The Rise of a General's Daughter-in-Law Doctor

Since the day she persuaded the old general, Li Muxia has been happy every day. In the past few days, she has tried her best to spend more time with the old general. Whenever she has free time, she goes to the old general to chat with him, play chess, and have meals with him. Of course, Li Anran has been there as well.

Even Li Anjin, Li Muxia's cousin who had been studying at the Imperial Academy, would stay by the old general's side whenever he had free time, watching Li Muxia and the old general play chess. Occasionally, he would play a couple of games with Li Muxia and give him some pointers so that Li Muxia wouldn't lose too badly.

To be honest, her cousin is both handsome and talented. It is said that he is already a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination) at the age of 17, and he achieved the top score. He also ranked first in the Imperial Academy. Her second uncle plans to have him take the metropolitan examination next year. Everyone thinks that Li Anjin has a good chance of getting into the top rank next year.

Li Anjin usually studies at the Imperial Academy, and even on his days off, he goes out to collect folk songs with a few friends. Therefore, Li Muxia rarely sees Li Anjin at the General's Mansion. However, she knows that Li Anjin is an extremely protective person.

He had heard Li Anran mention that a friend of Li Anjin's had once said, "This short, fat man could be a good match for Brother Li's chubby sister." Li Anjin overheard this.

From then on, this friend never joined his cousin's circle of friends again, and even his former good friends became increasingly distant from him.

Looking at the gentle and refined man sitting opposite her, Li Muxia smiled faintly. These were all her family. They were gifts from God to compensate her for not having family in her previous life.

Looking at the smiling Li Muxia, Li Anjin also smiled and said, "What, are you thinking of admitting defeat?"

Looking at Li Anjin, who was smiling warmly, Li Muxia teased, "Big brother, with your outrageously handsome appearance, won't our doorstep be worn down by suitors from now on?"

Li Anjin was slightly taken aback, not expecting that Li Muxia's topic had turned to him.

Before Li Anjin could speak, Li Anran, munching on an apple, said, "No need to wait until later. Since last year, my mother has been invited to various banquets by ladies from other mansions, all to inquire about my brother. At first, my mother was quite happy. Every time she came back from a banquet, she would tell my brother about the young ladies from different families. After my brother refused a few times, my mother realized that he had no interest in these things, so she started making various excuses to decline the ladies' invitations. Later, the ladies probably realized this and stopped coming."

Then he took another big bite of the apple and said indistinctly, "However, I think if my brother passes the imperial examination next year, our doorstep will probably still be overrun with visitors."

"Oh, by the way, Sister Xia, you probably don't know this, but my brother is one of the four most handsome men in Kyoto!"

Li Muxia had heard of the four most handsome men chosen by Miss Kyoto when she had nothing better to do, but she never expected to have one right next to her. Li Anjin's looks were indeed outstanding; let alone being one of the four most handsome men, if he were in modern times, he would completely outshine those young heartthrobs, and might even make it onto some global handsome men list.

Li Anjin shook his head helplessly. Ever since his younger sister started spending so much time with Li Muxia, her personality had really started to resemble Li Muxia's more and more. However, he liked the change in his sister very much. He was also very grateful to Li Muxia for helping Li Anran overcome her inner demons.

Li Muxia also became interested and looked at Li Anjin with a smile, saying, "Big brother, who are the four most handsome men? Do you know?"

Li Anjin knew of this, but since Prince Chen, Dongfang Jinlin, was among them, he was afraid that Li Muxia would be reminded of painful memories, so he said, "I don't know about this. It's just something idle people are saying. I don't care too much about it."

Upon hearing this, Li Anran immediately replied, "I know, I know."

Before Li Anjin could stop her, she blurted out, "I've heard my mother say there's Prince Rui, Prince Chen, Lord Jun, and my brother." She then looked at Li Anjin with a proud expression. Her brother was indeed outstanding.

Seeing that Li Muxia didn't react, Li Anjin was relieved. Li Muxia, however, was thinking, "Who are all these people? I only know my eldest brother." But she wasn't particularly curious; these four handsome men were none of her business. Nevertheless, she still chimed in with a couple of comments.

Li Anjin glanced at the sky and realized it was getting late. He looked at Li Anran and Li Muxia and saw that they were still talking about the four handsome men. He quickly interrupted and said, "Alright, Muxia, Anran, it's getting late. Go back and rest. Grandpa and Dad are probably still discussing things, so don't disturb them."

Li Anran and Li Muxia both stood up and nodded. Li Anjin looked at the two of them and said, "Tomorrow is a day off. The Imperial Academy is holding a Cuju (ancient Chinese football) tournament. The teacher said that we can invite our brothers and sisters to watch. Are you two going tomorrow?"

Li Muxia smiled at Li Anjin and asked, "So, brother, are you playing in the match tomorrow?"

Li Anran quickly answered, "Of course my brother will play! He's really good at Cuju (ancient Chinese football), and he even won first place in last year's competition."

Hearing this, Li Muxia looked at the beaming Li Anran, then at the doting Li Anjin, and pulled Li Anjin along, saying, "Of course we have to go! We have to go cheer for our big brother!"

Li Anjin wasn't trying to get them to cheer her on; she just wanted Li Anran to interact with other young ladies and make some good friends before Li Muxia left. That way, after Li Muxia left, Li Anran wouldn't be alone and revert to her old ways.

After agreeing on tomorrow's itinerary, everyone went back to their courtyards to rest.

Li Muxia was wide awake. He could see his older brother's worry and understood that although Li Anran had changed a lot, she was still quite dependent on him. If he left, Li Anran might be alone for a long time. To be honest, he thought Li Anran was a bit socially awkward, so he had to find a way to help her make more friends before he left.

Thinking back on how she spent her university years with her best friends, it was actually quite fulfilling. In her past life, her favorite thing was playing sports with her friends—badminton, table tennis, baseball, and the like. She spent a fortune on memberships every year for these games. Thinking of this, Li Muxia smiled. In her past life, she had no family left, but here she had gained many loving relatives, and she wanted to give them the best of everything.

Li Muxia sat at the table and drew up the blueprints for the badminton shuttlecock. The shuttlecock itself was easy to solve, but the material for the racket proved more challenging. Carbon steel and the like didn't exist in this era; iron would be too heavy, and wood risked breakage. Finally, Li Muxia decided to try bamboo, using horsehair for the mesh, and wrote down the materials on the paper. After finishing these drawings, Li Muxia went to sleep peacefully.