binnovel Chapter 311 Ancient Farmer Scholars 3
Chapter 311 Ancient Farmer Scholars 3
When Li Cuilan married into the family, she was just about the age of marriage and became pregnant with twins as soon as she entered the household.
Now that her parents-in-law have passed away, she is both mourning them and feeling depressed, worried that her child will not be liked by his father.
As it turned out, it was a triplet during delivery. Yes, not twins, but triples. The youngest was smaller, and the doctor couldn't detect it when taking her pulse.
After she painstakingly gave birth to her child, she was already in critical condition. But a mother's love is strong, and to prevent her three sons from being burdened with the stigma of being born to bring misfortune upon their mother, Li Cuilan insisted that the doctor help her hold on until the next day before she passed away. This made the original owner's feelings towards her three children even more complicated.
Fortunately, there were servants at home, and the Wang and Li families would visit the original owner and the children from time to time. The children grew up safely, but the original owner was always quite serious when facing the three children, which made the three children want to be close to him, but also a little afraid of him.
After the original owner's parents passed away, the mansion began to observe mourning behind closed doors. Only during festivals would servants send some gifts to the Wang family, the Li family, and Master Zhao's family.
His father passed away, and he had to observe a 27-month mourning period. His mother passed away, and he had to observe another 27 months, plus Li Cuilan's 9 months.
The Liu family observed a period of mourning behind closed doors for nearly six years. The original owner should have taken the imperial examination the year her parents passed away, but this delay put her away for six years. How many six-year periods does one have in a lifetime?
Today, the mourning period ended in the mansion. The original owner thought about how he had lost his father, mother, and wife at such a young age, and that his only remaining relatives in the world were his three sons. He also thought about his path in the imperial examinations, and felt sad. So he drank a little more wine that night.
It could be because he had never drunk alcohol, given that his family's health wasn't good and his father was young. It could also be that he had been a vegetarian for the past six years during his mourning period, which had significantly weakened his constitution, and the fact that he hadn't closed the window while sleeping at night contributed to his passing.
After Liu Yuxi received the original owner's memories, he discovered that there was no world plot, which meant that this was a parallel universe.
She mentally reviewed everything the original owner had learned before. Hmm, the original owner, like her, wasn't very good at writing poetry! A huge disadvantage in the imperial examinations!
I recalled the original owner's three sons, Liu Zimu, Liu Zilin, and Liu Zisen, who are 6 years old this year (by Chinese reckoning) and are fraternal triplets.
The three children will grow up. The eldest looks like his grandfather, the second looks like his grandmother, and the youngest is the most delicate-looking, like his mother.
The reason why the original owner was always serious when facing the three children was because he felt awkward. He couldn't treat the children like his father treated him, and he didn't know how to get along with them, so he could only keep a straight face when he met them.
This is not to say that the original owner did not care about her three sons at all. In ancient times, it was not easy for children to survive. Some children were raised to be teenagers, but died from a cold.
Moreover, the servants are the best at understanding their masters' thoughts. If the original owner hadn't given instructions, the third son, let alone the eldest and second sons, wouldn't have grown this big.
Now that the family is out of mourning, he is preparing to take the provincial examination this year. His three sons should also be sent to a private school to begin their studies. Liu Yuxi plans to send his three sons to study under Master Zhao.
After he passed the imperial examination and became a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations), he did not plan to go to the county school. He also planned to continue studying with Master Zhao at the prefectural school and Bailu Academy.
Because when he recalled the original owner's memories, he discovered that Master Zhao was very knowledgeable, and if he continued to participate in the imperial examinations, he would definitely pass the examinations and become a Jinshi.
Moreover, Master Zhao's teaching style was not rigid; he often combined education with entertainment. He never simply read from the textbook but always connected the knowledge in the book with current events, broadening the students' knowledge and enabling them to understand current policies, the economy, laws, and local characteristics.
Most importantly, he discovered that Master Zhao could predict exam questions, and quite accurately at that. In his three county-level examinations, he encountered at least one question that Master Zhao had predicted. That was truly remarkable.
I need to treat my three adopted sons better from now on. They're all quite well-behaved. Sigh, thinking about how in another ten years or so, my three sons will have to get married, I wonder if I can trouble my master's wife to help arrange it then, since he's not planning to remarry.
Having made her decision, Liu Yuxi lay down on the bed and fell asleep again.
The next morning, I had breakfast with my three sons, checked their memorization, and then assigned them new study tasks.
As early as when his three sons were four years old, the original owner began to educate his children. After all, during the mourning period, he could not go out to visit guests, drink alcohol and make merry. Apart from reading, there was really nothing else to do. He did not expect his children to learn much; he just wanted them to have some basic knowledge.
All three sons are quite fond of learning, especially the youngest, who performs the best among the three brothers. These children should be well nurtured in the future, and martial arts training should also be arranged so that future generations will have more means of self-protection if they encounter chaotic times.
He sent a servant to deliver a visiting card to Master Zhao's family, saying that he would bring his son to visit them the next day.
He himself, accompanied by his personal servant Mo Qing, went out to explore the city. This was partly because the original owner hadn't been out much in recent years, and most of his information about the outside world came from the servants who handled the purchasing for the household.
On the one hand, Liu Yuxi also wanted to familiarize herself with the surrounding area. As expected, she would be staying in Fengzhou Prefecture for a long time, and she needed to buy some gifts for tomorrow.
The streets were bustling with people. It was just past the first month of the lunar calendar, and the festive atmosphere had not completely dissipated. Liu Yuxi strolled around, comparing her memories with those of the original owner, while also silently noting down the prices of various items.
Fortunately, most of the servants in the household came from their own estate. The whole family was under the control of the master, and the estate was not far from the prefectural city. The master would often go to the estate to check on things, so no servant dared to deceive the master too much.
It's worth mentioning here that when the Liu family bought those estates, some of the farmers in each estate were servants of the master, with indentures, including the estate manager.
When the estate was sold, the original owner also transferred these servants to the Liu family, since the estate needed someone to manage it and the land needed someone to cultivate it, so the Liu family took in these servants.
The land that the servants couldn't cultivate themselves was rented out to farmers in the surrounding villages who didn't have enough land. This was the case for Liu Yuxi's maternal grandfather's family at that time.
Over the past twenty years, Liu Yuxi's maternal grandfather, the Wang family, had long since acquired their own land. However, the Wang family lived in a village near Liu's village, so they would often visit the village on behalf of the Liu family members.
The Liu family started employing servants during the generation of the original owner's grandfather. When the original owner's father was born, due to his weak health, the number of servants in the family increased, for fear that if they couldn't take care of one of them, this only son would not survive.
It's always easier for people to go from extravagance to frugality than from frugality to extravagance. Once you're used to being waited on, who would want to worry about the trivial matters of daily life at home?