"Hello, auntie." Fang Yun bowed and greeted.
"We are all family, there is no need to be so polite, please take a seat." The Second Lady smiled and gestured for Fang Yun to sit down, while she sat on a high chair.
The eldest lady did not sit in the upper seat, but walked over with a smile, went straight to Yang Yuhuan, took Yang Yuhuan's hand and said with a smile: "What a beautiful Jiangzhou Xishi, I think you are more beautiful than Xishi, it's really a bargain for Xiaoyun to be his wife. I didn't prepare anything for our first meeting, so I'll give you this bracelet."
As she spoke, the eldest lady took off the bracelet on her hand and put it directly on Yang Yuhuan.
Yang Yuhuan blushed and said, "No, it's too valuable." She was about to pull her hand away because her hands were rough and she was afraid of being laughed at.
The eldest lady seemed to be unaware and said, "It is only natural for an aunt to give something to her niece-in-law. You have to accept it even if you don't want to."
Fang Yun politely declined: "Aunt, your bracelet is too expensive."
"Expensive? I don't think it's good enough to match Yuhuan. Let me go to Yuhai City and choose carefully. I will definitely choose a better one, otherwise it will be a pity for such a beautiful girl like you. Come, sit together." The eldest lady reached out to help Yang Yuhuan tidy up her hair, and seemed to like her very much.
The first lady, Fang Yun and the other two sat together in the lower seats, while the second lady sat alone in the main seat.
Yang Yuhuan couldn't see it, but Fang Yun and Liang Yuan looked at each other and realized that something was wrong between the two ladies.
Fang Yun was about to speak, but the second wife spoke first: "Sister-in-law is right. But we have a large family to support, and we can't spend money as we please. Big brother values Fang Yun, and I value Fang Yun too, but a 10% stake in a bookstore costs 1,000 taels, isn't it too much? With this 1,000 taels of silver..."
"Sister-in-law." The first lady interrupted the second lady and turned to look at her. "Ying Li will soon wake up from his nap. Without you as his mother, he will start crying again. The master has already decided on the bookstore, and we women will just follow his orders. Yuye, go find the chief butler and ask him to go to the government office with Xiaoyun to deal with the paperwork and contract for the bookstore."
"Yes, ma'am." A maid left immediately.
The second wife laughed and said, "You can't say that. The Fang family's money didn't come from the wind. One thousand taels of silver is enough for us to open a new bookstore. It's not enough to exchange for only one share. But Fang Yun is a family member after all, and my eldest brother has spoken. I'm not a greedy person, so I'll exchange for three shares."
Fang Yun felt disgusted. He had already guessed that this was probably a fight between the two branches of the Fang family, and it actually burned him. If this was the case, he would rather not take the money, and there was no need to learn to teach in the Fang family. If it really didn't work, he could sell a few poems to earn money to open a bookstore.
Fang Yun immediately stood up and said, "Since the Second Madam said so, Fang Yun will not bother you any more. I will write a letter to my uncle today to cancel the cooperation with the Fang family. Goodbye."
Yang Yuhuan and Liang Yuan immediately stood up in panic.
The second wife immediately said, "You did this voluntarily, but don't say in front of Big Brother that I forced you to do it. I won't admit to anything I haven't done."
"Shut up!" The first lady suddenly shouted at the second lady, then took a step forward to stand in front of Fang Yun, smiling, "My sister-in-law is just a person who likes to make things happen, don't be surprised. I am in charge of this family, she doesn't have the final say! Come on, your aunt will accompany you to the government office to settle this matter. Your uncle and I are very optimistic about you, so don't think too much."
When Fang Yun saw the attitude of the first lady, his anger subsided a little. After thinking carefully, it was obvious that the second lady was deliberately looking for trouble with the first lady, which was a kind of indirect criticism, and it seemed that she wanted to destroy the relationship between Fang Shouye and him. At first, the first lady didn't want to care about it, but his attitude was so firm that she had to turn against the second lady.
If I were to let myself be angered and leave, it would be like I was doing what the Second Madam wanted.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Aunt, you are worrying too much. I am a nephew who knows how to treat me. How about this? Since the second wife doesn't like to use the Fang family's money, she can just invest in me in the name of her uncle. Within three months, I can give her at least 1,000 taels of dividends!"
"Aren't you afraid of spraining your waist?" The Second Lady muttered softly, but she didn't dare to embarrass Fang Yun anymore.
The eldest lady smiled and said, "After all, the master is a fifth-rank general. It is not appropriate to invest in his name. How about this, invest in my name, and the one thousand taels will be my private money. As for the dividend, we will talk about it after the New Year. There is no rush."
"Okay." Fang Yun said.
At this time, the maid came in with Butler Fang.
Butler Fang is a very ordinary old man, dressed in a black robe, serious and respectful.
"Madam, Madam." Butler Fang nodded politely.
The eldest lady smiled and said, "I originally wanted you to go to the government office to sign a document on behalf of the Fang family, but now I will go in person, so I won't bother you."
When Fang Yun heard the word "you", he realized that this housekeeper had a high status in the Fang family.
Butler Fang glanced at Fang Yun and the others and said, "I often do this kind of thing, so let me go with you."
"Yes, with you here we can save a lot of trouble."
Afterwards, the group walked out, and the second lady cursed in a low voice: "I will pay you to death."
Everyone pretended not to hear.
The group first rented a house, and then went to the government office to handle the relevant procedures.
The runners and civil servants in the government office seldom saw the eldest lady of a famous family come in person, so they kept the "red flag" in mind and decided not to offend this bookstore in the future.
While Fang Yun was handling the procedures for the bookstore, the clerks at the Holy Academy on Daofeng Mountain were also busy.
Scholars are not insignificant figures anywhere, and even prominent families will not offend them for no reason. However, in the Holy Academy, they have the lowest status. However, because they are nourished by the talents of the Holy Academy, they are more likely to pass the imperial examinations than ordinary scholars, and have a longer road ahead. The Holy Academy lineage has a great influence in various countries.
Two scholar clerks, holding two book boxes, hurried to the "review hall" of the "Holy Way" monthly magazine.
"Hurry up, hurry up, the county exam has just passed, and each state has recommended poems for the county exam. These have already passed.
The Holy Election cannot be delayed." said the older clerk.
"Yes." The young clerk ran away in silence.
The two clerks ran to the review room, straightened their clothes, and pushed the door open.
The review hall is very spacious, and the entire room is filled with soft white light.
There was a long table two meters long on the east, north and west sides. Behind each table sat a Confucian scholar wearing a university scholar's uniform, an old man, a middle-aged man, and one of them was actually a young man in his twenties.
There were many papers floating in the air above the review hall. When the Grand Secretary thought about it, the papers would either fly away or fly in front of him.
"You have talent but know nothing!" The elderly university scholar snorted, and several pieces of paper immediately rolled up into a ball and flew into the trash can.
"This poem is good and can be selected. Please take a look."
After the middle-aged man finished speaking, a piece of paper flew in front of the old man. The old man looked down and said, "Pass." After that, the piece of paper flew in front of the young man.
The young man looked up and said, "Substitute." The paper was then left unused.
The other two continued reviewing.
The middle-aged man looked towards the door and asked in a friendly manner, "Are these poems from the county examinations in various places?"
"Yes. Ninety states recommended more than 2,000 poems in total. After the imperial selection, only 67 remained, and the lowest one was out of the county." said the clerk.
The old university scholar muttered in dissatisfaction: "In recent years, where have the county and prefectural examinations produced qualified poems and essays? The last of the four great talents of this generation was also a Jinshi five years ago. It's really one crab worse than the other. It doesn't make sense to select poems and lyrics from "The Holy Way" in the county and prefectural examinations! I won't watch it. You two decide, and I agree."
The middle-aged university scholar waved his hand, and the papers in the two clerks' book boxes immediately flew over one by one, making a rustling sound, forming a long bridge of white paper in the air, and finally falling neatly onto his desk.
After the two clerks left, the middle-aged university scholar ignored the stack of county examination poems and essays and continued to select other essays.
After a full half hour, the middle-aged university scholar finally read the county examination poems and essays page by page.
One page, two pages, three pages...
When he saw the 26th poem, the middle-aged university scholar's expression changed. He couldn't help but read it a second time and recited it aloud. It was the "Spring Dawn".
The other two grand secretaries did not react at first, but after reading the last line "How many flowers have fallen?", the two grand secretaries, one old and one young, looked up at the middle-aged grand secretary together.
"Who wrote this? It has the talent of Mingzhou. It is rare and fresh, yet it makes people savor it. It can be included in next month's "Sacred Way." said the elderly university scholar.
The young scholar nodded and said, "Yes."
The two people thought that the middle-aged scholar would make a judgment, but he continued to read out the frontier poem "Year End".
"Good, full of righteousness. One person and two poems? This poem also shows the talent of Mingzhou. Who is this person?" The elderly university scholar spoke frankly.
"Do you still remember the only top-ranked student this year?"
The young university scholar, who had remained calm all this time, widened his eyes slightly, unable to believe that a boy could write such a good poem.
"I have heard about it. Those young people were not convinced and were all asking about that person, but I didn't pay much attention to it. These were all written by that boy?" The elderly university scholar reached out and snatched the paper, on which were written "Spring Dawn" and "Year's End".
The middle-aged scholar looked at the next page and said, "It turns out that 'Spring Dawn' was written in the examination room. He only got half of 'Year End' in the examination room, and then completed it in the Tongsheng Wenhui. However, there is another thing that is surprising. He was dissatisfied with the defeat of Jing State last year, and actually said in the Tongsheng Wenhui: Every man has his share of responsibility for the rise and fall of the country."
"Good! Good! Just this one sentence will go down in history! Is his name Fang Yun? I'll remember that if we can meet, we will have a candlelit conversation at night. What a talent! What a talent! This person should be a late bloomer, right?"
The middle-aged scholar said, "Sixteen years old."
The old university scholar was stunned, and the young university scholar's eyes suddenly became extremely sharp.
"Then these two poems and 'Every man has a share of responsibility for the fate of his country' will be included in next month's 'Sacred Way'?"
"Of course." said the elderly university scholar.
The young university scholar said, "The poem 'Year End' is not a top-ranked poem in the county exam, so I'm afraid it won't be good enough to submit next month. Moreover, he is so young, and it would be too shocking to submit two poems of 'Sacred Way' in one month. Since there are so many poems to choose from this month, it's better to postpone 'Year End' for a month."