In addition to the worries about the two little girls in the Xiao family, Xiao Rui also gave Xiao Jingmin and his wife a choice.
He had disliked studying since childhood, and the older he got, the more serious this problem became. In another year, he would be fourteen years old, and he would be good at riding and archery, and he would not touch reading or writing if he could. Yuan Yutong was so worried that she didn't know what to do. She could only complain to her mother.
"You said that the eldest son Ayi is a Jinshi, and the second son Alang also passed the imperial examination. It's impossible for our third son to be a poor boy! My husband and I only have one son, Arui, so what should we do?" Yuan Yutong had been unrestrained for many years. Perhaps it was because she had lived a smooth life for too long, and she didn't know where to start when she encountered trouble.
After discussing with her husband, Mrs. Yuan gave her daughter a suggestion: "join the army."
"You mean to send A Rui to his eldest brother? Is it dangerous? I only have this one son." Yuan Yutong hesitated.
"We're living in a peaceful and prosperous age, with no large-scale wars. Where does the danger come from? There are bandit suppression and emergencies, but with his uncle around, what's there to be afraid of? Could he really let his nephew go to the most dangerous place? Training for a few years and becoming a military officer, or even taking the imperial examination, aren't those both options?"
Mrs. Yuan understood her daughter's thoughts. She had lived in fear all her life, so how could she not understand her daughter's feelings!
"I'll go back and discuss it with my family!" After all, this is a big matter, and Yuan Yutong doesn't dare to make a decision on his own.
"Just listen to my father-in-law and let Arui go out and try his luck." Old Marquis Xiao was the first to express his opinion. He has always believed that a man should go through hardships before he can achieve success.
"I don't agree. With the ability of our family and in-laws, it's not difficult to find a job for Arui. Why let the child suffer for a few more years?" Qin couldn't understand why her husband wanted to pamper his granddaughter and wanted to beat his grandson all day long.
"Let's ask Arei what he thinks!" Seeing that the old couple were about to argue again, Xiao Jingmin quickly stepped forward to mediate.
"Go to the army? I'm willing." Now as long as he can stay away from books, Xiao Rui probably has no complaints about where he is assigned to.
"You will suffer a lot, and there may even be danger." Qin thought that if she said something scary, she would scare her grandson away. However, Xiao Rui was a young and fearless person. He longed for a life where he could practice martial arts with a group of grown men, eat meat with big mouthfuls, and drink wine with them.
"When Ayi gets married, I will send you to find your uncle." Lord Xiao, as the head of the family, made the final decision.
There are only more than four months left before Xiao Yi's wedding. Tong Mingyu has to take care of the family affairs, prepare the betrothal gifts and wedding arrangements, and sometimes she wishes she could act as two people by herself.
"Mom, is there anything I can help with?" Xiao Yao felt very distressed when she saw that Tong Mingyu was tired and thin.
"As long as you are obedient, your mother will be satisfied." Tong Mingyu didn't think her daughter, who was not even nine years old, could help her.
"I have learned a method of accounting from a book. Please find me a less important account book. I will definitely prove that I can help you."
Xiao Yao was determined to pester Tong Mingyu for help. In order to coax her daughter and let her give up, Tong Mingyu gave her the accounts of a villa at home and kindly reminded her to tell him quickly if she couldn't do it.
Xiao Yao flipped through the account book, which was cumbersome and messy. It seemed that the time had come for her to show her skills. She took the account book with confidence. Tong Mingyu wondered when her daughter would give in. Was it this afternoon or tomorrow?
The next afternoon, Xiao Yao handed over the notebook.
"Mom has long told you that you can't do it. Are you here to admit defeat?" In order not to upset her daughter, Tong Mingyu tried her best to hide her expression of wanting to laugh.
"Can you please take a look first before commenting?" Xiao Yao said unconvinced.
Tong Mingyu opened the account book and saw a neat spreadsheet, with income and expenses clearly categorized. Each page had the total income and expenses for each month, with some unimportant items kept in separate accounts. On the last page, Xiao Yao had written some figures and the usage instructions.
"This...did you do this?" Tong Mingyu became a little stuttering.
"Are you satisfied? Can I help you now?" A form and a string of numbers shocked you. After all, you had worked in the workplace for several years in your previous life, and these were just the basics.
"I'll check the amount with the eldest son's family. If it's correct, you've really helped mother a lot.
The results came out quickly and were accurate. This time, not only did Tong Mingyu come back, but several of the family's accountants also came with him, insisting on learning Xiao Yao's new accounting method.
With Xiao Yao's help, Tong Mingyu felt much more relaxed. All the household accounts were handled by the accountant and Xiao Yao. To prevent cheating and collusion, Xiao Yao divided the staff into three groups: one responsible for settling income, one for settling expenses, and another for summarizing the accounts. They worked separately, and Xiao Yao was only responsible for supervision.
Xiao Yao, who already has a full schedule of studies, is now even busier, so much so that only Yuan Yutong and Xiao Yuan, mother and daughter, can attend Yin Qianhua's invitation.
"Why isn't Ping An here?" Yin Qianhua was already somewhat moved by her husband and daughter's persuasion, especially the awkward look on Xiao Yao's son's face every time she mentioned him. As a mother and a person who had experienced this, there was nothing Yin Qianhua couldn't understand! The only pity was that the age gap between the two was a bit large, and her plan to have a grandson would probably have to be postponed.
"My sister is so busy now that she doesn't even pay attention to me." Xiao Yuan also learned to complain. It's not that Miss Xiao is being pretentious, it's really hard to live without anyone by your side!
"What's going on?" Yin Qianhua turned and asked Yuan Yutong.
"Ping'an is truly amazing. I've never seen such a smart and capable child. She's only a few years old, but she can already help my sister-in-law with the accounts. With her help, my sister-in-law has a much easier time."
"Is there such a thing?" Yin Qianhua asked doubtfully.
"Isn't it? Before I left this morning, Ping An asked if my cousin wanted a new accounting method. If you are interested, she will send someone to teach the accountant in the palace. It will be a New Year's gift to you." Yuan Yutong said with a smile. Her little niece is getting smarter and smarter. Is she planning to get rid of Prince Jing's palace without spending a penny?
"Okay!" King Jing, who had just entered the room, nodded in agreement. He wanted to see what ability his future daughter-in-law had in managing accounts. If she really had this talent, he and his wife would feel more at ease handing over the palace to his son.
The accountants sent by Xiao Yao arrived very quickly. At first, the old accountants in the palace were not convinced, but after a few days, not only were they convinced, but even Prince Jing and Yin Qianhua were very happy and became more satisfied with this future daughter-in-law.
Just before the end of the year, the Queen Mother fell ill. She planned to force Han Yueyan and Yun Yichen together, claiming she was dying and wanted to see her beloved grandson get engaged. Even without this reason, the King of Jing would never agree to let his son marry the Han family's granddaughter.
"Mother, do you really want to see Brother Xuan drifting further and further away from you? If you do, I will immediately issue an edict to appoint my uncle's granddaughter as Bai'er's principal wife. Don't even think about Prince Jing's Mansion anymore." The emperor looked at the empress dowager lying on the bed with a half-advising, half-warning look. In her heart, do her sons and grandsons always have to rank behind the Han family?
"It's just a concubine position, are you so reluctant to give it up?"
"No man wants to live under the shadow of his father-in-law's family. The Han family... has always placed themselves in a high and mighty position, giving orders. Have you ever considered others? Sometimes I can't help but think that you and the Han family aren't helping me, you're clearly making enemies for me!"
"Is there anything about them that worries you now?" Apart from a nice-sounding title, what else does the Han family have now?
"Not necessarily!" He and his brother had been clearing out the Han family for so long, but still failed to eradicate it. This meant that the Han family still had deep hidden forces or secrets that had not yet been uncovered.
Regardless of his brother and mother's plans, Prince Jing was determined not to return to the palace. He analyzed the current situation for his wife and son, and also proposed that his son go to the military for a few years to train.
"Do you have to leave?" Yin Qianhua only has Yun Yichen as her son, so of course she is reluctant to let him go far away.
"After the New Year, Achen will be fourteen years old. Men in Tianyu can get married at fifteen. If he stays in Kyoto, my mother will always talk about his marriage with the Han family. Do you agree?" King Jing looked at his son leisurely.
"Even if you beat me to death, I would rather not marry the granddaughter of the Han family." Yun Yichen said firmly.
"Then who do you want to marry, or which girl do you want to marry?" King Jing asked.
"Son...son hasn't thought about this yet." Yun Yichen avoided his gaze and didn't want to answer, or he didn't know how to answer King Jing's question.
"How many years will you be away?" Yin Qianhua was certainly unwilling to accept the daughter of the Han family as her daughter-in-law. In comparison, Xiao Yao was a much better candidate.
"You have to ask Achen what he thinks. Does he want to go out and explore the world for a few more years or come back when the granddaughter of the Han family is old and has to get married?" King Jing thought to himself that it was time to test his son. Today, his father wanted to see how much weight the little girl from the Xiao family holds in his heart.
Yun Yichen thought it over and said, "Three or four years!" By that time, the Han family's granddaughter should be married! And... the people who should grow up should have grown up too!
As expected, King Jing was quite satisfied with his son's answer. Yun Yichen's military service was thus confirmed.
In the first month, Princess Xiyue gave birth to another grandson for the Xiao family. Upon hearing the news, Old Marquis Xiao and Xiao Jingyan were furious and fled. In the second month, Xiao Yi successfully married his ideal man. Knowing that Xiao Yao had orchestrated this, Liu Siyi became even more friendly to her. On the morning of February 26th, Yun Yichen and Xiao Rui met at the city gate. They were to set off together for the *'s base camp. As they rode, Xiao Rui grumbled about his two sisters' lack of conscience.
Fortunately, Xiao Jun caught up with him on horseback soon and handed him a package.
"Fourth brother, you still have the nerve to blame Ping'an. Have you forgotten what day today is? It's my and my sister's birthday. She didn't care about her own birthday and made snacks for you and cleaned up things early in the morning. What about you?" Xiao Jun spoke up for his sister.
"I..." Xiao Rui was speechless. How could he have forgotten Ping An's birthday? This really shouldn't have happened!
"I will definitely give Ping An this birthday gift when I come back."
It turned out that today was the little girl's birthday. Yun Yichen turned around and looked in the direction of the Xiao family. He remembered what his father had said to him: "Only when you become strong can you protect the people you want to protect and be qualified to get what you want."
See you in Kyoto! I'll be back soon.
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