Hidden golden branches

Chapter 166 Summary
On June 16, Mingyue went to Chen's house to pick up her bride.

Chen Rong gave Cuizhu ten tons of dowry, and Yunman also gave Cuizhu ten tons of dowry, plus Mingyue's levy of twenty-six tons of dowry. That adds up to forty-six dowries.

And these forty-six dowries are all real goods.

Inside are either shops or farms, either banknotes or jewelry.

Yunman's dowry contained everything a mother's family should have, from large beds and cabinets to combs and toilets.

Not to mention that Cuizhu was born as a maid, even a concubine from a noble family would not have such a generous dowry when she got married.

Chen Rong's one hundred and sixty-six dowry burdens only make people envious, but Cuizhu's forty-six dowry burdens make those women with high family backgrounds and small dowries bitter.

One month after Cuizhu got married, Mingyue was busy with errands and went out early and came back late. Cuizhu was bored staying in the yard alone during the day. If you want to come to Wangrongyuan, you can still serve Chen Rong.

Chen Rong didn't want Cuizhu to serve her. After all, Cuizhu was already a good citizen.

Furthermore, Cuizhu is married and will have children of her own in the future. In that case, she would definitely not be able to take care of her, so it would be better to find another job for her to do.

It happened that Mr. Zhuang asked Chen Rong to take charge of the household affairs again. Chen Rong immediately agreed regardless of the resentful look in his third aunt Wang's eyes.

She handed over the general affairs of the mansion to Cuizhu, who was idle and bored, and Grandma Sun, who was proficient in general affairs.

Grandma Sun and Cuizhu each have a key to the warehouse, and they each have a pair of cards.

When going to the warehouse to get something, the two of them matched up the cards. A lock can only be opened by two keys at the same time.

In this way, neither Grandma Sun nor Cuizhu can be corrupt.

It can't be said that Chen Rong didn't trust them. If Chen Rong didn't trust them, how could he leave such a large palace to the two of them?

The first is to act according to the rules, and the second is to be on guard against others!
The petty stewards in the mansion were instigated by Wang to sabotage their work and wanted Chen Rong to retreat.

The smart Chen Rong picked the most well-oiled kitchen steward in the house to scare the monkeys.

Manager Xiao in the kitchen has not only owned two large houses in his family since he took office, but also has a wife, two concubines, and three or four children.

It can be seen how much money he has embezzled from the government over the years.

After being found out by Chen Rong and exposed in front of all the officials in the mansion, he publicly punished Twenty Big Boards and drove him out of Anguo Gong's mansion.

Not only that, because Xiao Guanshi is a slave. All his property was owned by the government.

Punish steward Xiao and silence those stewards.

They don't even think about it, who does Chen Rong rely on in this world?

Chen Rong looked around and said: "Who is not willing to do your duty well? Either be reduced to a third-class slave or be sold out. The county master is still worried about not being able to find servants to manage it?"

The young stewards all knelt down in front of Chen Rong to express their loyalty: "The slaves obey the teachings of the Crown Princess and obey the Crown Princess's orders in everything."

Chen Rong took this opportunity to select a few responsible people to keep, and then eliminated a few small stewards who were too corrupt and did not work well, and let his own people take over.

At this point, almost all the stewards in Duke Anguo's mansion are Chen Rong's own people.

Sun Yuting also got married in June, to Xiao Jiu, the prince of Yan County, who had been in love with her for a long time.

Chen Rong asked Yue Wanshu to bring him a set of cordyceps head and face and a ruby-embedded butterfly spreading its wings and golden steps.

The second brother of the family, Chen An, came back and waited for the triennial martial arts competition in August.

Chen An's move shocked everyone. At first, everyone thought that he must be taking the scientific examination. Who would have thought that he was going to take the martial arts exam?
No one at home knew that he had passed the introduction and interpretation tests.

This trip was actually to consult Qiu Zhenwei, a martial arts master who had long since lived in seclusion in Mang Mountain.

Chen Rong once returned to her parents' home and told Yun Man about her second brother and Yue Wanshu. Yun Man had long since forgotten about the past.

In addition, the concubine Chen An has never done anything wrong with his aunt these years, and they have done their duty.

Furthermore, Chen An always treats his daughter Chen Rong with the utmost care.

Yue Wanshu is the good girl that Yun Man watched grow up, and she and her daughter Chen Rong are close friends.

So, Yun Man and Chen Youyu, who had returned from duty, made a plan. She chose a good day to entertain all the guests, recorded Chen An in her name, and became the real second son of the Chen family.

On the eighth day of August, the nine-day martial arts exercise kicked off. This year's martial arts examination has added a military strategy test. Candidates must not only be proficient in martial arts, but also have certain knowledge of military strategy. The martial arts examination is also subdivided into four levels: introduction examination, interpretation examination, provincial examination, and palace examination. At that time, the first person who won the imperial examination was not called the number one scholar, but was called "the top one".

Regarding the literary test on military strategy, Chen An was very good at it.

After all, he is a student studying at the Royal Academy.

These ten days are three days of competition, and on the last day, A, B, and C are divided.

The martial arts examination is not an imperial examination. There are not many people taking the examination and it belongs to a small minority.

I remember that during the imperial examinations, nearly a thousand people sometimes went to Beijing to take the examinations, but the most popular year for the military examinations was only about a hundred or so people.

Think about it, if most families have enough money, they will send their sons to study instead of sending them to practice martial arts.

Furthermore, ordinary martial arts people do not want to pursue official careers through martial arts examinations.

There are also those rough guys who know martial arts but are illiterate, and they will definitely not be able to pass the literary test.

Therefore, very few people come to take the exam every time the martial arts exam is held. This year, only about 30 people came to take the exam.

If Chen An wants to marry Yue Wanshu, he must find a future.

If he had to wait for the scientific examination, he would not be confident that he would be able to enter the first class and become a "three tripod class" like his sister-in-law and his eldest brother.

Even if he could go to high school, he would only go to the Hanlin Academy to observe politics.

He didn't expect to be lucky enough to work directly in the Sixth Department like his brother-in-law.

Therefore, he wanted to make a fortune and take the path of martial arts. Be able to serve as an official as soon as possible.

Even if you can't win the first prize, you can win the second place or third place.

Because Wu Zhuangyuan is awarded to the third-rank military officer, Wu Bangyan is awarded to the third-rank guerrilla, and Wu Tanhua is awarded to the fourth-rank commander.

Unexpectedly, Chen An really took the top spot into his arms.

It is said that success comes to those who are prepared and capable.

After the martial arts examination was announced, the roll call was held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the list was posted outside the West Chang'an Gate, and the top martial arts champion was given armor.

Then the patrol battalion escorted Wu Zhuangyuan back to the throne to show off his grace and glory.

The next day, a grand "Examination Banquet" was held at the Ministry of War. Wu Zhuangyuan was also awarded armor, waist swords, etc., and all the Jinshi were rewarded with silver.

After the palace examination, officials are usually awarded official positions by the Ministry of War immediately.

After Chen An became the top scholar in martial arts in high school, the Chen family immediately invited Mrs. Meng Chengxiang to go to Yue's family to propose marriage.

After that, everything fell into place, and the wedding was scheduled for February of next year.

At the end of October, the imperial concubine Chen Wanru gave birth to the only little princess in the Wei Dynasty.

Xiao Xuanlongyan was so happy that he stopped attending court for ten days and stayed in Minghua Palace to accompany the imperial concubine and the little princess, mother and daughter.

This is an event that has never happened to emperors in the past, which shows the importance of the imperial concubine and her daughter in the emperor's mind.

Those officials who were accustomed to finding faults suddenly became gourds.

The reason is of course that the palace is finally happy to have a little princess. The second reason is of course that the majesty of the emperor has penetrated deep into the bones. Who dares to comment on it.

The emperor also rewarded Chen Rong with many gold, silver and jewelry because of Chen Rong's good words. Chen Rong was also granted the title of Princess Xiangning.

For a time, everyone finally had a little princess from the Wei Dynasty, and then transferred to Princess Xiangning. It was really a good fortune.
Because Ji Yuxian was reluctant to let Chen Rong get pregnant and give birth to a child prematurely, he had been taking contraceptive pills.

Until two years later, Cuizhu and Sun Yuting, who got married in the same year as her, often showed up to her with their children.

In addition, her friend Yue Wanshu was also pregnant. Chen Rong was jealous and thought she had a physical problem and wanted to seek medical advice.

Ji Yuxian finally stopped taking medicine, and the next year, Chen Rong finally got pregnant.

Ten months into her pregnancy, Chen Rong gave birth to a fat little prince.
　Thank you for your continued support. I will repay you with good works in the future.

　　(End of this chapter)