Sui and Tang Dynasty Generals

Chapter 33 Nephew, you have been deceived!
In the main hall of Li Mansion.

Just as the old lady was reminiscing about the past with her grandfather, Changsun Nonggui had already hurried to the main hall and walked forward quickly in front of everyone's gaze.

"Mom! It's done, it's done!"

Changsun Nonggui said happily, congratulating the old lady, and then looked at the uncles and aunts of the Fu family beside the old lady, with a hint of closeness in his eyes.

"Uncle Fu! It's done!"

Changsun Nonggui said with a smile.

At the beginning, when he learned about the arrival of the Fu family, it is no exaggeration to say that Changsun Nonggui was as worried as Zhou and Erlang Li Jingjie.

Zhou and Li Jingjie were worried about the past, but Changsun Nonggui was worried about Li Cha.

Li Cha has been an orphan since childhood. From the first moment Changsun Nonggui saw Li Cha, he felt pity for her from the bottom of his heart.

Seeing Fu Zihou's look just now, he really didn't mind Li Cha. Changsun Nonggui almost cried. Only after watching Li Cha from childhood to adulthood did he know how pitiful Li Cha was.

All the other children in the Li family have a mother, except Li Cha. The other children are studying and writing, but Li Cha is alone in the backyard. When the children of the Li family chat and laugh with those who come to the Li Mansion for elementary school, only Li Cha cannot even speak.

Many times even Changsun Nonggui didn’t know why God was so unfavorable to Li Cha.

Now that he saw that Li Cha’s fiancé did not despise Li Cha, Changsun Nonggui was so excited that he was speechless and wanted to cry.

"What? Done?"

"Is this...really fake?"

"I don't know! But looking at my sister-in-law, it doesn't look fake!"

After hearing what Changsun Nonggui said, not only was the old lady surprised, but even the other ladies in the Li family looked at each other in surprise.

As daughters-in-law of the Li family, they knew better than any outsider that although Li Cha was good-looking, she was born with a defect. Not to mention other families, even ordinary officials' children were scared away. In the Li Mansion, few people were willing to talk to Li Cha.

The young man from the Fu family just now actually didn't dislike Li Cha.

In the main hall.

Not to mention Li Jingjie who was kneeling behind the wooden table, even Li Qiong who was also lowering his head with a stubborn look on his face, all looked at Changsun Nonggui.

Li Jingjie breathed a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

Li Qiong also breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't expect that the young man from the Fu family didn't mind her sixth sister.

Looking at Aunt Changsun's expression, Li Qiong knew it must be true. Aunt Changsun has always loved her sixth sister. If it was false, Aunt Changsun would not smile so happily.

Turning her head to look at the main hall, she saw Fu Aong talking to her grandmother with a smile, wanting to settle the matter. Although her grandmother was still a little worried, Li Qiong knew that since Fu Aong had spoken, the matter had been settled.

Her grandmother would blame herself, but she would never be as angry as she was just now. That look in her eyes scared her.

"Sixth sister..."

Li Qiong knelt behind the wooden table, thinking of her sixth sister Li Cha, and then recalling the polite and handsome young man just now.

When she thought about how the young man almost became her husband, and in the blink of an eye, he would soon become her sixth sister's husband, Li Qiong actually felt as if something that belonged to her was taken away by someone.

This has nothing to do with feelings!

It’s just that Li Qiong has been very competitive since she was young. She has never lost to other women in music, chess, calligraphy, painting or martial arts, and she grew up with the praise of her elders.

From childhood to adulthood, people have been giving her gifts to please her, and few people have been able to take away things that belong to her.

Not to mention that this time, the man who was supposed to be her husband ended up being another woman's lover.

Fortunately, this feeling only lasted for a moment and passed away, and Li Qiong did not take it to heart.

After all, Li Qiong thought that it was her own choice. She was the one who asked the young man to break off the engagement with her grandmother. It was she who did not want to marry the young man, so the young man became the lover of her sixth sister.

Thinking of this, the feeling of having her things taken away naturally dissipated in Li Qiong's mind.

Looking at the old man of the Fu family who was talking with his grandmother in the main hall, and the elders of the Fu family behind the wooden table opposite, Li Qiong knew that what she wanted was to settle down in a prestigious family.

The Fu family is neither a prominent family nor a famous family.

That young man is not suitable for me either.

........................

As dusk arrives.

In the main hall of the Li Mansion, maids brought delicious dishes one after another to the wooden table in front of everyone.

Grandfather couldn't remember how many years it had been since he had enjoyed drinking and eating meat so happily. He talked about the past with the smiling old lady Li while eating and drinking with big mouthfuls.

Old Liu, Tao, Fu Zhi and others did not hold back. Zhang even took the chicken leg, ate one herself and gave one to her daughter-in-law Tai.

Compared with the Fu family who had fled all the way here, the Li family's many female members had a much better time eating, after all, they could eat these dishes and wine during certain festivals.

And the other side.

Although Li Cha also came to the main hall to have dinner, this time, Li Cha knelt behind a wooden seat, lowered her head, and did not dare to move her chopsticks.

Because even with her head down, she could feel that there was a young man opposite her looking at her.

"Is that what Zihou said at the beginning, there is a mountain of gold in the fields?"

Old Madam Li looked at Mr. Fu, whose face was flushed and who looked drunk. As they chatted, she couldn't help laughing when Mr. Fu mentioned Fu Zihou.

In the main hall.

The others also heard what Madam Li and Mr. Fu said, and then they all looked at the young man who was kneeling behind the wooden table and eating.

A mountain of gold in the fields?

Not to mention Li Jingjie, a Confucian scholar who studied the sages diligently, even the many female members of the Li family had never heard of how there could be a gold mountain in the fields.

Li Qiong, who was eating dinner in silence, couldn't help but glance at the young man behind the wooden table opposite, but then she looked away.

During the simple dinner, Li Qiong had discovered more than once that the young man always secretly looked at his sixth sister from time to time, without any concealment.

So artificial.

Li Qiong was very unhappy.

"That's right. Every year when the season comes, the villagers working in the fields are not as fast as him in reaching the fields!"

Aung took the small wine flask, swallowed a mouthful of wine, smacked his lips, and then mentioned Fu Zihou going to the fields with a look of disgust on his face.

"Zihou! Why do you say that?"

Old Madam Li was now really curious and looked at Fu Zihou.

After all, after meeting him, Mrs. Li couldn't see that Fu Zihou was stupid at all, but looking at Fu's appearance, it seemed that Fu Zihou had indeed done these things.

"what!"

Fu Zihou had been worried all along, and when he heard what Old Lady Li said, he came to his senses, and then quickly turned sideways and bowed to Old Lady Li. "Zihou, just treat this place as your own home, no need to be polite!"

When Old Lady Li saw Fu Zihou's actions, she waved her hand. She didn't like Fu Zihou being too distant in the Li family.

After all, after the marriage, apart from Mr. Fu, the hub of the relationship between the Li and Fu families will be Fu Zihou, who can be considered half a member of the Li family.

"To Granny Li, Zihou was once taught by a saint! He said that if we find a plant in the field and grow it, we can feed the people of the world!"

Fu Zihou put down his hand and said to the old lady, seeing that the old lady was unhappy, he did not salute this time.

"saint?"

"saint!!!"

Upon hearing this, not only was the old lady shocked, but everyone else, including Li Jingjie, all the women in the Li Mansion, and everyone in the Fu family, all looked at each other in surprise.

Even Li Zhaotian, Li Le, Li Anren, Li Anjing and other members of the Li family all looked curious.

"My dear nephew, could you please tell me the name of that saint? His surname is also acceptable!"

Li Jingjie put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at Fu Zihou curiously.

When it comes to saints, then as a scholar, he has to take it seriously. Looking at the great masters and schools of thought in the world, he has some involvement and knowledge of them all.

He could count the great scholars who could become "masters", but he had to ask about those who could become saints.

Who dares to make such wild remarks?

"My uncle, the saint's surname is Yuan, and Zihou calls him Yuan Lao!"

Fu Zihou looked at Li Jingjie and said that he had never thought that after the old man drank too much and saw Madam Li again, he would tell her his story.

Facing the questions from the old lady and his uncle, Fu Zihou could only tell the truth.

In fact, Fu Zihou also knew it, but no one would believe it even if he told it. After all, let alone Old Madam Li and his uncle Li Jingjie, even a thousand years later, before Old Yuan, no one believed it.

"Yuan? Mr. Yuan?"

When Li Jingjie heard Fu Zihou's words, he shook his head, then looked at Fu Zihou and smiled.

"My dear nephew, I'm afraid you have met a swindler. Your uncle has friends all over the world, and he knows many great Confucian scholars, but he has never heard of this person's name! Moreover, how could there be such a person in this world who can feed everyone in the world!"

Li Jingjie said, telling Fu Zihou bluntly that he must have been deceived.

The subtext is that Fu Zihou is too young and easily deceived, alluding to Fu Zihou's mentor, the scholar named Liu Zhiyuan.

"Stupid, even I know this is a liar..."

Li Zhaotian complained in a low voice, full of contempt for her future sixth brother-in-law, feeling that this brother-in-law was not even as smart as her.

"Tian'er!"

Hearing his mother's whispered scolding, Li Zhaotian curled his lips and quickly lowered his head to eat.

Anyway, this stupid brother-in-law of Sixth Sister is already hers, and as long as he doesn't let her marry a fool, she doesn't bother to care.

"At the time, my family also said he was a liar, but who knew he was so stubborn..."

The drunk Aong said without caring at all.

"Zihou is sincere and wishes the people of the world peace. This matter cannot be blamed on Zihou, but on those sorcerers who cheated and deceived..."

In fact, Mrs. Li, like Li Jingjie and others, knew that Fu Zihou had been deceived, so she just followed Fu Lao's words and brought the topic to people's hearts to avoid embarrassment for Fu Zihou.

In the main hall.

When everyone in the Li Mansion and the Fu Family smiled and shook their heads, only Li Cai couldn't help but look at the young man.

"I knew it……"

Kneeling behind the wooden table, Fu Zihou looked at the appearances of others but did not care. When he really found a male sterile wild rice in the future and cultivated it according to the experience of his previous life, only then would Old Lady Li and Li Jingjie know the name and what that rice represented.

It is useless to argue too much at this moment.

Unfortunately, it is very unlikely to find that rice plant in Huaiyang, let alone in the north. I am afraid that the only way to find it is to go to Longchuan County and Nanhai County in the southernmost part of the country and wait and search year after year.

Watching others eating dinner, Fu Zihou looked at the delicious dishes on the wooden table in front of him and didn't have much appetite.

The reason was not because the food was not rich enough. On the contrary, this table contained the best food and wine Fu Zihou had ever seen in his life.

But he looked at Li Cha, who was kneeling behind the wooden table opposite him, looking at him, and then quickly lowered her head.

In Fu Zihou's mind, he kept recalling what Zhao Han said when he left the village.

"…The girl is Yang's daughter. I don't know the exact type of betrothal gifts, but my father said that the money alone is half a million yuan!"

Fu Zihou thought of what Zhao Han said, and the Xie family banquet in Wanqiu, and then looked at the girl behind the wooden table opposite. Even though she was disabled, he couldn't help feeling a little guilty when he thought about how he had nothing.

Li Cha could indeed not speak, but she was also a woman. No matter how pitiful she was, she was not a heartless piece of wood.

Even though Fu Zihou knew that he could not compete with the Xie family, which had accumulated wealth for generations, he still felt uncomfortable when he thought that as a man he had to wrong a woman, his fiancée.

Looking at the light wine on the wooden table, Fu Zihou knew that the alcohol content of the wine was not high, and even the taste was not very good. However, this kind of wine was already a top-grade wine, and even the Li family would only take it out to entertain guests on important festivals.

Ordinary merchants and wealthier people usually drink a green wine called Green Ant.

That was when the newly brewed wine had not yet been filtered, and the dregs floated on the surface of the wine. They were slightly green in color and as thin as ants, and were called "green ants". In Fu Zihou's eyes, that was a semi-finished product, a low-quality wine that had gone bad.

When he was in Fu’s hometown, Fu Zihou had thought about making wine.

However, after experiencing the incident where the refugees broke into his house, Fu Zihou realized that in troubled times, without a background to rely on, not to mention wealth, even food at home could lead to the death of an entire family.

This is also why Fu Zihou has never thought of brewing wine in these years.

He thought that after coming to the Li family, with the Li family as his backing, he could give it a try to see if it would arouse the jealousy of the many other families and whether the Li family could withstand the pressure.

But at present, it seems that the Li family is in trouble of its own.

But I looked at the girl who was lowering her head behind the wooden table opposite.

"No, when my father comes to Xin County, I will make some good wine no matter what. Even if the Li family cannot be my backer, I will think of other ways..."

Fu Zihou thought about it, looked at the wine on the wooden table, and made up his mind.

In the city of Xin County in the north, located at the junction of Xindu, Pingyuan and Bohai counties, next to the canal of Yongji Canal, after finding out the affairs and troubles of the Li family, Fu Zihou no longer wanted to be timid.

Even if I go to Taiyuan and join the Li family in the future, I must have something to show for it!
　Note 1: After checking a lot of information and popular science, I found that the alcohol content of wine in the Tang Dynasty was not very high, and the filtering methods were relatively simple and limited to generations. Green Ant Wine was even written about in poems by many poets in the Tang Dynasty.

　　Note 2: Yuan Shikai conducted repeated attempts to study hybrid rice, and finally chose to go to Hainan. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, rice was more abundant and widespread in the south.

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　　thank you all!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)