Chapter 113: A Woman's Virtue is Her Lack of Talent
He is still a traditional man at heart. In his mind, his wife should be content with the family, regard her husband as the heaven, and be honest and dutiful.
However, considering that Shen Shuwei took the trouble to scheme for his own sake, Sun Mingzong felt that it was excusable. After all, the daughters of county magistrates in the past would fall down and cry in order to win his favor.
"Since you're here, let's go sit inside and have a chat." Sun Mingzong believed that he had given Chen Shuwei enough face. He had taught her not to use tricks anymore, and he was also willing to lower himself and sit with her for a while.
She must be happy deep down.
Shen Shuwei recovered from his surprise and calmly declined, "I have never met you, I don't even know who you are, how can I say that I have feelings for you."
"Please respect yourself, sir, and don't harm others' innocence for no reason."
After saying that, Chen Shuwei pulled Chen Zhiyang into the private room.
Sun Mingzong frowned and followed him in, only to find that the private room reserved by Chen Shuwei and her sister was right next to his own.
This made his deeply furrowed brows relax again.
Sure enough, it was another of her little tricks to attract me.
Sun Mingzong lifted his robe and sat down next to Shen Shuwei. He listened to the people inside arguing about Shen Heng. After listening for a while, he said unhappily, "Miss Shen, since your brother is involved in the fraud case, your family should avoid suspicion instead of showing up in public and causing controversy."
He was dressed so conspicuously, which made him look shabby.
Sun Mingzong believed that he valued Shen Shuwei so much that he was willing to teach her the rules.
Shen Shuwei's eyebrows darkened after hearing this, and Shen Zhiyang beside her couldn't sit still anymore, "Why is it you again? My eldest brother is innocent. Not to mention that he hasn't been convicted yet, the three courts are still holding a joint trial. Why can't my third sister and I go out?"
Shen Zhiyang couldn't help but roll her eyes. Where did this madman come from? Was he really going to stick to her third sister?
Sun Mingzong said unhappily, "As a woman, you should strictly abide by the code of conduct for women. You should obey your father at home and your husband after marriage. It's not fair to be out and about all day. This is what the saints said."
"You—" Shen Shuwei suppressed Shen Zhiyang, who was about to curse, and looked at Sun Mingzong, "Since you are a scholar, you should also know the saying that a gentleman is cautious when alone and humbles himself."
"This is also what the sages said, that we should restrain ourselves and refrain from criticizing others. Young Master, you can't even do the first sentence, yet you try to force others to do so."
Sun Mingzong's eyebrows knitted together, and his voice became heavier. "Miss Shen, there's no need to bluff and talk about big principles to pressure me. You women have read a few books, how can you understand the deep meaning of these words?"
"Since you want to discuss marriage with me, you should behave yourself. You only need to read some "Female Rules" and "Female Precepts" every day and learn a few words. A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent. It is conceivable that a woman who reads too much will only be able to crow like a hen at dawn, which is not a good thing—"
"Clang!" Shen Shuwei put down the teacup in his hand, his eyes completely cold. "Since you look down on women, then I guess it wasn't a woman who gave birth to you, but your father?"
"As for this unfounded marriage proposal, I don't even know where to begin. But after hearing what you said, I think you don't need to look for a girl to propose marriage to. Just look for a man you admire directly."
Shen Shuwei's words made Sun Mingzong's face turn pale and blue. He stood up from his seat and pointed at Shen Shuwei and said, "I won't argue with an ignorant woman!"
After saying this, he turned away in anger and was about to leave. In his heart, he secretly blamed his mother. The woman introduced to him looked not to be content with what she had, and she was so sharp-tongued. Wouldn't she be able to suppress him in the future?
"Ignorant woman?" Shen Shuwei had no intention of letting him go easily. "Young Master, you used the words of the saints to pressure me, so I discussed the words of the saints with you. Now that you can't win the argument, I'm calling you ignorant."
Amidst the other person's flushed face, Shen Shu chuckled softly, "Isn't it that you, my lord, are shallow in knowledge and narrow-minded, looking down on women, yet you think that you are superior to them just because you were born a man, and that no woman in the world is as good as you?"
"You - you -" Sun Mingzong's body trembled with anger. He felt ashamed and angry, but he could not utter a word to refute. He just kept repeating the same few sentences: "Women's discussion of affairs will cause unrest in the home" and "Women should stay in the inner house to help their husbands. It is unfaithful to women to show their faces in public."
The argument between the two attracted the scholars nearby. After listening to what Sun Mingzong said, they showed contempt on their faces.
"From what remote corner of the world did this scholar come to Beijing for the imperial examination? Everyone knows that Princess Linzhao, who is about to enter the capital, once guarded the northern border with her husband, a legendary story. If he were to tell her that, Princess Linzhao would be too embarrassed to leave the house."
There were also those who wanted to watch the fun and not mind the trouble. They instigated Sun Mingzong to go to the gate of the General's Mansion and say these words. It would depend on whether the old general and the son-in-law Ji Wenchuan would beat him up or not.
Sun Mingzong always regarded himself as a scholar, and was respected by everyone wherever he went. But he lost face because of Shen Shuwei.
Sun Mingzong's eyes flashed with cruelty as he pointed at Shen Shuwei and said, "This woman is the sister of Shen Heng, who was involved in the imperial examination cheating case. My family doesn't mind that she has an older brother with a shady reputation who ruins the reputation of scholars, and we are interested in discussing marriage with her. But she is putting on airs and putting on airs to keep me in check, while at the same time bringing her sister to this teahouse to create a chance encounter with me, deliberately trying to seduce me!"
"A woman like this, am I wrong to say she's unruly and restless?"
Sun Mingzong thought that by bringing up Chen Heng and saying these words, those scholars would stand on his side, but he didn't expect that those people were all silent.
Sun Mingzong was confused, but he saw the crowd suddenly disperse to make way, and Ruan Qiwen walked in with a small ivory fan in his hand and a smile on his face.
"Miss Shen was clearly there to meet me today, but how did that become an attempt to seduce you, Young Master Sun? This is truly fascinating," Ruan Qiwen said. "Besides, the case of imperial examination cheating has yet to be convicted, and it's unclear whether the eldest son of the Shen family was wrongly accused. Yet, Young Master Sun keeps saying that his reputation is not clean."
"Is this the integrity of a scholar like you? In my humble opinion, Miss Shen is right in every word she said."
Ruan Qiwen's words were lighthearted, but they left Sun Mingzong speechless.
The people around were silent for a moment, and then they all warmed up, "So Miss Shen was waiting for you, Mr. Ruan Er. I was wondering, that boy looks like a rat, and his clothes are made of cheap material. How could Miss Shen be interested in him and discuss marriage with him?"
"He said Miss Shen seduced him, but he didn't even look in a bronze mirror."
Sun Mingzong had met Ruan Qiwen at a poetry gathering. At that time, he was in a high and mighty position and was being flattered by others. It was only through inquiries that he found out that this person was actually the prince's companion and the second son of the Minister of War.
Ruan Qiwen and he are worlds apart, but now he says that he was the one who made an appointment with Shen Shuwei.
What does this mean? It means that Shen Shuwei of the Shen family has never been interested in him from the beginning to the end! What deliberate seduction is all his own fault!
Sun Mingzong felt that he had lost face. The discussions around him were like sharp arrows, piercing him to pieces. He didn't have the face to stay in the teahouse any longer and left with a blushing face.
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