socalfunplaces Chapter 124 Plans
Chapter 124 Plans
Chapter 124 Plans
From this perspective, it seems that having Wang You marry Minglan would not help him in any way except for his future career, and in other aspects, he would be no different from Rulan.
It can't be said that there's absolutely no difference; marrying a concubine's daughter would inevitably make you a laughingstock.
Compared to the trouble caused by getting involved with the Kang Wang clan, this is nothing.
Even though she's his sister, he can't get rid of her for the time being.
However, if it is a marriage alliance, even if Old Mrs. Wang and the couple pass away in the future, Wang You will find it difficult to get rid of the Kang family.
As for help with his future career, even if he married Rulan, the legitimate daughter, it wouldn't be of much help to Wang You.
Looking at it this way, it seems that it has no impact on any aspect.
After thinking for a long time, Wang Min decided to go and discuss it with Madam Feng.
But after hearing this, Madam Feng, without even thinking, confidently declared, "You'er has definitely taken a liking to that sixth daughter of the Sheng family!"
"Really?"
Wang Min said in surprise, "I asked him, and judging from his attitude, he seemed indifferent."
Madam Feng rolled her eyes at Wang Min and said, "If You'er didn't actually like that sixth daughter of the Sheng family, and was simply worried that his eldest aunt would go to his mother because of it, why didn't he suggest not forming a marriage alliance with the Sheng family?"
"I told You'er that we've already hinted to Xiaomei and her husband that if we don't agree to the marriage directly, they might overthink it," Wang Min said.
"Then let You'er marry a concubine's daughter from the Sheng family, and your aunt won't have any more questions?" Madam Feng asked rhetorically.
Wang Min was taken aback upon hearing this, then angrily shouted, "You brat, you actually dared to scheme against me! I'm going to teach him a lesson right now!"
Only after hearing his wife's explanation did he realize that Wang You was playing hard to get.
On the surface, it seemed that he had no choice but to propose marrying a concubine's daughter because he wanted to save face for both families.
That was actually his goal.
Madam Feng is right; marrying a concubine's daughter is no different from not forming a marriage alliance with the Sheng family at all.
This angered Madam Wang even more than a direct refusal of the marriage proposal.
If Wang You were to marry a concubine's daughter from another family, outsiders would laugh at him, but they could still praise his wife as a good person.
But what would people think if he married a concubine's daughter from the Sheng family?
The Sheng family isn't without legitimate daughters. Ning Yuan would rather marry a concubine's daughter than a legitimate one. Doesn't that mean he dislikes the legitimate daughters of the Sheng family?
"My lord!"
Madam Feng stopped Wang Min and said, "You'er is very clever. If you tell him, who knows what kind of idea he might come up with."
If he can play hard to get, then we'll turn the tables on him.
He was right about one thing: the eldest aunt wouldn't give up so easily. Once she found out that we were going to marry the younger aunt, she would definitely go to her mother-in-law and complain.
The mother-in-law always felt indebted to her eldest daughter-in-law, so it was hard to guarantee that she wouldn't soften her heart.
We'll secretly arrange the marriage with my aunt's family first, and ask her not to tell anyone.
"When Rulan comes of age next year, we'll announce it publicly. Once word gets out, her mother-in-law won't be able to back out of the engagement, will she?"
"My wife's considerations are indeed very thorough." Wang Min nodded in deep agreement.
"You'er still has a play to perform on, otherwise he might become suspicious," Madam Feng said.
"Mother hasn't made a sound at all. Could it be that Father didn't consider my words and didn't tell Mother at all?"
On the other side, Wang You was already prepared for his mother to be furious and come looking for him.
But after waiting and waiting, there was still no word from the Feng family.
-
This made him think for a long time, but his prepared words of persuasion were useless.
"Second brother!"
Just then, Mu Jie'er's voice came from outside.
A moment later, she rushed in.
"You're so easily startled; if your mother sees this, she'll scold you again," Wang You said, shaking his head.
"snort."
Mu Jie pouted and said, "I had some important news to tell you, but since you don't want to hear it, then forget it."
"Good sister!"
Upon hearing this, Wang You smiled broadly, stepped forward, pulled his sister who was about to leave, and pushed her to sit down on the soft couch. He said, "I heard that Tang's Gold and Silver Shop has hired a new craftsman whose skill in making hairpins is no less than that of the craftsmen in the palace. I'll take you to pick one out next time you have a day off."
"Oh--"
Mu Jie'er's lips curled up in a sneer, and she said, "I still prefer your previous arrogant and unruly self!"
Wang You sat down to the side and said irritably, "You brat, if you dare to imitate me again, I'll sell all the horses in Xiliu Manor!"
""
"I just think it's fun."
Mu Jie'er immediately put on a flattering smile.
Wang You said with a forced smile, "I still prefer your previous unruly self."
Mu Jie'er shook Wang You's arm and said, "Second Brother, don't be angry. I promise, this news is very important."
"Alright, just tell me what news you have!" Wang You said impatiently.
Mu Jie'er didn't speak, but instead gave Wang You a wink.
Wang You understood, dismissed the servants who were attending to him inside, and said, "Can you speak now?"
"My mother recently contacted me, asking me about Sister Minglan. She tried to get information out of me, whether you like Sister Minglan or not," Mu Jie'er whispered.
"Are you sure your mother would tell you this?" Wang You asked suspiciously.
It seems that Father has already spoken to Mother, otherwise Mother would not have questioned Mu Jie'er.
However, he only believed the first half of what Mu Jie'er said, and was somewhat skeptical of the rest.
Mu Jie'er is only ten years old. How could Madam Feng possibly ask her if she likes Minglan?
"Oh dear, I told you it was a roundabout question. How could I, so clever, not understand?" Mu Jie'er said coquettishly.
"What did Mother ask?" Wang You asked, frowning.
Mu Jie'er said, "My mother asked me, when you usually go out to play with your cousin from the Sheng family, do you prefer to play with Sister Rulan or talk to Sister Minglan?"
They even asked me if we often talked in private or something.
"What did you say?" Wang You pressed.
"I told you you're the one who plays with me and Sister Rulan. Sister Minglan is rather quiet and doesn't talk to me much," Mu Jie'er said smugly.
"Ugh."
Upon hearing this, Wang You patted his forehead.
"What? Is there something wrong with what I said?" Sister Mu asked, puzzled.
"You—sigh, never mind." Wang You shook his head.
Judging from her mother's questioning of Mu Jie'er, her father must have already told her.
She didn't believe her own lies, otherwise she wouldn't have asked Sister Mu about these things.
Mu Jie'er's answer is normally fine.
Over the years, the Wang family would visit the Sheng family during festivals and inevitably pay their respects to Old Madam Sheng.
Minglan was raised by Old Madam Sheng, so naturally she was there too.
However, because Minglan wanted to hide her talents, she rarely spoke in front of Madam Feng. She would only reply with a few words when Madam Feng mentioned her, making her seem very inconspicuous.
Madam Feng once said privately that Minglan was too reserved.
But now the Feng family is obviously suspicious. Mu Jie'er even said that Minglan doesn't like to talk when she goes out to play. Isn't this just a case of trying to hide something?
You should know that Mu Jie'er is a lively person, and she loves to play with Minglan.
This is enough to show that Minglan is only reserved in front of her elders, and not so reserved in front of her peers.
Otherwise, Mu Jie'er wouldn't have enjoyed playing with her so much. Besides, if Minglan were really a quiet person, why would she always go out to play whenever she was asked to?
"Second brother, is there something you're hiding from me?" Mu Jie'er asked.
"Ugh."
Wang You sighed and told Mu Jie'er about his guess.
"what?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Jie'er hurriedly said, "Then wouldn't I have made things worse?"
"It's alright. Since Mother is suspicious, no matter how perfectly you explain it, it won't dispel her suspicions," Wang You comforted her.
It's difficult for outsiders to dispel a person's suspicions. When someone doubts something, they won't easily believe what others say.
Even if you believe it temporarily, you will soon start to doubt it again.
Because many things are multifaceted, even if there is nothing wrong with a thing in itself, it will seem problematic from different people's perspectives.
Suspicion itself implies distrust, or rather, the belief that one's own thoughts are the truth, only lacking evidence.
Therefore, even if Mu Jie'er's words were flawless, it was difficult for Madam Feng to believe them.
"But wouldn't that mean Minglan can't be my sister-in-law?"
Mu Jie'er said anxiously, "You have to think of something quickly!"
"Why are you in such a hurry when I'm not even in a hurry?"
Wang You was speechless, but also somewhat curious, he asked, "Your cousin Rulan and I have a very good relationship, so why do you want me to marry Minglan?"
"Oh, that's different."
Mu Jie'er didn't know how to describe it. She had a good relationship with Ru Lan and Ming Lan, but she just felt closer to Ming Lan.
Seeing that she was unwilling to talk about it, Wang You didn't ask any further and comforted her, "Don't worry, I have a way."
"What method?" Sister Mu pressed.
"Stop worrying about it."
Wang You said irritably, "You think you're so smart, but didn't you realize that the moment Mother told you, you ran over to me? Isn't that an admission of guilt?"
"I'm not coming right away."
Mu Jie'er said coquettishly, "I waited for half an hour before I came."
"You're smart."
Wang You stood up and said, "Alright, I have an appointment to have dinner with someone. It's getting late, I'll go change my clothes first."
"Second brother, you still haven't told me what your plan is," Mu Jie'er said anxiously.
"Don't worry about what the solution is, I have a way," Wang You said.
His solution was simple: since the previous methods didn't work, he could only launch Wen Yanjing ahead of schedule.
According to Chinese literature, Yan Jing was only accepted as a student by Sheng Hong after Sheng Changbai and others took the imperial examination.
Later, he and Qi Heng both passed the imperial examination with flying colors.
However, this does not mean that Wen Yanjing and Sheng Changbai passed the exam three years apart.
Strictly speaking, the time Qi Heng passed the imperial examination was not a regular examination, but a special examination.
It's quite normal for Zhao Zongquan to grant an extra imperial examination upon his ascension to the throne.
However, the preparation time for the special imperial examination was relatively short, so the scholars who were able to participate were those who had failed the previous imperial examination.
In other words, Wen Yanjing and Sheng Changbai participated in the imperial examination together, but like Qi Heng, they failed.
Moreover, although Wen Yanjing failed the imperial examination that time, his performance should have been quite good.
Otherwise, Sheng Hong wouldn't have accepted him as a student.
After all, Wen Yanjing came from a very humble background. If he had a good reputation, he would have been chosen as a student during his first imperial examination.
Although the Song Dynasty no longer had the powerful families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the introduction of the imperial examination system made it difficult for those families to maintain their prosperity even if someone held a high position.
However, officials and their families took a different approach. Since their own descendants were not up to par, they used marriage alliances and protégés to ensure the continuation of their family's status.
Before each imperial examination, renowned scholars from humble backgrounds would be contacted by officials of considerable rank in the court, who would either take them as students or marry their daughters to them.
Like Sheng, wasn't he already preparing to marry off his daughter before Wen Yanjing even passed the imperial examination?
Wen Yanjing's ability to catch Sheng Hong's eye must have come from a good performance in the previous imperial examination.
Only those who participated in the previous imperial examination could participate in the special examination. Therefore, those who performed well among the candidates who failed last time were naturally the most popular candidates to pass the imperial examination.
Therefore, all he needs to do is find a way to get Wen Yanjing into Sheng's sight and for his literary talent to be recognized by Sheng.
As for Sheng Xiang marrying Wen Yanjing, he wasn't worried at all.
He doesn't believe that Wen Yanjing and Rulan in the original drama were truly in love.
It's definitely certain for Rulan, but it's hard to say for Wen Yanjing.
Wang You was certain that Wen Yanjing was initially driven by ego, but he didn't know whether he later truly fell in love with Rulan.
The reason I am so certain is not because of conspiracy theories.
Rather, it's the ancient etiquette that's there.
Given the ancient etiquette and the strictures of literature, any truly upright person would not have the opportunity to have much contact with Rulan, who was the legitimate daughter of the Sheng family, knowing that Sheng Hong intended to marry his illegitimate daughter to him.
Their meeting was accidental, but what about their interactions afterward?
Not to mention they even went so far as to have secret rendezvous.
Some might say, "Can't it be love at first sight?"
Wang You can say with absolute certainty that it's impossible.
He clearly remembered that Wen Yanjing and Rulan met because Rulan's handkerchief was blown away and landed in front of Wen Yanjing.
Wen Yanjing picked it up, placed it on the artificial hill beside him, bowed, and left.
The two did not exchange a word, and Wen Yanjing maintained proper etiquette without overstepping his bounds.
But later, when the truth came out, Minglan went to see Rulan, and Rulan said that she knew everyone in her family disliked her, except for Wen Yanjing, who even praised her.
It is evident that the two had met privately more than once, and Wen Yanjing had said quite a few sweet words to him.
This is completely inconsistent with Wen Yanjing's previous act of putting down the handkerchief from a distance to maintain proper etiquette.
Of course, Wang You wasn't pushing Rulan into a fire pit.
As long as the lie remains unexposed and Rulan is happy, what does it matter whether it's true or false?
Sometimes, a lie is even better than the truth.
Even true feelings can change one day, but lies can continue indefinitely.
Before Wen Yanjing needed the Sheng family's help, he needed to maintain his lie and continue to treat Rulan well.
When he no longer needed the Sheng family's help, his official position was already quite high, and he wouldn't allow his reputation to be tarnished, so he would still treat Rulan well.
Otherwise, if word got out that he married Rulan, his reputation would be ruined.
A hypocrite can be a gentleman as long as he can keep up the pretense.
A true villain, no matter how genuine, will always remain a villain.
Even if Rulan didn't marry Wen Yanjing, given her personality and shrewdness, marrying into a family of equal social standing would hardly be as good as marrying Wen Yanjing.
Finding Wen Yanjing was not difficult. Although there were many candidates taking the imperial examination, it was still easy to find someone if they had a name.
All Wang You needs to do is befriend Wen Yanjing, then take him to the Sheng family and create an opportunity for him to showcase his talents in front of Sheng Hong.