With Old Lady Lin’s passing, needless to say, the Lin family had to observe mourning.

This could not be avoided, nor did Lin Ruhai wish to avoid it. He efficiently stepped down from his position. At this time, the emperor had also stabilized the court, so his withdrawal came at an opportune moment.

If he remained in a high position, his son would have no opportunity to advance.

When father and son both served as officials at court, avoidance was required.

He had already made his plans: first observe mourning, then upon completion of the mourning period, retire directly from office. He would stay home to educate his grandchildren. When the mourning period ended, Yuan Ge’er would be fifteen years old and could take the examinations.

The Lin family’s funeral was conducted on a grand scale.

Generally speaking, as long as the descendants had the means, the funerals of elders would not be conducted carelessly.

Old Lady Lin held the noble rank of a marquis’s wife. Her son was a ministry president and Grand Academician of the Cabinet. Her daughter-in-law was the Marquis Dingfeng personally ennobled by the late emperor. Her granddaughter was the current Noble Consort. She had two sons and one daughter under her, one of whom had been especially favored by the late emperor… Many people only worried about lacking a way to forge connections with the Lin family. Now that the opportunity had come, naturally they would not miss it. Therefore, the Lin family’s funeral was conducted with great dignity and splendor.

It became a topic of conversation throughout the capital.

After the funeral was completed, the family prepared to escort the coffin back to Gusu. They planned to observe mourning in Gusu, which would also allow them to avoid this turbulent period.

As the saying goes, a new official lights three fires upon taking office—how much more so when a new emperor ascends the throne.

What would follow was predictable: the capital would not remain peaceful.

Luo Yu was very reluctant about this, but she did not object. Returning to Gusu now might not be a bad thing.

When they departed, many people came to see them off: the Tang family relatives by marriage, the Fourth Prince Hongli, the Yun family, the Xie family… The Jia family also came.

Lin Ruhai, along with Chen Yu and Yuan Ge’er, bid farewell to everyone.

He had lost considerable weight. Conducting a funeral was never easy, and he had also fallen ill from excessive grief, making him even thinner.

Chen Yu was very worried about his health.

Therefore, their family did not travel quickly on the journey. He also hoped to send his grandmother to rest in the ancestral burial ground as soon as possible, but if they rushed too much and caused his father to collapse as well, that was even less what he wished to see.

This time they were moving the entire household back, planning to live in Gusu for over twenty months. They had already sent people ahead to prepare the old Gusu residence.

The Lin family now had seven members in total, because Tang Wanxin had given birth to a little daughter who was now almost a year old, named Qing Jie’er.

Although someone’s death would sadden the family, as time passed, people would gradually recover. Traveling southward, viewing the vast scenery along the rivers, their hearts seemed to expand with openness.

Yuan Ge’er and Xi Jie’er kept inquiring about the ancestral residence along the way.

Chen Yu had previously lived at the ancestral residence for just over half a year and was most familiar with it.

They need not worry about hardship upon arriving there. Lin Ruhai had always kept people stationed at the ancestral residence to maintain it. And although their bloodline had grown distant from the clan, their branch held the highest official positions. Over the years, Lin Ruhai had provided considerable support to talented young descendants within the clan.

After journeying along, they finally arrived. The Lin clan members here were all very courteous to them and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the funeral arrangements. Once everything was properly settled, the Lin family closed their doors to observe mourning.

As a son, the mourning period was twenty-seven months. Although Chen Yu was of the grandson generation, as the eldest grandson, his period was also twenty-seven months.

The days here passed with exceptional tranquility. In Gusu, there were few who outranked them in official position or noble title. And because of mourning, they need not engage in numerous social obligations.

However, they still learned the news they should know. Many things could happen in three years. For instance, when they had set out for Gusu, Yongzheng had brought up the matter of owed silver, laying groundwork for later collection.

Some who were sensible began gradually repaying the silver. As for those who were not sensible, after Yongzheng later raided several households, they too became sensible.

If one’s hands were truly clean, that would be one thing. But having countless faults and still acting this way was seeking death.

Yongzheng was not as lenient as the late emperor.

The Zhen family, which had been at the height of power during the Kangxi reign, also fell. At this time, less than three years had passed since the late emperor’s death, but Yongzheng’s patience had run out.

He did not care that much about his posthumous reputation.

Wang Ziteng had repaid all the silver, but the Wang family was still raided. The position he vacated was swiftly taken over by the emperor’s trusted confidants.

As for why Wang Ziteng appeared on the second round of the purge list, it was simple.

He had previously secretly supported the Fourteenth Prince, and his hands were not entirely clean. If not for the Wang family’s ancestral merits and Wang Ziteng’s actual service to the court, the outcome would not have been merely Wang Ziteng’s exile.

Wang Ziteng’s wife took the family and children, along with what remained of her dowry, and the entire household moved back to Jinling.

The Jia family had repaid their silver relatively early. They had been mentally prepared, so Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, though reluctant and despite severely straining the household finances, had repaid the owed silver completely.

Moreover, they employed the same tactic again, raiding the servants’ possessions once more. Although the silver recovered was less than before and they still had to pay the bulk themselves, there was a benefit: after this round, they no longer maintained as many servants, and their fixed monthly expenditures also decreased.

From this perspective, Wang Xifeng felt it was quite good.

As for dignity?

At this time, they could not worry about dignity or lack thereof.

Not long after repaying the silver, Jia She was also convicted. The reason was simple: Lady Wang the Second had frequently used his name cards to conduct business, much of which had overstepped boundaries. At the time, no one had intervened, but now the emperor wished to address it.

Additionally, Jia She had forcibly bought and sold others’ possessions, causing deaths. Although he had repaid the silver, he was still sentenced to have his title stripped and be exiled. However, compared to others who had not repaid their silver, the place of his exile was not as far, and the term not as long.

As for Jia Lian, he had not done anything too transgressive. Womanizing was not illegal, so he was only detained for a period and beaten with a cane. Jia Zheng’s side did not fare well either. Lady Wang the Second had been lending money at usurious rates. She had even tried to persuade Wang Xifeng to do the same, but Wang Xifeng had learned some information from Lin Daiyu beforehand and refused. At that time, Lady Wang the Second had not engaged in this practice either. But after the family split, Lady Wang the Second felt the household expenses were too great, so she had Zhou Rui’s wife lend money at usurious rates.

Because some collections were pressed too urgently, deaths resulted, and several households were destroyed. Now in the reckoning, Lady Wang the Second and Jia Zheng were both sentenced to exile together.

For Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai, this was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.

With their downfall, Jia Baoyu became the “pillar of support,” but he was merely without official rank. Though the family had considerable wealth, they needed to compensate those families destroyed, had to make various payments, and having been plundered, little remained.

If Xue Baochai had not sensed trouble brewing and hidden away some items in advance, they would have had nothing to cook with.

With both the Wang and Jia families fallen, the Xue family did not fare well either.

Xue Pan was imprisoned. Xia Jingui divorced him. Setting aside the troubles Xue Pan had caused after entering the capital, from the very beginning, he had a death on his hands.

Aunt Xue nearly cried herself blind. Xue Baochai was also numb with shock. The only consolation was that her brother had fathered a nephew, so their bloodline would not be completely severed.

After this ordeal, the Jia family suffered devastating losses—the noble title was gone, most of the family property was gone. Fortunately, the remaining people were unharmed and still had some money on hand. As long as they kept a low profile, life could continue. Even a rotten ship has three nails.

Jia Lian still held a purchased fifth-rank nominal position and had powerful relatives by marriage.

For instance, the Noble Consort—according to propriety, she was their younger cousin!

Moreover, sometimes comparisons must be made.

The Rong Manor was relatively fortunate. Jia Lian, Jia Baoyu, and others remained. On the Ning Manor side, Jia Zhen had been more deeply involved, being a staunch supporter of the Crown Prince faction. He himself had too many faults—one could find them with every grasp.

Jia Rong was not spared either. Jia Zhen received the death penalty, Jia Rong was exiled. When Qin Keqing brought the children and Lady You to seek refuge with Wang Xifeng, they had only the clothes on their backs—nothing else remained.

The Shi family fared no better. Every single one, as long as there was evidence, was gradually purged by Yongzheng.

The four great families of Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue had thoroughly declined.

As these old meritorious nobles fell, some people rose to prominence, such as Li Wei, Tian Wenjing, and others.

Yun Shuyao and her family knew all this news in great detail.

There were still Lin household servants in the capital, and there were also Ying Yu, Luo Yu, the Yun family, and others. Letters were written at regular intervals, and whenever relevant events occurred, letters were sent as well.

If not knowing every minute detail, they were close to it.

In the blink of an eye, the mourning period was complete.

Lin Ruhai did not return to the capital, having already retired from office.

After submitting several memorials, Yongzheng urged him to stay several times before agreeing. He even issued a special imperial edict of commendation and elevated his banner status.

The Han military banners held the lowest status among the banner people. Now they were directly moved to the Upper Three Banners’ Bordered Yellow Banner.

With his retirement, Chen Yu advanced. At age thirty-four, he was granted the position of third-rank metropolitan official and concurrently appointed as Academician Reader of the Cabinet, to assume office on an appointed date.

Yuan Ge’er was already fifteen this year. He remained in Gusu to prepare for the examinations. Xi Jie’er was nine years old and would go to the capital with her parents and younger sister. Before leaving, Chen Yu was also very reluctant.

“Father, Mother, let’s all go to the capital together.”

He had not grown up here and did not feel such deep attachment to Gusu, but he could not bear to part with his parents.

Lin Ruhai waved his hand: “We’ll return eventually.”

Yuan Ge’er stated: “Father, rest assured, I will take good care of Grandfather and Grandmother.”

Yun Shuyao: “No rush. When the princess has her grand wedding, we will naturally return.”

This referred to the Second Princess Yayi, born to Luo Yu. She was seventeen this year and had already been designated for marriage. But because Yongzheng was reluctant to part with her, she had not yet married, and the wedding date was undetermined.

Hongli had already married last year, taking Lady Fuca as his wife.

Chen Yu knew he could not persuade them and could only sigh.

His parents remained not because they were reluctant to leave the peaceful days here. The main reason was that the cultivation of improved rice varieties could not be abandoned, and there was also their son’s imperial examinations. They would not return to the capital in the short term.

Yun Shuyao: “By the way, don’t forget the things I asked you to bring.”

Under the pretext of cultivating improved varieties, Yun Shuyao had collected no small number of seeds and books from overseas. In recent years, she had invested even more silver and had even personally trained people to go overseas.

The seeds brought back from overseas were not numerous in terms of pleasant surprises, but those books and various ingenious implements were enough to delight Yun Shuyao.

What person who had attended history classes would not feel indignation about those hundred years of humiliation?

Yun Shuyao could not accept it.

The current situation was, for her, simply heaven-blessed fortune.

If she could let the people in the imperial palace see what the countries far away in the West were like and become aware of the threats from those regions, they would not close the country, rest content with pleasure, and ultimately create such a history of humiliation.

Therefore, whatever items she collected, she would immediately send into the palace for Luo Yu and her grandson and granddaughter to “relieve their boredom.”

At any time, ignorance leading to arrogant complacency was to be feared. Knowing the vastness of heaven and earth, knowing that the Qing Dynasty was merely situated in one corner and not the center of the world—this was a good thing.

These items had been sorted out with Chen Yu and his daughter-in-law’s help. They had even done translations and compiled them, so naturally they knew the contents. They were among the first people to be influenced.

Especially his daughter-in-law Wanxin—the impact on her was significant.

She had exceptional talent in learning foreign languages. Now she could independently translate some books, rendering most of their content.

Thus she learned that outside there were many countries. In those lands, there were people of different skin colors, there were nobles and commoners, and there were even queens!

And there were those many ingenious implements!

Although she could not appreciate many things, she found some items very useful, such as spices, perfume, clocks, and glass.

As for glass, they had already researched and developed it themselves. Although still imperfect, not as smooth and clear as what came from the West, it was still quite good. With gradual improvements, later production would surely match what came from overseas.

This was something Chen Yu had proactively said he wanted to try and had figured out. He had already decided that upon reaching the capital, he would present it as tribute. They had already benefited from one wave—that was enough.

The Lin family could not swallow such a large piece of cake by themselves. Too much money became a burden. Better to present it in exchange for other favors.

The current emperor had clear rewards and punishments. There was no need to worry about suffering losses.

Chen Yu: “Mother, rest assured, I won’t forget.”

They boarded ships heading north. Not long after, family letters were delivered. Arriving along with the family letter was also an unexpected visitor—the Fourth Prince Hongli.

He wore a blue scholar’s robe, with no imperial insignia or accessories on his person. He appeared to be just an ordinary wealthy family’s young master, at most distinguished by particularly handsome features and outstanding bearing.

This was… traveling in plain clothes?

Both Lin Ruhai and Yun Shuyao’s brows twitched. Did the emperor know about his excursion?