All Hail Cousin Brother

302 Deep Love

Usually, such questions could result in a good ranking. After going to the Hanlin Academy for two to three years, he would be released and achieve results in local governance. When he returned to the capital, he would be able to advance steadily and have a good future.

The others were also down-to-earth in their answers.

Duke Zhonglie valued agriculture, work, and business. He had even personally compiled relevant books and given them to the Yu Clan. Over the years, this was also the foundation of the Yu Clan’s teachings. Just like the Four Books and Five Classics, they had to learn them.

Not only did the children of the Yu Clan have to learn, but they also had to participate in farming. They had to learn fortifications, management, and so on with the respected elders in the clan.

In this way, when encountered with such a question, it was appropriate to apply what he had learned.

Yu Zongshen smiled. “All of you answered well. Agriculture, industry, and business are the foundation of the country. You should take some time to relax. Wait for the rankings to be released!”

Although their answers were not bad, it was not necessarily what the emperor wanted to see. However, it could be seen that their answers were down-to-earth and substantial.

After receiving the affirmation, Yu Shande and the others heaved a sigh of relief, and their expressions relaxed.

However, when Yu Youyao thought of the words “managing the vassal state”, she felt like a storm was brewing. She couldn’t help but glance at her cousin, only to see him lowering his eyes and gently stroking the wooden osmanthus incense bead bracelet in his hand, his expression indifferent.

—-

After the palace examination, the capital fell silent for two to three days before it became lively again.

The candidates had gone through many tests and were also physically and mentally exhausted. Now that the dust had settled, it was inevitable that they would meet their friends to discuss the questions or go sightseeing.

As a result, the matters related to the Marquis of Changxing’s Residence were like stones that had been thrown into a lake. There were some ripples, and they were immersed.

The matter of Yu Youyao being rewarded by the Empress Dowager also faded.

After a few days of peace, Yu Youyao finished embroidering the pouch and showed it to Nanny Xu.

Grandma Xu smiled and said, “Eldest Miss’s embroidery skills have improved a lot!”

Yu Youyao had only been learning needlework for two to three months, so her embroidery skills were not very exquisite. However, she had an extraordinary talent for matchmaking, composition, and coloring. It was rare for her embroidery to be filled with spiritual energy.

This way, its beauty was 30% due to embroidery and 50% due to spiritual energy. It was 80% of her meticulous focus.

If she practiced for another year and a half, she would almost surpass the skills of others for three to five years.

“I’m going to look for Cousin!” After receiving the praise, Yu Youyao smiled and ran out of the house with her dress.

When she arrived at the courtyard, she saw her cousin sitting under the Parasol Tree and drinking tea.

Her cousin was dressed in sky-green clothes. The color was between light blue and light green. It was really as if it was carved and polished, revealing a jade-like elegance.

Yu Youyao smiled and ran over with her dress. “Cousin, why are you here? I was just about to look for you.”

Zhou Linghuai’s lips curled up slightly as he rubbed the bracelet on his wrist. His gaze landed on the little girl’s eyebrows. Her light gray eyebrows were like smoke, fog and the mist behind the rain. When she smiled, she looked beautiful.

She was not as elegant as before, but she exuded a faint elegance.

Noticing her cousin’s gaze, Yu Youyao leaned in front of him. “Cousin, I used the green sparrow brow powder you gave me to draw my eyebrows today. Isn’t it beautiful?”

The green sparrow brow powder that her cousin had made was even lighter than the dark gray that was popular on the market, with a faint smoky color. With a gentle sweep, there was a hazy spiritual color that suited her age.

Even Nanny Xu said that it looked good.

Zhou Linghuai’s smile deepened. “It’s very suitable for Cousin.”

The green sparrow brow powder was dark gray, and it was a more solemn color. He was inspired by the smoky eyebrows of the previous dynasty to make an elegant ash color. This color was bright and beautiful, and it made people have distant eyebrows. It was really an extremely beautiful color.

He suddenly thought of the “Bodhisattva” painting. It depicted the little girl’s eyebrows, so he also used this green sparrow brow powder.

Upon receiving the praise, Yu Youyao smiled. “I think it looks good too. It’s as good as the brow powder that Cousin gave me previously. When Second Sister saw it yesterday and asked me for it, I couldn’t bear to give it to her.”

Zhou Linghuai found it funny!

A young lady was also very vain.

Every day, he only felt that eyebrows looked good with brow powder. He also felt that the little girl had used it for a long time, so he had made a new green sparrow brow powder for her and asked her to change her brow color.

Yu Youyao smiled again. “I use Cousin’s eyebrow brow powder every day.”

Zhou Linghuai was stunned and immediately understood. The little girl liked drawing her brows not because she wanted to show off, but because he had given her the brow makeup. Hence, she had to use it every day.

For some reason, an image suddenly appeared in her mind. His mother was sitting in front of a bronze mirror and polishing it. It reflected her mother’s hazy and beautiful figure. His father had one arm around her mother’s waist and the other hand was holding her eyebrows. He gently used brow powder and carefully drew her eyebrows.

Her father, who had always been rough, always had an indescribable delicateness when it came to this matter. His every move was gentle.

However, each stroke was deeply affectionate.

Her mother always complained coquettishly that her father’s paintings did not look good.

Her father was not angry when he heard this. Instead, he said proudly, “The eyebrows I drew were for me to see. If I think they look good, they’re really good.”

For some reason, Zhou Linghuai’s hands were trembling violently.

He stared at the little girl’s dark eyebrows and suddenly felt a sense of paranoia. Just as he was about to investigate carefully, he saw the little girl take out a pouch.

Zhou Linghuai’s gaze paused in surprise. “The sachet is embroidered so quickly.”

Yu Youyao smiled and showed the pouch to her cousin. “I originally planned to embroider a sachet for you, but I made wooden osmanthus incense beads for you previously. You’re a man, so it’s not appropriate for you to be covered in incense like a woman, so I changed it to a pouch.”

“The pouch is also very good.” Zhou Linghuai smiled when he heard this.

He looked down at the wooden osmanthus incense beads in his hand. He had only worn them for a few days. It was also because he often played with it that there was a hint of lustre on the surface of the incense beads.

Yu Youyao raised her eyebrows, her sparkling eyes filled with smugness. “My embroidery skills have improved a lot. It’s easy to embroider small embroidery pieces like a pouch, so it didn’t take long to finish. It’s not good to make Cousin wait for a long time every time.”

However, she did not say that in order to embroider the pouch as soon as possible, she would embroider it as soon as she was free. She even embroidered it at night.

The smile in Zhou Linghuai’s eyes suddenly deepened as he took the pouch. On one side, the branches and leaves were green and beautiful. They were lifelike. He flipped through the inner side and saw trumpet-shaped tung flowers that were beautiful and elegant.

How could it be fresh, beautiful, and elegant at the same time?!

Yu Youyao asked, “Cousin, do you like it?”

Every time she gave something, she had to ask this. She knew that no matter what she gave, he would always be happy and liked it. She had to specially ask and never ignore his feelings.