Chapter 80.1

Sponsored Content

The Farmer who Became the Top Scorer in the Palace Examination 8

“What a lucky bastard that second brother’s family is.”

That night, the people in Yan family’s main branch did not go back to the house in the town.
Instead, they chose to stay in the old house.
Liu Fuchun looked at her little son who bowed his head and did not speak.
She just thought he was wronged and felt distressed.

“How can it be so coincidental, when you don’t have a bad stomach, but had one during the exam? If there is nothing wrong with the second child, I will screw off my head.”

Yan Changxue used his own mean measure to gauge the heart of a gentleman[1].
After all, when his second nephew took the exam, he would ask the auntie in the kitchen to give him some greasy meat and fish things from time to time and also bribed his younger sister’s servants.
All the tea in his little nephew’s room had been cooled.
He originally thought that with full of oil things and herbal tea in winter, he should have a bad stomach.
But the other party passed every exam smoothly.
It did not develop as he expected.

“Second Treasure, tell Mother if your second uncle or Little Treasure gave you something to eat before you had a bad stomach.”

Liu Fuchun felt that what his man said made sense.
If it were not for this, her son was in good health, why would he have a stomachache?

“Big-“

Yan Tao subconsciously about to call her big aunt, after remembering he was now the main branch’s child, quickly changed his tone.

“Second Uncle and Little Treasure are not those kinds of people, Mom.
I was gluttonous.
I got up and drank a glass of cold water on the morning of the exam.”

Yan Tao did not like his uncle and aunt making such speculations about his family.
Although he had no memory of his second cousin, he knew that he and his father would never do such shameless things.

“How can you drink cold water? It’s better now.
The second branch’s kid snatched the limelight.
He became the county’s first-rank[2], and your grandparents’ heart has to turn to him.”

Liu Fuchun felt sorry for her son.
At this time, she could not help reaching out and tapping his forehead hard, felt resentful towards him for failing to meet expectations[3].

“What do you think your son is doing, isn’t Second Treasure still young? Now it’s a serious matter to think about how to deal with the second branch family.
We can’t let their branch climb on our heads to take a shit and pee in the future.”

Yan Changxue still loved his son.
Seeing his wife was angry with him, he quickly stopped her.

“Dad, Mom, the top priority now is not to think about Second Uncle’s side, but our Second Treasure, we can’t truly stop him from studying.”

Yan Chunhua, the eldest granddaughter of the Yan family, said softly in her parents’ ears.

She was the only daughter of Yan Changxue and Liu Fuchun.
In addition to her good appearance, she had decided to marry the youngest son of the official registrar of He County’s family not long ago, so she had a very important position in front of the couple.

“Speaking of it, Second Treasure is the child of our Yan family’s branch.
If we truly want to succeed, we have Big Brother and Second Treasure to bring honor to our ancestors.
What’s the matter with Second Uncle? Now even if Little Treasure passed the exam as the first-rank, you can’t deprive Second Treasure of his right to study because of this.
Besides, Second Treasure didn’t pass the exam because of an accident this time.
If Second Treasure is in good health, it doesn’t matter who the county’s first-rank is, how can it be compared?”

Yan Chunhua’s fancy words touched the heart of the couple.
In their opinion, their branch was the first son’s branch, and the second son’s family should not climb over them.

“It’s not that your grandparents are biased.
Now the soul has been taken away by that boy.
No matter how reasonable our words are, they won’t listen to it.”

Yan Changxue sighed.
The old man and the old lady became more confused as they got older.
They did not understand what Chunhua, their baby daughter, would think.

“Second Treasure, you can rest assured that this study, we must continue your study.
Didn’t Little Aunt say that they will pay for the little boy in the second branch to study? Then the collectively owned money doesn’t need to be used for his expenses.
If he doesn’t spend the expenses at home, how can they prevent you from advancing your learning?”

You’re reading the translation of kieshitl.wordpress.com

Yan Changxue’s eyes darkened, and he winked at his wife.

“I think Zhenzhen is a good girl, she deserves to be Little Treasure’s wife.” His words were negative, which made people feel cold.

“I think so too. They are a good match[4].
The two are still young now.
Although Father and Mother explained outside, it doesn’t prevent others from guessing.
When the time comes, it’s too late to change anything[5], and we’ll see if they recognize it or not.”

In Liu Fuchun’s eyes, everything in the Yan family should belong to her husband and her sons.
Couldn’t the second branch family grow land and earn money for them as they used to do? They had to insist on this tiny moth.

She would like to see how promising a daughter-in-law would be in officialdom if she was a scholar she bought.

Listening to what his uncle and auntie said, Yan Tao felt cold.

He thought of the night when he was confused with Fu Zhenzhen before he set out for the imperial civil service examination.

He thought he was drunk before, and he also thought that maybe the evening’s night scene was too charming.
He had a good impression of Fu Zhenzhen, so he could not help making such a mistake.

But now listening to his uncle and aunt said this, it seemed that there were ulterior motives in it that he did not know.

Yan Tao’s fists were clenched tightly in his sleeves, his eyes were bloodshot, and his teeth were clenched.

With this kind of speculation, Yan Tao suddenly felt that he was not wrong from beginning to end.
The fault was the hypocritical and vicious couple in front of him.

In the previous life, it was the other party’s frame that ruined his life.

Thought about it again, in the last life, if Yan Duan did not kill Fu Zhenzhen, how could Fu Yugui ignore him and choose to retaliate against him? Actually, after thinking about it carefully, he did not make the slightest mistake from beginning to end except for his later escape.

It was all the main branch family, all these people, forcing him into a consigned to eternal damnation land.

Yan Tao told himself to calm down.
He was now the main branch’s son.
Once something happened to the main branch, it would not do him any good in terms of reputation.
One must know that to be an official in the Jin Dynasty depended not only on your personal appearance but also on whether your relatives had committed crimes and bad conduct.
Therefore, he could only endure the main branch’s behavior.

He took a few deep breaths.
Fortunately, he was now reborn, and it seemed that the plans of his uncle and aunt would not be hidden from their own son.
At that time, as long as he secretly helped “himself” to avoid their trap, then it was fine.

In this life, “I” would marry Fu Zhenzhen, but it would not be the result of being framed by his uncle and aunt like in the previous life.

Sponsored Content

Yan Tao thought this way, and could not help but felt a little grateful.
Fortunately, he now became Yan Tao, which invisibly added a lot of convenience to what he would do in the future.

If he still returned to his own body at this time, maybe he did not know that his uncle who had always been kind, and his aunt who was gentle, turned out to have that kind of intention.

There was also the oldest female patrilineal cousin.
Fortunately, in his previous life, he felt that this cousin was knowledgeable and reasonable, which was different from his rude and reckless sisters.
The other party was the only one who had the honor to meet the princess as the representative of the Yan family’s womenfolk and was rewarded with a lot of gold, silver, and jewelry.

The other party’s husband became a government official, and he also gave him a lot of conveniences.
Who let his sisters marry ordinary countrymen? They were useless[6], so he could only support some money, so he had a lot of contacts on hand, which were actually given to these people in the main branch.

Before he thought everyone was close relatives, he had no brothers, and his two cousins were his best help.
Now it seemed that he was really stupid.

Yan Tao, who wanted to understand, calmed down.
When he looked up at Yan Changxue and others, his eyes returned to normal.

“Second Treasure, rest assured, Mom will never let you be wronged.”

Liu Fuchun touched her son’s head, held him in her arms, and said lovingly.

“You also will work hard for Mom.
If your younger brother can be passed the county’s first-rank, and you can’t be worse than him.
At that time, let’s let others see which side is better, the main branch or the second branch.”

Liu Fuchun gritted her teeth.
Since she married into the Yan family, she had not endured as much humiliation as she did today.

Every word of praise from the villagers to Yan Chu was to slap her in the face, slapped until it was swollen.

“Mother, don’t worry, when the county examination next year, I will surely give you the first-rank.”

For Yan Tao, who was passed as the top scorer in the palace examination in his previous life, it was very easy to become the county examination’s first-rank.

Now was not the time to have an acrimonious falling-out with Liu Fuchun.
He wanted Yan Changxue and Liu Fuchun to love him more than before, and to love him more than Yan Duan.
Only when the wound was deep, could the pain be severe in the future.

Yan Tao lowered his eyes and vowed silently in his heart that there seemed to be another purpose for his rebirth.

In this life, he should protect “himself.”

Yan Tao, who bowed his head in Liu Fuchun’s arms, had a sad expression in his eyes.
He would never let “himself” bear the sadness that he had experienced.

You’re reading the translation of kieshitl.wordpress.com

Let’s Talk Corner:
Kieshi: Sorry for short update, having IRL problem before >.<

 

[1] 以小人之心度君子之腹 [yǐ xiǎo rén zhī xīn dù jūnzǐ zhī fù]: gauge the heart of a gentleman with one’s own mean measure; to judge the moral one by the evil standard; to arbitrate the righteous one by the petty-minded; to use one’s own thoughts to speculate on the minds of the elders

[2] 案首 [ànshǒu]: a candidate who ranked first in the imperial examination on prefecture or county level (in Ming and Qing dynasties)

[3] 恨铁不成钢 [hèn tiě bùchéng gāng]: lit.
to hate iron for not becoming steel; to feel resentful towards somebody for failing to meet expectations and impatient to see improvement (idiom)

[4] 什么锅配什么盖 [shénme guō pèi shénme gài]: matching the pot with the right cover; if a poor man finds a poor woman, they are a good match

[5] 生米煮成熟饭 [shēngmǐ zhǔ chéngshú fàn]: the rice is cooked; what’s done is done; it’s too late to change anything now (idiom)

[6] 烂泥扶不上墙 [lànní fú bú shàng qiáng]: the mud can’t support the wall; useless; worthless; inept

Chapter 80.2

The Farmer who Became the Top Scorer in the Palace Examination 8

Yan Chu devoted himself to preparing for the arrival of the provincial imperial examination, and he also took time to teach Fu Zhenzhen in the evening.

And Yan Tao, who missed the exam because of health problems, was still studying well in the clan school.
Everyone seemed to have selective amnesia and forgot what they said when they let the two children study together.

Old Man Yan and his wife did not mention that, as the eldest son said in secret that the day when he approached them, the second grandson did not take the exam, it was not that he failed the exam, and no one knew what performance records he would normally refer to.
The couple was willing to give this grandson a chance.

The people in the second branch of the Yan family did not mention that either.
Anyway, the family would not be short of money for Yan Chu’s study.
As for the parents/grandparents who wanted to send Yan Tao to study, the family’s expenses would be tighter.

They are not as good as the main branch.
They just turned a blind eye to the biased behavior of Old Man Yan and Old Lady Yan.

In a blink of an eye, the provincial imperial examination came.

“It is said that the first-rank[1] of the county and prefectural examination is the honorable Xiucai[2] but this is not absolute.
Little Treasure, you are young, and it is normal for you to occasionally make a mistake.
At that time, Big Brother can give you some lessons.”

The appearance of Yan’s family was not bad.
Yan Duan was seventeen this year.
He was a talented person and elegant.
It’s just that the other person’s eyes had a blueish dark circle and could not be covered with powder.
It did not know it was from whether he studied all night or his natural philandering disposition of taking the girls in the flower house.

Yan Chu looked his big cousin up and down, finally realized that the other party became a Tongsheng[3] at the age of nine, and he also had some talent for study.
Why did he fail the provincial imperial examination several times?

Except for him, other people did not think so much, especially Yan Changxue and Liu Fuchun, who naturally felt that it was the former.
While distressed for their son, they were more confident in the other party’s preliminary round of imperial examination.

Their son had been studying so hard, and this time he would unquestionably become Xiucai, and his ranking would be higher than that of Yan Chu by then, let see which parents got valued more later.

“Big Cousin is very experienced.
If Little Brother fails the provincial imperial examination this time, I must ask Big Cousin for advice on how to relieve the pressure and worry after failing the examination.”

Yan Chu was neither servile nor overbearing, replied Yan Duan.

Sponsored Content

It sounded like there was no problem, but Yan Duan just felt that there was something wrong.
This younger cousin seemed to be mocking his repeated groundings.

Before he could understand, the time was almost up, and the imperial examination venue opened its doors.
All the examinees lined up in turn with their writing brush, ink, and dried food.

Yan Tao looked at “himself” with full confidence.
He knew that “himself” would positively pass the provincial imperial examination.
Some time ago, he implicitly revealed some questions related to the examination questions to “himself”.
This time, his score would only be higher than his original.

Looking at the back of “himself” who was destined to soar into the sky, Yan Tao was proud and somewhat sad.

You’re reading the translation of kieshitl.wordpress.com

“Oh, Master Juren[4] is back.”

In a blink of an eye, it was another five years.
One second before he felt that he was still in the exam room of the provincial imperial examination, the next second, the triennial provincial imperial examination was over and he got a good result.

Yan Chu was sitting in the ox cart driven by his father and greeted the villagers who came and went.

“Changxi, it’s time for your family to prepare a carriage.
Is that decent to let Master Juren be an ox cart?”

The villagers joked at Yan Changxi, and everyone did not expect that this young grandson in the second branch of Yan’s three families would be so prosperous.
He was already an honorable Juren at a young age.

In reality, after the other party took his first test at the age of nine, others wondered if the Jin Dynasty would produce the youngest Juren in history, but it was a pity that Yan Chu did not continue to take the test at that time, saying that he was not mature enough.
He chose to study in the provincial school for a few years, and only then did he register for this year’s triennial provincial imperial examination.
He passed the triennial provincial imperial examination only once.

Although his results were not as good as his first-rank scores in the county and provincial examinations, he was also the sixth-rank.
You know, the people who were capable in the triennial provincial imperial examination were the best talents in other places.
Yan Chu was 13 years old this year and competed with a group of honorable Xiucai in their 30s and 40s who had passed the exam for most of their lives.
There was no shortage of amazing talents here.
It was already amazing to win the sixth place in the triennial provincial imperial examination.

“Auntie, no matter how good I am, I’m also our Yongning Village’s child.
What is the difference between the ox cart and the carriage? It’s a shame to say that.”

Even if he became Master Juren, Yan Chu still had no pretensions to these folks, and they were close relatives in the past.

“I dare not, I dare not.”

The old lady who was talking smiled and waved her hand.
Master Juren could be an official, and Yan Chu was still young, and he would become Jinshi[5] in the future.
In this way, he was one of the best talents of their Yan family.

Yan Chu’s closeness made the people present very comfortable.
They felt that the grandson of the Yan family was different from other scholars.
They had no achievements, yet they looked at people through their nostrils with their tails up.

It was a great joy to have a Juren in the clan, that was, Yan Chu did not notify them in advance that he was coming back.
Otherwise, it should be a time to open the ancestral hall to celebrate.

But it was not too late.
When Yan Changxi and Yan Chu were stopped by the villagers to speak, someone ran to the patriarch.
Before the father and son could get away, they were called by the patriarch.
When they arrived at the ancestral hall, their grandfather and big uncle were already waiting there.

Also present were the elders of many clans.

Yan Tao’s face turned blue as he watched his cousin come in.
He was 20 years old this year, but he was still a Tongsheng.
Now not only his grandparents but also his parents had revealed that he had given up studying and was determined to come back to take over his father’s work and become a shopkeeper.

Over the years, as Yan Chu had become more and more prosperous, the money in his grandfather and grandmother’s hands had become more and more difficult to dig.
The two old people thought that the little grandson might be the most promising of the three grandsons.
Besides, they spent too much money on the main branch before, and now they were fundamentally reluctant to pay for his study.

Since his younger brother was successfully admitted to the county examination’s first-rank in the second year, his parents had placed most of their hopes on his younger brother, and gradually became colder towards him, the eldest son who they should have been high hopes.

Yan Duan was a little unconvinced.
His younger brother did not make a mistake in taking the county examination’s first-rank before.
However, every time he took the preliminary round of imperial examination after that, he could not take the examination smoothly because of all kinds of accidents.
Now, like him, he stopped at the position of a Tongsheng.

As a Tongsheng, why did his parents believe that his younger brother could become a Xiucai when he could not?

You’re reading the translation of kieshitl.wordpress.com

Yan Changxue was jealous of the scenery of his second brother’s family.
He did not realize anything wrong with his eldest son.
In his opinion, he was very generous as a father.
In a country family, who could provide a child to study until he was 22 years old? Was it wrong to choose the one who was more likely to have a promising future?

Moreover, Yan Changxue had already thought that as long as his youngest son could become a Xiucai, he would be able to earn money even as a teacher in the future.
At that time, the courtyard in the town would be left to his eldest son.
With a job with a decent income, the eldest son’s life would not be worse in the future.

As a father, Yan Changxue felt that he had been very fair.
He did not expect that his eldest son would be dissatisfied with this.

“Good, good, good, Chu’er indeed added glory to our Yan family.”

The patriarch looked at Yan Chu with a gratified look.
This was a younger generation of the Yan family, and the other party was promising, which was also a help to his son who was a government official in the capital.

Since ancient times, it had been said that a single person could not save the situation.
His eldest son was never as beautiful as his appearance in officialdom.
Now that he was well, Yan Chu was still young, and one day he would grow up to become the next generation successor of the Yan family.

As the patriarch, he must have a broader mind than others.
No matter what, as long as Yan Chu’s surname was Yan, the better the other party, the more glorious the Yan Clan would be.

The old patriarch smiled brightly and did not marry with the same surname, but there were still many unmarried girls in the Yan family.
Recently, the eldest daughter he married had a young daughter, three years younger than Yan Chu, who was a perfect match.

If two children got married, there was nothing stronger than a relationship that was both patriarchal and in-laws.

But the old patriarch did not plan to use this matter to probe Old Three’s family now.

Yan Chu was just a Juren now.
It was not clear whether he could become a Jinshi.
His daughter married an official family under the guidance of her elder brother.
If Yan Chu failed to become a Jinshi, his daughter might not agree with him and tell his granddaughter to Yan Chu.

Furthermore, his daughter’s husband might not agree with her.

However, the old patriarch was still very optimistic about Yan Chu and believed that as long as his daughter had seen this child, she would positively be moved.

“What’s your plan after the examination?”

According to the old patriarch’s idea, of course, he hoped that Yan Chu would take part in the imperial civil service examination directly, but he knew that the little boy still had his own ideas, just like everyone had advised him to take part in the provincial imperial examination directly after the country examination, and the other party just put it off five years later.

Sponsored Content

“I plan to take a rest at home for three years to study.
When I’m more confident, I’ll take part in the next metropolitan civil service examination.”

Yan Chu calculated that he would be 16 years old after waiting three years.
In the past life, the original self was going to take part in the next metropolitan civil service.
At that time, the original self was nearly 20 years old, and the princess was 16 years old.

The original self was originally the top scorer in the palace examination of the new division, and the princess took a fancy to the other’s charming appearance while parading in the streets.
The emperor felt that the princess marrying the top scorer in the palace examination was also a good story, so he granted the princess’ request.

If he participated in the next metropolitan civil service examination, the princess was only a girl about thirteen years old, and the emperor would not go too far to point out the marriage for him to the princess who had not reached the marriageable age.

“That’s fine.”

The old patriarch touched his beard and agreed with the other party’s plan.

Truthfully, Yan Chu’s age was a little too awkward.
No matter how talented the 13-year-old Jinshi was, the imperial court would not send officials to him.
He might as well practice himself for three years as he planned.
In this way, he would have a better grasp of the examination.

Old man Yan also Yan Changxi did not understand, they were happy when they thought that everything Yan Chu said was right.
These days, the envious eyes of the villagers made two men glow in the new lease of life.
Especially Old Man Yan, his eyes did not hazy, his head did not hurt, and he walked well.

Yan Chu looked at Yan Tao inadvertently and saw the flash of relaxation in the other’s eyes, he was more sure of his previous guess.

He did not expect that he would be reborn, the other party still wanted to marry the princess, why bother.

[1] 案首 [ànshǒu]: a candidate who ranked first in the imperial examination on prefecture or county level (in Ming and Qing dynasties)

[2] 秀才 [xiùcai]: a person who has passed the county-level imperial exam (historical); scholar; skillful writer; fine talent

[3] 童生 [tóngshēng]: a candidate who has not yet passed the county-level imperial exam

[4] 举人 [jǔrén]: graduate; successful candidate in the imperial provincial examination

[5] 进士 [jìnshì]: successful candidate in the highest imperial civil service examination; palace graduate

Chapter 80.3

The Farmer who Became the Top Scorer in the Palace Examination 8

“Little Brother.”

When Yan Chu and the others came out of the ancestral hall, the female relatives in the family were almost anxiously gazing till their eyes were strained.

The triennial provincial imperial examination was held in the provincial capital.
For the Yan family, the county town was already a very far away place, not to mention the provincial capital.
Yan Chu went to the provincial capital with his schoolmates.
Before the other party came back, his family was afraid that he would not eat well, that he would not dress warm enough, that he would be ill and nobody would take care of him.

Now that they finally saw the other party come back, the big rock in their heart was considered to be put down.

Yan Chu’s three older sisters, except for the youngest sister Lanhua, Meihua and Taohua were all married.

At that time, because Yan Chu took the first-place in the county and the prefectural examination as Xiucai‘s[1] luck, the people who came to Yan Meihua and Yan Taohua to propose marriage were much higher quality.

Because Yan Chu said that if he became an official in the future, the status and character of his close relatives would also be extremely important.
Therefore, when she chose a husband’s family for several granddaughters, Yan née Jiang rarely made a mistake, and she was not dazzled by the high betrothal gifts made by the local wealthy landlords.

The man Yan Meihua married was also a scholar.
Her husband’s family was from the town and had only one son.
There were several shops in the family that collected rent.
He could still have some surplus while he was studying.

Yan Chu’s second brother-in-law was Xiucai of the same class as him, but the other side’s performance was not as good as him, and his ranking was more than ten.

He has a good personality and a clean family.
Although he has some money, no one has ever wanted to raise a concubine at home since his ancestors.
That was why he was better than his little uncle Jiang Datong.

In the second year of her marriage, Yan Meihua gave birth to twin sons and secured her position as a scholar’s wife.
Last year, she gave birth to a daughter, and now she had both son and daughter.

Half of Yan Taohua’s marriage was made by herself.

She was so unruly that it was going to take her life to get married to those who were both a farmer and a scholar.

When the others came to propose marriage, there was a family who opened a silk shop business in the county.
There were three sons in the family.
The youngest son was a bit of a mess and had no bad habit of dining, wining, whoring, and gambling.
He just thought his father had a lot of money and wanted to eat and die, so he did not have many prospects.

When that family dragged the matchmaker to propose marriage, they said that as long as Yan Taohua got married, the three sons would be separated and lived apart.
The third child was the youngest, and the eldest son must take the big leading in the shop and so on, but as the most favored youngest son, he would never treat him badly in terms of money.

Yan Taohua felt that she was short of money her whole life.
When she was a child, her paternal aunt gave her a cake hair tie as if she were a kitten or puppy.
She remembered it for half of her life.

Compared to marrying those who had the background but were poor, she was more willing to marry those who were rich and whose character was also not a major problem.

No one in the Yan family was ugly.
When Yan Taohua tidied up, she was also a little bit gorgeous.
Once married, she tidied up her submissive husband at once.

Now she could not say that her husband had any great prospects.
Anyway, together with Yan Taohua, it was good to share his dad’s grocery store with her.
Besides, there were dozens of acres of land to collect rent, and the cash when they separated at that time.
Her parents-in-law and brother-in-law lived together, and the couple’s life was colorful.

You’re reading the translation of kieshitl.wordpress.com

Yan Chu did not let his family know about his return in advance, so it was not known for the moment that Yan Taohua did not show up when her younger brother came back.
But Yan Meihua lived in the town.
When Yan Changxi went to pick up his son, he took a turn to his eldest daughter’s husband’s house and said it.

It had been nearly two months since Yan Chu left, and Yan Meihua hurried back to her natal home immediately after receiving the news.

A woman, who had married and gave birth to a child, had a unique charm, plus everything went smoothly, she looked a bit more charming than before she was married.

Looking at such Second Sister, Yan Chu could not connect her with the Second Sister in his memory.

Sponsored Content

Yan Lanhua was also looking at her family now.
As the news of Yan Chu’s success in the exam spread, the people who came to propose to her would only be better than her two elder sisters.

Seeing the happy lives of her older sisters after they married, Yan Lanhua could not help but look forward to the days to come.

The women in the room were very happy.
Only Fu Zhenzhen, equally happy, but standing in the corner of the room, far away from Yan Chu.

Since Yan Duan also tried to be the county’s first-rank[2], his position in this home had become more and more embarrassing.
Fortunately, with the successive marriage of Meihua and Taohua, there was Lanhua, the only girl in the family who was not easy to reach.
She worked swiftly and could help at least.

The most important thing is that Yan Changxue and Liu Fuchun still held their own careful thinking, always grinding the old lady to tell her not to sell or marry this girl.
Yan née Jiang always thought that the eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law like Zhenzhen, and thought that if Yan Tao failed repeatedly, he would take her to be his wife, which was the tacit approval that Fu Zhenzhen had stayed at home for so many years.

As a girl who was bought, Fu Zhenzhen was lucky to have enough to eat every meal, and the Yan family was not interested in beating and scolding others.
Except that the treatment was a little worse than that of the Yan family girls, her life was much better than that of a child bride.

Because today was the day to welcome Yan Chu home, it was a big day, the whole family put on their best clothes.

What Fu Zhenzhen wore today was a goose-yellow double-breasted ruqun[3] made by Yan Taohua for his sister Lanhua the year when Yan Taohua just married.
Yan Lanhua could not wear it after trying it out, so after repairing it, it was worn by Fu Zhenzhen.

Fu Zhenzhen was twelve this year.
After she came to Yan’s house, she did not suffer any crime.
The thin and yellow girl turned into a pretty little girl with an oval face and big eyes.

Her skin was quite fair, and when she smiled, there were two small dimples on both sides of her cheeks.
A pair of big rabbit teeth added a bit of playfulness and cuteness, and the goose yellow clothes could compliment her.

You’re reading the translation of kieshitl.wordpress.com

Fu Zhenzhen grabbed the corners of her clothes.
Since Yan Chu became Xiucai and went to the provincial school to study, he occasionally stayed a few days after returning home on holiday.
Now it has been more than two months since the other party went home.
She did not know if the other party remembered where their class process was now.

She bowed her head and felt that she was too greedy.
Now the other party was Master Juren[4].
Where was there time to teach her to read?

The other party had treated her well enough, and she even hated herself for being greedy and never satisfied.

“Zhenzhen, Zhenzhen.”

After Yan Chu called several times, Fu Zhenzhen recovered.
When she looked up, she found that everyone in the room was looking at her.

“Come and try this hairpin.
I don’t know if it suits you.”

Yan Chu beckoned to her, and Fu Zhenzhen looked at the side, only to find that the family was holding one or two gifts more or less.

“For, for me.” Fu Zhenzhen was a little flattered.
She raised her head and glanced at Old Lady Yan, and waited until the other party nodded and acquiesced, then resisted her excitement and walked towards Yan Chu.

It was a flower head tied with a silk cloth, and the pink peach blossoms were lifelike, scattered on the hairpin head.

Compared with the gold jade hairpin in other people’s hands, the head flower was the cheapest, but in Fu Zhenzhen’s eyes, none of them was as beautiful as the one in front of her.

“It’s beautiful.
Little Brother has a good eye.”

Yan Lanhua had a hairpin on her head with the pearl-inlaid eight-treasure hairpin that Yan Chu had brought her.
Watching Fu Zhenzhen could not move her hands and feet, she took the silk flower in her younger brother’s hand and helped her put it on.

Fu Zhenzhen raised her hand to touch the silk flowers on her hair bun, and her heart was sweeter than eating honey.

Yan Chu bought a gift for the whole family, and each of them was more valuable than the one on Fu Zhenzhen’s head, including the gift that the main branch received was similar to that of the second branch, so no one was curious about the gift he bought to Fu Zhenzhen.

Everyone, including Yan née Jiang, just thought that the little grandson was kind and thoughtful, and did not think too much about it.

Liu Fuchun looked at the gold and silver jewelry in her hand, and her heart was like dripping blood.
Simply became Juren, he would be able to have such a masterpiece.
If only the one who became Juren was her son, it would be great.

Now the second branch’s prospects could not be suppressed.
She had to think carefully about what to do so that they always had the second branch’s handle in their hands.
Even if Yan Chu was successful, the benefits would be more than half of the benefits of their main branch.

Liu Fuchun wondered, looking at the little girl Fu Zhenzhen contained a joyful appearance, she could not help but smile.

She almost forgot, wasn’t there a ready-made handle here?

Yan Meihua stayed at home until it was dark before returning to her husband’s family’s house.
If it were not because her little daughter had not yet weaned, she wanted to stay at her natal house for one night before going back.

Fortunately, her younger brother promised that she would visit her in the town in a few days, and she left with her little daughter.

That night, the people in the main branch of the Yan family did not go back either.
When everyone was sleeping, Yan Tao knocked on Yan Chu’s door.

“Be careful these days.”

Yan Tao came in and said to Yan Chu mindlessly.

He did not expect that this time so early, Liu Fuchun and Yan Changxue wanted to do something with “himself.” They were still a 13-year-old and a 12-year-old child.
Are those two people animals?

Yan Tao could not understand why he had such relatives.

 秀才 [xiùcai]: a person who has passed the county-level imperial exam (historical); scholar; skillful writer; fine talent

[2] 案首 [ànshǒu]: a candidate who ranked first in the imperial examination on prefecture or county level (in Ming and Qing dynasties

[3] 对襟襦裙 [duìjīn rú qún]: double-breasted traditional dress; ruqun: a traditional Chinese attire primarily for women, consists of a blouse (襦; rú) and a wrap-around skirt (裙; qún; also called 裳; cháng); ref link & ruqun ref link

[4] 举人 [jǔrén]: graduate; successful candidate in the imperial provincial examination