Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

Chapter 408: Causes (Part )

Cai Zhengqing had served as prefect of Zhangzhou for many years, and the Ministry of Personnel had always given him excellent performance evaluations. Cai Zhengqing also received some news that he was being considered for promotion by the Ministry of Personnel. However, not long after receiving the news, the Ministry of Personnel sent an official document asking Cai Zhengqing to report to Beijing on his work, while the new prefect of Zhangzhou was already on his way to take up his post.

Cai Zhengqing and his wife were a little surprised when they received the official document from the Ministry of Personnel. Xiao's maiden family, General Zhaoyong's Mansion, had some connections in Shengjing. Not long after General Zhaoyong's Mansion received the carrier pigeon letter, the official document from the Ministry of Personnel arrived.

Although Cai Zhengqing and his wife were confused, they immediately arranged to leave. When the couple came, they rode two fast horses. When they left, they took the orphan Zhu Yuchun with them, so they only had two carriages. One of the carriages carried Cai Zhengqing and his wife and Zhu Yuchun, and the other carriage was mainly used to hold some personal luggage, and more of Cai Zhengqing and Zhu Yuchun's books.

Cai Zhengqing and his wife hurried and finally arrived at the outskirts of the capital in half a month. That night at the post station, when the couple was about to go to bed, there was a knock on the door. Cai Zhengqing went to open the door, only to see a man in black at the door, who showed him a badge. Cai Zhengqing carefully called his wife Xiao, and they followed the man in black out of the post station and went to a rather imposing house.

Mrs. Xiao only roughly guessed from her husband's eyes that the man in black might be someone from the palace. After the couple followed the man in black into this magnificent mansion, they never expected that the people sitting in the main hall were the current emperor and the empress dowager, with the empress dowager holding a baby in her arms and coaxing the baby to sleep.

Cai Zhengqing and his wife were stunned and they paid their respects to the emperor and the empress dowager with great respect. The emperor then told them everything about the child, even the love affair between Prince Cheng and Jiang Yinfeng and Prince Cheng's last cry before his death. He told them everything without reservation.

Cai Zhengqing still remembers it to this day. That night was the only time he saw an emperor let down his guard and confide in him as if he were an old friend. It is said that emperors are ruthless, but that was the only exception Cai Zhengqing had ever seen to this day.

When the emperor spoke of his sadness when he talked about King Cheng, and his deep regret for having separated King Cheng and Jiang Yinfeng, Cai Zhengqing could actually feel the blood vessels in the emperor's throat and arms seem to be trembling slightly.

"Qing Cai, this child is the only bloodline left by Ruining. It is the flesh and blood that Princess Cheng risked her life to preserve for Ruining. Neither I nor the Queen Mother want this child to live in the gossips of others, so I gave him the name of motherhood. The generation name is still Jing according to the royal family, and the name is taken from Ruining's title, but in order to avoid taboos, it is changed to Cheng. It can be regarded as a yardstick for me to measure my actions."

"Cai Qing was taught by the great scholar Wu Daoyuan and is very knowledgeable. If Liang Jingcheng can be entrusted to Cai Qing, the Queen Mother and I will be relieved. We all hope that this child can grow up happily and healthily. Even if he is not a good student, I believe that under Cai Qing's guidance, he will be a leisurely rich man in the future, and he will definitely be a happy rich man full of leisure and pleasure."

"Originally, the Ministry of Personnel suggested to me that, in view of Cai Qing's excellent performance in Zhangzhou, I should transfer you to the Hexi Provincial Government as a third-rank councilor. However, I intend to keep you in Beijing and take over as the chief academic officer of the Imperial College. First, the Imperial College is in chaos. The students have no interest in studying, and the teachers have no interest in teaching well. The Imperial College is the foundation of the literary world of my country. It is time to reorganize it. However, the rank of the chief academic officer of the Imperial College is the same as that of the prefect, which is the fourth rank. This is indeed a bit unfair to Cai Qing. In addition, this also contains some of my selfish motives. If Cai Qing is willing to raise Liang Jingcheng, then Cai Qing's stay in Beijing will make it more convenient for me and the Queen Mother to visit this child when we miss him. However, according to Cai Qing's direction, I and the Queen Mother will never disturb your normal life."

Cai Zhengqing still clearly remembered that when the emperor said these words, the expectant look in his eyes when he looked at him was so helpless and lonely.

The empress dowager standing aside had completely lost her aura as the mother of the country. She looked just like a grandmother who doted on her grandson, holding her hungry grandson in her arms and begging others to give the child some milk.

When Mrs. Xiao learned about the child's background, she couldn't help but sigh. Even though she was as strong as Mrs. Xiao, after she had a miscarriage, she forced herself to remain calm and comfort her husband, while silently wiping away tears in the dead of night. How much she wished to be a mother. Looking at the baby boy who was sleeping soundly in the cradle and smacking his lips from time to time, Mrs. Xiao's heart almost melted.

Seeing the empress dowager's pleading eyes, Xiao nodded to her. Cai Zhengqing and Xiao and his wife were about to bow down. The emperor and the old maid beside the empress dowager hurried forward to help them up.

"Thanks to your majesty and the queen mother's trust, my husband and I will treat this child well and raise him to adulthood."

There were no extra words of praise, but the Empress Dowager and the Emperor both nodded with satisfaction. It seemed that they had made the right choice.

Before Liang Jingcheng was five years old, the empress dowager would often organize some activities and invite some officials' families to participate. Xiao was among the invited ones, and he took Liang Jingcheng in and out of the palace openly. The empress dowager was relieved to see her little grandson growing up healthily.

After Liang Jingcheng turned five years old, the emperor would visit Liang Jingcheng on his birthday every year as a father and talk to him about some interesting things about his growth that year.

As Liang Jingcheng grew up, the empress dowager seldom saw him. When the empress dowager missed him very much, she would ask the emperor to go out of the palace to see him. When she learned that Liang Jingcheng had won the first prize in the archery and polo competitions on the Dragon Boat Festival, the empress dowager was so excited that she could not sleep well that night.

The emperor really didn't dare to think about how the empress dowager would react if she knew that Ruining's child had feelings for a boy just like Ruining did back then.

Liang Jingcheng, like his father, was smart and quick-witted since childhood. He was more insightful than King Cheng back then. Cai Zhengqing also commented that Liang Jingcheng was the most insightful of his disciples and that he attached great importance to friendship.

As for Cai Zhengqing's seventh disciple Ye Changyan, although the emperor had only met him twice, he was deeply impressed by him. Not to mention his handsome appearance, the spirituality revealed in his words and deeds was something the emperor rarely saw. The emperor thought he had seen countless people, but Ye Changyan seemed to be born with a smart mind.

A country kid was able to take away 40% of the shares of Yunfeng Tower, and with a few simple instructions, he made Yunfeng Tower grow rapidly. The toffee cakes, perfumes, greenhouses, "White Snake", "The Female Prime Minister" and other products produced by this kid were all applauded by the audience.

The emperor sighed inwardly, how could two such outstanding children be attracted to each other to the point of becoming a couple?