Chapter 1037

Yangzhou Port was bustling without pause. Watching his men load various gifts onto the ship, Wang Yan cupped his hands to Feng Jing and Fan Chunren: "Safe travels to you both, elder brothers. We shall meet again."

Ouyang Fa and Changbai, who were by Wang Yan's side, also bowed in farewell.

Feng Jing smiled and returned the gesture: "Ziyan and Yaofu will be able to see each other in less than two months, but I'm afraid it will be a long time for us."

"In no more than two or three years, you and I can meet again in the capital. We can just exchange letters more often," Wang Yan said with a wave of his hand. "I'm off."

Watching the figures of Wang Yan and the others recede, Feng Jing laughed: "Yaofu, actually, it would have been good for you to stay here and attend Ziyan's wedding. When he goes to Hangzhou to take up his post and you return home, you would be traveling the same way."

"He has to bring his wife when he takes his post, so it's all the same. Your younger brother is now eager to return home; I really cannot stay any longer."

Just as the two were joking, Wang Yan and his group were already out of sight.

Sheng Changbai said: "The wine and food are already prepared at home. Will brother-in-law stay at the house tonight?"

"That would be fine," Wang Yan agreed readily.

He immediately gave instructions to the people who had come from the house, had them take the luggage back, and then boarded a carriage to head toward Yangzhou City.

"Da Guanren, Changbai and the others should be back by now, right?"

Sheng Hong looked at his book without lifting his head: "In another hour or so."

"You say Changbai has been by our side since he was small; when has he ever been away for so long? I don't know if he's doing well in Bianjing."

Hearing this, Sheng Hong couldn't help but snort: "Could he be doing poorly following Ziyan? Didn't he write in his letters that for over a month he has met with the court officials and drank with famous scholars? Didn't he also write that he happened to meet the Prince of Runan while with Wang Yan? He goes to the Fan Tower every few days—I haven't even been there that many times."

Finding it meaningless, Lady Wang, who was fiddling with her jewelry, laughed: "You aren't afraid of people laughing their heads off if that gets out? Isn't it just that you were afraid your precious son-in-law wouldn't honor his word, so you sent Changbai to keep watch, and now you're angry with Changbai instead? That is truly unreasonable."

"How many times have I said it? Letting Changbai go to Bianjing is to broaden his horizons and learn. The people Ziyan associates with are truly great scholars; there are no uneducated people among them. Do you think everyone has this kind of opportunity?"

Sheng Hong coughed and looked at Lady Wang with dissatisfaction.

Lady Wang didn't care about Sheng Hong's little fit of pique and instead said: "Does Wang Yan have an opinion about our Wang family and the Kang family? My mother, my eldest brother, and my sister have all written letters saying Wang Yan doesn't understand etiquette—that since he went to the capital, he hasn't even come to pay a visit. They also complained about Changbai, saying he hasn't come to visit either. I know Changbai; if no one was whispering in his ear, he would certainly be perfectly polite."

"Aren't you just talking nonsense with your eyes open?"

Sheng Hong couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. "Changbai's letters made it clear: Ziyan sent invitations as soon as he arrived in the capital, but neither the Wang nor the Kang families showed any response. Doesn't that mean they look down on Ziyan? Do you not know how great Ziyan's reputation is? Yet they did such a thing. When Ziyan took first place in the provincial examination, they sent servants from the manor to deliver invitations—what is the meaning of that?

I told you long ago that Ziyan is not someone to be trifled with. He managed the household at fourteen and dared to wield a blade to take a life back then; now that he has such a great reputation, how could he suffer such humiliation? They actually have the face to write letters asking for an explanation?"

"I'll be honest, don't take offense: your Wang family has been increasingly in decline since your father-in-law passed away. If not for the care of your father-in-law's old friends, how could you have established yourselves in the capital? Although Ziyan's background is not prominent, by the time he went to the capital, he was already a disciple of Master Ouyang, his calligraphy was famous throughout the world, and his poetry was sung by children in the streets. Such a talent—how could they treat him with such contempt?"

"Do you have no conscience? How much has my Wang family helped your Sheng family? Huh? Now you're talking about the Wang family's faults."

This is why Sheng Hong had to sigh, because whenever the Wang family was mentioned, Lady Wang would always bring up this set of arguments. He actually envied Wang Yan a little; having talent meant having nothing to fear.

Up to now, the help he had actually given Wang Yan was minimal—nothing more than spending money to bolster Wang Yan's reputation, which was something Wang Yan could have solved himself. He hadn't provided any substantial, critical help; the situation was entirely carved out by Wang Yan himself.

On the contrary, Wang Yan had helped him quite a bit. After all, Wang Yan's calligraphy was highly sought after, and he used Wang Yan's calligraphy to build connections, which was still very popular. Especially after the Fan Tower incident, the price of Wang Yan's hand-written works was much higher, and now that he had become the top scholar, his future was bright, and the price would rise by another thirty percent.

To put it bluntly, Wang Yan's calligraphy alone could be used for bribery without any issues. Because there were truly people willing to take it, and since he was Wang Yan's father-in-law, how the recipients handled Wang Yan's hand-written works had nothing to do with him; he was just letting his son-in-law write a few pieces for his friends to appreciate—it was truly safe...

Thinking back to his own many hardships in those years, Sheng Hong shook his head and sighed again: "I did receive favors from the Wang family, but we are talking about Ziyan. What favors has he received from the Wang or Kang families? You can't put on airs just because you have the status of an elder. Wang Yan is a man of ability; if he doesn't make any mistakes, he won't need to wait for the future—even now, I, this father-in-law, need him to look after me a little, let alone in the future.

Today the Wang and Kang families humiliated Ziyan; who is to say they won't have to beg Ziyan for something one day? How will they meet and speak then? Moreover, Ziyan has always had the ambition to reform the laws. One day, when Ziyan holds high office, the Great Song has long been plagued by deep-seated problems. Anyway, Ziyan has no relatives or connections; if he were to stage a display of 'righteousness over family' to establish his authority and standing, who would you say he would destroy? If you were Ziyan, who would you destroy?"

Hearing Sheng Hong's words, Lady Wang was startled; if such a day really came, the Wang family would likely not fare well.

She shook her head repeatedly: "Who can say for sure what will happen in the future? Da Guanren is always good at scaring people."

Sheng Hong naturally understood Lady Wang, and he was indeed trying to scare her. Seeing that Lady Wang was frightened, he switched to a concerned tone: "I am indeed scaring you, my lady, but Ziyan is by no means an ordinary person. If he were determined to make things difficult for the Wang and Kang families, neither would have an easy time. My lady, you must understand that a married daughter is like spilled water. You are a member of the Sheng family; you must consider things for the Sheng family. In the Wang family, you are an outsider."

"It's not that I say it; it's that they won't treat you as one of their own. I know you are the most sincere, my lady; as long as you are good to people, you give them your heart and soul. But you must also pay attention to boundaries and not be deceived without knowing it."

"Take the matter of Ziyan: he is our family's son-in-law, not the Wang family's son-in-law. My Sheng family is close to the Wang family, and Ziyan is close to my Sheng family, but that doesn't mean Ziyan wants to be close to the Wang family. Because of the Wang family, you pick faults with Ziyan, and it is Hualan who is put in a difficult position. You must understand that it has never been Ziyan begging our family."

"Even if you don't think of Hualan, don't you think of Changbai? When Changbai comes of age, regardless of whether he passes the imperial examination and becomes an official, his greatest backing will be Ziyan. Our family's wealth, the face you have in your maiden family, and the glory you have in front of your good sisters will all depend on how Ziyan does in the future. My lady, do you still not understand?"

"Am I really that unreasonable?"

"That's good then."

"You must keep an eye on Hualan in a while; they are getting married in a few days, and it's not like those few days make a difference."

"The young daughter misses her lover; at most they just meet, they don't even say a word, why bother managing so much?"

"That must be managed too; Hualan is too spineless. Wang Yan is a man of ability, and she will surely suffer many grievances in the future."

Lady Wang changed the subject to talk about her daughter, and Sheng Hong responded absent-mindedly.

Sometimes, hiding in the inner chambers, one doesn't understand the situation outside or doesn't have an accurate concept of it. Sheng Hong explained it to her, and she understood. As for the things Sheng Hong said, she certainly still didn't believe them.

After all, if people were so easily persuaded by others' advice, they wouldn't be human.

Of course, Lady Wang was generally quite satisfied with Wang Yan; after all, Wang Yan really did bring her a lot of face. Not to mention anything else, just within the Sheng family's inner chambers, she had completely suppressed that little bitch Lin Qingshuang over the past year.

It was just that whenever the Wang family was involved, she couldn't help but be unhappy...

Looking at Sheng Hong's enthusiastic smiling face, Wang Yan cupped his hands and smiled: "Your son-in-law greets Father-in-law."

Except for the formal wedding, all the marriage procedures had been completed, and Changbai already called him brother-in-law, so he naturally had to call Sheng Hong father-in-law.

Ouyang Fa, who was on the side, also bowed and smiled: "Ouyang Fa pays respects to Uncle Sheng. I have caused much trouble, please do not take offense."

"Hey, what are you saying, nephew? We haven't seen each other for two months, why so polite? Just treat it like your own home." Sheng Hong laughed heartily, then stepped forward to grab his precious son-in-law's arm. "Come, come, come, let's talk inside. The wine and food are already prepared; we were just waiting to welcome you."

The group didn't go to the study but instead went lively to the dining hall in the front courtyard. Clearly, there would be no discussion of academics today; they were just going to drink happily.

Just after sitting down, Sheng Hong asked with concern: "Ziyan, I heard you returned with Master Fan's son and the second-place finisher of this year's examination. Why haven't I seen the two of them?"

"Yaofu is eager to return home, and his family is far away, so it is inconvenient for him to stay here any longer." Wang Yan turned to ask, "Is Father-in-law doing well?"

"Good. My little concubine became pregnant a few days ago, and it looks like we will be adding to the family again."

"Congratulations, congratulations." Wang Yan cupped his hands and smiled. "Father-in-law knows that your son-in-law is training physicians, and even more so, training female doctors and midwives. Over this time, they have summarized some experience. I will have someone send a copy later. As long as it is done according to their experience and someone is arranged to check on her often, it will surely guarantee a safe birth and the safety of both mother and child."

The pregnant concubine didn't need to be mentioned; it was definitely the Wei concubine whom Lady Wang had brought into the manor to compete for favor with Lin Qingshuang—that is, Minglan's biological mother. Now that she was pregnant, the story of the plot was about to begin, and the Sheng family would be moving to the capital at the end of this year. It was indeed time to go; with a three-year term, this year was the third year of Sheng Hong's tenure as the Assistant Magistrate of Yangzhou.

For this kind of tragedy where someone lost their life because of inner-chamber fighting, Wang Yan was also happy to help. If she could live, she could live; if she couldn't, he couldn't manage that much. After all, she was Sheng Hong's little wife; what did he, the son-in-law, care about that?

As for the plot, the positioning of this drama was an "ancient social family life drama." He hadn't been born into the Sheng family to be Sheng Hong's son; as an outsider, just like caring about Sheng Hong's little wife, he had no reason to care about other people's inner-chamber life.

Moreover, the inner-chamber fighting in this drama all stemmed from Sheng Hong, the head of the household. After all, at this time, the status of a concubine was not high—or rather, there was never a time when it was high; they could be bought, sold, exchanged, or gifted. When scholar-officials made friends, if the relationship was truly good, coming to the house to drink and sleep with a little wife was also a very normal and elegant thing.

If Lady Wang had been a bit tougher, taking advantage of the time Sheng Hong wasn't home to directly deal with Lin Qingshuang, there wouldn't have been so many messy things. Even if she had beaten her to death, she could have just brushed it off, and no one would have pursued it.

Lady Wang didn't do so, presumably because of the decline of the Wang family; her backbone wasn't strong anymore. Otherwise, no matter how much Sheng Hong loved Lin Qingshuang, he would have had to swallow his teeth.

Therefore, Wang Yan was truly not interested in these messy inner-chamber affairs, even if Lin Qingshuang was an acquaintance...

Thinking of himself, Wang Mou, who had roamed the world for a thousand years, endlessly meddling in other people's housework was truly meaningless. Relatively speaking, rebelling was more interesting; after all, that was his old profession, especially since this time it was a different posture for rebelling.

Of course, if this inner chamber were the Jia manor, then just consider what he said as farting...

"You have a heart." Sheng Hong nodded with a smile and did not refuse.

Just at this moment, a little girl's head poked in from the doorway, followed immediately by a youthful, undeveloped male voice: "Sixth younger sister, you must be careful. Father is entertaining brother-in-law inside; how can you be so rash and rude."

At this time, the little girl had one foot inside the threshold, bending over and holding the door to stabilize her figure. Her big eyes were full of question marks, and she couldn't help but let out an "ah," followed by looking at Sheng Hong's stern gaze, which was fixed on her, in a loss of what to do. She couldn't help but turn her head back to look at her good third brother, who was looking at her with concern and reproach.

"Take her away, take her away; how can she be so rude." Sheng Hong waved his hand unhappily.

"We are all family, why care about useless etiquette, Father-in-law?" Wang Yan waved his hand with a smile and turned to greet the doorway. "Come in. I've never seen you two before. You speak first."

Seeing Wang Yan being close to his children, Sheng Hong shook his head with a smile, but he didn't scold them again, nor did he care that Wang Yan had taken charge in their home and was giving orders; he just drank a cup of wine to himself.

The more he treated it like his own home, the better it was; after all, Wang Yan could be considered half a son-in-law...

"My name is Sheng Minglan; I am from Wei Niang's courtyard, and I am the youngest in the family." The little girl said crisply. She looked at her biological father, who was smiling on the side, and then continued, "But my little mother is pregnant again; in a few months, I won't be the youngest anymore."

The half-grown boy on the side continued, cupping his hands in a proper manner: "Brother-in-law, I am Sheng Changfeng, from Lin Niang's courtyard; I am third in the family."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile and then asked Sheng Changfeng: "Did you push Minglan in?"

"Uh... no, no, it's... uh, it's..." In the time it took to say these two sentences, eleven-year-old Sheng Changfeng had already flushed red, and sweat was already visible on his forehead.

It was mainly because everyone's gaze was on him, putting him under great pressure. Wang Yan was smiling, and one couldn't tell if he was happy or angry. Changbai frowned with two parts of reproach. On the side, there was a little fatty holding a chicken leg in his hand, grinning and watching his joke. Most importantly, his biological father, Sheng Hong, was glaring as if he wanted to beat him to death.

Just when Sheng Changfeng's heart was racing as if he were about to die in front of everyone, little Minglan spoke up to resolve the situation.

"It's because I hadn't seen the top-scholar brother-in-law, so I came to peek and accidentally pushed the door open."

Wang Yan asked with a smile: "What's different about the top-scholar brother-in-law?"

"The top-scholar brother-in-law's eyes are very good-looking."

"She's a good talker." Minglan's intelligence was there from a young age. Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "Just now, Father-in-law mentioned Wei Niang's pregnancy. I said I would have someone bring a copy of the experience of thousands of pregnant women giving birth, which the medical clinic has compiled, and have a female doctor come to check on her often. You must take good care of Wei Niang."

"Top-scholar brother-in-law is wrong; that is my little mother, of course I will take good care of her."

"Father-in-law has raised his daughter well; no wonder Hualan made your son-in-law fall in love at first sight." Wang Yan flattered his father-in-law and then tore off another chicken leg that no one had touched. "Take it and eat it. In a few days, brother-in-law will have someone send some fresh food and drink for you. Go play."

"Thank you, brother-in-law, Father, big brother." Minglan bowed to everyone, greased the soles of her feet, and ran out with her short legs, even thoughtfully closing the door.

Until the door was closed, the smiling Sheng Hong's expression straightened, and he glared at his second son, who was standing there not knowing how to conduct himself: "Spineless thing, what are you standing there for? Sit down!"

"Yes, yes, yes." Sheng Changfeng nodded repeatedly and sat down next to the little fatty, lowering his head and not saying a word.

Seeing him like this made Sheng Hong angry, but in the end, he didn't flare up again.

He naturally understood that it must have been Lin Qingshuang who encouraged Changfeng to come over and get close to Wang Yan. It was also to remind him, this Hong-lang, not to forget to care for his little wife, and even more so, not to forget to care for his little wife's children.

No one paid attention to Sheng Changfeng, who was lowering his head and eating his food silently—that is, Changbai would occasionally put food in Changfeng's bowl, because Changfeng didn't dare to take food that wasn't in front of him...

Sheng Hong said: "I heard you wrote another poem in front of the Emperor and the ministers?"

"Yes, at that time the Emperor asked your son-in-law what his thoughts were, and your son-in-law..."

Wang Yan left decisively; he estimated that there were still people sending him invitations to banquets at this moment, so the news hadn't spread yet, and it would take some time to ferment, so Sheng Hong didn't know yet.

So, chatting about some things that had happened in the capital over the past half year, Wang Yan and the others chatted happily; only Sheng Changfeng sat on pins and needles, having to accompany them with a smiling face from time to time and laugh along...

When the wine was at its peak, Sheng Hong couldn't help but preach. He imparted some of his ways of being an official, especially how to be a qualified Assistant Magistrate. Wang Yan naturally let it go in one ear and out the other; where would he need anyone to teach him how to do things?

It was a pity that Hualan didn't come to pour the wine today; he thought it was because she was about to get married and had been grounded by Lady Wang...