FID – Chapter 447

  Chapter 447: He Should Have No Stumbling Blocks

  In front of the imperial list.

  Three waves of people flocked around it.

  They were peering on tiptoes and kept pushing forward.

  Loud and heated discussions buzzed, lively and noisy.

  The name of the champion scholar, Liu Zhixia, was passed down in twos by the people, and instantly became famous to the people in the city.

  ”I heard that this scholar is also the personal disciple of Elder Yang, the great Confucian of the dynasty. He is an outstanding scholar and has won Elder Yang’s love, and now he has really lived up to his expectations and has been appointed by His Majesty as the Number One Scholar.”

  ”I’ve seen the Number One Scholar, and I’ve seen him with my own eyes. He looks like a talented and gentle man. His background is also not simple. Although he comes from a humble family, he now lives in the King’s Manor. I heard that he’s a very close friend with the King of Nanling.”

  ”What do you mean he comes from a humble family? His family owns the famous Xinghua Village Winery in Nanling! His sister is the extremely famous Little Divine Doctor Ruyi County Lady, Liu Yusheng!”

  ”Is this kind of background still called a poor family? He has a rich family, a divine doctor sister, and may be the King’s brother-in-law in the future. Now he even won the Number One Scholar and has boundless prospects. Just wait and see. The wealthy families in the city will soon scramble to snatch him as their proud son-in-law.”

  The people’s voices rose higher and higher as they started to talk.

  In the outer corner of the crowd, a tall and slender woman stared at the imperial list.

  Her eyes fell on the three words ‘Liu Zhixia’ on the first row of the list.

  The corners of her mouth held a gratified smile.

  But tears wetted her eyes.

  It’s great that he got his wish. 

  As a smart man, his future will certainly get better and better.

  His future will be bright.

  He should have no stumbling blocks.

  The woman slowly walked away from the crowd.

  In this lively and cheering scene, her back looked unusually thin, fragile and bleak.

  The news that Liu Zhixia was the Number One Scholar came to the attention of the Liu family not long after the imperial list was posted.

  The family was ecstatic. Only Grandma Liu and Chen Xiulan paid homage to the Providence and uttered amitabha in their mouth: May God bless them.

  Hearing her grandmother and mother worship all the gods and goddesses, Liu Yusheng pursed her lips and smiled.

  Her elder brother was able to reach this point not only by the blessing of gods and Buddha, but by his own efforts. He was neither conceited nor rash. He studied steadily and toiled thousands of folds.

  Amidst all, of course, the spiritual spring water had also rendered meritorious service.

  But in Liu Yusheng’s view, no matter how magical the spiritual spring water was, it was only a small aid and an external force.

  To achieve a goal, it depended on the person’s own ability, as well as hard work.

  So her elder brother deserved his achievement today.

  Everyone in the family was swept off their feet. While waiting for Liu Zhixia’s return, invitations from all major mansions were sent to the manor again.

  It was even worse than the previous two days.

  Some of the heads of the houses even personally sent the invitations to the door, and their words were earnest, inviting the Number One Scholar to visit their houses for a chat. Their intention to form friendship couldn’t be any stronger.

  Grandma Liu looked at the dozens of invitations that were thicker than before and kept sighing, “When Zhixia comes back, how many days will it take him to finish and take a break if he goes to all these invitations? A person can die from overwork just by socializing. But, the engagement must not be delayed.”

  Liu Yusheng laughed, “We received the invitations, but he doesn’t necessarily have to attend the banquets. Besides, these people, who handed invitations want to make friends with Big Brother, don’t necessarily have pure agenda behind the scenes. I reckon many people are thinking of making Brother their son-in-law.”

  Chen Xiulan immediately frowned: “How can that be? Your Big Brother and Yuzheng are about to get engaged, so you can’t let others interfere. Yuzheng has suffered a loss to your brother, so he must take responsibility. If he dares to change his mind and has second thoughts, I’ll ——”

  Before she could finish, Liu Dalin took over, “I’ll expel him from the family! There are no fickle and unjust men in our family.”

  Grandpa Liu was satisfied. “Look at you two, can our Zhixia be that kind of person? Of course, not. Zhixia is just like me. Once he decided, it is for a lifetime. He will never have a womanizer intestines.”

  Liu Yusheng ambled over Chen Xiulan’s shoulder. The mother and daughter’s eyes the curved into the same arc, and they both gave Grandma Liu a playful wink, immediately making the grandma flustered.

  This old fogey, how could he say that? He was so old. Wasn’t he ashamed?

  Though he wasn’t ashamed, he just had to give himself a high hat.

  Time passed quietly between their laughter and teasing.

  Fu Yuzheng didn’t return during lunch, but the Liu family only thought she was busy in the sho, so they didn’t care.

  As for Liu Zhixia, he also couldn’t return. The family heard that after the court exam, he went to drink with the Emperor and the officials of all ranks. 

  After lunch break, it was already late afternoon, but no one still came in sight.

  Grandma Liu glanced at the sky from time to time and didn’t notice that her little granddaughter’s brow was slowly getting wrinkled.

  ”Grandma, is Yuzheng’s shop so busy ah? She didn’t return at noon, but it’s now late in the afternoon. Don’t tell me something happened at the shop?”

  ”Grandma, you guys stay at home, while I’ll go over to see. Perhaps the reconciliation is too complicated. Not finishing it in a few hours is common,” Liu Yusheng said soothingly, but her heart sank a little.

  She left the manor and went straight to the shop in the center of the city.

  That bleakness she felt in Fu Yuzheng gave her a bad feeling.

  She knew about the trauma that Fu Yuzheng suffered. She thought she had come out of it when she saw that her feelings with her brother was getting deeper and deeper. She believed that they were getting along naturally.

  Now, it didn’t seem necessarily so.

  The cloth shop was in the busiest part of the capital street. When entering the shop, Liu Yusheng saw the shopkeeper making cloth inventory behind the counter.

  When he saw her coming, he came out to greet her, “Miss Liu, what brings you here?”

  ”Boss, is Yuzheng in the store?”

  ”Miss Fu? She came here once this morning and didn’t stay long before she left. Didn’t she go back to the royal residence?”

  Liu Yusheng’s hunch was proven true. Her heart thumped: “What did she say after she came?”

  The shopkeeper also sensed that something was wrong. Otherwise, Miss Liu’s face would not be so ugly. He pondered for a moment and slapped his forehead, “See, I almost forgot. Miss Fu handed me a brocade box before leaving. She told me to give you or His Highness the brocade box if ever one of you comes to look for her.”

  The shopkeeper took out a palm-sized brocade box from the small wooden cabinet locked behind the counter and handed it to Liu Yusheng.

  ”Did she not leave any message?” Liu Yusheng only felt heavy deep inside, holding the small brocade box.

  The shopkeeper shook his head: “She didn’t say anything else. Miss Liu, but what happened to Miss Fu? When she came, her complexion was pale, and she looked unwell. I only took it that she was worried about Young Master Liu’s court exam.”

  The shopkeeper knew a bit about the relationship between Liu Zhixia and Fu Yuzheng.

  Liu Yusheng shook her head. She didn’t waste any more words with the shopkeeper, got on the carriage back to the manor, and opened the brocade box in the carriage.

  It was palm-sized, so it couldn’t possibly hold a lot. There wasn’t much inside. When she opened it, she found only a letter and a yellowed paper.

  The paper was obviously the secret recipe for dyeing cloth art. There was no doubt that it was the Yu family’s heirloom. Fu Yuzheng left the secret recipe, which meant that she must have made up her mind long before leaving.