I wasn't being tricked...

Yes, Aunt Qing always told Liu Yanbo this before, asking him not to be easily fooled by others, saying that she was the only one he could trust, and asked him not to trust others.

Liu Yanbo had always been so well-behaved and obedient, and he thought his mother was right. But he never imagined that he wasn't that capable, or that he wasn't that knowledgeable.

"Please stop talking," Liu Yanbo said. "Qiuya and I went to other counties and the prefectural capital and had several teachers read my articles. They all said they were not good."

"How is that possible?" Aunt Qing didn't believe it. "It looks fine to me."

Aunt Qing once taught Liu Yanbo how to write better, saying that she envied people who could write such good articles.

"That's just your opinion. Others might not think it's good." Liu Yanbo scoffed. "If it were truly good, how could my son fail the imperial examination?"

In his lifetime, he may only be able to become a scholar.

Liu Yanbo recalled the past. When they were in the capital, they were taught by Jinshi scholars. Those teachers taught them very attentively, and some of them passed the examinations to become Tongsheng and Xiucai at an early age.

At that time, Liu Yanbo thought that if he had taken the exam himself, he would have been even more powerful. Whatever the Master praised those people for, it was because he didn't know how powerful he was.

Liu Yanbo now understood that he hadn't been that talented back then. The Master had seen that and encouraged him to read more and express his insights more.

Liu Yanbo didn't say anything. He felt there was no need to tell those stupid people and thought those people were plotting against him.

"Those years... I was a joke." Liu Yanbo felt very heartbroken. He had missed a lot of time and his ideas were wrong.

It's very difficult for him to change his mind.

Liu Yanbo's thinking pattern is fixed. When he reads articles and poems, he always has biased thoughts and it is difficult to correct them.

"No, how can you be a joke, you are..."

"Stop talking." Liu Yanbo interrupted Aunt Qing, "You're not a teacher. I've found so many teachers. It's impossible for them to deceive me together."

"How is that possible?" Aunt Qing refused to believe it. She thought her son was very outstanding and very capable.

how so?

Doesn’t that mean that Liu Yanbo doesn’t have that kind of ability at all, and that’s all just her imagination?

"How is it impossible?" Su Qiuya said, "Mom, you are not a Jinshi, nor a champion."

Su Qiuya didn't want to flatter Concubine Qing. She suddenly felt that the reason why Mrs. Mei, the second young master, lived the way she did was inseparable from Concubine Qing's teachings.

She had never heard of other illegitimate daughters having bad lives, and no one else wrote to her all the time, but Mrs. Mei, the Second Young Master, always said so. Mrs. Mei, the Second Young Master, also kept writing to her about the bad people of the Mei family and refused to divorce.

Su Qiuya thought that the wife of the Second Young Master Mei was not much better, and Concubine Qing also had the same attitude.

From this we can see how bad Aunt Qing is. She did not teach her children well.

Su Qiuya didn't want to take the detour again. At least she had to see things clearly for herself and not bother with these things.

“…” Aunt Qing really didn’t expect things to turn out like this.

"That's it for now." Liu Yanbo couldn't bear to make Aunt Qing sad, so he said, "From now on, I'll study hard."

Liu Yanbo didn't dare to think that he was unrivaled, or that he was exceptionally powerful. He simply wasn't that powerful, and he had to admit it.

Su Qiuya looked at Liu Yanbo and said, "Don't talk about the people in the first house anymore. It doesn't matter anymore. Besides... they are not that bad."

After Su Qiuya figured it out, she felt that the people in the big house were very indulgent towards them. If they still tried to make trouble for other things, it would seem that they were too petty.

"I'll do as you say." Liu Yanbo had no objection.

Liu Yanbo didn't come to the Liu family's main house, and Liu Yulian didn't think about Liu Yanbo coming. He Xiyuan stayed at the Liu family for two days and then returned to the military camp. Liu Yulian was thinking about the cement factory.

Liu Yulian didn't have to worry about anything else, just the research she was doing. As for the business, she had hired people, and she would just look at the accounts when the time came.

"Sister-in-law." Liu Yulian was looking at the cement slabs in the yard. Maybe those people were lucky, or more likely, they studied it many times and finally figured it out.

The cement board is very strong and cannot be cut by swords or knives. At most, it will leave a small gap.

Such cement slabs are suitable for paving roads, as well as for building houses and dams.

"Is this cement?" Zhaoyang Gongshi was shocked. She reached out and touched it. The cement board was very hard, not soft.

"You can try it with a knife," Liu Yulian said. "The people at the cement factory have already written down the recipe. It should arrive in the capital in a few days."

"Very good." Zhaoyang Gongshi nodded. "Then you won't have to go over there all the time. It's so dusty over there."

"Don't go any further. We have to give those people some rewards." Liu Yulian didn't care whether the emperor would reward them or not. She had to reward those people anyway.

It was because those people worked hard to research those things and did not give up despite failing so many times that cement was developed.

Liu Yulian had originally estimated it would take several years, but they figured it out in about a year. This shows how hard those people worked, and how clever the ancients were.

Some of those people also looked through books, and some of them also recorded relevant content. For example, some books said that steaming glutinous rice, crushing it, and adding it to the soil would make the soil stick together better.

Those books also record other content, and some people have actually researched some of it. Once they have mastered some of the techniques, they can research quickly.

This shows that many books are very useful, even if they are miscellaneous books that few people read, they are still useful.

During Liu Yulian's later life, Chinese medicine declined, but some doctors extracted useful substances from Chinese medicine formulas. Some ancient formulas are very useful and can narrow the scope of people's research.

The ancients used Artemisia annua to treat malaria, and later generations extracted artemisinin from Artemisia annua. This is a well-known example of the wisdom of the ancients.

"You need to ask your father for more silver," said Zhaoyang Gongshi, "you don't have much silver on hand."

Zhaoyang Gongshi joked. She knew Liu Yulian didn't value money that much. Even if she wanted to do those research, she would need money. How could she let someone do things for free?

As far as Zhaoyang Gongshi knew, Liu Yulian often visited the cement workshop. She criticized them, but also rewarded them. She was very willing to spend money on research and treated those people very well.

Some people's families are poor, so Liu Yulian built houses for them to have a place to live so that they can have time to study those things and they don't have to be busy with other things.

Some people originally lived in the deep mountains and forests. After they learned about Liu Yulian's research, some of them joined in.

Those people didn't look down on Liu Yulian, nor did they think that Liu Yulian couldn't be studied because she was a woman. Those who looked down on Liu Yulian for being a woman didn't stay in the cement workshop.

"Cement can be used to pave roads and build houses," Liu Yulian said with a smile. "It's not very complicated, but if you use a lot, it will cost a lot of money."

In ancient times, people also performed labor service, working for the government for free, and the government provided them with food. However, other things still required money, and later generations also collected tolls and the like.

Liu Yulian didn't mention collecting tolls or anything like that; that wasn't her concern. She was solely responsible for developing the product and submitting it for review.

"After cement is made, we have to think about researching other things." Liu Yulian was still thinking about steam engines and the like. Even if she didn't know how to make them and they weren't in the living system, it didn't mean she couldn't research them.

"Okay." Zhaoyang Gongshi smiled. Her sister-in-law was really amazing.

"It may be more difficult, require more money, and require other people to research together." Liu Yulian thought that she still had to make more money. If the speed at which she made money was not as fast as the speed at which she spent it, it would be very miserable.

"What kind of people do you need?" Zhaoyang Gongshi was puzzled. "But even if you tell me, I still don't understand."

Lord Zhaoyang really didn't understand these things and didn't know what to do.

"Go find whoever you want," said Zhaoyang Gongshi. "If there's no one in the northwest, we'll go back to the capital."

When Lady Zhaoyang saw the cement that Liu Yulian had developed, she knew it was time for the people from Marquis Jingning's Mansion to return to the capital.

As for the mass production of cement, there are other people to build those buildings, and Liu Yulian doesn't need to build them at all.

"Look for some more books." Liu Yulian planned to read more books. Some ancient books were very useful and might be inspiring.

"Okay, go find it." Zhaoyang Gongshi thought it would be great if she had the ability like Liu Yulian, but she didn't know how to research.

Zhaoyang Gongshi thought that just looking after his stepson and stepdaughter was enough. His stepdaughter loved her sister-in-law very much, and Xiao Liujia always came to Liu Yulian's place. Zhaoyang Gongshi found Xiao Liujia at Liu Yulian's place several times, and she wanted to get closer to her stepdaughter.

Not to mention that Lady Zhaoyang has no children now, even if Lady Zhaoyang has children in the future, she will not ignore her step-son and step-daughter.

"There are fewer books here." said Zhaoyang Gongshi.

"But there may be books here that are not available in Beijing." Liu Yulian said, "I have to take a closer look and buy more books."

Liu Yulian thought that if they wanted to return to Beijing, they must make preparations first.

If anyone here is willing to follow her to the capital, she will also take some people with her.

Land is very expensive in the capital, so Liu Yulian should worry about whether she has enough money to buy a house for people to live in.

They didn't need to build the research institute in the capital, they could have it on a farm or somewhere in the suburbs. Then they wouldn't have to spend so much money to buy a house, they could just build a house outside.

"We need to bring some people with us, including families." Liu Yulian was still thinking about what to do when the time comes. "Their wages have to increase, and their children still need to go to school. Everything has to be arranged."

"You think too much." Lord Zhaoyang had not thought of this yet.

"We need to let them focus on their research without worrying about these things," Liu Yulian said. "Actually, it's best to have steel bars when building a house. Steel bars make it easier to build multiple floors."

"Rebar?" Zhaoyang Gongshi didn't understand.

"Yeah." Liu Yulian nodded, "It's okay to cover it with one layer."

Liu Yulian herself didn't know how to divide the steel bars, but she knew that it was not something they could do casually.

"The steel bars serve as support," Liu Yulian said.

"Then let's find it." Zhaoyang Gongshi thought this was not a problem.

"It's not easy." Liu Yulian shook her head, "But this is not that important."

Things like steel bars had to be put off until later. We had to research steam engines and other things first to provide power.

“…” Lord Zhaoyang still didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter whether he understood it or not, as long as others could understand it.

Zhaoyang Gongshi felt like she was listening to a foreign language. She really didn't understand. When she was at the previous prince consort's house, those people liked to embarrass her and talked to her about family matters instead of the things Liu Yulian said.

"A house built with cement won't leak that easily," Liu Yulian said. "We can use cement when the time comes. Oh, and we'll also need glass."

"Glass?" Mr. Zhaoyang felt that he knew too little.

"It's like colored glaze," Liu Yulian said. "It can keep out wind and rain, much better than window paper."

When Liu Yulian was watching TV dramas in the past, many people liked to poke the window paper and blow smoke through the small holes in the window paper.

"Yes, very good." Zhaoyang Gongshi just wanted this to cost a lot of money.

Zhaoyang Gongshi didn't say much. It wasn't her decision as to how much the price was. When there were too many of something, it would become less valuable.

"That's it for now. I'll go find some books." Liu Yulian's eyes lit up. She had to find a lot of books so that she could take them back when she went to Beijing.

Liu Yulian had known for a long time that they would have to return to Beijing; they couldn't stay in the northwest forever. She had to prepare early and collect all the books she needed.

Don't wait until she is about to go back and then realizes that something is not prepared. That would be bad.

Liu Yulian was too embarrassed to ask her family to wait for her, nor could she say that she would stay in the northwest for a while. If she said that, her family would definitely wait for her to return to Beijing together.

"Go." Zhaoyang Gongshi had long discovered that Liu Yulian liked reading very much, and Liu Yulian seemed very lively at this time.

The younger sister-in-law did not cause trouble for the eldest sister-in-law, and Zhaoyang Gongshi was still a little uncomfortable. After Zhaoyang Gongshi married into the Jingning Marquis Mansion, she really felt that the atmosphere here was very good.

Lord Zhaoyang discovered that Marquis Jingning seemed to have no status now, probably because this family member still had to rely on Liu Yulian to restore his title, and there were also problems with the other branches.

Liu Yulian likes to take people to bookstores, look at the books there, and collect some books to take home. When she goes to the bookstore, she always wants to buy a few books.

In the military camp, after He Xiyuan came back, he still wondered if Liu Yulian was okay.

"Maybe soon... soon I will return to Beijing." Liu Yanjing said.

Liu Yanjing found that he was not earning merits as fast as his sister's research. He still hoped that his sister's research would be completed faster, rather than hoping that more people would die on the battlefield.

"Sister Lian is very strong." He Xiyuan said.

"What about you?" Liu Yanjing was a little worried that He Xiyuan would not be so nice to Liu Yulian in the future, and was afraid that He Xiyuan would think Liu Yulian was too strong.

Many men like gentle women and like their dependent nature.

Liu Yanjing wondered if He Xiyuan would do that. If He Xiyuan dared to do that, he would be able to support his sister for the rest of her life.

He Xiyuan felt that Liu Yanjing's look was not right, and he had not done anything to let Sister Lian down.

At this moment, He Xiyuan thought of what Liu Yanqing said. What kind of looks were those people giving him? He wasn't such a fool, so he certainly wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Become stronger as you go along." This was He Xiyuan's answer.

"You are not as strong as my younger sister!" Liu Yanjing said.

"I know." He Xiyuan said, "Don't try to discourage me with this. Sister Lian and I are engaged."

He Xiyuan thought that people like Liu Yanjing were really scary. They actually wanted to attack him mentally. Did they want to break up him and Sister Lian?

Impossible!

He will be with Sister Lian for the rest of his life!

No one can separate them!

He Xiyuan thought he could take care of himself and didn't want other women. He was just worried that the men outside would stare at Sister Lian. Sister Lian was so powerful, even if she was a divorced woman, there would definitely be many people who would come after her.

He absolutely cannot give those people a chance.

He Xiyuan knew that there were people in history who remained unmarried for many years and finally waited for their loved ones to divorce. It was impossible for him to divorce his beloved, nor was it possible for others to wait until he and his wife divorced.

"Don't think about anything else. I'm so clean, don't try to slander me." He Xiyuan looked at Liu Yanjing cautiously, "Brother, your behavior is not acceptable. If it were someone else, that person might be very unhappy and think that Sister Lian is not a good person."

"Can you?" Liu Yanjing asked.

"Of course I wouldn't." He Xiyuan thought to himself that it was impossible for him to think that. "Don't set me up."

“…” Liu Yanjing stopped talking.

In Shiyuan Village, Liu Yanqing looked at Lin Xiaowan's belly and wondered why his wife hadn't gotten pregnant yet.

"Why haven't you gotten pregnant yet?" Liu Yanqing muttered.

“…” Lin Xiaowan was speechless. Liu Yanqing knew this.

"If I don't get pregnant soon, it won't be easy waiting for the first wife's people to return to Beijing." Liu Yanqing thought that it would not be easy to ask for gifts at that time, what a blessing.

They will have children sooner or later, so it would be better if Lin Xiaowan gets pregnant earlier.

"If you have a child, will you take care of it?" Lin Xiaowan asked.

"I'll take care of him, then." Liu Yanqing said, "It's just taking care of the child, not going to the execution ground."

Liu Yanqing thought this was not a problem. He could carry the child out to play more often, and when the time comes, he can even get a sturdy basket on his bicycle. He could also take the child on a bicycle to play in town and let the child see more of the outside world.

"It's definitely not the execution ground." Lin Xiaowan said, but it's not that easy.

They had no maids or old women to serve them, so they had to take care of the children themselves.

Lin Xiaowan didn't say much, they didn't have any children yet. It might be because they were a little stressed out before, thinking about how to survive in the northwest.

After a while, maybe she will be able to get pregnant.

Lin Xiaowan was not in such a hurry to get pregnant. Unlike Liu Yanqing, she was still thinking about giving gifts to the first wife. She thought that there were very few people as shameless as Liu Yanqing, who was still planning to ask for gifts for the child.

She thought that Liu Yanqing wanted it himself and wanted to take advantage of her.

But Lin Xiaowan couldn't say how wrong Liu Yanqing was. At least Liu Yanqing didn't do anything wrong, unlike Liu Yanbo.

In the county town, Aunt Qing thought that they still had to move to the provincial capital. After moving to the provincial capital, people around them would not know them, and they would not have to worry about other people's strange looks.

Aunt Qing didn't like people asking her whether Liu Yanbo had passed the imperial examination. She felt embarrassed.

"Let's go to the capital." Aunt Qing said, "The teacher there is better."