Widow Zhang was a very capable person. Before anyone from the Liu family's fourth branch came to get the culture medium, she had her own family deliver it. Regardless of the relationship between the Liu family's fourth branch and the Liu family's first branch, Widow Zhang had a keen eye and could see that no one from the fourth branch had gone to the first branch to cause trouble.
Among the Liu family's several branches, the fourth branch is the least worrying.
Widow Zhang knew what she should do, not overdo it, just do it roughly.
"The rest of you can do other things," Widow Zhang said. "Don't just sit there doing nothing."
When Lin Xiaowan saw the culture medium sent by Widow Zhang's family, she paid for it. The money belonged to the eldest wife, and if they asked for credit, that would be bad and would also make things difficult for Widow Zhang's family.
Lin Xiaowan thought about it and realized that her family had planted a lot of strawberries and autumn cotton.
These things can bring in some income for the family, which is better than living off the savings. The money spent on buying land is not so easy to earn back quickly, but land can be owned for many years and can be earned back slowly.
In the small town, the rumor started to spread outside, saying that Liu Yulian was obstructing her brother's marriage proposal.
"..." When Liu Yulian learned about the rumors outside, she was a little confused. She had never stopped her brother from getting married.
It’s just that my brother didn’t plan to get married again so soon. He wanted to wait a little longer.
When Liu's mother heard the rumors outside, she was quite angry. Why did such rumors appear out of the blue?
Before, a matchmaker had indeed come to the Liu family, but Liu's mother had rejected him. Liu Yulian had not sat in front of the matchmaker, nor had she directly said that her brother had no intention of getting married.
It’s almost the New Year, and there are rumors like this out there.
"This news seems to have come from the provincial capital." Liu's mother asked someone to investigate. She thought that the people in the small town should not care about these things. After all, those people's status was not high, and it was impossible for Liu Yanjing to marry those women.
Mother Liu thought that it had not been long since Liu Yulian attended the banquet hosted by Princess Zhaoyang that such rumors spread outside, and it might be related to those people in the provincial capital.
"I didn't do anything." Liu Yulian didn't understand.
"Just because you haven't done anything doesn't mean others won't deal with you," said Liu's mother.
Liu's mother thought of the Cen family. On the surface, the Cen family seemed good, but what they were really like was uncertain. Just as Liu's mother had once told Liu Yulian, if a Cen family girl married a family, that family would eventually cancel the engagement, not wanting other girls, and instead let their son marry a Cen family girl.
The girl from the Cen family in the capital city should be quite old, almost at the age to get married.
If the Cen family wants their daughter to get married, they may do all kinds of cruel things.
It wasn't that Liu's mother was narcissistic, but her son was the heir to the Marquisate, and the Cen family in the capital wasn't particularly powerful, so perhaps they were thinking of marrying their daughter off to Liu Yanjing. The Cen family had done this more than once before, marrying off their innocent daughters to widowers as concubines and even giving their daughters to princes as concubines.
In short, the Cen family would use various means to achieve their goals. However, since the Cen family did a good job most of the time, others did not think there was anything wrong with them.
The eldest branch of the Liu family was in this town, and they only interacted with those people. Mother Liu didn't think it was done by the other branches. There was no need for the other branches to deal with Liu Yulian. They were all surnamed Liu, and no matter how dissatisfied they were, they wouldn't do such a thing casually. Rumors like this wouldn't benefit the other branches.
After much thought, Liu's mother felt that the Cen family was the most suspicious.
This matter was indeed somewhat related to the Cen family. Miss Cen learned from her mother that it was Liu Yulian who prevented her from getting engaged to Liu Yanjing, and she disliked Liu Yulian even more. When someone talked to her about Princess Rongning, Miss Cen said a few ambiguous words.
Miss Cen knew that some words would distort if spread later, so she didn't say anything bad about Liu Yulian at the beginning, just said some simple words. Others would gossip about it and spread it, and it would turn into something else.
If someone else came to her house, Miss Cen could still say, "That's not what I said at the time. I said that Princess Rongning has given so much to the family. After Master Liu gets married, Master Liu will definitely ask his wife to treat Princess Rongning better." At most, she would say that Master Liu's two children are still young and have no one to take care of them.
She didn't say anything else. If you don't believe it, you can ask someone else.
How could the Cen family do anything to damage someone else's reputation? They were just thinking about others. It was just that someone else made a mistake in their conversation, so they misspoke. How could they blame the Cen family?
The Xu family. After Mrs. Xu learned about the rumors about Princess Rongning, the first person she thought of was the Cen family.
Madam Cen had come to her earlier, hoping she would mediate and arrange for Miss Cen to marry Liu Yanjing. Madam Xu had refused and mentioned Princess Zhaoyang. Logically, the Cen family knew that this matter involved Princess Zhaoyang and the royal family, so they shouldn't have done anything else.
But if the Cen family wants to cause trouble for the Liu family, that is possible.
"What kind of people are these?" Mrs. Xu was in a bad mood. Although this incident was not her fault, she still felt disgusted.
"Madam, please ask someone to go out and deal with it." said the old woman beside her.
"Go and press it down." Mrs. Xu said.
Madam Xu sent someone to suppress the rumors. Princess Rongning didn't stay in the city for long. At most, she opened a shop here. Why are these people so dramatic? They say all these nonsense as if they saw it with their own eyes.
In the county town, Su Qiuya also heard rumors about Liu Yulian outside.
In ancient times, transportation was not so advanced, and news did not travel so quickly. However, if someone spread the news there, it would spread far and wide.
Su Qiuya: Fortunately, I didn’t think of introducing a woman to my brother.
Su Qiuya had no intention of interfering in the affairs of other families, but sometimes she would miss Liu Yanjing being single, and thought that it would be best for Liu Yanjing to marry a dignified and virtuous woman, and definitely not someone like Liu Yulian.
"Why would a girl take care of so many things at home?" Aunt Qing didn't know what exactly happened. She thought that someone probably wanted to marry the girl into the eldest branch of the Liu family, but the people in the eldest branch didn't agree, so these things happened.
Another possibility is that someone bullied Liu Yulian's nephews and nieces, and Liu Yulian said a few words.
As a result, some people with ulterior motives took notice of it and deliberately spread such rumors.
"See, it's still bad luck." Aunt Qing chatted with Su Qiuya while wiping the table, "But that's all the big house's business. Your little sister is also engaged, so she's not afraid at all."
"They are not afraid." Su Qiuya thought that there must be many people who wanted to marry into the Marquis's Mansion and become the Crown Prince's wife. Even if she didn't like the people in the first wife's house, she knew that the people in the first wife's house were popular.
The people who first spread the rumors might be those who were jealous of Liu Yulian.
Liu Yulian was first conferred the title of County Lady, and then of Princess Orchid. Will she be conferred the title of Princess in the future?
Regardless of whether Liu Yulian was named a princess in the future, many people were still jealous of her.
Su Qiuya was also jealous. She also wanted to be named a county lady or a princess. But she knew she didn't have that much ability. Her cooking skills couldn't compare to those of the imperial chefs. Even if her cooking skills were better than those of the imperial chefs, no matter how delicious the food was, it would only be for a few people.
Cooking requires ingredients, and Su Qiuya doesn’t create ingredients out of thin air.
This means that Su Qiuya did not solve the problem of food and clothing for those people at all, but just made the food taste better.
Su Qiuya knew that she would never become a county lady just because of her cooking skills, so she waited for Liu Yanbo to study hard, waited for her husband to pass the imperial examination, and waited for her husband to do other things.
"It's just disgusting." Aunt Qing said.
"They will return to Beijing in the future." Su Qiuya wondered how long those people could keep annoying Liu Yulian, so they could only do so.
"We can go back too." Aunt Qing believed in her son. As long as her son passed the imperial examination, they could go to Beijing. They bought a house in the capital so that Liu Yanbo could study in peace and hope that he would pass the imperial examination.
Aunt Qing no longer expected the Liu family's eldest wife to help them. If they wanted to help them, they would probably have to wait until Liu Yanbo passed the imperial examination. Those people would only help them a little after they felt that Liu Yanbo was of some use.
It is also possible that the people from the first wife will not help Liu Yanbo, but instead suppress him, preventing him from getting along so well.
Aunt Qing thinks that the people in the first wife's house are not good people at all, so the people in the second wife's house should be careful.
? The person from the Liu family's main house who was sent by Liu's mother to the provincial capital came back, and that person really said that the girl from the Cen family did not say anything very special at the beginning.
"Heh." Mother Liu had expected this to happen. They could say that Liu Yulian cared about her nephews and nieces, or some other nice-sounding words.
The daughter of the Cen family is better at saving face than anyone else, and she also knows how to suppress others better than anyone else.
It is impossible for Liu's mother to let the girl from the Cen family marry into the family. Even if Princess Zhaoyang was not there, she would not let the girl from the Cen family marry into the family.
Just when the rumors were spreading outside and Miss Cen thought that Liu's mother would arrange a marriage for Liu Yanjing for the sake of her daughter, Princess Rongning's reputation, an imperial edict came from the capital.
The emperor granted marriage to Princess Zhaoyang and Liu Yanjing, but instead of letting her return to the capital, he allowed her to stay in the northwest. This was her second marriage, as was Liu Yanjing, and since the Liu family was all in the northwest, Princess Zhaoyang could marry there.
As for some of the things that the royal family prepared for Princess Zhaoyang, some of them could be sent to Princess Zhaoyang’s Mansion in the capital, and some could be sent to the northwest.
Princess Zhaoyang did not request this imperial edict, it can only be said that this imperial edict came at the right time.
Princess Zhaoyang was initially furious about the rumors. She wondered what was wrong with Princess Rongning being kind to her nephew and niece. If she truly wanted to obstruct her brother's marriage, there must be a reason. Furthermore, Princess Zhaoyang had spent time with Liu Yulian before, and she didn't think she was that kind of person at all.
Liu Yulian has contributed a lot to the family. Liu's father and mother have not thought about arranging a marriage for Liu Yanjing for the time being because Liu Yanjing is in the military camp.
Because Liu Yanjing was in the military camp, the emperor specifically wrote in the imperial edict that Princess Zhaoyang could visit the Liu family more often without so many formalities.
Liu's father and mother were old, Liu Yulian hadn't even reached marriage, and Liu Yanjing's children were still young. This meant they were a family with either the old or the young, and others might bully them.
Princess Zhaoyang came to Liu's house and tried to persuade Liu's mother.
"Don't worry, Rongning is such a good person. Those people are just talking nonsense." Princess Zhaoyang said, "Father really values capable people like Rongning. Rongning doesn't need to be like other women and learn the Three Obediences and Four Virtues."
Princess Zhaoyang had been to the Liu family's main house many times before. She believed that the Liu family's main house had already had a feeling and they should know that the royal family was going to grant a marriage.
"Yes, we can't bear to let her go," said Liu's mother. "She has never liked Women's Rules since she was little. She refuses to read them even when asked to. She always secretly reads other books. She has been through so much in the past two years, and we can't bear to see her suffer."
Mother Liu thought about the rumors outside and knew that the girls of the Cen family would always have bad luck.
"This time...sigh." Mother Liu sighed. "After much investigation, they only said that Rongning originally said something like he cared about his nephews and nieces."
"People like this are the most evil-hearted." Princess Zhaoyang didn't think those people would say these things for no reason. There was nothing to do with each other, so why gossip about others?
Princess Zhaoyang wasn't afraid. She would have someone send Miss Cen the female precepts and rules someday, so she could take a closer look at them and ask if she had copied all the books beforehand. The Cen family's daughter was so well-behaved, so she should be a little more well-behaved.
Liu Yulian didn't care much about the rumors outside, and she didn't mention these things when she went to deliver things to He Xiyuan and Liu Yanjing.
In Liu Yulian's opinion, these are all trivial matters, so don't let He Xiyuan and others worry too much.
"After we send the gifts this time, we'll just have to wait for the New Year." Liu Yulian said.
"Well, I'll go back after the New Year." He Xiyuan nodded.
Liu Yanjing already knew that the emperor had granted him and Princess Zhaoyang a marriage, so Princess Zhaoyang had simply stayed in the northwest. The short time before the Lunar New Year would make wedding preparations difficult, so they would have to wait until after the Lunar New Year, around February of the following year at the latest.
The royal family intended to let Princess Zhaoyang stay in the northwest so that she could help the Liu family more. The Liu family was a little smarter and knew to marry her off as soon as possible.
The eunuch who announced the decree also said that February of the following year would be a good month, implying that the Liu family should not delay.
"It's cold, so mother didn't let Xiaojia come out." Liu Yulian looked at her brother.
"She shouldn't have come, and neither should you." Liu Yanjing said, "It's so cold outside, what if she gets frozen?"
Liu Yanjing didn't care whether He Xiyuan missed Liu Yulian or not, he was just worried about his sister's health.
"It's not that easy to get cold. We're all dressed warmly." Liu Yulian said with a smile, "Father has gone to the fields and planted the winter wheat."
This time the culture medium is mainly used to make the wheat grow well, rather than to make it grow quickly.
In the first year, they were short of food and had to go out to buy it. That’s when Liu Yulian prepared a culture medium that made wheat grow faster, shortening the wheat’s growth cycle by one or two months.
Some people even think this is magical and that it goes against the laws of nature.
Liu Yulian thought this was indeed unnatural. In later times, there were greenhouses, with strawberries growing all year round, in all sorts. The culture medium was from the game system, and the culture medium in the game was even more different, so that was normal.
Liu Yulian also provided the imperial court with a share of the culture medium, which could only be planted twice a year. This shortened the wheat growth cycle, unless the imperial court was short of food and needed to obtain it quickly.
The emperor ordered the government to sell a culture medium that did not significantly shorten the crop growth cycle. This culture medium was better for the land and more acceptable to the people. In fact, the emperor still valued the fertility of the land. People in relevant departments also said that the emperor chose to sell a culture medium that did not significantly shorten the crop growth cycle.
The emperor also ordered people to keep the recipe for another kind of culture medium in case there was a real need for this culture medium that could shorten the crop growth cycle.
"This time, grow slowly, don't be in a hurry." Liu Yulian said.
"Don't get too tired." Liu Yanjing said, "Just have someone keep an eye on the work in the fields."
Liu Yanjing knew that their father was just going to take a look at the fields, and that was enough.
"Yeah." Liu Yulian nodded.
"We'll go back when the New Year is approaching." He Xiyuan interrupted. Don't ignore him standing next to you. He is here.
He Xiyuan wanted to just stretch out his hands and wave them to let Liu Yulian know that he was there.
"It's cold outside, hurry up and get in the carriage." He Xiyuan wanted to see Liu Yulian more, but when he saw his fiancée's red nose, he asked, "Why did you come here in person when it's so cold?"
"Say something to big brother." Liu Yulian said this deliberately.
"Well, it's time to tell my eldest brother when he gets married." He Xiyuan nodded and stared at Liu Yulian.
If Liu Yanjing gets married soon, his fiancée will have less hardship. He Xiyuan wondered who would come to deliver the gift, hoping it wouldn't be Princess Zhaoyang, as he still wanted to see his fiancée.
He Xiyuan was a little entangled. He would have to talk to Sister Lian about it someday. Sister Lian must not let him watch Liu Yanjing and Princess Zhaoyang being affectionate with each other. He also wanted to see Sister Lian.
"Wait until you go back to celebrate the New Year." Liu Yulian chuckled.
"I must go back for the New Year." He Xiyuan thought that there had been no incidents recently, and there had been very few sneak attacks. Even so, they did not dare to let their guard down, fearing that the enemy would take advantage of their downtime and strike. "It's so close."
"Aren't you going back to Beijing?" Liu Yulian asked.
"No." He Xiyuan shook his head. "It's too late to go back now."
At the Chengguo Mansion, the old lady had long known that He Xiyuan would not be returning home for the New Year this year, so she had already sent a lot of things to the northwest.
This year is the first year that Mo married into the Chengguo Mansion. It is also the first time that Mo serves as the housekeeper for the wife of the Chengguo Mansion.
"Almost." Lady Chengguo had Madam Mo write the list. She took another look to make sure everything was correct. "I need to make some corrections to some of the details."
Many of the powerful people in the capital have complicated in-law relationships, so they can always get some connections. Sending New Year gifts is not something that anyone can do. Lady Chengguo had to teach Madam Mo about all of them.
The Chengguo Mansion had some dealings with the Huo family in previous years. After all, the Huo family was a baron's mansion, and the eldest Mrs. Huo was once Liu Yanjing's wife. Liu Yulian and He Xiyuan were engaged, and that's how the relationship came about.
Mrs. Huo saw the New Year gifts from the Ouyang family. The Ouyang family wasn't as wealthy, so naturally, the gifts weren't as good. Lord Ouyang and Mrs. Huo were a bit estranged, and Mrs. Huo was pregnant, so Lord Ouyang didn't dare argue with her.
"Mother." Mrs. Huo went back to her parents' home on purpose, and she also wanted to let the people in the Ouyang family know that she had the support of the Bo Mansion.
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