At first, Yang Mutao also thought Wang Wenjie was decent, but the gap between their two families' status was vast, so he didn't let himself get carried away with joy. Wang Wenjie said he liked Yang Mingyi, that he didn't care about matching family status—he only envied the lovebird, not the immortal.
But Yang Mutao wasn't stupid.
Yang Mingyi was his own ger — to him, he was wonderful beyond measure, beyond compare, but truly, when measured against outsiders, he was nothing at all.
At least Yang Mingyi's mother had been proficient in qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Though the Wu family were not officials, they raised their daughters to such standards, and other great clans likely did even more.
Yang Mingyi was quiet by nature and loved playing chess. He could not play the qin, could not paint. As for accounting — he himself thought it fine, but outsiders, especially great clans and wealthy families, would probably consider it vulgar and beneath them.
What kind of family was the Wang family? How could they not disdain him?
There were so many young ladies and gers from great clans outside. Wang Wenjie saying such things now was only because he fancied Yang Mingyi's good looks — but can a person stay young forever?
If his looks faded, what would become of Yang Mingyi then...
Moreover, Lord Wang and his wife clearly didn't like Yang Mingyi either. Madam Wang had even hit him.
Outsiders have the sharpest ears. During that period, people often came bearing gifts to congratulate him, saying his ger had such good fortune. But no matter how Yang Mutao thought about it, he didn't think this was a good thing at all. The rules in the inner courtyards of prominent families were the most numerous of all. He feared that if Yang Mingyi really did marry into the Wang family, Madam Wang would make his ger's life miserable.
He asked Yang Mingyi what he thought — after all, Wang Wenjie did look quite presentable. Yang Mingyi lowered his eyes, hiding the emotion in them, and said: "The way he looks at me is no different from how others do."
The same lecherous, unrestrained gaze.
If he truly liked him, even a tiny bit, Wang Wenjie would never have looked him up and down like goods being appraised. Moreover, his words constantly leaked a sense of condescending superiority.
Wang Wenjie had not the slightest respect for him. Though he tried hard to conceal it and always presented himself as refined and elegant, Yang Mingyi had seen all kinds of people. That fleeting look he couldn't hide — Yang Mingyi saw it clearly.
When Old Master Wu heard of this, he feared Yang Mutao's head was clouded — that he thought a pie had fallen from the sky — and hurried over to tell him this was no good match.
Though Wang Wenjie had no official wife, he had concubines and bedchamber maids without exception — his illegitimate son was already two years old.
That meant he had lost his virginity at fifteen or sixteen.
If it were anyone else, they would think this was no great matter. Which prominent family didn't have a pile of concubines and bedchamber maids? Few truly lived with just one person. Only villagers — being poor, with a bride price for one wife enough to empty a lifetime's savings — couldn't afford it. But prominent families mostly had three wives and four concubines; there was nothing strange about it. And the position of official wife was naturally reserved for someone of matching status.
But Wang Wenjie — outwardly he seemed upright and reasonable, yet in bed he played wildly.
How wildly?
No one knew. They only knew that the bedchamber maids who attended him often had bruises crisscrossing their bodies, covered in marks.
This was what Old Master Wu had spent great effort to find out.
When Yang Mutao heard this, he inexplicably thought of Sun Shangcheng. After that, looking at Wang Wenjie again, he felt this person was just like Sun Shangcheng — both sanctimonious creatures. No matter how he looked, he felt this man was rotten to the core.
Yang Mutao panicked and asked Old Master Wu what to do. Old Master Wu pointed at him and scolded: "It's all your doing."
Yang Mutao: "..."
Truly wronged.
Though he had many concubines, he treated them all well — never struck or scolded them. Otherwise, how could those women in his household love him to death, unable to live without him?
He knew Old Master Wu resented him. Fair enough — his fine daughter had married him as a concubine. Old Master Wu had completely lost face. It was only normal for him to resent him.
But her daughter had not been tricked into it by him either.
A sheltered young lady ignorant of the world, in her teens after all, had not thought far enough ahead. She had never suffered hardship, never gone hungry — how would she understand what that tasted like? Never having been poor and destitute, with food and clothing assured, she felt poverty was not so frightening, that marrying below one's station was no big deal.
The Wu family daughter had been pampered growing up, knowing nothing of the benefits of power, fame, or profit — pure as paper, thinking only of romance. Seeing Yang Mutao handsome, well-spoken, and good at sweet-talking, she was utterly bewitched by him. Even as a concubine, as long as they loved each other, that was enough.
Back then, Fang Zichen had also been baffled, wondering if Yang Mingyi's mother's brain had short-circuited. But thinking about it — in modern times, rich young ladies falling for poor boys was not unheard of. Besides, Yang Mutao was not even a poor boy — just of slightly lower status. But he had a scholar's jade-like face, a heartthrob's looks. Young girls loved that face most, utterly unable to resist. That the Wu daughter had agreed to marry him as a concubine must have been love clouding her mind. Fang Zichen no longer found it strange.
Old Master Wu himself knew that if blame were truly assigned, he could not escape it either. He had only this one grandson — his daughter's son — and it wasn't that he didn't dote on him.
"No rush." He said: "Yi Ger is still young. Lord Wang will not let his son act recklessly. Wang Wenjie, I can tell, is a man who lusts after beauty. Maybe in a few months he'll forget about Yi Ger."
Important figures want to save face, after all. Many people had their eyes on his position. One misstep and he could be pulled down.
Besides, Old Master Wu was still around. The Wang family would give him some face no matter what.
Yang Mingyi was a little over fifteen by nominal age, but truly counted, he was only thirteen. The Wang family definitely would not dare to forcibly take him.
[nominal age or traditional Chinese age (虛歲): the traditional Chinese way of counting age — a person is considered one year old at birth and gains a year at each Lunar New Year, not on their birthday. So someone who is 13 in actual years may be counted as 14 or 15.]
So Old Master Wu thought.
Wang Wenjie initially had the patience to "coax" Yang Mingyi. But Yang Mingyi kept avoiding him, never giving him a kind look. The gifts he sent, no matter how precious, were all returned untouched. Wang Wenjie thought Yang Mingyi was playing hard to get, and his heart burned with excitement. But as it happened more and more times, Wang Wenjie realized Yang Mingyi wasn't deliberately stringing him along — he was truly avoiding him. Wang Wenjie's patience ran out.
Just a merchant's ger. And he dared to look down on him?
But Yang Mingyi's aloof, lofty demeanor made his heart itch terribly.
Cold and pure, as if untouched by the mortal world. He wondered if the ger would be the same in bed.
Just thinking about it made his whole body boil with excitement. But he was currently studying at Qinghe Academy, and had to give Old Master Wu some face...
He dared not come openly, but secretly it was always possible — as long as he was careful enough not to leave a trace.
The Yang family began to face suppression.
Zuixiao Restaurant was forced to close.
Even the second and third brothers of the Yang family in Yuanzhou were affected. They all came back to persuade Yang Mutao to just agree. But Yang Mutao had only this one ger — how could he? He also dared not speak of Wang Wenjie's deeds. If it got out, it would harm his reputation. If Wang Wenjie lost his path to the imperial exams because of it, the Wang family would never forgive him.
The other party was a prefect, while he himself had no power or influence. To crush him would probably take no effort at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment