Chapter 228

【Your fortune has arrived】

To be honest, when the teacher told him this at the time, Chunri Jian could hardly believe it.

After all, the two words "fortune" had nothing to do with him in the first twenty years of his life, and they were certainly not something he ought to have.

He was born in Hepu Commandery Jade Zhoufu; the Chunri Clan had taken root there for a century, with many talents in the clan, versed in both official and merchant pursuits, and there was no shortage of those whose official fortunes prospered.

Speaking logically, such a background should not be lacking in any way.

But the problem lies in the fact that his father happened to be the clan patriarch's concubine-born second son's concubine-born second son's son, while he himself is the eldest son of the clan patriarch's concubine-born second son's concubine-born second son's son.

One who goes unnoticed must take a roundabout route and deliver three or four letters of introduction just to see the great‑grandfather once, and there's no guarantee of being granted an audience; even after an audience, one might not even be reminded of whose minor branch one belongs to.

The Chunri Clan held great sway in Jade Prefecture, yet they had no particularly close ties with these branch families of theirs.

If there is any connection at all, it is merely that they share the same surname: the main house lets the branches borrow its name, the branches make money for the main house and give back to it, seeking its protection.

As for the rest...

They only ever go to the main house during the New Year and festivals, when they go to kowtow and pay New Year respects to the great‑grandfather.

The main house and the branches have always kept clear boundaries, even using separate dining tables, to prevent any tactless person from overstepping.

But Father didn't understand; perhaps he was naturally easygoing, feeling that the main house and the branches were all the same Chunri surname, not very different, and that they could always help each other.

So, one day when Father went to pay New Year respects, he brought him along and struck up a conversation with someone from the main house.

He stood beside his father, listening as Father told the person that he wanted to expand one of his shops by taking over an additional storefront, but the shop owner refused to rent it out; he hoped the main house person would lend a hand with a word, for merchants could run themselves ragged and still not achieve what a single word from the main house could accomplish, after which things would naturally be settled and he could earn more silver to repay the main house...

That person from the main house was dead drunk, and for a moment couldn't even tell who Father was, muttering a few words; Father then helped support him.

That day, by coincidence, someone came to find that person from the main house to meet up again, mistaking Father for a member of the main house, and sent him away—only to bring Father to another table.

What exactly happened at the table, Chunri Jian would never learn years later, and Father never told him.

But when Father returned home that day, he was drunk and hugged Mother, crying bitterly.

Although Father had no special status, in his daily business dealings he never lost his composure.

However, that night Father cried and carried on like a child all night long, as if he were a belatedly aware child who had never been loved.

While crying, he shouted:

"It's just a fish, yet it's too bullying……!"

"It's just a fish, it's just a fish after all! I oversee dozens of shops, paying thousands of gold in tribute each year; if I don't spend money to feed the main house, what do they eat there? On what grounds, on what grounds—we never had anything like that before!"

That night was extremely long.

That thought, too, was deeply lingering.

From that night on, Father completely changed his ways: he no longer had him learn bookkeeping and inventory, but instead gritted his teeth, drew a large sum of money from the household to present to the main house, and then used the opportunity to ask someone to send him to the clan school to study.

Studying was naturally bitter.

Moreover, most of the children in the clan school were from the main house; only an extreme minority were like him, sent from the branches.

Among that tiny group, either they were like him—children whose parents paid plenty of silver to beg the grandparents to let them in—or they were children recommended by the teacher for their talent.

Yet no matter how pampered these children were at home, no matter how talented or wealthy they were, they could not escape the fate of being bullied.

Not only were they driven away and bullied by the main house's fellow students, they also had to endure cold looks and slight disfavor from the teachers in the clan school.

Are they not blood relatives within three mourning periods of the ancestors?

Seats are three rows back.

Are they not of direct lineage?

Seats are another three rows back.

Born of a concubine among concubine‑born, a second son among second sons?

Seats are yet another three rows back...

The clan school is set up in the main house's separate estate; some teachers occasionally arrive early to spot‑check, and if they don't see any students they slap the wooden board.

His home is also some distance from the clan school; although there are a few old servants attending him, whenever winter grows dark, or when rain or snow falls, there are times he simply cannot make it.

The gatekeeper locked the door with a steady, unchanging rhythm; that meant no amount of sweet talk would help—you had to spend quite a bit of silver just to get in......

It was simply treating these money‑laden but reputation‑less collateral relatives like fat pigs to be mercilessly slaughtered.

When he was young, he too had once grown angry about this, returning home in a tantrum and declaring he would no longer study.

But back then, his father would say:

"Ah Xian, you still have to become an official."

"Now you may be treated like a dog or pig for a moment, but if you lack talent, you will be treated like a dog or pig for life, heart‑dug and liver‑pulled to feed others...... and in the end you won't even get a mouthful of fish or meat, ah."

He didn't understand why a single 【fish】 character could trap his father for so many years, but since his father told him to study, he really gritted his teeth and went to study.

Spring goes, autumn comes; winter comes, summer goes.

His hands were covered in old calluses, and the worn‑out brushes he used for writing gradually piled up to fill an entire room......

Those peers who once bore the reputation of 'talent' were gradually left behind by him.

He seemed, at last, to have finally achieved some reputation from his studies.

His coursework was held up as a model in the clan school; every time his papers were graded, they were read aloud in class.

His casually written poems and essays were eagerly circulated and copied throughout Zhoufu, at one point making paper expensive at the document office.

His fame gradually spread throughout Qiongzhou Prefecture; everyone knew him as the 'divine child', and even in Hepu Commandery his name was often recited.

That gate, which had never opened solely for the collateral branches, and which would shut mercilessly if one were even a few breaths late, would actually pause for him a moment on rainy days.

However, however.

He had said before, this person of his......

He lacks fortune.

Starting from the year he turned twelve, when the clan school teacher said his preparation was nearly enough to try the children's examination, misfortune began to come one after another.

The first year, it was the third son of the household of the three senior elders of the clan who was to take the children's examination; hearing that he too planned to sit, they specially sent a word asking him to wait another year, lest the third young master fail while he passed, which would leave the master's household unable to face the situation.

Father said she had no luck; besides, she was young, so enduring a year would be no problem.

She endured.

In the second year, the maternal cousin young master of the Third Elder's household was to take the children's exam; he felt somewhat confident but unsure, so he had her wait another year.

The Third Elder's maternal family was a well-known official clan in another prefecture of Hepu Commandery; the two families had been exchanging favors for years, their influence intertwined, and they certainly could not be offended.

Father said she had no luck; besides, even if she waited two more years she would only be fourteen next year, so she might as well endure another year—no problem.

She endured.

In the third year, the seventh young master of the Great Elder's household was to take the children's exam.

This time, instead of making her wait another year, they said they had already arranged things, placing their positions extremely close, so that when the time came she could see whether she could 'help' by passing a few policy essays to the other party.

Enduring and cheating are not the same thing at all.

If caught, not to mention being barred from office in the future; she would likely be stripped of her clothes on the spot and thrown into a great prison.

She felt somewhat angry, went home and told her father about it; this time Father did not utter the word 'endure' again.

Father thought it over repeatedly and consulted again and again with that group of well-informed paternal uncles from the branch lines.

Finally they learned of an examiner, Chen, who had been transferred from elsewhere and held the special surveillance post.

At first the examiner thought he was just there to deliver a gift, and did not give him much attention; but after testing him on a few questions, his expression relaxed and he listened carefully to his request.

He still remembers the manner in which that outstanding-looking scholar spoke to him with a smile.

The scholar said, 'Don't worry, just go take the exam; I will personally make a trip then, and if your clansmen try to cheat, I will stop them for you.'

That year, the scholar indeed kept his word, helping him catch the seventh young master who had been trying to get him to transmit answers.

She passed the children's examination and ranked first in the top class.

However, however.

She had said she had no luck.

The results were posted no more than a day later, when she was riding out on the street...

The horse suddenly went mad, causing her to fall and break her legs, leaving her with a lifelong leg ailment.

What's the use of coming first in the children's exam?

The Imperial Court does not allow those with physical defects to take the examinations.

Even if she had passed the exam and then become disabled, when official vacancies were filled, those with disabilities were placed after others.

She, in the end, was lacking a bit of luck.

?? Here they come, here they come!