The Reason

At the Earl of Suiping's Residence, Zhao Yuanxun had returned. He told Xu Xi about the academy and then took out the household registration book, "Your household registration has been transferred to our Earl of Suiping's Residence, under my and your mother's names. From now on, you are Zhao Ruxi. I've already spoken with the teachers at the academy. If you can still attend school, they will all call you Zhao Ruxi."

Zhao Ruxi Zhao Ruxi is.

With such loving and understanding parents, and the warm and peaceful atmosphere of the Earl of Suiping's Residence after the family division, Xu Xi was very happy and no longer had the resistance she had before returning to the Marquis's Mansion.

"Okay, from now on I'll be Zhao Ruxi," she said.

Now that she can call her parents "father" and "mother" fluently, she opened her big eyes and asked, "Father, what about the academy? Can I still go there to study?"

"Madam Cui said she needs to ask Grand Princess Shangde first, and will give us an answer in a couple of days."

Zhao Ruxi nodded. This was a situation that Zhao Yuanxun had analyzed for her beforehand.

"I see."

Seeing her obedient appearance, the First Madam sitting next to her couldn't help but reach out and touch her face.

Zhao Ruxi gave her mother a reproachful look.

Ever since they were recognized as family, Lady Zhu has liked to express affection in this way.

Although Zhao Ruxi didn't mind, she was an adult at heart, and she always felt a little awkward being treated like a child by Lady Zhu.

Seeing her like this, Lady Zhu simply pinched her smooth cheek before asking her husband, "Have you found out anything about Wei Qiu?"

Zhao Yuanxun went out and came back, and the couple had been discussing the division of their household property, so they didn't have time to talk about this matter. Now that they were almost done with their work, she couldn't help but inquire about it.

Zhao Yuanxun glanced at Zhao Ruxi, then looked at his wife, seemingly asking her with his eyes whether it was appropriate to say these things in front of the children.

Lady Zhu deliberately asked her husband about this in front of her daughter, wanting Zhao Ruxi to know about it as well.

Zhao Ruxi told the old lady about Zhao Yuankun's words of currying favor with the Crown Prince's faction. The old lady thought about it and felt uneasy. She called her son and told Zhao Yuanxun everything. Lady Zhu was also present at the time.

In order to make Zhao Yuanxun take these words seriously, the old lady did not tell him that these words were said by Zhao Ruxi.

However, the old lady did not hide it from Lady Zhu. Afterwards, she repeatedly lamented to Lady Zhu that she regretted that Zhao Ruxi was not a boy. Otherwise, with such a clever mind and a broad perspective, even if Zhao Jingli had married into the second branch of the family, they would have had no regrets.

At the same age, Zhao Jingli was carefully cultivated in such an environment, but he was not as politically astute as Zhao Ruxi.

He was probably too used to a comfortable life and simply didn't understand that concept.

Zhao Jingtai is still a mischievous child, and it's unknown what he will become in the future. He always worries the old lady and the first lady, who are afraid that he will not be able to stand on his own two feet and support the family.

Regardless of whether she had any regrets or not, Lady Zhu was quite proud of her daughter's intelligence.

She smiled and said to her husband, "Those things I said about our third brother earlier were all told to me by Miss Xi. You didn't know that, did you? Our Miss Xi isn't just any ordinary girl; she's quite formidable."

Zhao Yuanxun looked at Zhao Ruxi in surprise.

Zhao Ruxi quickly opened her big, curious eyes and asked, "What about Wei Qiu?"

Her question brought Zhao Yuanxun back to his senses.

He said, "When Lady Wei was arrested, she was shrewd and repeatedly insisted that the murder was her own idea and had nothing to do with Wei Qiu. She probably hoped to get rid of Wei Qiu so that she would have a chance to get her out, otherwise her whole family would die. No matter how the Court of Judicial Review interrogated her, she always gave the same answer."

His gaze shifted to Lady Zhu: "As you know, the Emperor still favors Wei Qiu. Lord Zhang is worried that if he presses too hard and the Emperor finds out, Gao Xing and make things difficult for him later, so he can only give up."

"However, even if the Lady Wei doesn't admit it, this person was killed on behalf of Wei Qiu, and Wei Qiu still reaped the benefits—although he didn't ultimately become the Minister of Ministry of Personnel, his goal was achieved. Then, Lord Liu went to the Emperor to complain, and Grand Tutor Cen and several ministers subtly suggested that if they weren't severely punished, other officials would follow suit and disrupt the court. Only then did the Emperor sentence their entire family to exile."

He paused, then continued, "Originally, because the Lady Wei took full responsibility for the crime, this matter shouldn't have implicated Wei Qiu's entire family. However, since Wei Qiu wasn't beheaded, the emperor felt somewhat guilty after being criticized by his ministers, so he simply exiled the whole family."

Worried that Lady Zhu and Zhao Ruxi might be frightened, Zhao Yuanxun reassured them. "But exile is nothing to fear. They're going to the harsh north, and whether they can even make it there alive is questionable. Even if they survive, the sons of convicted officials are barred from taking the imperial examinations, and the local officials will keep a close watch on them; they'll have no chance of turning things around."

He sighed, "It's just that my body is letting me down. Now I've lost my job at the Five Cities Military Command, and it'll be hard to even get any news from the court anymore."

He insisted on taking this job because he hoped to interact with more people, stay informed about court affairs, and avoid being completely ignorant. Without the job, he would stay at home all day, unaware of what was happening in court. If he encountered a problem and wanted to ask for help, he would be completely clueless and wouldn't know who to turn to.

Take this incident for example. If he hadn't known that Wei Qiu had a conflict with someone when he climbed from the Subordinate Fourth Rank to the third rank, he wouldn't have known to ask the Duke of Wei for help, using his power to his advantage and take down Wei Qiu.

But now, he has been dismissed from his post by the Emperor himself. Even if his relatives and friends wanted to help him find another job, it would be impossible. He would have to stay at home in retirement. Zhao Jingtai is only ten years old, and it will be at least another ten years before he can come of age and support the family.

Over the past decade, although the Earl of Suiping's Residence still holds a mediocre title, it has become far removed from the imperial court and the center of power.

Now the family has split up again, the number of people is small, the ancestral home has been divided into three parts; the farmland and shops are also limited, and in terms of wealth, they have become just an average middle-class family. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the children to get married.

His mother was always worried about the decline of the Marquis of Suiping's Residence. Zhao Yuanxun hadn't taken it seriously before.

But seeing the state of the mansion now, not only his mother, but even Zhao Yuanxun himself felt uneasy.

Lady Zhu sighed as well.

Zhao Ruxi watched the couple sighing to each other, unsure of what to say.

She dared not presumptuously guarantee that she could lead them to a better life.

"Lord, Madam, Fifth Miss, two teachers from the academy have come to visit and say they would like to see Fifth Miss." Caidie entered and handed over two invitation cards.

Zhao Yuanxun took the invitation, glanced at it, and suddenly stood up. But after thinking for a moment, he sat down again, handed the invitation to Zhao Ruxi, and asked in surprise, "I just saw these two at the academy, how did they end up at your residence?"

Upon inspection, Zhao Ruxi saw that the visiting card was signed by Kang Shilin and Cui Wen.