"Yuan Ruo, I heard that you did a good job in the examination. Congratulations. I wish you can succeed in the next spring and be named on the gold list."
When he arrived at Shou'an Hall, after greeting the old lady, Sheng Changbai said politely to Qi Heng.
Qi Heng was one of the many officials and officials who took part in the Bianliang "Biantou Examination" and was among the top 100 or so, and one of those who had the best chance of becoming a Jinshi.
Considering that Qi Heng is only one year younger than Sheng Changbai and one year older than Chang Feng, this is very outstanding.
Qi Heng has a handsome appearance, a gentle and humble temperament, and is diligent and motivated in his studies.
This is in sharp contrast to Gu Tingye, who has a vicious temperament, is unruly and does not do his job properly.
The reputations of the two people are at two extremes among the noble disciples.
In the marriage and love market, the reputation of two people is also reflected in a very realistic way.
Gu Tingye begged hard, but could not get the favor of a noble girl from a high family.
Qi Heng is the opposite. There are countless noble officials and families in the capital who want to marry their daughters to Qi Heng.
"Thank you for your kind words from Brother Zecheng."
Qi Heng's gentle and humble personality is not just for words. He and Sheng Changbai can also be called brothers.
Calling brothers and brothers did not start after Sheng Changbai passed the exam and gained a future.
Qi Heng began to get along with the children of the sixth-rank officials in the Sheng family as a family friend since he came to study in the Sheng family.
"Meet my grandmother and meet my brother Yuanruo."
At this time, the three Lans filed in and all ran to the main hall of Shou'an Hall.
"Yuan Ruo, our subject is going to end together. When spring comes, we can finally have a try." Sheng Changfeng was followed behind.
Except for the little kid, Sheng Xiaoqi, and the whole younger generation of the Sheng family, they all went out.
"No, Yuan Ruo, you are very knowledgeable." After replying to Qi Heng, Sheng Changbai looked at the old lady: "Grandma, why did you call all the sisters out?"
At this time, Qi Heng is much more dangerous than Gu Tingye.
I didn’t say anything at first, just relying on the appearance of Qiheng Bianjing’s most handsome man.
How could these young girls from the Sheng family, who were eleven, twelve, or three years old and had just begun to have an affair, withstand it?
Sheng Changbai was somewhat unhappy with the old lady asking the three orchids of the Sheng family to come out to see Qi Heng.
"Let's talk about our two families. We are family friends, so it is appropriate for your sisters to come out and meet Yuan Ruo." Mrs. Sheng said with a smile.
The old lady did not regard Qi Heng as an outsider, and her love for Qi Heng could not be hidden at all.
Qi Heng's charm is not only for young girls, but also more lethal for middle-aged and older women.
She is handsome, gentle and elegant, and has read poetry and books, and she has grown up to the point of an old lady.
When the old lady first approached Mr. Sheng to explore the beauty, this was the selection criteria.
The family relationship between the two families was cultivated because the Duke of Guo was polite and wanted to rub shoulders with the scholars of the Sheng family. It was actually very weak.
It was all the woman's socializing. Mrs. Sheng was born in a marquis's house, and was a generation above her in the Duke's house. It was inevitable that she would have some social interactions and be familiar with each other.
Wang Ruofu was born in the Grand Master's Mansion, and his family status was not inferior to that of the Duke of Guo's Mansion. The two families could get along well with each other. The Wang family was also a wealthy family, and they were somewhat related to the Duke of Guo's Mansion.
Such a low-level friendship is just a face-saving relationship, far from being a good match for the whole family. There is no need for the daughter of the Sheng family to meet Qi Heng, a foreigner.
It was the old lady's preference and wanted to show her closeness to Qi Heng that she called the girls out.
"Brother Yuanruo, you haven't been to our house for a while!"
When Sheng Laosi Mo Lan saw Qi Heng, she couldn't help but coquettishly, flirted, walked to Qi Heng's side, and said to Qi Heng coquettishly.
It doesn't matter whether he likes Qi Heng or not. Mo Lan, who has obtained Lin Zongshuang's true biography, vows to marry into a high family.
The background of Duke Qi Heng's family, apart from being a royal relative, could not be higher. In Mo Lan's opinion, he is the best candidate for a golden turtle son-in-law.
"Brother Yuanruo, I haven't seen you for a long time."
Seeing Mo Lan getting close to Qi Heng, Ru Lan couldn't bear it, so she imitated Mo Lan and got close to Qi Heng.
Because Mo Lan has robbed Ru Lan of too many things since she was a child.
Ru Lan didn't want to suffer any loss, so she also liked to steal Mo Lan's things.
When she sees something Mo Lan likes, she instinctively wants to fight for it. It has become a habit. Even if it is a living person, Ru Lan does not flinch and follows Qi Heng.
"Brother Yuan Ruo, long time no see."
Although Minglan did not join the fight between the two, her big eyes were fixed on Qi Heng, and she could not resist Qi Heng's charm.
Not to mention Sanlan, I don't usually have contact with any foreign men, I don't have much knowledge, and I haven't seen any men.
Even if Sanlan was given contact with some foreign men, and all over Bianjing were looking for them, there would be few with better overall conditions than Qi Heng.
There is an older brother who is still Sanlan, Sheng Changbai himself.
Even when it comes to individual items, not many others can compare with Qi Heng.
It's really not surprising that the three Lans are more or less attracted to Qi Heng.
"Yuan Ruo, you are about to take the imperial examination. I recently got a collection of essays by a great scholar, which contains articles on imperial examination policy. Let's take a look at it together."
Sanlan was called here by the old lady, and Sheng Changbai couldn't control it.
But Sheng Changbai can't do anything, he can choose to take Qi Heng away.
A group of boys and girls should not get together if they know it is impossible.
No matter how smart the old lady is, she still does stupid things.
Knowing that there is such a big gap in family status between the Sheng family and the Duke's family, it is impossible for them to get married.
It also creates opportunities for these young boys and girls, who are just starting to fall in love and are emotionally ignorant, to be together.
"Where is the book?"
Qi Heng's attitude towards the anthology is still quite impatient, and he doesn't seem to have started to become abnormal yet. He is thinking about the little girl Minglan, and there is still hope.
Qi Heng's current focus is obviously to satisfy his mother and win the imperial examination.
"In my study, let's go to the study to talk. In the past few years, I have copied many rare classics in Shao Wenguan, and I will show you them."
Collecting different books is what every literati family does.
Sheng Changbai works in the National Library, so collection is convenient enough.
Whether it is a collection of serious classics and history, or legal, Confucian, Taoist, Mohist, or agricultural.
If Sheng Changbai found the miscellaneous mountain, medicine, horoscope, fortune telling, and divination useful, he would copy it down while practicing calligraphy to enrich the Sheng family's book collection.
By this time, the Sheng family's collection of books was already considerable.
With ten thousand volumes of books, even if the Sheng family built a private library, it would be enough.
Sheng Hong couldn't live without the poetry and calligraphy heirlooms on his lips, and he didn't just talk about it.
Over the years, the Sheng family's considerable wealth has been spent on collecting books.
Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai would buy books when they went shopping and visited bookstores.
"Old lady, I think." Qi Heng looked at the old lady expectantly.
"Yuan Ruo, please follow Brother Bai to the study. Remember to return to Shou'an Hall when you have dinner. I'll wait for you to have a meal together." The old lady was very reluctant to leave, and wanted to keep Qi Heng and have a banquet in Shou'an Hall. pause.
"Grandma, then I will take Yuan Ruo to the study."
Sheng Changbai said quickly, fearing that if he walked too slowly, Shou'antang would become a large-scale sex scene for women.
"Second brother, wait for me. You have a collection of essays by a great scholar. Why don't you show it to me first?"
Sheng Changbai and Qi Heng came out, and Sheng Laosan followed them.
No matter what, the family tradition of the Sheng family is much better than that of the Red Mansion Rongguo Mansion.
No matter what Sheng Changfeng did, he never raised Jia Baoyu, a grown man who liked to hang out in the inner house.
Sheng Changfeng was mostly taken care of by Lin Zongshuang and Mo Lan, and he liked to get involved in the back-house fights.
Essentially, as long as Lin Qige doesn't suffer any loss, Chang Feng doesn't like to get involved in family affairs.
"In my study, there are many books written by great Confucian scholars, and there are also many books on imperial examinations. How many have you read?" Sheng Changbai asked.
"Normally, you don't let me enter your study?"
Chang Feng followed behind and muttered.
Sheng Changbai turned around and said, "When I asked you to go in, I didn't read the books on your imperial examination. Since you want to read them, I will pick a few books for you when you get there. After you finish reading them, I will check them out. Your homework."
Sheng Changbai didn't want to go too far in disciplining Chang Feng. Sheng Changbai felt that Lin Zongshuang had always thought that Sheng Changbai wanted to harm Chang Feng and liked to take the opportunity to cause trouble.
It's not worth it for Lin Zongshuang to find trouble for the sake of Sheng Changfeng.
But when he really wanted to control Sheng Changfeng, Sheng Changbai was not without means.
When you get to the study room, there are too many things to kill time.
Whether it is the classics and meanings of great Confucian scholars, various treasured classics, ancient copies of ancestors, calligraphy and painting by famous people, and copybooks.
Even admiring the collection of precious Four Treasures of the Study is enough to kill time.
After arriving in the study, it was not until lunch that the old lady sent someone to urge him, and Sheng Changbai let Qi Heng out.
After having a meal at Shou'an Hall, Sheng Changbai personally sent Qi Heng away, which reassured him.
The whole thing is the mentality of an old father trying to prevent his daughter from falling in love prematurely.
…
"Be leisurely, chaste and quiet, keep the rules and orderly, behave with shame, move and still in accordance with the law. Rulan, can you tell me what you mean?"
After Qi Heng left, Sheng Changbai sent someone to call Rulan and Minglan to his courtyard.
"Be elegant and leisurely, stay chaste, dress neatly, behave with moderation and know shame, and have laws in both actions and stillness. This is a woman's virtue." Ru Lan lowered her head and murmured in reply.
"Since you know what it means, what are you doing in front of Qi Heng, the foreigner, in the old lady's courtyard?"
Ru Lan must be strictly managed, otherwise she will continue to be bold and dare to fall in love freely on her own and make a private life-long commitment with someone.
Not to mention feudal society, even in an enlightened modern society, it is too much to make a lifelong decision with someone without going through your parents.
Since we are living in this era, we must abide by the rules of this era.
Sheng Changbai could choose a husband for Ru Lan that Ru Lan liked, but it would definitely not be decided through a secret date with Ru Lan herself.
It is good to pursue your own love, and Sheng Changbai can also support it to a certain extent.
But they are secretive, give and receive privately, show no restraint, and do not care about shame.
It is not a good thing to use the reputation of all the female members of the clan to pursue your own love without considering the consequences.
"It belongs to Mr. Mo Lan." Ru Lan said aggrievedly.
"Mo Lan has her own little mother to take care of her. I will take care of you now. Have you read "The Female Ring" for so many years in vain? Where have you read it after so many years of reading?"
After all, she is a woman from an official family. She doesn't show any basic restraint or shame, and she is still very uneducated.
"Uh-huh." Sheng Changbai was used to being pampered, and after a few words of reprimand, Rulan started sobbing.
"Why are you crying? You didn't do anything wrong by crying. Give me the ring five times and I'll take it next time. If you can't finish it, don't blame me. I'll go find your father and do whatever you want to do to you."
."
"Second brother, fifth sister is just trying to fight against fourth sister. She didn't mean to be unruly." Minglan helped Rulan put in a good word.
"Minglan, I asked you to come with me just to let you know where Rulan went wrong. This time, Rulan is punished to copy the book. You can't help her. You have to let her write it by herself to give her some time. Normal homework,
You can copy a little bit for her. For the sake of your deep love as sisters, I won't care. You don't really think that your second brother, I, and I can both pass the Jinshi exam and can't distinguish your handwriting?"
This is a superficial reason, but the real reason is that Sheng Changbai wanted to scare the monkeys, so he also warned Minglan.
I stopped thinking about Minglan and Qi Heng, and I stopped thinking about it when I had no feelings, so I don't have to worry about it in the future.
To be honest, Qi Heng may be a bad person, but he is still a waste of his wife.
Even if he had three wives, his combined life would not last more than a few years with Qi Heng.
…
"Sir, today Mrs. Yu brought Miss Yanran to the house to find the old lady."
"Sir, your aunt, Mrs. Kang of the Kangwang family, has returned to Beijing and came to visit her today."
He said that in order for Chang Feng to prepare for the exam, he had to be quiet at home, reduce social interactions, and reduce banquets.
However, the necessary social interactions at home cannot be completely eliminated. I still keep walking around with some close people.
During this autumn and winter, there are also some favors moving around in the family.
Mrs. Yu’s wife is Mrs. Sheng, and she gave her a handkerchief when she was still a young lady from the Hou Mansion.
After coming to Beijing from the Sheng family, the two old ladies resumed their contact.
Because Mrs. Yu has already retired as an official, the relationship between the two old ladies has nothing to do with politics, only feelings.
The old lady of the Sheng family has a granddaughter, Sheng Minglan, and the old lady of the Yu family also has a granddaughter, Yu Yanran.
Although Yu Yanran is a few years older than Minglan, the two have become close friends because of their interactions with the old ladies from the two families, their frequent contact and their similar personalities.
In fact, based on the friendship between Mrs. Sheng and Mrs. Yu, Sheng Changbai had a good chance of marrying Yu Yanran.
Both Mrs. Sheng and Mrs. Yu also have this meaning.
The reason why Yu Yanran often came to the house was that Sheng Changbai also didn't see Yu Yanran often.
Generally speaking, Sheng Changbai is also satisfied with Yu Yanran. She has beautiful appearance, gentle and pleasant personality, honest and virtuous personality, and she seems to be a very good girl.
But Yu Yanran's father didn't like that Sheng Hong was just a fifth-rank official like himself. After testing the matter, nothing happened.
It doesn't matter how much potential Sheng Changbai has, Yu Yanran's father just wants to find a capable in-law to help him in his career.
It just so happened that Sheng Hong had the same requirement for Sheng Changbai's marriage.
There is a fundamental conflict between the two families' demands for marriage, so it is impossible.
Sheng Changbai's aunt, Wang Ruofu of the Kang Wang family, came to Sheng's house to find Wang Ruofu, and there was nothing good she could do.
The Kang family moved to the capital from their hometown just to facilitate Uncle Kang's rehabilitation. Wang Ruoyu came to the Sheng family at this time, of course, because he wanted the Sheng family father and son to help Uncle Kang recover.
This matter is actually quite embarrassing. Uncle Kang resigned from office because of his father Ding You's death.
It would have been a very simple thing to make a recovery, but Uncle Kang had been fathering Dingyou for three years and had several children. This caused a big problem. It was considered unfilial and his moral conduct was lacking.
During the period of Ding You, a filial son should have a simple diet, not drink alcohol, not sleep with his wife, concubines, not listen to silk music, and not engage in entertainment activities.
This country was governed by filial piety. Uncle Kang kept his filial piety and had children with his concubines, thus losing his future.
