20demayo Chapter 113
Chapter 113
Chapter 113
The daughter of a prominent family learned the rules of etiquette from a young age and was very courteous in her interactions with others.
But this does not mean that they are mature in thought; it is just a kind of upbringing that they have learned from childhood and is engraved in their bones.
Just like poor children learn to be independent early, they have to mature for survival, which is different from mental maturity.
Minglan is definitely the most mature woman he knows in terms of mindset.
If he had married Minglan, he wouldn't have ended up with an immature young girl after marriage.
From this perspective, he was inclined to choose Minglan.
However, from a long-term perspective, Wang You felt that marrying the Princess of Jiacheng County was not a bad idea.
If Prince Yong succeeds to the throne, Princess Jiacheng will become a princess.
At that time, Wang You would be a member of the imperial family, and his power and status would be guaranteed.
Although the Song Dynasty had a rule that a prince consort could not hold a substantive official position, marrying the Princess of Jiacheng County could circumvent this rule.
As long as he marries Princess Jiacheng before the Prince of Yong ascends the throne, that will be fine.
After all, he married a county princess, not a princess. Later, she was promoted to princess, so even if someone brought this up, there was still an excuse to refute it.
Unfortunately, Princess Jiacheng seems to be a sucker for good looks. Wang You is not bad-looking, but compared to Qi Heng, he is still a bit lacking.
"Ugh."
Wang You sighed.
He's almost seventeen, and getting married is something he has to consider.
Shaking his head to clear his mind, Wang You began to think about his recent encounter with Zhao Sheng.
The polo match six years ago revealed that he and Zhao Sheng knew each other.
Grandma Wang kept a strict eye on him; aside from studying at the Sheng family's house, he could only go to the Hai family's house.
The rest of the time, going out is a luxury.
Since that incident, he and Zhao Sheng have never met in private.
More than a year later, seeing that he had been very well-behaved, his family relaxed their control over him considerably.
Wang Youcai secretly sent a letter to Zhao Sheng.
The two then ceased all contact, both publicly and privately.
However, he has been keeping an eye on news related to Prince Yong and Prince Chong.
Over the years, the Prince of Yong and the Prince of Yan have been trying to win over the court officials. As the crown prince, Zhao Sheng usually tries to win over the sons of those officials.
Those people who were with Zhao Sheng just now should all be sons of officials whose families support the Prince of Yong.
The two men's efforts to win over officials, in a sense, maintained a balance, which was exactly what the government wanted.
Why did Wang You and Zhao Sheng suggest that the Prince of Yong should not try to win over officials?
The reason is that once Prince Yong and Prince Chong both win over officials, the emperor can secretly favor one side when the other is in a weaker position.
Despite the prevailing rumors that the Prince of Yong was mediocre and the Prince of Yan was capable, the situation remains unchanged.
Popular support for Prince Chong was also stronger than that for Prince Yong.
However, the support for the two men among officials in the court was almost equal.
The reason they were able to maintain this balance was because the government was secretly manipulating things.
Without government manipulation, the number of officials supporting Prince Yong far exceeded that supporting Prince Chong.
Offspring are only one aspect; there is another important factor.
The mother of the Prince of Yong was from a family of civil officials, while the mother of the Prince of Chong was from a family of military officers.
Don't underestimate this relationship.
When Liu Bei entered Xuzhou, he took the Mi family as his concubine; when he entered Shu, he took the Wu family as his concubine.
After Li Shimin entered Guanzhong, he married a widow from the Wei family.
This was done to appease the local powerful families and clans, so that the group could be accepted and recognized by them more quickly.
However, the marriage they arranged was only with one aristocratic family, and that family could not fully represent the other aristocratic families.
Why would those aristocratic families approve of a marriage alliance when the other party is willing to marry?
Ultimately, it comes down to intermarriage; almost all the prominent local families have intermarriages with each other.
The same was true in the Song Dynasty, where marriages between military families and civil officials were very frequent.
Prince Chong's mother came from a military family, and because of this relationship, she would naturally be close to military families and martial prowess.
The same applies to the Prince of Yong.
Even if they don't actually have this thought, the others won't believe it.
Therefore, the civil officials naturally favored the Prince of Yong.
Those who were eager to take sides at the beginning were mostly officials of low rank.
The higher the official rank, the less eager one is to take sides.
It's not that those officials are short-sighted, but that they had no choice.
Their official positions were not high to begin with. If they did not choose sides early on, those with higher official positions and statuses would choose sides later, and by then it would be too late for them to do so.
At first, Prince Yong had an overwhelming advantage, but this was not what the emperor wanted.
Therefore, the emperor gave Prince Yong and Prince Chong each a difficult task. After the tasks were completed, the emperor gave Prince Yong a severe scolding in court, showing that he was very disappointed in Prince Yong.
Then he praised the King of Yan highly and gave him many rewards.
Those who were still observing saw that the Emperor was clearly more satisfied with making him a prince.
Those who thought they had seen through the situation naturally sided with the Prince Chong.
The reason why the government does this is very simple: once a certain entity gains an overwhelming advantage, its supporters will inevitably petition for the establishment of an heir apparent.
Only when the two are evenly matched and fight each other can the balance be maintained.
If the Prince of Yong does not win over his court officials, and even actively keeps his distance from those who want to pledge allegiance to him...
There will likely be two outcomes: Prince Chong will win over some supporters, who will then petition for the establishment of an heir apparent, which will greatly displease the emperor.
Another possibility is that the emperor is somewhat dissatisfied with the Prince of Yong's lack of ambition and will use some means to force him to compete.
Wang You felt that it was more likely that both were possible.
If the Prince of Yong were to show any sign of resistance, the Emperor would use even more methods to force him to fight for it.
However, to others, the Emperor's actions were seen as a sign that he favored the Prince of Yong.
Over time, this understanding will become deeply ingrained in people's minds.
As for whether the Emperor might pass the throne to the Prince of Yan because the Prince of Yong didn't want to compete for it, or because he felt the Prince of Yong had no interest in the throne.
There's really no need to worry.
The Emperor's final choice of Prince Yong was not because he was particularly satisfied with him, but because he had no better option.
This might allow them to determine the heir apparent sooner than before.
Unfortunately, the Prince of Yong did not listen to him.
"Second brother!"
Back home, Wang You had just stepped through the side gate of the central courtyard when a voice suddenly came from the side, startling him.
"Ha ha."
Seeing that Wang You was startled, Mu Jie'er laughed heartily.
"Look at yourself now."
Wang You rolled his eyes at her and said irritably, "Where's your decorum and manners?"
Mu Jie'er clasped her hands in front of her abdomen, squatted slightly, smiled, and said softly, "Second brother, please forgive me, I didn't mean it."
"Alright, just pretend in front of outsiders." Wang You looked on with a headache.
The little girl from back then is now ten years old. She was sent to the Hai family school when she was six.
In just one year, he won the praise and affection of several female teachers at Haijia Academy.
The female teachers at the Hai Family Women's Academy are all of extraordinary status.
Hai Wenqing had five brothers; two served at the Imperial Academy in Bianjing (Kaifeng), and one served in another region.
The youngest son has not yet entered officialdom and is currently serving his father in his hometown.
The Hai Family Girls' Academy was established by Hai Wenqing's wife and two sisters-in-law.
Given the Hai family's social standing, the wives of the brothers were all from scholarly families.
Coupled with the noble reputation of the Hai family, they enjoyed a very good reputation among the officials' families in Bianjing.
Mu Jie'er was praised and loved by them, and her fame quickly spread among the wives and relatives of officials in Bianjing.
Although Mu Jie'er is only ten years old, in the past two years, many families have come to the door, hinting that they want to form a marriage alliance with the Wang family and arrange a marriage between their eldest son and Mu Jie'er.
Go out and ask around; as soon as you mention the fourth daughter of the Wang family, everyone will praise her as knowledgeable, polite, gentle, and virtuous.
But only Wang You knew that it was all an act by Mu Jie'er.
In reality, she is quirky and mischievous by nature, and the concepts of gentleness and virtue are completely foreign to her.
It's not entirely fair to say it's an act; it's just that her quirky and mischievous nature only shines through with her family.
Upon hearing this, Mu Jie'er pouted and said unhappily, "Second brother, I overheard Father and Mother talking about your marriage and wanted to tell you. I've been waiting for you here for a long time. Since you don't want to hear it, then forget it."
After saying that, he turned to leave.
"etc!"
Wang You quickly grabbed his younger sister, waved for the maid to leave, and said, "Tell me, what did Father and Mother say?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Jie'er simply smiled and looked at Wang You without saying a word.
"One hundred taels."
"My parents have found a girl they like."
"Two hundred, any more is fine, anyway, my parents will tell me sooner or later."
"My second brother promised to accompany me on a picnic to Xiliu Village tomorrow."
"Okay, you can tell me now?"
Mu Jie looked around and whispered, "My parents have taken a liking to Cousin Rulan. I heard that my aunt mentioned it when she came back last time, and my grandmother also has the same idea. My parents don't object to it."
"understood."
Wang You said, "I'm going to pay my respects to my grandmother. Are you coming?"
"No, Second Brother, why aren't you surprised or worried at all?"
Mu Jie'er didn't see the reaction she wanted on Wang You's face, and asked with some confusion.
"I already guessed it, I was just playing along with your antics." Wang You tapped her forehead.
"What the hell?"
Mu Jie'er slapped his hand away and said, "You're definitely faking it. Father and Mother never mentioned it before, how could you have guessed?"
"Haven't you noticed that ever since Auntie came last time, Father and Mother have been mentioning Cousin Rulan more often?" Wang You said.
Mu Jie thought for a moment, then stamped her foot and said, "How could I not have thought of that?"
"Hehe, you still have a lot to learn."
There was one thing Wang You didn't mention: the reason his parents wanted him to marry Rulan was also related to the power struggle between Prince Yong and Prince Chong.
The two men's efforts to win over officials were no longer limited to those in the imperial court; they also sought to win over high-ranking local officials.
After all, the officials who led the way were already of a high rank, and once they were promoted to the capital, they could all hold important positions.
In recent years, quite a few families have expressed interest in marrying their daughters to Wang You through marriage alliances.
Many of them came from families no less prestigious than the Wang family.
After all, Hai Wenqing had already left the Hanlin Academy and was now serving as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.
The emperor even personally appointed him as the chief examiner for the imperial examination the following year.
After the imperial examinations are over, there is a good chance that he will advance further.
Given how highly the emperor values Hai Wenqing, it won't be long before he becomes prime minister.
Although Wang You is still just coasting along at the Hanlin Academy, with such a teacher around, his future is definitely not a concern.
However, the Wang family dared not agree to these people's hints.
The number of people who support Prince Yong and Prince Yan is not limited to those who are publicly known; no one knows how many are secretly involved.
If the future in-laws have already secretly sided with one of them, the Wang family will find it difficult to remain uninvolved.
Letting Wang You marry Ru Lan is naturally the best choice.
The two families know each other well, and can become even closer through marriage.
"Let's go, come with me to pay our respects to Grandmother."
"I've already been there, you can go by yourself."
Mu Jie'er made a face and left with her maid.
Wang You shook his head and went to Jingxin Hall to pay his respects to the old lady.
After chatting with the old lady for a while, when I came out of the courtyard, I saw a maid waiting at the door.
"Second Young Master."
The maidservant bowed and said, "The master said that the second young master needs to go to the study."
"understood."
Wang You nodded and walked towards his father's study.
Soon after, they arrived at the study, where their father was practicing calligraphy.
"I wonder what joyous occasion has made Father so happy?"
Seeing Wang Min smiling, Wang You bowed and asked.
"Your older brother wrote a letter saying that your performance evaluation this year was good, and you're likely to get a promotion next year," Wang Min said with a smile.
Wang Zhuo ultimately failed to achieve top honors in the imperial examinations. He passed the county and provincial examinations, but failed the metropolitan examination.
This is quite normal. Hundreds of thousands of people participate in the county-level examinations each time, but only two or three hundred are ultimately admitted to the metropolitan examination.
Only a very small number of people succeed in the imperial examinations on their first attempt; most of those who succeed have taken the exams more than once.
Wang Zhuo wanted to wait three more years, but Wang Min didn't want him to waste his time.
He eventually entered officialdom through hereditary privilege and was appointed as the magistrate of a small county.
"This is a good thing. My nephew is almost two years old, and his mother has never seen him. She keeps talking about him."
Wang You smiled and said, "Father, please help my elder brother make some arrangements to see if he can be transferred back to the capital."
After Wang Zhuo passed the provincial examination, his family arranged a marriage for him, and they got married six months later.
He married the daughter of Su Zhong, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Although she was of average appearance, she was well-educated and courteous.
After all, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was an official in charge of rites and music, so his family education was naturally impeccable.
Su Zhong was a fifth-rank official, so the two families were considered a good match.
A little over a year after their marriage, Wang Zhuo was assigned a post and took up his new position.
The young couple didn't have any children, and since Madam Feng was worried that her eldest son would suffer, she sent Madam Su with Wang Zhuo.
Two years ago, good news came that Ms. Su was pregnant.
If it weren't for the long distance, Madam Feng would have wanted Madam Su to come back to rest during her pregnancy.
After ten months of pregnancy, she gave birth to a boy, and the Wang family had a legitimate eldest grandson. Wang Min and Madam Feng were overjoyed.
However, Mrs. Feng wanted to see her grandson, but she couldn't leave at all.
Old Mrs. Wang was getting on in years, and although she looked healthy, Mrs. Feng didn't dare let her do any housework.
If she leaves, no one will be able to manage anything in this family.
Last year, Wang Zhuo wanted to send his wife and children back, but Feng refused.
Given the transportation conditions in ancient times, even adults couldn't endure long journeys. If they were not careful, they might catch a disease along the way and die before even reaching their destination.
Wang Zhuo was serving in the north and couldn't travel by water. His children were still young, so he couldn't withstand the hardship.
Therefore, to this day, their family has never met the eldest grandson of the Wang family.
"no."
Wang Min shook his head upon hearing this: "Bianjing is a whirlpool right now, and your elder brother is just a county magistrate of the eighth rank. Even if he is promoted and transferred back to Bianjing, there's not much he can do."
Rather than that, it would be better to stay in local government for a few more years, accumulate some achievements, and that would greatly benefit one's future prospects.
"Then why did Father summon his son?" Wang You asked, puzzled.
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