BERW - Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Shen Qingjin had not come to Yudu Town for a few disappointing subordinates, but for a woman.
He had already left the palace and established his own residence, so his marriage naturally had to be placed on the agenda. A princely residence so grand could not remain without a mistress.
Noble Consort Qu had set her sights on Shi Caiwen, the second daughter of Shi Bingsheng, Minister of Justice. Shi Caiwen had already passed her coming of age at fifteen and was four years younger than Shen Qingjin, a perfect match.
Her background was even more suitable!
The Crown Prince had taken Qin Shujun as his wife, and behind her stood the gentry aristocracy led by Grand Chancellor Qin. The Empress herself came from the great gentry Zheng Clan. If one had other ambitions, one absolutely could not vie for gentry support again; one would very likely be sold out by the gentry in turn.
In contrast to the gentry, who were enemies rather than friends, the commoner scholar officials led by Shi Bingsheng would absolutely not lightly reject a prince's overtures.
The families of commoner scholar officials had long since declined; some were outright peasant stock. For them to change their household's standing, three to five generations were impossible to do without.
But who could guarantee that one's clan could raise three to five generations of sufficiently outstanding children?
At such a time, helping a prince ascend the throne and earning a share of merit in aiding a founder was a relatively easy shortcut.
Noble Consort Qu and Shen Qingjin both considered Shi Bingsheng a good choice. First, Shi Bingsheng himself came from commoner scholar stock; second, his wife and Grand Chancellor Qin's wife were own sisters, so he was not entirely without ties to the gentry aristocracy, which would make things convenient for them later.
They thought Shi Bingsheng would not refuse such a good marriage. Even without taking the shortcut, a child of his house marrying into the imperial family would be enough to keep the clan secure for thirty years.
But Shi Bingsheng actually refused!
Not only did he refuse, he also let his daughter go out and enjoy herself, dodging the critical moment in the capital when a Princess Consort was being selected for Prince Shen.
Shen Qingjin did not mind; Shi Bingsheng was not the only representative of the commoner scholars.
But to be rejected with such disdain was a first in Shen Qingjin's life. As a son of a Noble Consort, among the imperial princes in the palace only the Crown Prince could overshadow him; who knew that an official outside could make him suffer such a slight?
The more he thought, the more Shen Qingjin felt he had lost face. When Qu Yanyue asked what he thought, he said he greatly liked the Shi daughter and thought the Shi Clan's household style was good, and he hoped to spend more time with the Shi Clan.
Afterward, he quietly came to Yudu Town, where Shi Caiwen was.
Shen Qingjin actually somewhat regretted it; there was no need for him to act this way over a woman he had never met.
Besides, Yuyang was also in Yudu Town. If Yuyang found out he had chased someone all the way to Yudu Town, he would truly lose face inside and out.
But since he had come, it would not be proper not to go in and meet her.
Shen Qingjin thought and thought, then decided he might as well go take a look.
"Drive on, into Yudu Town," he instructed the servant outside.
"Yes!" The servant answered, made simple arrangements for the attendants, and the carriage continued forward.
Before nightfall, they entered the town.
Because it was already dark, Shen Qingjin did not want to visit his sister in the middle of the night, so he found an inn at random to rest.
And Shen Yuyao already knew his movements when he entered the town.
Toward this blood brother, Shen Yuyao had just two words: not familiar!
Really not familiar. The original owner did not like this brother, and as it happened, Shen Qingjin did not like the original owner either. Most of the time when the two met, they made awkward conversation or argued and parted on bad terms.
An awkward blood brother!
After Shen Yuyao learned the other had arrived, all she wanted was to pack her bundle and flee overnight!
Even if she was a social butterfly, she did not want to be forced to socialize during a trip!
Besides, there was no excitement worth watching. If she did not run and stayed, she would become the object of others' drama-watching.
But Yu San was truly useful. If Shen Yuyao had not taken Yu San as a subordinate, she probably would not have realized the other had come to Yudu Town until Shen Qingjin was right in front of her.
"Princess, Prince Shen will likely come to visit tomorrow. Shall your subordinate make some preparations?" Yu San did not know Shen Yuyao was inwardly dying to flee wildly; she even considered strengthening the inn's guard, since the inn now held two imperial children. "Also, Princess, should this matter be told to Second Lady Shi?"
"What does this matter have to do with Second Lady Shi? She only came to Yudu Town for an outing."
Shen Yuyao keenly sensed something was off.
Yu San honestly recounted the little entanglement that had recently occurred between Shen Qingjin and the Shi Clan. After hearing it, Shen Yuyao had only one thought: the Shadow Guard's intelligence network was truly formidable!
She was so tempted. Could this intelligence network be given to her?
For the sake of the intelligence network, she could go call that scumbag father "dear Daddy"!
Yu San had no eloquence at all and could only dryly recite intelligence, yet what she said felt so detailed that it was as if the events were unfolding before one's eyes. It was clear the intelligence itself was extremely detailed.
Unfortunately, for now Shen Yuyao could only look on enviously. There was no share of it for her; in the future it would all belong to the Crown Prince.
But that was hard to say, too.
After suppressing her covetous thoughts about the intelligence network to the bottom of her heart, Shen Yuyao was left with only one thought.
What kind of romance novel backstory was this? That was right; to Shen Yuyao's ears, the entanglement between Shen Qingjin and Shi Caiwen was especially like those ancient-style romances of the "woman, you've caught my attention" sort.
No matter how things changed, the core remained the same, even if the form of expression differed.
Thinking of that romance-brained Crown Prince and his "so what if I lose the world for you" romance-brained attitude, then looking at Shen Qingjin's "she's different from others" and his eager pursuit, Shen Yuyao felt this brother was not entirely impossible to meet once.
There was drama to watch!
"Second Lady Shi had actually been betrothed before, to the point of discussing marriage, but that betrothal ultimately fell to the Shi Clan's cousin, Young Lady Shi Xiaoxiao."
Shi Xiaoxiao?
The Shi Clan had only one young lady from the cousin branch, Shi Xiaoxiao, who had come from the ancestral home last year.
Shi Xiaoxiao's father was a distant cousin of Shi Bingsheng. He had once been an official, and his household had some wealth, but his luck was poor. The place where he served suffered a great flood, his superior committed a grave mistake, and he became one of the scapegoats his superior pushed out, exiled to a miasmic region in the south.
Considering that his daughter was getting older, if she followed him there, she would likely only find some worthless wretch for a son-in-law.
Unwilling to delay the child, he sent Shi Xiaoxiao to the capital to seek refuge with Shi Bingsheng.
The former superior who had ruined Shi Xiaoxiao's father was none other than Du Gaojun.
And the main reason Du Gaojun had been pulled down this time was that during last year's great flood in Zuozhou, he had embezzled the disaster relief silver, gold, and grain sent by the court.
Knowing this matter existed as well, Shen Yuyao was speechless. No wonder Yang Chengye suspected Shi Bingsheng of persecuting loyal and good men; this counted as a feud too.
"So complicated. How did the betrothal fall to her?" Shen Yuyao asked Yu San with bright eyes, wanting to hear the complete gossip from her.
But Yu San shook her head.
"Your subordinate does not know. The Shi Clan keeps its lips tightly sealed. The betrothal gifts have not yet been sent. I only heard the other side is this year's New Top Scorer."
The New Top Scorer was indeed very promising. Unlike later generations, where examinations were held once a year and Top Scorers filled the Hanlin Academy by the handful, Great Zhuang held examinations once every three years.
Because Great Zhuang had only just entered a prosperous age, and the Former Dynasty had ruined talent so badly that the common people simply could not cultivate a new batch every year. Still, these past few years of recuperation had been decent, and it was estimated that in a few years it would gradually change to one examination per year.
It gave capable people a channel for advancement and could also use them to press down on the power of the gentry clans and great houses in court.
Shen Yuyao thought for a moment but could not remember who the New Top Scorer was.
If he was not yet married, then he was probably quite young and ought to have great potential. Shi Bingsheng had good judgment. How could he be so cold-faced and impartial as to give such a good son-in-law to his own cousin's daughter?
There had to be something behind this! Shen Yuyao recalled what Shi Caiwen had said earlier about Yang Keqing: she had said her cousin's marriage had been ruined by Yang Keqing.
Shen Yuyao swore on her credentials as a drama spectator that this cousin had to be Shi Xiaoxiao! Shi Caiwen had no other younger female cousin.
Wow, there had to be some love-hate drama in this. No, she could not leave; she absolutely had to stay and get the full drama!
She definitely could not ask closely about matters concerning Shi Caiwen and Shen Qingjin, but as for matters concerning Yang Keqing, Shen Yuyao could absolutely get the answer straight from Shi Caiwen's mouth.
Because Shi Caiwen herself had brought it up in public.
So after dinner, Shen Yuyao did not go to sleep. Carrying an oil lamp, she went to have a heart-to-heart with Shi Caiwen.
That day she and Shi Caiwen had spent half a day playing on the streets. The two were close in age and both rather carefree in temperament, so they got along quite well.
Girls' friendships always heated up quickly, and if there was a candlelit night talk, they became even closer.
So when Shi Caiwen saw Shen Yuyao approaching with an oil lamp, not only did she not shoo her away, she received her with special enthusiasm, found a pile of fruit and snacks, and the two sat on a small couch, eating and talking.
Since Shen Yuyao had come to hear gossip, she naturally had to first toss out a brick to draw jade. The liveliest gossip recently was naturally about the Crown Prince, but she could not directly speak the Crown Prince's name; she could say it, but Shi Caiwen could not hear it.
But this did not stump Shen Yuyao. She casually used a false name and disguised the matter, turning something that happened within the red walls of the palace into something that happened on a little plot of farmland in a country village.
The Crown Prince became the eldest son who was deeply loved by his father and would inherit many properties; the Emperor went from owning all under heaven to a commoner with modest family property.
The real Emperor used a golden hoe for field work.
But identities and backgrounds did not matter; what mattered was the story's content!
Shi Caiwen listened spellbound. By the end, when Shen Yuyao said that the eldest son had coerced his parents, and his parents nodded and allowed the pregnant bondservant to enter the household, even promising that if the bondservant bore a son they would buy her freedom, let her leave bonded servitude, and have her address the eldest son's wife as sister, she was so angry her face turned red.
"Absolutely absurd! The eldest son's wife is truly unlucky to have married into such a household. Where are her family? Is there no father or brother to back her and seek justice for her? And that eldest son, he had an illicit union without a matchmaker and got a bastard child. He ought to be beaten to death with clubs before the ancestral tablets!"
Shen Yuyao clicked her tongue in amazement. She had only wanted to watch the Crown Prince's drama; Shi Caiwen immediately wanted the Crown Prince's life.
Whether Crown Prince or prince, in this era most men had multiple wives and concubines. If Shi Caiwen ended up with Shen Qingjin in the future, Shen Yuyao suspected that not long after the wedding, her blood brother would die young.
Hmm? That sounded a little thrilling.
"The world has always been like this, and it is especially unfair to women. Men may take multiple wives and concubines and be fickle, while women are required to remain constant to one man until death." Shen Yuyao sighed. That was why she did not want to marry in this era, or even fall in love.
Men had too many foul habits.
"You said earlier that your cousin's marriage was ruined by Yang Keqing. Then won't her reputation be damaged and make it hard for her to marry again in the future?"
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