After Ye came out of the embroidery tower, she turned back to the East Garden through the white marble gate.

She went into the master bedroom and saw Zhao Liben sitting on a recliner, soaking his feet in a pine barrel with saffron and ginger. It is said that this is good for the kidneys.

Ye asked the maid to leave, rolled up her sleeves, squatted beside the wooden barrel, and started to massage Zhao Liben's feet.

"Well, your cooking skills are much better than Lan'er's." Zhao Liben closed his eyes and enjoyed it for a while. After a while, he asked quietly, "What does Xueying say?"

"She said... everyone is too young, let's talk about it in two years." Ye slightly modified the wording to avoid arousing Zhao Liben's rage.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Liben did not get angry. He touched his high hairline and smiled bitterly, saying, "Alas, I still don't like this."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, sir." Ye looked up and said to Zhao Liben with an apologetic look, "Xueying has always had her own opinions since she was young. I can't force her unless she agrees."

"Hey, my kid is actually the same. Even though he keeps humming and laughing at me, he is actually like a stubborn bull and won't drink water even if you force him to." Zhao Liben pulled a foot out of the water.

Ye then picked out the nourishing medicinal mud from the small jar, applied it evenly to Zhao Liben's dried feet, and finally wrapped it with a cloth. Then he did the same with the other foot.

"Then sir, what should we do next?" Ye asked again.

"Let's do this for now. Pushing them too hard will only lead to bad things. Let's wait until they are older..." Zhao Liben sighed. He didn't have a good way to deal with Zhao Hao. He didn't want to push him too hard and affect the relationship between the grandparents and grandchildren. The old man had learned a profound lesson about the marriage of the younger generation. He knew that the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren was now the core relationship of the Zhao family, and he couldn't lose the big picture because of the small.

"The children don't know that we are doing this for their own good..." Then Ye leaned gently against Zhao Liben's legs and said faintly, "It would have been great if someone had cared about me like this back then."

"Alas, let's not talk about the past anymore." Zhao Liben stretched out his hand to pinch Ye's white earlobe and whispered, "I will be there for you in the future."

"Yeah." Ye nodded slightly and closed her eyes in ecstasy.

~~

Because they had to reach Beijing before the canal froze completely, Zhao Hao and his companions stayed in Yangzhou for only one night before setting off north.

The next morning, Zhao Liben called Zhao Shouzheng to the main room alone.

Zhao Shouzheng stood behind his father, looking up at the portraits of his grandparents enshrined in the main hall, feeling a little uneasy.

Usually, this kind of scene would be accompanied by scolding and occasional corporal punishment...

But today, Zhao Liben was very friendly. He first lit a stick of incense for his father and mother, then stepped aside and said, "You can also burn some incense for your grandparents."

"Yes." Zhao Shouzheng responded quickly, wiped his hands on his robe, respectfully picked up a stick of incense, lit it and put it on his forehead, bowed four times, and then inserted it into the incense burner.

Then he knelt down and bowed four times.

Zhao Liben did not let Zhao Shouzheng stand up, but put his hands behind his back, looked up at the two portraits of his parents, and said with emotion: "These two portraits were painted by me when my father passed the examination as the prefect of Changsha, your grandfather was awarded the title of the fourth-rank Zanzhi Yin, and your grandmother was awarded the title of Gongren."

"Although the two elders were later awarded the third rank, they are no longer alive, so I can't paint even if I want to." Zhao Liben wiped his eyes and waved his hand, saying, "Before his grandfather died, he missed you the most. He knew that your elder brother was an official, but you were unsuccessful in studying and doing business, so he was worried about your future."

Zhao Shouzheng's eyes turned red, tears fell, and he choked up and said:

"At that time, he held my hand and told me to pass the exam. This time, thanks to the blessing of our ancestors and my son's strong encouragement, I can finally comfort him."

"Yes, I heard that you passed the imperial examination, and I am happy as a father." Zhao Liben strictly abides by the rule of 'a gentleman embraces his grandchildren instead of his sons', and has always been harsh to his two sons, often speaking ill of them. This is the first time that Zhao Shouzheng has heard such recognition from his father.

"I've caused my father to worry all these years..." Zhao Shouzheng burst into tears.

"But don't get carried away!" Zhao Liben took a deep breath, turned around and scolded Zhao Shouzheng: "What's a scholar? Can he run rampant in the village and take on all the lawsuits? Or should he wait for more than ten years and be selected as an assistant official who has to endure hardships and humiliation?"

"Uh..." Zhao Shouzheng thought to himself, it is true that no one knows a son better than his father. My father knows my life ideals very well.

"You don't really think so?" Zhao Liben looked down on him.

"No, no." Zhao Shouzheng didn't want to be beaten before leaving, so he waved his hands and said, "My son must make every effort to pass the imperial examination and come back as a Jinshi."

"That sounds like a human thing to say. Only if you pass the imperial examination can you be an official in the future." Zhao Liben encouraged his son, then hesitated and said, "There is a saying that you should wait until you pass the imperial examination before you speak. But I don't know where you will go next. It's rare for you and me to meet, so you should keep it in mind first."

"Please give me some advice, father." Zhao Shouzheng hurriedly pretended to listen attentively.

"Father has six words to teach you," Zhao Liben said in a deep voice, "Speak slowly and be kind."

"Be slow in speech and kind in heart?" Zhao Shouzheng repeated, keeping it in mind.

"This is the official code of conduct that your father has tailored for you." Zhao Liben then helped him up from the ground, looked up at his son who was half a head taller than him and said, "No matter if you are an official, you must remember these six words in your future life. If you forget, look at your son's guard named Gao Wu, learn from him, and you won't make mistakes."

“……” Zhao Shouzheng was confused for a moment and had to agree.

~~

After Zhao Shouzheng left, Zhao Liben called Zhao Hao into the room alone, handed him five tickets for ten thousand taels, and said:

"Use your seal to go to Chongwenmen Wuji and you can withdraw cash directly."

"Wow, Grandpa is so rich." Zhao Hao's eyes lit up. He counted the five silver bills again and again, then happily put them away and said, "I will spend them sparingly."

"Save nothing, spend it all!" Zhao Liben waved his hand and said, "No matter whether your father won the lottery or not, before you leave Beijing, spend every penny on me!"

"Ah, spend it all..." Zhao Hao thought that this was a bit difficult. He had spent lavishly in Jinling City for most of half a year but still failed to spend five thousand taels of silver.

Now Zhao Liben asked him to spend all the 50,000 taels of silver within a few months, which made him feel sad just thinking about it.

"That's right." Zhao Liben nodded without questioning, "We need to establish a great image in the minds of the officials in the court and the public that the Zhao family is really fucking rich. We need to make people associate you, Zhao Hao, with the God of Wealth."

Zhao Hao nodded, not quite understanding, thinking that Zhao Gongming's last name was Zhao...

"This will make it much easier for your father to become an official in the future." Zhao Liben patted Zhao Hao's shoulder and said expectantly: "Grandpa knows that you have your own ideas. No matter what you do, your reputation of being rich will make you successful... Of course, your father's official position has to cover you."

"Oh." Zhao Hao began to understand. Isn't this the way Sicong used to do things?

ps. The guaranteed first update is here, please give me your monthly votes and recommendation tickets...