The New Year is approaching, but the capital is indescribably deserted. The Duke of Yue declined all New Year arrangements. From the year-end festival to the New Year's social opera to the first month banquet, Fang Zilan rejected them all. Even she herself took leave before the New Year.
For a moment, everyone speculated that after the murder of Duke Jun, Fang Zilan had offended too many people by coming forward, so she was afraid that she wanted to hide quietly, so she stayed in the house.
However, everyone's speculation has not yet been concluded, and another even more shocking news came from the palace.
After successive incidents occurred in the Pei family, the funeral ceremony for Pei Juiqing, the Duke of Jui, ended, and Pei Pening became restless and fell ill. Everyone thought that Pei Xiaoze would naturally succeed as the head of the family, but they never thought that the empress dowager in the palace would kneel down. I asked Li Shengxuan to appoint Pei Xuanchang, the son of Pei Juqing, as the head of the family and raise her personally. At the same time, in exchange, she will move to a palace outside Beijing to take care of herself.
The Empress Dowager left the capital with the head of the Pei family, and only one person from the Pei family, Pei Xiaoze, remained in the capital, continuing to hold the unimpressive official position of Minister of Household Affairs. As a result, the Pei family has almost no influence in the capital. The once prosperous family, which was famous both inside and outside the palace, is probably about to decline.
The Ouyang family is also in a mess. After the funeral ceremony of the head of the Ouyang family and Mrs. Ouyang, Ouyang Juncheng delayed his succession to the head of the family because of his filial piety. The uncles and elders in the family all had their own agendas, and some even proposed to bring Ouyang Zirou back for convenience. It is to prevent Ouyang Juncheng from succeeding as the head of the family.
Fortunately, Li Shengxuan personally issued the decree for the succession of the head of the Gongqing family. Not surprisingly, Ouyang Juncheng's imperial edict to succeed the family head will be issued after the New Year's social drama, just like when Fang Zilan was appointed Duke of Yue and Wei Subaru was appointed Duke Wei. By then, no matter what other members of the Ouyang family do, it will be of no use and they will be nothing more than clowns. .
As for the Fang family of the Prime Minister's Office, although the second Miss Fang shed some skin, she has more or less distanced herself from the Pei family. Mo Han took this opportunity to present the revised law, and there was a lot of excitement inside and outside the court.
The revised law states that everyone in Beijing has the responsibility to take care of orphans and widows. Women who have lost their husbands are not allowed to buy or sell, and they have the freedom to remarry...
This law, which is as fair as possible, affects the interests of many people. Some people accuse Mo Han of having ulterior motives, while others praise Mo Han for his kindness and compassion. However, Mo Han himself does not know this. Since he fell into coma due to high fever that day, Fang Zilan asked him to recuperate at home and was not allowed to take care of anything else.
"Sister Lan, my illness has been cured." Mo Han looked at Fang Zilan who was leaning against the door, feeling quite helpless.
"I know." Fang Zilan nodded, "I have also written your resignation letter and handed it over."
"Sister Lan, it's not the New Year's holiday, so you asked me to finish the last few days of this year..." Mo Han was interrupted by Fang Zilan before he finished speaking, "Mo Han, you have done enough. "
"But..." Mo Han opened his mouth and was about to say something when he saw Xiao Xuan'er coming in a hurry, "Master Fang, there is a reply from the palace."
"How do you say it?" Fang Zilan had no intention of avoiding Mo Han, so Xiao Xuan'er said directly: "Your Majesty will not spare Ouyang Zongrui's death penalty, but he still ordered the queen to be executed. Mr. Mo's resignation..."
She suddenly paused, Fang Zilan glanced at her and said clearly: "Your Majesty does not agree?"
"The palace sent someone to say that unless Mr. Mo personally submits a letter, His Majesty will not agree." Xiao Xuan'er's voice was a little softer, but Fang Zilan expected it, "It is indeed so."
Xiao Xuan'er pursed her lips and said, "Master Fang, both envelopes were rejected by Your Majesty..."
"It's no big deal if you reject it." Fang Zilan wrote lightly: "Anyway, Mo Han is ill now. Even if he goes to the Ministry of Punishments, he will have to wait until after the new year. It will take a month or two."
"Then Ouyang Zongrui..." Xiao Xuan'er's expression was dark and unclear, "Master Fang has agreed to Miss Ouyang after all. Do you want to think of other ways?"
"No need." Fang Zilan waved her hand, "Although I promised Zi Rou to intercede for Ouyang Ou Rui, I can only do my best. Your Majesty is the one who makes the final decision. Since His Majesty has made up his mind, how can it be me? Can it be shaken?"
At the end, she said quietly: "It's easy to change a country's nature, but it's hard to change one's nature. Being too soft-hearted will only lead to endless troubles."
Hearing this, Xiao Xuan'er was stunned, then understood, and changed her voice and said: "Master Fang, the New Year is coming, General Huangfulin has arrived in Beijing with an imperial edict, I believe General Huangfuxin will not return to the north in the short term, Shangguan Min…”
"It's really troublesome." Fang Zilan impatiently intercepted her next words, raised her hand and frowned slightly, "Huangfu Xin still refuses to meet?"
"Yes." Xiao Xuan'er nodded slightly, "I sent all the invitations and greetings, but they were all returned by General Huangfu Xin."
"You're not old, but you have a bad temper." Fang Zilan snorted coldly, "That's all, I'll go there myself."
Before Xiao Xuan'er and Mo Han had time to say their words of dissuasion, Fang Zilan disappeared in front of them like a gust of wind, leaving the two of them looking at each other.
The Duke of Yue's Mansion had been closed to thank guests for some time. Fang Zilan felt that it was too ostentatious to appear in front of everyone, so she simply acted like a gentleman and sat on the roof of the wing where Huangfu Xin lived.
Huangfu Xin heard the noise and came out, and immediately saw Fang Zilan who was throwing stones down from the roof out of boredom. After seeing him, he jumped down, looked up and down, and teased: "I thought General Huangfu had left." The climate in the north is unaccustomed, and I am too sick to see people, so I declined my invitation. I didn’t expect General Huangfu to be so lively when I saw him today. It seems he just doesn’t want to see me."
"Lord Fang is joking." Huangfu Xin looked a bit confused. Fang Zilan glanced at him sideways, "It seems that the Huangfu family has already covered the sky with one hand in the north. General Huangfu has been absent without authorization for more than a month, but no one dares to Talk about it."
"I..." Huangfu Xin's face turned red and white, and Fang Zilan calmed down and said softly: "General Huangfu is angry that I didn't leave Zirou in the capital, or is he angry that I didn't persuade Zirou to go back to the north with you? territory?"
As if being stabbed in his heart, Huangfu Xin hesitated and was completely speechless. Fang Zilan couldn't help but frowned, "General Huangfu, as a general guarding the border, why are you obsessed with the love between your children?"
"I'm not..." Huangfu Xin's words of rebuttal were strangled by Fang Zilan before he could leave his mouth. "It was Zi Rou's own decision to leave the capital. I think she must have told you the reasons when she broke off the engagement. It was like this in the past. It will be the same in the future.”
She looked at Huangfuxin intently and said word by word: "Zirou has her own way. Huangfuxin, you should also have your own way."
"I'm not..." Huangfu Xin's words of rebuttal were strangled by Fang Zilan before he could leave his mouth. "It was Zi Rou's own decision to leave the capital. I think she must have told you the reasons when she broke off the engagement. It was like this in the past. It will be the same in the future.”
