I just want to live a happy life

Chapter 123 Do You Know the Bai Family? - Bai Ruonan (End)

No matter how unwilling and resigned Gu Yankai was, he clearly felt unwell after returning from Qingyue.

Not only can he feel it, but also the people around him and those who have met him can feel it.

The people who followed and served him discovered that the Marquis had been coughing more frequently in recent days, and the coughs were getting worse day by day, and he even coughed up blood.

When he was in court or on duty, his colleagues could see that Gu Yankai looked pale and haggard. At first they thought that he was just unwell and would be fine in a few days, but later he simply stopped coming. Upon asking around, they found out that Gu Yankai's condition was very serious and he was now bedridden and had been in a coma for several days.

Upon hearing this news, everyone sighed and shook their heads. It seemed that Gu Yankai was beyond saving.

This was indeed the case. After being in a coma for several days, Gu Yankai finally woke up and saw that there was no one in the room. He wanted to speak and call someone in, but he was too weak. He could only open his mouth but no sound came out. He wanted to reach out and pat the edge of the bed to make some noise, but his hands could not move. He tried all the methods, but to no avail.

In the end, he could only feel his strength gradually slipping away, and he closed his eyes unwillingly forever.

After a while, a servant opened the door and came in with a bowl of medicine. He walked straight to the bedside and was about to feed the medicine to the marquis when he found something wrong.

When he left to get the medicine, the quilt on the Marquis was still well covered, but now the Marquis' arms were exposed, and it was obvious that they had been moved.

"My Lord, My Lord." The servant called out twice, but the Lord did not move.

He was trembling and cautiously stretched out his hand to test. There was no breathing. He was so scared that he dropped the medicine in his hand to the ground. He didn't care about anything else and ran out crying.

Gu Yankai passed away.

Qingyue was not sad at all about this. Instead, she felt an indescribable sense of relief and comfort, as if some emotions that had been weighing on her heart had disappeared with his death.

Her two children had been estranged from Gu Yankai since they were young, and were not close to him. Especially after knowing what Gu Yankai had done in the past, they became even more distant from him, and they did not feel much sadness about his death.

.......

After Ningyuan Hou Gu Yankai passed away, Qingyue held a special thank-you banquet after finishing all her affairs.

Many people came to her thank-you banquet, even the princesses of Prince Yong and Prince Yan came. Perhaps it was because the emperor had a biological prince this time, and the prince had grown up and all the court officials were subject to him, so their husbands had no possibility of ascending the throne and were just ordinary clan members, so they were less arrogant.

Qingyue held the wine glass and looked in one direction. Sitting there was the Duchess of England, who was watching a play with her daughter Zhang Guifen.

In a short while, Qingyue saw Rulan and Minglan went there, and Zhang Guifen saw them, stood up, smiled, pulled them to sit down, and started chatting.

By the way, Minglan is married now, and she is marrying the man her grandmother had introduced to her before, He Hongwen, the grandson of the He family of Baishitan, a medical family.

He Hongwen's grandmother and Minglan's grandmother used to be close friends, and they still have a good relationship now. Old Lady He also admires Minglan and likes her character very much. She is very supportive of this marriage.

After Minglan and He Hongwen got married, they got along very well. He Hongwen was really good to Minglan. Not only did he listen to her in everything, he also let her take charge of the household affairs and make the final decisions on all family matters. Old Mrs. He had no objection to this.

Sometimes when he went out to collect herbs, he would take Minglan with him and not let her stay in the backyard all the time. Instead, he took her to see the mountains and rivers. Minglan and He Hongwen went to many places, saw many beautiful scenery, and their minds became much more open.

This time, although Rulan married Gu Tingye, by chance, Zhang Guifen and Minglan became good friends.

At this time, Zhang Guifen glanced at Minglan with a smile and said jokingly, "You are finally back. The last time we met was half a year ago. Are you and your husband enjoying yourself outside and don't want to come back?"

"Alas, you even forgot about me, your good friend. You only wrote me one letter in the past six months."

Minglan almost choked when she heard her say that and rolled her eyes at her.

At this time, Rulan also spoke, and she sighed deliberately: "Perhaps Sixth Sister saw that you and General Xiao Zheng had just got married, and was afraid that coming too early would disturb you."

Minglan nodded: "Fifth sister is right. Come to think of it, I brought you a lot of things when I came back this time. Your words really make me sad." As she spoke, she pretended to wipe away her non-existent tears with a handkerchief.

Zhang Guifen's face flushed when she heard what they said. She looked at the two of them and pretended to be angry and said, "Well, you two sisters are teaming up to tease me on purpose."

As they talked, several people started laughing.

Not long after the thank-you banquet ended, the emperor's edict came down. Not only did Qingyue receive an imperial decree, but Gu Tingye also became the Marquis of Ningyuan in name only.

After Gu Tingye entered the court, because of his own talents, he did a good job in everything assigned to him, and was noticed by the emperor and highly valued by the emperor. Not only was he promoted, but he was also allowed to follow the prince and work for him.

Perhaps the emperor felt that his health was not as good as before and he didn't know when he would collapse, so he had been paving the way for the prince to ascend to the throne. The emperor changed his previous image of a benevolent monarch and dealt with many officials who relied on their seniority and did not do practical work. Some were exiled and some had their property confiscated.

He also promoted capable and talented officials to stand behind the prince.

The official was already old and in poor health. He had been busy during this period and soon fell ill.

The emperor was unable to attend court, and from then on, the crown prince would act as regent and handle state affairs.

After a period of time, some officials who originally wanted to test the prince's abilities and gain more benefits from his young age stopped doing so.

It is true that the crown prince and the emperor are different. The emperor is a benevolent monarch. Even if he had paved the way for the crown prince to ascend to the throne, the most severe punishment for an official is exile.

But the prince is completely different. His temperament is totally unlike that of an official. He is extremely tough and will punish serious crimes with death. Even though there has always been a rule in this dynasty not to kill civil servants, this rule does not exist for the prince and he will not abide by it.

Not only did the prince consolidate royal power in a short period of time, he also valued military generals very much. Not only did he elevate the status of military generals, he also vigorously developed the army and built weapons. The ministers who were able to gain a foothold in the court understood the prince's actions and knew that he was planning to go to war.

There were many officials in the court who were against the war. They said that war was costly and laborious, and that paying tribute would ensure the stability of the dynasty. The prince would not tolerate such arguments, and would punish those who deserved punishment and would not accept their threats.

No matter what anyone says, it cannot change his determination to take back the lost land.

After the emperor passed away, the prince ascended the throne.

With the financial support of the Song Dynasty, everything was quickly prepared, and the emperor announced the order to attack the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun during a morning court session one day.

The Song army had powerful weapons in hand, and there was no shortage of excellent generals. With sufficient food and grass, they quickly recaptured the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. At this time, those who had clamored against the war in the court were completely quiet.

After these generals returned to Bianliang, they were rewarded by the emperor, especially Gu Tingye, who was truly worthy of the title of general this time.

When Gu Tingye first learned that the emperor had the idea of ​​recovering the lost territory, he knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for had come, so he recommended himself to the emperor.

Gu Tingye is a master of martial arts and strategy. The emperor is well aware of Gu Tingye's abilities and gave him the opportunity to go to the battlefield.

This time, not only Gu Tingye was commended, but also Gu Tingshuo who followed him to the battlefield was commended by the government.

The Ningyuan Marquis Mansion had two generals, which made it more noble and became an existence that could not be ignored by the upper class.

Some years later.

Under the government's governance, the Song Dynasty became more prosperous both economically and culturally, and social atmosphere gradually became more open.

Women no longer had to wear veils when going out as usual. Whether they were married or unmarried, they could show their true faces.

The government even opened schools everywhere, so that daughters of ordinary families could go to school and learn to read and write just like boys.

Later, women were allowed to take the imperial examinations and serve as officials just like men. Officials employed servants of the same gender, only looking at their abilities. If a woman was capable, she could be granted a title of nobility or a military commission.

With the government's increasing support, the status of women continued to rise.

As the Song Dynasty grew stronger and more prosperous, it also intimidated different places. More ships traveled to and from the Song Dynasty, and in addition to people from the dynasty, people of different skin colors also came here.

They brought the newest and most exquisite goods to the Song Dynasty to do business. Under the long-term influence, they not only learned Chinese and wore Hanfu, but also spread the culture of the Song Dynasty to more distant places, thus opening the curtain for the Song Dynasty to gradually dominate the world.