Chapter 4: Crowds of people eating melons at Dali Temple

"Good boy, my daughter Xuan'er should have come to thank you today, but after what happened, she doesn't even want to go out. I hope you can forgive her."

It was really humble to say such words to a younger person. Shen Yuan quickly waved her hand and went to help Madam Li who was about to bow to her.

"You are too polite, Madam. I only learned about this by accident. I really don't deserve such a great gift from you."

"Good boy, the Li family will remember your kindness." Mrs. Li came and left in a hurry. She was rushing home for something.

The Wang family wanted to deceive the marriage, so simply canceling the engagement would be too easy for them!

After Mrs. Li left, He Ying came in and looked at Shen Yuan with doubt.

Shen Yuan no longer hid the secret from his sister-in-law. There was no need to hide the secret for a man like the second son of the Wang family.

However, she only said that she happened to see him being affectionate with the servant outside, and did not reveal that she could hear their thoughts.

He Ying had never heard of such a thing. Her grandfather was a great scholar who brought her up from childhood. All she had listened to and read were books by sages.

After listening to Shen Yuan, He Ying was so shocked that she didn't know what to say. After a while, she patted her chest and said, "How can there be such a thing? Two men... what is this?"

"Why not? There are many such things that happen in private, but we just don't talk about them. It is said that in the previous dynasty..."

Shen Yuan has not yet reached the age of marriage, but she has a lot to say about this matter, all of which she has read in storybooks.

Mrs. Shen passed away long ago, and there was no woman in the family. He Ying had just married into the family not long ago.

Normally, Shen Yun loves and cares for his daughter, but he is a grown man and would not go to his daughter's room to check. How could he know that his daughter was hiding in bed reading these novels?

He Ying has grown up and her eyes have been opened today. By the time she returned to her own yard, she hadn't come to her senses yet and even forgot to ask Shen Yuan where he knew all this.

When Shen Yun came back in the evening, he naturally knew that Madam Li had been there, so he called his daughter over to give her some detailed instructions.

"Next time you hear something, don't be impulsive. Come home and tell Dad first."

Shen Yun also breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Li family was a reasonable family and loved their daughter. When they heard about such things, they were willing to investigate instead of blaming them.

At this point, Shen Yun made a rare teasing remark, "Your father is only a fourth-rank official. If you say something wrong again and get into trouble with someone powerful, I won't be able to save you."

"Dad, you are still young, why don't you work harder? You are a fourth-rank scholar now, and you may be able to move up to the third or second rank in the future."

"Look at how angry we are. Do you think getting promoted is like buying food?"

"I think my father is the most amazing. It's not uncommon for him to be promoted to the fourth rank at the age of 40 by relying on the imperial examination. You are a Shaoqing now, but maybe you will remove the word Shao in two years."

Shen Yuan was sweet-mouthed, and when he praised someone, it really made people feel happy. However, Shen Yun did not get carried away and warned his daughter, "Don't say this outside, otherwise if someone hears it, they will think that your father has some opinion about the Temple Minister."

"I'm not stupid, so I won't spread rumors. Dad, didn't you say last time that another Shaoqing had retired? Who is the new Shaoqing?"

Shen Yuan felt that this new Shaoqing would be a strong rival to his father on the road to Shaoqing. After all, the current Dali Temple Minister was old and would probably retire in a few years.

Shen Yuan was brought up by Shen Yun. Shen Yun usually did not shy away from talking to his daughter about official matters, especially matters concerning the Dali Temple. Shen Yun would talk to his daughter about anything he could.

"This Lord Xie is amazing. He has a good family background, talent, and looks. He is a true young talent." When Shen Yun talked about Lord Xie, he couldn't help but praise him a few more times, which made Shen Yuan very curious.

Of course, family background and talent were not what Shen Yuan cared about most. What she cared about most was - "Appearance? Is he good-looking? Is he as good-looking as my brother?"

Even if Shen Su was his biological son, Shen Yun couldn't say with a clear conscience that his son was better looking than others.

"Prettier than your brother."

"Wow!" Shen Yuan had never seen the world. Among all the men she had met, she thought her brother Shen Su was the most handsome. She immediately became curious about this Lord Xie and completely forgot that she had just regarded him as her father's rival.

Shen Yuan had not yet reached marriageable age, and Shen Yun also felt that her daughter was still a little girl. For a moment, she did not realize that there was anything wrong with discussing the appearance of a strange man with her daughter.

It was not until I saw Xie Hui's handsome face in the Dali Temple during the day that I couldn't help but recall discussing his appearance with my daughter behind his back last night.

"Sir Shen, is there anything wrong with me?"

Shen Yun then came to his senses and realized that he had been staring at the other person's face.

"Ah! Sorry, sir, I just happened to remember a case."

When there are no cases, the Dali Temple is relatively idle and people just look at the files and leave.

Our dynasty has enjoyed peace for a long time, and there are not many cases that need to be tried by the Dali Temple on weekdays. But today, the officials of the Dali Temple have fresh material to discuss.

At noon, all the officials of the Dali Temple were having lunch in the restaurant.

This was originally a rule set by a temple official, who said that eating together would enhance the relationship between colleagues. It has been kept ever since, and eating together makes the food more delicious.

As soon as they sat down, a temple official couldn't help but talk about the new things he heard yesterday.

"Have you heard? The second son of Minister Wang is a traitor!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone stopped eating, even the Minister of the Temple put down his chopsticks.

"Master Zhao, please tell us what's going on quickly?" Seeing that Master Zhao Heng said this and stopped talking, the people next to him hurriedly urged him.

"My wife's maid's cousin's third aunt works in the palace. She said that the Li family came to cancel the engagement yesterday and said that the Wang family's son is a traitor and the adulterer is his personal servant!"

“Wow!”

A group of scholars, talking about trivial matters, were no different from ordinary people. Even the eyes of the temple minister, which were always cloudy and dull, sparkled with light.

In the room, the ones who reacted the least were Shen Yun and Xie Hui. However, Shen Yun was different from Xie Hui because he had known about this for a long time.

Lord Zhao continued, "Minister Li grabbed the handsome boy with his palm-leaf fan-sized hand and tore his clothes. Guess what happened?"

"What?"

"That body is full of... Oh my god, I can't even say it."

Although he didn't say it out loud, everyone present understood what he meant, and they all had puzzled expressions on their faces.

"Oh! I have to go home and tell my wife about this!" An adult suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "My wife's cousin's niece is marrying the eldest son of the Wang family! The second son has this thing, and the eldest son may have it too!"

The temple minister immediately waved his old hand and said, "You can take a leave this afternoon. It's such a big deal, you should go home and tell them."

The current dynasty does not impose strict controls on officials. In addition to taking a day off every ten days, officials are allowed to take leave three times a month. As long as their superiors approve it, they can take leave without having to report it.

Shen Yun looked indifferent, but she was actually very pleased with herself. This was all thanks to her young mistress.