Chapter 43

Chapter 43

His Grandson Will Ascend the Throne!?

The Liu Family Will Become the Imperial Clan!?

From Now On, Under One Surname, Above All Others!?

Master Liu was so excited that he almost fell over, his old face turning red!

Ancestors, the Liu Family has made it big!

Master Liu looked at his daughter, Concubine Liu, who was watering flowers on the balcony, then at his grandson Chengqian, who was holding the young Miss's hand and reading.

Heavens, this is such a joyous event, and only he knows about it!?

His daughter and grandson have not heard the young Miss's thoughts, they still do not know of this great news?

Oh, what a pity.

Such a delightful surprise, with no one to share it, no one to tell, life... is as lonely as the snow!

Master Liu lamented, wishing he could rush home right away to tell his wife.

But just as he was overjoyed, he heard the tender-faced young Miss sigh again from the cradle, {Ah, but there is nothing to be happy about, our Jing Country is about to perish, its national strength is only a fraction of Yuan Mu Country.}

{My brother is inheriting a mess.}

Master Liu of the Liu Family was elated one moment, then sunk down the next.

He was dumbfounded.

His beloved grandson, the future ruler of a fallen country!?

What a joke!

Then the crown prince is better off given to someone else!

It is clearly a hot potato!

{The country's downfall is understandable, our military is weak, and the civil officials are incompetent too, internal and external troubles, and we don't even have any silver.}Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

{There are many corrupt officials, even richer than my emperor father! For example, my grandfather's former superior, Ritual Master Xu of the Imperial Academy, he alone embezzled a full million taels of silver, hoarding over a hundred valuable calligraphy and paintings, who would have thought...}

Master Liu of the Liu Family opened his mouth.

The normally composed Concubine Liu and Fifth Prince were both so startled that they almost dropped the watering can and book in their hands.

Ritual Master Xu of the Imperial Academy, Master Liu's superior of the past three years, had embezzled a million taels of silver?

Master Liu almost thought he had heard wrong.

He had never seen so much money in the Imperial Academy!

{There are too many parents in this world willing to give up everything for their children.}

{Many people have sent money to Ritual Master Xu.}

Xiao Chuchu murmured, thinking about how in the original novel, after Yuan Mu Country invaded Jing Country, the Yuan King discovered that Jing Country's treasury didn't have much money, and was furious.

As a result, the Yuan King ruthlessly executed a group of Jing Country officials, to vent his anger.

Surprisingly, when these Jing Country officials' families were looted, there was an unexpected delight.

Ritual Master Xu of the Imperial Academy was one of them.

{The result of looting their homes shocked even the Yuan King. Ritual Master Xu was frugal and plain-living, spending his days in the bamboo garden, reciting poetry and drinking tea.}

{But who would have thought, under that bamboo garden, after digging up the soil, there were boxes and boxes of silver, porcelain, and jewelry. The people who went to loot spent a whole day counting, and found over a million taels worth of goods!}

Master Liu reached out, steadying himself on the doorframe as he shakily walked into the inner room.

Concubine Liu and Fifth Prince finally snapped out of their trance, getting up to greet him.

In that case, she's been feeling that she can understand the weaving techniques in the books she's been reading much faster lately, and even make leaps of understanding, is that also thanks to her daughter's fragrance?

Concubine Liu was both surprised and delighted, "Exactly, Father. Our Liu Family has no real backing in the court, you can't stand alone."

Master Liu of the Liu Family slapped his thigh with an "Aiyo".

"I understand, I'll go reconnect with my old friends and superiors, have more tea with them."

He was also thinking about how to find an excuse to quickly go visit his former superior Ritual Master Xu, and expose the man's embezzlement!

Now, the reason has presented itself.

Master Liu, smelling the faint fragrance of his young granddaughter, instantly came up with a three-in-one plan, "Mm, I'll go visit my former superior Ritual Master Xu later."

"First, to show the other officials that I, Liu Wenchang, have not become arrogant and aloof due to my recent success."

"Second, since the rebellious Prince Liao has involved some scholars in his schemes, I can go to the Imperial Academy and tell Ritual Master Xu to advise the students to steadfastly maintain their integrity and not commit any disloyal or unrighteous acts."

"Third, Ritual Master Xu recently had a great-grandson, I missed the full moon ceremony. Now is a good time to pay a visit."

Concubine Liu and Fifth Prince heard this, their eyes lighting up.

Just as Chuchu had said, Master Liu has become smarter!

They didn't even need to suggest for him to go see Ritual Master Xu, he came up with the idea himself!

"Yes, Father's plan is good." Concubine Liu immediately praised, "Let all the officials know that you have not become arrogant just because you've gained some success."

"Oh yes, I heard that Ritual Master Xu is quite close with a few other officials." She hinted.

Master Liu naturally grasped the implication, thinking that those officials must have also bribed Ritual Master Xu with silver.

The students, were they all bribing Ritual Master Xu with silver to get into the Imperial Academy?

He pondered over the matter, with a pensive and enlightened expression, putting Concubine Liu and Fifth Prince's minds at ease.

At lunchtime, Emperor Xiao Yunzhou came and had a meal with them.

Xiao Yunzhou spun around the room holding Xiao Chuchu, but alas, Xiao Chuchu had been exhausted from her morning activities, participating in a raffle and studying the national strength, and had fallen asleep.

Even the fragrance on her had faded, having been mingled with the scents of Concubine Liu, the Fifth Prince, and the Old Master of Liu Family.

If one didn't inspect closely, one wouldn't even be able to detect it anymore.

"Your Majesty, the young imperial princess is sleeping soundly, still growing," Concubine Liu said with concern, deeply fearing that the Emperor might want to wake her up.

Xiao Yunzhou felt a bit regretful, but seeing his daughter's rosy cheeks, he simply couldn't bring himself to wake her up.

"Let her sleep. Later, when she wakes up, have the nanny bring her to my study."

He then instructed Wei Zheng, "Go fetch my sable cloak. In the future, when carrying the young imperial princess out, wrap her in it so she doesn't catch a cold."

Wei Zheng hurried to comply.

The Emperor lingered for a moment, then quickly left to deal with the aftermath of the Liao Prince.

Master Liu also bid his daughter and grandson farewell without delay and rushed out of the palace straight to his home.

In the front courtyard of the Liu Family, Old Madam Liu was still drying corn when he hurriedly urged her.

"Quickly, quickly, prepare some celebratory gifts for me."

"I must expose that corrupt official!"

Old Madam Liu was completely bewildered.

Master Liu still lived in an isolated corner of the capital city, with hardly any neighbors around.

Nevertheless, he leaned in and lowered his voice to speak to Old Madam Liu.

"Soon, you and I will go to Ritual Master Xu's home. Just say you want to dig up some bamboo from his bamboo garden to eat."