Chapter 10 The number one scholar’s father is a charlatan who always wins in gambling!
The still very young Chang Qing was a little confused by Si Yuan's words, but Si Yuan didn't care and just said, "Just remember what Dad said."
Little Changqing nodded, looking at the lush green scenery outside the window, recalling his father's words over and over again in his little head.
More than two years passed, and little Changqing was officially five years old. He was much smarter and more clever than an ordinary five-year-old child, but also much more naughty and lively.
So after Si Yuan was once again embraced by the little mud monkey cub rolling in the mud pit, he discussed seriously with his wife Yu Yan: "I originally planned to send Changqing to Jingyuan Earl's Mansion to study when he was six years old, but now I think it's better to send him there earlier."
Yu Yan, who always regarded her son as her lifeblood, recalled how her son had jumped up and down when he was naughty these days, and nodded in agreement: "Okay, it happens that mother's birthday banquet is about to be held, let's talk about this with father and elder brother when we return to the Bo's Mansion."
Thinking that the little beast at home would be able to go to school soon, Yu Yan suddenly felt relieved.
As for whether she would miss her son after sending him to school, there is no reason to miss him. It is not like her son will not come home after school. She can see him every day and satisfy her longing for him. There is nothing to worry about.
In more than a month, it will be the 50th birthday of Mrs. Li, the wife of the old Lord Jingyuan.
In this ancient society, fifty was the age when one knew one’s destiny, and it was a birthday that needed to be celebrated.
So the entire Jingyuan Earl's Mansion was preparing for Li's mother's fiftieth birthday, and no one knew how many invitations had been sent out.
Even Li Jingyuan, who was serving as an official far away in another place, had to ask for leave to return to the capital to celebrate his stepmother's birthday.
However, according to Si Yuan's understanding, Li Jingyuan's return to Beijing this time was not just to celebrate his mother's birthday, but more because he hoped that the Jingyuan Marquis's Mansion would take care of him. After all, his term of office had expired this year and he needed to be transferred. If he wanted to be transferred to a good position, someone in the capital had to take care of him.
Li Jingyuan is only in his twenties now. He just passed the imperial examination and became an official three years ago. He has been serving as a seventh-rank county magistrate in another place for three years. If he wants to get promoted, he will need the help of the Jingyuan Earl's Mansion.
Li Jingyuan is different from the protagonist's father in the original plot who relied on the connections of the Jingyuan Earl's Mansion to become a third-rank official and boarded the big ship of the third prince. Now he is just a seventh-rank official who is not taken seriously by the Jingyuan Earl's Mansion. He needs to ask for help from the Jingyuan Earl's Mansion to go further in officialdom.
And his future backer, the Third Prince, had his ambition exposed in front of the First Prince and the Second Prince with the help of Si Yuan in the past few years. Now the three princes are fighting each other fiercely, and the Third Prince is at a disadvantage in all aspects. If the Emperor did not need the princes to form a three-way confrontation and often supported the Third Prince in fighting against the First Prince and the Second Prince, the Third Prince would have been eliminated long ago.
After all, in terms of status and power, the third prince is far inferior to the eldest prince and the second prince.
In the original plot, the third prince was able to become the ultimate winner because he was very patient before and did not reveal his ambitions. He was also not regarded as an opponent by the eldest prince and the second prince. The two fought and both were injured, so naturally the third prince took advantage of him.
Now that the third prince has revealed his ambition with the help of Si Yuan, the eldest prince and the second prince suddenly woke up: Great! The sinister third brother actually took advantage of the fight between me and the eldest/second brother and waited by the side, hoping to reap the benefits?
So the two of them tacitly agreed to stop beating the third brother first, intending to beat him out, and then they would decide the winner.
If the current emperor had not felt that a three-way balance was easier to maintain than a two-tiger fight, and had not given the Third Prince a hand, the Third Prince would have been beaten out by his two brothers long ago. He couldn't even beat one of his brothers, let alone two of them joining forces to beat him.
The Third Prince himself is unable to take care of himself. It is naturally impossible for Li Jingyuan, the father of the male protagonist and the future party member of the Third Prince, to climb onto this broken ship of the Third Prince.
In the original plot, when Li Jingyuan was still a minor official, he seized the opportunity to help the Third Prince and caught the Third Prince's eye. Although it only made the Third Prince remember his existence, he was not truly accepted by the Third Prince until he climbed to the position of a fourth-rank official with the help of the connections in the Jingyuan Earl's Mansion. But in the final analysis, it was that help that made the Third Prince have a good impression of him, which led to the opportunities later.
Now Li Jingyuan still has the opportunity to help the third prince as in the original plot, but he gave up because the third prince is in a bad situation. Helping the third prince may offend the eldest prince and the second prince at the same time, so Li Jingyuan dare not help.
Just like that, she missed the opportunity to catch the third prince's eye.
After Si Yuan learned about this from the system, he expressed his innocence and said that he had never targeted his illegitimate brother Li Jingyuan from the beginning to the end.
Although in the original plot, Li Jingyuan and Li Changwen, father and son, knew the truth about the original owner's death but kept silent about it and did not lend a helping hand to Li Changqing who was in trouble, this is human nature.
Although the father and son are relatives of Li Changqing, helping him is a favor, and not helping is their duty. People are selfish, so their behavior is completely understandable.
So Si Yuan went straight for the culprit, the third prince.
He did not deal with Li Jingyuan or hinder his path to promotion. For example, the old Earl of Jingyuan wanted to use the personal connections of the Earl of Jingyuan's Mansion on Li Jingyuan, the only illegitimate son who passed the imperial examination and entered the officialdom. Li Chengyuan was not very happy, but Si Yuan did not raise any objection - of course, the old Earl of Jingyuan did not ask him, the second son of the branch family.
Li Jingyuan missed this opportunity because he chose to give up - although the result might be worse if he chose to help the third prince as in the original plot, Si Yuan did not do anything to him.
Si Yuan once again felt in his heart that he was such a kind and good person.
The system's task is to let him raise cannon fodder cubs, so that the cannon fodder cubs can compete with the male protagonist and the male supporting role by competing with their fathers.
In other words, the fathers of the male protagonist and the supporting male character are both competitors of Si Yuan. There is not only one way to defeat competitors, but also to suppress them so that they are not qualified to compete with you.
Si Yuan felt that he did not directly suppress Li Jingyuan, but instead dealt with the Third Prince, the backer behind Li Jingyuan. This was also to solve the hidden danger of the original owner being murdered by the Third Prince in the original plot, so he was really kind and there was nothing wrong with him.
On the day of Li's mother's fiftieth birthday banquet, Si Yuan brought his wife and children to the Jingyuan Earl's Mansion in a carriage.
From a distance, one could see a busy flow of people in front of the Jingyuan Marquis's mansion, and many people came to celebrate his birthday.
After all, the Jingyuan Marquis' Mansion is also an old-established noble family. A lean camel is bigger than a horse, and it has all kinds of connections and relatives throughout the court and the country. Perhaps these connections and resources will not be of much use when the Jingyuan Marquis' Mansion needs strong help after its defeat, but they can still be used to save face when maintaining personal relationships.
For example, now that the old lady of the Jingyuan Marquis' Mansion is celebrating her 50th birthday, families that have some friendship with the Jingyuan Marquis' Mansion are willing to send people to celebrate. Even if the Jingyuan Marquis' Mansion falls into trouble in the future and they would not open the door to beg for help, it would not prevent them from pretending that the two families have a good relationship at this time.
For a moment, it didn't seem that the Jingyuan Marquis's Mansion was on the decline.
Si Yuan and Yu Yan got off the carriage and led the five-year-old Chang Qing into the mansion. They met many guests along the way. After seeing Si Yuan, many guests took the initiative to come forward and greet him: "Mr. Li San, long time no see!"
Si Yuan: "Haha, long time no see, long time no see!"
"Mr. Li San, this is your wife and your son, right? Your son is so smart and adorable..."
Si Yuan: "No, no, my son is indeed smart and cute!"
"Mr. Li San has become much more handsome after not seeing him for a few days..."
Si Yuan: "Hey, really? I really have become handsome again!"
Yu Yan was dumbfounded when she saw the endless stream of people coming to greet her husband.
Why do these people look so familiar?
How can it not look familiar? Those who could come to attend Li's mother's birthday party were all well-known officials and dignitaries in the capital. Before the family was separated, she was often taken by her mother-in-law to attend various banquets and had met these people.
What Yu Yan couldn't understand was that her husband had been separated from the Jingyuan Marquis's Mansion. He was just a commoner, and a commoner with a reputation as a playboy. Even her husband's former friends of higher status no longer associated with him after the separation. How come these people who used to look down on her husband now took the initiative to come up and say hello to him?
Moreover, this greeting was not just a simple greeting, but rather a greeting that seemed to be a gesture of goodwill to her husband. After all, she and her son were treated as objects of goodwill to her husband by these people and were praised over and over again.
What surprised her the most was that these people's words of praise for her and her son were so straightforward and without any beating around the bush, which was not consistent with their identities.
Yu Yan was confused as she stayed beside Si Yuan and chatted with others. When she finally found a chance to enter the inner courtyard of the Bo Mansion and there were no other people around to chat with Si Yuan, Yu Yan finally found the opportunity to ask Si Yuan: "Husband, why did those people take the initiative to look for us?"
Si Yuan explained casually, "It's nothing. I just gambled with them a few times before and established a little bit of a gambling friendship. Plus, this is my mother's birthday party, so of course they have to be a little more enthusiastic towards me, the son of the birthday girl."
Si Yuan's tone revealed a hint of "it's nothing", but Yu Yan keenly felt that things were definitely not as simple as Si Yuan said. However, it was not a bad thing after all, so she did not continue to pursue the matter.
Ever since her husband won money gambling after the family split up, Yu Yan felt that her husband had changed a little. He seemed to be the same person, with the same temperament, a playboy, a spendthrift, and a sloppy, unserious person, but she just felt that he was different from before.
After Si Yuan and Yu Yan and Xiao Changqing entered the inner courtyard, the guests who stayed in the outer courtyard, those who did not take the initiative to greet Si Yuan but knew Li Siyuan, couldn't help but curiously ask those who took the initiative to greet Si Yuan: "Why were you so enthusiastic to Li Siyuan just now?" It felt that they were even too polite, more polite than to Li Chengyuan, the current owner of Jingyuan Earl's Mansion.
These people just smiled mysteriously and replied: "Mr. Li San is a good person, we are friends, what's wrong with saying hello?"
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