Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 550 - 511: You Will Be Powerful in the Future (2)
Li Yu En won a lot of things. After getting off the carriage, she immediately walked towards Lou Chengye to show off.
Lou Chengye got off his horse, handed it to the gatekeeper of the mansion, and eagerly looked at Li Yu En’s haul, "My lady, you’re amazing."
"Hehe, husband, let me tell you, when it comes to playing drinking games, I’ve only ever lost to my elder sister. As long as she’s not around, I’m not afraid of anyone," Li Yu En boasted, lifting her chin confidently.
Lou Chengye praised her, "Your elder sister is a few years older than you. When you reach her age, you’ll be just as formidable."
Li Yu En liked what she heard, "That’s right, I’ll be amazing in the future too, hehe." She beamed at Lou Chengye, "Husband, you’ll be amazing in the future too, right?"
Lou Chengye awkwardly agreed, "Yes, yes."
In what way was he amazing?
He realized he wasn’t even as good as his own wife.
Lou Chengye felt a bit deflated inside.
.
After returning to the mansion, Lou Chengye went to Prefect Lou’s study.
Li Yu En and the Second Lady Lou went to see Lady Lou.
Lady Lou, upon seeing her two daughters-in-law, immediately asked, "Did you have a good time at Third Aunt’s place?" She wanted to know if Li Yu En had caused any trouble or embarrassment.
The master said Li Yu En was the second daughter of Prince Luling, but looking at Li Yu En from head to toe, Lady Lou couldn’t find anything about her that resembled a Commandery Princess. She looked just like a village girl!
The Second Lady Lou didn’t lose her hairpin. Moreover, while playing drinking games with Li Yu En, she won a small jade pendant.
She smiled and said, "It went well. Both sister-in-law and I won some prizes."
Li Yu En nodded along, smiling happily, "Yes, we won a lot."
Lady Lou glanced at them and thought to herself, see, it was wise to arrange for the second daughter-in-law to accompany them, so they wouldn’t lose face to the daughters and wives of the Third Aunt’s family.
If she had let this muddle-headed Li go alone, who knows how much they would have been laughed at by the Third Aunt’s family?
"Second daughter-in-law, you won quite a bit, didn’t you? Li, you should thank your second sister-in-law." As long as her family members didn’t lose, Lady Lou was in a good mood. She smiled and called for the maid to bring tea.
Li Yu En looked dazed, "Thank her for what?"
Lady Lou’s good mood was ruined, "Thank your second sister-in-law for helping you win the prizes!"
Li Yu En shook her head, "But I won the prizes myself, so why should I thank second sister-in-law?"
Lady Lou couldn’t understand, what did she mean?
Li Yu En said, "I played drinking games with the people from Third Aunt’s family and won five rounds." She laughed proudly, "I’ve been playing since I was little. They actually thought they could beat me, that’s impossible."
Lady Lou gasped, Li Yu En could play drinking games?
What about her looked like she could play?
The Second Lady Lou took a small jade pendant the size of a little finger from her purse and placed it on the table, "Mother, I won a jade pendant."
Lady Lou looked at the table, just one? That little?
It couldn’t be, the second daughter-in-law was quite formidable, how could she only win a small jade pendant?
"Mother, I have more." Li Yu En smiled.
She dumped a cloth bag onto the table, producing a jingling sound as several items fell out.
There were gold-inlaid jade rings, golden hairpins, jade rings, earrings, and bracelets.
Seven or eight items, forming a small pile. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
Lady Lou was left speechless, her mouth agape.
Was this what Li Yu En had won?
"Mother, not bad, right?" Li Yu En smiled brightly, "See anything you like? I’ll give it to you."
She bit her lip, secretly hoping Lady Lou wouldn’t want her things. She said it purely out of politeness.
Why would Lady Lou be interested in her stuff? What would that make her?
"The little trinkets you won yourself, you keep them for fun." Lady Lou waved her hand.
"Alright, thank you, mother." Li Yu En sighed with relief, she didn’t want to give them away either.
Li Yu En gathered up the jewelry, packing everything back into the little cloth bag.
Lady Lou watched her smiling face with curiosity and inquired again about their drinking game experience.
The Second Lady Lou simply said that Li Yu En had won without detailing the process, as she didn’t want to praise Li Yu En.
But Li Yu En was so smug that, as long as Li Yuwen wasn’t around, she was a chatterbox, rattling away like a clacking bead curtain.
Lady Lou was secretly taken aback, is this true?
Li Yu En can play the pipa?
.
With the end of the year approaching, Prefect Lou’s official duties have become even busier than before.
The documents concerning the military, civil affairs, finance, and construction of river works and mountain paths in Zhen An Prefecture were all compiled and sent to his study.
He had to organize them well to report them in the Capital next spring.
Documents from several counties were sent to his study together, and Prefect Lou was busy from morning till night every day.
When Lou Chengye entered the study room, he saw that Prefect Lou was discussing matters with several guests and other sons of Lou Mansion.
Lou Chengye knew that this had nothing to do with him again. He didn’t understand the politics of the government office, and they never allowed him to participate. Lou Chengye stepped forward intending to greet them and leave.
"Father, brothers." Lou Chengye cupped his hands in greeting to his father and brothers.
Mr. Lou, who was flipping through a document, glanced at him and said, "Weren’t you going to a banquet at Third Aunt’s house? Why did you come back so early?"
It was just past noon at this time.
"Third Aunt said she was tired, so we came back early." Lou Chengye replied.
After greeting his father and brothers, he also cupped his hands to the guests and turned to walk out.
At this moment, Prefect Lou called him back, "Come back."
Lou Chengye had to turn back, "Father, do you have instructions?"
Prefect Lou casually picked up a document from the table and handed it to Lou Chengye, "I know you detest affairs of governance, but who is born with a love for them? Look at your brothers, which of them didn’t learn by following along? When they were your age, they knew nothing at all. It is through years of learning that they achieved what they have today."
While chatting with Lady Lou, Prefect Lou discovered that her dislike for their fifth son was because he was a muddleheaded person.
She didn’t like their fifth son, and consequently, she didn’t like the fifth daughter-in-law either.
It’s his fault for being too engrossed in his official duties and neglecting their fifth son, allowing the family to raise him into a wastrel.
Fortunately, he realized this in time; while the fifth son is still young, a few years of guidance should bring about some improvement, right?
Otherwise, wouldn’t he be ridiculed by Prince Luling in the future?
Upon hearing the three words about learning bureaucracy, Lou Chengye couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingle.
He detested scholarly pursuits; except for learning a few characters, he understood nothing of poetry, essays, or songwriting.
Seeing the pages full of densely packed characters on the pamphlet, Lou Chengye’s head began to buzz, and he felt his breath catching.
"Father, I... I can’t understand the article." Lou Chengye said dejectedly.
"If you don’t understand it, learn it." Prefect Lou’s face turned stern.
Mr. Lou took the booklet and, patting Lou Chengye’s shoulder, pointed to the cover and said, "Chengye, this is a document on the survey of river works, containing measurement data of the state’s rivers. Most of it consists of data, not the kind of canonical history books."
Not the kind of articles discussing grand strategies for ruling the country? Lou Chengye glanced at his elder brother before taking the pamphlet and started to look through it.
Indeed, although the first few pages were full of dense characters, the content was an introduction to the rivers of Zhen An Prefecture.
Which river is where, how deep the river is, how high the riverbank is, when there was flooding or drought. How many families lived by the river, the river’s flow, whether it could support shipping, and which river it connected with.
As long as it wasn’t discussing philosophies on ruling the country and the world, Lou Chengye could get into it.
For the first time, he saw someone document a river survey in such detail, and for the first time, he realized that the town of Zhen An, renowned as a mountain city, had this many waterways.
Lou Chengye held the booklet and sat in the chair, seriously flipping through it.
Prefect Lou glanced at him, smiled knowingly, and turned back to continue discussing political affairs with his subordinates and guests.
Lou Chengye’s brothers, under Mr. Lou’s lead, continued organizing Prefect Lou’s letters and documents.
Although Lou Chengye didn’t like reading traditional texts, he had a natural affinity for numbers, with an incredible ability for mental arithmetic.
What seemed like a confusing tangle of data to others appeared to him as merely differently colored threads, intertwined, but he could clearly sort them out to find the start and end points.
After just a moment, Lou Chengye said, "Father, there are some issues recorded here."
When Prefect Lou first saw the document, he vaguely sensed something was wrong but couldn’t pinpoint the issue even after reviewing it for three days, nor could his eldest son after two days.
He thought that maybe his mind had been confined by typical patterns, preventing him from finding the problem. By having Lou Chengye, who had never examined such documents, try to spot the issue, he hoped for insight.
As the saying goes, outsiders see the game better, and sure enough, the young son identified it.
"Where’s the problem?" Prefect Lou quickly asked.
Mr. Lou joyfully walked over, "What did you spot, Fifth Brother?"
