Chapter 160 [VIP]
The Liu family has many relatives and friends, and there were many guests today. More than 30 tables were set up, and the place was packed with people.
Wang Ying and Lin Qiu, carrying their child, first found a place to sit down. Both of them had gotten up in the middle of the night and had been busy since early morning; they were both exhausted and sleepy. Their second child was too young to come and stayed at home with Chen Rong and Li Shi.
Yuanbao cried all the way here, and now her eyes are swollen like peaches, and she's still sobbing.
Wang Ying wiped away his tears and said, "We'll be able to see your aunt soon. You can see her anytime you miss her."
"Really?"
"Really, when has your father ever lied to you?"
Yuanbao pouted and was about to cry again; he looked so pitiful.
After a while, Lin Sui brought over two bowls of steamed egg custard. "I asked the cook for these. Let the two kids have some to tide them over."
Yuanbao wanted to eat by himself, so Wang Ying put him next to her and let him sit on the stool to eat. Xiaomai was a little smaller and couldn't reach the table by herself, so Lin Qiu had to hold her and Lin Sui had to feed her.
Before long, Cao Kun and the three Chen brothers arrived. "Didn't Mother and the others come?"
Wang Ying said, "Mother said she had a headache and wouldn't come over. Third Aunt is at home taking care of Erbao and didn't come either. Fourth Aunt did come over though; I just saw an acquaintance go over and talk to her."
"Are you hungry? I'll go find you something to eat to tide you over."
Wang Ying and Lin Qiu quickly waved their hands, "These two kids have already started eating, we can eat later if we're not busy."
Cao Kun said, "We just ran into Marquis Wuping."
Lin Qiu quickly asked, "Did you say hello?"
"Yes, the Marquis was very polite. He said he didn't know our second child was so young and hoped we wouldn't mind being taken advantage of by bringing us here so abruptly."
Lin Sui fed Xiaomai a bite of steamed egg custard and said, "I was wondering why you would take such a young child on such a long journey. I didn't expect it was someone who sent people to pick him up."
Lin Qiu said, "The soldiers have taken extra care of us along the way, and the children are tough too, so nothing serious happened."
Cao Kun nodded, "That's what I said too. The Marquis said that our family is busy with Qingyun's wedding these days and we definitely won't have time. We'll get together again in a few days."
Lin Sui slightly curled the corners of her mouth, feeling somewhat more confident.
The banquet began at the end of the 9-11 AM. The Liu family's feast was arguably one of the best in the city, with chefs who were all top-notch chefs from restaurants, so the dishes were naturally excellent. There were twelve dishes in total, four cold and eight hot, a balanced mix of meat and vegetables that was more satisfying than eating at a restaurant.
As the bride's family, Wang Ying and her group sat at the head of the table, where the dishes were better than those at the other tables. Everyone was hungry and didn't care about being reserved. Once all the dishes were served, they picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
During the conversation, Liu Changyi came over to offer a toast. Chen Qingyan knew that Liu Changyi couldn't hold his liquor, so he didn't force him to drink. Liu Changyi only drank one cup before letting him leave.
This wine is brewed from grains and has a low alcohol content; Wang Ying wouldn't get drunk even after drinking two cups.
After eating and drinking their fill, Wang Ying and the others got up and took the children to the courtyard where Chen Qingyun lived.
All the way there, Lin Qiu kept exclaiming, "This Liu mansion is really grand! I thought my sister-in-law's new courtyard was big enough, but I didn't expect his house to be even bigger than yours!"
Wang Ying said, "What's so special about that? The street they live on is the real deal. You can't buy a house here even if you have the money. Their yard is worth ten of ours plus the rest of the house."
Lin Qiu clicked his tongue in amazement, "The prefectural city is really much more refined than the county town."
Passing through a winding corridor, you arrive at the east courtyard, which is far from the main house and has its own entrance. If you don't want to live together in the future, you can simply open a separate entrance and separate the two houses.
It's clear that Madam Liu has a long-term plan. After all, you never know what people will be like after spending a long time together, so making these arrangements is a precaution.
The east courtyard was very clean, with neat stone bricks paving the ground, and several holly bushes planted nearby, trimmed into round shapes, which looked quite lovely.
Two young women, presumably relatives of the Liu family, were sitting inside. Upon seeing them arrive, they got up and left.
Chen Qingyun was eating dumplings. She hadn't eaten anything that morning and was starving. Her aunt's sister-in-law brought her a bowl of dumplings.
Seeing Wang Ying and the others arrive, they happily stood up to greet them, "Come in quickly, have you eaten?"
"I came over after I finished eating."
"Auntie!" Little Yuanbao rushed over and threw himself into her arms.
Qingyun reached out and picked up the child, placing him on her lap. "Oh, Yuanbao, did you cry? Why are your eyes so swollen?"
Yuanbao, feeling embarrassed, hid his head in her arms.
Wang Ying said, "I knew you were going to get married and I was heartbroken. I cried all the way here."
"Good Yuanbao, your aunt has not spoiled you for nothing."
The aunt and niece snuggled together cheek to cheek for a long time. "Have Mother and the others arrived?"
"I didn't come. I didn't sleep last night. I felt a little dizzy after you left, so I stayed home to rest."
Qingyun sighed. She knew her mother best; she must have gone to cry alone in secret.
Lin Qiu said, "Don't worry, you'll see it when you go back to your parents' home in a couple of days. You're married so close by, you can go back and live there whenever you want."
Lin Sui looked around and said, "Your house is really spacious. This carved canopy bed is even better than the one that came with my dowry."
Qingyun said, "The bed that came with the dowry is in the room next door. I heard that this bed was sent from the capital. Come on, let me show you around."
Several people led the children around the new house. The east wing had a total of nine rooms, almost like a two-courtyard house. There were two master bedrooms on the east and west sides, a main hall for receiving guests in the middle, and a study, guest rooms, kitchen, and side rooms for the servants in the courtyard.
Now, only Qingyun and Liu Changyi live in the entire courtyard, with a kitchen maid and a servant woman.
Wang Ying said, "The Liu family cares about you. You should live a good life with Changyi and not bully others."
"Okay, I got it."
It was getting late, and the banquet outside was almost over, so the group got up to go home.
Qingyun grabbed a handful of candy and put it in the pockets of the two children. "Good Yuanbao, Auntie will be home the day after tomorrow, so don't cry anymore."
"Mmm." Yuanbao nodded obediently.
After seeing them off at the gate and watching them walk away, Chen Qingyun's tears, which she had been holding back, finally burst forth. She wanted to go home too...
*
Qingyun's wedding was over, and soon it was time for the results of the provincial examination to be announced.
In previous years, the results of the provincial examinations were usually released in mid-October. The reason why it took so long to release the results was that there were a large number of candidates, and grading the papers was an extremely laborious task.
This year, Jizhou Prefecture sent a total of eight officials to grade papers, plus one chief examiner. On average, each of these eight officials had to grade more than ninety papers, which would take seven or eight days just to grade the papers.
Only the top thirty papers from seven hundred candidates were selected, ranked by the chief examiner, and then sent to the capital. The same procedure applied to other prefectures.
Of the seventeen prefectures in the country (excluding the desolate areas of Western Xinjiang and Southern Yue), it took about a month for the examination papers from each prefecture to be sent to the capital. Finally, the Hanlin Academy in the capital selected the top two hundred candidates to be selected as candidates for the imperial examinations.
The final list was sent to various parts of the country, and those who passed the imperial examinations could go to the capital in March of the following year to participate in the metropolitan examination and the palace examination.
For Jizhou, which is relatively close to the capital, receiving the results within two months is already considered good; other prefectures may take even longer.
On the ninth day of the tenth lunar month, it was the day Chen Qingyun returned to her parents' home. Early in the morning, Li Shi got up to start preparing the meal.
"Yun'er loves smoked chicken. I'll have Ershun go to Luo's Smoked Chicken Shop to buy one later. If we go too late, they won't have any left."
"Yes," Wang Ying replied. "How about dumplings as the main dish? There's still quite a bit of wild boar meat that the Marquis sent last time."
“Okay, Qingyun likes cabbage and pork filling.”
"I wonder what my brother-in-law likes to eat? Could you cook a few more home-style dishes?"
Li nodded, "Okay, you can arrange it as you see fit."
Wang Ying went into the experimental field and picked some scallions and a few tender cucumbers to make a cold dish later. The vegetables in the experimental field will be ripe in about ten days, and when the weather cools down, she can continue to sell vegetables.
Around 7:00 AM, Chen Qingyun and Liu Changyi returned in a carriage, carrying large and small bags.
As soon as she got off the carriage, Qingyun rushed into the courtyard, calling out, "Mother, sister-in-law!"
Upon hearing her daughter's voice, Li hurriedly got out of bed to put on her shoes. She almost tripped and fell because she was in such a rush. Chen Rong quickly helped her up and said, "Don't worry, the child is back now."
The mother and daughter's eyes welled up with tears the moment they saw each other. Chen Qingyun threw herself into her mother's arms and sobbed, "Mother, I missed you so much..."
Madam Li stroked her head and said, "I've missed you too. How have you been these past few days?"
Chen Qingyun nodded, wiped away her tears, and said, "It's fine."
What about Changyi?
"They're moving things in the back."
Everyone went to greet them and saw Liu Changyi and his servant carrying seven or eight boxes as they walked in, their faces flushed from exhaustion.
Wang Ying and Lin Qiu rushed over to help, and Li said, "Why did you take so much stuff!"
Liu Changyi chuckled and scratched his head, saying, "I've prepared some gifts for everyone."
Before long, the three Chen brothers arrived, and they pulled Liu Changyi into the study for a chat.
"I heard that the people from Kyoto have already arrived in the prefectural city, and the results of the provincial examination should be out in the next day or two."
"Have people come from Kyoto?" Chen Qinghuai rubbed his hands together, excitedly standing up.
Liu Changyi nodded, "They arrived last night. I sent someone to ask my father to go to the post station to receive them."
"That might really be coming soon. I don't know if I'll be able to pass the exam this time."
After more than a decade of hard study, this moment has finally arrived, and the anticipation and tension are indescribable.
Chen Qingyan suppressed the pounding in his heart and asked, "How have you been these past few days since the wedding? Have you been bullying my sister?"
"I love her so much, how could I dare to let her suffer the slightest grievance?"
"Qingyun is young and a bit spoiled, so please be more accommodating to her when things happen."
"Don't worry, my mother is much more spoiled than Qingyun. Look at my father, has he dared to say a single word all these years? I'm the same. This is a fine virtue inherited from our Liu family."
The Chen brothers chuckled; this kid was quite proud of saying he was afraid of his wife.
Inside the main room, Madam Li was also asking Qingyun, "How have you been these past few days? Have they made things difficult for you?"
"No, we both sleep until the sun is high in the sky every day. After waking up, we start researching food, and then Brother Changyi takes me to play."
Wang Ying couldn't help but laugh, "These two are still like children." One is eighteen and the other is sixteen; in modern times, that would definitely be considered puppy love.
Li asked worriedly, "Aren't you going to your mother-in-law's room to pay your respects? Won't your in-laws blame you?"
“My mother-in-law said that we are all family and we shouldn’t do those formalities. If we want to eat something, we just need to ask the servants to come and tell them, and she will make it for us.”
Wang Ying remembered that Mrs. Liu particularly enjoyed cooking, and Chen Qingyan had even brought back some of her cooking before.
Chen Rong said, "From what I've heard, your in-laws' wife is indeed an easy person to get along with."
Madam Li still instructed her daughter, "Your mother-in-law is tolerant of you, but you must not be rude. Spend time with her whenever you have time. After all, she is not an outsider. I will only feel at ease if we get along well."
"Oh, I understand."
Before Qingyun could finish speaking, a series of clanging and banging sounds suddenly came from outside.
Wang Ying got up and opened the door in confusion, only to see Chen Fang running in. "The government has sent someone to bring good news!"
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
