Chapter 188 The most appropriate approach
In the Zhao family, Shu Changle spent the most time with Zhao's mother.
From the time she first got married, she began a new life ignorantly and confusedly - marriage is a new challenge for every woman; to the hopeful yet extremely difficult process of pregnancy and childbirth, and the wonderful time that followed when she received meticulous care and support from her mother-in-law, Shu Changle always felt the sense of security and care given by the elders.
If this continues, it can be said that even Zhao Chunhua, the biological daughter, may not be able to understand her mother's thoughts and character as deeply as Shu Changle.
Although the relationship between the two has not yet reached the closeness of a mother-daughter relationship, they have established an extremely rare and beautiful relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, based on mutual respect and support.
Seeing her now seriously ill mother-in-law lying there quietly, almost unable to move, this scene made her very sad.
It is heartbreaking to see the once strong and capable mother become so fragile.
"Please accept it. Mother is my mother too. I am remiss for not being able to be by her side all the time," he said with a tone full of self-blame. "If you are not willing to give even this little token of your gratitude, then you are truly unfilial."
His words are sincere and make people feel his sincerity and filial piety from the heart.
Shu Changle finally sighed and took the money.
Faced with the current difficulties, he could only accept this aid to alleviate the temporary funding shortage.
The family has been incurring huge expenses lately, and she really doesn't have any extra money.
Since his mother fell ill, the eldest brother Zhao Yunfeng, who had been busy working outside, had no chance to go home to visit. So the second brother Zhao Yunwei and other brothers took turns to come back to help with household affairs and share some of the expenses including medical treatment and buying medicine.
Otherwise, it would be difficult for her to support the entire situation alone.
Thanks to the joint efforts of family members, the originally heavy burden became a little lighter.
"You are really filial," he said slowly, "Mother-in-law always said that the greatest fortune in her life is to become a member of the Zhao family and to give birth to such good children. Whenever you go home to visit her, her face is always filled with a happy smile. Those moments make her feel that everything is worth it."
Thinking of the news that Zhao Yunfeng had passed the imperial examination, Shu Changle couldn't help but feel excited.
This good news not only brought glory to the family, but also allowed the whole family to see a brighter future.
After all, people often say "scholars come from humble families, and successful candidates come from wealthy families."
Although there are many scholars who come from poor families, once they can pass the imperial examination and become a juren, it means that their life will no longer be difficult from then on.
Especially when their family's living conditions were already pretty good, having the identity of a new scholar would undoubtedly bring more benefits.
The title of Juren alone can exempt dozens of corvée labor and even enjoy the benefit of a reduction in 200 acres of land tax.
These policy benefits alone are enough to ensure that the family has enough food and clothing, and no longer has to worry about basic livelihood.
However, Zhao Yunfeng did not intend to continue to take the higher-level imperial examinations.
Because he had ranked relatively low in this provincial examination, there was a high possibility that he would not stand out even if he participated in the metropolitan examination to be held in the capital next spring.
The journey to the distant capital is long and costly. Unless he has full confidence that he can pass the next year's spring examination, he will not easily take the risk and gamble on an unknown future fate.
Although as a juren he has the qualifications to be an official, due to various considerations, Zhao Yunfeng has no plans to immediately embark on a career in officialdom.
From the perspective of pursuing power, the positions appointed to newly-minted Jinshi are often of lower rank; if the only criterion is benefit, being a teacher in one's hometown can also provide a stable source of income.
In addition, there is a more practical issue, that is, if you serve as an official in a fair and honest manner without engaging in corruption and abuse of power, sometimes it may not necessarily increase your personal income more significantly than opening a private school.
Moreover, he must always be concerned about his relatives at home who need care and support.
Therefore, he was also worried that once he was involved in the complex and dangerous official environment, if he accidentally made a mistake, it would bring unpredictable risks to his family.
In addition, Zhao Yunfeng has also thought deeply many times about whether he can use his position to do some tangible good things to help the villagers in the village.
However, after some careful consideration, he quickly gave up the idea.
Because becoming an excellent official is not as simple and easy as it seems. It requires not only extremely high wisdom and ability, but also sufficient political skills to deal with the complex and ever-changing officialdom.
Moreover, he has invested almost all his time and energy in taking care of his family and educating his students. If he were to squeeze out time to become an official, it would only make his already carefully planned life even more chaotic, which would not be worth it.
Compared to serving in the court, continuing to stay in the quiet and peaceful village to teach scholars is obviously a better choice.
At least here, he can live a simple yet fulfilling life. Listening to the sound of students reading aloud every day is the best music; watching the children in the village grow up healthily also makes him feel extremely happy and satisfied.
Therefore, he believes that the current situation is already very good and no further changes are needed.
The atmosphere in the main hall was quite lively. Everyone discussed there for a long time before finally reaching a consensus and deciding to hold a sumptuous banquet two days later to celebrate.
If the news had not come so suddenly that everyone was caught off guard, according to normal etiquette, the most appropriate thing to do would have been to welcome Zhao Yunfeng as soon as he returned.
Shortly after lunch, Zhao Chunhua took her children and left home.
She went to her mother's house specifically to see how her mother was doing, but when she entered the house, she found that Zhao's mother looked much more pale than the last time they met.
Out of consideration for the child's health, the old lady firmly asked her not to stay at home for too long, for fear that her own illness would be transmitted to her beloved little Stone, which would be terrible.
Faced with such a situation, although Zhao Chunhua was filled with infinite helplessness, she still had to follow the instructions.
In the end, he could only temporarily entrust Little Stone to the care of his eldest brother's son Zhao Yicheng, and told him to take his nephew to play with other children to pass the time; he himself accompanied his mother by her sickbed and chatted with her to fulfill his filial piety.
Thinking about the fact that since she came into this world, although she has not had as many opportunities to spend time with her mother as her half brothers, Zhao Chunhua still feels very warm and happy due to the love and care between family members. This makes her feel that she can get through any difficulties.
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