Chapter 208: Debate outside Shou'an Hall

"My dear little ancestor, why are you still acting like nothing happened?"

Seeing that Rulan still looked as if she had nothing to do with the matter, Mother Liu hurriedly urged:

"Didn't you hear what I just said? Madam Wu and Liang Liulang are here!"

"What does that have to do with me?"

After eating her fill, Rulan was bored and curled her temples with her slender fingers:
"You suddenly came to my house, are you here to play polo?"

At this point, Rulan touched her stomach and felt the fullness:
"It's so tiring, I won't go!"

Rulan immediately ran back to her room and hid there.

Compared to playing polo, she wanted to win the "debate" with Molan more. Besides, she had not finished copying the text that her father punished her to do the day before.

"What is polo, my sister?"

Mother Liu was quick-witted and grabbed Rulan, who was trying to escape, and pushed her towards Wang Ruofu's room.

Entered the house.

Mother Liu pressed Rulan in front of the dressing mirror and said:

"Didn't you hear me? Madam Wu just came to our house. Not only did she come herself, she also brought her youngest son, Liang Han."

Mother Liu signaled the maids behind her to help Rulan remove her jewelry, while she continued:

"Madam Wu might be thinking of matchmaking again, so she came to look for someone. Who knows, maybe it's for Liang Han."

Rulan still looked reluctant:
"What's the big deal? I have to comb my hair and change clothes again. I'm so tired!"

After saying this, Rulan pushed away the maid's hand on her hairpin and was about to leave.

Rulan and Wang Ruofu are almost cut from the same cloth, so Mother Liu has a lot of experience in dealing with them.

Rulan had just raised half of her body when Mother Liu grabbed her shoulders and pressed her down on the chair.

"?"

Rulan immediately turned her head and looked at Mother Liu with a look of strong dissatisfaction.

Unexpectedly, Mother Liu looked calm and composed. When Rulan looked over, she even grabbed her wrist and forced it into the basin in front of her.

"??"

When the two looked into each other's eyes, Rulan was defeated immediately and efficiently.

She could only frown, pout and let the maids deal with her.

However, in order to show her backbone, Rulan kept pouting her red lips, showing her resentment clearly on her face.

I can't resist, but I can protest!
Linqi Pavilion.

Like Rulan, Molan also had a tired look on her face.

no way.

Since they are currently in the middle of a debate competition, Molan copied books with Rulan and they also stayed up late last night.

Seeing Molan coming in, Lin Qinshuang quickly called her over:
"Mo'er, you're finally here! If you don't come, I'll go to your room to look for you!"

"What's wrong, girl? I stayed up all night last night." Molan said sleepily.

"Mrs. Wu is here! She brought Liang Han with her!"

Lin Qinshuang was no longer surprised by Molan's tired look these days, but she didn't care about it in the past. However, today was different.

Now that Liang Liulang is here, maybe Madam Wu is here to visit the Sheng family!
"Are you here to visit our house?" Molan asked curiously.

Lin Qinshuang turned her head and looked at Xuenniang beside her.

Xue Niang understood and immediately continued:

"They didn't talk for a while in the front hall before the eldest lady led them to Shou'an Hall. However, Madam Liu didn't follow them. Instead, she hurried into Weirui Pavilion. I think she went to call the fifth lady."

"This is it."

Molan smoothed her bangs and said softly:

"But Brother Yuanruo and I are already in love, so what does this have to do with me?"

Because Qi Heng always peeked at her before (actually he was looking at the purple-hair brush given to her by Minglan), Molan thought that Qi Heng had feelings for her, so she naturally looked down on Liang Han.

Moreover, Chang Feng often mentioned Liang Han, saying how good their relationship was and how they often had fun together.

Molan knew exactly what kind of person Changfeng was.

Being able to have fun together with Chang Feng, it is obvious that Liang Han is also a playboy who likes cockfighting, raising dogs, and hanging out in places of entertainment.

Compared with Qi Heng, a gentleman with strict family education and gentle manners, Liang Han seems even more unsightly.

Molan: My dear, don’t think too much about him. Just let your daughter marry Qi Heng!

After listening to Molan's argument, Lin Qinshuang pursed her lips, feeling quite helpless.

She just couldn't figure out whether her daughter was being blinded by greed.

Just because Qi Heng often saw her practicing calligraphy, does that mean he would marry no one else but her?
Considering that Qi Heng has not expressed anything else until now, Lin Qinshuang feels unreliable.

However, Lin Qinshuang couldn't bear to break her daughter's fantasy, so she just said:
"There is more than one young master in the world. It's always good to meet more people. Maybe you can see someone better from another family."

"Where can we find someone like Brother Yuan Ruo now?"

Molan argued in a low voice, but her tone was much softer than before. It was obvious that she was waiting for Lin Qinshuang to give her a way out.

"Mo'er, there is nothing absolutely certain in this world."

Lin Qinshuang said earnestly:

"Unless this young master has already given you a betrothal gift and arranged a matchmaker, you should still look around and see the world."

Someone: I think you are absolutely right.

"My Mo'er is so outstanding. Even if Qi Heng is a perfect person, it's not worth it for you to stay with him alone. What do you think?"

After hearing what her mother said, Molan convinced herself in her heart and nodded slowly.

"I just went to take a look, so it's not considered a violation of etiquette."

Seeing that Molan agreed, Lin Qinshuang couldn't help but be happy. She quickly asked Molan to bring the tea she had just ordered so that she could use it as an excuse to visit Shou'an Hall.

"I have prepared the tea, please go quickly."

Lin Qinshuang immediately urged:

"Mrs. Wu and the others are at the old lady's place. You can go there now to see them in the name of serving tea. If you leave Shou'an Hall, it will be difficult to go there."

Molan also knew that time was urgent.

Although he was a little hungry, he only stuffed a small cake into his mouth, hurriedly asked his personal maid Yun Zai to get some tea, and went to Shou'an Hall.

As soon as Molan arrived outside Shou'an Hall, she bumped into Rulan.

Molan was followed by a tea maid.

Rulan was also followed by a tea maid.

But Rulan is a pragmatic person.

What was brought was not the refreshing snacks, but the stomach-filling Qibao Lei Cha.

The two sisters looked at each other and were speechless for a moment. Today, the Sheng Family Debate Competition is open again!
"Didn't Fifth Sister say that she doesn't like to show up in public?"

Molan glanced at Rulan and continued:
"And what he brought was Qibao Lei Cha. Do you think he is as greedy as you are?"

Rulan was not willing to be outdone and immediately hit back:

"I forgot that my fourth sister is different from me. I don't like to be in the limelight, but I forgot that my fourth sister always likes to be in the spotlight."

"Besides, I was called here by my mother. How did Fourth Sister come here? Could it be that she was called here by my mother?"

Rulan's debating skills are improving day by day, and she knows how to touch Molan's minefield. She emphasizes the words "show up in public", "mother" and "little girl" in her words, as if she is afraid that Molan may not understand.

Molan was so angry that her face turned blue and white, her chest heaved violently, and she clenched the handkerchief in her hand tightly.

Just as she was about to fight back, she heard footsteps behind her. It turned out to be Mother Liu, who came outside to urge Rulan to come after she saw that she hadn't come for a long time.

Mother Liu walked out of the Chuihua Gate.

When he saw Rulan coming and was about to urge her, he also saw Molan beside him, and behind her was a maid holding a teacup.

Mother Liu reacted immediately and realized that Molan was well prepared.

"It seems that Lin Qige still has a lot of spies at home. Even though they don't leave the hospital on weekdays, they are still well-informed."

However, we still need to do some work to save our appearance.

Mother Liu immediately called out to Molan, "Fourth Miss."

After a brief greeting, Mother Liu, regardless of Molan being beside her, walked forward, grabbed Rulan's wrist, and walked into Shou'an Hall.

Whoever goes in later at this time will be embarrassed!

Rulan was very proud to see that she had someone to support her.

While being pulled inside, he turned around, stuck out his tongue at Molan and made faces.

Watching Mother Liu pulling Rulan into the house, Molan stood there in a daze for a long while.

Then she realized his "sinister intentions" and immediately picked up her skirt and rushed forward.

Inside Shou'an Hall.

Hualan, Old Madam Sheng, Wang Ruofu and Madam Wu were talking.

Because Minglan had always lived in Shou'an Hall, she was sitting at the bottom at this moment, pretending to be listening to the instructions.

There is a screen in the middle of the hall.

On the other side were Yang Wenyuan and others.

At this time, Rulan came in.

Wang Ruofu saw that Rulan had listened to her instructions and changed into bright clothes and came in. She immediately smiled and introduced her to Madam Wu:

"Mrs. Wu, this is my fifth daughter."

After saying this, Wang Ruofu turned to look at Rulan:
"Ruru, call the Earl's wife!"

In front of outsiders, Rulan was still able to maintain a dignified and graceful appearance, and immediately nodded slightly:
"The Earl's wife is well!"

Madam Wu nodded slowly and said gently:

"Rulan, right? I saw her on the polo field last year!"

Wang Ruofu raised her eyebrows and motioned for Rulan to serve tea, and said with a smile:

"Yes, yes! I forgot about that."

Rulan had just brought the tea when Molan came in again.

Seeing that the person coming was Molan, Wang Ruofu's face froze immediately. Seeing that Mrs. Wu next to her had an intriguing expression on her face, although she was unhappy, she didn't want to reveal the family conflict to others, so she could only force a smile and said:

"This is my fourth daughter."

Madam Wu nodded slightly and said thoughtfully:

"Yeah, I've seen that too."

Wang Ruofu felt relieved when she saw Mrs. Wu's cold attitude, which seemed to indicate that she had no good impression of Molan.

Molan also came into the room with the excuse of serving tea. Wang Ruofu didn't want to let Molan just stand there, so she asked her and Rulan to serve the tea together.

When Rulan and Molan walked to the other side of the screen, they happened to hear several people in the room discussing their previous hard work in studying.

You can also think of it as reminiscing about the glorious past in front of others after an exam.

"Sitting in the classroom at 2:15 am, teaching one essay every five days, and having no rest for nearly a month..." In order to show off his hard work and perseverance in front of others, Yang Wenyuan had to exaggerate the story.

"We have to sit in the hall at 2:15 a.m."

Liang Han was right. He thought about how he had just woken up at 7:00 this morning and was already exhausted. He had never expected that Yang Wenyuan's study life would be so hard. His jaw dropped in shock and he immediately said:
"How did you get up?"

Yang Wenyuan was happy in his heart, but he remained calm and said proudly:

"Actually, it's been rare for me to do this since this time, but..."

Yang Wenyuan continued to talk seriously:
"I didn't learn martial arts since I was a child. I am weak, so I can only rely on studying."

Thin body...

Changbai, who was standing by, couldn't help but show a strange expression after hearing this.

Brother-in-law, you can go out of the house wearing only an overcoat in the middle of winter without catching a cold. Now you tell me that you are frail?
So what am I?
Sickly? Frail?
Liang Han showed an expression of deep approval.

Yang Wenyuan's health is not as good as mine. I was still fighting with the maid at home until late at night last night, but he was able to get up early this morning and go out to visit.

Just a little soreness in the waist.

However, Yang Wenyuan's status and position are much higher than Liang Han's, and there is a title waiting for him to inherit in his family.

When Liang Han compared the fact that Yang Wenyuan was working from dawn to dusk while he was still enjoying himself in the land of pleasure, he felt even more proud and couldn't help but speak frivolously:

"Brother Yang, Brother Yang, why are you doing this? You and I are from aristocratic families, and we have the support of our ancestors. You are talented and ambitious but you insist on taking the imperial examination, but I should just wait for their support."

Hearing Liang Han's slightly boastful "good advice", Yang Wenyuan was very happy and laughed:

"No matter how tiring the scientific examination is, you have to give it a try."

The official position that is given to you by someone else is of the same caliber as the one that you get through the exam yourself.

Unless you can always be favored by the emperor, the upper limit of the official position you can get by relying on his protection is already there. You can only hang around in the lower-middle level of officialdom for your whole life, and at most you can only be at the same level as Sheng Hong now.

Yang Wenyuan naturally didn't want to.

Even if Yang Wenyuan inherited another title, he could only rely on military generals in the end and would be constrained by civil officials no matter what. This was what Yang Wenyuan did not want to see.

If one wants to hold power in the imperial court in the Great Zhou Dynasty, what is the use of having a military title alone?

Of course, this does not mean that Yang Wenyuan will completely abandon the military merit group and turn to the civil service path like the Duke of Qi's Mansion.

But he wants both!

If a military general puts on the skin of a civil official, everything will be easy!
Indeed, under normal circumstances, Yang Wenyuan's vision would certainly not be realized. After all, no sober-minded emperor would allow his ministers to straddle both the civil and military fields and wield both the pen and the gun.

Either continue to serve in the army, or switch to civilian work and completely leave the military group. This should be the normal route for the children of nobles after passing the imperial examination.

But isn’t the time point at which Yang Wenyuan is at abnormal?
'The court is a long scroll, and anyone would like to paint on it and display their ambitions, but I want to be more, not a picture mounter, nor a tiler who makes repairs and patchwork, but a painter with a pen.'

Yang Wenyuan didn't want to make this trip in vain.

(End of this chapter)