“Yunan, where’s your eldest brother?” During lunch, Elder Cen, Kang Rui, and Jiang Kangning were not at the dinner table, so Madam Cen asked puzzled. But Shao Yunan just shook his head and said, “Something is going on over there with the old man, so Big Brother and Kang Rui are discussing with him, right? I’ll bring them dinner later, it must be something important.”

Madam Cen said, “Then I won’t bother them now. I also have to go back to the county town in the afternoon. The wife of official Zhang has given me an invitation, as her son-in-law is becoming an official in the capital, so I need to see her.”

Shao Yunan immediately said, “Then let her come here, so you don’t have to go.” But Madam Cen just shook her head and said, “How can you invite everyone here? She is a woman, so if she comes to your house, people would gossip about her. I might also take this chance to go back home to pick up some things. I’ll be back in the evening.”

“Then I will go with you.”

“No need. Madam Zhang has a bad mouth, so she will inquire about you if you go.” Wang Shijing immediately said, “I will take them, I can as well buy some things for home. I will pick you up after you finish meeting the guests.”

Shao Yunan said, “Let Shijing take you back, I also want Shijing to go and check how Fourth Aunt Wang’s business is going. Since Shopkeeper Xu has been away, I’m worried that someone will take advantage of this opportunity to get them into trouble.” Madam Cen agreed. “That’s fine. I’ve ordered a zither for Nizi, so Shijing can also go to check if it’s already arrived.”

“Alright.” Although Elder Cen had not yet officially held the family recognition banquet, Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing being recognized as Elder Cen’s sons were already set in stone. They just waited for Shao Yunan to solve their problem, so it will not follow them in the future. Due to that, Madam Cen was also their mother, so now Madam Cen treated Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing differently, with a lot more closeness.

After lunch, Wang Shijing took Zheng Da and Ding Yilin to escort Madam Cen back to the county town and do some shopping. On the fifth day of the New Year, Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing went to visit the two teachers, Guan and Chen. They also wanted to pay their New Year greetings to Shopkeeper Xu and Shopkeeper Zeng, but the two Shopkeepers were not there. 

It was said that the two Shopkeepers went back to Cainan Province and their return date was uncertain. Hengyuan Marquis should also already know about the tea and wine matter, and with the perceptiveness of both Shopkeepers Xu and Zeng, he also should have guessed it was related to Shao Yunan, after all, Shopkeeper Zeng were there the day Eunuch An and Jiang Kangchen came. Shao Yunan also waited for the boss of Shopkeeper Xu to come, as the other party would definitely come to him.

Carrying the heavy food box, Shao Yunan pushed open the door of the room that no one had made a sound from, even after knocking for half a day. After he came in, he saw Elder Cen, Kang Rui, and Jiang Kangning each with a book in their hands, heads buried in the study. Both Elder Cen and Kang Rui had already forgotten that they had promised not to forget their sleep and meals.

Shao Yunan took out a total of 26 books. The Four Books and Five Classics were the most. There were also some fine works of Tang poetry, Song Ci, Yuan opera, and Qing novels. In addition, there were also collections of ancient masters such as Ouyang Xiu and Fan Zhongyan. These twenty-six books were undoubtedly blockbusters for today’s cultural and educational circles, and they opened a whole new door for the three people present.

Shao Yunan put down the food box and spoke out. “Elder, Big Brother, Dean Kang, it’s time to eat.” All three people didn’t respond. Shao Yunan took a few steps forward and very nonchalantly snatched the books.

“Yunan.”

“Yunan!”

Elder Cen, Jiang Kangning, and Kang Rui, who had the book snatched out of their hands, were furious. “It’s time to eat, it’s past lunch time. Elder Cen, Dean Kang, you guys promised me that you wouldn’t forget your meals and sleep. These books are right here and will not run away, so take your time reading it.”

“You child… what do you know? I can’t slow down, I can’t!” Elder Cen anxiously tried to retrieve the ‘Book of Songs’ from Shao Yunan’s hand. “I am afraid that I do not have enough time! Don’t disturb my reading. I will eat by myself when I am hungry!” Elder Cen was no longer as calm as usual.

Jiang Kangning also took back the ‘Mencius’ he was just reading and glared at Shao Yunan, “Don’t make trouble!” Shao Yunan almost choked on his breath. Kang Rui snatched ‘his’ ‘The Analects of Confucius’ back and waved him away impatiently. Shao Yunan took a deep breath. “Eat first! Or I’ll burn all these books!”

“How would you dare!” All three roared like lions. “Then eat first! Those who break their promises will become fat!” Elder Cen’s face flushed. “People who don’t keep their words have long noses!” Kang Rui stopped himself from touching his own nose.

“I didn’t promise you anything.” Jiang Kangning looked down and went back to reading the book in his hand. “Good. I was going to give you a few more books, but in that case, forget it.”

Jiang Kangning raised his head, Elder Cen, and Kang Rui’s eyes also dilated. Then Elder Cen became angry. “You kid, still have a private stash?”

“I guessed you would be like this. So this is not called hiding, it’s called striking first.” Since all these treasures were in the hands of others, they couldn’t disobey. The three reluctantly gobbled up the food, completely abandoning the elegance of the literati. Under the supervision of Shao Yunan, they ate all the food in the food box, not even caring to wipe their mouths, as they waited for Shao Yunan to hand over the books.

“Take a sip of tea and rest for a while.”

“…” The three suppressed the torment in their hearts and sat down to drink the chrysanthemum tea. Shao Yunan said, “No one will grab these books from you. If you read them without eating or drinking, will it be worth it if you are physically exhausted? The best way to study is to combine work and rest.”

Elder Cen stroked the books and said anxiously, “If I were your age, I would not be in a hurry. Yunan, Father is already in his fifties, so he doesn’t know how many years he will live. Father is afraid that he will not understand these books until he dies…” Speaking of this, Elder Cen’s eyes turned red.

Shao Yunan’s heart felt sour. Squatting down in front of Elder Cen, he held his withered, thin, age-spotted hand. In modern times, fifty years old was still the prime of one who was not yet retired. But in the great state of Yan, the  average lifespan was only about fifty, so Elder Cen was already a venerable old man.

“Relax Elder Cen, you will definitely live a long life. You still have at least fifty years to read these books.” Elder Cen smiled with relief. “I promise you, I will let you read all these books in your lifetime. So you must also be obedient and eat and sleep well.” Elder Cen was so amused that he laughed.

Jiang Kangning picked up the tea cup. “Yunan, you are right. An exhausted body in turn consumes time. Big Brother will eat and drink as well.” Saying that, he took a sip of tea. Kang Rui also did not insist, temporarily suppressing his anxious mood and drank his tea.

“That’s right.” Shao Yunan stood up. “I still have a few books, but they are just things in my head that I wrote myself. I guess you guys won’t have time to read them anytime soon.”

“You can keep them for now.” Elder Cen did not insist.  Shao Yunan said, “I want a few better copybooks for Brother Qing and Nizi to practice calligraphy.” Kang Rui immediately said, “I have some. I’ll write a letter. Take it and have someone pick it up from my mansion, and by the way, tell my housekeeper that I’m staying with you for a long time, so he shouldn’t bother me without an important reason.”

“Good.”

Jiang Kangning, “I will also write a letter. Let Shijing send it to the county magistrate.”

“Okay.”

After accompanying the three of them to talk for a while, it was almost time to rest so Shao Yunan cleaned up the dishes and left. Jiang Kangning followed him out and Shao Yunan asked, “Is something the matter Big Brother?”

Jiang Kangning pulled Shao Yunan aside and said in a serious and low voice. “Yunan, these books, Brother must take them to my adopted father. These books are very important for the Great State of Yan’s future.”

Shao Yunan said, “I thought of it when I took it out. Big Brother, let’s agree first, you and the elder can decide who to take them to, but you can’t disturb me and Shijing. You know, I don’t have such big ambitions. The same with Shijing. We just want to live our own lives.”

“Brother promises you.”

“Then you can figure out what to do, Brother. That’s right… I forgot to tell Elder Cen that Madam went home. She said she was planning to meet with Madam Yuanwai and she would come back in the evening. Shijing will pick her up.”

“I’ll tell Elder Cen.”

“I made an appointment with Brother He to go to his house to get some sheep bones and make some sheep skewers tonight.”

“Go ahead.” Shao Yunan left and Jiang Kangning watched him walk away. When he was finally out of sight, he exhaled a long breath and returned to the study with hurried steps.

Edited by: Jaisland

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