Yang Yuhuan always believed that if her father had not taken Fang Yun's family's money to gamble, Fang Yun's parents would not have to travel to other places and encounter monsters. She always felt that she owed Fang Yun.
In order to atone her sins, Yang Yuhuan added layer of burdens upon layer upon layer, making her feel suffocated and her emotional world blank.
Now that Fang Yun had finally passed the examination and was ranked first in the top two, the burden in her heart was finally mostly lifted.
She had been happily preparing a banquet with her relatives today, waiting for Fang Yun to return from the literary meeting, but with the arrival of the matchmaker, her good mood disappeared.
Yang Yuhuan was scared.
She had never been afraid before because she had a firm goal in her heart, but now that she had achieved it, she felt empty inside.
She found that the only person she could rely on now was Fang Yun, but those matchmakers and those wealthy families seemed to want to snatch Fang Yun away from her.
Just when she was most worried, Fang Yun came back and proposed to her in public.
Yang Yuhuan finally realized that no one could take Fang Yun away.
Yang Yuhuan couldn't help but smile sweetly, then reached out and touched her face, feeling hot with shame.
"Xiao Yun is really different now." Yang Yuhuan thought to herself. Her originally empty heart gradually became full and her face became redder and redder.
In the past, Yang Yuhuan’s goal was to help Fang Yun grow up, but now, her goal is to be a good wife to Fang Yun.
Fang Yun opened his eyes and saw Yang Yuhuan's shy smiling face, which was like peach blossoms blooming under the moonlight. She was like a fairy descending to earth, and he couldn't help but be moved.
Yang Yuhuan didn't expect Fang Yun to suddenly open his eyes. She was shocked and embarrassed, and subconsciously wanted to run away.
Fang Yun reached out and grabbed her wrist, and whispered, "I was pretending to be drunk, just wanting to find a chance to talk to you."
Yang Yuhuan's face turned red with shame, and her usual sisterly look disappeared without a trace. She lowered her head, hummed softly, and let Fang Yun hold her hands.
"There is a hundred taels of silver in my coat, which was given to me by Mr. Su. You can keep it safe. From now on, you are not allowed to work for others, and you are not allowed to do rough or strenuous work. Do you hear me?"
"But… "
"No buts. You've worked so hard for this family for so many years. It's time to take a break. From now on, I'll take care of this family!"
Yang Yuhuan slowly raised her head, less shy and more moved, and said, "Okay, I'll listen to Xiaoyun."
"With the gifts from others, it will be enough for us to spend for a long time. You can hire a maid or buy a servant to help with the housework. What you need to do now is to idle away, play, eat, and take care of your body. Do you understand?"
"Yeah." Yang Yuhuan's eyes were red. She didn't expect happiness to come so quickly, and it was countless times better than she had imagined.
"You've suffered a lot over the years." Fang Yun sighed.
Yang Yuhuan did not continue to cry, but said in a rare firm tone: "I felt bitter before, but now that I see you have a promising future, I don't feel bitter at all! I am very happy now!"
Fang Yun's gaze became softer.
"Sister Yuhuan, starting tomorrow, I will teach you how to read."
"Really?" Yang Yuhuan asked happily.
"Of course. I will teach you ten words a day, and within a year you will be able to read and write. Oh, and I will also teach you arithmetic."
"No, you should spend your time studying. You still have to take the exam to become a scholar. You can't waste your time on me," said Yang Yuhuan.
"I can't read all the time. I'll get tired eventually. I'll use the time to teach you literacy and arithmetic. How about that?"
"Well... okay." Yang Yuhuan didn't know how to refute.
The two chatted for a while, and Fang Yun got drunk and slowly fell asleep.
The next day, Fang Yun slept until noon, got dressed and walked out, and found Yang Yuhuan feeding the chickens. The three horses had been unharnessed and tied next to the chicken coop.
"Sister Yuhuan, good morning."
"Good morning." Yang Yuhuan straightened up and looked at Fang Yun, her face full of a bright smile, "I'll go heat up your meal. You still have to go to the temple to worship the saints. After you finish eating, take the carriage."
"It's not a long journey, we can just walk there." Fang Yun said.
Soon the food was heated up and Fang Yun started eating, while Yang Yuhuan sat opposite him and talked about the gifts she received yesterday.
"Yesterday we sent a lot of food, meat, wine, etc., but there were also many people who came, so most of them ate. There was a lot of silver and money, and I asked Xiao Mao to help write it down. Not counting Mr. Su's, the total amount was 224 taels and 500 coins."
"So many?" Fang Yun said.
"You are the top scorer in the double-class examination, and the wealthy families in the county have all sent money to you. Last night, I heard from Mr. Fang, a lecturer in the county school, that he has told the Fang family in Dayuan Prefecture about your success. The Fang family in Dayuan Prefecture will definitely give you a generous gift."
Fang Yun nodded. The Fang family spread all over the country, some declined, some rose, and the Fang family of Dayuan Prefecture was the most prosperous one, and it was already a famous family.
According to the family tree, Fang Yun is a relative of the Fang family of Dayuan Prefecture within nine generations, and now that he has a literary title, the Fang family of Dayuan Prefecture will definitely send him a gift.
If the family is poor, the Fang family of Dayuan Prefecture will provide financial support.
It is normal for the same clan to help each other, and it is also normal for the direct and collateral branches to fight with each other, all because of their own interests.
To the Fang family of Dayuan Prefecture, Fang Yun cannot even be considered a side branch, so he will not be involved in any fights at all. He is just accepting help from people of the same surname now, and will help other members of the same clan if there is a chance in the future.
Fang Yun said: "The county exam, prefectural exam, state exam and capital exam are held in spring, summer, autumn and winter respectively. In three months, I will take the prefectural exam to become a scholar."
"Aren't you going to review for another year? Although the imperial examination is held every year, most people have to study for two or three years after passing the exam before continuing. You didn't win the double first place and want to compete for the 'fellow year', did you?" Yang Yuhuan asked curiously.
The so-called "in the same year" means passing the examinations for tongsheng, xiucai, juren and jinshi consecutively within one year. This is a great honor, just like "shengqian", "shuangjia" and "sanyuan". However, many people have tried, but no one has ever succeeded. It is the crown of imperial examination that has never been taken off.
"I don't think so. Ordinary students have to study in the county academy, but I am the top student, so I am eligible to study directly in the prefectural academy. This is a rare opportunity that I cannot give up. Since I am going to study in the prefectural academy, of course I have to take part in the prefectural exam this summer. But the Liu family is very powerful in Dayuan Prefecture. I cannot go to Dayuan Prefecture rashly without resolving this hidden danger."
Just then, a carriage stopped outside the door and Fang Yun saw an acquaintance getting off the carriage.
Scholar Fang Yusheng was here yesterday. He is a lecturer at the county academy of literature, equivalent to a teacher. Although he has no rank, he receives a salary and can take part in the imperial examinations.
The door was open. After getting off the carriage, Fang Yusheng nodded to Fang Yun, then bowed his head respectfully and waited at the door of the carriage.
A big man in his forties walked down. He was tall and strong, with a serious face and disproportionately large eyes, which made his eyes look extremely bright.
The man's footsteps were extremely heavy, raising a large amount of dust when his feet landed on the ground.
This man was not wearing a scholar's robe, but long boots and shorts. He looked extremely capable and very much like a soldier.
Fang Yun vaguely guessed the identity of this person, and immediately stood up with Yang Yuhuan, and said as he walked, "My nephew didn't know that you were coming, and I'm sorry for not welcoming you. I hope you can forgive me."
"Have you seen me?" The man's voice was so loud that the tiles on the roof shook.
"I've never seen him before, but apart from Fang Shouye 'Fang Dayan' in Jiangzhou, who else can have such demeanor?" Fang Yun said with a smile.
Fang Shouye laughed and asked, "Are you Fang Yun who wrote "Spring Dawn" and "Year End"? "
"yes."
"Are you talking about the fate of the country, and every man is responsible for his fate?"
"He's also a nephew." Fang Yun said.
Fang Shouye took a close look at Fang Yun and said, "You have great literary talent. But it's a pity that you are too thin. You should eat more meat in the future. How can a man live without meat? Yusheng, you two move the things in." After that, he went into the house with Fang Yun.
Fang Shouye walked with great vigor and sat on a bench with a majestic posture, but such a rough man was actually a Jinshi and a fifth-rank general of Yuhai Prefecture.
There is no military imperial examination in Shengyuan Continent. Officials in the three departments of the Academy of Arts, Civil Service and Military Officers are all scholars who have passed the imperial examinations.
Fang Yusheng and the driver each carried a large box in, and opened the box at Fang Shouye's signal.
A box was filled with glittering silver ingots, each of which was a large ingot weighing twenty taels. At a glance, there were at least fifty of them, and in the middle was a thick stack of silver bills.
The second box was covered with silk and satin, and was covered with numerous jewels, including gold hairpins, silver bracelets, jade pendants, gem necklaces, and many more, as well as some gold bars and gold leaves.
Yang Yuhuan let out a soft cry, then covered her mouth and looked at the two boxes in disbelief. She almost used all her strength to divert her eyes away from the pile of jewelry, lowered her head, and said nothing.
"Uncle, what is this doing?" Fang Yun pretended to be ignorant. Besides, he was prepared and was not shocked at all by the two boxes of gold and silver treasures. This was the side effect of watching too many movies and playing too many games.
Fang Shouye appeared calm on the surface, but he was secretly surprised in his heart that a mere poor student was not tempted by so much wealth. Even the children of famous and wealthy families could not do that.
"These two boxes of things in exchange for your promise that if you pass the imperial examination, you will join our army."
Fang Yun said calmly, "It's less."
Fang Yusheng and the groom looked at Fang Yun with extremely strange eyes, wondering if this kid is crazy.
"Ten thousand taels of silver is a lot of money." Fang Shouye remained calm.
"To determine my future, ten thousand taels of silver are not enough." Fang Yun did not have a clear understanding of this world now, and would never agree to it so rashly.
Fang Shouye's expression finally changed slightly. He snorted unhappily and asked, "What do you have to do to agree to join our military?"
"It's too early to say anything now. I may not even pass the exam to become a juren, let alone a jinshi." Fang Yun said calmly.
Fang Shouye suddenly lost all his momentum, showing a frustrated look, and asked: "Have you really been enlightened? Why can't I give birth to a good son like you? You won the first place in the double-class case and received a gift of ten thousand taels of silver, but you are not arrogant. I was saved on the battlefield when I was 20 years old and I became much more sensible, but I may not be as calm as you."
Fang Yun said slowly: "I just saved my life."
Yang Yuhuan looked at Fang Yun with heartache.
Fang Shouye immediately cursed, "There is not a single good person in the Liu family from top to bottom! Liu Zicheng is a famous playboy in Dayuan Prefecture. He has been living a life of debauchery with a bunch of young masters, and I don't know how many virgin girls he has harmed. Liu Zicheng is cruel and ruthless, and he will not give up. However, he dares to touch a student, but he will never dare to touch my nephew Fang Shouye! I will burn down the largest pawnshop in their Liu family tonight, and then tell Liu Zicheng that if he dares to cause trouble to you again, I will skin him alive!"
"Uncle, you're joking." Fang Yun didn't expect that Fang Shouye actually knew about this. He was probably told by Fang Yusheng.
"Are you kidding? I dared to burn even the tent of the Manhou Chanyu, so why would I care about a mere pawnshop? Old Yuan, go back and prepare kerosene immediately."
"Yes, General." The driver named Yuan agreed immediately.