In this entire affair, the happiest person was undoubtedly Mother Du. Even before Du Ruhui had passed the imperial examination, she had been wholeheartedly hoping to marry him to a daughter of a prestigious family, an accomplished young lady. Now she had not only achieved her wish but married someone from the Wang family, whom many poor officials couldn’t even aspire to reach. How could she not be delighted?

The day after the betrothal, the Du family’s main branch sent a generous gift. On the wedding day itself, they came personally to congratulate, treating the Du family with utmost courtesy, completely lacking their previous haughty attitude. Indeed, in terms of power and family status, the Du family’s main branch couldn’t compare to the Wang family, one of the Seven Clans and Five Houses. Normally, they would try every means to curry favor but couldn’t reach them. Now that a side branch had become the Wang family’s son-in-law, they naturally showed every courtesy.

After escorting the Du family members to the inner hall to rest, taking advantage of the temporary lull in arriving guests, Mother Du said with joy written all over her face: “After holding back anger for so many years, I’ve finally exhaled it. Comfortable, truly comfortable.”

“Indeed!” Father Du was also deeply moved. Previously, when they were driven nearly to a dead end by the Cui family, the Du family’s main branch wouldn’t even let them through the door. Those he called cousins spoke nothing but cold, sarcastic words. Now they had finally seen the light through the clouds.

At this moment, the gatekeeper brought a gift list, saying: “Master, Madam, this was sent by the Cui mansion to congratulate the young master and Miss Wang on their joyous occasion.”

Mother Du took the gift list in surprise. It listed a series of extremely valuable congratulatory gifts. Though the Cui family hadn’t troubled them recently, she never expected them to send gifts.

After dismissing the gatekeeper, Mother Du said with dancing eyebrows: “It seems our in-law master is truly remarkable. Look at this gift list—the Cui family is clearly showing submission.”

Father Du nodded repeatedly: “In any case, being able to live peacefully from now on is good.” After a pause, he continued: “In this matter, you should really thank the princess properly. If not for her, how could Ruhui have married Miss Wang? How could we have today? You even schemed to prevent Ruhui from entering the palace that day. Fortunately, the child didn’t listen to you, or there wouldn’t be this good marriage today.”

Mother Du felt uncomfortable being spoken to this way and muttered: “Wasn’t I worried about my son? How did I know she was matchmaking for Ruhui?” She raised her voice: “Speaking of which, Ruhui helped her so desperately before—her doing these things for Ruhui is only proper.”

Father Du smiled: “You have this stubborn nature, never willing to admit mistakes!”

Seeing him say this, Mother Du said: “Alright, alright, you make me sound unreasonable. How about this—after we finish with these matters, I…” She gritted her teeth: “I’ll go with you and our son to the palace to thank the princess. Will that do?”

Father Du nodded repeatedly, saying with a smile: “Yes, yes, yes, it’s settled then!”

This day was the most lively day for the Du family. Countless guests came to congratulate, and even Xiao Shi and Yunyi sent people with congratulatory gifts. All guests knew that after today, the Du family would leverage the Wang family to become new nobility in Luoyang.

Actually, half a month before the wedding, Du Ruhui’s official position had already jumped three levels, becoming a fifth-rank Director of the Personnel Ministry. This was naturally due to the Wang family’s maneuvering. As the Wang family’s son-in-law, if his position were too low, it would invite ridicule.

However, after some interaction with Du Ruhui, the Wang family members had changed from their previous resistance to appreciation, truly accepting him as part of the Wang family. The promotion was first to better match the Wang family’s status, and second because they believed Du Ruhui was capable of the position. This young man would definitely not remain ordinary in the future.

Compared to Du Ruhui’s smooth sailing, Yang Guang’s days were much harder. Not only were the major aristocratic families below him openly competing and secretly fighting, but since returning from Yanmen Pass, his mental state had been poor. He often had nightmares and frequently needed many palace maids and eunuchs to accompany him before he could fall asleep. Even so, he often woke up startled in the middle of the night, unable to sleep again. He had taken much medicine but saw no improvement.

What troubled him more was that in the north, except for major cities like Chang’an and Luoyang, other places were all controlled by anti-Sui forces. He constantly worried whether those rebel armies would attack Chang’an and Luoyang.

After much deliberation, he decided to go to Jiangdu. In September, under the escort of the Imperial Guard, he brought his consorts, children, and ministers aboard dragon boats, proceeding south to Jiangdu in grand procession, arriving in October.

In the deep autumn of October, the weather in Jiangdu was much better than in Luoyang. Upon arriving here, Yang Guang’s mood improved somewhat, no longer constantly worrying about rebellion. However, he didn’t relax on this matter. To suppress the peasant uprising, he even committed his own Imperial Guard to battle.

Worth mentioning is that during these years, Wang Wei and Gao Jinya, who had previously lost imperial favor, searched everywhere for rare treasures and beautiful women, desperately trying to please Yang Guang, finally beginning to regain his favor.

Neither was particularly magnanimous. The matter of being undermined by Li Yuan years ago was firmly remembered in their hearts. After regaining Yang Guang’s favor, they constantly spoke ill of Li Yuan in his ears, trying every means to sow discord and wanting to put Li Yuan to death.

Yang Guang naturally didn’t believe such words. After all, in the battle of Yanmen Pass, Li Yuan was the first to come to his aid, and with just ten thousand troops, he forced back one hundred thousand Turkic soldiers. Besides this, he had successively pacified the rebellions of Muduan’er and Chai Baochang in Hedong, earning great trust.

But as time passed, Yang Guang gradually began to waver under their persuasion, especially Wang Wei’s words: “Li Yuan commands heavy troops. I fear that after his wings are fully grown, he won’t heed Your Majesty’s summons.”

One must know that Yang Liang and Yang Xuangan were both people who held heavy military power, and without exception, they had all raised armies in rebellion, nearly seizing his empire. No matter how much time passed, he would never forget this.

Remove Li Yuan’s military authority? But Li Yuan had always been loyal to him. If even his military authority were removed, who else would dare risk their lives for him? Who would suppress so many peasant rebel armies? Not to mention the Turkic people eyeing them covetously from the north—if not eliminated, they would become a great threat sooner or later.

At this time, military authority could not be removed under any circumstances. The best method was to constrain Li Yuan, making him unable and unwilling to act against him.

As Yang Guang furrowed his brows, Wang Wei’s eyes shifted, saying: “Your Majesty, do you still remember the Turkic people?”

Yang Guang said irritably: “Of course I remember.”

Wang Wei smiled: “I have a plan that would neither remove Li Yuan’s military authority nor constrain him.”

Yang Guang’s eyes lit up: “Speak quickly.”

Wang Wei acknowledged and said: “Your Majesty could appoint Li Yuan as Governor of Taiyuan, then Your Majesty could send one or two trusted subordinates as deputy governors. This way, Li Yuan’s military authority could be constrained.”

Yang Guang stood up and walked for a while, then shook his head: “This could indeed constrain him, but if Li Yuan is determined to rebel, two mere deputy governors couldn’t suppress him. It won’t work.”