The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

Before Yun Yi returned home, the news that he had passed the imperial examination and even became the top scholar reached Lu Linlang's ears.

"That's great. Master Yun has passed the imperial examination this time. In my opinion, our whole village should hold a big party to celebrate for him. He is the first juren in our village, and it will also be an encouragement to the children." The clan leader was overjoyed when he heard the news.

Yunyi's household registration is in Xishan Village, which means he is a real Xishan Villager. Moreover, he also passed the imperial examination and became a Juren. I heard that the county will allocate money to build a Juren archway, which is the pride of their Xishan Village.

"Then I'll ask the clan leader to take care of this matter. I'll be grateful for your help. I'll pay for it. This is a big happy event for our village and we should celebrate it."

Lu Linlang directly gave the opportunity to the clan leader and others to handle this matter. They had experienced various difficulties over the years since coming to Xishan Village, and now there was finally a big happy event for the people of Xishan Village, which was just right to make the whole village lively.

"Okay, okay, I will definitely take care of it and won't let you down."

"Chief, there is one thing we must pay attention to. That is, we cannot accept large gifts, especially those from people with ulterior motives. Otherwise, it will hinder the future of Yunyi and cause trouble. So, I will assign someone to be responsible for accepting gifts. They will decide what to accept and what not to accept."

"That's right. I'm happy, but I can't ruin Master Yun's career."

Soon the whole village knew about the good news. When they saw Lu Linlang, they would first congratulate her. Then they thought that their own children were taught by Master Yun. If their children could become as successful as Master Yun in the future, they would be able to comfort their ancestors.

When Yunyi returned, the villagers had already received the news in advance. All the men, women, young and old in the village stopped doing anything else and all went to the village entrance. The clan leader was even more excited and asked people to find a few people to play suona and beat gongs. When Yunyi entered the village, firecrackers were set off and gongs and drums were beaten, making a loud noise.

"The successful candidate of our village has returned home. Congratulations to Mr. Yun. He will be a successful candidate in the future. He has brought honor to our village!" The clan leader shouted loudly, and the others followed suit.

"Thank you all, let's celebrate together. I have finally lived up to the kindness of my fellow villagers. I was able to win this time thanks to the support of my fellow villagers." Yun Yi walked out and saluted everyone.

"Brother, you are so awesome! People from the county have already come to congratulate you with drums and gongs before you even get home." Yunxi looked at her brother's joyful expression and came forward with her sisters to say something.

"Sister, I finally lived up to your expectations. I passed the imperial examination successfully and returned safely." Yun Yu patted Yun Xi's shoulder and walked up to Lu Linlang.

"As long as you return safely, the village will be waiting for you to come back. We will also have a party to celebrate. You must be tired after the journey. Go back and have a good rest. We can talk about other things after you have rested well."

Even after Yun Yi left, the villagers were still excited.

"It would be great if girls could also take the imperial examinations. Our Xiaolan would definitely be able to pass the county exam, and I could hold a banquet, and the whole village would come to congratulate me." Xiaolan's mother said enviously.

"Mom, stop talking. I'm working with Dahua and the others now, and I can earn money for you."

"You should keep those few dollars you have as your dowry. A woman without a dowry will be looked down upon. Don't spend all your money." At this point, Xiaolan's mother shook her head in disappointment. The last time Xiaolan transferred the money, she bought two pounds of pork to take home. She didn't know how to save at all.

When Xiaolan heard her mother start muttering again, she ran away quickly. They now have a secret base. Dahua said she wanted to reduce costs and invent a tool for printing to reduce typos in copying books. Now several people are studying it.

"Dahua, I heard that to print a book, you have to carve a lot of wood blocks. If we do this, won't it cost more money than copying it manually?"

"Yes, that's too inefficient and too wasteful. I want to improve it now. If we can reduce the number of times we carve the plates and achieve flexible printing, it will save us a lot of trouble." Dahua nodded. She also knew that if she continued with the current method, it would only waste more money.

"Then how can we achieve flexible printing?" The others also wondered curiously, but they couldn't think of any solution.

"I asked my sister for advice and she gave me a suggestion that I want to try now."

"What suggestions do you have? Tell me now."

"Think about it, we don't actually use that many characters that often. And if we only had to carve each character once, and then used a special method to make it repositionable, then when we wanted to print a page, we only had to find those characters, arrange them according to the order of that page, and we could print directly. Wouldn't that save time and money?"

"That's true. Let's try it now." After hearing this, several people realized that this made sense, so they all got busy.

On the other side, after Yun Yi woke up from his sleep, he told Lu Linlang everything that had happened in Hezhou Prefecture.

"Well, you handled it very well. As for the marriage that Lord Li mentioned, what do you think?" Lu Linlang nodded approvingly, and thought of Minister Song whom he mentioned.

"Sister, I will listen to you. If you think it's okay, I will marry you." Yun Yi said a little embarrassedly.

"Nonsense, what do you mean by marrying her just because I think she's suitable? Marrying a wife is a lifelong matter, not something you can just casually decide. Besides, life is long. If you two aren't in love with each other, wouldn't it ruin both of your lives if you marry her?

If our family situation requires you to arrange marriage and rely on others, it would be better for you to stay in the small mountain village forever. At least you won’t be treated unfairly.

Liking someone is a lifelong thing. We must be responsible for ourselves and even more so for others. As long as there is no problem with their character, I will not interfere with who you like or who you marry. This is a matter that concerns your whole life, so you have to think it through carefully."

When Lu Linlang heard his attitude, she felt a little disappointed. Yun Yi had been staying in the village for all these years and was not as cunning as he was in the capital. She didn't want him to become so smooth and treat feelings as something to be traded. If this continued, he would lose himself. People should have their own persistence and beliefs.

"Sister, but you are my elder sister. An elder sister is like a mother. I don't have anyone I like either. I don't know what it means to be in love with a girl." Yun Yi was scolded by his sister and felt a little wronged, but when he thought about what his sister said, which was all for his own good, he was a little confused for a while.

"Forget it, let's put this matter aside for now. I will write a letter to Lord Li and ask him to help explain. You are currently focused on teaching students and studying, and have no plans to start a family."

Lu Linlang also felt that she was a bit harsh. Since ancient times, people have always followed the orders of their parents and the words of matchmakers, especially in matters of marriage, which were rarely decided by themselves. Yun Yi regarded herself as a mother-like role, and she had not yet met the girl she liked, so she was still not enlightened.

He is not very old, and Lu Linlang does not intend to force him. He will understand it later.