BH (QT) 148 – Rogue Scholar (24 – End)

Chapter 148 – Rogue Scholar (24 – End)

Zhou Song had enough food and drink, so he decided to go to the county seat to find trouble with the Wei family.

He held a belly of fire, this fire must have a place to vent, the Wei family is a very good target.

Of course, before that, he specially called Wei Lingxiu and asked: “Lingxiu, would you like to be adopted by me?”

Wei Lingxiu was taken aback.

Zhou Song said: “If you stay in the Wei family, the Wei family will be able to pinch you. If you are adopted by me, there is no need to worry.”

If Wei Lingxiu continues to stay in the Wei family, he will always be in the hands of the Wei family.

For example, in the future, Wei Lingxiu will go to participate in the provincial examination, but the old lady Wei said that she is seriously ill and he must take care of her. Wei Lingxiu has to agree—if he does not agree, even if he passes the exam, such an unfilial person will also have his name crossed out.

For another example, marrying a wife is a matchmaker’s words and the parents’ orders. If the Wei family now decides on Wei Lingxiu’s marriage, Wei Lingxiu can only recognize it.

The dynasty ruled the country with filial piety, even if the father killed his son, the government would not take care of it.

“The Zhou family agrees?” Yan Jing Ze asked. He already knows Zhou Song’s situation. With Zhou Song’s current status, it is not difficult for the Wei family to let go. However, in addition to getting the Wei family’s consent, the Zhou family’s consent is also needed in able to adopt.

After all, nowadays, the adopted son is to be treated as a real son.

“I’m in charge of the Zhou family now,” Zhou Song said, briefly mentioning the Zhou family’s situation.

Before, when Zhou Song’s father was still there, he decided all the big and small things in the Zhou family.

He had many women and many children. At that time, the Zhou family was a little messy, and Zhou Song’s and his sister’s marriage were also not as good as it should be.

But last year, Zhou Song’s father was accused of doing something that shouldn’t be done, and then he fell ill in prison and paralyzed half of his body. Now he can’t control anything.

As for Zhou Song’s wife… Zhou Song and his wife were at odds. He didn’t take his wife when he was outside. For many years, the two had only two daughters, and happened to have no son.

In recent years, his wife has grown a lot, she doesn’t quarrel with him anymore, and also thinking of adopting a child. Originally, his choice was the young children in the Zhou family who had no parents, not thinking of Wei Lingxiu, but now he feels that Wei Lingxiu could not be more suitable.

“I thought you will be the master of the Wei family. But whether it’s you or your father, there is a feeling of reluctance. So, now there is no obstacle,” Zhou Song said.

“The Wei family’s side…” Wei Lingxiu hesitated.

“They have to agree even if they don’t want to!” Zhou Song said. Zhou Song was admitted as a Jinshi in his twenties, and his ranking was average. After that, he spent two years in the capital. After there was a vacancy, he became a county magistrate.

He did an excellent job in foreign affairs. By coincidence, he even caught up with today’s emperor’s trusted aide and was able to serve His Majesty and returned to the capital. However, for a long time, he could not make an inch in officialdom because as a son, he cannot go beyond his father.

And his father, for a family like the Wei family, which does not even have a jinshi, he is someone who cannot be offended, but in fact, he is actually just a fifth-rank official.

Zhou Song had been constrained by his family for many years, so he naturally knew that the most urgent task was to help Wei Lingxiu solve the Wei family.

“I will be with Brother Yan in the future and will not get married,” Wei Lingxiu said.

“It’s okay, I might have more children in the future,” Zhou Song said. He is only thirty-six this year, and his wife is only thirty-two, so it may not be impossible to have children.

As for the matter between Yan Jing Ze and Wei Lingxiu, he naturally disagrees, but Yan Jing Ze is kind to Wei Lingxiu, and he has no position to say anything.

In the future, these two people can just adopt a few children, or… they can take in a few more disciples so there will be someone to take care of them in old age.

Wei Lingxiu and Yan Jing Ze finally agreed.

They have long talked about the Wei family; they think the Wei family will most likely not give up… Before, they planned to head out on a study trip right away and leave Donggu County for the time being—in this way, the Wei family would not be able to find them!

But going out to study is not so easy. There are a lot of those people who can’t come back after going out these years. They will come back to take the provincial examination sooner or later. If the Wei family really tries to do something to stop him, Wei Lingxiu may really not be able to take the provincial exam.

Yan Jing Ze didn’t want Wei Lingxiu to be looked down upon by others.

As for Zhou Song… they didn’t know Zhou Song before, but after getting along, they could feel that Zhou Song does not have malicious intent towards Wei Lingxiu.

Zhou Song went to the Wei family to find trouble. Wei Lingxiu must not go together on this matter, or even show up, so as not to lose a reputation for being unfilial. In the end, it was Yan Jing Ze who accompanied Zhou Song to the Wei family.

Zhou Song left two of his men behind and took the remaining two along with his steward and Yan Jing Ze to the county seat.

Most people in Xing’an Village didn’t know about Zhou Song’s visit to the village last night, but today they bought food in the village, it already let the villagers notice Zhou Song and the others’ presence—in Yan Da’s house, there is another rich master!

Yan Da is really promising now!

At this moment, everyone in Xing’an Village is looking at Yan Jing Ze from a distance.

At this time last year, this Yan Da was still a hooligan that they were afraid to see, but now a year has passed…

“I didn’t expect Yan Da to be so smart!”

“The county magistrate praised him!”

“I heard that even the governor praised him!”

“The old Yan family’s ancestral graves are filled with smoke!”

……

“Yan Da has always been good at things since he was a child!”

“He’s quite capable, with an awful dad like that, I thought he would starve to death, but he just grew up well.”

“He never fights with people in our village! In fact, he is quite nice.”

…

Of course, they also talked about Wei Lingxiu: “I heard that Young Master Wei had a bad time in the Wei house and the stepmother didn’t want to see him. Now he is finally living a good life!”

“With Yan Jing Ze, he even got to be a xiucai, how good.”

“Yan Jing Ze is really good to him and even sent him to study!”

……

The villagers who had been worried that Yan Jing Ze would beat Wei Lingxiu before, and felt that Wei Lingxiu was miserable, now envied Wei Lingxiu.

While chatting, someone saw his child running past like a mud-monkey, and grabbed the child: “Stinky boy, why don’t you go to school?”

“Father, I’m not going to school today!” the boy said.

“You can memorize books at home even if you don’t go to school! You must study hard and learn like Yan Da!”

Because Yan Jing Ze was admitted as a xiucai, the child was sent to school by his father, he wanted to cry—Yan Da was really terrible!

When Yan Jing Ze and Zhou Song went to the county seat, many people came from the Wei family’s clan.

Since Wei Lingxiu was admitted as a xiucai, and Wei Lingyuan failed, the atmosphere in the Wei house has become very bad.

Wei Lingyuan was so arrogant that he couldn’t stand being compared to his brother, who had always been inferior to him. He didn’t eat for two days and became ill.

Old Mrs. Wei and Mrs. Wei were distressed, but they hadn’t coaxed Wei Lingyuan to eat well yet, and the elders in the Wei family’s clan came to the door.

The Wei family is also a big family in Donggu County.

Wei Zhiyuan’s branch is the best developed in the clan, but the rest of the Wei family’s life can’t be said to be bad, and the elderly in the clan have a lot of prestige.

“Before, you said that Wei Lingxiu was not well-educated and didn’t learn or know how to do it. What is this now?” An old man from the Wei family glared at the Old Mrs. Wei: “Wei Lingyuan didn’t pass the exam! He passed the exam!” This person was one generation older than Old Mrs. Wei in terms of seniority, so he was not polite to Old Mrs. Wei.

There are also those of the same generation as Mrs. Wei. It is not easy to accuse Old Mrs. Wei, so they went to accuse Mrs. Wei: “Sure enough, if you are a stepmother, you don’t care about other’s children. Lingxiu is so smart, if he was taught well, he may already be a jinshi! This short-sighted woman actually drove people out!”

The elderly in the Wei family’s clan now only feel that both Old Mrs. Wei and Mrs. Wei are not virtuous.

In a family, the more xiucai, the better! Now in Donggu County, the Li family can suppress their Wei family everywhere, isn’t it because there are so many people with academic achievements in the Li family?

Their Wei family has been working hard to run the clan school, isn’t it because they hope to have a few more talents in the clan?

That is, this family branch, they did not know what to think. Such an outstanding child had to kick out. A few days ago, they asked this family to take Wei Lingxiu back, and this family still pushed and pushed back.

They used to hear people say that Wei Lingxiu loves to play and do fun things, but now thinking about it, Wei Lingxiu actually didn’t do anything problematic. He didn’t like eating, drinking, and gambling, which means he was just a normal young person who likes to play a bit.

Even if he was really with that Yan Da, it doesn’t matter at all. At most, when marrying a wife, the family can’t be too high. It can only be chosen from a family that is not as good as the Wei family.

Old Mrs. Wei’s expression looked ugly. As for Mrs. Wei, there was no place for her to speak, she could only listen at the side.

“Lingxiu has returned to Donggu County. Zhiyuan family, you will prepare some gifts tomorrow, go there in person, and invite him back.” Finally, an old man said to Mrs. Wei.

“What if he doesn’t want to?” Old Mrs. Wei frowned: “He’s used to getting ahead of himself!”

“When the mother has personally gone, he can still be unwilling?” the Wei family elder said.

Wei Lingxiu is a scholar, Mrs. Wei went to him in person and he refused to come back… Does he want still want his reputation?

Old Mrs. Wei and Mrs. Wei looked at each other, but after all they suppressed their unhappiness and agreed.

“You will give him a house and let him have a wife. Although that Yan Da has changed now and has become a linshi when he passed the exams for xiucai, two big men are not good to be together. Lingxiu must get married soon!” Another elderly said.

When Mrs. Wei heard this, she was a little unhappy.

Although the Wei family has some land, but no one in the family has passed the exams for jinshi, so there is nothing much in the family property.

In the early years, Wei Zhiyuan wanted to be admitted as a Jinshi, so he went to the capital every two or three years… The expenses on this journey and the expenses in the capital were quite a lot!

If it wasn’t for the dowry left by Wei Lingxiu’s mother, and Wei Lingxiu’s uncle who would give New Year gifts every year, their family would have to sell the land, then it would be really… shameful!

Now if Wei Lingxiu wants to get married, how much will it cost? The family has to repair his yard… She wants to leave all the money to her son.

Although Mrs. Wei was depressed, she did not dare to speak, but the Old Mrs. Wei said, “You also know that the family has been having a hard time for the past few years…”

“Then choose a girl from a merchant house.” The Wei family said: “Lingxiu is young, so someone must be willing!”

Merchants have a low status. If they can’t rely on an official, their property will be swallowed up by someone if not careful.

However, ordinary merchants cannot find anyone to rely on.

They will think of other things, such as letting their daughters take a lot of dowry to be concubines to officials, or marrying their daughters to scholars—if this scholar can achieve something in the future, their family will also get a lot of benefit.

At this time, Old Mrs. Wei’s mind changed.

Think about it carefully, this is not bad.

When that Wei Lingxiu returned to Wei’s house, he will naturally be at her mercy. As for Wei Lingxiu’s wife… a daughter-in-law, what the mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law said should always be listened to.

There are not many people like Wei Lingxiu’s mother in this world!

Old Mrs. Wei became proud for a while.

As they were talking, someone suddenly came in outside: “Old Madam! The county magistrate is here!”

The county magistrate was just a petty official, but no one in the Wei family dared to look down upon him and went out to greet him. As a result, they saw someone walking in front of the County Magistrate Zhu.

The man was in his thirties and looked very gentle, but when the Wei family saw him, their hearts jumped. The Old Mrs. Wei, who was originally smiling, almost lost her breath.

This person came here more than ten years ago and made a big mess at the time. The Old Mrs. Wei has always remembered this hatred and never thought he would come again!

Moreover, this person was just deported more than ten years ago and became a county magistrate, but now…

County Magistrate Zhu actually fell behind this person!

Didn’t they… say that this person was relegated to an official position? So, why would he appear here?

Old Mrs. Wei paled and suddenly remembered that this person had sent a letter a few days ago.

She was illiterate, and didn’t want to talk to this person, so she burned the letter, and now…

When Mrs. Wei saw Zhou Song, her face turned pale.

Zhou Song looked at Old Mrs. Wei, he let out a light snort.

Yan Jing Ze immediately found that Mrs. Wei’s face had not only turned green, but even turned black directly, which was oddly interesting.

What’s more interesting is that when Zhou Song explained his identity, whether it was the elders of the Wei family or the old lady, they had to welcome him with a smile.

Of course, the smiling face of Mrs. Wei… is almost distorted.

When Old Mrs. Wei was feeling anxious, someone came again, and this time, it was Wei Zhiyuan.

Wei Zhiyuan has been teaching in Fucheng. It would take a long time to go home even by boat, and it would take a long time to go back and forth, so it was very inconvenient to come back and forth.

And this time, he came back for the matter of Zhou Song.

Before, when Wei Lingxiu passed the exam, everyone around him congratulated him. Some people heard that Wei Lingxiu and Yan Jing Ze were good friends, and they also asked him to ask for the calligraphy of Yan Jing Ze…

He was irritated by these people and wanted to go home. After learning a news accidentally, he was even more shocked and hurried home immediately—he learned that Zhou Song had become an academic commissioner in Nanzhou Prefecture next door.

The current Emperor often appoints the academic commissioner in July and August, and then the academic commissioner immediately goes to each prefecture and presides over the institutional examinations.

He already knew who the academic commissioner in their prefecture was, but he hadn’t heard about who the academic commissioner in the nearby prefecture was. Those academic commissioners were not in charge of him so he didn’t need to find out.

As a result, the academic commissioner of the Nanzhou Prefecture is actually Zhou Song?

Didn’t something happen to the Zhou family? How did Zhou Song become the academic commissioner? He even left the capital?

Wei Zhiyuan was shocked and went home quickly. As soon as he went home, he saw Zhou Song, and immediately froze on the spot, trembling.

Okay, everybody, we’re all here.

Although Yan Jing Ze had been in contact with several officials before, he only talked about calligraphy and learning with them, and never talked about other things. Today, following Zhou Song, he discovered that being an official is really not easy.

Of course, it is not difficult.

Even, he kind of likes this feeling of being in power.

Both Yan Jing Ze and Wei Lingxiu were just xiucai, and there was no way to suppress the Wei family, but Zhou Song was different. He even eliminated the fight and completely suppressed the Wei family. Wei Lingxiu’s adoption was quickly negotiated.

At this time, there are regulations that the woman’s dowry belongs to the woman, and the husband’s family cannot use without the woman’s consent. If they divorced, the dowry will also belong to her.

However, if a woman dies, her natal family cannot claim the dowry. The law clearly stipulates that even though the wife is dead, all assets and slaves cannot be pursued by the wife’s natal family.

But even so, there are regulations, that is, a woman’s dowry is to be inherited by her children or her chosen heirs.

The Wei family spent Wei Lingxiu’s mother’s dowry, so Zhou Song also took hold of the handle.

Of course, the most important thing is that Zhou Song has the power and authority.

Yan Jing Ze actually felt that it was too cheap for the Wei family, but at this moment, he couldn’t do too much… If he wanted to make the Wei family unlucky, it would be better to become stronger by himself.

When he becomes stronger, without him taking action, the Wei family will naturally get worse and worse.

The matter of Wei Lingxiu’s adoption was completed in a very short time. Of course, because the Zhou Family’s Ancestral Hall was in the capital, he was not written on the Zhou family’s genealogy for the time being.

Zhou Song had an official position and could not stay in Donggu County for a long time, so he left soon, but Wei Lingxiu and Yan Jing Ze did not follow him to Nanzhou.

They were born and raised here, and they decided to live here—they just made a deal, and if two of them live together, it’s the day of the gods.

They were born and raised here and decided to live here. They had just settled down. When two people live together, each day is wonderful.

They sent Zhou Song away. There were no outsiders at home. Yan Jing Ze and Wei Lingxiu had no choice but to close the door. After doing a good job, they went to the neighbors to buy some food and go home.

Yan Jing Ze also made a special trip out to see his mother.

The original owner’s mother has remarried. At this time, in a legal sense, she has nothing to do with him and does not need him to support her. But in the end, it is the person who gave birth to this body, and Yan Jing Ze still hopes this woman to live well. When he went over this time, he gave the woman some money, and then asked the woman to send her family’s children to study and learn a few characters.

It is not easy for an ordinary farmer to produce a xiucai, but if they can read the words and learn to settle the accounts, they can become an accountant in the future and live a better life.

After taking care of his mother’s affairs, Yan Jing Ze continued to read, and also began to read books about the law.

After going to the Wei house with Zhou Song, he felt that the knowledge of the law was very useful, so he went to the Wei family’s bookstore to borrow a book and read it.

Yan Jing Ze read all the law books once, and memorized them from cover to cover, and he liked it very much, so…

Wei Lingxiu got up this morning and kissed Yan Jing Ze: “May you be like the star and the moon, the light will shine brightly every night.”

Yan Jing Ze kissed him back but he also subconsciously asked: “How many lashes are for breaking a tooth, a finger, or an eye?” Compared to those poems, he really felt that the law should be learned… In the future, it will be useful to be an official or something outside.

Wei Lingxiu: “……” Endure it!

At noon, Wei Lingxiu was cooking and hiding a red bean in the meal. As a result, Yan Jing Ze ate half a bowl of rice in one bite. He didn’t notice it and asked while eating, “How many lashes are given to those who destroy the Shenming Pavillion and ruin the board list?”

Wei Lingxiu: “……” He will still endure it!

After the meal, the two of them read a book together, and Wei Lingxiu suddenly became interested: “Brother Yan, I will draw a picture for you?” He has learned how to paint, although his skills are not good, he can paint at will.

“Okay, when you paint, I will recite it to you. You can familiarize yourself with the law… All military and civilian officials who have created something that should be reported on but not reported on should be reported…” Even if there was no sentence in the book of law he was reading, he can still recite it!

Wei Lingxiu: “……” He suddenly kind of want to hit someone!

In the end, Wei Lingxiu still endured it.

However, what he didn’t expect was that that night, when the two of them were lying in a blanket, Yan Jing Ze actually asked him: “How many lashes are given to people who curse? It’s really… unexpected that the penalty for cursing is also so heavy.”

Wei Lingxiu couldn’t bear it. He didn’t need to bear it anymore. He immediately grasped the key point of Yan Jing Ze and sneered: “I will curse you now, do you want to come flog me?”

<< ToC >>

***TN

A super looong chapter. o(>.<;)o

This arc still has 3 extra chapters left~