The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

Cui's mother was a decisive woman, unlike ordinary women who would only cry and whine and blindly obey their husbands.

Therefore, even though Cui Ling has reached his current official position, his mother still carries a lot of weight in the household, and Cui Ling respects her ideas.

Seeing her daughter so disappointing, Cui's mother felt both heartache and frustration:

"You, you, you're just deluding yourself. There's a saying, 'The falling flower is willing, but the flowing water is heartless.' You've been to school, so you definitely understand this better than I do. A young lady like you can't just throw yourself at someone, can you? Besides, what kind of family are we? Your father is a high-ranking official. We're no worse off than the Zhang family. Now that their family has already gone to the Li family to propose marriage, and the two families have already made an agreement, I think you should stop daydreaming about this and just wait patiently to enter the palace!"

Since learning of the engagement between the two families, Cui Rong had been crying her eyes out, her eyes so swollen she could barely open them. Hearing this, she seemed even more shocked, crying out loudly:

"You all kept telling me to be modest like a young lady and to wait until after his imperial examination, but what happened? We waited and waited, and he's already engaged! I think you did it on purpose, you deliberately didn't want me to marry him, you wanted me to enter the palace to bring you wealth and glory, right?!"

Upon hearing this, Cui's mother sighed and did not refute. She took the hot towel from the servant and personally applied it to her daughter's eyes, saying, "My child, you are my own flesh and blood. How could I not love you and not want you to live a good life?"

I admit, your father and I did have those thoughts, but who are we doing this for? We're not doing it for ourselves. Your father and I are both so old, we're practically ankle-deep in the grave, what are we afraid of?! We're doing this for you and your brother, you know that?

And I'm not afraid to tell you the truth: your father may seem powerful in court, but his situation is actually precarious! The reality isn't what you see. Even if I were willing to let you marry into the Zhang family, it would depend on whether the Zhang family is willing to form a marriage alliance with us! If they were interested, they would have sent someone to sound them out long ago. Why would they wait until now to propose to the Li family? This shows that they have no intention of marrying into our family at all. How can you not see that?!

"Hmph, to put it bluntly, all you're doing this for your little brother," Cui Rong said, unmoved by the superficial warmth, lost in her own sorrow.

Seeing this, Cui's mother became somewhat annoyed and her face turned cold. "It's all because your father and I spoiled you. What kind of behavior is this? Marriage has always been arranged by parents and matchmakers. How can you have the right to pick and choose?"

Seeing that her mother was angry but not afraid, Cui Rong wiped away her tears and, as if she were going all out, spoke without any restraint:

"Heh, why can't you keep up the act after just a short while? Trying to use filial piety to suppress me again? All that talk about loving and caring for me is fake! I'm just a pawn for your profit-making. Why did you and your younger brother go to Yangyuan County back then, and why didn't you take me with you? Do you think I really didn't know? I was just pretending not to know. In the end, all you care about is your son!"

Upon hearing this, Cui's mother was stunned for a moment: "You!..."

She quickly composed herself and said calmly, "No matter what you say, the food, clothes, and necessities that the family has given you over the past ten years are all genuine. Every daughter goes through this, and I did too. Why can't you?"

Back when her father married her off to Cui Ling, he was gambling on her future. He didn't care whether his daughter would live a good life or not. If it weren't for her, how could her brother have gotten the lucrative position of magistrate of Yangyuan County?

Cui Rong sneered and retorted, "Since you treat raising a daughter like a business investment, don't expect a guaranteed return. Even business investments can result in total loss, so how can raising a daughter be a sure-fire way to make money? There's no such thing as a free lunch. I used to be young, and I believed whatever you said, but now I'm grown up. I've been to school, I can think for myself, I know what's right and wrong, and I know what I want!"

Speechless, Cui's mother was both furious and helpless.

"The matter is settled now, there's no point in saying more, just think about it carefully yourself!"

After saying that, he got up and left.

After leaving the house, he gestured to his left and right to lock the door, and whispered, "Keep a close eye on Miss. If anything happens to her, I will hold you all responsible!"

When Cui Ling returned from his shift that evening and heard about the incident, he immediately slammed his fist on the table in anger: "This is outrageous! I've been feeding and taking care of her all these years, and in the end, she's the one who's ungrateful! Good riddance! Let her suffer a bit so she'll learn her lesson!"

After listening, Madam Cui nodded, then added, "Letting her suffer a little is fine, but we can't really torment her. That stubborn girl is like that; I don't know who she takes after, but she's so sharp-tongued. One sentence from me can be ten sentences from me. When I took He'er to Yangyuan County to seek refuge, I didn't take her with me, and she knows it perfectly well. She holds a grudge against us! Besides, she'll be going to the palace later. We can't really ruin our relationship. A slap followed by a sweet treat is enough to appease her!"

Cui Ling found this reasonable and instructed, "Then you'll handle this matter. Get that girl under control as soon as possible. Stop causing trouble every day and making her think she's someone important. Without me, what is she? She wouldn't even be able to get into the palace!"

Thinking of the troubles in the court, the increasingly eccentric and difficult-to-please Zhou Pu, and the covetous eyes of Zhang Ping'an and Li Chong, he felt extremely irritable and couldn't sleep well day and night, which was even more tiring than when he was charging into battle.

Thinking of this, Cui Lingzhen felt extremely bitter. Pinching her throbbing temples, she scolded again, "Look at you! You stay at home all day, doing nothing. You can't even teach your children properly. What can I expect from you? I'm not like other families with three wives and four concubines, or a bunch of children. I've saved you so much trouble. Let me tell you, I may look powerful in court now, but I'm not having an easy time. If I fall, none of you will have a good outcome!"

Normally, Cui's mother would have immediately retorted and argued back, but today she saw that Cui Ling was really angry and didn't want to add fuel to the fire. In addition, she was also feeling depressed, so she didn't bother to say anything.

After Cui Ling finished speaking, he didn't stay long and went straight to the concubine's room.

A few days later, at the next morning court session, the new Minister of Revenue was finally appointed after discussions between Zhou Pu and the cabinet, with Li Chong taking over the post.

Upon hearing this, Cui Ling felt both disappointed and distressed.