Quick Wear: Men Farming and Women Weaving

After returning to Li's house, he distributed the snacks to the servants. After a while, the county magistrate sent someone to deliver a gift to congratulate him on passing the examination.

People nearby heard the news and sent gifts, or wealthy businessmen gave gold and silver.

Old Man Jia was very experienced. He would send away those who sent valuable items, and would take some inexpensive things, register them in the book according to the young master's request, and then give gifts in return.

Excited voices came from the courtyard of the Qian family in Shiqiao Village.

"Third Grandfather, when I went to the county to look for work, I heard that my cousin passed the imperial examination."

"Do you think we should go over to congratulate them?"

"If people from the surrounding villages knew that Li Xiucai was my cousin, they would not dare to offend us."

Third Uncle was sitting on a wooden stool. When he heard that Lanlan's son had passed the imperial examination, he thought about how to get in touch with him to make life at home better.

“We will continue to live as usual”

"Changgui will definitely pay homage to his mother after passing the imperial examination."

“Just a little care will do.”

After listening to what Third Uncle said, I calmed down and calmed down.

Li Changgui receives different readers every day at Li’s house in North City who come to exchange their reading experiences.

Feeling a little annoyed, he wanted to avoid these people, so he told Sanbao to pack up and go back to his old house in the countryside to stay for a few days.

He told Old Man Jia to explain to people outside that he had to go out for something and was unable to receive guests when he was guarding the door.

The horse was parked in front of the gate of the Li family’s old house in Shanghe Village.

The villagers who heard the noise came out one after another. When they saw the carriage at the gate of the mansion, they knew that Li Xiucai, who had just passed the exam, had returned. The aunts and grandmas brought their own crops to the door as gifts and were very enthusiastic towards the master and servant. They couldn't refuse the enthusiastic villagers and accepted them as they were just some vegetables.

Sanbao went to the kitchen in the yard to clean up and moved all the vegetables in.

During these few days, Li Changgui paid homage to his grandmother's family and had a few words with his third uncle's family. He did not reject their closeness.

I lived in the old house in Shanghe Village for five days, but the villagers were so enthusiastic that I couldn't stay any longer and returned to the city.

I read and write every day, or receive students who come to discuss academic matters.

Three years later

Li Changgui observed mourning for his father and ate vegetarian food for three years. In his last days, he invited several neighbors and Qian's relatives to a small funeral ceremony.

"Master, the watermelons we planted are ripe. We brought back a carload of more than 30." Sanbao came in and told the master that this year's watermelon harvest was a good one.

"Send one to each neighbor nearby," Li Changgui instructed him.

Two years ago, Sanbao was freed from slavery by the young master and married a local peasant girl. He now has a son.

During these three years, he did not continue to take part in the provincial examinations. He was not keen on becoming an official, and just to avoid corvee labor, he stopped at the scholar stage.

Li Changgui was far away in Suzhou, but he also received news from the Li Mansion in the capital. His stepmother, Madam Zhao, had arranged a marriage for his eldest brother. The woman was the youngest daughter of Lord Zhou, the Minister of Rites in the imperial court, and had been his father's superior. After negotiation between his stepmother and stepmother, the deal was confirmed, and Madam Zhao would come to present the betrothal gift after his eldest brother had finished mourning.

The Zhao family used their connections and spent a lot of money to buy an official position for Li Changyu to help him in the Ministry of History. He worked as an assistant in the Ministry of Works. Otherwise, his father-in-law would not have looked down on him. If he had not loved his youngest daughter, who was spoiled to be naive and ignorant, and whose mother and grandmother spoiled her to be arrogant and straightforward, she would not have been suitable to marry into a wealthy family. Among the officials they knew, the old lady of the Zhao family introduced them to Li Changyu, who had a simple family background.

Mrs. Zhao also sent a special letter to Li Changgui, telling him about Li Changyu's wedding and coming to the capital to attend the wedding banquet at the Li Mansion.

Li Changgui looked at the invitation that came with the letter and saw that the wedding date was in mid-August.

When the elder brother of the legitimate branch gets married, as a concubine's son, he must go to the capital to attend the wedding banquet, otherwise it would be disrespectful to his elder brother.

There is still one month left.

Li Changgui ordered Sanbao to pack his luggage, prepare to go to Beijing to attend his eldest brother's wedding, and arrange all matters at home.

In order to reach the capital earlier, they planned to take the water route. They found a cargo ship in Suzhou City Caoyun and stopped at Nanning, the nearest city to the capital. It would take only one day to reach the capital by horse carriage.

After the route was determined, the gift was also prepared, which was a white jade Qilin delivering a child.

Three days later, Sanbao got on the cabin arranged by the Sun family's cargo ship, and with two servants behind him, he packed the bed and personal belongings.

The cargo ship sailed all the way to the capital, and after two days, it finally arrived at Nanning. Sanbao and his companions had never been on a ship before, and they were vomiting with pale faces.

Only Li Changgui looked a little better, but he was feeling a little unwell.

I didn't eat much in two days, just a little dry food.

Without wasting any time, he found a car dealership and rented a horse-drawn carriage.

We arrived at the gate of the capital city at noon the next day, and were allowed to pass after queuing and being searched.

Li Changgui brought Sanbao and two servants to the house they had obtained through the division of the family property.

The environment inside had become quite dilapidated, so Sanbao took people to clean up the master bedroom and let the young master rest first.

Arrange for someone to go to the restaurant outside and buy the dishes that the young master likes and bring them back.

After a night's rest, I asked someone to come and clean the house the next morning and cleared out all the unwanted things.

Sanbao very skillfully invited a lot of people to clean the yard and bought a lot of kitchen pots and pans.

After Li Changgui recovered his spirit, he wrote a visiting card and sent it to Li's house.

Mrs. Zhao from the Li Mansion received the visiting card and saw that the illegitimate son Li Changgui had already arrived in the capital.

He instructed Li Ma Ma beside him to reply to the visiting card and to inform Li Changyu, who had just returned from his shift, not to go out tomorrow.

Li Changyu was a little unhappy. Tomorrow was a day off from work. Since he became a minor official, he was watched by his father-in-law outside and his mother at home. Only Miss Hongyu from Baihua Tower could gently comfort him. She was not like his father-in-law's daughter who was willful and would look for him whenever she was free. She would speak harshly to him if he did not do what she wanted. So he could only stand beside her and bow his head.

The next day, Li Changgui returned to the Li Mansion. The place where he grew up had long become an unfamiliar environment.

Arrived at the meeting place in the front yard.

"Greetings, mother." Li Changgui bowed and greeted his eldest brother.

"Your eldest brother will be getting married in seven days, and you can go with him to welcome the bride then." Madam Zhao didn't want her illegitimate son to be an eyesore, but she thought that if she let her son go alone to welcome the bride, the other party might think that the Li family had no one.

During this period, the other illegitimate sons often came to show their courtesy and said they wanted to help with the wedding banquet.

In the past three years, they had been to the Zhao family and other in-laws' residences in the capital with their eldest brother, and were looked down upon by the direct descendants. They could not fit into their circle, and their emotions were full of embarrassment behind their eldest brother.

Later, they also realized their own status and could only flatter their stepmother and eldest brother, hoping to get some things or gold and silver to make their lives better.