What surprised Shen Heng even more was that she met Shen's father, Shen Rongwei, in the government office.
"Mr. Shen, there is no such thing as a concubine in the laws of the Great Cong. The government cannot issue such a marriage certificate." Lu Ji'an said indifferently. He really didn't expect Mr. Shen to do such a thing. Although he had done a lot of good deeds, his moral character was lacking. He hid it from his family and his original wife, and the child was already sixteen years old.
The manager of the etiquette room breathed a sigh of relief. Mr. Shen had been pestering him for a long time, and because of their past friendship, he just agreed perfunctorily. However, Da Cong was talking about patriarchal ethics. There was no marriage certificate for a co-wife, only a deed. In other words, there was a saying among the people that there was a co-wife or not, but the law only recognized the original wife.
"Master Lu, Zhou has given birth to a son for me, and he's even passed the imperial examination. If you don't grant me a marriage certificate, how will my son face the world?" Shen Rongwei didn't expect Lu Ji'an to be so dismissive. "Well, if Master Lu agrees to grant me a marriage certificate, I'll donate another 1,000, no, 8,000 taels of silver to the temple you're building."
"If the officials let someone issue you a marriage certificate, you will be disregarding the patriarchal ethics. Monogamy is the ethical code and the rule of family. Even the emperor does not marry two wives. If you violate it, rituals will collapse and music will be destroyed, and yin and yang will be out of harmony. How can justice in the world exist?" Lu Ji'an said seriously.
Chen Heng nodded frequently as she listened. This also guaranteed the wife's rights. As far as she could remember, there was a law in the Great Cong Dynasty that only men over 40 years old and childless could take concubines, and it wasn't strictly enforced. However, the law of monogamy was deeply rooted in people's hearts, and it was rarely violated.
Today, Lord Lu was dressed in an official robe, with a steady expression, a handsome appearance, and a sense of righteousness between his eyebrows. To describe his words, there is only one word: handsome.
Xie Jian glanced at Ah Heng. Every time she saw the Master, Ah Heng always had a smile on her face and her eyes seemed to be alive.
The clerk of the etiquette office added, "Mr. Shen, since Chen Yuan is already registered under Yao's name, he is also the legitimate son. If he tells others about it, no one will laugh at him. It has nothing to do with the Autumn Examination. Why do you have to promote Zhou as a concubine?"
He had his own reasons, and Shen Rongwei was not in a position to say these things.
Half an incense stick of time later, Shen Rongwei was furious. When he came out of the side hall, he saw his second daughter and second son-in-law, and his face became even more gloomy.
With so many people around, Chen Heng still gave him face and bowed, calling out, "Father."
"Father-in-law." Xie Jian also bowed.
"Hmph." Shen Rongwei waved his sleeves and left.
Chen Heng happily entered the side hall and bowed, "Lord Lu."
"Master."
Seeing that there was nothing for him to do, the manager of the etiquette room said to Xie Jian, "Xie Jian, you are a promising boy. Get ready for the autumn examination." Then he bowed to Lu Ji'an and took his leave.
Lu Ji'an looked at Xie Jian and his wife with satisfaction: "Is this trip to Yuzhou going smoothly?"
"Yes, it went very smoothly." Xie Jianyu said, "I also went to see Master Jian. Master Jian said that he often missed the time when he and I were classmates. If he had time, he would definitely come and reminisce with us."
"Master Jian?" Shen Heng was quite curious. Who was this person?
Then, the teacher and student chatted about some other things, without avoiding Shen Heng.
Only then did Shen Heng realize that when Xie Jian came to Yuzhou, he had met not only Lord Jian, but also several famous sages.
After the two of them finished chatting, Chen Heng pointed to the two jars of wine placed at the door and said, "Sir, this is Yuzhou's famous wine. It was given by Young Master Meng. Xie Jian and I are offering this to express our gratitude to our teacher. I hope you won't mind."
"Wine? The wine brewed by the Meng family is indeed excellent. Master, I will accept it."
"Sir, you have lost some weight. Don't work too hard." Shen Heng was concerned.
Yu Wei's voice came in: "Madam Shen is really caring. Our master has been busy with official duties recently and only sleeps for one or two hours a day. It would be strange if he didn't lose weight." As soon as the voice fell, the person was already in front of him.
Xie Jian glanced at Shen Heng, observing her very carefully, and then said, "Now that I have returned, I will ask you to give me any instructions I can provide."
"Yes. We can send Ah Jian to do it." Yu Wei laughed heartily. "He will be an official in the future anyway. The sooner he gets familiar with it, the less worries you will have." As he spoke, he handed the small bundle in his hand to Chen Heng. "This is the reward from the government office for the scholar. Three taels of silver, a set of four treasures of the study, and a few books that our master gave you out of his own pocket. The rice paper inside was bought with the money that we brothers pooled together. Congratulations to Ah Jian for passing the exam and becoming a scholar."
Upon hearing this, Xie Jian hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you, Master, and thank you, Brother Yu Wei and my brothers."
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