Chapter 46 The Real and Fake Yu Erlang
The next morning, Wu Qiuniang took Xia Man and Qing Que to the inn. Yu Mingshu stayed home and prepared lunch with Luo Yan.
Looking at the menu her daughter had prepared, Luo Yan said worriedly, "My dear girl, the old lady is getting on in years; I'm afraid she won't be able to chew these fried rice cakes..."
Yu Mingshu said dismissively, "But there are other dishes too."
Other dishes might not be suitable for an elderly woman either.
Braised pork ribs, beef tendon, salt-baked chicken—only scallion tofu is palatable.
Having just finished her task, Yu Dan picked a whole basin of houttuynia cordata and, leaning over the stove, asked, "Sister, do you have a grudge against Grandmother?"
Yu Mingshu said, "Don't you know how she made things difficult for my mother back then?"
"I've heard a little about it." Yu Dan's eyes darted around, and then he suddenly smiled wickedly. "I understand. Sister, wait for me a moment, I'll add another dish for lunch!"
Fifteen minutes later, Yu Mingshu saw that there was an extra plate of bright green meatballs on the table.
What is this thing?
"Coriander and meatball soup".
Yu Mingshu understood; it seemed the old lady didn't like cilantro.
Just then, the sound of a carriage stopping came from outside the door. Luo Yan went out to help, and a moment later she saw the old lady walk into the courtyard with a fake kind face.
The old lady and the two people behind her were seeing such an elegant house for the first time, and they stared in amazement.
The old lady clearly thought of the glory of the Yu family's ancestors, and her eyes welled up with tears, but she abruptly changed her tone and sneered, "What's wrong with the original house in Yong'an Ward? Why did you insist on moving to this place where the powerful and wealthy indulge in pleasure! My eldest son devoted himself to serving the court and lived an honest life, leaving behind a meager fortune, which you squander like this?"
"Most of the money for the new house came from Ming Shu's earnings, with some subsidies from my family." Wu Qiu Niang smiled sarcastically. "Didn't the money left by your husband all go to your second uncle back then?"
"Where does a young woman earn so much money?" The old lady's face stiffened, and her tone became even sharper. "And you, how can a married woman ask her family for money every day? People who don't know the situation might think that our Yu family has mistreated the eldest daughter-in-law."
“Sister-in-law, it’s not easy for Madam Wu to live alone in the capital with her two children. Please say less,” Uncle Yu advised.
After the group sat down, the old lady took in the dishes on the table, picked up her chopsticks, and put them down. Her two gray eyebrows twitched, revealing her anger.
Seeing that she seemed about to cause trouble, Yu Mingshu immediately interrupted the spell and asked first, "Grandmother has come all the way to Chang'an, there must be a reason why you had to come. Let's get down to business first."
The old lady couldn't breathe properly and her face turned green. She had to drink half a bowl of soup to recover.
"I came to the capital for two reasons. First, to send my second uncle to take the imperial examination. Second, I heard that a young man named Yu Erlang has emerged in the capital. He is exceptionally talented and has received praise from the emperor himself. I just don't know how our Yu family has another young man in the capital?"
Upon hearing the words "sending my second uncle to take the exam," Yu Dan looked at the old man beside the old lady in surprise. It hadn't been easy; his great-uncle had taken the exam for so many years, and finally, he had passed and entered the capital.
Yu Mingshu replied frankly, "I borrowed Erlang's name to accompany Sanlang in his studies at the academy. What's wrong with that?"
The old lady raised her voice and said, "Why not? You've taken Erlang's name. In the future, Yu Yan will also have to study for the imperial examinations. How will he face that?"
Yu Mingshu said, "Grandmother, rest assured, all the teachers in the academy know my identity. Even on the list of candidates for the provincial examination approved by the Ministry of Personnel, the name written is Yu Mingshu, the eldest daughter of Yu Zhui. It will never take up Erlang's place."
"You..." The old lady was speechless and couldn't say anything for a moment.
Wu Qiuniang said, "We're all family, why beat around the bush with us, mother-in-law? Just say what you have to say."
The old lady glanced at Yu Yan, then straightened her back and said, "We are all of the Yu family bloodline. There is no reason for Ming Shu and San Lang to be studying at the Chang'an Academy while Er Lang is left in the countryside. Go and tell the teacher at the academy that our proper Er Lang also wants to come to Chang'an to study."
Yu Mingshu and Wu Qiuniang exchanged a glance and rolled their eyes inwardly.
After the exams next month, Yu Mingshu will most likely leave the academy. Giving up his place at that time will not be difficult. It doesn't matter if his classmates question whether the Yu family has two sons. He can just explain it clearly. Anyway, Yang Gong knew and agreed. Who can accuse Yang Gong of aiding and abetting evil?
The problem is that the old lady really thought that Chang'an Academy was run by the Yu family, and that the degree was bought by the Yu family, so anyone who wanted to go could go.
Wu Qiuniang smiled: "It's not difficult for us to tell the teacher, since there happens to be a Mr. Yuan living next door at the academy. The difficult part is, what qualifications does Erlang have to enroll?"
The old lady glared angrily: "Ming Shu, a girl, can get into school, so why can't Er Lang?"
Yu Mingshu said, "Grandmother, you don't know this, but I also took an exam to enter school."
The old lady immediately gave Yu Yan a push and said proudly, "If you can pass the exam, then Erlang can pass it too, don't you think?"
Yu Dan burst out laughing.
All eyes at the table immediately turned to him. Yu Dan quickly waved his hand and said, "Sorry, I just thought of something funny."
Wu Qiuniang asked, "Does Erlang really want to get into Chang'an Academy?"
Yu Yan was stuffing beef tendon into his mouth when he heard this and turned to look at the old lady's expression. Under the table, the old lady kept kicking him, forcing him to nod and admit it.
"Yes, I want to take the entrance exam for Chang'an Academy too!"
"Alright, whether you pass the exam or not depends on your ability." Yu Mingshu said dismissively, then apologized to Yuan Yi in his heart. It seems he'll be causing trouble for his teacher on the first day of school.
On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, students returned to school.
Yu Mingshu and Yu Dan squeezed onto the right side of the carriage, while opposite them was Yu Yan, who was peering out the window at everything with a sense of wonder. The old lady sat alone in the middle.
Grandma Yu stared at Yu Mingshu's androgynous face after makeup, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper. After a long while, she scolded in a low voice, "What kind of behavior is this!"
Yu Dan rolled his eyes at him, "Such fussy nonsense."
The old lady's face flushed with anger, and she was about to stand up in the carriage. "What did you say, you brat!"
Yu Mingshu pressed her back into her seat. "Calm down. If you hit your head and something happens to you, none of the three of us will be able to take the imperial examination. We'll all have to go home and observe mourning."
The old lady didn't seem to have calmed down; in fact, she was even angrier.
Yu Yan couldn't help but chuckle, hiding his face behind the curtains.
Yu Mingshu kindly reminded him, "That curtain hasn't been washed in six months."
Yu Yan quickly let go and spat several times.
A moment later, the carriage stopped outside the academy. Just like when Yu Mingshu first came to the academy, many students cast curious glances at the old lady and Yu Yan.
Du Zhiya excitedly caught up with Yu Mingshu and asked, "Yu Erlang, who are these two to you?"
Yu Yan said, "I am Yu Erlang."
Yu Mingshu covered Yu Yan's mouth and said, "Go study your books, and come ask me again after you get into the Yi Zi Hall."
Du Zhiya's face immediately fell.
As they passed the stairs leading to the second floor, Yu Mingshu stopped, turned around, and patted Yu Dan on the shoulder. "This has nothing to do with you. You should go to class."
Grandma Yu stared suspiciously at Yu Dan's back, then followed Yu Mingshu's footsteps and asked, "Why is everyone else on the first floor, but Sanlang insists on going up to the second floor?"
Yu Mingshu was too lazy to explain Sanlang's transfer to another department to her, lest the old lady keep nagging him.
She led the people to Zhishan Hall in silence, knocked on the door, and only after hearing Yuan Yi's voice did she lead the old lady and Yu Yan inside.
Upon seeing the two new faces enter, Yuan Yi frowned. "What does this mean?"
He had seen these two people at the street corner before and vaguely knew they were relatives of the Yu family. They seemed to have a strained relationship with the Yu family's orphaned mother and son.
Yu Mingshu briefly explained what had happened, and as expected, Yuan Yi's brows furrowed so deeply they looked like they could crush flies.
"Do you really think the academy is run by the Yu family? That they can send whoever they want in? Is this how you're going to ruin the integrity of Imperial Censor Yu?"
"I swear, this has nothing to do with me!" Yu Mingshu hurriedly distanced himself, "I tried to dissuade her, but my grandmother insisted on coming."
Yuan Yi realized in an instant that she wanted to pass the trouble to the academy, and immediately burst out laughing in anger.
"Lin Qingxian will be teaching the first class in Class B. Go back to your class."
Yu Mingshu felt grateful and bowed deeply to him with his hands clasped, then ran away like a gust of wind.
New school year, new class, new look.
Yu Mingshu cautiously made his way to the entrance of the Yizi Hall, and as expected, he was scolded by Lin Qingxian and then assigned to his familiar seat—the last row of the classroom, where he sat next to He Zheng.
"Where did you go just now?" He Zheng turned his head to look at her.
Yu Mingshu said, "I've taken care of some family matters."
…
As the morning passed, Yuan Yi passed by the school and delivered good news to Yu Mingshu: Yu Yan had taken a three-question quiz, but couldn't even answer the simplest classical text correctly. The old lady had nothing to say and left with her entourage.
Yu Mingshu couldn't help but question, "Why is there a question about the classics in his preliminary test? My teacher didn't test me at this level!"
Yuan Yi chuckled: "Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Mingshu felt much better.
She never expected that less than a quarter of an hour after Yuan Yi left, a figure rushed in, looking worried, and said, "Ming Shu! Something's happened!"
Xie Huaijin placed his hands on her desk, staring at He Zheng's murderous gaze, and said, "An old lady claiming to be your grandmother went to the Mingfa Science Hall to look for Yu Sanlang. For some reason, she suddenly started making a scene, shouting from upstairs that you are a woman, and that the one she brought is Yu Erlang... Now the whole academy is talking about it!"
Yu Mingshu's gaze darkened, and she hurriedly asked, "What were her exact words?"
Xie Huaijin hesitated before repeating, "She said, 'The teachers at the academy have all lost their minds! They're having a young girl like Yu Mingshu study the classics of the sages, while they're sending my third son to learn some kind of law!'"
No sooner had he finished speaking than some curious students began peering out from outside the Yizi Hall, eager to see whether Yu Mingshu was a young man or a girl. They jokingly suggested that this spectacle should be called "The Real and Fake Yu Erlang".
He Zheng stood up abruptly, slammed the door shut, and yelled, "What's there to see? Will this be on the exam?"
But Xie Ansheng, that scoundrel, braced himself against the door and said with a grin, "He Erlang probably knew the truth all along. No wonder you two are always together and inseparable. You must have been having an affair for a long time!"
Xie Huaijin rebuked, "Stop talking nonsense! Has the Xie family's long tradition of scholarship taught you to use foul language and spread rumors to cause trouble?!"
Xie Ansheng was completely taken aback when the guy who used to be too timid to utter a word in front of him suddenly became so assertive. After a long pause, he snapped, "Xie Huaijin, I think you've gone mad! I'll tell my brother about what happened today, and see how he deals with you!"
Yu Mingshu sat in her seat for the entire noon. Outside the door, classmates whispered among themselves, while inside, He Zheng remained silent.
With afternoon classes fast approaching, He Zheng couldn't help but ask, "What... what are you planning to do?"
"There's no way to hide it." Yu Mingshu felt inexplicably empty inside, and her mind went blank. "Let's just take it one step at a time."
When class started, He Zheng had no choice but to open the door and let the others in. The students, who were not familiar with each other, kept looking at the last row with strange eyes.
“I hadn’t noticed before, but after what Madam Yu said today, I realized that Yu Mingshu looks too effeminate and doesn’t resemble a man at all.”
"It's not just that she has a feminine appearance; didn't you notice that she's shorter than Yu Dan?"
"A young woman who spends all her time surrounded by men is truly shameless."
"She passed the preliminary exam, so she's not going to go to the imperial examination with us, is she?"
"Since the establishment of the imperial examination system, in the past hundred years, has there ever been a woman who passed the examination and entered officialdom!"
Amidst the noise, Yuan Yi pushed open the door and entered.
"Why is Mr. Yuan here? Isn't Mr. Wang the one who teaches at Yizitang?"
“Mr. Wang is away visiting relatives, so I will be teaching in his place today.” After saying that, Yuan Yi’s gaze swept over everyone. “Are you all so wary of Yu Mingshu’s status because you’re afraid you can’t even pass the exam as a woman?”
The hall fell silent instantly, and everyone blushed with embarrassment.
While this statement temporarily silenced the gossip, it was tantamount to admitting that Yu Mingshu's identity was fake. Yuan Yi alone could not possibly suppress this matter; they would have to wait for Yang Congen to return from the outskirts to take charge.
That evening, He Zheng followed the Yu family into their courtyard, still seething with anger. As soon as he entered, he saw the old lady standing with her hands on her hips, yelling at Wu Qiuniang.
"Is this how you treat your deceased husband, and how you raise his only son! I should never have agreed to let you raise Sanlang; you've ruined the lineage of the Yu family!"
Yu Dan couldn't stand it any longer and slammed the cloth bag on his back to the ground. "It's my choice to go to Mingfa Academy, it has nothing to do with my sister and mother! If you have any problems, come at me, don't try to show off in front of my mother!"
The old lady clutched her chest and turned away, saying, "What did I tell you? You've taught this child to be so disrespectful and rude, he even dares to scold his elders!"
Her words abruptly stopped as she saw He Zheng standing side by side with Yu Mingshu, arms crossed, their eyes cold and somewhat eerie.
The old lady was furious, but for some reason she didn't dare to meet Yu Mingshu's gaze. She turned around and continued to scold Wu Qiuniang: "How did you raise your daughter? How can an unmarried girl be so shameless as to walk side by side with a man? If this gets out, the Yu family's century-old reputation will be ruined!"
Yu Mingshu stepped forward and stood in front of his mother, a contemptuous smile in his eyes. Unusually rude, he mocked, "Grandmother has lost her mind. Which of us is surnamed Yu? Which of us is a proper member of the Yu family?"
The old woman was speechless for a moment, panting heavily with anger, her chest heaving. He Zheng, standing behind her, burst out laughing, adding fuel to the fire of her rage.
Yu Mingshu said no more, leaving the old lady who was jumping up and down in anger, and took her mother's hand to return to the inner courtyard.
A moment later, a "sucking" sound came from the base of the wall. Yu Mingshu went over, stood on the box and looked out. Who else could it be but He Zheng?
He Zheng, perched on the wall, asked, "You're just planning to let this old lady stay here indefinitely?"
"Of course I don't want to, but I can't kick her out." Yu Mingshu was very helpless. In this era where filial piety was paramount, if she kicked the old lady out of the house, Wu Qiuniang and her siblings would be known as unfilial and their reputation would spread throughout Chang'an within a day.
He Zheng said happily, "I've taken care of this trouble for you, how about it?"
Yu Mingshu was taken aback and asked curiously, "How did you handle it?"
"Don't worry about that," He Zheng said with a smile.
The following evening, when the Yu siblings returned home, there was indeed no one bothering them in the yard. The old lady and Yu Yan, that burden, were both gone.
Yu Mingshu mentioned it to her mother, but Wu Qiuniang was even more puzzled than she was.
"The old lady took Yu Yan out this morning, saying she was going to the inn to visit my second uncle, and she hasn't come back since. I was just hesitating whether to send someone to look for her."
Yu Mingshu understood immediately, went straight to the back wall of his house, and called He Zheng out.
"Where did you take the old lady?"
He Zheng smiled but did not answer.
More than ten miles outside Chang'an City, a donkey cart was slowly heading south, its wheels crushing the sand and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Inside the car, the two elderly people and the young boy were tied up and unable to move, huddled in their seats trembling.
At the car door, a man dressed as a warrior sat on the floor, toying with a long knife in his hand.
The old woman asked tremblingly, "May I ask your honorable name? What grudges or worries do we have against each other?"
The man smiled, drew his sword from its sheath, and used the gleam of the blade to examine his jawline. He said, "I am but a humble postman, my name and surname are not worth mentioning. We have no enmity; I am merely following orders to escort you three back to your hometown, nothing more."
The old woman was startled by the glint of the blade, swallowed hard, and felt a chill run down her spine.
Upon hearing that he had to return to his hometown, Uncle Yu immediately struggled violently: "No! I can't go back! I still have to participate in the imperial examination!"
The man sighed, "You're already this old, why bother? You've spent half your life trying to pass the exam and still haven't succeeded. Haven't you ever considered that you're simply not cut out for this?"
Then the old man with graying temples looked up to the sky and roared: "A scholar can be killed, but not humiliated!"
The man had no intention of killing him or humiliating him. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught Yu Yan sneakily lifting the curtain with his head, trying to peek outside.
Unfortunately, the donkey cart was guarded by dozens of guards on both sides, so not even a fly could get out.
The old woman shouted angrily, "This is kidnapping!"
"So what if it is?" the man said frankly. "Madam, you are not young anymore. You should go back and enjoy your retirement. The mountains are high and the roads are long. I don't want to see you off again."
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