69novels Chapter 13 Opportunity
Chapter 13 Opportunity
"Is Mother referring to the eldest son of the Li family in the west of the city?" Madam Feng asked.
"Not bad." Old Mrs. Wang nodded slightly.
"Master Li is a kind and benevolent man, a well-known philanthropist in Shouzhou. His second wife has no children. Why would Master Li do such a heinous thing?" Madam Feng asked in disbelief.
The term "Yuanwai" first appeared in the Tang Dynasty and was used to refer to candidates for official positions.
In the early Tang Dynasty, when the country was newly established, the court was short of money, so it called on wealthy merchants to donate money to grant them the official rank of Assistant Minister.
This doesn't count as selling official positions; it's just selling reserve officials.
The imperial court was just trying to trick wealthy merchants into donating money; it had no intention of actually granting them any official positions.
While wealthy merchants who obtained the title of Assistant Minister were not considered true officials, they could still wear fine silks and satins and escape the low status of "merchants".
Simply put, they spend money to improve their social status.
Later, "Yuanwai" became a respectful title for wealthy merchants.
The wealthy merchant Li mentioned by Feng was a well-known merchant in Shouzhou.
Although the Li family was wealthy, they frequently donated money to repair bridges and roads, set up soup kitchens, and provided relief to those in dire need. They were well-known philanthropists in Shouzhou.
Master Li had only one son, born to his deceased first wife. He had no children after remarrying.
Therefore, there have never been any reports of any conflict between Li Yuanwai's second wife and son.
Speaking of Li Yuanwai's son, he was a classmate of Wang You and also studied at the Shouzhou Prefectural School.
Due to their age, the two were not in the same dormitory and had little interaction.
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Wang glanced at Wang You, shook her head, and said, "I didn't inquire about the reason behind it."
Madam Feng understood that it was because Wang You was there, and Old Madam Wang couldn't say anything.
This only made her more curious, so she looked at Wang You and said, "You'er, you must be tired from the journey. Go back and rest for a while."
"yes!"
Wang You rose, bowed, and said, "Grandmother, Mother, I will take my leave now."
"Well, since you've decided to participate in the prodigy exam, you should prepare well and not slack off," Grandma Wang advised.
"Grandson understands."
Wang You bowed and withdrew.
"Second brother!"
As Wang Yougang came out of Jingxintang, he ran into Mu Jie'er.
They must have come here specifically after learning that Madam Feng and Wang You had returned.
Upon seeing Wang You, Mu Jie cheered and ran over.
The maid, Green Oriole, hurriedly ran to catch up, saying, "Please slow down, Miss."
The little girl is only three years old. Although she walks steadily, she still falls down occasionally when she runs.
"Sister Mu".
Wang You smiled and stepped forward, squatting down. As usual, the little girl pounced on him from about a meter away.
After being caught by Wang You, she didn't laugh happily as before. Instead, she grabbed Wang You's shirt, buried her head in his chest, and mumbled, "Second brother, I missed you."
Because she was the only daughter in the family, she was spoiled by everyone, even the strict Mrs. Wang doted on her granddaughter.
However, Wang Min is usually busy with official duties, and even during his days off, he has many social engagements, so he has very little time to spend with Mu Jie'er.
Although Wang You was only six years older than her, he was very patient with her because he had lived two lives.
He's not just like an older brother, he's more like a father.
Therefore, Mu Jie'er was very attached to Wang You. This time, when Wang You went to Yangzhou with Madam Feng, Mu Jie'er also insisted on going.
Not only did Madam Feng disagree, but Wang You also refused.
In ancient times, due to limited transportation, traveling was a very arduous task.
Mu Jie'er is young. If she catches a disease on the way, it's not uncommon for her to lose her life.
"yes."
Wang You's heart softened, and he pinched his younger sister's chubby little face, saying, "It was worth it for your second brother to bring you a gift from Yangzhou."
"What gift did my second brother bring me?"
Children's emotions come and go quickly. When Mu Jie'er heard there was a gift, she looked up at Wang You.
"I'll take you there and you'll see."
Wang You smiled and carried his younger sister towards his own courtyard.
His luggage was returned home and escorted back to his courtyard by the maid.
The trip to Yangzhou, including the round trip and the few days spent there, took about half a month in total.
But Wang You felt that Mu Jie'er had gained a lot of weight.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, Wang You put his younger sister down, shook his slightly sore hands, took her chubby little hand in his, and said, "Come on, second brother will take you to see the gifts."
Once inside, Wang You asked Xia He to bring out all the things he had bought for Mu Jie'er.
In fact, there were very few toys available for three- or four-year-old children in the Song Dynasty.
Things like shuttlecocks, spinning tops, and rattles are either unsuitable for her age or too childish.
In addition, there are puzzles such as tangrams and nine-linked rings.
But Mu Jie'er has all of these, so there's nothing strange about it.
When Wang You was traveling in Yangzhou, he saw that someone was actually selling animal porcelain figurines.
Animal terracotta figurines are common, but this was the first time he had ever seen a porcelain animal figurine.
The process of firing porcelain figurines using porcelain-making techniques is inherently very difficult. Therefore, even when porcelain figurines are fired, they are usually made to have special significance.
No one would bother with making animal figurines for children like these.
The porcelain figurines were glazed, making them not only exquisite but also quite adorable. Liang An bought all of the dozen or so from the stall.
Wow~
When Mu Jie'er saw the porcelain figurines, her eyes lit up. She touched one and looked at another, overjoyed.
"Do you like it?" Wang You asked.
"Yes, I like it."
Mu Jie'er picked up a rabbit porcelain figurine and nodded.
"Be careful when you play with it, it will break if you drop it," Wang You warned.
No one wanted to make animal figurines because porcelain is fragile.
Although terracotta figurines are fragile, they are very inexpensive to produce.
Wang You wasn't concerned about the money; he was just worried that if Mu Jie'er liked it too much and then broke it, she would be heartbroken for a long time.
"Yes." Sister Mu nodded heavily.
Just then, a maid announced that Xiaoman had arrived.
Wang You left his younger sister to play inside the house and went to the courtyard outside to meet Xiaoman.
Xiaoman came to inform Wang You that Shitou had been settled.
Wang You remembered the Li family's affairs and instructed Xiaoman to investigate the inside story.
It wasn't that he was overly curious, but rather that in ancient times, when filial piety was paramount, even to the point of being somewhat morbid, matricide was a rare occurrence.
Even if she was just a stepmother.
Didn't you see that Gu Tingye knew that it was Xiao Qinshi who killed his mother, yet he didn't do anything to Xiao Qinshi from beginning to end?
It's often said that Yuan Wenshao was blindly filial, but this can be seen from the time the Han Dynasty dismissed all other schools of thought and exclusively honored Confucianism, implementing a system of governance based on filial piety. Under such stringent requirements, filial piety itself tended towards blind obedience.
Otherwise, how could there be the saying, "There are no bad parents in the world"?
Not only Gu Tingye, but even the current emperor is the same.
After the Empress Dowager passed away, the Emperor learned that his birth mother was someone else. Because of the Empress Dowager's concealment, the Emperor was unable to recognize his birth mother before she passed away.
However, the emperor could only posthumously honor his birth mother as Empress Dowager, and no matter how angry he was, he dared not abolish the title of the late Empress Dowager.
Wang You wanted to figure out the reason behind this, as it might offer Wang Min an opportunity to advance further.