[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers":3,"chapter-restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-3":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Restoring the Mountains and Rivers",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2364272,4623,"Chapter 3: Dumpling Buns","restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-3",3,"\u003Cp>Within the inner quarters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My Lord, your behavior today is vastly different from usual.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There are so many nephews from our clan—why is only this one worth your attention?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marquis’s Lady asked, puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had seen many nephews come to visit relatives; some were even closer by blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most times, the Marquis of Zhenyuan merely offered polite formalities; even a few private words of advice were considered an act of familial kindness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Different!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Those nephews of ours before me are either timid and hesitant, or desperate to impress.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No matter what I say, they all agree blindly. They lack independent judgment—mere sycophants. Their potential in officialdom is severely limited.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Mu remained neither subservient nor defiant throughout. Even when I deliberately raised sensitive topics, he stayed calm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He neither agreed nor openly contradicted—he simply deflected.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He has unique insights into court politics. Based on just fragments of outside information, his analysis already approaches the truth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Someone with such mature judgment, sharp political instinct, and clear self-awareness is best suited for officialdom.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even if he is still immature now, a few years of polishing in court will see him grow rapidly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Most crucially, when trouble arises, he knows how to sidestep it—he understands how to preserve himself. Putting him forward won’t bring me trouble.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The next generation of the Hou family still needs time to mature, and my political resources are currently in a lull. Why not give him a chance?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yuan said with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Influenced by Confucian clan culture, promoting younger clan members in the Great Ming bureaucracy was a social norm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet due to the bias of civil over military prestige, fewer young men now chose the military path; most opted for civil service.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even his own sons prioritized studying, hoping to achieve success in the imperial examinations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not just the Marquis of Zhenyuan’s household, but the entire aristocratic elite were actively shifting from military to civil careers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this regard, successive emperors had always encouraged it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aristocratic sons who passed the imperial examinations as jinshi were given priority cultivation and promoted far faster than ordinary officials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Top-tier aristocrats received even greater favors: as long as a direct heir held even a shengyuan degree, he could become a prince’s companion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the prince he accompanied ascended the throne, he would often be granted a jinshi title as a reward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My Lord, Mu’er has reached marriageable age.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His parents passed away early, and no one has arranged anything for him. Could we help him out?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marquis’s Lady ventured tentatively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t that she valued Li Mu particularly—rather, aristocratic families traditionally practiced marriage alliances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had only two daughters, both already betrothed. By custom, the Hou family must also marry in a mistress from another aristocratic house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the sake of both families’ honor, whichever son married into the alliance must be recorded as her adopted son in the clan register.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once this status was formalized, he became the primary heir; even if she later bore a biological son, he would be relegated to second place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With legal inheritance rights and the backing of his wife’s family, replacing him as heir would become nearly impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how composed she appeared daily, the Marquis’s Lady still found this prospect distasteful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until she completely lost the ability to bear children, she would not allow such a risk to unfold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if she eventually had no choice but to take this step, to safeguard her own position, the wife’s family of the adopted son must not be powerful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mu’s status was considerably lower than that of a potential heir, but aristocratic marriage alliances still valued personal potential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A hereditary rank of third-rank military officer was barely acceptable; if the Hou family backed him and he showed notable promise, his chances were still substantial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His parents passed away early; it is only natural for elders like us to help arrange his marriage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First, look into it for me—I’ll confirm whether he already has a prior betrothal, to avoid any embarrassing mix-ups.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yuan said dismissively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, he had not sensed the Marquis’s Lady’s true intent; otherwise, he would never have agreed so readily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Promoting a promising junior did not mean pouring in heavy resources.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Political marriage was itself a reallocation of resources; once arranged, the Hou family’s political capital for years to come would be invested in Li Mu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The childless Marquis’s Lady didn’t care—she’d be lucky to bear a son even if she conceived now, and that son would still be twenty years from maturity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a long span meant those who could rise had already risen; those who couldn’t were no longer worth wasting resources on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Marquis of Zhenyuan was different—he had illegitimate sons too, and he’d naturally prefer to invest his political capital in his own bloodline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rest assured, My Lord—I’ll find Mu’er an excellent match!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marquis’s Lady smiled warmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Achieving her goal so easily was far beyond her expectations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having long managed the inner quarters of the Hou family, she knew perfectly well who was betrothed, who was still being considered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Betrothal was a major matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All proper rituals and ceremonies had to be observed, and relatives and friends across the land had to be formally notified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To finalize a marriage alliance between two great families based solely on a decades-old verbal promise was pure fantasy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Betrothal was solemn; breaking it was even harder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Great Ming law, breaking a private betrothal without cause carried fifty strokes of the cane.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If one then betrothed another without having married the first, seventy strokes if the marriage was not consummated, eighty if it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This applied equally to men and women; unless the other party committed grave misconduct or died, attempting to break the betrothal meant losing half your life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if one survived the punishment, public opinion would destroy one’s reputation—future marriage prospects with respectable families would vanish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A career in officialdom would be impossible; the court did not appoint those without virtue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire clan would suffer collateral damage; whether arranging marriages or pursuing official posts, their prospects would be tainted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the fact was established, there was no turning back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in his small courtyard, Li Mu, unaware of the impending dumpling, began readjusting his life plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The capital was no match for his hometown in Hanzhong—he could not simply lie back and drift through life; he had no such luxury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his luggage, he took out a roster of names and, cross-referencing recent information, began analyzing each one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he was to build his future in the capital, he must leverage every possible connection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those who had left the capital for provincial posts were filtered out first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then those entangled in factional struggles and political storms were also eliminated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest were categorized by rank and closeness of relationship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What gift to give whom—this was a skill in itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was indeed cynical, but officialdom was a marketplace of fame and profit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Connections were an advantage in favorable winds, but how much they could help in adversity remained uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t that people lacked righteousness—mainly, some risks were too great; stepping into them meant being shattered to pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1204,"2026-06-21T08:09:02.410Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","939973dc6901db4b9ae4b6c3833b99e6178759bc040527c1ef08ce5a8919d6a6","restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-4","restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-2",391,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frestoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-cover.jpg"]