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.}
{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.
"Father, you're back, quickly, bring some tea."
"Grandfather, are you well?"
Concubine Liu and Fifth Prince's expressions were not too good, according to what Chuchu said, Master Liu used to work under such a corrupt person!
For over three years, Master Liu didn't even notice anything wrong with him.
No wonder the emperor rated him as dull-witted.
Master Liu used to even praise Ritual Master Xu as amiable and hands-on.
Concubine Liu and Fifth Prince had very complex expressions looking at Master Liu.
"The young Miss is fine, how is she?" Master Liu forced a smile, his body already stiff.
He was sweating profusely on his back, what kind of people had he been working with all this time!
Master Liu suppressed the tumultuous waves in his heart, perking up his ears and sitting down on the empty seat closest to the young Miss's rocking bed.
As soon as he sat down, he caught a whiff of a fragrant scent.
{Ding, Liu Wenchang has entered your fragrance range.}
{Liu Wenchang's intelligence is 61, doubled to 122.}
Xiao Chuchu was taken aback.
The system has upgraded again?
There was no such notification yesterday, but today she can even see everyone's intelligence attributes after the skill is activated.
Her grandfather's intelligence, it's really... not high.
Just a little over 60.
Xiao Chuchu closed her little eyes, her dark lashes fluttering.
{The fragrance enhancement has made my grandfather notice, now his intelligence has doubled, I hope he can uncover Ritual Master Xu's greed for money.}
Just as Master Liu was about to sit down, he hesitated.
The baby powder scent on his granddaughter can make people smarter!?
Is she some kind of immortal reincarnated?
Amitabha!
Master Liu couldn't help but move closer to the rocking bed of his granddaughter.
Xiao Chuchu was also muttering in her heart, {Although my grandfather is now an Imperial Censor, he has already left the Imperial Academy, but he still seems to occasionally go to Ritual Master Xu's bamboo garden pavilion to drink tea?}
{Perhaps with higher intelligence, my grandfather can discover the irregularities in the garden.}
{Ah, but my fragrance enhancement only lasts for a day.}
Concubine Liu and Fifth Prince instantly tensed up, watching Master Liu touch the narcissus flowers on the table.
Concubine Liu took a deep breath, carefully considering what to say, "Father, you have just returned from quelling the rebellion, in the eyes of others you must be a rising star at the imperial court. You are now standing at the eye of the storm."
Hearing his mother say this, Fifth Prince secretly nodded.
Thinking, he also spoke up, "What Mother said is true, I also heard the tutor in the study say, success breeds failure."
Master Liu of the Liu Family's mouth twitched.
Normally, when his daughter and grandson spoke like this, he might not have understood.
But now, sitting beside his young granddaughter, he truly felt his intelligence increase!
In an instant, he understood the underlying meaning in their words, "You're worried that after I take the credit for quelling the rebellion, my foundation in the court will be shaky, and I'll end up being resented by others?"
Concubine Liu took a deep breath, her father really has become smarter!
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."