Chapter 6 The number one scholar’s father is a charlatan who always wins in gambling!
Although old Earl Jingyuan did not find out the Third Prince's plot, he at least made an effort to investigate, and he really cared about the original owner's disappointing son.
Si Yuan told old Uncle Jingyuan how the original owner was targeted by Qinghe Casino for the three shops and how he was tricked into gambling. Of course, he also did not hide from old Uncle Jingyuan the fact that he would win every time he gambled according to fortune-telling.
After hearing the whole story, Old Uncle Jingyuan fell into deep thought. After a while, he looked up at Si Yuan and asked, "Did you really win the money by fortune-telling?"
Si Yuan showed a smug expression on his face: "Of course, although I am not very good at studying, I am a self-taught genius in divination. So far, my divinations have never been wrong."
Old Uncle Jingyuan looked at the familiar smug expression on his third son's face, and the thought that just occurred to him was, "Could such a capable son really be my unpromising third son?" 'The thought disappeared instantly. This kid is still his disappointing self.
Old Uncle Jingyuan tapped the ground with his cane and said, "Then tell me a fortune now, tell me..." He looked around and finally set his eyes on a bunch of white peonies that had not yet bloomed in the small flowerbed in his yard. "Tell me when the white peonies in my flowerbed will bloom."
Si Yuan also took a look at the white peony in the small flower bed that had not yet bloomed but had only small buds. Then he took out three copper coins from his sleeve and started his meaningless pretentious shaking up and down again.
Li Chengyuan, who was standing aside without saying a word, watched Si Yuan's actions. He did not believe what Si Yuan said about his divination skills. He watched Si Yuan's performance with interest, wanting to see what kind of show he could put on.
Then, under the gazes of Old Lord Jingyuan and Li Chengyuan who were watching the show, Si Yuan threw three copper coins on the stone table in front of him. The same side of the three copper coins was exposed, and they could not make out what it meant. But Si Yuan just looked at the three copper coins and immediately gave an accurate answer: "Father, the white peonies on the left will bloom at the first quarter of the Mao hour in three days, and the ones on the right will bloom at the third quarter of the Hai hour in five days, and the remaining few will bloom at the first quarter of the Yin hour in ten days, the first quarter of the Chou hour in eleven days, and the Zi hour in sixteen days..."
Old Earl Jingyuan and Li Chengyuan looked at him in surprise. They thought that even if Si Yuan gave a result, it would most likely be vague, for example, he calculated that these peonies would bloom one after another in three days.
He would not tell the specific time of flowering, and to be even more mysterious, his words would be even more vague. After all, most fortune tellers are riddle tellers. Suddenly they met Si Yuan, who was not a riddle teller at all, and could tell the flowering time of each flower clearly and distinctly, which shocked old Earl Jingyuan and Li Chengyuan.
Si Yuan described it in such detail. Isn't he afraid that the white peony won't bloom on time, exposing his true identity?
"Hey, you don't need to look at me like that, right? I dare to tell you so much in detail because I can calculate accurately and I will never make mistakes!" Si Yuan said speechlessly, "Otherwise, how can I win enough money from the casino to make the people behind the casino come to complain to my father?"
Seeing Si Yuan so confident, Li Chengyuan was a little unsure whether it was true or not. After all, Si Yuan's current performance did not look fake, and he could not fake winning money in the casino. However, Li Si Yuan's previous dandy behavior and his current unreliable appearance made it hard for people to believe that his words were true...
Old Jingyuan Bo looked gloomy, took a deep look at Si Yuan, and said, "Chengyuan, send someone to keep an eye on these white peonies and carefully record the time when each peony blooms."
Whether it is true or not, you can confirm it by just waiting for a few days and seeing when the white peony blooms.
This white peony grew in the small flower bed in his yard. Even if Si Yuan wanted to cheat, he couldn't reach into his yard.
Seeing that the old Jingyuan Earl had no intention of continuing to accuse him, Si Yuan perked up, stepped forward with a playful smile and said, "Father, you have to help me. That Qinghe Casino actually dared to plot against me. If I wasn't quite gifted in divination and self-taught, I would have fallen into their trap and lost everything. Now I haven't bankrupted their casino yet, but they dared to complain to you about me. In order to prevent our Jingyuan Earl's Mansion from being looked down upon by outsiders, we must teach them a lesson. If we back down this time, won't anyone be able to step on our Jingyuan Earl's Mansion in the future?"
Old Uncle Jingyuan didn’t take Si Yuan’s previous words to heart, but his last sentence touched his heart.
Originally, what the old Earl of Jingyuan was most concerned about was the decline of the Jingyuan Earl's Mansion. Each generation was weaker than the previous one and had been far away from the power center of the court. Even if there was still help from relatives and friends, the connections and favors left by the ancestors would be of less and less use.
The most important thing is that the younger generations in the family who have no future cannot use their connections.
After all, having connections can only make the career path of talented children smoother, but it cannot make a person who is not qualified to enter the official career rise to the top.
In order to maintain the appearance and deterrent power of the Jingyuan Marquis's Mansion, the old Jingyuan Marquis had to work hard to find ways to maintain the dignity of the Jingyuan Marquis's Mansion.
The weaker it is, the more the Jingyuan Marquis' Mansion must appear strong and difficult to provoke, so as to avoid other forces treating the Jingyuan Marquis' Mansion as a soft persimmon and squeezing it at will.
Old Uncle Jingyuan looked at him calmly, and said with a dormant aura, "I know what's going on with this matter. You don't have to worry about it. Go and see your mother. She's thinking about you, too."
Si Yuan readily resigned.
Watching Si Yuan disappear behind the gate, Li Chengyuan couldn't help but ask Uncle Jingyuan, "Father, do you really believe in the fortune-telling of my third brother? I've seen Master Yuanhe of Tianhe Temple tell fortunes before, and he doesn't do it like my third brother at all."
Li Chengyuan doesn't have much trust in his biological brother Li Siyuan. After all, he has seen too many cases of his brother being unreliable and unreasonable since he was a child. He is definitely a playboy who is incompetent at nothing and spends money the most.
Therefore, Li Chengyuan has a stereotype of his own brother - that he is a piece of useless mud.
As for his several half-brothers, Li Chengyuan paid even less attention, and he didn't even have any stereotypes. Because as the eldest son who inherited the title, Li Chengyuan was trained as the heir since he was born. Only Li Siyuan, his biological brother who was born from the same mother, could get more attention from him. He had no time to pay attention to other half-brothers who were not born from the same mother.
It is not surprising at all that Old Uncle Jingyuan does not believe what Li Chengyuan says. Li Chengyuan has a stereotype of Li Siyuan, and so does Old Uncle Jingyuan.
But... Old Jingyuan Bo said, "Wouldn't it be possible to confirm the flowering time of the peony after three days? Whether it's true or not, it's a good thing. If it's false, it means that your third brother has grown up and not only did he not succeed in being schemed against, but he also schemed back. If it's true, wouldn't it be even better? No matter what, he is your biological brother and a member of our Li family."
Li Chengyuan nodded thoughtfully. Regardless of whether it was true or not, it would be beneficial to the Jingyuan Marquis's Mansion and would not cause any loss. He also hoped that it was true.
On his way to the inner courtyard to pay a visit to Li's mother, Si Yuan happened to meet Cui Zhi, the maidservant beside Li's mother, who was seeing off the court doctor with a smile on her face.
Seeing the happy smile on the face of the head maid Cuizhi, Si Yuan realized something and asked with a smile: "Cuizhi, you are smiling so happily, but is there any big happy news?"
When Cuizhi saw Siyuan, she knelt and bowed, saying, "This servant greets the Third Master." She stood up straight and congratulated him with a smile on her face, "Of course it's a great event. This servant also wants to congratulate the Third Master. Just now, the Third Madam felt unwell at the Old Madam's place. The doctor just checked her pulse and found out that she is pregnant. She is already three months pregnant."
Although Si Yuan was not surprised at all, he still pretended to be surprised and excited. He took out the purse he had prepared in advance from his waist and gave it as a reward to the court physician who took his pulse and the maid Cuizhi who congratulated him on the good news.
The court doctor and Cuizhi accepted the reward and expressed their gratitude at the same time: "Thank you for the reward, Third Master."
Si Yuan ignored their thanks and hurried into the inner courtyard: "I'm going to pay my respects to my mother!" But Cuizhi and the court doctor could see that he was going there for the pregnant Third Madam.
Si Yuan arrived before he even arrived: "Mother! Madam! I'm here..."
At this time, Mother Li was holding her third daughter-in-law's hand and asking about her well-being. In the past, she had been a little disrespectful to Yu Yan because she could never get pregnant.
Today, Li's mother wanted to teach Yu Yan a lesson, ask her to look after her husband, ask Li Siyuan to focus on his work, and ask them to give her a big fat grandson as soon as possible.
However, just as Li's mother began her sarcastic lecture, before she got to the point, she was interrupted by Yu Yan's pretend retching.
Who can bear this disgust? Of course I have to ask a doctor to take a look and fulfill my responsibilities as a mother-in-law.
Li's mother sent someone to invite the court physician. After the court physician diagnosed that Yu Yan was three months pregnant, Li's mother's attitude changed drastically immediately, from blaming her to caring for her.
Si Yuan followed the original owner's casual personality and barged in. He did not wait outside the door for the maid to report, so he happened to see Li's mother holding Yu Yan's hand and not letting go. He immediately pretended to be puzzled and joked: "What are you whispering to my wife, mother? I am being scolded by my father, but it is warm and quiet here with mother. I really want to switch with Yu Yan. I will come to pay my respects to mother first."
Si Yuan made Li's mother smile with just a few words. Even though she knew that Si Yuan was trying to coax her on purpose, she still enjoyed it very much.
Although in Li's mother's heart the one she valued most was her eldest son Li Chengyuan, and her favorite was her sweet daughter Li Yuan who married the Prince of England, she did not like the original owner's sweet-talking son very much. It was just that the original owner was not as promising as the other two children, and could not bring enough benefits to Li's mother to support her. Naturally, his importance in her heart was much less.
But in terms of interests not involved, Li's mother still loves her son Li Siyuan very much, otherwise she would not worry about Li Siyuan's offspring, and would not insist on giving money to her son after Li Siyuan lost all his fortune in gambling in the original plot.
Mother Li let go of Yu Yan's hand, turned around and said unhappily to Si Yuan who strode in from the door: "You have been married for so many years, why are you still acting like a fussy child? Can't you just wait for the maid to report before entering the house? You have to barge in without permission. What if I have a female guest here?"
Si Yuan knew how strict the separation between men and women was in ancient society, so he certainly wouldn't be as reckless as the original owner. His spiritual sense had always covered the entire Jingyuan Earl's Mansion, and no clues in the mansion could escape his perception. How could he not know whether there were outsiders here with Li's mother?
Mother Li gave Si Yuan a few verbal lectures and soon became happy again. She said to Si Yuan, "Third brother, you came at the right time. Your wife is already three months pregnant. You two young people are so inexperienced that you didn't even notice the pregnancy. If Yan'er hadn't felt unwell and asked the doctor to diagnose her, you wouldn't have discovered it."
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