Shang Mingjie walked out of the house with a frown and remained silent.

  Shang Mingyu patted his shoulder and said, "Don't think too much about it. What's most important for you now is to study hard. Our family is still counting on you to pass the imperial examination and bring honor to our ancestors."

  Shang Mingjie burst out laughing and said: "Big brother is also teasing me."

  "It's not a joke," Shang Ming said with a glance at him, "Nowadays, the only one in our family who can read books is you, so who else can we rely on?"

  Although he had a lot of conflicts with his second uncle and sometimes even hated him so much that he wished the second uncle would disappear, he still hoped that the Shang family would become better and better.

  After all, he also has to rely on the Shang family.

  Although he is unwilling to admit it, Er Lang is indeed talented in reading and is the most likely person of his generation to make a name for himself.

  Shang Mingjie lowered his head, it's not that just because you can read books means you'll have a good future, especially in this chaotic world.

  Shang Mingjie was somewhat bewildered and still hadn't found his own direction of effort.

  Lin Qingyan, however, had a clear goal in mind. She selected one of the guards to follow Lin Xing and said, "From now on, you will treat Lin Xing as your own master. Except when encountering dangers that he cannot handle, which you should report back to me, everything else you will do according to his instructions."

  "Your family will be taken care of, don't worry," Lin Qingwen handed him a silver letter and said, "Go back home tonight and have a good reunion with your family."

  Kneeling on the ground and knocking his head: "I beg Madam to grant me a surname, I wish to be a member of the Lin family for my entire life."

  Lin Qingyan hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said: "Alright, from today on you will be called Lin Sheng."

  His eyes lit up and he happily knocked his head three times on Lin Qingwen's lap.

  He was picked up by Lin Zhi in a small town called Pingchi, and it is said that even the umbilical cord had not been cut at that time. He was abandoned in the bushes, and if Lin Zhi hadn't happened to pass by and heard his crying, he would have been taken away by wolves or dogs by nightfall.

  Lin Zhi had taken in many children, and he was the youngest one when he entered the Lin family, born less than a day ago.

  Because he was picked up in Pingchi, he was surnamed Ping. There were many bodyguards who used place names as their surnames like him.

  These people's greatest wish is to change their surname to Lin, anyway they don't even know what their own surname is, being able to share the same surname as Master would be a great honor.

  Ping Sheng hurriedly went to tell his wife and sons the good news.

  This time he was elected mainly because of his young age, but he is capable and already has three sons.

  Lin Sheng's wife was originally still heartbroken that her husband had to go on a distant campaign, but upon hearing that the empress dowager had granted them a surname, she became happy again and pulled along their three sons to kowtow in the direction of the main hall.

  Lin Sheng reminded her, "Take care of the children for me until I come back, don't worry, my kung fu is good, and Xian Shuai's kung fu isn't weak either, nothing will happen."

  Lin Xinyan comforted her grandmother and mother, "Ninth Aunt gave me a protective amulet, and General Su will take care of me, I'll be back safely."

  Lin's mother wiped away tears and said: "On the battlefield, swords and guns have no eyes. How could you be so reckless? Many people want to escape military service but can't even do that..."

  "What nonsense are you talking about?" Lin's grandmother scolded her in a low voice, "This is an opportunity that Ninth Aunt thinks highly of Xīn Ge, and many people have sought but cannot get."

  She looked at Lin Xindao and said, "Wealth and honor are sought in danger, you already have many advantages over others, so be humble and yielding. When you go out, don't argue for a moment's pride, yield when you should yield. I and your mother's brother will wait for your safe return."

  Lin Xinyan's eyes grew hot, he stood up and knelt down in front of his grandmother, saying: "Don't worry, I will definitely come back safely."

  Only eight years old, Lin Chang seemed to understand and yet not understand, but also knew that his elder brother was about to leave for a distant journey, with red-rimmed eyes, he leaned on him in dependence.

  Lin Xinfeng reached out and touched his head, without saying another word.

  The next day, Lin Qingyuan brought Lin Sheng and others to the south gate of the city. Lin Run personally escorted Lin Xin over and saw that Lin Qingyuan had even assigned a bodyguard to him, which slightly startled him, so he turned his head to carefully examine Lin Xin.

  Lin Xing put on new clothes, which were hastily made by his grandmother overnight. They were still coarse cloth, and his face was dull and expressionless, he really couldn't see any elegance in him.

  Ke Lin Qing Wan seemed to like him, handing over a large package and instructing him carefully: "There are some commonly used wound medicines inside, with usage instructions attached. When you have time, memorize them, they might come in handy later."

  He also said: "Now it's cold and damp in the south, I had someone make a quilted garment for you, if you're cold, change into it."

  Lin Xìn looked at his grandmother and lowered his head to take over the bundle.

  Lin Qingwan patted his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "There are still some gold pieces inside, I've sewn them into the seams of your clothes. If you need to use them urgently, just tear them open and don't forget to write me a letter."

  "Nine Aunt..."

  Lin Xing didn't expect her to be so thorough, and her eyes reddened again.

  Lin Run nodded slightly on the side, after all a grateful child, but still couldn't see any anger.

  "There are also two books written by your great-grandfather," Lin Qing said softly: "If we talk about leading troops and fighting, among the six countries below, no one can surpass him, so you'd better learn from them."

  Lin Xinhun nodded heavily, held the package and retreated three steps, knelt down and kowtowed to Lin Qingwen and his grandmother each, tears fell one by one onto the mud, he blinked and tried to hold back his tears before getting on his horse.

  Lin's grandmother took two steps forward, gazing at him with great concern.

  Lin Qingwen supported her, and Lin Run assured Lin Xin on horseback: "Don't worry, the clan will take good care of your family."

  Lin Xian reined in his horse and turned around to look at them. Seeing that the sky was really late, he reluctantly whipped his horse and left.

  Lin's grandmother couldn't help but wipe away tears and thanked Lin Qingyuan gratefully: "Thank you, Ninth Auntie, for your support."

  Lin Qingwan smiled, "It's a good thing that the children of our clan are doing well. If other kids have this kind of talent, I'd be happy to help them out too. So, Auntie doesn't need to thank me, she should thank Lin Xinnian for being capable and her sister-in-law for teaching him well."

  "That's you overestimating him." Lin's grandmother was truly grateful to Lin Qingyuan, just by looking at the things and people Lin Qingyuan had prepared for her grandson, she knew how much he valued him. This branch of their family had long been a side branch of a side branch, they were only able to avoid being bullied because they clung to the clan.

  If no one supports her, she doesn't know when she can get up again. Therefore, she knows how rare this opportunity is. Almost as soon as her grandson came back and told her, she weighed it for a moment and agreed.

  She knew her grandson was very intelligent and ambitious, but outsiders didn't understand him, only taking him as a stereotypical foolish person, and he wasn't smooth enough to get ahead.

  Now he has the opportunity, it is already half successful.

  Lin's grandmother was very grateful to Lin Qingyan, thinking that in the future she would still have to visit other houses from time to time, and maintain their relationship, as her grandson would rely on Lin Qingyan more and more.

  Lin Qingwan also wanted to get the two families closer, so she said to Lin's grandmother: "In the future, Auntie can often come to my house to play, if there is anything, you can go find Fifth Brother, or you can come find me."

  Lin's grandmother nodded in agreement. Lin Qingwen then ordered the servants to hurry up and send her back, calling out to Lin Run, "Fifth brother, let's take a walk together."