As night fell, Wang Jiao brought a pot of wine and drank with Li Qingyao in the study.
This was fruit wine that Yan Min made herself last year. It wasn't intoxicating, so she let the two of them have it.
"Brother Yao, congratulations."
Wang Jiao offered another word of congratulations, then raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp.
Li Qingyao looked on with a smile, reclining on the couch, holding a white porcelain wine cup in his hand, his posture languid.
"There is one last leg to go."
"Brother Yao's skill level will certainly not be lacking. I'll just wait for your good news."
Wang Jiao envied Li Qingyao, but he was also genuinely proud of him. Over the years, he had come to regard Li Qingyao as a sworn brother.
"Wang Jiao, don't worry, I will definitely find a way to get you out of here."
Wang Jiao is still a criminal. Although he has the Li family to take care of him, it is natural for a talented and ambitious person to feel frustrated that he cannot take the imperial examination.
Li Qingyao knew what Wang Jiao was thinking.
"The essays of all 100 successful candidates in this provincial examination are available in bookstores. I also bought a copy and have already placed it on your desk."
"You must never be lazy in your studies, because one day you will need them."
Li Qingyao said sternly.
His mother had told him that over the past year, Wang Jiao's mind had not been on his studies; he was always thinking about going to the workshop to work with Li Yue.
Li Yue was originally the grandson of Li Shida, the fourth wife, and the son of Li Cao'er. Now he is a legitimate member of the Li family.
Li Yue worked in the workshop with his uncle, Li Xushen. He was quick-witted, did his job well, and was also good at managing his subordinates.
Wang Jiao looked somber.
“Brother, the workshop is quite good. I am a convict, but now I live a stable life and have no worries about food and clothing. I don’t need to worry about it anymore.”
“How can it be troublesome? Anyone can do the workshop work, but you are different. I know your talent. I need your help. Trust me, I can definitely help you. Until then, don’t give up.”
“….”
Wang Jiao remained silent, but Li Qingyao's attitude was even more persistent than his.
"Speak, Wang Jiao!"
Unable to refuse Yao Ge's kindness, Wang Jiao gave a vague reply.
"Okay, I'll check it out tomorrow."
Seeing that Wang Jiao agreed, Li Qingyao softened his tone and started talking to him about his experiences in the provincial examination.
The atmosphere relaxed again, and the two chatted and laughed, raising their glasses to drink until dawn.
Since returning, Li Qingyao has received many invitations, but he only went to a few. Now that his status is different, he can be more selective.
Before long, the Li family welcomed many more matchmakers.
Li Qingyao was fifteen years old when he was exiled.
He took the county and prefectural examinations at the age of seventeen, and now he has just turned nineteen, a nineteen-year-old scholar!
Every wealthy family in the surrounding area has come to propose marriage; who knows, maybe by sheer luck, it will actually work out.
Many people had the same idea, and the threshold of the Li family's house was suddenly lowered by footsteps.
Yan Min initially received them patiently, but later she went so far as to declare that her son would not get married unless he passed the imperial examination.
How can one start a family before establishing a career?
After repeating it several times, everyone finally believed it, and the matchmaker gradually stopped coming to their door.
The villagers were very enthusiastic about the memorial archway for the successful candidate in the imperial examinations. The Li family did not contribute any money or manpower; the villagers handled everything perfectly on their own.
The government provided a subsidy of fifty taels of silver for building the memorial archway for the successful candidate in the imperial examinations; the rest was all raised by the villagers of Lijia Village. They would be out of their minds if they weren't enthusiastic about it.
The Li family has already sent word that they originally intended to move the memorial archway back to their ancestral home, but because they were determined to protect the villagers of Lijia Village, they ultimately decided to place it here.
Li Qingyao is so young, it's possible that he will become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) in the future. However, it's already quite good that they have a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial imperial examinations) archway. With the Li family school in place, how could Li Family Village not produce other Juren in the future?
We've gone off on a tangent.
The Li family had their eyes on them, so the villagers naturally couldn't let the Li family lose face.
The people of Lijia Village were in complete agreement on this matter.
On the day the memorial arch was erected, firecrackers went off for most of the day, and the villagers also held a day-long feast.
Preparations for Li Qingzhang's wedding then began.
The marriage of a county magistrate's daughter was a major event in Shao County. Moreover, the groom's family was led by the Li family, whose daughter had recently passed the imperial examinations.
The Li family was already enjoying increasing prestige among the people of Shaoguan County, and for them, this was a powerful alliance.
The wedding was a grand affair, with Cao Ying dressed in a magnificent red bridal procession and welcomed into the Li family by Li Qingzhang.
For a long time, the people of Shaoguan County talked about this wedding with great interest.
Whether it was the group of handsome young men from the Li family who were skilled in both literature and martial arts, Cao Ying's dowry, the people attending the banquet, or even the food at the wedding banquet.
These are all topics of conversation among the people of Shaoguan County.
Even the bride's makeup on that day was imitated by the young ladies of Shaoguan County.
That makeup was also Pan Jinhua's masterpiece, or rather, it was just a whim; she suddenly remembered that she had attended a Chinese wedding banquet where the bride's makeup was stunning.
She said that after she mentioned it to Liu Yun, Liu Yun remembered it. He then asked a skilled makeup artist to go to the Cao family to try out makeup for Cao Ying, which resulted in the makeup that everyone wanted to imitate.
I heard that the makeup artist is very popular now, and her business is booming.
Liu Yun finally welcomed the daughter-in-law she had longed for.
On the second day of the wedding, after drinking the tea offered by Cao Ying and looking at the handsome young couple below, Liu Yun was overjoyed and immediately handed over all the affairs of the Li family to Cao Ying.
"With Ying'er here, Mother can finally relax a bit."
Cao Ying held the family's account books, somewhat incredulous.
She had also heard a lot of gossip. The power to manage the household was the best way for a mother-in-law to control her daughter-in-law. As far as she knew, there were several mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships that had soured over the power to manage the household.
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