Liu Yulian had never thought that one day her name would be recorded, and she had never thought that He Xiyuan would actually think of this.
"Look, you've worked so hard," He Xiyuan said. "When the time comes, they might remember Rong Ning, but they should remember your name."
He Xiyuan thought that his name should also be remembered so that it could be placed together with Sister Lian's name.
"..." Liu Yulian looked at He Xiyuan and couldn't help laughing, "How about writing a book with our names in it?"
"Okay." He Xiyuan nodded seriously.
"Are you going to write?" Liu Yulian asked.
"Okay." He Xiyuan thought this was not a problem.
"Don't write bad things about me," said Liu Yulian.
"Sister Lian is very good." He Xiyuan promised not to write badly about Liu Yulian.
Outside the yard, Xiao Liujia was poking her head out, again and again.
Liu Yulian quickly spotted her little niece and waved to her, "Come."
"Auntie." Xiao Liujia trotted over.
"Not with your father?" Liu Yulian asked in confusion.
"Father is out." Xiao Liujia said, "Did he go to see the princess?"
"Why do you say that?" Liu Yulian asked in confusion.
"They're getting married, and when they do, they'll be together." Xiao Liujia asked, "Do they want to meet each other?"
"Not necessarily." Liu Yulian had no idea where her brother had gone.
In the county town, Liu Yanjing did not go to Princess Zhaoyang's place, but to the Liu family's second branch. Liu Yanjing certainly did not go there to send gifts to the second branch, as it was impossible for him to send gifts to the second branch. Instead, he went there because of the rumors outside.
Liu Yanjing's absence didn't mean he didn't ask other people. He learned about Liu Yanbo's affairs in the county town and how he had let others speak ill of Liu's mother for his own reputation.
If Liu Yanjing didn't say anything, would the Liu family's eldest wife just let Liu Yanbo and the others say whatever they wanted?
"Brother." Liu Yanbo didn't expect Liu Yanjing to come.
"I don't care whether you take the imperial examinations or start a business in the future. You know why we split up the family in the first place," Liu Yanjing said. "We didn't hear what you said in the academy, but others will hear it. Do you understand?"
"He didn't say anything." Liu Yanbo said.
"If you don't say anything, will those people say that Mother is mean to you?" Liu Yanjing didn't believe it. "Don't use your tricks on us. If we really want to deal with you, would you be able to study in the Marquis' Mansion? Can you still go to the academy now?"
Liu Yanjing thought Liu Yanbo was ridiculous. Aunt Qing was suppressing Liu Yanbo herself, and Liu Yanbo didn't blame anyone else but his stepmother.
"Or do you think that since your family's title has been restored, you have gained less?" Liu Yanjing asked.
"No." Liu Yanbo did have that thought. After the family split, they couldn't use the eldest branch's name anymore. When Liu Yanbo became an official, it would definitely have an impact. Liu Yanbo knew this, so he wanted to create the image of himself as the victim.
Liu Yanbo just wants to wait until more people stand on his side in the future, hoping that he can do better.
"You know clearly whether it is true or not." Liu Yanjing said, "You can't manipulate my younger sister."
"Brother, what you said is not right. When did we plot against me?" Su Qiuya stood up. She had been listening on the side and was very dissatisfied when she heard what Liu Yanjing said. "Others falsely accused us, can't we explain it? Little sister, little sister, we didn't say anything about me."
Su Qiuya thought that she was a kind person. She did not target Liu Yulian. If she had, Liu Yulian's reputation would have been ruined long ago.
"People say that my younger sister stopped your marriage, but that's not what we said." Su Qiuya knew about this matter, but she just didn't explain it. Others knew that they were from the second branch of the Liu family and asked them about it, but Su Qiuya also said she didn't know.
When Su Qiuya said she didn't know, others thought they knew. They thought Liu Yulian must be not very good, otherwise, how could Su Qiuya answer like that.
"You agree with the opinions of people outside." Liu Yanjing did not say these words for no reason. That was what was spread outside, and the couple did do something.
"I just said I didn't know." Su Qiuya didn't want to continue talking nonsense with Liu Yanjing. "Isn't it enough for your eldest son to have a title? We are living our lives peacefully, and you are criticizing us."
"Then you two should just live your lives in peace." Liu Yanjing was too lazy to talk to Su Qiuya. He turned to look at Liu Yanbo and said, "It's better for the two families not to have too much contact and say less."
Liu Yanjing didn't want Liu Yanbo to criticize the eldest wife all the way during the imperial examination, "Not all people are fools."
If Liu Yanbo always said that, wouldn't others go to the first room to verify it? Wouldn't others use this incident to attack Liu Yanbo?
"There are differences between wives and concubines, and between legitimate and illegitimate children. Don't let all the books you read go to waste." Liu Yanjing left.
Liu Yanbo was in a bad mood watching Liu Yanjing leave like that.
"What kind of people are they? It's almost New Year's Day, and they still come to our house and say these things." Su Qiuya comforted Liu Yanbo, "Don't listen to him. They are just relying on their titles to bully us."
Su Qiuya made up her mind that she must expand her business to the capital.
"You should work harder too. We can go to the capital without relying on them. There's no need to let them laugh at us." Su Qiuya just felt that Liu Yanjing was going too far and didn't think about how easily what she said in the academy would make others have other ideas.
"I will definitely go to the capital." Liu Yanbo clenched his hands, not wanting to lose to Liu Yanjing at all. He believed that he was no worse than Liu Yanjing. Liu Yanjing was the legitimate son, and that was why Liu Yanjing lived better than them, the illegitimate sons.
Liu Yanjing did not go to the Cen family. After all, the Liu and Cen families did not have much contact, and the Cen family still had elders. If Liu Yanjing went there, others would not admit it.
The Cen family is a big family, and Liu Yanjing can't just rush up to them casually.
In the capital, the emperor received a memorial from the northwest, which described the actions of the Cen family. It said that many people in the northwest were saying bad things about Liu Yulian, saying that Liu Yulian, a woman, interfered with her brother's marriage and that Liu Yulian did not read the rules for women.
After seeing this, the emperor looked unhappy.
Women were not allowed to take the imperial examinations in this dynasty, but the emperor once attended court with the empress.
Daliang did not have particularly strict requirements for women. If a woman had abilities, the court would also pay attention to her.
The emperor hoped that more people could research and produce many things like Liu Yulian, instead of just talking about the Three Obediences and Four Virtues.
Back then, Emperor □□ allowed the Empress to attend court together. Many court officials objected to this, but Emperor □□, despite their dissatisfaction, allowed the Empress to attend court. This led to the subsequent prosperity of the dynasty, but not every emperor's Empress was as powerful.
If the queen is not powerful enough, the emperor will not allow her to rule.
The emperor and his empress had established a series of regulations to prevent the dictatorship of foreign relatives and the empress from becoming incompetent. They also ensured that the empress would be allowed to rule the country. If the empress failed the test, she would not be able to rule the country.
It is not easy for the queen to take the throne.
The emperor's empress set such rules in the hope that the women would break through themselves and stop focusing on their own little piece of the harem. But later on, few empresses could be so powerful, and the relatives of the emperor's wife thought that the royal family was trying to take away the empress's privileges.
The current emperor knew all too well that the women in the harem were basically vying for opportunities to climb up the social ladder, rather than thinking about doing anything else. Of course, this was also related to the fact that they were concubines.
While the emperor's original empress was still alive, the empress was only responsible for managing the harem. A powerful woman, capable of accomplishing many great things, was something that was hard to come by.
"The virtuous concubine has been in the palace for many years." said the emperor.
"She followed you when she was in Qianlong Mansion," said the eunuch.
"The third prince's concubine is also from the Cen family, right?" the emperor asked again.
"Yes, it was Concubine Xian who asked for it." The eunuch remembered it clearly.
"Tomorrow is New Year's Eve," the emperor said. "The weather is nice today, so I'll demote Consort Xian to Consort Cai. I'll also give her niece more copies of the Basic Rules for Women. Copy ten copies for each and send them to Consort Cen before the Lantern Festival."
The emperor didn't like Concubine Xian very much. She loved to talk about so-called great principles and asked the emperor to treat everyone equally. Concubine Xian was just a concubine, not the queen, so how could she have the right to say such things?
A few days ago, someone impeached the son of the Cen family for riding his horse and injuring someone. The third prince also intended to fight for the throne. The third prince himself had no ability, so he gathered a group of people.
Prince Su was assassinated while he was out, and it was also related to the third prince.
The emperor had been planning to punish Consort Xian and the Third Prince, initially planning to do so after the Lunar New Year. But now, he's thinking it's better to deal with them before the Lunar New Year. There's no need to wait until after the Lunar New Year. There's no point in letting people like them have a good New Year.
When Concubine Xian received the emperor's decree to become Concubine Cen, she was shocked. She had served the emperor for so many years, how could the emperor treat her like this?
The reason is that she overstepped her bounds.
Concubine Cen didn't think she was overstepping her bounds; she was doing it for the good of the emperor and the royal family. She had originally thought that perhaps she could become empress, and that there would be no concubine in the harem more virtuous than her.
Who would have thought that she did not become the queen, but was demoted.
Concubine Cen was bestowed upon the Emperor by the previous Emperor. The Cen family had been powerful and influential for a long time. The Cen family's relationships were complex and entangled. Since the Emperor ascended the throne, he had been trying to deal with the Cen family. Fortunately, he had prevented the Cen family from growing stronger and had even weakened some of their power.
The emperor had no intention of making the third prince the crown prince, nor of letting him ascend the throne. If the third prince were to become the crown prince, then the Cen family would become even more powerful in the future.
"I want to see the emperor." Concubine Cen couldn't believe it.
"The emperor said that you should rest well first," said the eunuch.
Not only was Concubine Cen demoted, the Third Prince was also reprimanded by the Emperor, and the Third Prince's concubine, Concubine Cen, was also punished to copy the female precepts and rules.
When the Cen family learned about these things, they were all very frightened.
Old Master Cen wasn't panicking; he knew this day would eventually come. He had once believed he could make his daughter the empress, and he had wooed countless people, even asking them to persuade the emperor to make Consort Xian the empress.
The emperor refused to make Consort Xian the empress, nor did he make any other concubines the empress. The emperor directly announced in court that he would no longer appoint an empress, which directly frustrated Mr. Cen's plan.
At that time, Mr. Cen knew that the emperor was wary of the Cen family. He thought that if the third prince could ascend the throne, the Cen family would be able to rise again, but the third prince was not so smart. The Cen family pushed the third prince forward, but the third prince was timid and afraid of trouble.
"Master, what should we do?" Old Madam Cen looked at her husband. Why was their daughter demoted?
"Let those people at home behave themselves." Old Master Cen said, "The world is about to change."
The emperor had been favoring Prince Su for the past few years, and anyone with eyes knew that the emperor was going to make Prince Su the crown prince. But they were unwilling to accept this, thinking that before Prince Su became the crown prince, the third prince might become the crown prince.
The emperor asked Prince Su to go to the northwest to take charge of the culture medium matters. Even for the wool mill matters, the emperor still asked Prince Su's people to go.
Prince Su became even more famous among the people.
It was difficult for Old Master Cen to deal with Prince Su. The emperor was no longer the same emperor as when he first ascended the throne. The current emperor held great power and no longer needed to be constrained by these old ministers.
Then they had to behave in a low-key manner and not be caught making mistakes by the emperor.
Old Master Cen knew that their family would be in even worse trouble in the future. After Prince Su ascended the throne, he would definitely not be kind to those of them who supported other princes.
"After the New Year, take your granddaughters out for walks more often," said Old Master Cen. "Those who are due for engagement should do so sooner rather than later, and then we'll see what happens to Prince Su..."
Old Master Cen wanted his daughter to marry into the Su Wang Mansion, even if it was as a concubine, not a concubine. When the Su Wang ascended the throne, she would no longer be an ordinary concubine.
When Old Lady Cen heard this, she knew what to do. The daughter of their Cen family was beautiful and well-behaved, so Prince Su would definitely not mind having such a concubine.
When Prince Su learned of the emperor's actions, he was not surprised. The emperor had long planned to deal with the Cen family, and this was just the beginning.
The Cen family is a large family, and Mr. Cen is an old minister. The emperor cannot attack the Cen family directly all at once, and cannot disappoint those old ministers.
"After all, she is not destined to be the queen." Prince Su came to the imperial concubine's palace with a smile on her face.
The Imperial Concubine had often been told by the Virtuous Concubine that she had no rules, but she didn't understand. She was managing the six palaces together with the Virtuous Concubine. But she wasn't the Empress, she was just a concubine. There was no need for a concubine to act like a principal wife.
Whenever the emperor visited the imperial concubine a few more times, the virtuous concubine would say that they were in charge of the six palaces and should treat the emperor equally. On the surface, the virtuous concubine was very nice to the other concubines, making the imperial concubine look mean.
In his early years, when the queen died, some people in the court suggested that the virtuous concubine should be made the queen.
The imperial concubine was thinking that if the virtuous concubine became the queen, she didn't know what their lives would be like.
The virtuous concubine was always so dignified and virtuous, and the imperial concubine also wanted to catch the virtuous concubine's shortcomings, but unfortunately it was difficult to do so. After so many years, the imperial concubine had never been able to bring the virtuous concubine down, at most she would occasionally let the virtuous concubine suffer.
Now, the emperor has demoted the virtuous concubine's position, probably because he has other plans.
"So many people praise her." The imperial concubine sighed. Many concubines in the harem thought that Concubine Xian was good. They all felt that Concubine Xian protected them and allowed them to give birth to their children safely.
The Imperial Concubine thought it was quite funny. They had all forgotten the child they had aborted and the cold treatment they had received. To put it bluntly, the concubines also thought they could gain benefits from the virtuous concubine and were just using each other.
When Concubine Xian became Concubine Cen, few concubines went to visit Concubine Cen, and few spoke well of her. No one dared to speak well of Concubine Cen in front of the emperor, and no one dared to plead for mercy.
"You must never let the girl from the Cen family enter your backyard." The imperial concubine looked at Prince Su and emphasized.
"No." Prince Su was not thinking about the girl from the Cen family. He was not interested in her.
"The daughters of the Cen family are the most disgusting," the imperial concubine said. "On the surface, they do all sorts of good things so you can't find any evidence against them, but in reality, they are shady and have many tricks up their sleeves. If they had fewer tricks, how could the daughters of the Cen family be so famous?"
Not to mention that Concubine Xian almost became the queen. When the queen was alive, Concubine Xian's reputation also oppressed the queen.
The Imperial Concubine hated the Virtuous Concubine at that time, but because her family was not that powerful, she did not dare to confront the Virtuous Concubine. Now it is different. The Virtuous Concubine has become a concubine. Let's see how the Virtuous Concubine can toss.
The affairs of the Cen family had not yet spread to the northwest, and Liu Yanjing and others were unaware of what was happening in the capital.
The day before the Chinese New Year, Princess Zhaoyang came to the Liu family's main house.
Princess Zhaoyang didn't wait for Liu Yanjing to come find her, she came directly. She knew that Liu Yanjing had a pair of children, and Liu Yanjing had not been home for a long time, so he must have a lot of things to deal with, so she came directly.
"Princess." Liu Yanjing had originally planned to wait until New Year's Eve to pick up Princess Zhaoyang to celebrate the New Year, but he didn't expect Princess Zhaoyang to come today.
"Would you like to treat me to a cup of tea?" Princess Zhaoyang said with a smile.
Liu Yanjing was at home, accompanying Princess Zhaoyang, so Liu Yulian didn't have to go and accompany Princess Zhaoyang. She was sorting books with He Xiyuan.
During the period in the northwest, Liu Yulian bought a lot of books and also wrote books based on her practice. Some of them were not published as books, but were just pieces of materials.
"Brushes aren't very easy to use." Liu Yulian didn't like using brushes very much. She wanted to make a simple pencil, pen, or something like that. Pencils were fine, but it would be better if she could make something like rubber or plastic, which would be easier to use. "Here."
Liu Yulian had someone make a simple pencil, but it was not very good and needed to be improved.
Finally, instead of using wood, you can use graphite refills, and add one that can automatically press down the refills, so as to avoid wasting wood.
"It's just that the written words are easy to disappear." Liu Yulian said, "You can erase them."
Liu Yulian even wiped the words with a slightly damp rag, and the words disappeared quickly, faster than calligraphy.
"For everyday use," He Xiyuan thought. He used other pens for accounting and contract writing. This kind of pen was also easy to carry and convenient to hold, much more convenient than a brush.
"Number them." Liu Yulian planned to number all the books, making it easier to find them later. "And write the title on the side."
"I'll do it," He Xiyuan said. He loved reading and thought it was a very enjoyable thing. However, he was not a nerd and did not only think about studying. In his heart, life was more important than books.
When Liu's mother learned that Liu Yulian and He Xiyuan were sorting books, she smiled and shook her head. These two people were always doing all kinds of things when they were together.
He Xiyuan thought that he was usually not at home, so when he was there, he would help Liu Yulian with some things and the two of them could talk. If they kept sitting there, he would be afraid that someone would pull him away, so he would not leave.
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