Shang Mingjie pursed his lips and didn't speak, he wasn't bothered by this. Lin Auntie had specifically sent him the newspaper to tell him that his father didn't value his opinion, otherwise he wouldn't have dismissed his opinion without even mentioning it to him.

  Lin Auntie was telling him that he had to take charge himself, and the Shang family would not only fail to be of help to him, but would instead become an obstacle in his way; he could only rely on himself.

  Lu Yu and Lin You glanced at Shang Mingjie with a tilted head, both feeling that he had become somewhat different.

  Shang Mingjie suddenly understood and smiled at Lu Li with a tilted head. He stood up and said, "The teacher is coming soon, let's go into the classroom."

  Lu Li sighed and said: "I don't know how many homeworks I'll have to take back today."

  "You should be content, after all, you have a holiday, although you have to do homework. I heard that more than half of the students at the Imperial Academy stayed behind for intense studying and didn't even return home for the New Year."

  "Yes, just thinking that today we only have half a day of classes and then we can go home for the holiday, my heart is as happy as blooming flowers."

  Lu Yu stood behind them shaking his head and smiling, then turned to ask Lin You, "Brother Lin, do you have any plans for this afternoon?"

  "Bring back the book and take a look at the homework assigned by the teacher," Lin You smiled: "At least have an idea in mind."

  Lu Yu nodded, "I was just about to mention it to Brother Lin. Tomorrow we will be holding a literary gathering at Wenguan, Brother Lin might as well come and take a look if he has the time."

  Wen Yuan has now become a favorite haunt of Suzhou's literati and elegant scholars, with its beautiful scenery, good service, and low prices.

  Wenyuan almost every day has to entertain some elegant guests, and ladies also love to come here to play.

  Book a yard, look at the water, appreciate the flowers, ladies chat and play the piano, girls just have fun and make poetry, it's really a rare place to relax.

  Apart from the maids responsible for security in the courtyard and the young servants delivering messages, there were almost no outsiders, they could play as they pleased.

  The garden has never divided its activities by gender, but when ordering, they would suggest female guests choose the south yard and male guests choose the north yard.

  The garden is so big that they basically won't run into each other.

  Of course, it's also okay to hold them together. After all, the yard is just a place for them to rest, and everyone can run around the garden when they play.

  The garden has more than 300 mu.

  Luyu, as the most outstanding young master of the Lu family in this generation, naturally has a wide circle of friends. In the past, he would often make appointments with friends to gather in tea houses or wine towers, and occasionally go to elegant places.

  After the Wen Garden was opened, everyone changed their venue. The scenery of the Wen Garden is really good, and it's spacious and comfortable, which suits the temperament of this group of literary people.

  Plus Wen Garden is at the foot of Qingfeng Mountain, he can see it every day when going to and from school. If he wants to invite someone out, Wen Garden will definitely be his first choice.

  Because there are many gatherings before and after the New Year, Wenyuan ushered in another peak of guest flow.

  Lin Qingwan didn't count her money until her hands were numb, but she was in a wonderful mood nonetheless. But Shang Ping, who was far away in the capital, wasn't in such a good mood.

  The yamen has already been sealed for the New Year, and as in previous years, he didn't think of returning to Suzhou for the New Year, but now he somehow wants to go home.

  Go home and take a look at what his son has grown into now.

  He took out Shang Mingjie's letter from the table and stroked it without speaking.

  The governor of Luozhou wrote a "letter of advice" similar to his son's, with different words but the same meaning.

  What surprised him was that the emperor did not get angry, and even the high-ranking officials in the court did not quarrel, but instead calmly discussed the matter and finally mostly agreed with the advice of the governor of Luozhou.

  The emperor then followed up with an edict, strictly forbidding local officials from using the name of celebrating His Majesty's birthday to extort money and goods from the people, and strictly forbidding officials in the capital from accepting offerings from local officials.

  At the same time, the governor of Lu state was commended.

  Although Shang Ping was in the Ministry of Works, he also had some channels for news and heard that the Emperor was very satisfied with the Governor of Luzhou and the Ministry of Officials was planning to transfer him back to the capital.

  Returning to Beijing, still in a flat tone, this is equivalent to being promoted.

  Lu Zhou governor is also a jinshi background, if no accident, later will be the six cabinet ministers of the candidates.

  It's impossible to say I'm not envious, this opportunity was once in front of him.

  Shang Ping couldn't help but crumple up the letter in his hand, his face changing colors unpredictably.

  He did not know that the matter was also used by Lin Qingwen to attack his son, and was evaluated by Lu Su as "self-made cleverness".

  Otherwise, I would definitely be depressed to death.

  Lu Su found out what had happened that day while having tea with his nephew. He chuckled and said, "Shang Ping is a man who is eager to make a profit and avoid harm, but he is just being clever for his own sake, and is far inferior to his son."

  "But why did the hostess of Lin specifically give the letter to Shang Mingjie?" Lu Su tilted his head and thought for a moment, but couldn't understand, so he shook his head and laughed: "I'm actually also interested in these things like an old gossip."

  Luyu said: "Second Uncle, I think Mingjie has changed a lot recently, and I don't know what stimulation he received."

  "People will always grow up," Lu Su said with a smile: "He's just opened his eyes, you think he's recent, but I see that this change started more than a year ago."

  Lu Yu worried: "I'm afraid he'll push himself too hard and have an accident."

  Lu Su shook his head and said: "You underestimate him, in my opinion, his talent is the highest among you, he just didn't use his heart before."

  Lu Yu was used to his father and uncle praising other children but not him, so he just smiled and didn't say anything.

  Except for the New Year's Eve, Lin Qingyan took Lin Yuhong to their ancestral home to celebrate the festival. This year's festival in their ancestral home was particularly lively.

  The villagers didn't feel much about the change in Lin's family, but several wealthy families in the village took out a lot of money to celebrate the festival, and they also became excited, making this year more lively.

  It's really true that this year is better than last year for most people in our clan.

  Making tofu and paper has brought in a lot of extra income for everyone this year.

  Ordinary people care about their own family's income, while the several landlords above are concerned with Lin's status in Jiangnan.

  After Lin Jiang's death, they all lived in fear, afraid of being caught and used as a handle against the Lin family.

  Now, Lin can finally leave Linjiang's protection and stand on his own in Jiangnan.

  Due to the matter of grass paper and bamboo paper, Lin's reputation in Jiangnan and Daliang is even higher. Moreover, this year many young men from the Lin family passed the Mingjingke examination and have officially become officials after passing the imperial examination.

  Although they are only county lieutenants and one of them is even a low-ranking secretary, after all, they have taken a step forward and climbed up over the past decade or so, these young men will eventually grow up.

  The most important thing is that Lin Xingli established military merit and was promoted to miscellaneous general, which means that the Lin family can still develop in the military.

  To know that Lin's family reached its peak was to grasp military power, so Lin Xian's success gave everyone great confidence. In the past, the three clan elders would not go out unless they had to, lest they be provoked and get into a fight, causing trouble for the clan.

  But this year, not only did the showy Eighth Uncle go out to visit friends and attend gatherings, but even the normally reserved Sixth Uncle couldn't help but go out and see a few friends, attending several get-togethers.

  Although he was unwilling to admit it, Eighth Uncle had to say that Lin Qingyu contributed more than half of the credit for the current situation of the Lin family.

  So she took Lin Yuhong back to her tribe, and he didn't dare to bother her again.

  If even Eighth Uncle is like this, what about other relatives?

  Everyone is very close and respectful to the aunt and niece duo.

  Lin Yuhbin didn't adapt for a moment, and when he reacted, he thought, this is prestige, right?

  She and her aunt have never changed, but when they just came back, the villagers had all sorts of attitudes, most people wanted to take a bite out of them.

  Although few people respect and fear them, it is also because they are from the legitimate branch. There is not a single one who truly respects and fears them for their own sake.

  But in just over two years, now she and her aunt walk among the clan, seeing not whispers hidden in the shadows, but respectful bows.

  Lin Yuhong took a deep breath and made up her mind: she also wanted to be such a person.

  One day she will also be respected by people, not because of the Lin family, nor because of her father and aunt, but because of herself.

  Lin Qingwan was unaware of Lin Yuhuan's feelings, as she was currently selecting clothes for her to wear when they went out to pay New Year's visits in two days.

  Lin Yuhbin has filial piety, from this year on he can go out and visit relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year.

  So Lin Qingwan had to dress her up beautifully, just for the New Year, she made six sets of clothes for Lin Yuhong, not counting the accessories.

  For more than two years, Lin Yuhbin, who had been frugal all along, couldn't help but exclaim, "Auntie, you've struck it rich?"

  "You may not have made a fortune, but you can still afford to dress yourself up." Lin Qingyan said with a smile: "For the past two years, you've been dressing plainly, but soon you'll be coming of age and getting married. A girl's most carefree years are these few years, if you don't dress up now, when will you?"

  Lin's aunt nodded in agreement, advising Lin Yubin, "Sister, what your aunt said is right. While you're young and carefree, dress however you want. Otherwise, once you get married, there will be many rules to follow, and you'll have to think carefully about what to wear and what to adorn yourself with."

  Lin Qingwan smiled: "In the future, I'll find you a more relaxed family to marry into, so that after you get married, you can wear whatever you want and wear whatever you like."

  Lin's wife smiled and said: "That girl should open her eyes wide, such a good family is hard to find."

  Lin Yuhbin's face turned slightly red, but he still looked up proudly and said, "I'm not made of paper."

  So even if her husband's family is not easy to get along with, if she has the ability, who can bully her?

  Lin Qingwan didn't expect her to have such an epiphany now, and she looked at her with surprise and delight. "Yu Bin was right, from now on if someone bullies you, if it's not a big deal just endure it, but some things can't be tolerated. You should fight back first, if you can't win then come find me. Besides me, there's also your fifth uncle and the others, in our clan you have so many older male cousins, they're not just for show."

  "Oh my goodness, Auntie Lin, what are you teaching her?" Auntie Lin stomped her foot, "Don't teach her to be a troublemaker. This matchmaking business should be done in harmony. Besides, Big Sister is still younger, how can she go against the elders...?"

  Lin Yuhu turned his head and stuck out his tongue at Lin Qingwan, then dodged to one side.

  Lin Qingwan smiled and comforted Lin Nainai: "I know, so the premise has been said, if it's not a big deal, just tolerate it..."

  "It's not good to make a scene," Lin said with concern: "If the young lady suffers any grievances in the future, she can come back and tell us, and her family will definitely help her out. How can a daughter-in-law make a scene at her husband's home?"