Chapter 39 Chapter 39 “The Feng family can afford to raise a girl. …
==Chapter 39==
This year has been an eventful one.
Feng Wenyu did not care about court affairs, but he was keenly aware of the unrest in the capital this year. According to previous years, Emperor Wenyuan would have been ready to stop writing by this time, and officials from various departments would have been able to get a few days of annual leave.
But now it is only five days until New Year's Eve, and all departments are still running in full swing. Feng Wenyu thought about it carefully and realized that she had not seen her father at home for several days.
The day she returned from the Fireworks Club, she had thought about questioning her father and mother about her marriage, but she had been feeling down for a while. Zhou Yueyu noticed this and was anxious.
"What's wrong with you, kid? You're not saying anything. Are you trying to drive me crazy?"
Feng Wenyu's questions were instantly blocked in his mouth.
What are you asking?
Didn't she understand her mother yet? She was the youngest child in the family, and had always been favored by her mother. Once her mother knew that her grandfather was planning to use her marriage, even if she couldn't stop him, she would still fall out with the old family.
She has already caused her mother enough worry, and she can't put her mother in an embarrassing situation because of her own selfish reasons.
Feng Wenyu thought to herself that all she could do now was to let things take their course.
Seeing that the young lady was finally in a good mood today, Jinshu hurriedly handed over the news: "Early this morning, a message came from the old house, asking the second young master to come over."
Feng Wenyu stood up suddenly: "Has Second Brother gone yet?"
"We've been on the road for half an hour."
It's been so long that it's too late to stop it even if we want to.
Feng Wenyu paced back and forth restlessly, feeling a little anxious. She knew her second brother best, and if her second brother saw how she had behaved recently, it might make him resentful of the old house. It would be disastrous if she revealed her emotions in the old house!
She is actually very sensitive. She has always known that she may be her parents' most beloved child, but she is definitely not the most important one.
Especially for Lao Zhai, they love and care for her two brothers at ordinary times, but when it comes to the critical moment, all the resources of the Feng family will definitely be tilted towards her two brothers without hesitation.
She had felt wronged for herself before.
But the reason was very clear. Because she was not a man, she could not take the imperial examination and could not become an official.
She spent the longest time with her second brother. When they were young, they often went in and out of the old house together. She could feel more clearly that her grandfather valued her second brother, even more than her eldest brother. She didn't know what her eldest brother thought. After all, there was an age difference between the two. They communicated less and couldn't understand each other's thoughts clearly.
And my second brother...
Feng Wenyu smiled bitterly with a headache. She knew better than anyone that her second brother was actually very arrogant, no less than Yan Yunhe.
My second brother has never been close to the old house.
The old house of the Feng family.
Feng Wenyu was right. Feng Wenzhou was indeed not close to the old house. He saw through the true nature of the old house earlier than Feng Wenyu. Beneath the warmth were intertwined interests. He was sensitive and saw clearly that his grandfather's attention to him was just because he hoped that he could support the Feng family in the future, rather than a simple blood relationship.
Feng Wenzhou also knew that there was nothing wrong with this.
But that didn't stop him from staying away from the old house.
Lord Feng was waiting for him in the study. As soon as he came in, he smelled the rich aroma of tea. When he got closer, he saw that the tea in the cup had turned brown.
Strong tea can relieve fatigue.
Feng Wenzhou looked up. There were serious wrinkles on the face of Lord Feng and his back was no longer as straight as before. Everyone said that Lord Feng was already in his seventies, but in fact, the age difference between Lord Feng and Lord Gao was only seven years, so he was no longer young.
In other words, he won't be able to support the Feng family for many more years.
Elder Feng examined his homework as usual. After a moment, he nodded and said, "Sit down."
There were benches placed next to the table, with tea, pastries and everything in between. This was a treatment that other people would never get in the old house, but for Feng Wenzhou, it was already commonplace.
The servant quickly brought Feng Wenzhou the tea he was used to drinking. Elder Feng looked at it with his eyelids drooping. He nodded:
"Come play chess with me."
Feng Wenzhou did not refuse. The chessboard was set up, and Feng Ge Lao did not care and let him play the black piece first. Feng Wenzhou made a move seriously, not caring whether Feng Ge Lao really wanted to play chess.
The black pieces on the chessboard are vaguely surrounded by the white pieces, yet they seem to have survived a disaster.
He was so focused that Lord Feng suddenly asked:
"How much do you know about the Jiangnan case?"
The black piece landed on the board a little late.
When Gu Yushi was the imperial envoy, he was also taking the provincial examination in Yangzhou. It would be a lie to say that he had no knowledge of the Jiangnan case.
Feng Wenzhou didn't even raise his head. After Elder Feng knocked on the cup impatiently, he said two words very sparingly:
"identity."
But Lord Feng smiled.
Yes, identity.
Even though Gao Ge Lao and Emperor Wen Yuan supported each other for thirty years, it could not change one thing, that is - the difference between the monarch and his subjects.
Emperor Wenyuan could condone Gao's corruption and even turn a blind eye to it. However, once Emperor Wenyuan realized that Gao had forgotten his duties as a subject, that would be the real disaster for Gao's party.
"The three judicial departments have been slow to make a decision. What do you think?"
The chess game became indecisive. This was another test, but Feng Wenzhou showed no emotion, as he was used to it. "They are hesitant only because His Majesty has not given them a verbal order. Ultimately, it's still not enough."
What's not enough?
Not enough evidence! Not enough loot! Not enough greed!
Elder Feng suddenly laughed, his chest shaking slightly: "Yes, it's not enough."
Not enough, not enough to make Emperor Wenyuan angry.
These people are divided into different levels. In the mind of Emperor Wenyuan, Gao Ge Lao is superior to others because of the thirty years of friendship. If he wants to pull him down, he must make Emperor Wenyuan feel that Gao Ge Lao has offended him and threatened him!
Elder Feng looked at him and his tone softened again:
"You're going out to study?"
Feng Wenzhou has always been a man of few words: "I'm still young."
In the eyes of court officials, a seventeen-year-old was still a child who had not yet fully grown his hair. Even if he won the top three places in the imperial examination, his superiors would not entrust him with important tasks.
Lord Feng also understood this, so he did not intend to stop it.
Until Feng Wenzhou said, "I want to take my sister with me."
The study suddenly became quiet.
After a long while, Elder Feng said calmly, "Are you blaming me?"
"I dare not."
"No matter what, the man Yu Yatou marries will not be mediocre, and we dare not neglect her."
For the girl's family, these conditions are already a good enough marriage. Feng Wenyu is his granddaughter, so he would not harm her.
Feng Wenzhou frowned: "But my sister doesn't like it."
Weighing too many pros and cons is annoying, and the fact that my sister doesn't like it is enough to deny all the advantages mentioned by her grandfather.
Elder Feng laughed angrily: "If she fell in love with a common man, would you also agree?"
Feng Wenzhou's tone was so calm that it was almost inhuman:
"Why not? The Feng family can help a common man rise to great heights."
Elder Feng angrily shouted, "Arrogant!"
He finally realized that Feng Wenzhou didn't regard the person Feng Wenyu was going to marry in the future as his brother-in-law at all, but just as a cat or dog raised by Feng Wenyu. So it didn't matter who the other person was. He only cared about whether Feng Wenyu liked him.
Feng Wenzhou stared at Lord Feng stubbornly.
Lord Feng was extremely angry, but he had no way to deal with him.
As for arrogance? Who wasn't arrogant when they were young?
Feng Wenzhou mentioned it again: "After the New Year, I want to take my sister with me."
Elder Feng also snorted coldly: "She won't go with you."
The grandfather and grandson eventually parted ways unhappily.
After Feng Wenzhou left, the annoyance on Lord Feng's face gradually faded away. He picked up the cup and took a sip slowly.
The housekeeper observed the master's expression and said, "The young master is young and full of vigor. Would you mind arguing with him, Lord?"
Care about?
Lord Feng raised his drooping eyelids.
Of course he noticed Feng Wenzhou's dissatisfaction. It was a good thing to be dissatisfied.
I don’t know who this child takes after, but he has a cold nature and only a normal sense of belonging to the Feng family. Perhaps it’s because they were born together, but the only person he cares about is Feng Wenyu.
This is the bond between Feng Wenzhou and the Feng family.
The more dissatisfied he is, the more he values Feng Wenyu.
The housekeeper saw that the old man looked very good, and was surprised at how much he valued the young master, but he was still a little hesitant:
"Did the Lord really allow the young master to take the young lady with him on his study tour?"
Elder Feng snorted coldly: "Let him be."
The housekeeper hesitated to speak, saying that the young lady would be 29 years old after the new year, and it would not be a good thing to delay the marriage any longer.
Elder Feng seemed to have read his thoughts, and his tone was exceptionally dull:
"The Feng family can afford to raise a girl."
The butler suddenly fell silent.
He didn't know what emotion to express towards the young lady. Did the old man love her? Of course he did, but compared to the young master, this love was too shallow.
The elder's answer seemed to mean that even if the young lady did not marry, the Feng family could still support her.
But when it comes down to it, the elder was just cleaning up the mess caused by the young master's willfulness.
******
On the third day before the New Year, Gu Yushi and Xie Zhujing were on duty together.
In the huge imperial study, apart from the emperor's servants, there were only Xie Zhujing and Gu Yushi. Gu Yushi stood behind Emperor Wenyuan, organizing memorials for him. Xie Zhujing held the memorials and read them clearly with a good balance of tension and relaxation. The memorial in his hand was the budget memorial from the Ministry of War, and this was the third one sent by the Ministry of War.
Xie Zhujing was stuck for a moment when he read the amount.
Emperor Wenyuan didn't even raise his head, only slightly raised his eyelids: "Continue."
"The Ministry of War has requested an allocation of 500,000 taels of silver."
Gu Yushi couldn't help but pull the corner of his lip.
The Ministry of War submitted three petitions, each requesting a grant of 500,000 taels. No matter how Emperor Wenyuan refuted them, the amount remained unchanged. Emperor Wenyuan was so angry that he laughed:
"This old bastard is pretending to be stupid in front of me!"
Xie Zhujing didn't respond.
In his previous life, Gu Yu worked in the Ministry of War. In fact, he knew in his heart that the amount of money in the Ministry of War was really not that much. He even understood the intention of Emperor Wen Yuan and cut the budget again and again.
Five hundred thousand taels may sound like a lot, but if used to build ships and cannons, it will soon be used up.
Emperor Wenyuan was obviously aware of this fact, so no matter how annoyed he was and how much he cursed, the memorial was finally left in front of him, neither approved nor rejected.
Not until Emperor Wenyuan was tired did Gu Yushi and Xie Zhujing leave the imperial study together.
The six ministries have been a little restless recently, and petitions for funding have been rejected one after another. We can't not start work next year, right?
All departments are busy calculating and trying to reduce their budgets.
Xie Zhujing and Gu Yushi walked side by side, both of them feeling the oppressive atmosphere around them. Xie Zhujing adjusted his official hat, then turned his head to look at Gu Yu, who was oblivious to the surroundings. He suddenly spoke:
"What does Gu Shidu think about the six ministries approving funds?"
Gu Yushi glanced at him.
How do you view it? It is appropriate to approve the funds. Everyone says that silver is the most valuable thing, but if you lack silver, just look at it.
Gu Yushi certainly knew that Xie Zhujing was not asking a superficial question, but what obligation did he have to answer it for Xie Zhujing?
They are not friends from their previous lives.
It was so cold that he adjusted the collar of his official uniform, his breath steaming even as he spoke. He said something perfunctorily, "Everything is up to the Emperor."
Without waiting for Xie Zhujing to say anything else, he turned around and did not go back to the Hanlin Academy with Xie Zhujing, but went to the Dali Temple.
Lord Jiang was coming out in a hurry. When he saw him, he grabbed him without any hesitation:
"Gu Shidu and I will go to see the emperor together."
Gu Yushi steadied his steps, turned around and followed: "What do you want to see the emperor about?"
Lord Jiang's expression was somewhat gloomy:
"News has come from Jiangnan."
At this critical moment, news came from Jiangnan, and anyone with a discerning eye would know who it was related to.
Gu Yushi raised his head and glanced towards the cabinet. His expression seemed to become serious, but there was a calmness deep in his eyes.
Did the Feng family really make an effort?
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