Chapter 201 – The Old Madam is from a Scholarly Family (part 15)

Ling Er smiled honestly. “If you are willing, then we are willing too. If the two of them are willing to study, and they have the heart to learn, I have to help them study. But the two of them are really not cut out for it. It is expected that as a father, I can only find another way for them. Following Li Yuan is one way. Our families are old acquaintances, and we know each other well, so you can rest assured. If they follow Li Yuan to learn, there will be a way out in the future. ”

Li Yu looked at Li Su. Li Su thought for a while. “Have you discussed this with Anniang? What about A-Ping himself? Have you asked for his opinion?”

Ling Er was stunned. Did they still want to ask for A-Ping’s opinion? Shouldn’t the adults agree to this?

When Li Su saw this, she knew that he had not asked for Ling Ping’s opinion. “You ask for A-Ping’s opinion first. If A-Ping is willing, then we are willing. If A-Ping is unwilling, then there is no need to force him. Children have their own ideas, and parents should also properly respect their opinions.”

Seeing that Li Yu also had the same thoughts, Ling Er scratched his head. People who read a lot were really different. But since auntie said it, he went back and asked.

To Ling Er’s surprise, Ling Ping was unwilling. He wanted to stay at home and learn carpentry from his father. It was Ling An who wanted to be a book boy for Li Yuan.

Ling Er was also very speechless in the face of such a result, He walked back and forth in the room several times, angrily. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?!”

Ling Ping and Ling An looked at each other. Ling Ping muttered, “You never asked us.”

Ling Er glared at him. “Could it be my fault?”

It was! Ling Ping muttered in his heart.

In the end, Ling Er had to go to Li family’s house again in embarrassment. Li Su was mentally prepared for this. Earlier when the two boys of the Ling family were studying in the Li family, she could see that Ling Ping was a fool who didn’t know how to adapt and stick to the rules. He preferred there was little change. On the contrary, the second child, Ling An, had a lively temperament. He was clever and knew how to be flexible. So when it came to Ling Er, Li Su knew that if one of the two boys in the Ling family was willing to be a book boy for Yuan’er, it would be Ling An and not Ling Ping.

“Since the child is willing, then it’s settled. There is no need to rush over these days. I will wait until this side is cleaned up and then tell you.” Li Su smiled.

Ling Er nodded. It just so happened that Anshu was at home, so he let his second son and Anshu learn more on how to be good book boys.

Yang Anshu was also very happy to learn that his second nephew was going to be a book boy for brother Yuan. “It just so happens that uncle and nephew can also take care of each other.” After he came back, he returned the 10 taels of silver the old lady gave before he left to the old lady, but the old lady didn’t ask for it, saying that he took good care of uncle this time. The 10 taels of silver was his reward. He was given another month off to rest well.

Yang Anshu didn’t know until he got home that his parents showed him a marriage. They had taken advantage of this time to arrange a marriage.

With money, everything was easy. His parents and a few older sisters took care of the marriage. Instead, Yang Anshu became the most idle one. It so happened that second brother-in-law brought his nephew. Yang Anshu began to teach his nephew how to become an excellent book boy.

A month later, Li Yu personally sent his son to Qingcheng Academy to study. After returning, he began to study behind closed doors.

Time flew and four years passed in a flash.

Three years ago, Li Yu took the provincial exam again and failed. Li Yu did not lose heart and continued to work hard. Finally, three years later, he passed the provincial exam in 52nd place.

In the same year, Li Yuan passed the county-level exam at the age of twelve and became a scholar.

Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief after learning that he had passed the provincial exam. If he didn’t pass this time, then it would have been a real shame.

After Li Yu passed the provincial exam, he did not celebrate, but prepared to go to the capital to participate in the metropolitan exam in February next year.

The Li family, Li Su, her daughter-in-law, and granddaughter were preparing the items Li Yu would bring to the capital to take part in the exam. Twelve-year-old Li Ru was as beautiful and refined as a flower. Even Li Su, a person who had seen a lot of beauties, was stunned when she saw Li Ru today.

Li Yu and Yingniang were both good looking, but Li Ru was obviously better. Even her twin brother was not as good-looking as her. Li Yuan was a little worried about his current appearance. However, every time he went out, he would attract the attention of countless young ladies.

But also because of Li Ru’s appearance, the Li family was a little worried, especially Li Yu and Li Yuan. What if such a good daughter/younger sister was robbed by an unsightly villain one day?

This was also one of the motivations that stimulated Li Yu and Li Yuan to study and improve.

Wet Nurse Yan was somewhat satisfied with this. Although she had never taught young miss Ru over the years, she had seen her growth. The Li family’s young miss Ru had been brought up very well. Although she liked to do some light reading, she still had good etiquette.

In the past few years, after she learned the good news that the eldest prince had married, she understood what the eldest prince meant. The eldest prince probably wanted to take young miss Ru as his concubine. Now it seems that the identity of young miss Ru was obviously enough. She had a father who passed the provincial exam and an elder brother who passed the county exam. She had a clean and refined appearance and would be qualified to be a concubine in the future. This was the case, right?

Wet Nurse Yan thought with little confidence.

Wet Nurse Yan didn’t quite understand the eldest prince’s intentions when he asked her to come over. How old was young miss Ru at the time? But most wealthy people always had one or two problems that could not be tolerated in the world. The eldest prince was probably one of them.

In order to please the eldest prince, Wet Nurse Yan also painted a portrait of young miss Ru and sent it to the eldest prince.

In Prince Kang’s mansion, Zhao Zongqing just had a quarrel with Jinlin. He was tired and sitting in the study when the portrait sent by Wet Nurse Yan arrived. He opened it, and his memory seemed to return to his previous life.

In the last life, he and Ru’er also spent a good time together. When he thought about it now, the corners of his mouth rose subconsciously.

But Zhao Zongqing immediately remembered Jinlin was a jealous person. He became troubled again. If Jinlin saw this portrait, then she would definitely do something. It would be bad if it spoiled his plans.

Zhao Zongqing glanced at the portrait a few more times before burning it.

Looking at the flames burning the paper, Zhao Zongqing fell into contemplation. Why was he still the same him, but Jinlin was not the same? They met a few years in advance and came together as he wished, but this life was different from before. Except for the fact that he still had no children, everything was different from his previous life.

Where did it go wrong?

Zhao Zongqing didn’t understand.

The only change was probably that in the last life, Jinlin had taken the initiative to chase him. In the last life, he guarded the frontier by himself, which coincided with the civil strife in Xiluo where he was ordered to assist Queen Xiluo to quell the chaos. He wasn’t sure when Jinlin saw him, but she pursued him all the time. When royal uncle called her back, Jinlin abandoned her identity as a princess to follow him.

He was moved by her true feelings, and after that, they got together smoothly. Apart from having no children, they were doing fine. For his sake, Jinlin never returned to Xiluo country in her life.

In this life, it was him who actively pursued Jinlin. Because he felt bad for Jinlin in his previous life, he had to make up for it in this life. With the help of Queen Xiluo and Jinlin’s elder sister, they still got together. When he returned to Daqi, Jinlin also went back with him.

But he didn’t expect that there would be so many problems. The two of them clearly loved each other, but there were so many issues.

Jin Lin was not able to fully integrate into Daqi’s life, and her father and concubine mother also had a lot of dissatisfaction. In addition, Jinlin was a very jealous person. As long as he talked to other women, Jinlin would lose her temper regardless of the occasion.

Zhao Zongqing didn’t understand what was going on! This kind of life made him very tired.

“Eldest prince, the county princess is back. The princess ordered this servant to invite you over,” Xiao Jia said outside the study door.

When Zhao Zongqing heard that his eldest sister was coming, his head hurt even more. In this life, he took action in time to prevent his eldest brother-in-law from being killed, and the relationship with his eldest sister improved. Eldest sister would not become a widow, and naturally she would not take a fancy to Li Yu. Eldest sister’s tragedy should have been avoided. But his eldest sister and Jinlin quarreled as soon as they met. He wasn’t sure if they had some sort of conflict in his previous life. Eldest sister said that Jinlin didn’t understand the rules, and Jinlin said that the eldest sister was nosy. Really…

In fact, Zhao Shuning, county princess Qinghe, did not live up to her name at all1. She was not well-read and did not have a peaceful temperament. She was the eldest daughter of Prince Kang and Princess Kang, and the eldest granddaughter of the imperial grandmother. The imperial grandmother brought her into the palace when she was born, which made her a veritable daughter of heaven. Before she was born, His Majesty and Prince Kang’s two sons were declining! After she was born, His Majesty had a son on the left and a daughter on the right. In a few years, he had eight sons and five daughters and all of them survived. The imperial grandmother directly said that it was all the good luck brought by county princess Qinghe to the imperial family.

Later, it was the imperial grandmother who saw that her younger son had never had an heir, so she asked county princess Qinghe to return to the Prince Kang’s residence for a few months. It was also during this period that Princess Kang successfully became pregnant. This further confirmed the blessing of county princess Qinghe. After Princess Kang gave birth to her son, county princess Qinghe was taken to the palace again. After that, she had been living back and forth between the palace and Prince Kang’s mansion.

She was favored in the royal family, and the ordinary princesses were not as favored as her, except for the princess Anguo, who was the direct descendant of the empress. Princess Anguo was the only one who could compete with her. But Princess Anguo was only eight years old this year.

As soon as Zhao Shuning saw Zhao Zongqing, she looked away. The wet nurse behind her brought a pile of drawing paper over. “Look, these are the concubine candidates that the imperial grandmother and I have chosen for you, and they all look good and their family backgrounds are not bad. They are worthy of being your concubine. You can choose a few and imperial grandmother will give you marriage decrees.”

The veins on Zhao Zongqing’s forehead popped. He could imagine that, if Jinlin heard this, she would definitely be furious. He couldn’t bear to think about this too much. There was a sound of gold and jade hitting the floor behind him. He turned his head and saw that Jinlin had stepped in and was glaring at Zhao Shuning.

“Eldest sister,” Zhao Zongqing pleaded.

“What are you afraid of? She’s been here for three years and has nothing to come out of. It’s already considered giving face to the country of Xiluo, and she is still so clueless!” Zhao Shuning rolled her eyes. She had never been afraid of anyone in her life. The first princess from the Central Palace had to respectfully call her eldest sister when she saw her. Jinlin was only a princess from a small country. If it wasn’t for her younger brother’s sake, who would dare to talk to Jinlin in the entire Daqi noble circle?!

1.(書寧) Shuning: roughly translates to read/script and peaceful/tranquil.