Chapter 183: Chapter 171: Parting (Three Updates)
The person coming from the opposite direction was none other than Hao Yun, whom I had only hurriedly met at the Lu Ming Banquet shortly after the provincial exam.
That year of the county exam, because Wen Wan had a premonition that Hao Yun would commit suicide, Song Wei timely gave him some advice. After the exam, Hao Yun said he wanted to treat Song Wei to drinks to thank him for his guidance. Song Wei told him then that the wine outside isn’t good, and if they wanted to drink, they should wait until the provincial exam was over and drink to their hearts’ content at the Lu Ming Banquet hosted by the government.
Prophecy realized.
At the Lu Ming Banquet, Xie Zheng, Song Wei, and Hao Yun did indeed meet, though that day’s drinking was anything but enjoyable.
With Hao Yun ranking high in the provincial exam, although he didn’t take the top scorer title, he was among the top five. He was smooth-talking and exceptionally skilled at winning the examiners’ favor at the banquet, composing poems and flattering them, drawing all their attention to himself.
Xie Zheng and Song Wei were basically sitting in the corner, drinking sullenly.
Song Wei wasn’t very affected by it. Although the examiners treated everyone equally, they naturally favored excessively outstanding candidates.
This phenomenon was understandable.
Xie Zheng initially thought the same, but just before the banquet ended, Hao Yun suddenly came over to them apologetically to offer a toast, saying, "I was so occupied chatting with the examiners that I completely forgot about you two, which was truly inappropriate. I’ll punish myself with a cup. Oh, by the way, you two haven’t spoken with the examiners yet, have you? Do you need me to introduce you?"
Song Wei raised his glass in return, his smile appropriately faint, "I thought Brother Hao, like us, was meeting the examiners for the first time today. I didn’t expect you’d already be familiar enough to introduce others."
After the examiners arrived in the province, they lived and ate in isolation from the outside to prevent candidates from bribing them for favoritism.
This meant candidates usually only formally met the examiners at the Lu Ming Banquet after the exams.
If they were already acquainted beforehand, unconventional means must have been employed.
...
Xie Zheng could still clearly remember Hao Yun’s reaction then, his expression as unpleasant as if he’d been stomped on and crushed into the ground.
It was also at the Lu Ming Banquet that Xie Zheng became increasingly disgusted with Hao Yun, finding him more repulsive than the scheming wives in wealthy households.
The gathering today was supposed to be a reunion of classmates, and Xie Zheng couldn’t understand why this person was present.
Unfazed at seeing Xie Zheng and Song Wei, Hao Yun approached with a smile and said, "What a coincidence."
Xie Zheng responded, "Indeed a coincidence. Had I not remembered today was a class reunion, I’d have almost thought Mr. Hao was waiting for us brothers at the restaurant."
"Looks like we’ll be sharing a table," Hao Yun shook his head helplessly, "I was dragged here by acquaintances too."
Xie Zheng had more to say, but Song Wei spoke first, "Since we’re here, shouldn’t we have a couple of drinks before leaving?"
Hao Yun smiled, "As long as you two don’t find me a nuisance."
That expression made it seem like their cousins bullied him behind the scenes.
Xie Zheng furrowed his brow, unable to fathom how a grown man could be so scheming.
Why couldn’t he compete honestly and openly with real skills, instead of resorting to underhanded tactics, one way in public, another in secret, utterly disgracing manhood?
When the private room door was pushed open, everyone inside turned their heads, and someone suddenly jeered, "Look who came? Our province’s three new scholars this term, tsk, what a round-up..."
The plump man spoke bluntly, "Song Wei, you’ve been holding back quite the move, quitting school so many years ago and now quietly passing as a scholar, where does that leave your brothers?"
Song Wei glanced over everyone, his tone calm, "It’s been years since I’ve seen some of you and hardly recognize anyone. Aren’t you going to introduce them?"
"Come, let me introduce you."
At two tables, the plump man started introducing them one by one, starting from the first table: there were wealthy merchants from various places, county magistrates from some government office; some were talented and ended up as advisers to nobles in the Capital; some were good at accounting, raking in money daily and living a life of counting money at home all day.
In short, the introductions boiled down to two types of people: those with power and those with money. With the new scholars standing before them, they were instantly overshadowed to dust.
The one who became the county magistrate turned to Song Wei, "Our government office lacks a secretary. If your spring exams don’t go well this year, consider joining us. I’ll save you the position."
Song Wei slightly raised his lips, nodding in thanks.
Afterwards, the plump man pulled up chairs for them, and they sat down to start drinking.
Throughout the banquet, Song Wei kept pondering the reason for Hao Yun’s presence here.
In principle, this group of people attending the banquet are all "figures." Hao Yun wouldn’t like being overshadowed, but judging by his demeanor, he seems to be quite willing.
It wasn’t until the banquet dispersed that Song Wei understood Hao Yun’s intentions.
The county magistrate who previously said he would leave a vacancy for Song Wei called him aside alone. He said that Hao Yun is one of the few scholars in their county this year and also the top scorer. Now he’s about to go to Beijing for the spring exams, isn’t he? Hao Yun has never been to the capital, and the county magistrate heard that Song Wei studied at the Imperial College for a year, so he wanted to ask him to look after Hao Yun a bit, as a way to help the county retain a talent.
Upon hearing this, Song Wei understood everything.
Hao Yun couldn’t approach the issue himself, so he thought of the idea of a classmate gathering, inviting the county magistrate to Pingjiang County, first offering a sweet promise to Song Wei, saying that if he fails the exam, he could find a position in his government office, and then, with confidence, "ask" Song Wei to look after Hao Yun after arriving in Beijing.
In this way, even if Song Wei wanted to refuse, he would have to consider the friendship of his classmate and the county magistrate, as well as his own future.
Song Wei was not in the habit of inviting trouble for himself and politely said, "Before County Magistrate Cao, countless scholars have already approached me, all saying it’s their first time going to the capital and wanting me to look after them.
So many scholars who have never been to the capital, and I, Song Wei, am just a mere mortal. Even if I wanted to look after them, it would be impossible to do everything.
In my opinion, the county magistrate might as well write this phenomenon into a report and submit it upwards. Once noticed, it might become the first political achievement for you in the new year."
County Magistrate Cao: "..."
The reason for refusal was impeccable, leaving him speechless.
Because he was indeed thinking of political achievement by helping Hao Yun, now that there was another solution, whether to help or not didn’t matter.
Hao Yun’s plan completely fell through.
Leaving the restaurant, Xie Zheng was in high spirits and glanced at Song Wei with a smile, "I understand now, unless Hao Yun plays dirty, he won’t stand a chance against you directly."
Song Wei did not respond, fearing that if this time didn’t work, Hao Yun might resort to underhanded tactics again.
——
The Town School Master prepared the test papers, and Song Yuanbao, taking advantage of the pre-term break, went alone to take the exam. He had a talent for studying, even self-studying at home, and had grasped most of the upcoming year’s content. His exam performance wasn’t excellent, but not poor either, meeting Song Wei’s standards, which meant he could go to Beijing with his father.
Song Yuanbao was too excited to sleep all night.
The next day, with dark circles under his eyes, he followed Song Wei carrying a small bundle.
Spring had arrived, and as the snow melted, the village roads were wet and muddy.
Song Yuanbao was wearing new boots, and Old Song was afraid he would dirty them, so he personally carried his eldest grandson onto the bullock cart without letting him step out even once.
Wen Wan stood at the courtyard gate, gazing at her husband’s back, her lips pressed together slightly.
Song Wei turned back, his gaze towards her appeared gentle, "Wanwan, rest assured and take care of yourself at home, wait for my return."
Upon hearing this, Wen Wan’s nose felt a tingling sadness. He hadn’t left yet, and she was already feeling the hurt.
Since their marriage, they had never been apart, yet this time, it would be several months of separation.
The bullock cart was already quite far. Wen Wan couldn’t bear it and chased after it for a while, her newly changed embroidered shoes getting wet without her noticing.
Granny Song, afraid she might stumble and fall, caught up with her, and upon seeing her constantly shed tears, felt sad as well, advising, "It’s cold outside, hurry back. Once you give birth, Third Son should be back home."
Wen Wan raised her hand to wipe her tears, but couldn’t seem to wipe them all away, her eyes remained misty.
She sniffled, trying hard to calm her emotions, and followed her mother-in-law back home.
That day, she ate nothing, locking herself in the room, staring blankly.
Granny Song knocked on the door several times without getting a response, and in the end, had no choice but to kick it open.
Wen Wan snapped back to reality, saw the worry on her mother-in-law’s face, and lowered her eyes, shaking her head to indicate she was fine.
Granny Song, seeing her spiritless state, sighed, "Why don’t I take you to stay with your father in the county town for a while, what do you think?"
With Third Son and Yuanbao gone, the parents-in-law couldn’t understand their daughter-in-law’s sign language, making communication and comforting impossible. The only solution was to let her stay with Father Wen for a while to ease her emotions, and return when she felt better.
Wen Wan shook her head. Without her husband, it didn’t matter to her where she stayed, she didn’t want to go anywhere else, nor did she want to trouble her father.