Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

"Big Brother, how did you know we would arrive this afternoon?"

When Zhu Yuchun and his companions left the city, they took two carriages in total. On the way back, Liang Jingcheng rode in the same carriage with his senior brother Zhu Yuchun and Zhu Shan and his son. The other three children all ran to squeeze into the same carriage with Mr. Cai and Ye Changyan. Zhao Mubai, Ji Yunting and Wang Xinkuan and their fellow disciples rode in another carriage.

Liang Jingcheng and his senior brother Zhu Yuchun had not seen each other for a year and were very close. After some care and greetings, Liang Jingcheng looked at Zhu Yuchun in confusion.

"When you arrived at Guangyang Prefecture, the teacher sent me a message. Xinkuan asserted that you would arrive this afternoon, but Geang said that you would arrive tomorrow afternoon."

"Fourth Senior Brother is asking you to make a bet again?"

"I bet fifty taels on Ge'ang to win. Mu Bai and Yun Ting also bet on Ge'ang to win. They bet more than I did, and you know the result."

"What is the bet of Fourth Senior Brother? Why did he let you bet everything on Fifth Senior Brother?"

"Xinkuan asked us to take a leave for this afternoon. If you don't arrive this afternoon, you can invite our four families to Fanlou for a meal tonight. Whoever wins the bet can order two dishes of their favorite. If you come back this afternoon, Geang will pay for this meal."

"No wonder, you guys deserved to lose."

The three carriages entered the south city gate and headed straight towards Cai's mansion in Shigu Lane.

When Zhu Yuchun and his fellow disciples saw Mr. Cai's carriage coming back, they sent people back to inform their families.

At this time, the families of Zhu Yuchun and his fellow apprentices were also rushing towards Shigu Lane.

The size of Shengjing City was beyond Ye Changyan's imagination. The carriage entered the city from the South Gate and it took more than half an hour to reach Shigu Lane.

Shigu Lane is close to the imperial city, and most of the people living around it are officials from Shengjing City. It is roughly located in the southeast corner outside the imperial city.

The carriage stopped at Cai's Mansion in Shigu Lane, and the housekeeper and several servants were waiting at the door.

"Welcome back to the mansion, Master, the Sixth Young Master, and the Seventh Young Master!"

Seeing Mr. Cai being supported by a young man and getting off the carriage, with a large group of people surrounding him, the servants and managers of the Cai Mansion all welcomed him warmly.

Then several servants came forward to help move things from the carriage.

Ye Changyan looked up and saw a plaque with the words "Cai Mansion" hanging high on the gate. It seemed that after nearly a month's journey, they had finally reached their destination.

The group entered through the main gate and then saw several women and maids waiting for them in the main hall.

After some introductions, Ye Changyan realized that these women were the families of several of his senior fellow brothers, namely Zhu Yuchun's wife Ma, Zhao Mubai's wife Liao, Ji Yunting's wife He, and Lu Ge'ang's wife Li.

Among them was Zhu Yuchun’s wife, Ma, and next to her stood a somewhat shy little girl who looked about two or three years old.

Zhao Mubai's wife, Liao, was holding a little girl who was learning to walk.

Ji Yunting's wife, He, was holding a sleeping baby boy in her arms.

Although Lu Ge'ang's wife, Li, was wearing thick clothes, it was obvious that she was pregnant. Next to her, a woman dressed as a maid was holding a little boy of two or three years old, who kept looking at Ye Changyan.

Ye Changyan smacked his tongue at the little boy and teased him. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that his sect was really prosperous.

The group sat down in the main hall, chatting and laughing, and Ye Changyan secretly winked at Liang Jingcheng.

"I don't know the housekeeper well. Please help me bring the sandalwood box over, and then ask someone to bring the two mahogany boxes over as well."

Soon, Liang Jingcheng brought out a sandalwood box, and two servants followed behind Liang Jingcheng, each holding a mahogany box. When Mr. Cai saw Ye Changyan taking the box from Liang Jingcheng, he greeted everyone.

"Everyone look here, your junior brother has brought gifts for the children."

When the children heard about the gifts, they all looked at Ye Changyan excitedly, and the sisters-in-law also turned their eyes to Ye Changyan at the same time.

"I didn't know what the children liked, so I gave each of them a gold lock."

As he spoke, Ye Changyan opened the sandalwood box, and saw a golden glitter inside, filled with golden locks as big as a baby's fist.

Fu Baoer was the first to jump forward cheering. Ye Changyan picked up one and hung it around Fu Baoer's neck, then asked Fu Baoer to help distribute gold locks to his younger brothers and sisters.

Children like Shanbao, Guangdi and Furong were a little embarrassed to take it. It was only after Mr. Cai spoke that the children politely thanked Ye Changyan and then politely took the gold lock handed to them by Ye Changyan.

Then Ye Changyan opened one of the mahogany boxes, which was filled with white porcelain bottles.

"I have prepared some gifts for my sisters-in-law. I hope they will not dislike it."

As he spoke, Ye Changyan took out two porcelain bottles, one large and one small, from the mahogany box and looked at his sisters-in-law.

"This big porcelain bottle contains hydrosol, and the small porcelain bottle contains perfume. There are five scents in total: orange blossom, osmanthus, winter plum, jasmine, and yellow jasmine. I don't know which one you sisters-in-law like, so please choose for yourselves."

Several women at the scene were stunned. In the past six months, a new fragrance called hydrosol and perfume has become popular among the wealthy ladies in Shengjing.

Although Ye Changyan's senior brothers were officials of the fifth or sixth rank in Shengjing, their families had only heard of this kind of fragrance. They did not expect Ye Changyan to take out a box of it at once.

"Junior brother, I heard that a kind of fragrance called hydrosol and perfume is becoming popular among the noble ladies in the capital. However, it is said that this hydrosol and perfume come from the Fu Yu Zhen Yan Zhi Lou. The ladies of ordinary wealthy families have never even seen the shadow of this hydrosol and perfume."

Wang Xinkuan also heard it by accident from a colleague. The colleague said that his wife went to a party and heard some wives and daughters of noble families discussing a kind of fragrance called hydrosol and perfume.

"Junior brother, your hydrosol and perfume are the same things that are popular among the noble ladies in Shengjing City?"

When Mr. Cai and Liang Jingcheng heard what Wang Xinkuan said, they were a little uneasy. They didn't expect that the pure water and perfume made by Ye Changyan had become popular in Shengjing City, thousands of miles away.

But Ye Changyan smiled and nodded calmly.

"Then where did you buy it, little brother? Do you have an acquaintance in Fu Yu Zhen Yan Zhi Lou?"

Hearing Wang Xinkuan's question, Ye Changyan just smiled and shook his head.

"Fourth Senior Brother, please forgive me. The origin of this pure water and perfume needs to be kept secret for the time being."