Chapter 135 [VIP]
Qin Furong defused the situation, saying, "Since it's a misunderstanding, then it's nothing to worry about. I doubt Marquis Wuping would hold a grudge against a mere young man."
"What should we do with this money?" Lin Sui handed over the money pouch in her hand.
"Since the Marquis has given it to you, you should accept it."
Lin Sui firmly refused, saying, "No, no, I can't accept someone else's money for no reason."
Finally, Wang Ying came up with a plan: she handed the money bag to the Taoist priest in the courtyard and planned to return it to Marquis Wuping when he came out. The group then descended the mountain.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, the two families each took their own cars. Before leaving, Madam Li unusually called out to Qin Furong, "If you have time, Madam, let's come up the mountain together to burn incense again next time."
"Alright, just have a servant let me know whenever you want to go!"
"Why."
Sitting in the carriage, Qingyun was still comforting Lin Sui, while Wang Ying recalled the marriage divination in the palace earlier, "How compatible are Qingyun and the young master Liu's birth charts?"
Fang Ling smiled and said, "It's a match made in heaven, a truly wonderful marriage!"
"Really?!"
Li said, "The Taoist priest performed divination in front of us, and all three hexagrams were auspicious. This marriage is definitely a good match."
Upon hearing this news, Qingyun couldn't hide her smile. Thinking of her brother from the Liu family, she quickly lowered her head, her shy cheeks as delicate as peach blossoms, making her all the more endearing.
Sitting next to her, Lin Sui looked out the window, lost in thought. Wang Ying looked at her younger brother and couldn't help but sigh.
He could understand Lin Sui's feelings; they were the same age but in completely different situations.
People are often harsh towards women and men. In the past, women who were divorced or separated from their husbands could not even return home. They could only go to nunneries to live or work as servants to earn a living.
Life is better now, and although children won't be kicked out of the house, remarriage is much more difficult because few people are willing to marry a divorced woman or man.
Even princesses were no exception. Wang Ying had read a story in the history books before, which said that there was a princess named Zhenyue in the previous dynasty who was betrothed by the emperor to a top scholar.
However, the top scholar already had someone he admired, and unable to refuse the imperial decree, he had no choice but to marry the princess.
Not long after their marriage, the top scholar wanted to bring his beloved into the mansion as a concubine.
The princess refused, so the top scholar refused to share a room with her. This stalemate lasted for three months until the princess finally agreed to let him bring the woman into her mansion.
As a result, the woman won the complete favor of the top scholar as soon as she entered the mansion, while the princess became the villain who broke up the couple. Not only did she not receive her husband's favor, but she was also criticized by everyone.
Princess Zhenyue was so angry that she asked the emperor for a divorce.
After divorcing her husband, Zhenyue was unable to find a husband for three consecutive years. Disheartened, she decided to go to a Buddhist temple to practice Buddhism.
The historical records do not record the final fate of Princess Zhenyue, but Wang Ying guessed it certainly wouldn't have been good. After all, in a Buddhist temple, one can only eat vegetarian food and chant scriptures all day long, and there's nothing else to do. Even a good person would become depressed if they lived there for a long time.
If even the princess is in such a predicament, then Sui Di's marriage will likely face considerable difficulties.
*
The marriage between the Chen and Liu families was officially settled. They would get engaged on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month and get married after the autumn imperial examinations.
There are still about six months left, so the wedding date is a bit tight, but since both families are happy, there aren't too many formalities.
The Liu family is busy renovating their wedding home. They currently live in a three-courtyard house, but there aren't many people in the family, and many of the houses are empty.
Qin Furong plans to renovate the east wing and create a separate courtyard for the young couple, making it more convenient for them to live together.
The Liu family is wealthy. Not to mention Liu's eldest uncle, who is an official in the court, Madam Qin owns six shops, not to mention the shops in the capital that she gave to her two daughters as dowry.
Every year, she earns several thousand taels of silver just from rent. In addition, she is the only daughter in the Qin family, and her three older brothers are afraid that she will be wronged, so they send her money every year. Therefore, Qin Furong has quite a lot of money.
As they were going to bed that night, Madam Qin pulled her husband aside to discuss their son's marriage. "Judging from the Chen family's situation, they must not be well-off. I was thinking of taking some time to talk to the in-laws and suggest that the dowry be kept simple, while we prepare more betrothal gifts."
Lord Liu pondered for a moment and shook his head. “That’s not appropriate. It would make our family look down on them. Marriage is a union between two families. If we mess it up, it would be a loss.”
"Then what should we do?" Qin Furong had not meant it that way, but after hearing her husband's words, she also felt it was inappropriate.
"Just follow the normal procedures. We'll do the same as everyone else, so we won't seem ostentatious or impolite. If you really like that girl from the Chen family, give her plenty of money when she marries into the family."
"Okay, I'll do as you say."
*
The Chen family also began preparing Qingyun's dowry.
After putting Yuanbao to sleep that night, Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan went into the experimental field to count the money in their house.
Wang Ying had converted all the money she had earned into silver, ten-tael silver ingots, which were neatly stacked on a tray. She had spent a lot on renting a house and a shop last year, and still had more than three hundred taels left.
The money I earned this year hasn't been converted into silver yet; it's filled two large crates, one after another.
Chen Qingyan carried the copper coins out, and Wang Ying counted them beside him. Excluding the loose coins, there were a total of 1,237 strings of cash.
"We actually have so much money?" Chen Qingyan wiped his sweat and sat down next to him.
"The vegetable shop brings in about three hundred strings of cash a month. During this period, the family has spent less money, so we have naturally saved quite a bit."
Chen Qingyan said, "Let's take them to the bank tomorrow and exchange them for silver."
"OK."
Wang Ying put away the account book and said, "During the day, my mother gave me three hundred taels of silver notes and told me to use this money to prepare a dowry for Qingyun."
"Use it if your mother tells you to."
"I plan to give this money to Qingyun as part of her dowry, and we'll also give her three hundred strings of cash for her dowry. Although the Liu family is well-off, how can we manage without money? This money will be her personal savings, and it will be convenient to use it if needed."
"We'll follow the local customs for the dowry. Sixteen loads of food, clothing, and other necessities will be prepared. We can't compare to wealthy families, but we can't let Qingyun suffer any hardship."
Chen Qingyan squeezed Wang Ying's hand and said, "Okay, I'll do whatever you say."
Wang Ying loved his younger siblings even more than his own brother. Sincerity begets sincerity, and the two children treated Wang Ying better than he did.
It was almost 9 PM when they finished tidying up, so the two took a shower and quickly went to rest.
*
The provincial examination will be held on April 28th.
The provincial examination consisted of only three sessions and was completed in one and a half days.
The questions were standard, neither too difficult nor too easy. Chen Qingyan and Chen Qinghuai both performed as expected, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, they should both pass the imperial examination and become government-subsidized students.
After these exams, the next step is to prepare to study at the prefectural school.
Because of Mr. Liang's connections, Chen Qingsong was also able to go in and study.
Like the Laizhou Prefectural School, it was very strictly managed. All students who enrolled had to live in the school and were not allowed to leave without permission except on rest days or in case of an emergency.
These past few days, Li and Fang Ling have been preparing bedding and clothes for the three brothers to take to school.
The weather is getting hotter every day, and thick blankets are no longer enough, so we've switched to thinner ones. Each of the three of us has prepared three sets of underwear to change into, as well as shoes, socks, and insect repellent sachets.
When the weather gets hot, mosquitoes and other insects tend to appear indoors. This sachet contains spices such as realgar, mint, and camphor, and wearing it can repel insects.
Unlike when she was packing her bags last time, this time Li felt quite at ease knowing that her two sons wouldn't be traveling far.
Because the three of them get up earlier than dogs every day, disturbing people's sleep.
Fang Ling felt the same way. Before, when she was in Shanzhou, she missed her eldest son terribly because she couldn't see him. Now that she was with him every day, she couldn't stand the sight of him and would scold Qing Huai from time to time. At the same time, she started to miss her other two children.
Chen Qinghuai wrote a letter after the prefectural examination ended a while ago, and he probably won't receive a reply until May or June. He also wonders if Qinglan and Qingying are eating well while he's not around.
That's what it's like to be a mother. As long as your children aren't by your side, you're always worried and anxious. Even after they've passed away, you still have to pray for their safety and well-being.
Two days later, the results of the provincial examination were finally released. Chen Qingyan lived up to expectations and ranked first, successfully achieving the top three honors: county, prefectural, and provincial examinations!
Compared to the previous two times, he was much calmer this time, but he was still excited. His years of hard work had not been in vain, and this sense of accomplishment made him feel incredibly fulfilled.
Qinghuai also performed well, rising from seventh to fourth place in the prefectural examination. The two brothers were at the height of their fame in Jizhou Prefecture for a time.
Chen Qingyan and the other two are about to start their studies at the prefectural school. The saddest person in the family is probably Yuanbao.
Lately, he's been hearing his father say that his father, second uncle, and third uncle are going to study at the prefectural school. Although he doesn't know where the prefectural school is, he knows that he won't be able to see his father every day anymore.
The little guy was sulking and wouldn't talk to Chen Qingyan for several days.
That evening, Chen Qingyan returned to his bedroom to rest. Yuanbao was playing on his small bed with a cloth tiger in his arms. As soon as his father entered the room, he lifted the blanket and crawled in, pretending to sleep.
Chen Qingyan saw his little feet moving around outside and walked over, deliberately asking, "Is Yuanbao asleep?"
Wang Ying was sitting on the bed reading a book when she heard the sound. She looked up and said, "They should be asleep."
"Oh, what a pity. I was planning to take him into the experimental field to pick fruit."
Many fruits and melons in the experimental field have ripened recently. A few days ago, Yuanbao kept asking to go in and pick them, but the two of them were too busy to take him in. Today they finally had some free time, but the little guy pretended to be asleep.
The child under the blanket was struggling with his reason, wanting to go into the experimental field to pick fruit on one hand, and angry and ignoring his father on the other.
"Really asleep? Let's go inside then." Chen Qingyan pretended to leave.
Yuanbao hurriedly threw off the covers, "Daddy, I'm not asleep!"
Chen Qingyan picked him up and pinched his soft cheek, saying, "Then why did you pretend to be asleep?"
"I...I'm angry, I don't want to talk to Father."
"Oh? Tell Dad what's making you angry."
Yuanbao pouted and tears streamed down her face. "I can't bear to see Father leave..."
"Oh dear, how old are you and you're still shedding tears?" Chen Qingyan wiped his face with her sleeve.
"Father won't go far this time. He'll stay in Jizhou Prefecture and come back to see you every few days."
Yuanbao asked, sobbing, "Really?"
“It’s true, ask your father if you don’t believe me.”
Wang Ying put down her book, walked over, patted her son's head, and said, "Really, if you really want to, your father will take you to the prefectural school to find your father."
That is permissible. Although the government does not allow students to leave without permission, relatives are allowed to visit them.
"But, but Yuanbao really can't bear to part with his father!"
Chen Qingyan's nose tingled with emotion as his son moved him to tears; the old father's heart was almost melting.
Wang Ying was speechless at the sight of the two of them, but hoped that Yuanbao would continue to be so loving and filial after he started his studies.
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