Chapter 119
With less than three days before the court session reopened, Zhang Fangyuan was so busy he barely had time to catch his breath.
That day, he and Xu He had just returned from the countryside to find their two children not at home. Zhang Fangyuan called for Gan Cao: "Isn’t today a rest day? Did they go out together?"
Gan Cao replied, "Master, today is the release of the Tongsheng exam results. The two young masters left early in the morning to check the rankings."
Zhang Fangyuan smacked his forehead and turned to Xu He. "With all the court preparations these past few days, I completely forgot about this. We should have gone with Ruijin to see the results."
Xu He was exhausted from the lawsuit. Witnesses and evidence were hard to come by, and they had spent long hours consulting with their lawyer.
The litigation master made it clear that the Qin family was no stranger to lawsuits. Over the years, they had bullied and exploited the townsfolk yet remained unscathed, simply because they had never lost a case. Small families, aware of the Qin family's influence in Siyang, could only swallow their grievances and dared not report them to the authorities.
"The Qin family isn’t just powerful because of Qin Shang’s branch. His cousin Qin Zhong is also a formidable figure, many of the city’s entertainment houses operate under his hand."
[Entertainment houses such as brothels, theaters, gambling houses, tea houses, and wine houses]
Xu He was puzzled. "Do they just throw money at every problem? Is everyone so greedy for wealth?"
The litigation master answered truthfully: "The Qin family’s second branch has a daughter, raised in luxury and renowned for her beauty. She could have married one of the city’s talented young men for a happy life. But do you know what the head of the second branch did? As soon as the girl came of age, despite her protests, she was sent to the magistrate’s mansion as a concubine, and this daughter was the legal wife’s own daughter."
Zhang Fangyuan had once worked under Qin Zhong. Because he managed the brothels well, Qin Zhong had invited him to his residence to discuss business. It was there that he had seen Qin Xiangshui a few times, she was a truly beautiful girl. When she was sent to the magistrate as a concubine, she was in the bloom of youth, while the magistrate was nearly forty.
Even the men who had seen Qin Xiangshui back then sighed in pity.
Xu He frowned. "How could the Qin family bear to make their legitimate daughter a concubine?"
"Forgive my bluntness, but although the emperor has elevated the status of merchants in recent years, allowing their sons to take imperial exams and officials to engage in business, old habits die hard. Scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants - merchants still rank last. Commoners might not care, but officials look down on merchants even as they rely on them for wealth."
"With their status limited, merchants who want to protect their wealth and stability must have government backing. The Qin family has sent generations of sons to study, but business runs in their blood, none have pursued the imperial exams. Since the court doesn’t allow merchants to buy official titles, the only way to secure their position in Siyang is to use their daughters and ge'ers as bargaining chips."
The litigation master shook his head. "To preserve the family, what isn’t expendable?"
Xu He finally understood. No wonder the magistrate favored the Qin family. Though his concubine wasn’t from the main Qin branch, they were still of the same clan. Qin Zhong must have pleaded with his sister to intercede for his uncle and cousin, and with generous gifts from the second branch, the connection was easily made.
Once they had sorted this out, the litigation master left them with one last piece of advice: to win the lawsuit, they need connections with officials.
This realization left both of them in low spirits.
"Daddy! Brother passed!"
Before they could even enter the house, they saw their other carriage approaching from afar. Little Ruili leaned out the window, grinning and waving, pulling them out of their thoughts.
Zhang Fangyuan’s eyes lit up in disbelief. "He passed?"
Before the carriage had even fully stopped, Little Ruili jumped out, faster than the servants could react. The attendants reached out to steady him but missed, startling in alarm.
"Slow down!" Ruijin called from inside.
Xu He caught Little Ruili. "Did you see his name on the list?"
Little Ruili nodded. "If the Tongsheng exam had rankings instead of just pass or fail, Brother would’ve been at the top! I had to search forever, the list was packed. So many took the exam this year."
Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He both laughed, the good news lifting their gloomy moods.
Zhang Fangyuan affectionately ruffled Ruijin’s hair. He had never truly expected the boy to pass, they had only intended for him to get a feel for the exams. Yet he had succeeded in one attempt. Even without deep knowledge of the imperial exams, Zhang Fangyuan knew Ruijin’s age made him one of the youngest in the city to pass. Such pride naturally delighted a father.
"Let’s have the servants prepare firecrackers and buy good wine and food for a celebration!"
Ruijin, seeing his family’s joy, allowed himself a rare smile. But he knew they were still troubled by recent events. On their way back from checking the results, he had delayed their return to send someone to investigate, only then did he and Little Ruili learn about the lawsuit.
No matter how happy the occasion, now was not the time for celebration.
Ruijin said, "Passing the children’s exam isn’t worth making a fuss over. A family meal is enough. Many in the city passed this time, no one else is being so extravagant. If we set off firecrackers and draw attention, we’ll only invite ridicule."
No comments:
Post a Comment