Chapter 26 The number one scholar’s father is a charlatan who always wins in gambling!
On the day when the results were announced, everyone in the mansion, from the mistress of the house, Yu Yan, to the doormen and servants, were eagerly waiting for the butler who had gone to check the results to come back with the good news.
Si Yuan sat leisurely on the chair holding a teacup, looking at Yu Yan pacing anxiously in front of him, and couldn't help but say, "Madam, please sit down and wait. The results have been determined, and no matter how anxious you are, you can't change it."
Yu Yan turned around and glared at Si Yuan, saying angrily, "Today is the day when the results of the imperial examination are announced. How can you, as a father, be so calm? You don't care about your son's results at all!"
Si Yuan glanced at his son Li Changqing, who was sitting next to him and looked very calm on the surface, but was actually nervously drinking tea from an empty cup, and said with a smile: "I have confidence in Changqing. As long as he doesn't perform poorly, he will definitely pass the imperial examination. It's just a matter of where he ranks."
Li Changqing put down the teacup in his hand, which had been emptied without him knowing when. The tension in his heart eased a lot because of Si Yuan's words of confidence in him. He smiled stiffly and said, "Father has so much confidence in his son. If I don't come back with the first place, I will really fail to live up to his expectations."
Si Yuan said calmly: "My expectations for you are just four words, joy and peace."
Li Changqing's heart was shaken, and an indescribable feeling of warmth surged from his heart. He felt his nose suddenly sour. He blinked hard, cleared his throat, and said with a smile: "Didn't my father say before that I should pass the imperial examination and become the top scholar to support him? So don't worry, my son will work hard to pass the imperial examination and then support you in your old age."
Yu Yan temporarily abandoned her noble lady style as the wife of the house, sat in the empty seat next to Si Yuan, and said unhappily: "How can you be a father like you? You don't strive for success and work hard yourself, but instead urge your son to work hard to become the top scholar. It's just like what you said, if you can't fly yourself, you lay an egg to urge it to fly..."
Si Yuan didn't expect that his previous complaints about Li Chengyuan and Li Jingyuan would now turn into a boomerang and stab him with Yu Yan.
Si Yuan put down the teacup in his hand helplessly and said, "Isn't this to encourage Chang Qing to make progress? If he has the ability, why doesn't he do it? I'm not good at studying, but my son is. As long as I, as a father, am not ambitious enough, my child will definitely be more ambitious than me!"
As he spoke, Si Yuan became more proud. As long as he played badly enough, his adopted son would definitely work hard to give his father the best conditions to continue lying down.
Li Changqing in the original plot was actually very promising. After all, he was able to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi despite his native family environment. This shows his talent and hard work. It's a pity that he was dragged down by the original owner, which led to him being depressed for the rest of his life and dying in depression.
Si Yuan is not willing to work hard to become Li Changqing's backer as the system says. What if Li Changqing, who originally had a promising future, decides to lie down and enjoy himself because his father is so capable? What if he becomes a loser in the future?
Although Si Yuan's most important thing in raising a child is not whether the child is successful or not, even if the child is not successful, as long as the child lives a safe and happy life, but if the child is able to succeed, he will not do anything to hinder the other party's progress.
But Yu Yan thought Si Yuan's statement was just specious talk, just an excuse for himself to lie down and do bad things.
However, after so many years, Yu Yan has long been accustomed to not having too many expectations for her husband's career, so now she just complained a few words and put her focus back on her son Li Changqing.
Li Changqing listened to his parents' bickering and silently reduced his presence. He was not worried that his father and mother would really quarrel with each other. After all, his father could always convince his mother, and his mother would never really care about his father.
Because of this interruption and diversion, Li Changqing temporarily forgot about the nervousness of waiting for the results to be announced.
Before he could even think about it and regain the nervousness of waiting for the results, the butler who had gone to check the list with two strong servants came back with a big smile and announced the good news: "It's won, it's won! Young Master won the first place!"
The butler rushed back to report the good news as quickly as possible, arriving ahead of the official who brought the good news.
Si Yuan and Yu Yan received the news earlier and were very happy. Even Li Changqing was so happy that he was a little dazed.
Although Li Changqing was indeed aiming for the top prize in this imperial examination, he had long expected that passing the examination would be no problem with his level. However, he was eyeing the top prize, so naturally he was nervous and worried that he might miss the chance.
Now, having learned from the housekeeper who had returned from checking the list that he had passed the exam and won the first place, Li Changqing felt relieved. After being stunned for a moment, a look of ecstasy appeared on his face.
He had previously passed the provincial examination and won the first place in the provincial examination. Now he had passed the imperial examination and won the first place in the provincial examination. He only needed to pass the first place in the imperial examination to complete the "three great honors". Then, during the palace examination, the current emperor would take advantage of his success and select him as the first place in the imperial examination.
In other words, as long as Li Changqing does not make any mistakes in the palace examination, he will be guaranteed the position of top scholar.
The new emperor ascended the throne and opened an imperial examination. In the first imperial examination after the new emperor ascended the throne, a "top three" Jinshi appeared. How could the new emperor not remember the name Li Changqing? The future will naturally be quite bright.
Si Yuan was also very satisfied with the son he had raised. Li Changqing's performance this time was much better than the upper-middle ranking in the original plot, and he directly surpassed the male protagonist Li Changwen by many places.
Because the housekeeper who went to check the list also knew that Li Changwen also participated in this examination, so after seeing Li Changqing's name at the top of the list, he also looked for Li Changwen's name.
Li Changwen's ranking was somewhat unsatisfactory, as he was ranked outside the top 100.
A total of 300 people were admitted, and Li Changwen ranked over 100 among the 300, which is considered an upper-middle result. However, this result is quite ugly for the male protagonist Li Changwen.
You should know that Li Changwen and Li Changqing had similar levels of knowledge. It was just because of their personalities that Li Changwen's poems and songs were not as spiritual as those written by Li Changqing, but his level was not bad either. The proportion of poems and songs in the imperial examinations was also very small.
When taking the provincial examination a few years ago, although Li Changqing was the top scorer, Li Changwen was also the second. Both of them were extremely outstanding.
But now that the results of the imperial examination are out, although Li Changwen has not failed, his ranking is not satisfactory.
After Si Yuan's family of three learned from the housekeeper about Li Changwen's ranking in the imperial examination, they were a little surprised. After all, in their opinion, Li Changwen was Li Changqing's biggest rival for the title of Huiyuan. Even if Li Changqing was better than Li Changwen, the two of them would definitely be first and second, with not much difference.
But no one expected that Li Changwen would end up ranking more than 100th.
Si Yuan was surprised for a moment, but soon figured out the reason: "This is not very strange. After all, reviewing before the examination is so important. Chang Wen's family has so many good shows. It would be strange if he had the mood to review well. It is estimated that not only did he not review well, but he probably didn't even perform well in the exam."
In other words, Li Changwen performed poorly in the exam and failed.
Although for those who failed the exam, being on the list was already a success, but for Li Changwen, who had the ability to compete for the top prize, ranking more than 100 places behind was a failure.
At Li Jingyuan's house, the servants who went to see the list came back excitedly to report the good news. After all, their young master had successfully passed the imperial examination. This was the imperial examination!
Unexpectedly, after hearing the servant announce Li Changwen's ranking, Li Jingyuan started breaking willow branches to beat his son without saying a word.
"Over the hundredth place! You only ranked over the hundredth place! If this were in the palace examination, you might have been ranked among the top three! The top three are fellow Jinshi! Fellow Jinshi, Madam! Even though you are so kind as to think of a fellow Jinshi, I am embarrassed to admit that you are my son!" Li Jingyuan was furious and whipped Li Changwen with a willow branch as if it were a whip.
Before Li Changwen recovered from the shock of failing the exam and ranking more than 100th, he was hit by willow branches. He heard his father scolding him and felt bitter in his heart.
If he gets bad grades, will he not be recognized as his father's son?
The third-class Jinshi scholars do not have as bright a future or a good reputation as the second-class Jinshi scholars, but his current ranking is still a long way from being among the third-class Jinshi scholars. Why is it so?
He just performed poorly in the provincial examination. If he had performed well in the palace examination, he would definitely not have been included in the list of Jinshi candidates.
But his father didn't give him a chance to speak. He just scolded and beat him, and even said that he didn't want to acknowledge him as his son.
For a moment, Li Changwen didn't know whether he was sad because he did poorly on the exam, or because of his father's words.
Li Changwen stood there in a daze, enduring his father's beating, thinking in his mind, 'Does my father not want to acknowledge me as his son because I didn't do well in the exam? 'Such internal friction problems.
Li Changwen's wife Tan Zhuyue saw her husband being beaten by her father-in-law. Not only did she remain indifferent and did not plead to stop it, but she even gloated over it - you deserve it, Li Changwen.
During the time she had been married into the Li family, Li Changwen had never slept with her. The entire Li family knew that she, the new young lady, was not liked by the young master Li Changwen. Even her aunt Tan, who had said before that she would treat her as her own daughter, turned into a wicked mother-in-law who liked to make things difficult for her daughter-in-law after becoming her mother-in-law.
Tan Zhuyue's life was extremely difficult, but she was not the kind of person who would just accept things passively, so naturally she made a mess of the Li family.
She didn't feel at all that she had a share of "contribution" in Li Changwen's failure in the exam. When Tan Zhuyue saw that her husband Li Changwen, who only thought of Tan Qingyue and treated her badly, was punished by her father-in-law, she could only secretly gloat over his misfortune.
As for Li Changwen not doing well in the exam, as his wife, Tan Zhuyue shared his success and failure together. She didn't take it to heart because Li Changwen just got a bad ranking but didn't fail the exam. What did she have to worry about?
But did Li Changwen also get the same ranking in the imperial examination in his previous life?
Tan Zhuyue was a little hesitant as she tried to recall her memories of her past life. At this point in her previous life, she was trapped in a small courtyard in Duke Cheng'en's mansion and had no idea about her natal family and the Li family.
But there was one thing she was very sure of, that the imperial examination Li Changwen participated in in his previous life was just an ordinary imperial examination, and not a special examination held by the new emperor at all.
It was clear that the new emperor ascended the throne several years later, and it was the third prince who had been patient, not the second prince who was adopted by the queen.
Why are there so many changes in this life? The previous emperor died a few years earlier, and the Queen's adopted son, the Second Prince, ascended the throne. Now the Queen is revered as the Queen Mother and the Empress Dowager, and the Cheng'en Mansion, as the Empress Dowager's family, has also been favored by the new emperor. The Cheng'en Mansion, which had fallen into decline after the new emperor ascended the throne in the previous life, has now become more prosperous.
So why is this happening? Has everything changed so much just because of her rebirth?
No matter how mysteriously confident Tan Zhuyue is now, she would not think that the small actions she has taken since her rebirth can change the new emperor. There must be other reasons that lead to such a big change.
Because she herself was a reborn person and changed the fate of many people around her, she subconsciously wondered whether there were other people who were reborn as well, and the other reborn people must be someone around the second prince, or the second prince himself.
Tan Zhuyue was frightened by her own guess, and she became listless. She absolutely did not dare to reveal the truth that she was also a reborn person. She just hoped that she would not be noticed by the new emperor.
However, Tan Zhuyue, who had kept a low profile, did not restrain herself much in the Li family's inner house. It is difficult to change one's nature, and if she was a person who knew how to restrain herself, she would not have had such a miserable life in her previous life.
The satisfaction and gloating expression on Tan Zhuyue's face when she saw Li Changwen being whipped was seen by Tan Shi who hurried over to stop Li Jingyuan. Tan Shi was now busy stopping her husband from beating their son and had no time to deal with her, but she remembered her attitude at that time in her heart and bore a deep grudge against her.
Tan took the willow branch from Li Jingyuan's hand and cried, "My husband, if you want to blame someone, blame me. It was because I shouldn't have married Changwen off before the imperial examination. I ended up marrying a troublemaker and Changwen couldn't concentrate on studying, which led to his poor grades!"
Tan kept saying that it was all her fault, but in fact she was putting all the blame on Tan Zhuyue.
Tan Zhuyue, who was watching the show on the side, was so angry that her face turned blue. She defended herself, "What does this have to do with me? How did I disturb his studies? My husband has never stayed in my room before. Who knows if he was thinking about some little bitch who didn't study hard, and now he blames me!"
Anyway, everyone in the mansion knew that Li Changwen had never stayed in her room, so Tan Zhuyue simply gave up and brought up the matter casually and used it to defend herself.
As the male head of the family, Li Jingyuan didn't care about what happened in the backyard, so the struggle between Tan and Tan Zhuyue, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, only involved Li Changwen, the son/husband who was caught in the middle, and everyone tacitly agreed not to involve Li Jingyuan.
Li Jingyuan only cared about official affairs. When he returned home, he only paid attention to his son's homework and went to the backyard to find a concubine. He never asked about the trivial matters of family life. He would only know about them when his wife, Tan, told him.
Tan Zhuyue is his daughter-in-law, and it is even more inappropriate for him, as a father-in-law, to ask about his daughter-in-law's affairs. Therefore, there are all kinds of exciting battles between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law in the Li family's inner house, and Li Jingyuan, the male head of the family, has been kept in the dark.
Everyone in the mansion knew that Li Changwen had never stayed overnight in Tan Zhuyue's room, but Li Jingyuan, the father, was not among those who knew about it.
When Li Jingyuan heard what Tan Zhuyue said, he was shocked and looked at Li Changwen in shock. His first reaction was: "Changwen, if you are sick, we should treat it. Don't be afraid to see a doctor."
Li Jingyuan's backyard is controlled by the Tan family. For so many years, Li Jingyuan has only Li Changwen as his only son. As he grows older, Li Jingyuan can only count on Li Changwen to carry on his family line.
Now hearing that Li Changwen had not even entered his wife's room for several months after marriage, Li Jingyuan's first thought was - is his son not capable enough?
Compared to a bad ranking in the examination, this is a more serious issue that concerns whether he can have grandchildren!
Even Li Jingyuan could understand why Li Changwen did not do well in the imperial examination. After all, he found out that he was not good enough right before getting married. No man could prepare for the examination calmly. It was normal and understandable that he would be affected and his test scores would drop.
Li Jingyuan looked at Li Changwen with eyes full of worry. He only had this one son, so he must not let his son fail, otherwise he would be without an offspring.
Li Jingyuan's words made Li Changwen, who was full of resentment that "my father doesn't love me", look dumbfounded. No, father, please don't make up rumors about your son!
Li Changwen was stunned for a moment and didn't respond to explain. Tan was struck by lightning and started to cry: "Changwen, are you really unwell? Tell me, I will find a doctor for you. I'm sure we can cure you!"
Mrs. Tan originally thought that her son never entered Tan Zhuyue's room because he hated his wife, and she never thought about her son's shortcomings. Before her son got married, because his daughter-in-law was her niece, she didn't want to cause trouble for her niece, so she didn't arrange for her son to have a maid.
Now that Li Jingyuan had given her this advice, Tan suddenly felt that this possibility was still very high. Otherwise, how could Tan Zhuyue not be able to keep her husband even on their wedding night?
Tan didn't think about it this way before because she felt that Li Changwen hated Tan Zhuyue and didn't want to stay in her room, so he focused on studying, which was normal.
Li Jingyuan thought in this way because as a man he was very clear about the bad nature of men. Even if he didn't like his wife Tan Zhuyue, she was still a beautiful woman with bright eyes and a charming appearance. Disliking her personality didn't prevent Li Changwen, as a man, from wanting to sleep with her.
He would naturally think that Li Changwen would not even eat the beauty right next to him, and that the only reason he could not afford to do so was because he did not have the conditions to do so.
Li·just doesn't like his wife's personality and is unwilling to compromise with her·Chang·is actually very capable·Wen: "..."Can you give me a chance to explain yourself?
Li Changwen then raised his finger to the sky and swore, but no one believed him. Even Tan Zhuyue was sure that he was incompetent. After all, she didn't want to admit that it was because she was too annoying that her husband didn't want to get close to her, so she would rather admit that her husband was incompetent.
Li Changwen had no choice but to say, "Ask a doctor to check it out and he will prove that I am not lying."
Li Jingyuan glanced at Tan, who understood and sent someone to invite a doctor on the grounds that Li Changwen was injured by Li Jingyuan. When the doctor came, they dismissed the attendants and left only the four of them.
Tan asked the doctor hesitantly and hintedly whether her son could survive.
The doctor originally thought that he was here to treat the external injuries on the body of the young master of the Li family. Unexpectedly, the wife of the house, Mrs. Tan, was not asking about her son's external injuries, but whether her son was okay in a certain aspect.
The doctor was silent for a moment. When the Tan family was panicking, he reached out and pressed his hand on Li Changwen's pulse and carefully felt his pulse again. After a while, he said with certainty: "Young Master Li's pulse is strong and his body is very healthy. There is nothing wrong with him. The external injuries on his body only need to be treated with some swelling-reducing plasters."
Li Changwen breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that his grievances had finally been cleared. He was so moved that he almost wanted to cry.
Mrs. Tan still wanted to ask the doctor again, "Does my son need any supplements in this situation?"
Doctor: "...No, just eat normally. Overdosing on the supplements will affect your health."
Only then did Mrs. Tan feel sure that there was really nothing wrong with her son, otherwise the doctor would have prescribed some tonic medicine.
Because of this episode, Li Jingyuan no longer cared about Li Changwen's unsatisfactory ranking in the imperial examination. The examination was over anyway, and there was no point in beating his son. He urged his son to give him a grandson as soon as possible.
Whether it will work or not, I will feel at ease only when I hold my grandson in my arms.
Tan had the same idea. It didn't matter if he failed the imperial examination, because he could still make up for it in the palace examination. The most important thing now was to let her son and daughter-in-law consummate their marriage as soon as possible and give her a grandson.
Under the urging of his parents, Li Changwen entered Tan Zhuyue's room with a grim look on his face that night.
Tan Zhuyue didn't tolerate his temper and said sarcastically: "If you want to leave, it's not impossible..." She emphasized the word "not impossible" on purpose.
Li Changwen's face suddenly turned dark. If he really turned around and left today, he was afraid that Tan Zhuyue would go to his parents tomorrow to complain about him.
Li Changwen couldn't do such a thing as abandoning his original wife and favoring the maids and servants, so he could only hold his nose and consummate the marriage with Tan Zhuyue with a gloomy face.
Tan Zhuyue had been married in her previous life, so she didn't feel shy at all. On the contrary, Li Changwen was touching a woman for the first time in this life, so his movements were awkward and Tan Zhuyue despised him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com