Chapter 488
Chapter 488
When Li Tianyou heard this, he was momentarily taken aback.
In truth, he had been mentally prepared for the possibility that after becoming an official, his brother-in-law might seek his help with something.
However, Li Tianyou had his own set of principles.
As long as Yao Qisheng’s request wasn’t too excessive, he didn’t mind lending a hand.
If it was reasonable and fair, and didn’t involve breaking the law, Li Tianyou was willing to help promote his brother-in-law’s prospects.
“Elder Brother, please speak. If there’s something I can do, I’ll do my best,” Li Tianyou asked curiously.
“I know you’re now the Vice Minister of the Household. As you’re aware, our family’s business has always been in grain. This time I’ve come to the capital, hoping to donate two hundred thousand catties of grain to the court. Our family has long wanted to contribute to the Lannuo Kingdom, but we never found the opportunity,” Yao Qisheng said with a smile.
When Yao Qisheng finished speaking, everyone was taken aback. They hadn’t expected that his request of Li Tianyou was actually this.
“Elder Brother, this is a good thing!” Li Tianyou didn’t understand what Yao Qisheng was aiming for with this move.
But he knew very well that if this was what his brother-in-law wanted his help with, the Emperor would be delighted.
Two hundred thousand catties of grain was no small amount.
Lady Qin smiled from the side, not interrupting Yao Qisheng’s words.
In reality, she hadn’t agreed with this idea at first. But her husband had explained that he was doing this to pave the way for their son.
They were merchants, yet their son was pursuing a scholarly path.
That Yao Shuwen had already been admitted to Linchuan Academy was a step ahead of others. What they were doing now was to build up his reputation.
“Brother-in-law, you may not know this. Shuwen has entered Linchuan Academy. I’m not a man of great ambitions, so I just want to secure a future for him. I’m not using these two hundred thousand catties to ask for anything—just a good name,” Yao Qisheng said quickly, worried Li Tianyou might misunderstand.
“My husband—” Lady Yao grew anxious when she saw Li Tianyou’s silence.
“If it’s inconvenient for you, Brother-in-law, don’t worry about it,” Yao Qisheng added hastily when he saw Li Tianyou seemed troubled.
“Elder Brother, it’s not inconvenient at all. I was just thinking about what you said,” Li Tianyou waved his hand. There was truly no difficulty here.
Handling this matter would actually benefit them.
But he felt that if he brought this to the Emperor, securing a good outcome would be best.
“Is there something wrong?” Yao Qisheng hadn’t expected there to be any issue with donating grain.
“Elder Brother, what if we get Shuwen admitted to the Imperial Academy instead?” Li Tianyou mused. A donation of two hundred thousand catties of grain was quite significant.
Exchanging it for a place at the Imperial Academy seemed reasonable, didn’t it?
If that wasn’t enough, he could add more of his own resources, and it should work.
“Shuwen can get into the Imperial Academy?” Yao Qisheng asked in disbelief.
If that were possible, he would be more than eager.
Even from their distant home in Qujing, he knew well that the Imperial Academy wasn’t something just anyone could enter.
If he had known that donating two hundred thousand catties could land his son a spot, he would have done it long ago.
Forget two hundred thousand—he would have even donated four hundred thousand.
“Brother-in-law, can Shuwen really enter the Imperial Academy?” Lady Qin asked, also excited.
“Let’s wait until after Weiwei’s wedding. Then I’ll discuss it with the Emperor. At that time, the Emperor will likely summon you, Elder Brother,” Li Tianyou said, not making any immediate promises.
He felt it was better to speak only after the Emperor had given his approval.
“Alright, alright!”
Yao Qisheng had never dreamed that he would even get to see the Emperor.
Lady Qin was also emotional.
If their son could study at the Imperial Academy in the capital, that academy was even harder to get into than Linchuan Academy.
Everyone knew the Imperial Academy was a royal institution. Only the children of high officials and nobles in the capital could enter, and its teachers were all renowned Confucian scholars.
As long as Yao Shuwen applied himself, it would be hard for him not to succeed.
“Father, Mother, I just saw someone who looks a lot like Uncle!” Yao Shuyi rushed into Bright Moon Residence, his face full of disbelief.
But once he stepped inside, he spotted Jiang Yuanrang standing nearby.
“He… that’s him!” Yao Shuyi pointed at Jiang Yuanrang, his eyes wide with shock.
“You child, why are you yelling like that? This is your kuya’s eldest son from her family!” Lady Qin quickly scolded her son gently.
“Kuya’s son? I thought Aunt only gave birth to Cousin Weiwei?” Yao Shuyi asked, confused.
“I popped out of a rock!” Jiang Yuanrang said without missing a beat.
“Really? Which rock? Let me go check—are there any other elder brothers there? Mother, how about we go and pick a sister for me?” Yao Shuyi looked at Lady Qin with hopeful eyes.
Lady Qin shot a stern glare at her clueless son.
Couldn’t he tell the other person was joking with him?
“You might end up disappointed,” Jiang Yuanrang replied flatly.
“Alright, Zhou’er, stop teasing your younger cousin,” Lady Yao said, hiding a smile.
“Yì’er, this is your brother-in-law and my child. Back then, he fell into the water and went missing, and we thought we’d lost him, so you probably didn’t know.” Lady Yao explained with a smile.
“So that’s how it is. No wonder he looks so much like brother-in-law.” Yao Shuyi scratched his head sheepishly.
Everyone in the room laughed at his words.
Before long, the day arrived—the sixth of the tenth month, the day of Xu Heming and Li Zhiwei’s wedding.
Early in the morning, Xu Heming had already changed into his bright red wedding robes.
“Father!” Xu Qingshi frowned as he looked at Xu Heming, his eyes full of discontent.
“Be good today and don’t run off anywhere.” Xu Heming saw his son and gave him instructions.
“Where could I even go? Father, you’re going to pick up Pretty Sister and bring her home today, aren’t you?” Xu Qingshi asked, a hint of uncertainty in his tone.
“After today, you’ll have to change how you address her.” Xu Heming’s face was touched with a smile—finally, he would be able to marry her.
“Change what?” Xu Qingshi frowned.
“From now on, you must call her ‘mother.’ You can’t be so disrespectful.” Xu Heming looked at his son, who stood before him without an ounce of reverence, barely treating him like a father—though it was true that Xu Heming was often buried in official duties.
Still, the indulgence he showed this child mostly came from a sense of guilt.
But starting today, things would be different.
“Father, when have I ever been disrespectful?” Xu Qingshi pouted, unhappy.
He thought to himself, So this is what it means to forget your son once you get a wife?
The thought made Xu Qingshi displeased.
“Mm, you haven’t.” Xu Heming replied absently, his mind already set on heading out to bring Li Zhiwei home as soon as possible.
“Hmph! Father, you’re being way too perfunctory!” Xu Qingshi said, then ran off.
“Steward Liu, keep an eye on the Young Prince. Don’t let him disturb the guests.” After giving the order, Xu Heming set off for the Li family.
What he didn’t know was that Xu Qingshi had already sneaked away to the Li household.
The boy had heard that on the wedding day, the Li family could throw challenges at his father—and he wanted to come up with a big one of his own, one so tough that his father might end up not marrying Pretty Sister after all.