Zhao Lizheng returned home in a fury. Wang Qing and Wang Nizu were still at his house so he suppressed his anger. No matter what, he could not be angry with the two children. Zhao Yuande, however, dragged his father to his house and asked his brother to follow along. After closing the door, Zhao Yuande immediately whispered, “Father, don’t be angry. Things are not as bad as you think.  Wang Shijing’s wife is not a simple person. I think our village will benefit from his glory in the future.”

“What glory? This is a disgrace!” Zhao Lizheng was so angry that he sat down on the bed and he didn’t even feel hungry, even though it was time for dinner. Zhao Yuanqing became curious. “Brother, tell me what’s going on!”

Then Zhao Yuande started to speak. He gave a detailed account of what he had seen and heard after breaking into the county school. As he spoke, the expressions of Zhao Lizheng and Zhao Yuanqing changed again and again, till they finally set in a dumbfounded expression. “This Shao Yunan, has studied?” Zhao Lizheng’s eyes were rounded.

Zhao Yuande replied doubtfully, “He must have, otherwise how could he say things like this? Neither the Dean of the county school nor the county magistrate seemed to have heard them before. Wang Zhisong was far worse than him. Father, you might not know, but Wang Zhisong was unable to say a word and was scared stiff. He also blamed everything on old lady Wang, saying he didn’t know. It could be seen clearly that the county magistrate and the Dean didn’t like him very much.” 

“Shijing and Yunan asked for mercy, but the county magistrate still punished the Wang family. The most important thing is that the county magistrate promised to take care of the stone for Shao Yunan and gave him a jade plate, saying that if he had any grievances in the future, he could go to the Yamen and beat the drum while exempting him from the rule of thirty board hits. He also asked Shao Yunan to go the Yamen in three days saying that he would be punished, but in my opinion, he would definitely not punish him.”

“Father, even if it’s you, you can’t just meet the county magistrate. But Shao Yunan has a jade plate, so how often will he meet the county magistrate in the future? The fact that he can make the Wang family suffer such a loss and make the Dean and the county magistrate judge for him, makes him not a simple person. With such people, we can only become good friends. In my opinion, Wang Zhisong’s reputation is now completely ruined, even if he goes back to school in three months, will the teachers be good to him? Who would dare to make friends with him?” 

“But Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan are different. As long as they have the jade plate and the stone isn’t returned, they can meet with the county magistrate. That’s why I said that our village may be able to benefit from them in the future. Father, no matter what the Wang patriarch and the Wang clan people do, you can no longer favor that family! At least our family, our Zhao clan will have to favor Wang Shijing’s wife in the future!”

Zhao Yuanqing nodded vigorously. “Father, big brother has a point. I don’t like old lady Wang’s family. That Wang Zhisong is capable, but what does it have to do with our Zhao family? He even treated his own elder brother, niece, and nephew like that. How will he help our Zhao family in the future? I think he may not even help the Wang clan. Also, the Wang family are all mean except for Wang Shijing, so it would already be good if they don’t take advantage of our family.”

Zhao Yuande continued, “Father, you can no longer look at the Wang patriarch’s intention. If he is willing to protect Wang Shijing’s family it’s good, but if he still sees only Wang Zhisong as before, you should make it clear that you want to be partial to Wang Shijing.” 

Zhao Lizheng pondered deeply. He was surprised by Shao Yunan’s performance. The words of his two sons also made sense. Zhao Lizheng was not a fool either. He didn’t do anything about the Wang family’s affairs before, but at that time Wang Shijing had not yet separated. While it was Wang clan’s matter and his surname was Zhao, it was not good to intervene. Now that Wang Shijing has separated and old lady Wang stirred up such big trouble, he really needed to think about it.

Half a day later, Zhao Lizheng said, “Yuande, go and call the Sun clan patriarch. The two sons of the Sun family are close to Wang Shijing. I want to talk to the Sun clan patriarch and listen to his opinion.” 

“I’ll go!” Zhao Yuanqing got up and ran. With only the two of them left, Zhao Yuande said, “Father, I’ll ask Zhao He to get closer to Shao Yunan. They are both male wives, so they can talk easily.” 

The relationship between Zhao Yuande and Wang Shijing was very ordinary, if he acted rashly it would be easy to annoy him. But if he let his male wife act, it would be different. After all, Shao Yunan was not from this village so he was not familiar with anyone, so he may have more to say to another male wife. Zhao Lizheng nodded.

While Zhao Yuande was talking with his father, Wang Shuping was also advising his own father. What he said was different from Zhao Yuande, but the meaning was very similar. In fact, Wang Shuping didn’t like Wang Zhisong in the first place and today after seeing Wang Zhisong’s performance, he even scoffed. He didn’t think Wang Zhisong could bring any glory to the Wang clan in the future. 

Wang Shuping also advised his father not to always focus on Wang Zhisong and not to put the hopes of the whole clan on Wang Zhisong alone. It was difficult to say whether Wang Zhisong would be able to take an examination of scholars in the future. It would be better to take advantage of this time to repair the relationship between the Wang clan and Wang Shijing. Wang Shijing was forced to leave home for five years, forced to marry, and also to leave family without anything, so it was impossible to say that he had no grievances against the Wang clan. 

Wang Shuping advised his father to let Shao Yunan and the two children, Wang Qing and Wang Nizi into the family genealogy. Wang Shijing has not even included Wang Qing in the genealogy since he came back from mandatory labor. Thinking about it now, he was a little afraid that Wang Shijing might hold a grudge from that time. 

Wang Wenhe was also surprised by Shao Yunan’s performance. Wasn’t Shao Yunan adopted? How could the Shao family let him study? Wang Wenhe fell silent, as his face aged due to worry. He suspected that Wang Zhisong’s future would certainly be affected by this. Wang Wenhe blamed Shao Yunan, as soon as he got married, he caused such big trouble. No matter how you looked at it, Wang Zhisong was the only hope of the Wang clan at present. Wang Shijing was also a member of the Wang clan. Why didn’t Shao Yunan think about the Wang clan at all?

Edited by: Jaisland

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