Wu Ruolan slowly opened the square cloth, revealing a rectangular emerald green jade pendant with a circular hole in the middle.

  "Mother, this is..."

  Yang Chengye looked at the jade pendant in Wu Ruolans hand and asked somewhat puzzledly.

  "Ah!"

  Wu Ruo Lan sighed and said, "Child, this is what your father left for you." as she gently stroked the square jade pendant.

  "Your father had arranged a marriage for you back then, the bride being the youngest daughter of Han Shizhong, the Prince of Xianan in the capital."

  "Go to the capital and find Han Shizhong, we dont ask him to fulfill the marriage contract, just ask him to write a letter of recommendation for you in consideration of your fathers face, so that you can have proof to take the imperial examination."

  In the Song Dynasty, there was an unwritten rule for imperial examinations: all participants had to go through the stages of Tongsheng, Jiashi, Provincial Examinations, Imperial Examinations and Palace Examinations, none of which could be omitted.

  However, if there is a recommendation from a high-ranking official of the imperial court, one can directly skip the previous steps and participate in the imperial examination.

  Yang Chengye never entered a Confucian academy and did not participate in the imperial examination as a child, so he was not qualified to take the provincial exam.

  Yang Chengye really didnt expect that such a melodramatic plot would happen to himself, and he would actually have a marriage arrangement with Han Shizhongs daughter.

  Han Shizhong was also well-known, a famous general and poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, together with Yue Fei, Zhang Jun and Liu Guangshi, known as the "Four Generals of the Restoration".

  Han Shizhong was a man of extraordinary stature and bravery. Born into poverty, he was brave and skilled in battle, with a strategic mind. In the wars against Western Xia and Jin, he made great contributions to the Song Dynasty, and his story with his wife Liang Hongyu became a legendary tale.

  Wu Ruolan handed the jade pendant to Yang Chengye and said: "Child, take this jade pendant with you and go to the capital."

  Yang Chengye put away the jade pendant and said, "Mother, there are still three years before I can take the imperial examination. Now, Ill first cure your eye disease, and its just right to use this period of time to study hard."

  Wu Ruolan knew her sons temper, if she didnt go along with him, he would be stubborn and even nine oxen couldnt pull him back. So she said: "Alright, mother agrees to it."

  When Wu Ruolan agreed, Yang Chengye began to prepare the surgical instruments. However, there was one thing that made Yang Chengye difficult - surgery required disinfection, and the best disinfectant was alcohol. Where could they get alcohol in this era?

  Just as Yang Chengye was in a dilemma, Shen You suddenly came to visit him, bringing with him a four or five year old child and two jars of wine.

  "Little brother, its been many days since we last met, Ive been worried about you, so I came to see how youre doing!"

  Yang Chengye was quite surprised by Shen Yous arrival. He hadnt told Shen You his address, and yet Shen Kun had managed to find him.

  Yang Chengye bowed his fist and said: "Thanks for your concern, brother. My house is simple, lets just chat in the courtyard, dont mind!"

  Yang Chengye and his mother lived in an abandoned thatched hut, the yard was overgrown with weeds, but now it has been cleaned up by Yang Chengye, and a stone table was placed in the yard.

  "Brother, youre being too polite!" Shen You laughed and said.

  Shen You said as he put all the wine and dishes from his arms on the stone table, and at the same time said to the little boy beside him: "San Er, havent you greeted your uncle?"

  At this time, Yang Chengye only noticed the little kid hiding behind Shen You, with red lips and white teeth, looking silly and cute, a pair of bright eyes twinkling, really lovely.

  After hearing Shen Yous words, the child hastily bowed and greeted: "Shen Fu has seen his uncle."

  Yang Chengye smiled and touched Shen Fuers chubby face, saying: "This kid is really cute, what did brother call him just now?"

  Shen You smiled and said, "This is my youngest son, who is five years old this year. His name is Shen Fu, but because when he first started speaking, he kept calling out Third Brother, Third Brother, so everyone in our household calls him San Er, which can also be considered his nickname."

  Upon hearing this, Yang Chengyes hand, which had been raised, suddenly stopped in mid-air. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the little kid in front of him.

  "Whats wrong with you, brother?"

  Shen You saw Yang Chengye staring at Shen Fu for a long time without speaking, and pushed him with his hand.

  Yang Chengye stood up and said: "Nothing, brother, this son of yours is not simple!"

  Hehe

  Shen You smiled slightly and said, "Hes just a young whippersnapper."

  "Why havent I seen your mother?"

  Yang Chengye replied: "Mother has just eaten and is resting."

  Shen You nodded and picked up the wine jug, removed the seal mud, and said: "Brother, come taste the fine wine I brought for you."

  Shen Kun poured two bowls of wine, and instantly the aroma filled the air. Yang Chengye was not a connoisseur of fine wines, but he had also drunk countless beautiful wines in his lifetime. As soon as he smelled this wine, he knew it was made from pure grains and was absolutely thousands of times better than the blended wines of later generations.

  Yang Chengye picked up his wine cup and took a sip, suddenly feeling sour and unbearable. The wine smelled quite fragrant, so why was it so hard to drink?

  Seeing Yang Chengye frowning frequently, Shen You asked: "Brother, is something wrong?"

  Yang Chengye put down his wine cup and asked Shen You, "Brother, are you sure this is good wine?"

  Shen You said: "Of course, this is authentic Huādiǎo, with a history of several hundred years, and its extremely valuable."

  After listening to Shen Yous words, Yang Chengye was certain that he did not lie. Shaoxing produces good wine, which is what he knew, but in this era there was no distillation technology, so the brewed wine had a low degree and the taste was not very good.

  No wonder ancient people drank wine with big bowls, it turned out that the alcohol content was too low.

  At this time, Yang Chengye suddenly had a bold idea. If he could succeed, not only would he find a way to get rich, but he wouldnt have to worry about disinfection either.

  Yang Chengye smiled wryly and said to Shen You, "Brother, if you trust me, come back tomorrow at this time, and Ill let you taste what a real divine wine is."

  "Brother, do you have good wine?"

  Shen You blinked twice and asked Yang Chengye.

  Yang Chengye smiled mysteriously and said, "The heavenly mechanism must not be revealed."

  Shen You left with Shen Fu, and before leaving, Shen You told Yang Chengye that he would definitely come to the appointment tomorrow.

  After Shen You and his son left, Yang Chengye began to prepare his distillation equipment. He called it a distillation device, but it was simple and crude because the current technology simply couldnt achieve that level of precision.

  After a whole night of busy work, Yang Chengye finally produced the first bowl of liquor, although it was not very pure, but also quite good.

  Yang Chengye sealed up the remaining liquor and poured the two jars of wine brought by Shen You into the distiller. After that, the two jars of wine had shrunk to more than half, and only one pot of wine was filtered out.

  Yang Chengye picked up the wine and took a sip, instantly feeling a fiery sensation flowing down his throat to his stomach, the wines flavor was soft and mellow, pungent yet rich.

  "This is what wine should taste like."

  Yang Chengye put away the wine and busied himself again, starting to sit and breathe in accordance with Huang Changs teachings.

  It was unclear how much time had passed when Yang Chengye was startled awake by voices outside his house.