Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 441 Guess
"Your Highness, the country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and..."

"No need to say it!"

The civil and military officials wanted to persuade him to ascend the throne, but Zhao Zongquan waved his hand to interrupt them and said, "I have made up my mind. It is settled. The affairs of the court will still be handled by the Grand Chancellor and the other ministers!"

Although the late emperor had officially appointed him as the crown prince in the presence of all his ministers, he also asked Prime Minister Han and other ministers to draft the edict together.

But after all, he is not the official's biological son, and he is a descendant of Taizu.

The royal family members of Taizong's lineage must be unwilling to accept this.

This is also the reason why he has been serving the official by his bedside without taking off his clothes during this period of time.

He had to observe all the etiquettes and could not be found to have made any mistakes.

He was eager to ascend the throne right after the emperor passed away, which made it easy for people to use this to gossip about him.

Therefore, even though he really wanted to ascend the throne now, he restrained himself.

Fortunately, the emperor had a will that the funeral should be simple, so he would be able to ascend the throne in less than a month, so he could still wait impatiently for such a short period of time.

After saying this, he left without giving the officials a chance to speak.

All the officials looked at Grand Chancellor Han Zhang.

"Everyone, since His Highness has said so, this is the only way for the time being. His Highness asked us to propose a posthumous title for the late emperor, so let's discuss the posthumous title for the late emperor first." Han Zhang said.

The posthumous title is an evaluation of a person's life's merits and demerits. There is an idiom called "judge a person only after his coffin is closed", which means the same thing.

After some discussion, the posthumous title given to the late emperor was finally "Emperor Ti Tian Fa Dao Ji Gong Quan De Shen Wen Sheng Wu Rui Zhe Ming Xiao".

His temple name was Ren, and he was known in history as Emperor Renzong.

After the posthumous title is decided, it needs to be reported to Empress Cao and Crown Prince Zhao Zongquan for review before it can be truly finalized.

……

After the discussion, all civil and military officials went to the palace where the late emperor's coffin was laid to pay their respects and keep vigil.

Regardless of whether it was true or not, all the officials cried bitterly when they paid homage to the late emperor.

Li An also wiped his tears and paid his respects to the emperor. It was almost evening when he left the palace.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

On the way home, Li An was leaning against the carriage in deep thought when he suddenly heard a rapid shout and the carriage started moving violently.

Fortunately, Li An reacted quickly and did not fall. However, Desheng did not sit firmly and fell into the car.

"Are you okay?" Li An asked as he helped Desheng up.

"Sir, I'm fine."

Desheng replied, lifted the car curtain and said angrily: "Old Wei, how are you driving? You almost hit the young master."

"Sir, I didn't mean to do that. Just now a group of soldiers came riding towards us on horseback, and I dodged in a hurry, which is why this happened." The coachman, Lao Wei, said with a look of grievance.

Li An looked at the chaotic street and waved his hand, saying, "Okay, let's drive home."

After the carriage started moving again, Li An looked thoughtful.

The streets of Bian Jing were closed for people to ride horses unless there was an urgent report. At first, Li An thought something had happened on the border.

However, after thinking about it carefully, I found that something was not right. If there was an urgent report from the border, the team of soldiers just now would have shouted instead of just yelling at people to get out of the way.

The news of the emperor's death had spread throughout Bianliang. At this time, every household in the city hung white sails and wore white cloth strips on their heads to show their mourning.

Who dares to ride a horse in the city at this time?

The driver just said that it was a group of soldiers, and they were heading towards the imperial palace.

Li An suddenly thought of something. Could something have happened in Yuzhou?
He remembered that in the original drama, after Zhao Zongquan left Yuzhou, the women who stayed in Yuzhou were assassinated, and Shen Congxing's wife, Da Zou, died to protect Shen Congying.

But that's not right. Zhao Zongquan has been in Beijing for more than half a month now. Although the news of him becoming the crown prince has not spread throughout the Song Dynasty, people in Yuzhou should have known about it a long time ago.

Although Zhao Zongquan did not rush to send anyone back to pick up his family, the officials in Yuzhou were eager to make amends and would certainly protect Shen Congying and the others.

If there was an assassination attempt, it would happen before the news reached Yuzhou.

However, given the distance between Yuzhou and Bianjing, this news should have been passed back long ago and it would not have waited until now.

An impossible possibility suddenly emerged in Li An's mind.

Could it be that Da Zou’s death has something to do with Zhao Zongquan?
The reason why Li An had such speculation was not only because the timing was too strange, but also because Zhao Zongquan needed someone who could marry the Duke of England.

Zhao Zongquan had no foundation at all. In order to stabilize his position, it was particularly important for him to control military power, and marriage was the quickest way to do it.

Given the Duke of Ying's position in the army, he is someone Zhao Zongquan must win over.

There was no way Zhao Zongquan would allow a person he didn't trust to marry into the Duke of Ying's family.

The people around him were of relatively low birth, and the only suitable candidates were Zhao Ceying and Shen Congxing.

One is Zhao Zongquan’s eldest son, and the other is his brother-in-law, the future uncle of the emperor.

With both of their identities, they are fully qualified.

But both of them had a problem, that is, they were already married.

It is naturally impossible for the daughter of the Duke of England to be a concubine.

This will leave one of the two men without a wife.

According to the tradition of the Song Dynasty, the choice of empress was always from a noble family. Zhao Ceying, as the eldest son, was the most suitable candidate.

Zhao Ceying's previous wife was also from a humble family, but asking Zhao Ceying to divorce her and marry another woman would have been embarrassing for the royal family.

Ordinary people still believe that one should not abandon his wife who has shared his hardships with him.

And based on his understanding of Zhao Zongquan after his contact with him, he knew that Zhao Zongquan was a very suspicious person.

He is now in his prime and Zhao Ceying is already an adult. How could he be willing to let Zhao Ceying, his eldest son, marry the Duke of Ying, who has the highest prestige in the army?

If his position is stable, he will not be afraid of the restrictions imposed by the Song Dynasty on military generals.

However, he had just arrived in Beijing and had no foundation. What if Zhao Ceying had ambitions?
Even if the possibility is very small, he has to be on guard.

So Shen Congxing is the best choice.

Although Shen Congxing is Zhao Ceying's uncle, there seems to be little difference.

But for British people, the difference is huge.

If his daughter marries Zhao Ceying, he must support Zhao Ceying, because if Zhao Ceying fails, the Zhang family will also be implicated.

This is also the reason why, although there were many examples of external relatives holding power in ancient times, successive dynasties still made use of external relatives.

But it would be different if she married Shen Congxing. As long as the legitimate son succeeded to the throne, Shen Congxing would not be affected, and the Duke of England would not take the risk.

Therefore, in Zhao Zongquan's eyes, the most suitable candidate for marriage was Shen Congxing.

However, Shen Congxing had a harmonious relationship with his wife and they lived in harmony, so he would definitely not agree to divorce her.

It is not impossible that Zhao Zongquan secretly eliminated the Da Zou family.

All of this was Li An's guess. After all, it was not clear whether the group of soldiers just now was there because of the incident in Yuzhou.

Ang Lee is not sure if this is the case in the original play, but now many things have changed. If it is really because of the incident in Yuzhou, then it is very likely as he guessed. Then Zhao Zongquan is a little too cruel, and he also needs to re-evaluate this new official.

When I returned home, the house that had been decorated for the wedding had returned to normal, with a white sail hanging on the door card.

My uncle's family and my eldest sister-in-law's family have all returned to the small house.

"Aniu, your grandmother and I plan to go back tomorrow," said Li Mu.

Li An was stunned and said, "Grandfather, didn't we agree that you and grandmother would stay here to play for a while before going back?" "No, if the emperor passes away today, we won't do that in case it causes you trouble if we stay here." Li Mu shook his head.

"Today I told my grandfather the rules during the national mourning period. As soon as he heard it, he said he wanted to go back because he was afraid of causing trouble." Minglan said.

Li An fell silent after hearing this. There were indeed many rules during the national mourning period. Even though the late emperor left a will requesting that everything be kept simple, the ministers still had to strictly abide by the rules during the national mourning period.

It’s easier for ordinary people, as they don’t have so many taboos.

But it is different for officials. If they violate the rules in the slightest, they may be impeached.

In the past, during periods of national mourning, many people were impeached and dismissed from office for these reasons.

"Aniu, now that you are married, the restaurant cannot be opened during the national mourning period. Your mother and I have discussed it and we should all go back to our hometown and live there for a while." Li Nan said.

No banquets are allowed during the national mourning period, so restaurants have to be closed. Not only restaurants, but also brothels are the same.

"Dad, brother, are you all going back?" Li An asked in surprise.

"Well, now that you are an official, no one will cause trouble to us when we return to Yangzhou. Your eldest brother and others also want to return to Yangzhou. They said they would bring some cooks back from here and open a restaurant in Yangzhou after the national mourning is over." Li Nan said.

After Li An persuaded him for a while, he had no choice but to accept it.

He could see that his parents were not as comfortable in Bian Jing as in Yangzhou.

The situation in Bian Jing is complicated now, so it would be better to let my parents go back first.

The reason why I brought my parents here was because I had offended the governor of Yangzhou.

Now that he has become an official and is in the Hanlin Academy, the prefect of Yangzhou does not dare to do anything to his family.

"Dad, have you found a boat?" Li An asked.

"I have already hired you, brother. We will leave tomorrow morning." Li Nan said.

"Tomorrow morning I have to go to the palace to pay homage to the late emperor and keep vigil over his body, so I can't see you off." Li An said.

"It's okay. Minglan is here. You don't need to send her off." Liu waved her hand.

Li An: "..."

He has forgotten his mother because he has lost his wife, but his mother has forgotten her son because she has a daughter-in-law.

……

Because we had to leave the next day and time was tight, after dinner we went back to our rooms to pack our things.

Li An and Minglan first went to their grandparents' room to chat with them for a while, and then came to their parents' room.

"Mom and Dad, when you come to Bian Jing, please take the servants you bought back with you," said Li An.

"Why do we need so many servants to serve us? Besides, we have taken everyone away, so what will you do with them?" Liu shook her head.

"Mother-in-law, please take them with you. My husband and I cannot be by your side to fulfill our filial duties, so we can rest assured knowing they are here to serve us. As for the family, don't worry. I brought quite a few maids with me as a dowry, and you can buy a few more when the time comes. They will be enough." Minglan advised.

"Then take it with you." Liu said.

Li An heard this and said, "Wife, please talk to our parents and help. I'll go check on my eldest brother."

"Well, sir, you go ahead." Minglan nodded.

Li An said something to his parents and came to his eldest brother's yard.

The eldest brother was looking after the two children, while the eldest sister-in-law was directing the servants to pack up.

"Sister Yu, let me hug you." Li An stretched out his hand and said with a smile.

"Uncle!"

The niece, who was still having trouble speaking, politely stretched out her hand and giggled.

Because Liu had no daughter, she was very fond of this granddaughter.

Her name is Li Yu, which was also given by Ang Lee.

Li An teased his niece for a while and said, "Brother, please take all the people in the restaurant back. I have an official position now and I can't run the business."

The imperial court had regulations that officials were not allowed to engage in business. Although he could arrange for someone to manage the business and continue operating it in the name of his eldest brother, Li An was afraid of being caught and did not plan to continue operating it.

Although many officials open shops and the like, it is considered a tacit agreement.

However, reform is a whirlpool, and when the time comes, all these may become hidden dangers.

"But there are too many people. If we take them all back, the boat won't be able to accommodate them. Besides, Yangzhou is not like Bianliang, so it can't accommodate so many people." Li Ping said.

"Just hire another ship. There is no shortage of ships in Bianjing. Jiangnan is prosperous, and you can open more branches. I'm afraid that these few people may not be enough by then." Li An said.

"Well, I'll send someone to notify the people at the restaurant to pack up and get ready. I'll also send someone to hire a boat early tomorrow morning." Li Ping said.

"Once we return to Yangzhou, my parents will have to worry about me and my elder brother and sister-in-law." Li An said.

"What my uncle said is true. My husband and I are son and daughter-in-law. This is what we should do," said Zhang Qing.

"Sister-in-law, I spoke out of turn." Li An apologized quickly with a smile.

"Aniu, I have already calculated the restaurant's accounts. The account books are all here. Remember to give Gu Erlang's share when the time comes." Li Ping found a few account books and handed them to Li An.

"Okay, I understand." Li An took the account book and nodded.

After sitting with his eldest brother for a while, Li An returned to his parents' yard, chatted with them for a while, and was then sent back by his parents to sleep.

……

After washing up, the couple went to bed. Li An hugged Minglan, and his mind became a little distracted, and his hands began to become naughty.

"Sir, no."

Minglan held Li An's hand and said with a red face.

"I'll be gentle." Li An thought Minglan was not well yet, so he said while panting.

"No."

Minglan blushed and said, "It's a period of national mourning now, what if... what if..."

Li An understood Minglan's meaning and said with a smile, "It's okay. I have a way."

……

An hour later, after wiping and changing the sheets and quilt covers, the couple lay in bed hugging each other.

"Sir, my mother-in-law just told me that after they leave, they will leave 100,000 taels of silver, and then give me the key to the warehouse." Minglan said.

She only knew that the Li family had some money, but she didn't expect they had so much money.

Li An was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "Since mother wants to keep it, you can keep it."

"It's not good to keep so much money at home. I wonder why don't we use it to buy some farms?" Minglan said.

"Why are you thinking of buying a farm?" Li An asked in surprise.

"Sir, this money won't grow much if you keep it at home. The farm you bought will generate output every year, and you can just sell it when you need money. As long as the farm is not in bad condition, its value will only increase, not decrease." Minglan said.

"I didn't expect you to be such a good housekeeper." Li An said with a smile.

"Does the master agree?" Minglan asked.

"Do not."

Li An shook his head and said, "If you want to buy some shops in Bianjing, you'd better not buy farmland."

(End of this chapter)