Chapter 7: Give him a taste of his own medicine

"I think he looks like a loser, so he won't be able to pass the exam." Wei Ruyan said, "Even if he is lucky enough to pass the exam, he will have to go to the capital to take the imperial examination. He won't be able to stay in our house for a long time. In this case, there is no need to give him much monthly salary."

"I think we can give him one tael of silver a month... or even half a tael of silver would be fine," Wei Ruyan said, "that should be enough for him to buy paper and pens, right?"

As for how expensive paper and pens were, they couldn't buy much good paper and ink, and the travel expenses to Beijing were not within Wei Ruyan's consideration.

"I can save his monthly salary, mother. You don't need to give me much. It's enough for the hairpin."

Mrs. Wei thought about it and felt that there was no need to let her daughter suffer for an outsider.

Besides, Shen Shilang didn't spend much on weekdays, so he must have saved up a lot of monthly money.

And what Wei Ruyan said made sense. Shen Shilang was already such a grown-up, did he still have to rely on the Wei family for support? "I understand." Madam Wei said, "I'll go back and think about it."

Shen Shilang and Wei Jianming followed Wei Zhaoxian to the study.

Although Wei Zhaoxian was a military general, he was also well-educated and asked the two of them some random questions.

Wei Jianming couldn't answer, and Shen Shilang lowered his head and said he didn't know.

Shen Shilang answered most of what Wei Jianming could answer, but he remained ignorant of the remaining part.

You need to have your own ideas about current affairs.

Shen Shilang's answer was also just mediocre.

Wei Zhaoxian looked at Shen Shilang for a long time.

Shen Shilang lowered his eyes slightly and did not look at Wei Zhaoxian.

"Jianming, you go back first." Wei Zhaoxian said.

Wei Jianming was stunned for a moment. He didn't answer some of the questions well, so Wei Zhaoxian didn't punish him?

"Yes." Wei Jianming glanced at Shen Shilang and ran away quickly.

"Let's go, let me see if you have slacked off in martial arts these days." Wei Zhaoxian pulled Shen Shilang into the yard again.

But Shen Shilang's wounds were not healed yet, so how could he fight?

Wei Zhaoxian picked up a sword and threw it to Shen Shilang.

Shen Shilang felt a little pain when he took the sword. When he paused, Wei Zhaoxian had already attacked with the sword.

Shen Shilang could only endure the pain and swing his sword to block, but his wounds all over his body were causing him to feel more pain, and Wei Zhaoxian's attack was also very powerful.

Shen Shilang already felt the wound bursting open.

He managed to block the next few moves, but they were weak and powerless.

Wei Zhaoxian stopped with a dark face and shouted angrily, "Kneel down!"

Shen Shilang knelt down in the direction of the capital without saying a word.

No one knew where the bodies of the Shen family members were. In order to conceal Shen Shilang's identity, Wei Zhaoxian did not dare to set up tablets for the Shen family members at home.

When Shen Shilang was punished since he was a child, he was made to kneel down facing the direction of the capital.

Those kneeling are the wronged souls of the Shen family in Beijing.

"When I'm not at home, you slack off." Wei Zhaoxian said angrily, "You don't do your homework well, and you don't practice martial arts well. How can you be worthy of the Shen family like this!"

"I have no intention of asking you to take revenge, but at least you should not be so muddleheaded. You should also be able to do something and not bring disgrace to the Shen family!"

Shen Shilang looked towards the direction of the capital without saying anything.

Wei Zhaoxian said angrily: "You can't even do these, and you still want revenge? If you are like this, I'm afraid you won't even pass the provincial examination!"

"Only by passing the imperial examination and entering the officialdom can one take the first step towards revenge."

"Even if you pass the exam, you can only be a minor official at first. If you really want to get in touch with the higher-ups, you still need to rely on your skills and talents. But now..."

"But now, you can't even answer these questions well. You can't even cross the threshold of revenge, so how can you talk about the future?"

"Your father was such a brilliant man back then. The whole capital city knew that the Shen family had a beautiful jade."

However, Shen Shilang looks more like Mrs. Shen.

Wei Zhaoxian's gaze seemed to have returned to twenty-five years ago.

At that time, Shen Liangyu entered the cabinet at a young age and was famous in the capital.

Investigate corruption and make new reforms.

When the Turks invaded, Shen Liangyu alone withstood the enormous pressure to allocate military funds to the army and ensure the supply of weapons and food.

When Wei Zhaoxian asked for help, he personally supervised the army and forced General Lu to arrive in time.

It can be said that Wei Zhaoxian's life was saved by Shen Liangyu.

If it weren't for Shen Liangyu, he would have died on the battlefield long ago.

But such a good person was sent to prison for such a ridiculous reason and died in prison for unknown reasons.

Please...collect 6...9...books...!

The Shen family was full of loyal people, but the whole family was slaughtered! Shen Liangyu was so outstanding, and now seeing Shen Shilang being so mediocre, it is so disappointing.

"If you just want peace and don't care about anything else, then you can go back and rest now, and don't take any imperial examinations in the future." Wei Zhaoxian said coldly, "If you stay in the Wei Mansion, I can support you for the rest of your life."

"If you still have some ambitions, then kneel here!" Wei Zhaoxian said, then left in a huff.

Wei Zhaoxian returned to the main hall, the anger on his face still there.

Wei Jianming had already hidden himself, in order to avoid being seen by Wei Zhaoxian and getting angry.

Mrs. Wei saw Wei Zhaoxian like this and asked, "But Jianming's homework is not good enough?"

"He hasn't always been like this." Wei Zhaoxian didn't have any big demands on Wei Jianming.

Besides, Wei Jianming is too impetuous and would easily get into trouble if he really entered the officialdom.

"What makes you so unhappy?" Mrs. Wei asked carefully.

Wei Zhaoxian sighed and said, "Is Shilang doing well in the mansion? Can he study hard and improve his martial arts?"

When Mrs. Wei heard this, she realized it was related to Shen Shilang, and she became even angrier.

Wei Zhaoxian didn't care that much about Wei Jianming.

No wonder Wei Jianming and Wei Ruyan hate Shen Shilang so much.

Madam Wei observed Wei Zhaoxian's reaction and asked, "Is Shi Lang's homework not satisfactory today?"

"His answer was mediocre. When I tested his martial arts, his moves were weak and powerless. He is truly neither good at literature nor martial arts!" Wei Zhaoxian said angrily.

Mrs. Wei knew that Shen Shilang had just been whipped, and she immediately became nervous, fearing that Wei Zhaoxian would notice Shen Shilang's injury, "So he... is going back now?"

"Why are you going back? You're kneeling in the yard of my study." Although Wei Zhaoxian gave Shen Shilang a choice, he knew that Shen Shilang would definitely continue kneeling.

Mrs. Wei was afraid that if Shen Shilang knelt for too long, Wei Zhaoxian would notice his injuries, so she hurriedly said, "He is usually fine, but he works hard every day, so he is bound to get tired sometimes. Look, it's so hot now, if he gets sick from kneeling, how can he cope with the next provincial examination?"

"Besides, he has been kneeling for a while, right? He should know that he is wrong." Madam Wei said, "Shilang is a good boy."

Wei Zhaoxian also felt distressed. Hearing what Madam Wei said, he walked down the stairs and said, "Forget it, tell him to get up."

Madam Wei quickly winked at Madam Liu beside her, "Go and tell Shilang to go back and rest."

Don't let Shen Shilang come over and let Wei Zhaoxian find out that he is injured.

(End of this chapter)