Some things are better left unsaid; there's no need to be so explicit.
Even if he had to take some tonics every time, he still wanted to favor his beautiful concubines; the idea of aging simply didn't exist for him.
"You've lost all substance but still try to maintain appearances," Jiang Nuan wanted to curse. "You keep talking about the teachings of the sages, but you've all learned these thieving and immoral men and women. You've completely disgraced the sages."
“That’s not how it works,” Liu An disagreed. “There’s no need to be so particular about things that are consensual. We didn’t forcibly take any respectable women. Besides, some women are hard to refuse and we have no choice but to accept them. There aren’t many that are truly desirable.”
This is a common practice in official circles; whether you like it or not, you have to adapt.
However, few people dislike such a wonderful thing.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuan retorted sarcastically, "It seems there are quite a few people who sell their daughters for personal gain!"
Liu An snorted silently, not daring to reply.
That's how officialdom is. If you want to climb up, you always have to pay a price. If you have neither a background nor the ability, all you have left to rely on is your nepotism.
Although it's despicable, it is indeed a shortcut.
Jiang Nuan also fell silent, thinking of her son.
After a long pause, he asked hesitantly, "Do you think Xiaochuan can escape this trend?"
“Difficult,” Liu An answered after pondering for a moment. “The Huang family has a very upright family tradition, which is rare in the Great Zhou Dynasty. However, Xiao Chuan is not a pure-hearted person. He has distracting thoughts, and once a person has distracting thoughts, he will be influenced and easily indulge himself. Moreover…”
After hesitating for a long time, Liu An continued, "I think his biggest problem is that he doesn't have a good wife. Wang's family background is too low, she is not good at handling things, and she is also petty. She is simply not suitable to be the mistress of the Marquis's mansion. Taking a concubine is inevitable, it's just a matter of time."
As he spoke, Liu An earnestly advised, "It's better to do this sooner rather than later. I suggest that you, Madam, immediately arrange a concubine for the young master to avoid causing trouble and damaging the reputation of the Marquis's mansion."
Liu An felt that, based on his observation of Wang Shi, she wouldn't last a single round against the ladies in the capital.
Not to mention the wives of the heads of households, even my own concubines are no match for them.
They're adorably stupid, yet completely oblivious to their own shortcomings.
She doesn't know how to please her mother-in-law, her biggest support, nor how to win over her two younger siblings, who are such great help. She even lacks genuine affection for her own children.
Such a woman might be acceptable if she comes from a humble, peaceful family, but if she comes from a wealthy or powerful family, whoever marries her will be doomed, as she is completely unable to handle any situation.
Jiang Nuan also understood this principle.
She had actually considered leaving Wang here, but in the end she didn't say anything.
She feared that her good intentions might be misinterpreted as her being a nuisance to her daughter-in-law, which would only earn her resentment. Yet, she was also genuinely worried about sending her to the capital.
"There's no need to discuss taking a concubine anymore. Unless absolutely necessary, it's absolutely unacceptable. Wang Shi may have many faults, but she accompanied the Huang family through the most difficult days, and the Huang family owes her for that."
Six years of trials and tribulations cannot be erased in just a few words.
“Madam,” Liu An said, puzzled, “why do you hate taking concubines so much? It’s not a bad thing.”
"For the sake of stability in the inner quarters."
"That's simple, just give the concubine a potion to prevent her from having children."
That's exactly what that shrew did, which is why he hasn't had any children for decades. These beautiful concubines in front of him are only because he has high power and position, so she doesn't dare to have any designs on him anymore.
"A potion to prevent having children? How did you know?"
Jiang Nuan looked at Liu An with surprise.
She couldn't understand how Liu An, a grown man, could know so much about the private affairs of the inner quarters.
"I am not very talented," Liu An said with some pride, "I have been fighting with my wife for more than 30 years."
"You really are..."
This must be the legendary ill-fated couple.
For over thirty years, Liu An had no illegitimate children, and the matriarch of the Liu family had no biological offspring either, ultimately resulting in a lose-lose situation for both sides.
“To be honest, I suffered quite a bit at first. Even when I visited a brothel, someone was watching me. No sooner had I left than that woman drugged the girls,” Liu An frowned. “If I hadn’t been afraid of being divorced, that poisonous woman might have drugged me directly.”
“It’s really too much for a couple to act like this,” Jiang Nuan couldn’t help but shake her head. “You must have had an irreconcilable feud in your past life to be torturing each other in this life.”
"Someone once said that I was destined for a meteoric rise in my career, to become a high-ranking official, but that my love with my husband was shallow and could not be forced. It was all fate!"
If he had come from a better background, he wouldn't have been forced to marry such a wife. Unfortunately, his mother was just a maidservant. It was all fate.
Liu An had a persistent obsession: he had to outlive his wife and never let the family business he had worked so hard for fall into the hands of a vicious woman and her ungrateful heir.
Unfortunately, his diligent studies in his youth, his tireless writing in his early adulthood, and his subsequent dedication to official duties had long taken a toll on his health.
Fortunately, a banished immortal suddenly appeared, possessing abilities that mortals could not achieve, and indeed, he became my sliver of hope.
“I’m a little curious,” Jiang Nuan couldn’t help but ask, “You two are husband and wife, after all. What is Madam thinking? Making the relationship so strained doesn’t seem to do her any good. Is she so sure that her adopted son will still be filial without your control?”
Logically, someone with such an iron-fisted approach should be suspicious, yet his attitude towards his adopted son is like that of a complete idiot.
“Shrewd people are usually very arrogant. They always think that nothing is beyond their control. Just wait and see, that old woman will definitely suffer a big fall in the future, the kind that she can never recover from.”
Why does he dislike this fake son?
It's not just old grudges.
No matter how despicable the Liu family was, he had to admit that without them, he wouldn't even have had the opportunity to study, let alone become a high-ranking official.
Moreover, there's no need to involve the younger generation in the grudges of the previous generation.
But the saying "If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked" is really true. You feed and care for your child, and personally teach him, but you raise an ungrateful child.
At the tender age of seven or eight, he dared to sow discord between the couple, using all sorts of tricks to get benefits. Only that foolish woman couldn't see through him and treated him like a precious treasure.
"Liu An, if I may ask, is your wife exceptionally beautiful?"
“He was alright when he was young. You can’t win people over without spending money. Now he’s a complete mess,” Liu An couldn’t help but shake his head. “He looks older than me.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuan understood.
Perhaps even Liu An was unaware of the deep, unbreakable affection he held for his wife.
Whether you hate someone or ignore someone, you wouldn't act like this. Your words are so forceful, yet your actions are weak and powerless.
Even a common cold can stealthily take a person's life after decades of marriage, and it's even more impossible for Liu An, as a Grand Secretary, not to do so.
There's only one reason he didn't take action: he couldn't bear to.
This couple's relationship was also a tragic one; they tormented each other their entire lives, all for the sake of a group of completely unrelated outsiders.
How tragic!
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