FID – Chapter 442

  Chapter 442: The Top

  ”Top?!” Grandma Liu raised the curtain, her hands trembling.

  She looked in disbelief at a few young people dressed as scholars gathered in front of the carriage.

  Grandpa Liu and the couple in the carriage were also trembling. They were ecstatic, but quite found it unbelievable.

  They hadn’t yet seen the list with their own eyes. What if they were wrong?

  Was their Zhixia so powerful?

  Just then, the coachman’s excited voice also rang, “He’s the top of the list. Young Master Liu is indeed at the top of the list! The first on the list is Liu Zhixia! It’s his name!”

  Grandma Liu lost her strength and couldn’t sit up straight.

  Grandpa Liu also stared at him with round eyes. He was breathing heavily, and his face was red, revealing his excitement.

  Just now he even ridiculed those students, but it was not his turn to know that he couldn’t control himself. He felt useless.

  Liu Dalin stepped out of the carriage and stood at the head of the carriage like the coachman, looking out. His eyes stuck only at the top of the list of names for a look. He couldn’t read, but could still recognize Zhixia’s name. He confirmed it repeatedly. 

  A single stroke. There was no mistake. It was his boy’s name!

  ”Dalin, is it? Is it really our Zhixia?”

  ”Yes! That’s right, it’s our Zhixia! He’s at the top of the list. That means the top scholar of the provincial winner and top of the metropolitan exam.. No way, my boy is promising. He didn’t waste all those years of money!”

  ”Pfft!” It had never occurred to Liu Yusheng that the first thing her father thought of at this time was calculating the money.

  Liu Zhixia held Fu Yuzheng’s hand tightly and did not let go. He turned her head to look at her, and said with a small smile, “You can get ready for our marriage.”

  Fu Yuzheng looked down and said in a nasally heavy voice, “Mm.”

  ”Brother Liu, Elders, the happy news is likely to be delivered to the residence soon. Why don’t you guys go back and wait first? Don’t miss the happy news,” the students outside the carriage reminded them after finishing their congratulations evenly.

  Grandma Liu patted her thigh: “Aiyo, I forgot about this. Quick, let’s hurry home. Don’t let the officials wait for us!”

  The carriage turned around when Grandma Liu remembered to bid the few scholars behind her, “When you have time, come and play with Zhixia, ah! Whenever you want!”

  ”Yes, we’ll be there.”

  ”I’ll be there to congratulate Brother Liu.”

  Grandma Liu was so happy to be back in the carriage. She didn’t forget to praise the youngsters, “I didn’t expect that they would come to say goodbye to us. Those who have studied know their manners.”

  Liu Yusheng took her hand and smiled constantly, so as not to dampen the old lady’s feelings.

  It was not that those people knew how to be polite, they were trying to climb through interpersonal relationships.

  Her Big Brother had topped the exam, and after the court examination, he would certainly not fall out of the top three. By then, his fame and fortune could glorify his ancestors.

  His prospects were unlimited.

  Those few scholars were just the beginning. After them, more people would come to congratulate and climb her Big Brother.

  She believed that at this time, many invitations and posts from wealthy families and mansions were delivered to the residence.

  The news Liu Zhixia ranking top was confirmed, and the carriage was full of joy. The elders were excited and started discussing whether to celebrate with wine after they returned to Xinghua Village.

  In previous years, whenever scholars in a household passed brilliantly, the family would invite elders and fellow villagers to the town for fun together, and then show off while at it.

  Not to mention scholars who had passed the county level exams, those who hadn’t passed the exams would all join in the hilarity and stretch their eyebrows.

  Their Zhixia previously hadn’t passed the exam yet, so after the county and provincial exams, they never thought of hosting a feast. But this time, they could no longer waive it again. 

  Because it was a double happiness.

  One of them was Zhixia topped the exam, and the other was his marriage to Yuzheng.

  Everything could be low-key, but the marriage must not be. Otherwise, would it not be condescending to Yuzheng?

  When the carriage returned to the front door of the King’s residence, the gong of the official who was to pass the good news also knocked all the way over, catching up with them.

  Liu Zhixia personally took the edict of glad tidings from the official’s hand and then handed it to Grandpa Liu, making the old man so happy everyone could see his teeth.

  ”Grandpa, are you happy?” Liu Yusheng looked at her grandpa’s appearance and joked.

  ”Of course I’m happy! After receiving the glad tidings, we can start preparing for the happy event.”

  Liu Yusheng covered her mouth with a snicker, her eyebrows curved. After so many years, her Big Brother finally captured their grandparents’ attention.

  It was all thanks to Yuzheng.

  ”Tomorrow, I’ll go with Xiulan to buy auspicious gifts, and after Zhixia’s exams, we’ll settle the marriage between Yuzheng and Zhixia first!”

  Chen Xiulan took Fu Yuzheng’s hand and patted it, “Don’t be nervous. Your grandmother and I will take care of all these things. You just wait to be a new bride. Don’t think about anything else.”

  She noticed Fu Yuzheng’s unusual silence today and thought she was nervous about her marriage.

  Fu Yuzheng had parents. The first time a lady married, she didn’t even have a family member to give her away. She certainly didn’t understand the intricacies of marriage, so it was inevitable that she would be nervous.

  But all of these didn’t matter. She was entering the door of their Liu family, and she would be their family’s daughter-in-law. In the future, their family would love and cherish her, and decide for her.

  Fu Yuzheng held Chen Xiulan’s hand back. She lifted her head to look at her with reddened eyes and nodded lightly, “Thank you, Aunt Liu.”

  ”You’re still calling me Aunt Liu now, but in a few days, you can change it to Mother.” Liu Yusheng came over to chime in. “Think about it. After a few days, I have to change calling you to sister-in-law. I usually call you Yuzheng, Yuzheng. I’m really not used to it.” 

  ”What’s wrong with that? You’ll get used to it after calling her a few more times!”

  Fu Yuzheng was teased by several people, and her face bloomed with red. Her eyes also got redder and redder.

  Due to the elders present, Liu Zhixia released her hand. Looking from the side, he could see the reddish tint of the tips of her eyes. He felt an inexplicable dull pain in his heart. He disregarded abiding by etiquette in front of outsiders and pulled the woman over, and then he raised his hand to wipe the tears on her eyelashes. “I told you. When you’re happy, you can only laugh, not cry.”

  Liu Yusheng took up Grandma Liu and Chen Xiulan’s arms respectively: “Grandma, Mother, look at my brother, you used to worry that he wasn’t enlightened at an old age. Look at him now, he knows how to love his wife!”

  ”You don’t say! His eyes indeed could bore a hole.”

  ”Who would have thought that even though he is usually serious, there are times when his mouth is sweet?”

  Fu Yuzheng’s heart was full of bitterness, but in such teasing and joking, it dispersed those unbearable feelings. Her tears stopped, and she smiled.

  Whether it was Zhixia or everyone in the Liu family, their sincerity towards her was the most beautiful gift that she should cherish.

  She really, really liked them and would love to be a family with them.

  She could never meet anyone better than them in this life.

  The news was delivered to the residence of the King of Nanling, and not many people came to watch, but as Liu Yusheng had expected, invitations from various high-ranking doors came in droves.

  When Qian Wanjin got the good news, he also immediately called Shi Xianrou and rushed to the residence. 

  Top examinee and half-way through the top of the court examination, they must celebrate once today. After the court exam, they should celebrate again. So, that was twice.

  If the marriage between Liu Zhixia and Fu Yuzheng was decided, they could also have another feast.

  This trip back to the capital wouldn’t be so lonesome.

  The whole family celebrated. Even Xue Qinglian who wanted to nest in the room to study the potion was dragged out. He was primped into a human model, sitting in the hall to listen to a bunch of people’s hubbub.