What? I need one more egg to make up for it?
Why doesn’t Liu Yanqing go to heaven?
Lin Xiaowan thought Liu Yanqing was incompetent at everything except eating. She wondered why Liu Yanqing was so troublesome. However, since it was New Year's Eve, Lin Xiaowan still gave him an extra egg.
"That's right." Liu Yanqing said, "Men should eat more."
"Okay, bake your egg." Lin Xiaowan did not stop Liu Yanqing. Their family really needed such an egg.
In the capital, Concubine Cen was demoted from Concubine Chengxian to Concubine. During the New Year's Eve palace banquet, Concubine Cen's seat was not as close to the front. Concubine Cen did not dare to say that she was sick and would not come. If she did not come this time, she did not know if she would have the chance to come in the future.
Concubine Cen wondered if the emperor had been blinded by the imperial concubine, as she was so dignified and virtuous. The emperor had not made her empress before, nor had his son become legitimate, and now, the emperor had demoted her.
She has been in the palace for so many years, and she has followed the emperor since he was still a prince.
Concubine Cen felt aggrieved, but she couldn't say it.
When others talked to Concubine Cen and mocked her, she would say: Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace.
Even at this point, Concubine Cen is still so pretentious.
The imperial concubine watched Concubine Cen pretending like that. All the girls in the Cen family were like that, acting as if they were doing a good job and if they were treated badly, it must be the fault of other girls.
"It's still cold." On her way back, the imperial concubine happened to meet Concubine Cen. She didn't say anything else but talked about the weather.
Concubine Cen watched the Imperial Concubine go away, her heart aching. God was so unfair that the Imperial Concubine would have the last laugh. She learned that her family intended to let the girl be a concubine to Prince Su, but it was not an easy thing to do. The Emperor would not see her, and she was not in a position to tell the Emperor about this matter.
If the emperor had not directly rewarded the Cen family girl to be a concubine to the Su prince, then the Su prince would never have allowed the Cen family girl to enter the palace. The Cen family used tricks to let the girl enter the Su prince's palace, such as letting the Su prince watch the Cen family girl change clothes. This method is the worst.
If they really dare to plot against Prince Su like that, Prince Su will be able to treat that woman coldly in the future and even not allow the girl from the Cen family to enter the house.
The Cen family thought that if the emperor directly granted the marriage, that would be the best. Even if the emperor said a word, Prince Su would not dare to disobey.
"Go back." said Concubine Cen.
Concubine Cen looked at the palace servants around her. These people were useless. They were not as powerful as the imperial concubine in the past six months. Concubine Cen thought that Prince Su was not dead. If Prince Su was dead, she would say that the third prince was not involved and that someone else had assassinated Prince Su.
It is said that even a tiger will not eat its own cubs. Now that other people have confessed their crimes, and those princes are either dead or disabled, the emperor will definitely let the third prince go. He may even make the third prince the crown prince.
The Cen family did not have a good time on New Year's Eve.
Old Master Cen was a little depressed. He learned another thing today, that is, when his second son went to raid the Jingning Marquis Mansion, he burned and destroyed Princess Rongning's books.
At that time, people outside said that the daughter of the Liu family was uneducated and unskillful, that the daughter of the Liu family was not virtuous, and that the Liu family did not know how to educate their daughter.
The reason there were such rumors outside was also related to the Cen family. When Mr. Cen's second son copied the Jingning Marquis, he also said some things. Those words spread out, and that's how it turned out.
The Jingning Marquisate was on the rise again, and Mr. Cen didn't think the Liu family would let those things go. I heard that Princess Rongning was very sad at the time. So many books were burned, and Princess Rongning was greatly stimulated.
Now, Princess Rongning has developed new research on culture fluid and wool mills, and the Emperor is placing great importance on the Liu family. Although the people from the Jingning Marquisate have not returned to the capital yet, Mr. Cen knows that they will return sooner or later.
Old Master Cen couldn't say that his son hadn't left any hope for the Liu family. Who knew that the Liu family would ever recover? Furthermore, his son had only burned a few miscellaneous books, books for a little girl. Who knew those books were so important?
"If the second son hadn't burned those books, how could Princess Rongning have been provoked to get those things out?" Old Lady Cen wanted to defend her son.
“…” Mr. Cen was speechless.
Is it possible that if you slashed someone with a knife or pushed them off a cliff, and they survived and learned martial arts, they should thank you?
Who can guarantee that Princess Rongning would not be able to research those things without being stimulated? Old Master Cen frowned and could not even think about this matter.
At the time, those books were basically destroyed.
It was only recently that Mr. Cen learned that the emperor had ordered the collection of those books. The emperor wanted to find the books that Princess Rongning had read. Princess Rongning had read many books, and there were many contents, some of which were only copies and incomplete, and were destroyed and lost.
This became a serious crime.
It was obvious that their family's property was confiscated according to the emperor's order. Even if the emperor did not say that the books should be burned, it was inevitable that there would be various actions involved in the confiscated property.
But Mr. Cen couldn't defend himself, and they couldn't say it was the royal family's fault, so they could only bear it.
"A girl shouldn't study the rules and regulations for women properly, but mess around with those things." Old Madam Cen looked down on Princess Rongning. Even if Princess Rongning had researched so many good things, it didn't matter. Few men would like such a strong woman. "If she hadn't been engaged long ago, who would be willing to marry her?"
"Many people want to marry her." Old Master Cen rubbed his eyebrows. He also wanted to have a daughter like this.
Of course, Old Master Cen knew the personalities of the women and daughters-in-law of the Cen family. The Cen family had always made such demands on these women, asking them to follow the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, learn more about the precepts and rules for women, and read more "Biographies of Virtuous Women".
This also led to the girls of the Cen family being self-righteous. Each of them considered themselves to be role models of other women. They were dignified and virtuous, and so many people wanted to marry them.
Old Master Cen hadn't thought this was a problem before, but the Emperor hadn't made Consort Xian Empress, and now he'd demoted her. The daughters of their Cen family who had married the Third Prince as concubines were also punished by being made to copy the "Rules for Women," and Old Master Cen always felt something was amiss.
The virtuous concubine was demoted, the third prince's concubine was punished, and the Cen family was criticized...
When the powerful people in the capital learned of this, they all wanted to distance themselves from the Cen family. Some of those who had originally considered whether to let their sons marry Cen's daughters had now changed their minds and decided not to let their sons marry Cen's daughters.
Since the emperor treated the daughter of the Cen family that way, people like them should not rush forward.
Previously, those people were so supportive of the Cen family's daughter, not necessarily because of the Virtuous Concubine. Seeing how powerful the Cen family was, with their connections in the palace, the Virtuous Concubine, and the Third Prince, didn't they all think the Cen family had a promising future?
The collapse of a building never happens all at once, but rather it is caused by other problems already existing inside.
"How many people can there be? Only our girls have many suitors." said Mrs. Cen.
"..." Old Master Cen didn't say much. He knew that there wouldn't be so many people asking to marry Cen's daughters in the future.
In the northwest, in the Liu family’s main house, the weather was cold, and the whole family sat in front of the charcoal fire to celebrate the New Year.
Liu Yulian couldn't help yawning. Finally, it was early morning and she couldn't bear it anymore, so she went back to sleep.
"Be careful." He Xiyuan sent Liu Yulian back. He looked at the ground. It was so cold and he didn't know if there was any ice on the ground.
"We've walked this road many times." Liu Yulian said with a smile, "There's no problem."
"Many times, people fall on the roads they are most familiar with," said He Xiyuan.
"That's right." Liu Yulian nodded.
"Will we go to the temple to burn incense during the day?" He Xiyuan asked.
"Let's go." Liu Yulian said, "There are many temples nearby, just stay nearby."
Liu Yulian didn't think about going all the way to the county town or the prefectural capital to visit a temple. She just went to a nearby temple. No matter how big the temple was or how many monks were inside, the most important thing was sincerity.
"Donate some more money for incense." Liu Yulian said, this is also a very important point.
Liu Yulian was very grateful to the heavens for allowing her to recover her memories of her past life, and for giving her that cheat. Without it, it would have taken her a very long time to create those things. With more research on wool yarn, bicycles, and cement, she might be able to come up with them sooner.
But Liu Yulian couldn't research something like culture medium.
With the culture medium, the food harvest will be greater, and the people will be able to live longer. This is the most important thing. Liu Yulian, this is God's grace to her and everyone else.
"I'll go with you." He Xiyuan said.
"Big brother and his family should go too." Liu Yulian thought for a moment, "The whole family should go."
There is nothing important at home and no one is coming to the house at this time, so they can go out.
He Xiyuan left only after he sent Liu Yulian into the house.
The Liu family did not stop He Xiyuan from sending Liu Yulian, and also allowed the two of them to have more contact. In the final analysis, it was all because He Xiyuan ignored his family's opposition and abandoned literature to pursue martial arts and ran to the northwest.
Nowadays, the grassland tribes rarely wage wars, and military merit is hard to earn. The Liu family knew that the emperor would summon them back to the capital at about the same time, and Liu Yanjing couldn't stay in the military camp all the time. He must find other things to do.
Liu Yanjing was fine, as he would be the heir apparent of the Jingning Marquisate and inherit the title. However, He Xiyuan, without much military merit, had difficulty climbing the ranks. Upon returning to the capital, He Xiyuan could either seek official promotion as a junior general or retake the imperial examination.
This also delayed He Xiyuan's future. Liu Yulian's medicine cured He Xiyuan's brother's broken leg, but He Xiyuan lost his title.
Liu's mother and father did not feel that they had done anything wrong to He Xiyuan, nor did they feel guilty. They just thought that He Xiyuan was a good son.
Early in the morning, Liu Yulian went to the kitchen. She made some pastries and asked the kitchen staff to make some more steamed buns.
The cakes were expensive and not suitable for charity, so they could use the money from making cakes to make more steamed buns. Liu Yulian also had some meat buns made, which were smaller. If they made more, they could give more to the beggars.
The eldest branch of the Liu family didn't often give alms. If they did so constantly, constantly trying to enhance their prestige among the people, the emperor might be wary. Furthermore, they weren't in the capital yet, but in the northwest, so there were too many uncontrollable factors.
Therefore, the eldest branch of the Liu family tried to keep a low profile.
Father Liu was slow to address the rumors about the second branch of the Liu family, and these factors were probably a factor. The first branch of the Liu family didn't need such a good reputation, and there was no need for a reputation that would intimidate the royal family.
The emperor has people in the northwest.
Father Liu didn't need to think too much; he knew everything. If someone like the Second House had a promising future and passed the imperial examination, how could the Emperor and Prince Su, knowing everything that happened here, possibly make use of someone from the Second House?
Liu Yulian, her mother and others did not go to give alms in person, but asked their servants to do it.
There was a drizzle in the sky, which was rare to see some rain at this time of year.
Liu Yulian and the others were holding umbrellas. They had already gotten off the carriage and were heading to the temple on the mountain. They had brought a lot of guards with them when they left. After all, this was the northwest, even if they were in the capital, they still had to bring more people to a mountain temple like this to avoid being robbed on the way.
"I'm one year older." He Xiyuan was in a good mood.
"So you've gotten a little older?" Liu Yulian said.
"No, it's closer to our wedding." He Xiyuan thought that he and Sister Lian could get married earlier, and the days and years would pass by quickly.
But He Xiyuan still felt that time was passing so slowly and they had to wait.
"..." Liu Yulian's cheeks felt hot when she heard this.
There are still many people coming to the small temple in the countryside.
There was still thick fog on the mountain, and some dead branches and leaves still had water on them. I didn't know if it was dew or early morning rain.
The dirt road was difficult to walk on, and with the rain, the dirt had all gotten on the soles of my shoes. Once the soles were covered in dirt, the shoes felt heavier, making walking less comfortable.
The carriage could not reach the temple directly, and had to walk for a while. The roads were not paved with stone slabs, so they were not easy to walk on.
Not all roads leading to temples are easy to walk on, and not all steps are stone steps.
"Be careful." When Liu Yulian almost slipped, He Xiyuan grabbed Liu Yulian's hand, which was warm and soft, and his earlobes turned red.
Princess Zhaoyang also came. Looking at the actions of Liu Yulian and He Xiyuan, she couldn't help but sigh that these two people were so young, and the relationship between childhood sweethearts was so good.
Liu Yanjing couldn't take care of Princess Zhaoyang much, as he still had a pair of children. Even though Liu's father and mother could take care of the children, and there were maids and servants, Liu Yanjing still cared more about the children.
Princess Zhaoyang was not angry either. There was nothing to be angry about.
Liu Yanjing would still look back at Princess Zhaoyang. Princess Zhaoyang said, "You guys go forward, we'll catch up soon."
Coincidentally, Aunt Qing learned that there was a particularly famous temple here, so she brought Su Qiuya and Liu Yanbo here.
Then, these people met in the temple.
Aunt Qing even went to Father Liu and said softly, "Marquis."
Father Liu ignored Aunt Qing and went to take care of his granddaughter. Father Liu was very dissatisfied with the rumors spread by the second wife in the county town and did not want to see anyone from the second wife at all.
"Yanbo is going to take the exam for the scholar." Aunt Qing said.
"If you have bad character, what's the use of passing the exam?" Father Liu didn't care whether Liu Yanbo could pass the exam. He was more concerned about whether Liu Yulian could research cement. "If you continue to ruin our family's reputation, you can just break off the relationship. Then you don't have to worry about us treating you badly."
Father Liu had not originally intended to say these words, but when Aunt Qing came over, Father Liu said them.
"My Lord..." Aunt Qing opened her eyes wide and looked at Father Liu in disbelief.
Aunt Qing thought that her family did a good job. They did not run to the door of the first family and make trouble like the third family did, nor did they ask the people in the first family to help them more. How did it turn out like this?
"You know what you did." Father Liu saw Liu Yanbo approaching and noticed his son's unhappy expression. "You are a scholar and should know how important a person's reputation is. You can want a good reputation, but do you still have a conscience when you step on your family members?"
Liu Yanbo's actions really refreshed his father's cognition time and time again. Liu's father realized that Liu Yanbo hated the first wife and was selfish. Even if Liu Yanbo was good to some people, he would never be good to the first wife.
"Madam Hou knows what she did best," Liu Yanbo complained. "If it weren't for her, how could I still be a student?"
"My Lord." Mother Liu came over. "This is a peaceful Buddhist place. Let's not talk about such things."
No matter what the second wife was thinking, Mother Liu would never let Father Liu continue talking, lest she make a fool of herself.
"Let's talk about it when you're at the top." Father Liu was very disappointed with Liu Yanbo. Didn't Liu Yanbo know his ranking in the Tongsheng exam? It was below average. Father Liu thought if he had scored this well, he wouldn't dare to say anything.
The temple is a public place, and some people happened to see this scene, including people from the county town and the countryside.
A concubine and a bastard, yet he was so capable? He must have been spoiled.
Some people are talkative and have other relatives, so they told others what they saw today.
In Fuchengli, some people also knew some things about the Liu family. Anyone with a clear mind knew that it was the other branches that abandoned the eldest branch. If the eldest branch had not mentioned the separation, using the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, the eldest branch could have made the other branches work like slaves, and there would have been no need for the eldest branch to mention the separation at that time.
Some teachers in the academies in the capital also knew about this matter, and some of them felt fortunate that Liu Yanbo was not their student.
Liu Yanbo and Su Qiuya had no idea about this. They still thought they had won in the county.
The same is true in the original novel, but neither Liu Yanbo nor Su Qiuya felt anything was wrong. It might have been several years later, when they encountered great difficulties, that they would remember it.
"Then my son will pass the imperial examination and get the third place in the imperial examination to show you." Liu Yanbo said.
"..." Liu Yulian felt that she shouldn't be here and shouldn't hear the male protagonist say such a thing.
In the original novel, the male protagonist was even a substitute for the Juren degree, and failed to pass the Jinshi degree examination several times.
Liu Yulian really didn't know where the male protagonist got so much confidence. Maybe the male protagonist wanted to slap them in the face. At least Liu Yanbo felt good when he said this.
"Go and take the exam," said Father Liu. "If you pass, you can pretend I'm not your father."
Liu Yulian laughed when she heard what her father said. Liu Yanbo really didn't have that much ability. It was a food and farming article, and the male protagonist didn't follow the path of a prime minister. Basically, he was content with a small fortune.
"Did he pass the Imperial College entrance exam?" He Xiyuan asked.
"I took the exam, but I didn't pass." Liu Yulian said.
"Then he must have caught a cold before the exam," He Xiyuan said. Many scholars thought so, catching a cold for various reasons. In short, it wasn't that they couldn't pass the exam, it was that they encountered trouble.
Liu Yulian looked at He Xiyuan and chuckled, "That's probably it. It's also possible that he ate something that makes him sleepy, and fell asleep in the exam room."
When Su Qiuya heard what Liu Yulian and He Xiyuan said, her fingertips pinched into her palms, but she couldn't rush up and tear their mouths apart.
These people are so vicious.
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