Bringing the Railway to Daming

Liu Ruoxue knows her own family's affairs.

Although she was the eldest daughter of a noble family, her reputation among the powerful and influential in the capital was not so good because she chose natural history as her graduate studies at the Imperial University of Peking and then went out to run around.

While this young master Liang may not be as talented or as well-off as the sons of the top noble families of the Ming Dynasty, he is not bad either.

Most importantly, Liang Qiushi was a Confucian scholar.

To be honest, she couldn't quite understand why the other person would accept this "blind date".

On the other side, Liang Qiushi also glanced at Liu Ruoxue a few times, his eyes were very polite, but there was a slight surprise in his expression.

He had heard that the eldest daughter of the Duke of Ningguo was fond of natural history and traveled around during her university years. She was also quite good at standing up for the weak and was said to be a "husband-like" woman. Therefore, he had imagined what Liu Ruoxue would look like, such as being big and burly with skin as dark as charcoal.

But upon meeting her this time, he discovered that although Liu Ruoxue's skin was not as fair as that of women from ordinary wealthy families, it was not dark either. Moreover, her features were delicate yet dignified, and her overall appearance gave people a sense of heroic spirit, which even slightly amazed him.

He had no idea that women could look like this and develop such an air about them.

After regaining his senses, Liang Qiushi said, "Miss Liu, would you like to order another pot of fresh tea and a few more tea snacks?"

Liu Ruoxue said, "No need—Young Master Liang, please sit down and let's talk."

Liang Qiushi nodded and sat up straight.

Liu Ruoxue did not hide her true feelings, after all, this was a matter of her entire life, and she did not want to marry into a high-ranking family—in the present Ming Dynasty, apart from the princes, if she married someone else, it would be considered that the other family was marrying above their station.

Her background meant that she could never marry a prince or grandson of the emperor.

Therefore, she could only marry down.

Since she is marrying down, she should naturally find a man who can truly accept her.

Therefore, she took the initiative to ask, "How much does Young Master Liang know about my affairs?"

Liang Qiushi was taken aback by Liu Ruoxue's question and paused for a moment before replying, "I only know that Miss Liu is the eldest daughter of the Duke of Ningguo. She studied at the Imperial Women's Academy and the Imperial University of Peking, and graduated with a master's degree in natural history. She is currently working as an editor at the journal Natural Science."

Liu Ruoxue smiled, "Then Young Master Liang knows quite a bit about you—I also know a lot about Young Master Liang's situation, so I won't beat around the bush."

"First, I'd like to know, did you come to meet me voluntarily, or were you forced by your family?"

Liu Ruoxue asked this question based on experience—the second man she had met on a blind date had long heard of her "reputation" and didn't like her at all. He had only forced her to go on the blind date because her family wanted to curry favor with the Ningguo Duke's family. Fortunately, Liu Ruoxue managed to find out.

Therefore, whenever Liu Ruoxue went on blind dates with other men, she would ask them the same question.

After thinking for a moment, Liang Qiushi said, "My aunt mentioned the young lady to me. After learning about her general situation, I was quite curious, which is why I came here."

"Curious?" Liu Ruoxue asked.

Liang Qiushi said, "Most of the women I came into contact with since childhood were from well-to-do families. Even those who had received a school education could not escape the constraints of traditional virtues and had not had much contact with young women."

“Young Master Liang is studying at the Imperial University of Peking, so you must have seen quite a few women like me, right?” Liu Ruoxue asked with some disbelief.

Liang Qiushi said, "When I was at Peking University, I was focused on my studies and did not have any interaction with female students at the same university."

"So, how does Young Master Liang feel now that he has seen me?" Liu Ruoxue asked with a smile.

"So dashing and unforgettable at first sight." Liu Ruoxue was a little speechless, wondering: Was this a compliment, or did it have some other meaning?
Then she bluntly said, "To be honest, Mr. Liang, my upbringing is different from that of most women. Therefore, after marriage, I probably won't stay at home and obediently take care of my husband and children. Sometimes I might go to other places to study natural history."

"Can Young Master Liang accept this?"

Liang Qiushi laughed and said, "If it's for the purpose of studying natural history, there's nothing wrong with going out. As for being a good wife and mother, given our families, if we really get married, we won't need to worry about anything at home."

This time, Liu Ruoxue was truly surprised.

She thought that since Liang Qiushi was a Confucian scholar, he would probably not be able to accept it, but to her surprise, Liang Qiushi seemed not to care.

She then asked, "Is Young Master Liang truly a scholar of Confucianism?"

“Of course I am a Confucian scholar,” Liang Qiushi said with a smile. “However, times have changed dramatically, and Confucianism has been impacted by science and is seeking reform and innovation. Does Miss Liu think that studying Confucianism necessarily means being as pedantic and stubborn as those old Confucian scholars from decades ago?”

Liu Ruoxue was slightly embarrassed, "I really haven't had much contact with Confucian scholars."

Behind them, the maid and the female guard exchanged glances and smiled.

They had gone on so many blind dates with Liu Ruoxue, but this was the first time they had ever seen a man chat with Liu Ruoxue so harmoniously, even feeling that things were getting better and better.

It seems there's something going on between this young master Liang Qiushi and the young lady...
···
When Liu Ruoxue returned from her blind date, she was inevitably subjected to questioning by Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei.

In the previous few dates, Liu Ruoxue would simply dismiss them with a "not suitable" and wouldn't bother to talk about the process.

After returning home, he did say a few more words to Liang Qiushi, and finally remarked, "This young master Liang is not bad."

Therefore, after Liu Ruoxue returned to her room, Su Caiwei came to her senses and said, "Madam, did I hear that right? Ruoxue said that young master Liang is alright?"

Zhu Huilan laughed and said, "Could it be that you and I both misheard? It seems that this young master Liang and Ruoxue have indeed had a good talk, at least he has gained Ruoxue's initial approval."

Su Caiwei asked, "Should we make arrangements for the remaining few?"

Zhu Huilan said, "Since Ruoxue and this Young Master Liang get along well, let's postpone the rest for now."

Su Caiwei added, "I wonder what kind of person this Young Master Liang is in person."

Zhu Huilan smiled and said, "That's easy. Once Ruoxue has finished chatting with that Young Master Liang, we'll invite him to our residence so that you, me, and the master can all meet him."

Liu Kuan heard Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei mention this matter that evening, and naturally he took it very seriously. If Liu Ruoxue and Liang Qiushi's relationship could work out, it would mean that his eldest daughter would be getting married, so he naturally had to find out what kind of person the man was.

Unfortunately, although Liu Ruoxue met with Liang Qiushi from time to time afterward, she kept making excuses until the New Year, saying she wanted to get to know him better and was unwilling to invite him to meet her parents...
In the blink of an eye, the first year of Yongle's reign had passed, and the second year of Yongle's reign (1406) had arrived.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Liu Kuan took his family to the palace to attend a movie-watching banquet.

This was the first movie screening banquet after Zhu Biao's death and Zhu Xiong Ying's ascension to the throne. Considering the lifespan of mobile phones and tablets, this was likely one of the last few such events, making it quite extraordinary.

Not only Zhu Yuanzhang came, but all the vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty also came.

At the same time, Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, Mu Ying, and Lan Yu were also invited.

After Liu Kuan paid his respects to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Xiong Ying, and others, he was summoned by Zhu Yuanzhang to sit down at the round table.

Liu Kuan glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang a few times and noticed that in the few months they hadn't seen each other, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have aged even more, and his eyes even appeared somewhat cloudy. (End of Chapter)