye laughed heartily. "It’s a pity, my father and I only heard about it; by the time we arrived in the capital, it was already early March, and we missed the spectacle."

Li Yu En blinked, "The Empress lost quite pitifully, her uncle was beaten, and she was punished with confinement."

Li Can often oppressed the Li Family, viewing them as enemies, yet the Empress had associations with the Li Family, even having some personal ties with the Great Princess Li Yuwen and once spoke up for the Li Family, though to no avail.

"The humiliation suffered by the Empress’s family cannot be quietly endured." Princess Consort Luling scoffed lightly.

Lou Chengye added, "Indeed, turmoil erupted in the capital; the shops of both families are vying for each other’s business. I’ve watched the commotion for days."

Li Can was gravely ill; the imperial concubine and Empress clashed.

To outsiders, these seemed merely to make the capital lively, but the Li Family knew well that the capital was on the brink of change.

The Empress hailed from a family of hundreds of years’ prestige, with deep-rooted connections to various clans in the capital.

Many Empresses of previous dynasties hailed from her family.

Li Can’s mother, the present Empress Dowager, was also a relative of the Empress’s family.

Before the late Emperor passed away, he chose this Empress for Li Can to draw in Empress Cui’s family, using the Cui clan to support Li Can against high-ranking clans like Prince Luling’s.

To the Li Family’s surprise, Li Can disregarded the Empress, favoring another.

Li Xingmao was steady, showing little emotion, contrasting sharply with Li Xingsheng, who was nearly clapping and stomping, calling someone foolish.

Chai Eying, unaware of the Li Family’s status, held her sleeping son, sitting beside them, listening like a story, alternating between surprise and wry amusement.

.

Lou Chengye spent the night at the Li Family, and the next day, he and Li Yu En went to the market street in town to visit Pei Shenyan, who was recuperating at Pei Mansion.

Mu Yuanxiu, Pei Shenyan, and Lou Chengye, three brothers-in-law, discussed men’s topics in the study, while Li Yu En took Li Yuzhu and Li Yuwen to the secluded West Courtyard to speak of matters in the capital.

When Li Yuzhu was in the capital before, she was an indifferent girl, uninterested in the city’s affairs; after listening to Li Yu En, she felt no ripple of emotion, only uttering a faint "Oh."

The palace women, fighting openly and covertly for their family interests, was nothing unusual.

Which dynasty was without such occurrences?

Only Li Yuwen sneered indignantly, "Cui Yinglei, so useless! An Empress of the palace, yet trampled by an imperial concubine? Did she forget all the tactics I taught her?"