Year-ago turmoil 4
That night, Xu Lingwan borrowed Chen Cong's men and used some tricks to pry the whereabouts of Ding's cousin Yan Wei from the two servants, and captured him that night.
It is not known whether this man wanted to take revenge on Ding or hated Shen Er for stealing his wife. After being detained for a few days, when Ling Wan interrogated him, Yan Wei grinned and said that he and his cousin had already had a private relationship, and that Minister Shen was just picking up the old shoes that the Yan family didn't want.
Slut? Ling Wan's face remained expressionless, and she laughed in anger. How cowardly and incompetent must a man be to fabricate obscene rumors to humiliate and slander a woman.
Lin Sui stepped forward and slapped him, twisting his arm.
Yan Wei screamed, but there was a mad fire flashing in his eyes. He began to talk like a mad dog about all the shameful things he and Ding had done.
Chen Yuanyuan looked at him coldly, thinking that he was probably not far from going crazy.
There was no point in interrogating a madman. He was determined to drag Ding into this, but it was a pity that Ding still begged the Shen family to spare his life.
"What are you looking at, Madam? Do you also think that my lover is younger and more handsome than Minister Shen?" Seeing that the young and beautiful lady at the top was unmoved and just looked at him quietly with a pitiful and sad look, Yan Wei seemed to be unaware of the pain. He suddenly stopped laughing, raised his eyes and looked straight at Xu Lingwan, his eyes full of hatred.
Dare to slander the mistress. Lin Sui's eyes flashed, and he was about to use ruthless force to make this sour and mean mouth shut, but he saw the mistress waving her hand at him, signaling him to let Yan Wei go.
"Yan Wei, whose courtesy name is Chunmao, was from Lingyang County, Qingzhou. He started learning at the age of three and could write poems at the age of seven. He was a well-known prodigy and talent in Lingyang. At the age of fifteen, he attended a banquet hosted by Lord Yan, and his essay "Ode to the Pearl" amazed everyone in the audience, causing the popularity of paper in Qingzhou to soar." Ling Wan smiled and spoke lightly.
"You--" Yan Wei obviously didn't expect that this lady in the inner house actually knew him. In the face of his provocation, she could still speak to him impartially and even with a little praise and regret. He was stunned there for a moment.
"I have had the pleasure of reading your 'Ode to the Pearl'. It is elegantly written and beautifully written. The line 'To illuminate the darkness of the world, to illuminate the splendor of the nine provinces', I believe, is a statement of aspiration expressed with a pearl. This aspiration is that of a true man."
When she first came here, Chen Yuanyuan had nothing to do, so she would occasionally visit her ancient husband to stay in touch. She had come across "Ode to the Pearl" by chance in Shen Cong's study, and was astonished by its beauty.
This parallel prose is full of allusions and beautiful words. The sentences are staggered and the rhythm is clear. It starts with a bright pearl and expresses its aspirations. The youthful spirit and high spirits between the lines made Chen Yuanyuan feel as if she was reading a complacent "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng".
Chen Yuanyuan was therefore somewhat curious about the author, and asked whether the owner of the poem was now able to fulfill his wish of being a "pearl" in the government that illuminates the unknowns of the world.
Chen Cong smiled faintly at that time, and said with a look of regret and indifference: "Those who become famous at a young age rarely know that heroes in the world are like carp crossing the river."
After checking with Yan Wei these days, I finally understood the deeper meaning of what Chen Cong said at that time.
Generally speaking, young people who are outstanding are naturally gifted and intelligent, so most of them are proud of their talents in their own areas of expertise, look down on others, and are arrogant and difficult to tame.
Yan Wei was known for his talent at a young age. He passed the imperial examination for the title of Scholar at fifteen and the imperial examination for the title of Jinshi at eighteen. He thought his career would be smooth sailing, but unexpectedly, the chief examiner for the title that year was the Prince's Junior Tutor, Shen Wangxi.
Chen Cong knew about this boy's talent before, but he was greatly disappointed after reading the test paper. He felt that Yan Wei was too good at writing and had no knowledge that could help the world (translated to mean that his writing was good, but he was not good at doing practical things), so he crossed Yan Wei out.
Somehow, this rumor, with some exaggeration, spread among the scholars. Since the scholars all over the world regarded Master Shen as their role model, Yan Wei naturally fell from the altar. For the next ten years, there was no news of him in Kyoto.
Ling Wan looked at the young man with a handsome face but a crazy expression, and felt that there must be something hateful about pitiful people.
He hated Chen Cong for ruining his reputation, harming his family, and taking his wife, but he didn't realize that it was his own unwillingness and imbalance that ruined everything.
After Yan Wei returned to Qingzhou, he scolded Chen Cong to his father, the prefect of Lingyang, for being blind and jealous of his talent.
The strict father thought Shen Cong was right, that an official's priority was to provide for the people's livelihood. He then thought his father was fawning over his superiors, and with a sneer, he decided to sever his ties with his fawning father and move to a friend's house in the next county.
The strict father was so angry that he scolded his son for being unfilial and wanted to kick him out of the house immediately.
But he was his only son after all. Later, seeing his wife weeping daily over his son's death, he decided to go to the next county and bring him back, both to appease his wife and to ease the father-son relationship. Unexpectedly, however, Yan's father was caught in a flash flood on his way to the neighboring county, and was reportedly wiped out. Upon hearing the tragic news, Yan's mother died soon after.
Later, the magistrate of Lingyang County wrote to the local education official, depriving Yan Wei of his title of "scholar" on the grounds of "unfilial piety", and after beating him with 30 sticks, he was expelled from Lingyang.
Yan Wei had nowhere else to go and had to seek refuge with his aunt in Qingzhou.
What happened afterwards was completely different from what Aunt Ding said.
Madam Ding, who had hurried over yesterday, had a gloomy expression on her face. She said, "Second Madam, the Ding family has a daughter like this, and the Shen family deserves to punish her. But I beg you to have mercy on me, as this is my only daughter. Please spare her life."
As he spoke, he told the truth about what happened between Ding and Yan Wei.
It turns out that it was true that Ding and Yan Wei were betrothed since childhood and that the Ding family broke the contract, but it was nonsense that Lord Ding despised the poor and loved the rich and despised Yan Wei's family's decline.
After Yan Wei's incident, although Ding's parents felt that their son was extremely unfilial, they took him in because he was the only child in the Yan family. They also hired a strict teacher for him, hoping that he would repent and start over.
But this boy, realizing his career in the government was hopeless, had other plans. Relying on his writing skills, he spent his days hanging out with the dandy young men of Qingzhou in the brothels and teahouses, under the pretext of making friends and writing.
After repeated attempts to persuade Ding's parents to no avail, they prepared to offer him a sum of money and expel him from the house. Yan Wei, however, burst out laughing and scolded them for being snobbish and refusing to acknowledge him as their son-in-law or even their son. He then told Ding's parents that he had anticipated their breaking of their promise and had spread the news of his affair with Miss Ding.
It just so happened that Wang was looking for a match for Shen Cong and had her eye on the young lady from the Ding family. After listening to the words of Ding's father and mother, she confirmed that the young lady was innocent and said calmly, "If you agree to your daughter marrying into the Shen family, it won't matter."
After returning to their room, Lord and Lady Ding discussed their daughter's situation. With her reputation now largely ruined, it would be difficult for her to find a suitable family in Qingzhou. Although marrying Master Shen would make her a concubine, her mistress was kind and the Shen and Wang families were powerful and influential. They only needed to keep Yan Wei by their side to ensure their daughter's safety, making it the best choice.
Ling Wan still remembered Madam Ding crying yesterday, "Second Madam, Xiulian has always been polite and chaste when she was in her boudoir, and has never been unkind to Yan Wei. I think there's something else going on here. Please let me see her."
It’s not that Ling Wan doesn’t want the mother and daughter to meet, but that Ding refuses to see her mother.
"Yan Wei, you want to sacrifice the Ding family to bring shame to Chen Cong and take revenge on him." Ling Wan half-lowered her eyelids, her eyes indifferent. "Honestly, I don't care whether you take revenge on Chen Cong or not."
"Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor. Since you feel that Chen Cong caused the destruction of your family and that he is your nemesis for stealing your wife, as a man, it is understandable that you seek revenge."
"But I pity the woman who wants to die to beg for your life."
Ling Wan raised the corners of her lips sarcastically as she spoke, "To save your life, she didn't hesitate to destroy her own reputation, saying that you two had been childhood sweethearts and had a deep love for each other. She even went so far as to slander your parents, saying that they ruined your arranged marriage because they were greedy for wealth."
"She even said that since she left home, you have been taking care of her sick mother in her place. You have been very kind to her. So, after seeing your letter, she gave your servants a lot of money and property. She really planned to meet you secretly on the 19th."
"Then, to prove your innocence, she asked the Shen family to sentence her to death, but before she died, she begged the Shen family to let you go."
Ling Wan couldn't help but sneer, "Mrs. Ding is still too naive. After something like this happened, no matter whether your relationship was innocent or not, how could the Shen family let you go?"
"And you, ask yourself, what virtue or ability do you have that would make her die to protect a bastard like you."
"So, Madam, you came here to speak up for a concubine?" Yan Wei's eyes seemed to be filled with poison, and he laughed viciously.
"Yes." Ling Wan looked him straight in the face. "I feel sorry for Aunt Ding. I also want to see what a talented person who wrote 'Ode to the Pearl' at the age of fifteen looks like."
Yan Wei was startled for a moment, then lowered his head and chuckled, "So, Madam, now that you've seen me, you must be very disappointed."
Ling Wan said calmly: "It's not disappointment, it's just pity."
"Mercy?" Yan Wei laughed heartily, as if she had heard a joke. "Madam, please have some pity for your good husband."
He raised his head, stared at Ling Wan, and said word by word, "I think Madam doesn't know yet, but your good husband has never touched Ding."
"Madam, go ask Mrs. Ding whose child she is carrying and who is the one that made Minister Shen cuckolded."
“Hahahahahahaha!”
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