My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 41 The Mi Family Father and Daughter (Fourth update, please support!)
Hearing her father's criticism, Mi Fang lowered her head and admitted her mistake: "Yes, Father, I will remember."

But no one knows a son better than his father. How could Mi Zeng not see that Mi Fang's apology was merely out of respect for his father, and not because he had truly taken his words to heart?

But he couldn't do anything about it. He had taught Mi Fang the same things countless times, but Mi Fang just couldn't change.

Mi Zeng was indeed worried that this would cause Mi Fang to suffer a major setback in the future.

Mi Zeng then asked, "What happened?"

Mi Fang raised her head, her face showing a complex expression of excitement and worry, but her movements were very excited.

He stepped forward and placed the wooden box in his hand on the table in front of Mi Zeng, attracting the attention of Mi Zeng and the young girl beside him.

"Second brother, what's in here?"

It turns out that this beautiful young woman was none other than Mi Zeng's beloved daughter, born in his later years, the younger sister of Mi Zhu and Mi Fang, and the historical Lady Mi Yue.

From birth, Mi Yue was always loved and pampered by her father Mi Zeng and her brothers Mi Zhu and Mi Fang. She was truly treated like a precious treasure.

Therefore, Mi Yue, who is now thirteen years old, is still not engaged and stays by Mi Zeng's side to accompany her elderly father.

Mi Zhu once sent back news that Tao Qian, the former governor of Xuzhou, had asked for a marriage proposal for his second son, wanting to arrange for him to marry Mi Yue.

Upon hearing this, Mi Zeng flew into a rage and wrote a letter to Mi Zhu, vehemently criticizing him for not cherishing his own sister and for daring to recommend someone like Tao Ying to him.

He further accused Mi Zhu of abandoning the bond between father and son, brother and sister, in order to secure the position of a separate official, and of trying to use his sister to consolidate his own position.
After receiving the letter, Mi Zhu was stunned by his father's scolding.

He didn't genuinely want to marry Mi Yue to Tao Ying.

Since they were both from Tancheng County, how could Mi Zhu not know what kind of person Tao Ying was?

However, he was, after all, the assistant prefect appointed by Tao Qian. Tao Qian was his superior and patron, both in name and in reality.

This kind of status held a very high moral and ethical position in the Han Dynasty. Fortunately, Tao Qian knew his son's character and was also wary of the Mi family's power, so he could only hint at it to Mi Zhu and dared not directly propose marriage.

If you were to directly propose marriage and be rejected, that would mean things would completely fall apart.

Tao Qian still felt he couldn't live without the Mi family. He hinted to Mi Zhu that his goal was to form a marriage alliance with the Mi family and win them over to his side, rather than forcing them to become enemies.

Since Mi Zeng directly opposed it, Tao Qian had no choice but to give up.

"Father, little sister, look."

Mi Fang kept everyone in suspense, then opened the wooden box, revealing the snow salt and rock sugar inside.

"what?"

Mi Zeng, who had been indifferent, suddenly became interested and propped up his fat body to take a closer look.

Mi Fang and Mi Yue quickly stepped forward to help their father, afraid that he might accidentally fall.

The millet steamer observed for a moment, then picked up a little bit and tasted it.

"Is this snow salt and frosting sugar?"

Mi Fang quickly replied, "It's snow salt, but this sugar seems to be called rock sugar."

"Rock candy, is it?"

Mi Zeng nodded. What's the difference between frosting sugar and rock sugar?

Afterwards, Mi Zeng relaxed again and leaned back on the armrest.

"The quality of this batch of snow salt and frost... and rock sugar is much better than what we've purchased before."

Mi Zeng sighed, "I just put it in my mouth and there was no strange taste at all."

"The snow salt has a pure and mellow flavor, salty and fresh with a slightly bitter taste, rather than the sour and astringent taste of the past. As for the rock sugar, it is even more sweet and pleasant, as pure and sweet as its name suggests." After expressing his feelings, Mi Zeng looked at his son and asked, "Where did you get this from? Don't worry about the money. Such good things are hard to come by. Take as much as you can get, and let the other party set the price."

At this point, Mi Zeng suddenly seemed to remember something: "By the way, your elder brother is in Tancheng. Send someone to deliver these to him and have him distribute them to Prefect Liu, the Chief Administrator, the Chief Clerk, and others. Your elder brother is not a scholar, and serving as the Prefectural Governor will easily attract jealousy. He should make more friends. Only with more friends can he suppress the rumors."

Mi Fang smiled bitterly to herself, thinking that although her father had retired, he still cared about the two brothers.

He felt no jealousy whatsoever; he simply recounted the whole story.

"what?"

Even someone as experienced and old as Mi Zeng was so shocked at this moment that he lost his composure.

He straightened up from the armchair again and pulled Mi Fang to confirm it once more.

After receiving an affirmative answer, Mi Zeng relaxed for the second time and slowly leaned back on the armrest.

A moment later, Mi Zeng stretched out his hand towards Mi Fang: "Where is your brother's letter?"

Mi Fang dared not delay and quickly took out the silk book from her bosom and handed it to Mi Zeng.

Open the steamer and begin reading.

At this moment, Mi Zeng had completely calmed down, and the entire silk scroll did not cause his expression to fluctuate again.

After reading it, Mi Zeng squinted and fell into deep thought.

Mi Fang and Mi Yue waited quietly to the side. Even though Mi Yue was favored, she did not make a sound to disturb Mi Zeng.

After a while, Mi Zeng slowly placed the silk book on the table in front of him. Mi Yue took one look, reached out her little hand, picked up the silk book, and began to read it.

Mi Zeng pretended not to see it and instead asked Mi Fang, "Have you read your brother's letter?"

Mi Fang replied respectfully, "I have already seen it."

Mi Zeng savored the wine again, casually asking, "Well, what's your opinion?"

Mi Fang hesitated for a moment, but after a moment, she answered truthfully: "When I first saw the letter, I felt that my brother might have been coerced by Magistrate Liu..."

"Pshaw, coercion? Haha."

Mi Zeng chuckled and pointed his left finger at Mi Fang: "Zifang, what are you trying to hide in front of your father? Do you think your brother has lost his mind?"

"How dare Fang slander her brother like this?"

Mi Fang lowered her head awkwardly: "It's just... it's just that the amount of supplies and money my brother needs, especially the amount of grain, is just too huge. I'm just worried that my brother will be deceived..."

"Humph!"

Mi Zeng snorted coldly, which startled Mi Fang so much that she trembled and quickly shut her mouth and lowered her head.

But after Mi Zeng snorted, he did not rebuke him. Instead, he sighed and said, "Zifang, you are far inferior to your elder brother."

Mi Fang's face burned, and she stammered, "I dare not compare myself to my elder brother."

Mi Zeng continued in a gentle tone, "You are impulsive, but your vision is not long-term. You have some cleverness, but you are also careless. You just said you were worried that your brother would be deceived. As your father, I am really worried that you will be deceived in the future and become a scapegoat."

Mi Fang knelt down with a thud: "Your son is incompetent and has disappointed his father."

Seeing Mi Fang kneeling on the ground, Mi Yue felt a pang of heartache. Her bright eyes looked at Mi Zeng, wanting to plead for Mi Fang.

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(End of this chapter)