Chapter 643: System for Rising Through the Imperial Examinations (Volume Complete)

After Lin Shi and her daughter-in-law had finished their affectionate reunion, she came over to take Xie Yang's hand, praising her at length with a look of gratification.

In her heart, her daughter-in-law was the great lucky star of their family; without her, their family would not have the fortune they had today.

However, while everything in Jingcheng was good, everything also cost money to buy.

She had just walked around, and there really wasn't much empty space in front of or behind the house to grow vegetables; even the green onions, ginger, and garlic were planted in beautiful large flower pots, which made Lin Shi feel a bit discouraged.

She and her husband were accustomed to working in the mountains and fields and knew nothing else; could they really rely on their son and daughter-in-law's money to support them after coming to Jingcheng?

"Mother, we have a place to grow vegetables." Xie Yang comforted her mother-in-law, "Our family bought a Farm in the Jingjiao; it has both Paddy Fields and Dry Land, and we can raise chickens, ducks, and geese there too."

Upon hearing there was a Farm just like the one back home, Lin Shi immediately perked up: "Is it far? It's not far? We'll be there once we leave the city? Then your father and I might as well just go live on the Farm! Zhi Zhi can go with us too! You stay here and keep Yanqing company, so we can hold a grandson soon, and let your mother hold a granddaughter!"

Fang Shi beamed and chimed in: "Yes, yes, yes!"

Xie Yang: "..."

She had originally thought her mother-in-law was just being polite, but she hadn't expected her to be serious!

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, her parents were escorted back to Guixiang Town by Yang Mu, and her parents-in-law moved to the Farm to live long-term.

She had originally really wanted to take her sister-in-law with her, but after hearing that the noblewomen of Jingcheng often held things like Flower Viewing Banquets and Skirt Canopy Banquets, she planned to take her sister-in-law to such banquets more often in the future; firstly, to broaden her horizons and make two or three close friends, and secondly, it would be a form of growth, which would be beneficial for her sister-in-law's future marriage.

Once her parents-in-law heard it would help with their daughter's marriage, they finally allowed her to stay, but before leaving, they gave her no shortage of reminders to be obedient and diligent.

But then again, having spent half a lifetime in the countryside, suddenly having to adapt to life in a large Jingcheng mansion, they might not necessarily be able to adjust.

It was the farm life at the Farm that truly made them feel like fish in water.

Xie Yang visited them occasionally and saw that her parents-in-law were indeed more at ease on the Farm than in the city mansion; they would feed the chickens, ducks, and geese when they got up in the morning; after breakfast, her father-in-law would take a walk around the pond and feed the Fish and Shrimp, and upon returning, he would sit under the eaves weaving straw hats and baskets; her mother-in-law would sit beside him sewing insoles and making clothes, the couple chatting and laughing, their spirits much better than when they lived in the large Jingcheng mansion.

Moreover, since her parents-in-law were farmers by origin, they treated the people working on the Farm no differently than their fellow villagers, never acting superior or scolding them at will just because they were hired by their daughter-in-law; on the contrary, they would occasionally care about their food and lodging, and if they were sick, they would promptly find a doctor for them.

Seeing that they indeed preferred life on the Farm, Xie Yang let them be.

After Song Yanqing achieved the Three Successive Firsts and joined the Hanlin Academy, it wasn't as if no noblewomen had taken a fancy to him and gone so far as to use their family influence to force him to cast aside his wife and remarry; he had filed a complaint before the Imperial Palace, stating, "One should not forget the friends of one's poverty, and a wife of one's humble beginnings should not be cast aside," declaring that he had and would only ever have Xie Yang as his wife in this life, and there would never be a second woman in his inner courtyard besides her.

Even the Emperor was left speechless by him.

He was moved by the point of not being willing to abandon a wife of humble beginnings, but did he really need to have only one wife for his whole life? It was normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines; only then could he ensure a flourishing lineage. With only one wife, how could he guarantee the continuation of his family line?

Furthermore, he had heard that Magistrate Song's wife had been married into the Song family for two or three years without bearing a single son or daughter; if she had difficulty with fertility, wouldn't that make Magistrate Song a sinner against the Song family?

But Song Yanqing remained unmoved.

From then on, everyone in the court knew of Magistrate Song's infatuation, but some also questioned it, suspecting it wasn't that Magistrate Song was infatuated, but that Madam Song was overbearing.

"I heard that Madam Song can lift a thousand catties, and Magistrate Song is a weak scholar; unable to beat her or scold her, he had no choice but to become henpecked."

When this rumor reached Xie Yang's ears: "..."

She was simply speechless.

It was true that she could lift a thousand catties, but Song Yanqing was not as weak and harmless as he appeared.

After he passed the top scholar exam, the Sub-system rewarded him with a large wave of points; a portion was exchanged for pills for longevity for his family to take; a portion was exchanged for Male Contraceptive Pills, and as long as Xie Yang didn't agree to have children, he would keep taking the contraceptive pills; the rest were all exchanged for jewelry with special functions, filling up Xie Yang's jewelry box.

The Sub-system... the Sub-system was already too lazy to complain.

Fortunately, this Host was quite capable himself; he didn't rely on the Props in the System Mall that helped with the imperial examinations or promotion, yet he still rose step by step, so it didn't bother with where he spent his points.

Song Yanqing advanced step by step toward his goal of becoming a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, while Xie Yang plunged into the business of fine grape wine, and there was no stopping her.

In the early stages, she accumulated a wave of capital by selling snacks from a food cart, and with the income from the Qinghe Village Farm, she soon bought the small hill behind the Farm along with the valley, successively planting the hills with seasonal fruit trees and turning the valley into a vineyard.

Three years later, the first batch of wine grapes matured, and Xie Yang built a winery, with the original intention of brewing wine.

She hadn't expected the fruits on the mountain to have a bumper harvest every year; how could her family of a few people finish them all? Giving them away wouldn't consume so much, and taking them to the market to sell at a flat price felt like a waste.

After all, when she transplanted these fruit trees, she hadn't skimped on watering them with Plant Nutrient Solution; after years of improvement, both their appearance and taste could rival tribute items, so she simply transported the fruits they couldn't eat in time to the winery.

Thus, following the wine, the Xie Family Winery successively launched several fruit wines with whitening and beauty-enhancing effects: in spring, there was Strawberry Wine, Loquat Wine, Cherry Wine, and Mulberry Wine; in summer, Peach Wine, Plum Wine, and Yangmei Wine; in autumn, Green Plum Wine, Pomegranate Wine, and Persimmon Wine; in winter, Citrus Wine, Kumquat Wine, and Black Date Wine...

These fruit wines, with their unique flavors and unique effects, once became the winners of the Flower Viewing Banquets held by various mansions.

In the eyes of the world, Xie Yang was also a winner in life—the husband she had married "down" to not only refused to take concubines and doted on her alone, but his official career was also infinitely glorious; in less than ten years, he entered the Cabinet and was appointed Prime Minister.

【Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully recovering the bug Sub-system and completing the recovery Task for this plane. Task rewards are being calculated; the next Task plane is pending activation...】

When she heard the familiar yet long-lost broadcast, Xie Yang's vineyard had already hung up the imperial-bestowed sign of "Xie Family Winery," and her fame had spread far and wide.

And the Aircraft Cargo Hold, which had cleared up quite a bit of space over the past few years, was gradually filled with the wine and various other fruit wines produced by her family.

She and Song Yanqing were a loving couple with children around their knees, creating a beautiful story.

As time went on, a rumor spread throughout the Ning Dynasty—if one drank the fine grape wine from "Xie Family Winery" during the wedding night's nuptial cup ceremony, the marriage would be happy, the couple would be loving, and the descendants would be numerous.

So much so that her family's wine was not only never a worry to sell, but it was also in high demand with no supply.

Every season when the wine hit the market, merchants from all walks of life flocked to it, competing to be agents for "Xie Family Winery."

The wine with "Xie Family Winery" carved on the cork not only became a highly sought-after existence in the Ning Dynasty, but was also taken abroad by merchants traveling the four seas, heading toward the world...

{End of this volume}