As evening approached, the clan chief's daughter-in-law jumped off the carriage, thanked the driver, and wearily pushed open the door to enter the house.
Upon hearing the noise, the clan chief's wife quickly pulled her to sit down, poured her a glass of water, and asked, "How is your sixth aunt?"
Aunt Yun Liu was the sixth child in her generation in the Yun family, but she was the direct sibling of the clan leader. However, their parents had both passed away, and Aunt Yun Liu would not usually come back to her parents' home to pay New Year's visits on the second day of the Lunar New Year. The clan leader's wife knew this, so she deliberately chose this day to come, which must be specifically for Tian Kuang's family.
Tian Kuang's grandfather, Old Master Yun, was the fourth in the clan, while the clan leader was the seventh. Therefore, the clan leader's wife called Old Master Yun "Fourth Sister-in-law".
More than ten years ago, she knew all too well about the sordid affair between her sixth aunt and fourth sister-in-law. Her sixth aunt had asked her mother-in-law to act as matchmaker for her daughter and fourth sister-in-law's eldest son.
At that time, Yun Lao Si's eldest son was fifteen or sixteen years old. He followed his father to make meritorious contributions on the battlefield. At a young age, he was appointed as a seventh-rank captain and had a hereditary title. Whenever he returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors, it would arouse the envy of his cousins in the clan.
However, the title of Marquis of Yun Lao Si was earned through battle, and given the precedent of the eldest branch of the family gaining power and then splitting off, the Yun family members were all in awe of this Marquis Yun who had secretly entered the capital and established himself, and dared not easily approach Yun Si Sao with any wicked intentions.
Only the sixth aunt, relying on her relatively harmonious relationship with the fourth brother-in-law, confidently went to her mother-in-law and asked her to speak on her behalf.
She knew her mother-in-law was also in a difficult position. Her sixth aunt's husband's family, the Feng family, had been scholars for generations, with her grandfather having served as a high-ranking official like a fifth-rank prefect. But in her sixth aunt's husband's generation, they were merely seventh-rank registrars in a small prefecture. So, no matter how she looked at it, she thought, "A registrar's daughter marrying a marquis's son? Is that a joke?"
But unable to resist her sixth aunt's persistent pleas, her mother-in-law had no choice but to sound out Aunt Yun. Naturally, she was politely refused. Unexpectedly, her sixth aunt, who had been eavesdropping outside, immediately rushed forward and launched into a tirade, saying that they were both from humble backgrounds, and that she had only gotten lucky and had already forgotten her roots. Thus began the sordid feud between the two.
By the time the Feng family reached the sons' generation, they were all illegitimate sons, so how could they be properly raised? The sons registered under their names were even more useless, having only passed the imperial examinations to become a scholar and now serving as an eighth-rank registrar. But at least they held official positions, which was still much better than being reduced to commoners as farmers. How could Sixth Aunt let go of such a golden opportunity to come and humiliate them?
The daughter-in-law took a couple of sips of water and caught her breath before saying, "Sixth Aunt lost four teeth, and Feng Shi lost two. The doctor said they can't be put back in. The two of them are definitely an eyesore."
The clan chief's wife handed her another glass of warm water. "Was her eldest aunt really divorced and sent home?"
"Indeed! When I took the two women home, the eldest aunt was crying her heart out in the courtyard. I overheard her crying, and it seemed she was cursing her husband's family for being heartless, ungrateful, and opportunistic. They said they only wanted to marry into the Marquis's family, which is why they married her. But when the Marquis's family fell from power, she was divorced and sent home."
The clan chief's wife sighed, "Back then, she did indeed marry into the Gao family by leveraging the Marquis's influence. But over the years, I haven't heard of the Gao family using any of the Marquis's power. It seems that this eldest daughter-in-law's life in the Gao family wasn't easy either. The fact that she was able to wait several months before being divorced suggests that she must have put in a lot of effort."
The clan chief's daughter-in-law asked hesitantly, "Mother, don't you think that the matter between the three of them is related to Xiao Youran from Tiankuang's family?"
The clan chief's wife paused, "What do you mean?"
"When my sixth aunt and Feng came back from Tian Kuang's house at noon, they were cursing all the way. Later, when I was taking them back, I asked the wife next to my sixth aunt. It turned out that when they were at Tian Kuang's house, they actually wanted to arrange a marriage for Xiao Youran, so that they could give her to their Qing Ge'er."
The clan chief's wife was furious. "How dare they! Others may not know about Qing Ge'er's illness, but do you think I don't? If Qing Ge'er's heart disease flares up, wouldn't that harm Xiao Youran?" She originally thought that her sixth aunt just wanted to come and ridicule her, but she didn't expect that she had such intentions.
No wonder my sixth aunt had been asking her about Xiao Youran.
"Fortunately, Fourth Aunt didn't agree, and Xiaoyou Ran's mother also scolded Sixth Aunt and the others." The clan leader's daughter-in-law called Old Madam Yun Fourth Aunt.
"But what does this have to do with them losing their teeth?"
"Everyone says that Xiaoyou and her brother are lucky stars, blessed by heaven. Being on good terms with them brings good fortune, but being on bad terms with them brings misfortune," the clan chief's daughter-in-law said after thinking for a moment. "The time Aunt Hua fell into the water, didn't someone say they heard Xiaofu say she would be unlucky? And then she had a string of bad luck... Not only was she forced to marry the village's lame old bachelor, but her two mentally challenged sons seem to be dying too... Sixth Aunt and Feng Shi were rejected when they proposed marriage, and they came all the way here hurling insults at us, and ended up falling down in front of our house. Also, last time when Young Master Wen and Brother Chen were distributing the grain, Dazhu's mother was unhappy that they were distributing the grain late, and she went to make a scene, and ended up breaking her leg when she came back..."
The clan chief's wife waved her hand, "You must not say such things again. As long as we know what's going on, that's fine. You should tell Laiwang and the others to get closer to the brother and sister whenever they have the chance, and not to act childishly."
"Yes, Mother."
...
After Wen Yuanbai broke his leg, the Jiang siblings' plans to learn martial arts were put on hold.
Because every time the monk Wuwang saw the two of them struggling to find the location of their dantian, their faces turning red, as if they were defecating, he became very disgusted and didn't even bother to teach them footwork and moves.
Moreover, Wen Yuanbai's leg was broken, so he couldn't practice martial arts and could only lie flat.
So the monk Wuwang changed his focus to literature and began to teach all kinds of knowledge from all over the country.
As for whether it's music, chess, calligraphy, painting, or classics and historical commentaries, it all depends on what he picks up at will.
For example, right now, in order to prevent Wen Yuanbai from falling behind in his studies, the four of them are gathered in his bedroom.
Before the monk Wuwang could decide what to talk about today, he saw the cups and saucers on the table and picked them up casually. “Today, I will talk to you about the art of tea.”
He looked at Nan Zhuo and said, "Bring up all the fine tea your master is drinking."
Nan Zhuo glanced at his master, who was already sitting at the table, with a troubled expression. "Master Wuwang, as you know, my master can't stand the smell of tea, which might trigger his cough and wheezing. That's why we didn't prepare any tea leaves."
After pondering for a moment, Wu Wang said, "Then let's go to Old Man Gu's place and get two ounces of cassia seeds, two ounces of chrysanthemum, and two ounces of goji berries."
Nan Zhuo immediately responded and went out.
Xiao You Ran: ……
Actually... she could manage to get a packet of tea...
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