“Zijin, what’s the good news? You sound happy.”
Su Chong asked.
Liu Zijin had always been reserved. He was mostly smiling when he was happy. They had never seen him laugh so heartily.
Su Xiaolu narrowed her eyes and said as she ate the fragrant meat, “It’s probably because Sister-in-law Huilan is pregnant.”
“What?”
Su Chong was surprised.
Su Hua and Zhou Heng looked at each other and smiled. They understood. Liu Zijin loved Wang Huilan deeply and this child had been looking forward to it for a long time. Now, everything was fine and the child had come at the right time. No wonder Liu Zijin laughed happily.
Not long after, Liu Zijin’s voice came from outside.
“Chong, I have good news for you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he arrived. The smile on Liu Zijin’s face did not diminish. He went to Su Chong’s side and patted his shoulder. He smiled and said, “Chong, I’m going to be a father. You’re going to be a godfather.”
Liu Zijin was so happy that people couldn’t help but be happy when they saw him in high spirits.
Su Chong smiled. “Alright, congratulations.”
He was on good terms with Liu Zijin. Long ago, Liu Zijin had already said that in the future, his children would acknowledge him as their godfather. In the future, Su Chong’s children would also acknowledge him as their godfather.
Su Hua said, “Congratulations.”
Zhou Heng smiled and said, “Congratulations.”
Liu Zijin smiled and nodded. “Thank you, thank you. I also wish you all a good fate and a happy life.”
Speaking of which, Su Chong, Su Hua, and Zhou Heng had also reached the age of marriage. After the rankings were released this time, there was a high chance that their marriages would be decided.
Su Chong immediately felt a little embarrassed.
He touched his head. He actually didn’t have much of an opinion about marriage. He would think about it when he met the one.
Su Hua smiled faintly. Zhou Heng was deep in thought.
Liu Zijin calmed down and walked to Su Xiaolu. “Xiaolu, thank you. Your sister-in-law said that it’s all thanks to you. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have known.”
God knew how happy he was when he found out that Wang Huilan was pregnant. He couldn’t help but worry when he found out that Wang Huilan had not been taking care of herself, but he also knew how relieved he was after Wang Huilan said that Su Xiaolu would prescribe pregnancy stabilizing medicine.
Su Xiaolu smiled and said, “It’s nothing, but there are some things to take note of during pregnancy. For the first three months, sex is forbidden.”
Su Xiaolu was a doctor. She remembered the taboos of pregnancy and just said it casually.
Liu Zijin blushed and lowered his voice. “Got it.”
Su Chong, Su Hua, and Zhou Heng could not help but laugh.
They really believed that there was no gender in front of the doctor.
Wang Huilan couldn’t eat garlic, so there was braised pork inside. Hence, Liu Zijin only brought steamed buns over in the morning.
Su Xiaolu prescribed pregnancy stabilizing medicine for Wang Huilan to drink.
Wang Huilan’s complexion quickly improved.
Because Wang Huilan was pregnant, Liu Zijin hired a chef to cook. The chef’s culinary skills were not bad, and Su Xiaolu and the others ate good food.
On the 9th of October, the rankings were released.
Many people were waiting to check their titles.
Since Su Chong was good at martial arts, this mission was handed to him.
When he saw Su Hua’s name in the first place, Su Chong could not help but smile. He continued to read. The second place was Liu Zijin. He was in 16th place, and Zhou Heng was in 90th place. After reading it, Su Chong squeezed out.
He smiled and said, “Congratulations, we are all on the list. The first place was won by my younger brother, Zijin is second, and Little Brother Heng is 90th.”
Zhou Heng had deliberately ranked low. It was fine as long as he passed.
Su Hua’s first place was undoubtedly Top Scorer.
Liu Zijin sighed in admiration and cupped her hands. “Hua deserves it. We’re all happy.”
If he couldn’t get first place, second place wasn’t bad either. In the future, he would be a High Scholar. Even if the imperial examination stopped here, he could still become an official.
However, he still wanted to participate in next year’s Spring Quarter Examinations. He wanted to see how far he could go.
“Brother, let’s go home first.”
Some people were happy, while others were sad. Those who were on the rankings were beaming with joy, while those who were not on the rankings were dejected. This joy was best shared when they returned home.
The few of them went home together, unable to hide the joy on their faces.
After the rankings were released, the soldiers would go and report the news. Before they reached home, the intermediate high-ranking soldiers had already reached home.
As soon as they arrived home, Su Xiaolu saw Jin Wu waiting outside the door. When they saw the people around Zhou Zhi, Su Chong, Su Hua, and the others were a little vigilant.
When Jin Wu saw Su Xiaolu, he walked over and handed her an invitation. “Congratulations, Miss Su. Congratulations on your good results. His Highness will be leaving for the capital soon. In order to thank Miss Su and you for your contributions to this plague, we’ll hold a banquet at Jinghong Restaurant tonight. Please come.”
Zhou Zhi was supposed to return to the capital, but he thought that the rankings would be released soon, so he postponed it for a few days.
Was Zhou Zhi going or not?
Su Chong did not want to go. Su Hua was deep in thought, and Zhou Heng was even more deep in thought.
Su Xiaolu took the invitation and Jin Wu left.
After entering the house, Liu Zijin said first, “I’ll go back to my room first. You guys can discuss it. If you want to go, we’ll go together. If not, we won’t go either.”
Liu Zijin still did not know about Zhou Zhi and Zhou Heng. After saying this, he could not wait to return to his room. He still had to tell Wang Huilan the good news.
Su Chong and the others returned to the main room.
Su Chong scratched his head. “Should we go or not?”
He did not want to go mainly because he was worried about Zhou Heng.
If they did not go, Zhou Zhi was the Second Prince after all. If he wanted to make things difficult for them, he could deal with them casually. It would be easy for him to make them suffer.
Su Hua looked at Su Xiaolu and asked, “Xiaolu, what kind of person do you think he is?”
Su Xiaolu treated Zhou Zhi’s body and had contact with him. If they could know more useful information, it would be better for them to decide.
Su Xiaolu said truthfully, “I don’t know how to explain it. He’s relatively cold and quiet. He did everything I asked him to do, but if he doesn’t show the real him, I don’t know.”
Every time Zhou Zhi showed her sincerity, she also believed that it was real, but that was only what he wanted to show.
“I think we have to go. Not to mention anything else, we did help a lot during this plague.”
Su Hua said after thinking about it seriously. They had really helped a lot after the plague.
He thought about it and decided to go.
Su Chong spread his hands. “Then let’s go.”
Zhou Heng nodded. He did not speak.
Liu Zijin did not object when he found out that they were going.
Therefore, at night, they went to Jinghong Restaurant together. When they arrived, they saw that the entire Jinghong Restaurant was bustling with people. Zhou Zhi had not only invited them, they heaved a sigh of relief.
When they went upstairs, many of them were familiar faces. They had volunteered to help during the plague.
Someone immediately came to invite them to take a seat. Everyone could even receive two taels of silver. Everyone beamed with joy and expressed their gratitude.
Zhou Zhi came out and said some words to thank everyone. He was modest and magnanimous, causing everyone to cheer. His gaze swept across everyone and he revealed a gentle smile. He raised his wine glass and toasted the crowd before he left.
