The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

Xiaowu and Pei Ling's marriage was settled. Pei Yanxu was also very surprised when he found out about it, but Xia Mianwan had always been the one who made the decisions on the marriages of the girls in the family.

The Chinese New Year is just a few days away, and the situation in the capital is not any better.

The situation in the capital is not good, and the situation in other places will only be worse. It would be okay if it only lasts for one year, but if the situation continues, Da Chen will have just recovered and there will probably be trouble again.

But that’s not the point.

This year's natural disasters lasted a long time and covered a wide area. If the nomadic peoples in the north were also living a hard life, there would be a wave of looting and burning after the New Year. Pei Yanxu discussed the matter with the emperor in the palace for a long time, but still had no clue.

Pei Yanxu returned home in the snow and wind. Xia Mianwan was making tea and writing a storybook while waiting for him.

Xia Mianwan's face was dim in the candlelight, but Pei Yanxu felt his heart was filled.

Pei Yanxu walked in with a smile, "I'm back."

Xia Mianwan's features have become less sharp and more gentle over the years. She looked towards Pei Yanxu and said with a smile, "It's snowing hard outside. Come and have some tea. It's been warm for a long time."

Pei Yanxu shook off the snowflakes on his body and then took off his cloak.

"There's still food in the small kitchen. Would you like some more, husband?" Xia Mianwan asked.

Pei Yanxu shook his head and frowned, "No, I ate a lot with His Majesty today."

"Aren't the meals in the palace already cold by the time they reach you? You usually don't like to eat those." Xia Mianwan asked curiously.

"Today, the Queen has come up with a new way of eating." Pei Yanxu said.

Xia Mianwan didn't ask any more questions after hearing this. The last stroke of the storybook was finished. Tomorrow, we have to start preparing various New Year gifts, as well as gifts for each household. Although there are old customs, this year is a disaster year, so the New Year gifts should also be changed.

Xia Mianwan looked up and saw Pei Yanxu staring at the tea bowl in a trance. She asked, "Husband, what's wrong with you? You've been in a trance since you came back."

Pei Yanxu sighed and said, "The snow hasn't stopped yet. I received news today that Tongyu Pass is also particularly cold this year."

"Tongyu Pass?" Xia Mianwan was not quite sure where Tongyu Pass was.

"This is a pass. If we guard it, the foreign nomadic peoples, the Zhai and Qiang, will not be able to enter the pass." Pei Yanxu explained.

Xia Mianwan only needed to think about it for a moment before she understood what Pei Yanxu was worried about. "The weather is bad, and the Zhai Qiang have no place to live. Life is difficult and they are going to cause chaos. Are you worried that the Zhai Qiang will invade in large numbers?"

Xia Mianwan is really smart and understands things quickly.

Pei Yanxu nodded, "Mianwan, you are right. There is a reason why the Zhai Qiang have not launched a large-scale attack in recent years. It is said that a rare talent has emerged in the Zhai Qiang in recent years. In a few years, he united the various tribes of the Zhai Qiang. Now the situation of the Zhai Qiang is that dozens of tribes have united and elected Atuye as the leader of this united tribe. Atuye advocates war and not peace. In recent years, if anyone in the tribe does not listen to him, he will destroy the entire tribe. His thundering methods are quite deterrent. Now the tribes are almost integrated. If the situation of the Zhai Qiang is not good this winter, then our Tongyu Pass will bear the brunt."

"Your Majesty, do you advocate war or peace?" Xia Mianwan asked.

Pei Yanxu touched his chin, still a little uncertain, "It should be peace."

Pei Yanxu was still a little uncertain because although the emperor intended to advocate peace, the anger in his heart had not dissipated at all. When he said "advocating peace", he was still gritting his teeth.

"So what does my husband mean?" Xia Mianwan stretched her neck and asked casually.

Pei Yanxu hesitated. "In fact, peace is the general trend, but...Zhai Qiang's A Tu Ye is really not a simple person and is very bloodthirsty. I think before peace, we should..."

"End the war with war." The two said in unison, and then smiled at each other.

"The timing is a bit bad." Xia Mianwan felt a little regretful.

"Why do you say that, ma'am?" It was the first time that Pei Yanxu saw Xia Mianwan express her regret so directly.

Xia Mianwan sighed, "The prince is still too young. Usually when we talk about the situation in the court, you often sigh that there are no peerless generals available in our court. A Tuye is so brave and bloodthirsty, but there is no general available. I think the opportunity has been missed, and ending the war with war is not the right time. After all, wars are ultimately about the economy. The Great Chen Kingdom has not fully recovered in the past two years, and its economy is only slightly better than when it was just stabilized. It is difficult to end the war with war in such a situation. If the whole country is united, even if we win the battle, the court will lose stability. I am afraid that by then, the Great Chen Kingdom will be in chaos again."

Pei Yanxu knew that what Xia Mianwan said was true. If the prince had grown up, he would not be afraid to go to war. The prince of Zhenguo, Xiao Jinyan, was good at martial arts, and he was good at literature, so there might not be a bad result. But in the current situation, he and the prince of Zhenguo were in the same boat. If they left Beijing at the same time, the prince's life would be difficult.

There was still no one available, Pei Yanxu thought, maybe he should pick some people from the Eastern Palace to train.

Otherwise, internal unrest will inevitably affect the external situation.

There is no point in thinking too much now. Under the current circumstances, the Zhai Qiang will definitely not invade for the time being, but when spring comes, everything will be unknown.

Fortunately, the terrain of Tongyu Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The top priority is to come up with some effective ways to resist foreign enemies as soon as possible.

……

Xia Mianwan and Pei Xia prepared the gifts for this New Year together. Pei Ling will not need these after she marries Xiao Wu. The relatives around Xiao Wu are relatively simple and do not need to be so troublesome.

After Pei Ling's marriage was decided, Pei Xia's marriage was also decided.

Pei Xia's marriage was arranged with Yu Muyan, a student of Pei Yanxu.

Yu Muyan is a bastard from a branch of aristocratic family. Although his family background is not high, it is a real big family. Although Pei Xia has been learning from Nanny Yuan for a long time, she doesn't know much about gift giving during festivals.

So Xia Mianwan took Pei Xia to prepare gifts, and while preparing the gifts, she also told Pei Xia some things about each family and the personalities of some ladies.

These social relationships are actually extremely complicated, and Pei Xia had no idea about them, so he could only listen and take notes. Pei Ling was actually more suitable for such a big family than Pei Xia, but being suitable did not necessarily mean that one had to do it.

A year has passed in a busy manner.

On the third day of the first lunar month, all the girls who had married out of the Pei family agreed to return to the Pei family on the same day to pay New Year's greetings.