The Fourth Prince was also worried that someone might snatch away the talented young man he had his eye on, so he mobilized his spies in the palace and had them mention Jia Daishan and Jia Hu in front of the old emperor.
The old emperor did indeed start thinking about forming a marriage alliance with Jia Daishan, so he looked through his granddaughters.
Someone at his side promptly brought up the Fourth Prince's legitimate daughter.
Among all his granddaughters, the Fourth Prince's legitimate daughter had the highest status and was the most suitable age.
The other granddaughters were either illegitimate or far too old or young.
So the old emperor summoned Jia Daishan and settled the marriage between Jia Hu and the Fourth Prince's legitimate daughter.
Before long, the imperial edict arrived at Rongguo Mansion.
Everyone in the Jia family was delighted, except Wang.
The other families were consumed with regret when they learned that the emperor had claimed Jia Hu for a match.
When Mother Liu learned that Jia Hu's marriage had been settled, she could no longer sit still and wanted to start looking for a match for Liu Zhong.
Liu Zhong was now a provincial graduate, a man of considerable standing.
With the Li Duke Mansion behind him, there would be plenty of families to choose from.
They could start looking now, then arrange an engagement and wedding once Liu Zhong passed the metropolitan examination.
As soon as Mother Liu began making inquiries, matchmakers soon came knocking.
As Jia Hu's closest friend, Liu Zhong was also a popular choice for a son-in-law.
However, since Liu Zhong was only a collateral member of the Li Duke Mansion, and his branch had already been separated from the main household, the families who would consider him were limited to those of officials ranked sixth or seventh, as well as collateral branches of noble families.
Mother Liu understood that her family's standing would not get them a daughter-in-law of especially high status. She calmly considered the candidates, determined to find a wife who was a good match in every way.
Jia Hu approached Liu Zhong. "Is your mother looking for a wife for you?"
"You're already engaged, so my mother can't sit still either."
"What do you think of my elder female cousin?"
Jia Yuanchun?!
Liu Zhong was astonished.
Was the Jia family planning to marry Jia Yuanchun to him?
"Would your second uncle and aunt agree?"
Jia Hu chuckled. "My second aunt definitely wouldn't, but my grandfather is the one who runs Rongguo Mansion. Besides, my second uncle is very keen to have you as his son-in-law."
Jia Zheng fancied himself a man of letters and liked men of letters, too.
In this life, Jia Daishan had not died young, but thanks to his achievements in rescuing the emperor, he had still secured Jia Zheng an official post.
It was not in the Ministry of Works, however. Jia Zheng had gone to the Ministry of Rites instead.
Following the rules, Jia Zheng was no longer idle as he had been in the Ministry of Works.
And with Jia Daishan there, no one gave him a hard time. Over the course of more than ten years, he had even risen two ranks.
Jia Zheng regretted that he had studied for more than a decade but could not take the imperial examinations. He was deeply disappointed—though he had no accurate sense of his own knowledge or abilities—and so he greatly valued men who had earned academic titles, keeping several degree-holding provincial graduates as his literary guests.
Rongguo Mansion was wealthy enough to support literary guests, so even Jia Daishan did not interfere.
Now that he would have a promising young man certain to pass the metropolitan examination as his son-in-law, Jia Zheng was overjoyed. When Jia Daishan brought it up, Jia Zheng was the first to nod in agreement.
Lady Jia Shi and Wang were both unwilling.
Though Jia Daishan had prevented them from sending Jia Yuanchun into the palace to seek wealth and status, both still hoped to marry her into a much higher-ranking family.
Lady Jia Shi had privately come to an arrangement with the Princess of Dong'an. She wanted Jia Yuanchun to marry the Heir of Dong'an as his second wife.
However, although the Heir of Dong'an's wife was gravely ill, she was still alive, so the matter had not been discussed openly.
Wang strongly approved of Lady Jia Shi's decision. She was set on making her daughter the heir's wife, and one day the princess.
She blamed Jia Daishan in her heart. Given Jia Yuanchun's fate, if she entered the palace, she would surely become an imperial consort and might even become empress dowager one day.
After all, she had been born on the first day of the lunar year.
That meant she was destined to be a phoenix.
It never occurred to her that plenty of girls were born on the first day of the lunar year. Did that mean they were all destined to be phoenixes?
No matter how unwilling Lady Jia Shi and Wang were, Jia Daishan was the one who made the decisions at Rongguo Mansion, and Jia Zheng, Jia Yuanchun's own father, agreed as well. So the marriage between Liu Zhong and Jia Yuanchun was settled.
When Mother Liu heard from Liu Zhong what the Jia family had in mind, she was overjoyed.
She had never expected to get a legitimate daughter from a duke's mansion as her daughter-in-law. Though Jia Yuanchun was only the legitimate daughter of the second branch, she was still the duke's own granddaughter!
Her status was far above that of the girls Mother Liu had been considering.
And with Jia Hu as her cousin, Jia Yuanchun's character should be very good as well.
Mother Liu immediately found a matchmaker to propose to the Jia family.
Since the proposal had been Jia Daishan's idea in the first place, Rongguo Mansion did not give the matchmaker any trouble, and the two families soon exchanged their birth documents.
Next came the betrothal gifts, the exchange of names, the divination...
The wedding was set for after Liu Zhong passed the metropolitan examination.
After that, Liu Zhong and Jia Hu used the need to focus on their studies and prepare for the metropolitan examination as an excuse to turn down many social gatherings.
They planned to wait for the metropolitan examination two years later. Who could have guessed how quickly things would change? In only a few months, the emperor was replaced.
It happened because the old emperor fainted during a court session. Although he was revived, he was in such poor health that he could no longer handle state affairs.
So the old emperor made up his mind to abdicate in favor of the Fourth Prince, becoming the retired emperor so he could recuperate.
With a new emperor on the throne, an examination under imperial favor was naturally to be held.
So the two men did not have to wait two years; they took the metropolitan examination the following year.
The schedule was a little tight, but they had a solid foundation in their studies, so taking the examination early posed no problem.
Besides, Jia Hu had the old emperor and the new emperor discreetly looking out for him.
The old emperor would not be able to witness the auspicious omen of someone achieving six firsts, but the new emperor could.
The new emperor wanted that auspicious omen even more than the old emperor did. It would prove that Heaven favored him as emperor.
Jia Hu learned of both emperors' intentions from Jia Daishan and knew that winning first place in the metropolitan examination and the palace examination was all but certain.
He felt a little uncomfortable about it. With his abilities, he believed he could win the title of top scorer on his own.
But he quickly adjusted his outlook.
There was nothing wrong with having the emperor's favor. At the very least, it would make things easier for him.
Jia Daishan was very pleased with his eldest grandson's attitude.
With an heir like Jia Hu in Rongguo Mansion, he could go meet his ancestors in peace.
As for his two useless sons—who were they, anyway?
Jia Hu entered the examination hall with an easy mind and answered the questions without a fuss. In the end, he performed even better than usual.
The chief examiner had received the emperor's hint that Jia Hu should be chosen as the top candidate in the metropolitan examination.
He had thought Jia Hu's answers were inferior to those of the other candidates, and that he would have to risk damaging his reputation by ranking Jia Hu first.
But when he saw Jia Hu's paper, the chief examiner was delighted.
Jia Hu's writing was so excellent that he would have chosen him as the top candidate even without the emperor's hint.
Liu Zhong took the examination just as calmly.
He had taken all kinds of examinations in his previous life, and his composure had long been tempered.
With a calm mind, he naturally answered well.
His paper pleased the examiners too, earning him a place among the top ten.
When the metropolitan examination results were posted, there was naturally another round of excitement.
Next came the palace examination.
Everyone knew that Jia Hu had already won five firsts, so the top scorer's position was undoubtedly his.
The others could only compete for second place, third place, and the next two ranks.
However, the third-place title went to Liu Zhong.
Before you continue