The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

"Dad, Mom, let's not talk about this anymore. Things have come to this point. The funeral is imminent and needs to be dealt with urgently. I will write a memorial to the court later to explain the situation. It should be possible to postpone the home leave for another month. As for the Qian family, I also have to go to them and negotiate with them on how to hold the funeral so that it will not affect Xiaoyuer," Zhang Pingan discussed in a low voice.

"Okay, you can do whatever you want. Discuss it with the Qian family. After all, they are Xiaoyuer's maternal grandparents, and you will have to visit them in the future. They have treated Xiaoyuer very well in the past few years," Xu said, wiping her tears.

"I know what I'm doing," Zhang Ping'an nodded and prepared to get up.

At this time, the housekeeper came to report: "Old Master, Old Madam, Master, someone from the Fang family is coming. Should we let them in?"

Zhang Ping'an frowned subconsciously after hearing this, but before he could open his mouth to speak, Xu spoke first.

Xu slapped the armrest of the chair and said angrily, "It must have been your fifth sister who leaked the news. This troublesome girl is just causing more trouble. There's already a lot of trouble at home, so who has the time to take care of her?"

"Has Fifth Sister returned?"

"Yes, she came over for dinner yesterday. She lives alone with her servants now and has no children. She goes from one house to another today and then to another tomorrow. She's very free.

"She only found out about your return from what your eldest and second sisters said. She came over originally to see you, but you weren't there. Then she went back after dinner. I even specifically told her not to tell the Fang family that you were back, so they wouldn't come and bother you. But she still couldn't keep her mouth shut. No wonder she's having the worst time of her life now, being controlled by the Fang family," Xu replied, and started complaining as she spoke.

Zhang Laoer was also very disappointed with his daughter, but as a man he was more practical. "I think the couple can't make ends meet anymore. Although there's an old saying that it's better to demolish ten temples than to ruin a marriage, and that we should persuade them to reconcile rather than divorce, Wu Ya's behavior really won't work. The Fang family will probably only hold you back in the future, especially Fang Ziqi. They seemed like a good person before, but in the past few years since you left, their true colors have slowly been revealed. Maybe those concubines will even rely on you to give birth to children.

Although your fifth sister is a fool, it takes two to tango, so we can't blame her entirely. Besides, she's old now, so I think it's better to just divorce her and let her go to a nunnery to practice asceticism. Our family is not short of money now, and if we donate some money to the nunnery, we can live comfortably. The Fang family is not doing the right thing, so I don't think they dare to say anything."

Xu didn't object, she just sighed and said, "Wu Ya is here to collect debts from her family!"

After hearing this, Zhang Ping'an knew that his parents had probably been thinking about this matter for a long time and had probably weighed it over and over again.

"There's no rush to make a decision on this matter. Let's see what Fifth Sister says when the time comes. After all, she's only under 25 years old this year. It's not appropriate to let her spend the rest of her life in a nunnery," Zhang Ping'an waved his hand.

Then he ordered the housekeeper to send them away: "Tell them that I'm busy and will personally bring my fifth sister to visit you another day. Tell them to go back first and don't keep anything they sent. Let them take it away. If they persist, let them see how the Great Zhou Law judges those who favor a concubine over their wife!"

The butler took the order, bowed and left.

Xu pressed the issue, "Could it be possible that favoring a concubine over his wife could land an official in jail? I've seen men of some standing in our city have a plethora of concubines. Some, I've heard, love them so much that they're like they've been drugged by their concubines."

Zhang Pingan shook his head. "There is a provision in the law, but it's hard to define. Few people actually go to jail for it. I'm just warning them. After all, with my current position, it's too easy to trip up the Fang family. They're smart enough to figure out what to do."

Zhang Laoer and Xu finally understood.

Xu also felt helpless: "I hope Wu Ya can do better this time!"

"Fifth sister has lived half her life. She is not a child anymore. If she is confused and cannot make up her mind this time, then no matter what the outcome in the future is, she will have to bear it herself and cannot blame anyone else," Zhang Pingan said coldly.

As Zhang Ping'an expected, the Fang family was reluctant at first and insisted on waiting for a meeting.

But when he heard the housekeeper say that he favored his concubine and killed his wife, he felt a little insecure and hurriedly said goodbye and went home.

The eldest brother of the Fang family felt a little embarrassed after being turned away. After he quickly walked away with the few people who followed him, he asked the second brother of the Fang family: "The youngest brother is the legitimate son-in-law of the Fang family. How come he didn't receive the news in advance and asked us to come and wade into this mess on his behalf?"

The second brother of the Fang family also felt aggrieved: "Big brother, you know how strained their relationship has been in recent years. There's no affection between them anymore. If you ask me, the youngest has been too arrogant these past few years. Seeing that his brother-in-law from the Zhang family has gone to the north and his fate is uncertain, and he's become a minor official in Ci County, he's gradually come to think that he's superior. He deserves everything he's gotten today. Judging from the attitude of his sister-in-law, she's definitely not going to let this go. She might even want a divorce!"

The eldest brother of the Fang family paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, shook his head and said firmly, "We absolutely cannot divorce. The Zhang family is the hottest new noble in the court right now. Such a young second-rank official is rare in history. It is impossible to say that there is no selfish motive from the emperor. I heard that the emperor personally helped to crown him, which shows how much the emperor favors him.

On the other hand, although our family once had a juren among our ancestors, that was in the past, not to mention that we are still in decline. Aside from me and the youngest who hold some official positions in the court, you and the third brother don't even have a rank. It's still a bit embarrassing to tell others about it, and you can't make friends with any high-ranking people. So we can't let go of this big tree of the Zhang family!"

The second brother of the Fang family understood this very well. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Then when we get back later, let's tell Mother and the other women in the family that if my sister-in-law starts to make a fuss again, we must be more tolerant and try to appease her. Don't make things too big. Once she's appeased, everything will be fine."

Speaking of this, the eldest brother of the Fang family was also very angry: "The women in my family are so ignorant that they don't understand the situation. They still think it's the past, especially my mother. I have to talk to her about it when I go back today. If my sister-in-law hadn't had a miscarriage, the children would have grown up and we wouldn't have to worry about divorce. Besides, my sister-in-law can take the children out and about now, and find a good marriage. Why is it like this now!"

After hearing this, the second brother of the Fang family didn't say anything else, but he thought to himself that if his sister-in-law hadn't set a trap to frame others, this situation wouldn't have happened.

To put it bluntly, there is still disharmony in the family.

I just hope the youngest one can coax people back when he comes back!