HBWnovel Chapter 17 I Want to Make You the Top Scholar's Wife 1
Chapter 17 I Want to Make You the Top Scholar's Wife 1
"The second son of the Li family has now passed the imperial examination and will have a bright future."
A sharp voice rang out from outside the curtain.
"My daughter is still young, and I'd like to keep her for another two years. There's no rush, no rush," a calm voice politely declined.
"Village Chief Jiang, I'm not trying to be mean, but if a girl stays too long, she'll easily become an old maid. That second son of the Li family is handsome and has a great talent."
At only sixteen years old, he has already passed the preliminary examination for the imperial examination, which has attracted many admirers.
In the future, she could become the wife of a scholar, the wife of a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, or even the wife of a top scholar.
The two families are considered a good match now, but in two years, even the richest young ladies from the county town will be vying for her.
Not to mention in the capital, there were countless men seeking husbands after the imperial examinations, and even princesses marrying into the family.
The second son of the Li family will rise in status in the future; this opportunity will be rare.
Village Chief Jiang, I only care about this girl because she lost her mother at such a young age and has no one to help her take care of her.
Otherwise, why would I have come here so many times?
Isn't it just because you feel sorry for our girl?
There are many suitors for the second son of the Li family, and I have been asked to look at countless of them.
I genuinely believe that the second son of the Li family is an exceptionally good son-in-law, and I don't want our daughter to miss out on him.
The shrill voice rambled on and on with a long, drawn-out discourse.
Jiang He was unaware of the current situation and remained silent while listening to the conversation outside.
"I'll think about it some more."
After everyone left, Jiang He lifted the curtain and went outside.
"He'er, the matchmaker just came again, saying that the second son of the Li family has passed the imperial examination. What do you think?"
"Father, I am still young and do not want to leave you."
"Father is also reluctant to part with He'er, so let's just let this matter go. Next time, Father will just refuse to go directly."
Village Chief Jiang left home.
Jiang He returned to her room. There were three rooms in total, but only this one contained household items for a young lady.
"System, transfer my memories now."
The original owner is now fourteen years old, the daughter of the village chief of Jiangjia Village, and has a younger brother who is only six years old.
My mother's health deteriorated after giving birth to my younger brother, and she passed away a year later from a cold.
Her father lives with his nine-year-old daughter and one-year-old son.
He loved his two children dearly and never remarried because he was worried that his stepmother would treat them badly.
Li Erlang from the neighboring Li Family Village passed the imperial examination for the first degree, but becoming a first degree student is just the beginning.
To take the imperial examination route, one had to study diligently for many years, which would cost an unknown amount of money.
Moreover, if you want to study at a better college, you also need to make some connections.
Li Erlang has an older brother who farms and is now married with children. He also has a younger brother.
The family sold everything they owned to support Li Erlang's education, and now that Li Erlang has passed the preliminary examination, they are convinced that he is destined to become the top scholar.
However, due to limited family resources, the writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were a considerable expense.
One of Li Erlang's classmates won the favor of the daughter of a wealthy merchant in the county town.
No longer needing to worry about money, they could focus solely on studying the classics.
Li Erlang then began to plan that he could also find a young lady from a wealthy family.
Unfortunately, Li Erlang went to several matchmakers, but none of them took a liking to him.
He's just a student who has passed the preliminary examination; such students are not uncommon in this county.
Even if they were to gamble, why didn't they just choose that poor, pedantic scholar instead of some nobody who was a mere child prodigy?
After being rejected several times, Li Erlang felt that those merchants reeked of money and were only thinking about profit, so he had no intention of marrying the merchant's daughter.
After a while, the original owner was chosen.
The village chief's daughter comes from a family that is not poor.
Because Village Chief Jiang doted on his daughter, and she even knew a few characters.
The original owner of this body was also skilled in needlework; she could embroider handkerchiefs and sell them in the county town for some money.
She was the girl everyone in the surrounding villages had their eyes on.
However, Village Chief Jiang couldn't bear to part with his daughter and wanted to keep her for two more years, so he basically refused all the matchmakers who came to visit during those two years.
Li Erlang sent a matchmaker several times.
This time, Village Chief Jiang refused the matchmaker again.
Two days later, when Li Erlang went to the county town, he encountered the original owner who was selling embroidered handkerchiefs.
Li Erlang then approached the original owner of the body.
The original owner had heard the name Li Erlang several times, and matchmakers had visited the door several times.
Upon seeing him now, Li Erlang was indeed handsome, holding a book in his hand, exuding a scholarly air.
He was different from everyone else I met in the village.
The original owner had a very good impression of Li Erlang.
They met by chance a few more times and spoke a few times, and the original owner fell in love with this refined and gentle Li Erlang.
When the matchmaker came again, the original owner agreed.
After the original owner married Li Erlang, she initially enjoyed a period of blissful happiness.
Later, Li Erlang said he wanted to take the imperial examination to become a scholar and wanted to find a better teacher.
The original owner took out her dowry money and sent Li Erlang to study.
Li Erlang went to study and only returned once every ten days.
The mother-in-law started making the original owner do housework and serve her.
Once you become someone's daughter-in-law, it's your duty to serve your mother-in-law.
Although the original owner wasn't very good at it, she still tried her best.
Seeing that the original owner was easy to control, the mother-in-law made the original owner embroider by lamplight every day, and she would take the embroidered handkerchiefs to the county town to sell.
The money the original owner earned from embroidery was also handed over to the public.
Since they haven't separated their households yet, the mother-in-law is in charge of the household.
The eldest son's family also handed over all their earnings to their mother-in-law for management, and the original owner agreed to this.
Since we're family, it's only right that we exchange some money for embroidery to improve our family's living conditions.
However, the family's life did not improve, and the money was all hidden by the mother-in-law.
There is also a younger son who is not yet married, and we need to save money for his wedding.
The original owner worked quietly, embroidering handkerchiefs, trying her best to make life better for her family.
However, the original owner's life was not easy.
Every time the original owner was extremely frustrated, Li Erlang would return.
When Li Erlang returns, his mother-in-law will no longer make him do this or that, but will let him take good care of Erlang.
Li Erlang would accompany her for walks outside, pick beautiful wildflowers for her, and recite sweet love poems to her.
They also talked about what they had learned outside, how they had improved, how their teacher had praised them, and how they were sure they would pass the imperial examination and become a scholar.
If I become the top scholar in the imperial examination, I'll make her my wife.
Under Li Erlang's baptism, the original owner's physical and mental fatigue was swept away.
After Li Erlang left, he always thought about what Li Erlang had said.
Li Erlang indeed passed the imperial examination and became a scholar.
The Li family was very happy.
Li Erlang stayed at home with the original owner for a month.
The original owner of this body is pregnant.
The mother-in-law also toned it down a bit. This was Erlang's bloodline, a descendant of the Li family, and he had to be taken good care of.
The original owner enjoyed ten months of happiness.
After giving birth, the original owner gave birth to a daughter.
The original owner was very happy, but everyone else was not.
Li Erlang didn't show it on his face when he returned, telling her to rest well, but in reality, he wasn't very happy that the original owner had given birth to a daughter.
Li Erlang returned in the morning, glanced at the scene, and then left.
The original owner was still in her postpartum confinement period when her mother-in-law made her go back to work in the fields.
A month later, Li Erlang returned.
And then he managed to coax the original owner into submission.
After Li Erlang passed the imperial examination, he only returned home once a year.
The original owner of this body and her daughter also had a very difficult time.
The mother-in-law disliked the maid, so the original owner could only squeeze food out of her own rations to give to her daughter.
Whenever she was disheartened, Li Erlang would warm her heart with the line, "When I become the top scholar in the imperial examination, you will be the top scholar's wife."
As long as Erlang has her in his heart, everything is worthwhile.
Right now, it's because Erlang isn't by her side. Once she gets into high school, she'll be able to live a good life with Erlang.
Li Erlang went to the capital to take the imperial examination and took away all of the original owner's savings.
After he left, Li Erlang never returned.
He passed the imperial examination as he wished and was chosen as the son-in-law of a high-ranking official in the capital.
Li Erlang sent people to pick up his parents, brothers, and family.
The original owner and her daughter were locked in the room by her mother-in-law.
Erlang confessed that he had been favored by a high-ranking official and had become the official's son-in-law, and that he was sure to rise rapidly in his career.
The house needs to be cleaned up.
The mother-in-law locked the door from the inside and even nailed the windows shut.
The mother and daughter cannot be left behind, otherwise they might run to the capital and say all sorts of nonsense, which would harm Erlang.
The original owner cried out to heaven and earth in vain, and in the end, the two of them starved to death in that room.
When the original owner's father heard that Li Erlang had passed the imperial examination, he brought his family to the capital, thinking that his daughter was also going to enjoy a life of luxury.
Although it's a pity that my daughter didn't come to say goodbye, as long as she's doing well, that's all that matters.