Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chengdu, Huang Mansion.

Huang Wan held a letter in her hands, staring at it infatuatedly without blinking, her eyes filled with deep love.

But the letter said: "I feel like I am meeting you in person. I am glad to see your face. I wish you a good autumn and a peaceful winter."

Seeing these familiar words, every stroke of them fell into Huang Wan's eyes. She seemed to see a handsome face on the letter made of silk. It was her future husband - Liu Zhang, Liu Jiyu. And the face on the silk was looking at her with a faint smile.

Thinking of Liu Zhang's face, Huang Wan recalled the scene of her first meeting with Liu Zhang. At that time, the Dongzhou soldiers had been bullying and dominating the market without scruples due to the indulgence of the former Yizhou Mu Liu Yan, and they accidentally bullied her who was playing in the market.

But she didn't expect that in a tavern in the market, there sat the newly appointed Yizhou governor Liu Zhang, who came forward to protect her, dismissed the arrogant Dongzhou soldiers, and, as an apology, gave her a piece of Shu brocade that she liked but could not afford, on the pretext of not strictly disciplining her soldiers.

This matter was known to Dong Fu, the governor. With his help, she made an engagement with Liu Zhang and got a promise that the engagement would be completed after Liu Zhang conquered Guanzhong and avenged his two brothers Liu Fan and Liu Dan.

So, she, who was fifteen years old at that time, waited from the first year of Xingping to the first year of Jian'an. That is, three years later, she, who is now eighteen years old, witnessed Liu Zhang's pacification of Guanzhong and the elimination of Li and Guo, and waited for her wedding day.

From meeting Liu Zhang, getting engaged to now being married, Huang Wan felt that the first person she needed to thank was the matchmaker Dong Fu. Without Dong Fu's mediation, there was no way she could have entered into an engagement with Liu Zhang.

As for the second person who needed to be thanked, Huang Wan unexpectedly wanted to thank the captain Xu Meng who bullied her in the market on the day she met Liu Zhang. If it were not for Xu Meng, she would have passed by Liu Zhang and might not have had the chance to meet him.

Besides, Captain Xu Meng has come to her house many times to apologize for the incident with her in the market, and stated that he only intended to take advantage of her and had no other intentions. Xu Meng also said that he had learned his lesson and would never do such a despicable thing again.

"Misfortunes are the foundation of blessings, and blessings are the root of misfortunes." Huang Wan, who had read a few classics, recalled this philosophical saying from the "Tao Te Ching". Good things sometimes become bad things, and bad things sometimes lead to good things. The mystery is hard to describe.

After a long time, Huang Wan carefully folded the silk cloth and put it into an exquisite wooden box. In the wooden box, there were piles of letters. They were all letters sent by her lover via fish or geese. Unexpectedly, there were so many letters piled up.

After collecting the latest letters, Huang Wan covered the wooden box and carefully locked it in the cabinet to prevent the letters from being eaten by insects and ants and damaged. She tried her best to ensure that the letters were neat and complete.

After sorting and putting away the letters, Huang Wan thought about the future and couldn't help feeling a slight resentment.

As Guanzhong had just been settled and there were many affairs to attend to, and the bandits in Liangzhou had just been wiped out, there were still many stray soldiers who needed to be cleared out, so the wedding date of Liu Zhang and Huang Wan was set for the spring of the following year.

"It will take several months." Huang Wan supported her chin with both hands, feeling resentful. She wanted to go to Guanzhong as soon as possible, but she still had to wait for several months. After all, winter was approaching, and it was not convenient for her to leave for Guanzhong at this time. She had to wait until the winter of this year was over and the spring of next year was warm and flowers were blooming before she could leave.

After a moment, Huang Wan put away the slight resentment in her heart. Even though she had waited for three years, she was not in a hurry. There was still a long way to go, and she would meet her lover one day.

...Chengdu, provincial governor's mansion.

At the moment when Yizhou Governor Liu Zhang was on an expedition to Guanzhong, all matters big and small in the governor's mansion were controlled by the head of the mansion, Pang Jing. Although Pang Jing was the head, when encountering important matters, he still had to ask for advice from the real person in power in the mansion - Liu Zhang's widowed sister-in-law Wu Xian.

Ever since her husband Liu Mao died, Wu Xian had been a widow living in the governor's mansion. And for unspeakable reasons, after Liu Zhang's expedition to Guanzhong, Wu Xian naturally took over the power in the governor's mansion. She was not the mistress of the state, but better than a mistress.

Just like now, the chief official Pang Jing came to the backyard of the mansion. He bent his body slightly, staring at his shoes, and asked Wu Xian for permission: "Madam, the chief secretary Wang Shang wants to hold a banquet in the Mingtang of the mansion and invite officials from Chengdu to celebrate the happy event of Minggong settling Guanzhong. What do you think?"

"Now that Guanzhong has been pacified, we should celebrate. The Chief Secretary Wang Shang will host the banquet, and you can coordinate a few things to make sure both the host and the guests have a great time, and everyone in between celebrates." Wu Xian made a voice as pleasant as flowing spring water, and agreed to Chief Secretary Wang Shang's request.

"Yes." Pang Jing, the person in charge, agreed upon hearing this, then bowed and took his leave, hurried away, and took charge of the affairs of the banquet.

After Pang Jingyuan left, Wu Xian continued what she had just done, explaining to Liu Xun the meaning of the words in the primer "Jijiupian". Liu Xun was now at the age of starting to learn elementary school, and was studying in the school of Qin Mi, a scholar from Yizhou. There were some things he didn't quite understand in what he learned every day, and Liu Xun liked to ask her questions, so Wu Xian became a part-time tutor.

She could only help Liu Xun solve some of his doubts during his elementary education. When Liu Xun grew up and learned the classics of sages, Wu Xian was no longer able to help him. Her level of knowledge was not very high. She was just familiar with words and had read some classics, but she did not understand the profound meaning of them.

"Aunt, I know all these. I want to go see Achan." After a while, the smart Liu Xun understood what he had learned today. He became playful and wanted to go see his sister Liu Chan.

"Okay." Wu Xian nodded and responded. She took Liu Xun's hand and walked towards a house in the inner courtyard.

When he reached the door, someone inside the house came out to greet him. This person was Caiwei, Liu Zhang's personal maid. Because Caiwei gave birth to a daughter, Liu Chan, for Liu Zhang, Caiwei was taken as a concubine by Liu Zhang and was given a separate residence.

"Madam." Caiwei bowed and saluted towards Wu Xian.

Wu Xian smiled faintly and shook her head: "There is no need to be so polite between you and me, sisters."

"Yes." Caiwei nodded, but she remained polite. She considered herself of humble status, so she did not dare to overstep the boundaries.

Caiwei welcomed Wu Xian into the house. When Wu Xian saw the tender and pretty Liu Chan, she couldn't help but feel happy. She took Liu Chan from the nanny's arms with overflowing maternal love and started to tease her.

Liu Chan was held in Wu Xian's arms. She didn't cry or make a fuss. She was very well-behaved and showed an innocent smile from time to time. Wu Xian was even more delighted to see this. She also wanted to give birth to such a well-behaved and adorable child, raise him and experience the joy of being a mother.

Thinking of this, Wu Xian couldn't help but feel sad. Her current identity brought her some inconveniences. (End of this chapter)