Chapter 1626 Questioning
Manbao immediately perked up and asked excitedly, "So much? Lord Wang is willing too?"
Doctor Ning smiled and said, "Even if they don't want to, there's nothing we can do. The Wang family's patriarch personally presided over the division of the family. Wang Rong's father is the eldest son, and according to the rules, their branch should get 70% of the property."
"But Lord Wang has indeed suffered a loss," Doctor Ning said with a smile. "Mr. Wang of the eldest house has been gone for so long, and Lord Wang has been the head of the family for the past ten years. The family's assets have grown significantly, but it has all benefited Lord Wang."
Man Bao said, "Everything is gained and lost. Lord Wang's career has been so smooth, isn't it because he hasn't used his family's property to manage it?"
Manbao is no longer a child. After all, she is working in the officialdom. She is still young and doesn't want to be promoted. She is also a woman, so she doesn't have many social engagements.
But she saw that several of her colleagues in the palace had a lot of social engagements on a regular basis.
Eating out is so expensive. My salary is only enough for four or five visits to Zhuangyuanlou, not to mention I have to support my family. Not to mention the expenses of socializing. My salary alone is definitely not enough.
So she didn't believe that Wang Ji was entirely to blame.
"Besides, if he hadn't been greedy in the beginning, how could he have lost so much today?" Manbao said, "He could have divided the family business after his father passed away. Then whatever he managed would have been his."
But he did not split up the family. Instead, he lived with his widowed sister-in-law and two nephews. It would have been fine if he had taken care of them, but seeing how things turned out today, it was obvious that he didn't take much care of them.
Manbao and Doctor Ning looked at each other and thought to themselves: As expected, there is no difference between the wealthy families and their small families. They will also fight over the division of the family property.
Sure enough, people are all the same.
But my mother said, "A good man doesn't eat the food of a divided family. Who hasn't started from nothing, accumulated from nothing to something?" As long as one is diligent and guards the land allocated to him, and God is kind, he will not starve to death.
If you are too greedy, even God will not tolerate it and will take back some things.
So Manbao went back and said to Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, "Judging from Lord Wang's experience, what my mother said is indeed right."
Bai Shan nodded and asked, "Have you reported to the prince?"
Manbao said: "He went, but he is busy and has no time to see me for the time being. I will go again in the evening."
She rolled her eyes, chuckled, and asked, "Tell me, if the prince asks me what reward I want, can I just say I want to manage my own official land?"
Bai Shan thought for a moment and said, "It's not easy, right? The official land is managed by the Ministry of Revenue, and now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. You might as well ask him through Liu Huan and ask Minister Liu."
Manbao became thoughtful.
Bai Shan glanced at her and knew that she was worried about her father. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Forget it. I'll ask Liu Huan for you. But you know, we have to wait until after the holiday."
Manbao nodded repeatedly, "I can wait."
The prince did not see Manbao until the evening. After asking about Wang Rong's situation, he waved goodbye and let Manbao leave.
Manbao couldn't help but quietly ask Eunuch Wu, "Is Your Highness planning to use Wang Rong?"
Eunuch Wu smiled and whispered, "Your Majesty has spoken. Since the Wang family already has a quota for imperial favor, why not let Young Master Wang study at the Four-Gate Academy for a few years? Whether he can serve the court will depend on whether he can pass the Grand Examination and the Ministry of Personnel Examination."
Manbao figured it out. Since Wang Rong was going to use the quota of imperial favor left by his father, his cousin who was currently using his father's quota obviously would not be able to use it.
In this case, the loss caused by Lord Wang's beating in court was huge, but what Wang Rong gained at the cost of half his life might not be worth it.
Manbao said: "I feel that life is more important."
Eunuch Wu: ...Nonsense, of course life is more important. If you lose your life, you lose everything.
At this time, Wang Ji had just come back to his senses from the division of the family two days ago. There was no other way, so Mrs. Wang sent someone to receive the things that were distributed to their side in the warehouse today.
Even if he couldn't accept it in his heart, he had to accept it with a smile on his face.
Seeing them moving things over there, Wang Ji turned and went to the old lady's yard.
Old Mrs. Wang was chanting Buddhist scriptures and did not open her eyes when she heard the noise.
Wang Ji glanced at the waiting nanny and motioned her to leave before he lifted his robe and knelt behind the old lady, bowing his head and admitting his fault. "Mother, I know I was wrong. Could you please stay and let me fulfill my filial duty?"
Old Lady Wang paused as she clutched the Buddhist beads, then opened her eyes and stared at the Buddha statue on top. After a moment, she said, "Rong'er and Da'er are still young, and I'm not too old to be unable to move. I'll go and help take care of them for a few years. When I can't move anymore, I'll naturally come back to see you. I hope you don't despise me as your mother then."
"Mother, Rong'er still has his eldest sister-in-law. You've been enjoying your retirement all these years. How can I let you worry about all this?" Wang Ji persuaded her, "Just stay. Now that my eldest brother is gone, you have to let your son fulfill his filial duties."
How could a mother go to live with her grandson while her son is still alive?
Old Mrs. Wang was very persistent. "I haven't been back to Taiyuan for many years. After all, that's our roots. Beijing is not far from Taiyuan. If you miss me during the holidays, go back and see me."
"Mother!"
Old Mrs. Wang was silent for a long time before she turned around and looked at him. After a while, she couldn't help but slap him in the face. It wasn't heavy, but it made Wang Ji open his mouth in surprise.
Old Lady Wang lowered her hand, shaking, and shouted in a low voice, "I've been back three days, and you've never come to tell me why you used the imperial cane on Rong'er."
Wang Ji quickly said, "Mother, I was just pretending. He was impeached for riding his horse and trampling on the seedlings, a serious crime. I thought I'd punish him at home first, so the court wouldn't have much to say."
"Let's not talk about whether this is true or not. There are so many ways to punish people. You made him kneel in the ancestral hall, hit his palms, even beat him with a stick, or whipped him. But that was a court caning, and you beat him thirty times. Don't you know that court caning can kill people?"
Old Lady Wang grabbed the clothes around his neck and said angrily, "He is your eldest brother's only legitimate son. How could you be so cruel..."
"Mother!"
Old Lady Wang continued, "You're usually partial, but nephews aren't sons, and since they're brothers who rely on you, I didn't say anything. So, your wife is in charge of the household. You transferred Da'er's place to Mian'er, saying that Da'er was a good student and could pass the exam on his own. For the sake of the overall situation, it would be better to have one more person in the family attend the Imperial College. I turned a blind eye and acquiesced. Even your sister-in-law didn't say anything, but how could you plot against Rong'er's life?"
"I didn't," Wang Ji denied. "Mother, the caning looked severe, but as long as he takes good care of his injuries, he'll be fine. Didn't you hear the doctor at Baohe Clinic say his injuries got worse because he drank alcohol..."
Old Lady Wang couldn't help but slapped him hard in the face. "Shut up! I haven't even asked you yet. Who gave you the permission to strip him of his pants and cane him? That's a punishment for criminals. He's in his twenties. How can he face people in the future if he's stripped of his pants and caned in front of servants? You, you're deliberately trying to force him to death. You, you..."
Old Mrs. Wang covered her heart with her hands, her eyes wide open, and fell straight back.
Wang Ji was startled and immediately stepped forward to support her, "Mother, mother, please don't scare your son. Someone, come quickly!"
See you at 4 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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