manynovel Chapter 385: Letter from the capital, the conditions of the family
Chapter 385: Letter from the capital, the conditions of the family
Steward Zhou glanced at the emperor cautiously, only to find that the emperor was in a daze.
"Your Majesty, do you still need to summon the two princes?"
The emperor came back to his senses immediately and said, "No need, it's getting late, let's talk tomorrow."
The results of this fundraising have been written into a memorial by officials from the Ministry of Revenue and sent back to the capital at full speed.
He picked up the memorial at hand, opened it and read it again.
This time the second son's performance was actually better than the fourth son's. Looking back, he felt that the second son seemed to have come to the fore in the past two years and had done his job perfectly.
But the second brother, after all...
The emperor sighed and his eyes fell on the file beside him. After he opened it, he looked at Jiang Youzhen's name on it.
Jiang Youzhen! He was thoughtful. It will be soon! The court will soon be filled with blood and gore.
Jiang Youzhen and Qian Chongen agreed to hold the apprenticeship ceremony two days later, and Qian Chongen and his wife went back happily.
"Master, you look so happy today." Kong's mood also improved as she watched Qian Chongen, who was still smiling as he got into the carriage.
"Well! One feels refreshed when good things happen to him!" Qian Chongen nodded. Thinking of his plan, he wanted to say something but stopped himself. In the end, he didn't say it out loud.
The two returned to the house. Qian Chongen was about to go back to the study when he was stopped by the steward.
"Master! There is a letter from the capital."
"Beijing?" Qian Chongen was stunned.
He took the letter and returned to the study.
Looking at the flamboyant handwriting on the envelope, Qian Chongen was unable to reply.
"Master!" Kong put her hand on Qian Chongen's shoulder, giving him silent comfort.
"Ha!" Qian Chongen laughed at himself, "I didn't expect that the direct branch of the capital city would actually send a letter, and it was actually the clan leader who sent the letter personally."
Qian Chongen took a deep breath and opened the letter.
However, the more he looked at it, the uglier his expression became. "Bang!"
He slammed the letter on the desk and said, "I was wondering why you would write to me. It turns out you have some ulterior motive."
"Master! What's wrong?" Kong asked worriedly.
"This is too much! He looked down on me and didn't even want me to enter his family. Now he's actually saying he wants to find me a job and send me out as a county magistrate."
"This? Why would our relatives in the capital suddenly change their attitude? When the master asked for an official position in a remote area, our relatives did not agree." But when it came to this, Kong felt sorry for the master.
Although the Qian family was not considered a top family in the capital, it was not bad. But when the master wanted to be sent out, those people disagreed, saying that the master should concentrate on studying and make plans after passing the imperial examination.
In fact, she was unwilling to make plans for the master, and even sent a message to the Ministry of Personnel, saying that she did not need to consider the Qian family's face.
Because of this incident, the master was so angry that he fell seriously ill. He originally planned to take the imperial examination, but later he became discouraged.
"But no matter how you look at it, this is a good thing!" Kong's face showed some joy, and the other party actually relaxed.
"Why do you think they are suddenly so kind? Of course their motives are not pure." Qian Chongen sneered.
"What do you mean? We have already retreated to this point, what else can they plot against us?" Kong was puzzled.
"We don't have it, and their target is not us." Qian Chongen explained the final reason in Kong's puzzled eyes.
"It's because of Jiang Youzhen!"
"Jiang Youzhen? What does that mean? Isn't she a scholar now? What's more, she comes from a peasant family. What does it have to do with her?" Kong was very puzzled.
"We have a keen eye for identifying pearls, so why can't others recognize gold and jade? Of course it's because of Jiang Youzhen's ability."
Qian Chongen sighed, "Qian Songyun has been a scholar in the Hanlin Academy for many years, but he is only a fifth-rank official. Doesn't he want to be promoted? He has long been eyeing a vacancy in the Censorate, but unfortunately he has no connections. Now Qian Songyun's wife has attached herself to the wife of the Right Censor-in-Chief, and wants to join the Fourth Prince's army."
Although he did not enter the court, he was not completely ignorant of court affairs.
"The Fourth Prince?" Kong suddenly realized, "Could it be that the Fourth Prince was attracted by Jiang Youzhen's ability and wanted to win him over. But Jiang Youzhen just didn't want to, so he resorted to this desperate measure?"
"That's about it. I've gone through so much trouble for this purpose."
Qian Chongen sneered repeatedly, "You are scheming too much. I didn't know much about the Fourth Prince before, but I heard that he was kind-hearted, protective of his subordinates, and did things in an upright manner. Now it seems that he is just like that. Is there anyone in the royal family who is pure and kind? It's all just an appearance!"
"Master, be careful with your words, there may be ears on the other side of the wall!" Kong was frightened and hurried to stop him.
"Why not? Is this really fair? Jiang Youzhen is actually a smart kid. She must be unwilling because the Fourth Prince hasn't impressed her yet. A superior should win people over with virtue. How can he use such means? It's disgusting!"
"Are you worrying too much? Jiang Youzhen is just a scholar at the moment, why is it so necessary?" Kong still found it a little unconvincing. The Fourth Prince had many capable people under his command, so why would he be like this?
"Here? This is a letter, take a look!" Qian Chongen said as he handed over the letter.
"Qian Songyun clearly wrote in the letter that he wanted to surrender to the Fourth Prince and asked me to accept Jiang Youzhen as my apprentice and bring Jiang Youzhen under the Fourth Prince's command."
"This? Isn't this asking you to use your status as a senior to pressure her?"
Kong sighed, but when she saw the words below saying that she was seeking the position of magistrate of Shengnan Prefecture, her eyes flickered and she held the letter tightly.
Shengnan Prefecture is located in the south of the Yangtze River and is very prosperous. If I can go to Shengnan Prefecture to be a county magistrate, my daughter will definitely be able to find a good home in the future.
With money and an official position, his daughter is also a daughter of an official family, and her status has risen. Now the master is just an instructor of the eighth rank and the status is far different.
"Yes! I definitely can't do that."
Qian Chongen didn't intend to pay attention to it. As for becoming an official, he disdained such exchange conditions.
"Master, have you ever thought about taking the imperial examination again?" Kong suddenly asked.
Qian Chongen was stunned. "My father and mother passed away one after another, and I observed mourning for a total of six years. Then something unexpected happened, and I no longer have the same enthusiasm as before."
It's not that he doesn't have regrets, but he has average talent and relies on hard work. Now that he hasn't played for many years, he is indeed a little worried about his future.
He was immersed in his own thoughts and did not notice anything unusual about Kong.
"But now that I have to be Jiang Youzhen's teacher, I suddenly feel that my status is indeed low. Perhaps, I should also move up a level and give it a try."
"Is the master really going to die?" Kong was a little surprised.
"Yes! It's impossible that Jiang Youzhen will pass the imperial examination and become an official, while I am still just a juren, teaching in the provincial school, right?"
"But sir, you are already so old."
"You didn't see those white-haired old men in the examination room. My age is nothing. There are many people older than me in the examination room."
Qian Chongen wanted to laugh. He was only thirty-five or thirty-six. Not old, right?
Kong was silent. Seeing the master regaining his confidence, she didn't know how to persuade him because the master had not been in power for fifteen years.