July 20th, the fourth year of Jingtai.
General Yan submitted a letter of resignation from his post as general, handed over the military orders and seal of the Yan Family Army, and the Yan Family Army was handed over to Emperor Zhao Xu.
There was an uproar, some agreed and some opposed.
Only Zhao Xu remained silent and just watched the ministers below arguing with each other.
On July 21, the fourth year of Jingtai, at the morning court, Zhao Xu allowed General Yan to hand over the military power and conferred the title of Duke Zhenguo on General Yan, which was hereditary.
The Yan family's military power that had been held for hundreds of years was dissipated in one day, in exchange for the hereditary position of Duke Zhenguo.
Since Madam Yan found out she was pregnant in July, the Yan family has closed their doors to visitors, not receiving guests, not accepting banquets, and not accepting gift lists or visits.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, crabs are plump, pomegranates are red, and big red lanterns are hung high. There are only five masters in the Yan and Su families, so they simply gather together at the Yan Mansion to celebrate the festival.
Wei Yang stared at Su Changle and Su Muchen eating crabs across the street, but she could only watch. Even Nanny Li was not allowed to eat more pomegranates.
The main reason was that Wei Yang was too greedy for crabs, but Li Ma would not let her eat a single bite, saying that crabs were cold and eating too much would cause abdominal pain and diarrhea, which was not good for the fetus.
Nanny Li and Nanny Sun even made a special list, specifying in detail what can be eaten, what cannot be eaten, and what should not be eaten too much.
"When will the villa be built?" Su Changle took a sip of rice wine and a mouthful of crab roe leisurely.
"Tomorrow, I will send two thousand people to build the courtyard." Yan Gui accompanied Wei Yang and did not eat a single crab. The mansion only bought crabs today, and they were not allowed to mention them at other times.
"Yes." Su Changle carefully used the crab eight pieces to separate the fat crabs in front of him one by one, and said softly: "Build a bigger yard and enclose the hot springs. Or build a few more yards and enclose a hot spring pool in each yard, so that we can go there to escape the summer heat when we have nothing to do."
"I'll let Ding Er and Ding Si go over, no problem." Yan Gui had looked at the drawings of the site selection for the villa. There were more than a dozen hot springs of various sizes in that area, so it would be no problem to circle out four or five courtyards.
While Nanny Li was heating up the rice wine, Wei Yang reached out and took a piece of crab roe from Su Changle's plate that he had just unloaded but hadn't had time to eat. Quickly, she stuffed it into her mouth.
"You." Before Yan Gui could say anything, Su Changle moved first, holding the chopsticks and trying to hit the back of her hand. After holding back for a long time, he still couldn't bear to hit her: "You're so greedy."
The old general across the street was drinking without paying attention. Su Muchen saw it and pretended not to notice it, just concentrating on eating crabs.
When Nanny Li came over, Yan Gui reached out and quickly wiped the crab roe from the corner of Wei Yang's mouth.
Su Changle simply took the plate and changed seats, sitting next to the old general: "My nephew offers a toast to Uncle Yan. When the manor in Chuzhou is built, I will take Mu Chen to live there and will not go to the capital."
The old general laughed loudly: "Go, I will ask Yan Gui to build a large courtyard for you, which will be used exclusively by the Su family in the future."
"Then I'm not polite. Please." Su Changle picked up the wine cup and drank it all.
General Yan looked at his son and then at Sun Changle and his nephew, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. After all, he was young and much smarter than him. There was a gold mine in Chuzhou, but it was just a legend and had nothing to do with the Yan family or the Su family. They just went to a suitable place to build a villa and take care of him in his old age.
On August 16, the first batch of Yan family soldiers took off their armor, put on civilian clothes and went to Chuzhou to start building the largest Yan family villa.