【Children born from generation to generation certainly suffered from poor medical conditions, but that’s only part of the reason.
Lack of proper nutrition and the chaos of war also meant they rarely lived long, but has anyone ever considered that their physical constitution at birth might have been weak as well?】
The adults sipped their tea and chatted casually, though their minds were already turning over the words of the divine official. Could marrying too early really be so harmful?
“Indeed, here, reaching seventy is considered a venerable old age. We won’t even compare them to us immortals—when we sleep, it’s like an entire lifetime for them.
Compared to the modern world we’ve seen, the difference is staggering. There, people at seventy are still singing and dancing, blossoming into a second spring of life, while here, people are already waiting to die.”
【There, medicine is advanced, food is plentiful, and without war, it’s no surprise people live longer. But their marriage age is also much later—men marry at twenty-two, women at twenty—and marrying earlier is illegal, punishable by jail time.】
The group exchanged doubtful glances. Twenty-two? That’s so late! Around here, most couples have two or three children by that age.
Yu Zhongchun and some officials in the group thought even further. This information must be reported to His Majesty. Even if the marriage age couldn’t be raised that high here, at least it could be delayed a bit for the sake of future generations.
Who wouldn’t want their descendants to be healthy and live long, their blessings passed down through the ages?
“So, my cousin never married Wen Dalang?”
【Originally, they were supposed to marry as soon as Wen Dalang’s mourning period ended. But no one expected that, perhaps driven crazy by the four years of mourning, Wen Dalang disappeared right after his period was over.
He was dragged by friends to the Cangchun House and never came out again.】
“Cangchun House? A brothel? Did he die or just vanish?”
【He died. They say it was from excessive drinking, though the exact details are unknown. For the sake of reputation, the Wen family claimed he drank too much and accidentally fell into their own lotus pond and drowned.】
“So my cousin was engaged for four or five years, and then her fiancé died? She must be the most unfortunate one. After all, Wen Dalang dying in a brothel is his own fault, but my cousin had to suffer because of him!”
【Exactly. The Wen family even said your cousin was cursed, that she was bad luck for their family. Within less than a year of their engagement, deaths kept occurring in their household.
As a result, your cousin’s reputation also took a hit, making it difficult to arrange another marriage. Later, your aunt and the others had no choice but to find someone from counties around the capital.
In the end, she married Huang Wei, who was two years younger.】
“What kind of family background does Huang Wei have?”
【His family owned several hundred acres of ancestral land as landlords. He himself was a scholar who had passed the county-level exam (xiucai), but he had been hoping to pass the provincial exam (juren) to marry into a prestigious family. At eighteen, he was still unmarried.】
“That sounds pretty ambitious. Our family is at least an official household, and my cousin was exactly the kind of high-status lady he wanted to marry. Even without passing the provincial exam, getting her must have made him happy, right?”
【Men can be foolish sometimes. Things that come too easily are rarely cherished. He passed the county exam at fifteen but failed the provincial exam three times in a row.
He grew restless and, led astray by bad company, first started frequenting brothels, then gambling. Later, a kind of longevity elixir made from imperial rice from Nanzhao spread to Dayan.
Many people became addicted to it, and Huang Wei was no exception.】
“Has this person really fallen so quickly? And that Nanzhao, selling her off to Dayan—how utterly unforgivable!”
[Back then, your cousin already had a son and a daughter. For the sake of the two children, she could only endure him.
Your uncle and cousins fought and scolded him, but it was useless. A year before Dayan’s fall, he had squandered all the Huang family’s wealth along with your cousin’s dowry.
Your aunt, heartbroken for her daughter, brought their family to live on her small estate. He was lucky—he died a few months before Dayan’s collapse, receiving a proper burial with his body intact, spared from the suffering of the nation’s ruin.]
The Zhang family fell silent. Aunt Zhang wanted nothing more than to reject the Wen family outright. Their luck was bad, their son reckless, and yet in the end, it was her daughter who bore the blame—it was simply outrageous!
The two families’ relationship had been decent before. Lord Wen and Zhang Zhi were of the same age, so it wasn’t as if ties would be severed immediately. But from now on, they would keep their distance, or perhaps cut ties altogether.
Coincidentally, Zhang Zhi hadn’t yet gone to the Wen family to pay New Year’s respects this year—starting now, he wouldn’t be going!
None of these events had yet come to pass. He was already deeply frustrated that he couldn’t justly defend his daughter’s honor. As for the Wen family…
They exchanged glances. The Wen family was not to be trusted, and they wouldn’t lift a finger to save the unexpectedly deceased Lord Wen.
Meanwhile, Zhang Sheng ground his teeth in secret. How dare they treat his sister so shamefully! Whether or not it had happened, neither the Wen family’s eldest son nor Huang Wei would be allowed to escape!
Aunt Zhang thought of Madam Wen, a cold smile curling at the corner of her lips. To speak of her daughter that way—did they really think she was dead?
When Yue Fuguang left the Zhang residence, two horse-drawn carriages followed behind, loaded with gifts from the Zhang family.
“System, looks like my warehouse is going to be full again.”
[That’s good! Everything in the warehouse has been converted into silver, enough to support your new army for two or three years.]
Speaking of the new army, it was said that by the end of the year, ten thousand recruits had been enlisted. After the Lantern Festival, training would begin. By the time Yue Fuguang’s cotton seeds were planted and before harvest season arrived, half of those men could be transferred to her.
Yue Fuguang had already agreed with Huo Ying and Wei Shouyi that she wanted the best five thousand soldiers. She was confident no one would dare give her anything less.
Meanwhile, holidays always seemed to pass faster than workdays.
Before the Lantern Festival, the court officials of the Dayan dynasty had already resumed work. Yue Fuguang, who was notoriously slow to get up, had to endure both drowsiness and the northwest wind to attend court on this day of a major revelation.
Having slept through most of the morning session, Yue Fuguang woke and began replenishing her energy. After eating her fill, she glanced at Ling Yinghua, the Dean of the Imperial Academy. “You’re it.”
[Master, tonight’s Lantern Festival is said to be the liveliest and most spectacular. Shall we go take a look?]
“Are the lanterns in the mortal world really more beautiful than the stars in the Milky Way? Or the spirit flower lanterns in the Heavenly River?”
[That’s different. The mortal world’s lanterns have more of a lively, festive atmosphere and people’s presence.]
“If mortals don’t have people, do they have fairy aura? Ghostly aura instead?”
[Master, don’t be stubborn. Let’s just go see. We’re free anyway.]
“Crowded places aren’t safe, especially festivals like the Lantern Festival where accidents happen often. Maybe it’s better not to go?”
“No way! With the little pearl here, who would dare cause trouble? But the master is right—the area is indeed notorious for frequent accidents.
Look at that thin old man standing in front of your maternal uncle, Zhang Zhi.”
Ling Yinghua: “Old man? Oh, Divine Artifact, I do have a name, you know! And I’m only forty-eight this year—still quite young, thank you very much. How can you call me an old man?”
“Are you talking about Ling Jijiu? What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s the one whose family’s Lantern Festival is today—the same day his grandson and granddaughter will be kidnapped by beggars. The Great Yan Dynasty has fallen, and those two children were never found.”
Emperor Mingxi: “Divine Artifact, when discussing Ling Jijiu’s family, there’s no need to bring up the fall of the Great Yan Dynasty over and over again!”
