♂?，，

  Ding Dong, in Ding Rou's eyes, although slightly lacking in talent and somewhat inferior in decisiveness, excelled in being meticulous and serious, with the demeanor of a scholar. He would not stoop to doing things for personal gain or profit, nor did he have the audacity to do so. Ding Rou tapped her forehead, trying to recall who this year's chief examiner was.

  "Xu Ge Lao, who was known for his integrity and honesty, ranked fifth among the cabinet ministers, famous in the court and the countryside for his strictness and stubbornness."

  Ding Ruo's brain spun rapidly, like a computer retrieving text, bringing out the information about Xu Ge Lao that he had heard before. He was most famous for being the one who, twenty years ago, as a small official, exposed the corruption of the officials who embezzled disaster relief funds. Since it wasn't possible for one person to do this alone, they all worked together to hide it from the Emperor. Xu Ge Lao's eldest son died under suspicious circumstances because he exposed this matter. Ding Ruo was undeterred and knelt at the palace gate for three days and nights, almost hitting his head against a pillar left by the Empress Dowager, which shocked the Emperor into ordering an investigation, ultimately uncovering the massive corruption case.

  Xu Ge's integrity and uprightness are renowned throughout the land. Ding Rou frowned, Xu Ge is also fifty-eight this year, Taizu Emperor has set an iron law that officials must retire at sixty, this imperial examination is his last time presiding over it, will he not preserve his final dignity? He can sacrifice his eldest son to expose corrupt officials, all for the sake of the unyielding justice in his heart, no matter how one thinks about it, he would never have the intention of leaking exam questions.

  Although she knew that people's hearts are hard to measure, Ding Rou had never met Xu Ge Lao before and didn't have the ability to read minds to know his thoughts. However, Ding Rou was somewhat suspicious about this. It was said that Xu Ge Lao's mansion was the hardest to enter, and anyone who came bearing gifts would be rejected at the door. There was even a couplet at the entrance of the mansion that implied "those seeking promotion and wealth should not enter here".

  What's going on with the previous life? Why is Ding Min so afraid? Is it really a cheating incident in the exam room?

  Ding Ruo thought for a long time, unable to clear her mind. She only knew that from Ding Min's fear, this year's imperial examination was not ordinary. Lan Xin's voice came from outside, "Sixth Miss, the old madam has woken up and is very happy to learn of Master's promotion as deputy chief examiner."

  Ding Ruo closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and anyone would be happy about it. Ding Ruo's face wore an ordinary shallow smile, not letting anyone see anything unusual. She stepped out lightly and asked with a smile: "Has the eldest lady given her reward? Is the old lady also giving copper coins?"

  As they asked, Ding Ruo walked towards the house of Eldest Madam. Lan Xin smiled and said: "Eldest Madam rewarded me with a month's worth of silver, and Second Madam rewarded each of us with an additional 200 copper coins."

  "Is it everyone?"

  "Yes."

  Ding Ruo pushed open the curtain of the joyful branch, entered the east house, and saw Tai Furen sitting on the warm kang, smiling all over her face, with Wen Li holding an account book, calculating how much silver was needed to reward the people in the mansion. Ding Ruo bent his knees slightly, "Grandmother."

  "Sixth sister, help me calculate it, how much silver I will get."

  Ding Ruo could see the joy on Tai Furen's face, her son was promoted and had a good future, the happiest were his parents. Ding Ruo smiled and said: "If grandmother rewards all the servants, she is more generous than mother."

  "Oh?" Madame Tai was somewhat puzzled, and Ding Rou explained with a smile: "Although 200 coins per person is not much, there are many servants in the mansion. Some of them don't even get as much pocket money from their parents in a month, so I'm saying that you're more generous than Mother."

  "Little devil."

  The old lady laughed so hard that she couldn't close her mouth, and after Ding Ruo roughly calculated it, the old lady's calculation was absolutely larger than Mrs. Lai's. Wen Li said with a smile: "In the future, let Sixth Miss help look at the account book, Sixth Miss didn't say that I thought there wasn't much silver coming out of Mrs. Lai's."

  Old Mrs. Tao narrowed her eyes and said with a smile: "Sixth Sister, would you be willing to help me check the accounts?"

  The old lady was from a wealthy family in Jiangnan. According to the legend of the Ding family, when she married Old Master Ding, her dowry consisted of 120 chests of goods. In her hometown, there was a custom that everything a daughter took with her when she got married, including every needle and thread, belonged to her natal family. Even the coffin for her funeral had been prepared in advance.

  She brought a dowry of the Zhuangzi shop, and Old Master Ding wasn't counting on his wife's dowry. Although Madame didn't understand business, she knew how to use people, so the dowry wouldn't depreciate or shrink, but would instead become more substantial. The silver in Madame's hands wouldn't...

  Wen Li handed the account book to Ding Ruo, but Ding Ruo didn't want to be confined to the inner house all the time. Helping the old lady with business could make Ding Ruo's life more vibrant, but it wasn't suitable now with so many eyes watching in the mansion. Ding Ruo placed the account book on the kang table and pouted: "The granddaughter is accompanying her grandmother, no need to bother with silver accounts."

  The old lady looked at her lovely little granddaughter, with her hand on Ting Ruo's shoulder. "I'm telling you, don't underestimate the importance of money. Although the Ding family is known for its literary and elegant traditions, if one doesn't know how to manage accounts or make money, relying solely on official salaries will not be enough."

  The old lady taught Ding Ruo, fearing that she would be too proud and look down on others because of her love for reading books. She wouldn't know how to make money or keep accounts. Ding Ruo was both amused and moved, knowing better than anyone that without money, nothing could be done. The old lady had previously tested her, but now she was truly teaching Ding Ruo how to manage the household finances, which were things that a concubine's daughter would not have learned. Ding Ruo listened seriously, and the old lady explained in great detail, using examples from past and present. Ding Ruo realized that being the mistress of a large family was not an easy task.

  "These are just the most basic ones, I'll teach you more in two days. Liu Ya'er is very clever and I don't want to waste her exceptional intelligence."

  Ding Rou's heart suddenly tightened, and she looked up at the calm face of Tai Furen. Her words seemed to have a hidden meaning, but what did they imply? Was it that she had been foolish not to understand earlier? Ding Rou quickly put on a smile, "Thanks to my grandmother's teachings, I've become more sensible."

  The old lady gently shook her head, her hand touched Ding Ruo's cheek, and her eyes were deep and dim. "No, Liu Ya'er is a born beauty, she should be...she should be...it doesn't matter, I still have a chance."

  Ding Rou didn't have time to think carefully, and Tai Furen put it back in Ding Rou's hand. "It's just a few shops, even if I gave them away, Mother would only be happy, my dowry will be divided between Father and Second Uncle, and this clever ghost won't get any benefit from it. Ah, honestly, let me look at the account book and calculate the accounts, Liu Ya, I am your grandmother, I won't harm you, I'll only do what's good for you."

  Ding Rou declined again, fearing that it would displease Empress Dowager. With shining eyes, she looked at the empress dowager and said, "I will definitely study hard with my grandmother."

  Madam Tai hugged Ding Ruo and smiled, Ding Ruo didn't take these two or three rooms seriously, she finally had something to do, no need to always be cooped up in the backyard thinking about what to eat today, what to wear, which sister would calculate her, or think about what the first wife thought.

  Ding Ruo likes silver, but she likes the thrill of earning silver even more. She enjoys the process of struggling and feels that if she loses her modern knowledge and bottom line, she would rather die cleanly than become another mediocre ancient maiden.

  In ancient times, women also lived a wonderful life. Not to mention the Empress Dowager who was raised by Emperor Taizu, but also the ladies seen by Ding Rou, each of whom did not all have concubines for their husbands, and were obedient to their husbands. The old lady spent her whole life making sure that the old master only had one concubine, with no illegitimate children, and outsiders did not say that the old lady was not virtuous, nor did they say she was jealous.

  "Reporting to Madam, Liu Niang is outside."

  Ding Ruo got up from the arms of Mrs. Ta, put the account book on the kang table, smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes that were bunched up in one place, and straightened the hairpin on Mrs. Ta's head. "This is the scene when Liu Niang came to see you, perhaps there was something going on. When I went to see San Jie, I heard the good news about Father's promotion, and was delighted at the time, but saw that San Jie didn't seem very happy. Later, San Jie went to the study room, and I chatted with Wu Jie to smooth things over. Father said before that San Jie is more perceptive than me in big matters, perhaps she saw something."

  Ding Ruo told the story to Madame Wang, and Liu's visit to see her must have been about Ding Min. It seems that Master Ding had punished Ding Min. Madame Wang sighed: "Ding Min's cleverness is all superficial, she knows what but not why, what can she figure out? Luckily, her luck was good and she didn't cause any big trouble."

  "Let her in."

  "Yes."

  Liu Yiniang walked into the house with red eyes and knelt down in front of Tai Furen, "Tai Furen, please, save Ding Min."

  Ding Rou stood up from her seat and stood beside Mrs. Tai, looking at Liu Niang who was crying. Due to taking care of the sick Ding Min, Liu Niang looked a bit haggard, with sunken cheeks and larger eyes, pale complexion, and pinkish lips. Even beautiful women couldn't withstand the exhaustion and worry of staying up all night. Unbeknownst to her, Ding Rou saw that Liu Niang had fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Thinking about visiting Liu Shi this morning, she recalled that last night, Mrs. Tai was unwell, and Mr. Ding stayed in Liu Shi's room. She couldn't help but admit that after being taken care of by a man, Liu Shi looked younger than Liu Niang, with no distractions in her heart.

  The old lady didn't speak, and Liu Niang knelt down two steps: "Min'er has just recovered from a serious illness and can't stand the cold. If she kneels for a while longer, it will cost her life, Old Lady... Maternal Aunt, please say something to let Master spare Min'er's life. She was confused at the time and said the wrong thing... Wuuu... wuuu..."

  Mrs. Liu knocked her head heavily, she was reckless for Ding Min, motherly love is great, Ding Rou looked at it with some heartache, raised her eyes to look at Mrs. Tai, saw that she was unchanged as usual, self-sufficiently tasting tea, glanced at Ding Rou's gaze, Mrs. Tai said: "Go and see, what's going on? She cried until I'm confused."

  "Yes."

  Ding Ruo bowed her knees as she left the house, knowing that Old Madam was a little disappointed in her for sympathizing with Liu Niang. Ding Ruo wasn't sympathizing with Liu Niang, but rather with Ding Min; it was a mother's love that made her feel sorry. As she exited Cheng Song Garden, she ran into Old Master Ding and hastily bowed her knees, "Grandfather."

  She stood aside, making way for him to leave quickly, just as he usually ignored Ding Ruo. After a while, Old Master Ding didn't move his feet. Ding Ruo thought that the old madam was still waiting for her response and said in a low voice: "The granddaughter has something to attend to first."

  "I won't go, I'll just go anyway," said Old Master Ding, speaking for the first time: "Go and call Father to Chengsong Garden."

  "Yes."

  Ding Ruo was stunned for a moment, watching Old Master Ding enter the study. How did this mysterious and unpredictable old man know she had gone to Ding Cong's study? He called Ding Cong because of the Jinke examination, so Ding Ruo didn't need to worry too much. With him in the mansion, being appointed as the emperor's teacher by Emperor Taizu, he had experienced decades of officialdom and saw things far more deeply than her.

  PS: Added more, added even more at night, I'm exhausted. Tomorrow night will have double updates, come and get some rewards. Spoiler alert: something big is going to happen in the imperial examination, it's an opportunity for Ding Ruo to grow and learn. No matter how smart Ding Ruo is, without experience and knowledge, she can't become a first-class wife.

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