When Yu Fuling saw her asking about Yu Qizhe, she said with some pride, "That's my younger brother. We came to Qingzhou this time not only to see your mother, Madam Yang, but also to accompany my younger brother to take the imperial examination."
"Your brother must be very knowledgeable. He will have no problem passing the exam this time." Yang Jiyan praised with a smile.
Yu Fuling couldn't hide her pride. When she mentioned Yu Qizhe in front of outsiders, she talked more. "My younger brother won the first place in the Tongsheng exam three years ago. Later, due to poor health, he didn't take the exam again. It was delayed for three years. I don't know if I can pass this time."
When Yu Jiao told her that Yu Qizhe had won the top three places in the examination for students of higher learning three years ago, she was not surprised at all. In his previous life, he was the top scholar among the top three.
Yang Jiyan didn't dare to show too much concern for Yu Qizhe, so she asked indirectly, "Sister Yu Fuling, are you engaged?"
Yu Fuling nodded shyly, "I've already decided on someone."
"My mother has been planning to arrange a marriage for me recently." Yang Jiyan pretended to be melancholy and said, "But I don't like those young men. Although they have good family backgrounds, they have bad habits. I admire scholars the most. If I can marry a truly talented and well-read man, even if we live a poor life, I will be happy."
After hearing this, Yu Fuling liked Yang Jiyan even more. She felt that it was very rare for a young lady like Yang Jiyan, who came from a prominent family, to not have any prejudice against family background.
Yu Fuling smiled and said, "I think Lord Yang also appreciates scholars. When the results are announced tomorrow, you might as well talk to your father and ask him to choose a husband for you from the young talents on the list."
Yang Jiyan's eyes lit up, "Sister Fuling really gave me a good idea. I will tell my father after the autumn exam."
Yu Qizhe will definitely be on the list. According to the trajectory of his previous life, he should be the top scorer in this autumn's imperial examination. She has to find a way to make her father promise her to Yu Qizhe before the results are announced.
Otherwise, after the results are announced, Yu Qizhe's reputation as the young champion will spread, and I'm afraid many people will set their eyes on this talented champion.
She remembered that in his previous life, when Yu Qizhe was the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, he had not yet married. It was rumored that before he entered the officialdom, he married a country girl, but the girl had a very short life and died early.
Later, Yu Qizhe became a cabinet minister with great power. Many families who wanted to marry him sent their daughters to Yu's house to make him his second wife, but they were all rejected.
On the surface, everyone said that Lord Yu was a dull person and not interested in women, but privately everyone suspected that he had a homosexual tendency.
I don’t know whether it was to quell the rumors or for some other reason, but he later married the daughter of a minor official.
She no longer left the house at that time, and had never met the woman Yu Qizhe later married.
Thinking of the rumor, Yang Jiyan leaned close to Yu Fuling and asked, "Sister Fuling, has your brother married yet?"
Although Yu Fuling felt that it was a bit abrupt for a girl like her to ask about her younger brother's marriage, she did not think much about it. She just didn't know how to answer.
Although my younger brother and Yu Jiao are engaged, Yu Jiao has now been included in their family tree and is nominally her and Qi Zhe's sister.
Seeing Yu Fuling didn't say anything, Yang Jiyan felt a little depressed. She forced a smile and said, "I just asked casually. If Sister Fuling doesn't want to say it, it doesn't matter if you don't say it."
Yu Fuling glanced at Yu Jiao, thought for a moment, and replied, "There's nothing wrong with saying it. My brother is already engaged."
Yang Jiyan's heart sank when she heard that, and she could hardly keep the smile on her face. To avoid embarrassment, she held her handkerchief and said, "Your brother is still so young, and he's already engaged? But for a young talent like your brother, it's inevitable that he's already engaged."
Yu Jiao secretly observed Yang Jiyan's expression and always felt that she seemed to have other thoughts. The words she said in the carriage were all about trying to find out things related to Yu Qizhe.
I couldn't help but wonder, could it be that this young lady fell in love with Yu Qizhe at first sight outside the Imperial Examination Hall?
After that, the few of them went shopping together, and Yang Jiyan spoke much less. Even when she was introducing the dim sum in Xishui Street to Yu Fuling, she seemed a little absent-minded.
Yu Fuling had long wanted to take a good stroll around Qingzhou Prefecture so that she could go back and tell her parents about what she had seen and heard in Qingzhou Prefecture.
She was happily strolling with Yu Jiao, her mind completely focused on the street stalls and shops, and she didn't notice at all that Yang Jiyan was distracted.
Yu Jiao did pay some attention to Yang Jiyan, mainly to prevent her from doing anything scheming again.
Yang Jiyan followed Yu Jiao and the others in a trance, but her experiences in her past life kept emerging in her mind.
In her previous life, as her father was promoted, her family moved to the capital. Before her mother passed away, she arranged a marriage for her. She married Zhou Yun, the only son of the Zhou family, who was the Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department. This was originally a pretty good marriage.
But after she married into the Zhou family, she found out that Zhou Yun was not a good guy at all. He was extremely lustful. Not only did he hang out with the maids at home, he also kept a girl called Hua in a brothel. After she entered the family, he even took in several concubines. Her parents-in-law doted on Zhou Yun and blamed her for not being able to keep her husband's heart.
She lived on thin ice in the Zhou family and had a hard time making ends meet, but the result of her enduring humiliation was the death of the child she had finally conceived.
Thinking of this, Yang Jiyan was so angry that her teeth itched. She tightly grasped the handkerchief in her hand and secretly made up her mind that she would never repeat the same mistake in this life. Even if Yu Qizhe was engaged, so what? How could a poor girl compare to her?
She rubbed her brows, forced herself to calm down, and thought to herself that she must plan carefully when she returns. Even if it means using any means, she must marry this man who will have great power in the future.
Having made up her mind, Yang Jiyan tried even harder to please Yu Fuling and Yu Jiao. Whenever they showed interest in something, Yang Jiyan would take the initiative to pay for it, and even said, "Sister Fuling and sister Yu Jiao have come from afar. As father said, I should do my best to be a good host. You should not be polite to me."
But Yu Jiao and Yu Fuling were not the type to take advantage of others. They paid for everything they liked with their own money and did not give Yang Jiyan any chance to please them.
Yang Jiyan had no choice but to say, "Why do you sisters have to be so distant with me? Forget about it today, but tomorrow I will invite you to go boating on the lake, and you are not allowed to be like this again."
"A pleasure boat cruise on the lake?" Yu Fuling was very interested and asked, "Is it fun to cruise on the lake?"
Yang Jiyan smiled and said, "There is a Bi Bo Lake in the south of the city. The surrounding scenery is very beautiful. There are many water lilies in the lake. Now is the season for eating lotus pods. There are also people boating, playing the piano and singing on the lake. It is very lively."
Yu Fuling was even more excited after hearing this, and said with a smile, "It's so fun, I want to go and see it with you tomorrow."
Seeing that she accepted the invitation, Yang Jiyan's smile deepened.
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