They had to get married, but Liu Yanjing didn't plan to do so soon. He decided to wait two years. They could return to Beijing then, and that would be fine. Liu Yanjing planned to spend the next two years in the military camp and then find other things to do.
"You can go back to Beijing to take the imperial examination." Liu Yanjing looked at He Xiyuan.
He Xiyuan had read a lot of books before, and the Chengguo Mansion also planned to let He Xiyuan take the imperial examination.
"No rush." He Xiyuan had no plans to return to Beijing so soon. If he did so quickly and didn't make any achievements, others would think he was timid and easily compromised. Then everything he had done before would become a joke.
Even though Liu Yulian became the county lord and her father's title was restored, the engagement between He Xiyuan and Liu Yulian was very stable, and He Xiyuan still planned to make great achievements in the northwest.
"A general can also take the top imperial examination, right?" He Xiyuan said, "But if you really reach a high position, there's no need to take the top imperial examination."
"Don't you regret it?" Liu Yanjing asked.
"I made the choice myself, so why should I regret it?" He Xiyuan thought to himself that he couldn't possibly blame Sister Lian. This was his own choice. He didn't want to say he gave up literature for Sister Lian, but he had his own reasons for wanting to rise quickly through martial arts. He couldn't say it was all Sister Lian's fault.
He Xiyuan thought that he would not regret it in the future.
"Sister Lian, I can't possibly regret it." He Xiyuan was worried that Liu Yulian would think he would regret it.
"These watermelons are very sweet. Take some back and try them." Liu Yulian didn't say much about He Xiyuan's decision to abandon literature and pursue military service. He Xiyuan could return to Beijing at any time. "There are also some rice dumplings. They're hard to digest, so don't eat too many at once."
"Okay, don't eat too much." He Xiyuan nodded.
"Watermelon is a diuretic, so it's not advisable to eat too much at one time." Liu Yulian thought that He Xiyuan and Liu Yanjing had to train and do some things, and they couldn't keep running to the bathroom.
"Sure." He Xiyuan didn't look at the watermelons in the car. The watermelons were not the point. The point was that Sister Lian had arrived.
"Let someone bring the things in." Liu Yulian chuckled, "If you all stand here, who will carry the things?"
The people Liu Yulian brought with her were not allowed to enter and leave the military camp at will, which was also to prevent spies from entering the military camp. Liu Yulian didn't think there was anything wrong with this, as they basically just delivered the things to a place a little outside.
He Xiyuan looked at Liu Yanjing. He thought it would be most appropriate for Liu Yanjing to go and call for help.
"Quick, go call someone." Liu Yanjing said, "I want to talk to my little sister."
“…” He Xiyuan was not very happy. His future uncle must have done it on purpose and said what he was about to say.
"Forget it, I'll go find someone." Liu Yanjing saw that He Xiyuan had not moved his seat or taken a step, so he knew that He Xiyuan didn't want to leave.
Forget it, Liu Yanjing thought, it’s not like he hasn’t seen his sister before, it’s just that young people like He Xiyuan show everything on their faces.
After Liu Yanjing left, He Xiyuan took out a small wooden sculpture from his sleeve.
"Sister Lian, here you go." He Xiyuan said.
"Hmm?" Liu Yulian was puzzled. She looked at the wood carving, "Is it me?"
"Yeah, but not very similar." He Xiyuan said, "In the future, they will definitely be more similar."
He Xiyuan carved whenever he had free time. He didn't have anything nice to give to Sister Lian, so he gave her a wood carving. This wood carving also expressed his thoughts. It was a small wood carving, not well carved and not worth much, but he hoped Sister Lian would like it.
"Okay." Liu Yulian said, "The weather has been hot lately. I'll see if there are any sheep or wool for sale at the market. I'll use the wool to make sweaters for you."
As for whether the sweater style was out of tune with ancient times, Liu Yulian thought that once more people knitted, they would no longer see anything wrong with pullover sweaters. The important thing was that sweaters kept warm, and wool wasn't cheap, so not everyone could knit a sweater with it.
The northwest is close to the border, and there is a grassland on the other side. There are many shepherds there, and they have a lot of cattle and sheep.
Liu Yulian wondered if she could ask someone to collect some wool, as the people here didn't seem to make much use of it.
"What Sister Lian cooks must be the most suitable for me." He Xiyuan looked at Liu Yulian with a burning gaze. His fiancée was really great. Sister Lian could cook so many things. "But you must not work too hard. You can let the servants do it."
He Xiyuan wanted something made by Liu Yulian herself, but he was also worried that Liu Yulian would be too tired. He didn't know how to take care of Liu Yulian, and he couldn't do anything himself, so he could only say these words.
"Okay, let's try it first, and let the servants do the rest." Liu Yulian said.
"That's the way it should be," He Xiyuan said. "Let them learn more. If they have a skill, they won't have to worry about having no food to eat in the future."
When Liu Yanjing called someone over, he saw He Xiyuan and Liu Yulian still talking. This young engaged couple, who hadn't even gotten married yet, were talking so much at this moment.
"Time to move the watermelon." Liu Yanjing deliberately shouted, "Hurry, come here, don't stand there dawdling."
He Xiyuan knew Liu Yanjing was calling him. He looked at Liu Yulian for a while and said, "I'm going to move the watermelons. You rest over there."
"You guys move it." Liu Yulian planned to leave after the others unloaded all the watermelons from the car. She still had to take the others and the car back so she could continue delivering things to Liu Yanjing and He Xiyuan.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, Aunt Chai took Liu Fang to the Liu family's main house again, but was still stopped at the door.
"My Lord, our daughter is about to be engaged, won't you take a look?" Aunt Chai wanted Liu Fang to marry a good family, and also wanted Liu Fang to wait for two years, but Liu Fang did nothing at home, and it was inevitable that she would have conflicts with Liu Yanyuan's wife.
Liu Yanyuan and his wife worked hard in the second wife's shop, while Liu Fang dressed up lavishly and spent a lot of money. This made Liu Yanyuan and his wife have no idea. Yesterday, Liu Fang also liked a piece of jewelry and asked Liu Yanyuan to buy it. Liu Yanyuan's wife hadn't bought jewelry in a while, so they had a conflict.
Seeing this, Aunt Chai asked her to talk to her daughter-in-law. Her son and daughter-in-law were working outside, and she and her daughter had basically done nothing. If they continued like that, she was afraid they would become a nuisance.
After much deliberation, Aunt Chai decided to come and see Father Liu.
It is said that family disgrace should not be made public, and Father Liu should have let Concubine Chai and her daughter into the house to talk. However, Father Liu did not let them in, lest they refuse to leave.
"According to the old rules, the dowry for a concubine's daughter was around five hundred taels of silver," said Father Liu. "But our family was once confiscated, our titles were revoked, and you were separated from yourselves. When you divided the family, the silver that everyone else received, combined, didn't even add up to a hundred taels. It's not easy to give Fang Jie'er five hundred taels of silver as a dowry."
Aunt Chai felt something was wrong, "The other girls are all like that."
Those illegitimate daughters got married before the Liu family was confiscated, and their dowries were arranged according to the rules of the Marquis' Mansion at that time.
Now that Liu Fang is getting engaged and getting married, how can the Marquis' Mansion give less money?
"We don't have that much silver in the mansion," said Liu's father. "Give her fifty taels for her dowry. This amount of silver is equivalent to several years' income for an ordinary family."
When Liu's father was in Shiyuan Village, he felt the hardship of having no money. If it weren't for his daughter's hard work, they would probably still be struggling for a penny or two.
Therefore, it was impossible for Liu's father to give Liu Fang so much money to buy a dowry.
"Giving her a large dowry might have her other brothers complaining. They didn't even get so much when they split up the family property," said Father Liu. "The family money now has nothing to do with you anyway."
Liu's father gave Liu Fang fifty taels of silver, hoping that he could live a peaceful life and not think about too many things.
"This...this...isn't it too little?" Aunt Chai said, "If the others say too much, Lord, shouldn't you give them more?"
"Should I give you something more?" Father Liu raised his eyebrows.
"Everyone has it, right?" Aunt Chai just wanted to get more things out of the Marquis' Mansion.
"If you don't want it, then you don't have to take the fifty taels of silver." There was no way Father Liu would indulge Aunt Chai.
If Father Liu hadn't had nothing to do recently and was relatively free, he wouldn't have run to the door to say these words to Aunt Chai. Father Liu had lived in the market for a while and had some habits, so he wasn't afraid to say these words to Aunt Chai at the door.
Anyway, they have all experienced more difficult things and are not afraid of being laughed at.
"My lord, it's so little, won't people laugh at Fang Jie'er?" said Aunt Chai.
"I didn't earn the money in the mansion," Liu's father said bluntly. He used the money awarded by the emperor to buy land and other things, which was nothing special. He believed that the money should have been given to Liu Yulian, because it was Liu Yulian who developed the culture medium that made the family's life better.
He felt it was a great honor that Liu's father had his title restored, so he shouldn't ask for the reward money. However, the family didn't have that much property, and when they returned to the capital, there would be more things that would require money.
So Liu's father shamelessly used the silver to buy some things. This did not mean that he could give Liu Fang so much silver at will, nor could he give more silver to other families. He gave Liu Fang fifty taels of silver, which was considered to be giving enough face to his daughter Liu Fang.
"If you don't want it, just leave." said Father Liu.
"Father." Liu Fang couldn't help but speak, "Liu Yulian is the only one who is your daughter. Am I not your daughter? She is the county lady and has received so many things. But what about me?"
"Are you as capable as she is?" Liu's father asked, "Did you get all the things in the house, or did she?"
"She hasn't married yet, so everything she earns should belong to the public," said Liu Fang.
"Oh, but you have separated." Father Liu replied.
"..." Liu Fang wondered why her brother wanted to separate from the family. It was really a bargain for the eldest son to be the wife.
Father Liu ignored Liu Fang and Concubine Chai and went straight home, closing the door. Father Liu sent fifty taels of silver to Concubine Chai and Liu Fang for their dowry. Concubine Chai had the final say on what to buy for Liu Fang.
When Liu's mother saw Liu's father sighing over there, she thought: It serves you right. It's your fault that you have so many children.
"Should we wait until she gets married before adding more dowry?" asked Liu's mother.
"Just a little, no need for too much," said Father Liu. "Her other brothers didn't get that much. What will the others think if she takes so much? Should they follow her here more often, hang out more often, even if they're turned away?"
"My Lord, you are absolutely right," said Mother Liu.
In the evening of that day, something happened that made Liu Yanyuan and his wife from the third room very angry. Liu Yanyuan's wife was pushed by Liu Fang and had a miscarriage.
Liu Yanyuan's wife was a bit weak and not very strong. This was her first pregnancy, and before she could even be happy, the child was pushed away by Liu Fang.
How could Liu Yanyuan's wife be happy about this? She was usually a bit talkative and appeared weak, but she didn't think she had done anything wrong. She went to work for the second wife to earn money to support the family, but in the end, Liu Fang spent money lavishly, and Aunt Chai still said that she wanted Liu Fang to marry a good family.
Before Liu Yanyuan and his wife could get any benefits, their child was gone.
"In this family, either she or I, or I or she!" Liu Yanyuan's wife was furious. She lay on the bed, completely drained of energy. Her child had been pushed away by Liu Fang. Liu Fang was simply not a human being.
Liu Yanyuan's wife deliberately said those words in the room to make Liu Yanyuan cruelly deal with Liu Fang. Liu Fang is so old, she should be married off early instead of staying at home and causing trouble.
So Liu Yanyuan went to find Aunt Chai, as he felt sorry for his unborn child.
"Mom," Liu Yanyuan said, "With so many people proposing marriage, you should arrange a marriage for Sister Fang as soon as possible. It's not good to keep dragging it out like this. Your big fat grandson was taken away by her. If she continues to stay at home, will you not want a grandson?"
Liu Yanyuan was not a person who loved his sister very much. When Liu Fang was in the Marquis' Mansion, she was not very close to Liu Yanyuan, and she treated Liu Yanyuan in a normal way.
Liu Yanyuan thought that he had been working to support Liu Fang for a long time, but Liu Fang treated him like this. This made him unbearable. He should have listened to his wife and asked his mother to arrange a marriage for Liu Fang earlier.
"She was so cruel that she made my sister-in-law lose her child. When her reputation gets out, who would dare to marry her?" Liu Yanyuan said.
"Are you threatening me?" Aunt Chai didn't expect her son to say that. Did she want to tell this to others?
Of course, Aunt Chai was also very sad. That was her grandson. If she knew her daughter-in-law was pregnant, she would never dare let Liu Fang do that. She would definitely stop Liu Fang early.
Because of Liu Yanyuan's wife's miscarriage, Liu Fang could no longer stay in the third house and soon became engaged to a distant relative of the prefect. This distant relative had a high reputation and was aware that Liu Fang was a concubine of the marquis's mansion, so whether the family was divided or not was not necessarily important.
After all, the Liu family had just been exiled to the northwest, and it wasn't necessarily easier for the whole family to live together, so it would be better if they were a little separated. Plus, that person wasn't originally from this town, so he didn't know much about the Liu family.
Concubine Chai chose this man because he was related to the prefect and had a degree of honor. She was also worried that he would know other things about the Liu family and that he would no longer want Liu Fang. However, once the two were engaged, even if he knew other things about the Liu family, he would not dare to cancel the engagement at will.
Liu Yanyuan's wife had a miscarriage and could not go to work at the second house for the time being. The second house's shop was quite prosperous and could not afford to be short of people. Su Qiuya thought about whether to let the fourth house come to work, but after a little thought, she felt that it was not a good idea.
The people of the Fourth House are not the people of the Third House. Lin Xiaowan is a cruel person. Aunt Zhao may look a little timid, but such people may be the most scheming people.
Su Qiuya didn't want to bring some troublemakers back to her family, so she simply hired other people to do the job first.
"Let my sister-in-law take good care of him." Su Qiuya said to Liu Yanyuan, "Remember to bring back the chicken soup on the stove when you go back today. Women need to nourish themselves well during the confinement period."
"Thank you, second sister-in-law." Liu Yanyuan hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
"What are you thanking me for? We all have the same surname, we're brothers, we're one family." Su Qiuya said, "You should also be more careful. If it really doesn't work out, just stay in town for a month or so and go back a few days before she gets married. That way, you won't lose face for her."
Su Qiuya saw that Liu Yanyuan and his wife from the third house had been working for their family for so many months, so she gave them some advice.
If Su Qiuya was Liu Yanyuan's wife, she would definitely give Liu Fang a hard time. What kind of sister is that? She's clearly an enemy.
"If you don't have enough money, ask your second brother to borrow some first." Su Qiuya said, "Just get through these few months."
After the eldest wife of the Liu family learned that Liu Yanyuan's wife had a miscarriage, she sighed. Liu Fang had such a bad temper that she finally got into trouble.
"Just have someone send a chicken over." Liu's mother didn't plan to send more things. Liu Yanyuan was a bastard's son, and his wife was the bastard's wife. They had split up, so the eldest wife didn't have to be too nice to them.
Liu's mother sent a chicken over, but it was just a superficial gesture. The third wife had given gifts to the first wife during the holidays, so if someone in the third wife had problems, the first wife could have given something.
There are always many things that are not satisfactory in life.
"When you get married, don't always worry about whether you feel comfortable or not..." Mother Liu thought for a moment and continued, "You don't have to pay too much attention to it. As long as you are a little capable. If you have ability and the royal family values you, then if those people make you uncomfortable, you don't have to be hypocritical and flatter them. You don't have to focus too much on superficial things."
Liu's mother had originally intended to tell her daughter that living in this world meant caring about one's reputation. Anything that could be solved with money or other things wasn't a big deal. Giving something to the other branches, if it could help the eldest branch gain a good reputation, was worth it.
Haven’t you seen that those officials are very careful when they are assessing people? If a scholar’s reputation is ruined, that scholar basically has no chance of taking the imperial examination.
"In the end, it all comes down to how strong you are." Mother Liu said, "Most of the time, they are just ordinary people."
"Our family is also ordinary." Liu Yulian said.
"Yes, it's ordinary." Liu's mother said, "Your father doesn't have a real job yet. When he returns to the capital, he will have to find a job."
Mother Liu looked at Liu Yulian and thought to herself that there were so many things to deal with, and so many things to pay attention to. She would teach her daughter more in the future, so that after her daughter got married, she wouldn't be too happy. Her granddaughter wouldn't be strong enough and develop an overly arrogant personality. That wouldn't be a good thing.
Just then, a servant came to report that Liu Fang's fiancé was visiting.
"Who?" Liu's mother frowned. Why did Liu Fang's fiancé come to visit?
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