Chapter 3308: Complain or Plead Guilty
Zheng couldn't persuade Bai Jingxing, but Madam Liu didn't quite agree. She still thought her nickname was the best, so she took her daughter's hand and looked at him. "Look at his round eyes, with the corners slightly turned up. Doesn't he look like the kitten my great-grandmother raised?"
Little Bai Jingxing leaned over to take a look, but his younger brother was sleeping with his eyes closed, so he couldn't see anything.
But she refused to admit that she didn't see it, so she nodded and said, "Yeah."
Old Madam Liu laughed and said, "That's why great-grandmother nicknamed him Wu Yuan. In our family, there's only one eldest sister who's called Sister, okay?"
Bai Jingxing was delighted when he heard this and nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay, then what will you call your sister when you have one?"
Madam Liu: "Wait until you have a younger sister. Let's see what she looks like then. There are so many good names in the world. Are you still worried that your sister won't have a good name?"
The eldest sister thought the same thing, so she happily lay down beside the rocking bed and called him, "Wu Yuan, Wu Yuan, when can you come to play in the garden with me?"
Madam Liu touched her little head and said, "It's still early. You can play with Dabao first. Next year he can go to the garden with you to play."
After coaxing her great-granddaughter, Mrs. Liu wanted to settle the score with her grandson and asked Zhou Man, "Where is Zhishan?"
Zhou Man: "He went to the government office."
Madam Liu was stunned. "Didn't he ask for leave?"
Because Zhou Man gave birth, Bai Shan took a five-day leave to stay at home with her. It's only the fourth day, and he won't go to the yamen until the day after tomorrow.
Zhou Man said: "He said I was fine and went to the yamen, but I suspect he went to the palace to file a complaint."
Bai Shan has grown up and has lost the filter of youth, so he naturally would not do such things as openly complaining, so he went to the palace to apologize.
First I went to report for leave, then finished the official business at hand, and finally went to the Tai Chi Hall.
The other two officials in the same office watched Bai Shan leave silently. When his figure disappeared, they sighed, "It's good to be young. You are full of energy."
"He's very smart. I just finished reading one memorial, and he's already dealt with two." They refused to admit that it was a problem of IQ, so it was a problem of age.
They were just as powerful when they were Bai Shan's age, that's right!
Bai Shan went to Taiji Hall to ask for an audience on time.
This is the time when the emperor is about to relax. He is physically and mentally tired, but it is not yet time for a lunch break. This period of time is not long, usually between one quarter of an hour and three quarters of an hour.
During this period, the emperor would "neglect his duties" and slack off. If there were ministers in the study, he would talk nonsense to them. If there were no ministers, he would gossip with Gu Zhong or even the attendant.
When Bai Shan was the Secretary of the Central Secretariat and was always by his side, he was often dragged aside by him to gossip.
So when Bai Shan came with a memorial asking for an audience, the emperor summoned him into the palace.
The matter Bai Shan brought was not a big deal, and he already had one, two, or three suggestions for how to deal with it, but he thought the emperor should make the decision.
The emperor quickly made up his mind, and then took the opportunity to leave Bai Shan to chat, "I heard that you have a new son?"
"Yes," Bai Shan said with a smile, "I had my third bath yesterday."
The emperor was very satisfied and nodded, saying, "Not bad, not bad. You and Zhou Man are both smart and good-looking. Have more children."
He now likes children who are good-looking and smart.
Bai Shan responded, and after a moment of hesitation, he lifted his robe and knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, I would like to apologize to Your Majesty first."
The emperor raised an eyebrow, "Guilt? Have you gotten into trouble?"
Bai Shan lowered his head and said, "The summer heat is approaching in the capital. Your Majesty is not feeling well at this time every year. I don't want to make Your Majesty angry or worried, but I am afraid that this year Your Majesty will be angry."
The emperor raised his chin and motioned him to continue.
"I have a family matter that may come to the court. I apologize first and hope Your Majesty will not be too angry and hurt yourself."
The emperor was annoyed by his long-windedness and asked anxiously, "When did you become like Minister Liu and the others, laying the groundwork for a report for so long? Tell me, what's the family matter?"
Bai Shan then said with a worried look on his face, "Your Majesty, as you know, when Lord Zhou and I got married, we had an agreement that our second child would inherit his maternal grandmother's surname, Xia, and continue the Xia family."
The emperor understood after a little thought. Bai Shan and Zhou Man already had an eldest daughter, so the eldest son born now was considered the second.
He sat up slightly straighter and asked with great interest, "You didn't want to, but Zhou Man insisted. So you and your wife started fighting, and the fight spread from home to the court?"
Bai Shan: "..."
He paused and replied, "My wife and I have already chosen a name for the child. It's a single character, 'Mu,' Xia Mu! But yesterday, during the third day celebration, the clan members were there, and they have a lot of objections to the eldest son having this surname."
When the emperor heard that Bai Shan and Zhou Man were of the same opinion, but that they disagreed with the clan, he became somewhat disinterested. "Oh, what? Are they going to bring this to court?"
Bai Shan was silent. The emperor thought for a moment and then nodded, "That's right. It's indeed against clan law for the eldest son to have his surname. But this matter is neither a big deal nor a small one. Logically, if you two are willing and your parents and elders have no objection, you can make your own decision. But if the clan insists on interfering, they can do so. After all, it is related to etiquette and law."
"That's right," Bai Shan said immediately, "but I can't break my promise, nor do I want to break it. So if this matter gets out of hand, it will inevitably cause trouble for Your Majesty, and I will be guilty."
The emperor curled his lips. It was obvious that this was an excuse to complain to him. After all, he knew about this matter back then and it was a clear way out in the imperial court.
He thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, I understand."
The emperor suddenly thought of something and asked, "Who will inherit your title in the future?"
Bai Shan said speechlessly: "Your Majesty, if my title is demoted to a lower rank, what will be left?"
The emperor thought so too, smiled and asked, "In the future, as you make great achievements, you will naturally be promoted. Who will inherit the throne then?"
Bai Shan thought for a moment and said, "It depends on the situation. If the boy surnamed Bai wins my heart, I will give him the priority to inherit. If he is not capable, I will give the throne to whichever child I like."
He paused and said, "I have had no brothers or sisters since I was born. Everything in the family has belonged to me, so I have no worries about fighting over the family property. However, my wife's family has many brothers and sisters, and there are many conflicts every day. Brothers and sisters-in-law occasionally get angry and quarrel with each other, but they never fight over the family property. Therefore, I think my future children should also focus on earning money from outside the family, rather than focusing on fighting over the family property."
He said, "If that's the case, it would be better to give away all my wealth and just consider it as accumulating merit, and let them earn their own way."
These words touched the emperor's heart. For the first time, he felt like a father to Bai Shan. He sighed and said, "Yes, but my children and grandchildren are the apple of my eye. I naturally want them to succeed, but I can't bear to let them suffer.
Regarding Xia Mu's surname, a book friend reminded me yesterday. I looked at the previous sentence and found that the first time the word "inheritance" appeared was indeed the second son. I misread it because I was thinking of the second child. The order of Zhou Man and Bai Shan's children was also determined when the outline was written. I also know that it is generally difficult for the eldest son to have a different surname. I chose to set it this way because I still want to express that in the hearts of Zhou Man and Bai Shan, boys and girls are the same. Maybe it is not possible in the social environment, but at least they really think so in their hearts.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
