The Shujishi were taught in the Hanlin Academy by the well-educated scholars there for three years, and were then appointed to official positions after the academy closed. Fang Weiyan was naturally very popular among them, but he never boasted of his status because of his academic title. Instead, he was humble in everything, and his teachers also had high hopes for him.
The top three in the first class, Zhang Ao, Li Guan and others, had already been awarded official positions. Zhang Ao had just gotten married, so he was naturally very proud and excited, and he just wanted to see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day.
When Fang Weiyan sent out wedding invitations, everyone laughed: "Zhang Zhuangyuan just got married, and Fang Yayuan is getting married again. We really can't finish drinking wedding wine."
Chen Tongzhuo, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, was his tutor. It was he who recommended Fang Weiyan as the top scholar. Because of this, Fang Weiyan was taken care of by Chen Tongzhuo after he entered the Hanlin Academy.
In Chen Xiuzhuan's mind, Fang Weiyan was the true number one scholar. Zhang Ao and Li Guan were both joint candidates, but Yuan Fu was so powerful that no one dared to say anything.
Therefore, when she heard that Fang Weiyan was getting married, she was very supportive: "Then I will definitely go."
Li Guan and the Ruan family have always had a good relationship. He and Fang Weiyan are also of the same age, so he smiled and said, "Brother Ji Ying, I don't know where your marriage is going."
Everyone was curious, and even Zhang Ao, who always looked down on others, couldn't help but ask, "Why is this happening?"
Li Guanfang said, "Brother Ji Ying's father-in-law is my savior. When I was a teenager, I almost fell into an ice cave. He was about to take the provincial examination and saw someone falling into the water. He jumped in without hesitation to save me. Later, my mother taught Miss Ruan to play the pipa. Our two families are as close as one family. But Brother Ji Ying and I are the same age. Which way should I go?"
No one knew about this incident, but Fang Weiyan knew that Li Guan said it on purpose to elevate Mi Niang's status.
You have to know that although everyone is praising Zhang Ao, they are more enthusiastic about Li Guan. The reason is that his father is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel selects people from all over the country. Officials from other places who come to Beijing to become third or fourth rank officials have to look at the face of a small official in the Ministry of Personnel.
This is the reason why county officials are not as good as the current managers.
Fang Weiyan smiled and said, "In that case, you can come to both places. In the morning, go to the Ruan family to send the bride off, and then come to our Fang family for a drink. Isn't that a double benefit?"
Someone else exclaimed, "Is your father-in-law Ruan Jiading, the doctor of the Ministry of Works?"
Fang Weiyan nodded: "That's right."
"Oh, what a coincidence! Brother Jiading and I are in the same class. He is from the same family as the Hanhaigong Chengengong Mansion in Beijing. He is a truly famous and prestigious family, but he is also very strong and direct. He is very famous in our class and is also very enthusiastic."
The so-called prominent family is just an embellishment. The most important thing is whether people have connections. If you have connections with Li Tan, the so-called prominent family in Jiangling is just an embellishment.
Fang Weiyan smiled and said, "My father-in-law has always been like this. Grand Marshal Cao admires my father-in-law very much and this time he personally came out to protect the mountain."
Everyone was envious and said, "Brother Fang, you really married a good wife."
“That’s right…”
After leaving the Hanlin Academy, Fang Weiyan quietly went to the Ruan family. The Ruan family had already started to set up the wedding tent. After all, the wedding was going to take place soon, so the tent had to be set up first.
At this time, Ruan Jiading had not returned yet. He was a person trusted by Lord Cao. He had taken great measures to control the flood, so he was very concerned. Second Madam Ding was arranging for the guests from her hometown. When she saw him coming, she smiled and said, "My son, why are you here at this time?"
"Mother-in-law, the weather has been too hot recently and Mi Niang can't go out. I found a book for her. According to etiquette, she can't meet me, so I'm sorry to trouble you." Fang Weiyan actually wanted to see Mi Niang very much.
Mrs. Ding was even more impressed by his thoughtfulness. She was not old-fashioned. Instead, she said, "She is resting in the back room. You can go to her yourself."
ah?
Fang Weiyan doesn't want Mi Niang to know the secret in the book.
But since Second Lady Ding was urging him so much, he had no choice but to go to the backyard. Mi Niang was at home at this time, and the weather was too hot, so she had her hair all tied up, and she was wearing a milky white tube top with peony embroidery, and a veil over it, revealing a large area of whiteness on her chest.
Since no one was watching her, she just rested on the couch.
But Fang Weiyan didn't know. When he came in and saw Mi Niang dressed like this, his first reaction was to go out.
Mi Niang didn't expect him to come, and she sat up immediately: "Why are you here?"
Whenever he heard her voice, Fang Weiyan always felt as if he was in another world. He hadn't seen her for several months, and seeing her again now always felt a little unreal.
He smiled and said, "I was afraid that you would be bored at home, so I picked a travel book to give to you. I was going to ask my mother-in-law to give it to you, but she said she was busy, so she asked me to come and give it to you in person."
"So that's how it is." Mi Niang looked at him with a smile, took the book again, and just flipped through a few pages when she felt something was wrong.
What was stuffed inside was actually banknotes, about five thousand taels in total, and some were old and some were newer. They must have been Fang Weiyan's own money.
Mi Niang asked: "What is this?"
Fang Weiyan explained, "I know you are the most upright person, but clothes make the man, and when the time comes to send your dowry, what will happen if someone talks behind your back?"
He was not afraid that the bride would not have enough dowry, but he did not want people to gossip about Mi Niang.
If it weren't for Jian Yuehua's 188-kg wedding dowry that blinded her grandmother, Old Lady Weng, Old Lady Weng would not have personally called him over to test the waters.
Mi Niang pushed the banknote back to him after hearing this: "Take it back. I am not afraid of what others may say. My parents have prepared my trousseau very carefully, and I do not think it is too little. My father is only a fifth-rank official. If he had prepared such a large amount of trousseau, others would have considered it a problem."
"Mi Niang, you..." Fang Weiyan felt like he seemed to have done something wrong.
He quickly admitted his mistake: "I'm sorry, I know."
In fact, Fang Weiyan did the right thing, and it was even very thoughtful. Everyone is born with a pair of snobbish eyes, especially the closer you are to the world of fame and fortune, the more so, and no one is immune.
But Mi Niang didn't want this to happen. She looked at him tenderly and said, "I know you are good to me, and I am not that kind of hypocritical. But if I use this money as my dowry, I will feel guilty. There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable. If this gets out, others will probably say something even more harsh, and I will be even more speechless."
"Then just accept it first. I will give it to you after you get married anyway." Fang Weiyan said as a matter of course.
Mi Niang thought to herself, you finally got the point.
But he still pretended to refuse a few times, saying that he would not accept the gift without merit, and Fang Weiyan said, "Since ancient times, husband and wife have been one body. Although they have not yet been married, it is only a matter of a few days. What difference does it make if you give it early or late?"
Mi Niang couldn't help but take out a handkerchief to wipe her nonexistent tears. She raised her eyes again, her eyes were watery. She hesitated for a while before saying, "Since you said so, let's leave it here for now."
Fang Weiyan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Mi Niang finally took it.
When she took the money, she deliberately touched him with her fingers. When Fang Weiyan reacted, Mi Niang had already pulled her hand back.
Mi Niang also showed concern for him at the right time: "I heard from Dad that you are now a scholar in the Hanlin Academy. Do you have many classes?"
It's not that you will make a fortune if you pass the imperial examination. The teachers will assign classes every day. Some are lenient, but some are very strict and everyone has to stay up late.
But for Fang Weiyan, this was not difficult, on the contrary, it was easy to do. He smiled easily: "Fortunately, not too many, the bachelor also cares about us."
"That's good. Anyway, I don't want to see you suffer so much. There is a saying that goes 'I regret teaching my husband to seek a title'. I just hope that you are safe and sound."
Fang Weiyan loved to hear this. His mother and sisters at home all wished he could become an official, but they never thought about how much it would cost and how hard it would be.
He felt even more pleased when he heard Mi Niang say the word "husband".
"I hope you're safe, too."
"That's right. In life, eight out of ten things go wrong. Even if you want to achieve great things, you have to save your life first before thinking about other things. Otherwise, once you die, everything is gone."
This is also Mi Niang's consistent belief. Don't say that someone will be like this all his life. As long as anyone wants to change, there is a chance.
Fang Weiyan thought that this woman was really mentally strong. Most women would rather die than be humiliated, but she was always able to turn the tables. If she were a man, she would have a bright future.
At this moment, Mi Niang pushed him and said, "It's getting late. Go home and don't let your family worry."
She was hungry and didn't want to talk to Fang Weiyan anymore.
When people are hungry, they feel depressed for no apparent reason.
Fang Weiyan saw the worry in her almond-shaped eyes and quickly told her a joke, "I was so absorbed in writing an article last night that I was about to take a cup of tea, but I didn't expect to take the inkstone instead. My mouth is still stained with ink. Fortunately, I didn't drink it. I only discovered it when I took it to my lips."
Mi Niang covered her mouth and laughed, but then she said angrily, "Don't you have maids and servants around to serve you? What if it really has ink in it?"
Fang Weiyan shook his head: "It's too late, I don't need them to serve me, and the maids don't serve me in my room at night."
After saying that, he looked at her bitterly and said, "So, please marry me soon, my lady."
Mi Niang blushed and spat at him: "Who is your wife? I am not. I am Ruan Mi Niang now, humph."
Fang Weiyan felt more and more itchy, but Mi Niang urged him to leave quickly and he didn't want to keep her.
But it is said that after Fang Weiyan left, a distinguished guest, Mrs. Jian, came to the house in the evening. She had a gentle expression and showed a gift list to Second Madam Ding. She also said, "Children are ignorant. As an adult, you should know the importance of a woman's dowry."
Ever since she knew Fang Weiyan had brought five thousand taels, her daughter had not even prepared a dowry. She looked at Madam Jian's gift list, smiled, and pushed it back: "No need, we are not the kind of people who change our mind every day."
The maid beside Mrs. Jian advised her again, but Mrs. Ding still maintained her tough attitude and refused to accept it.
Therefore, when Mi Niang sent the dowry to the Dong'an Marquis's mansion, Madam Weng flipped through the gift list and saw only 70-odd pounds. Her face changed instantly. Fang Furong immediately looked at Xu with a sneer, "Sister-in-law, Wei Yan is the eldest son of our family after all. This dowry is too little. If it's not enough, I can make up for it. It should be at least 80 pounds to be enough."
Mrs. Xu looked at her son standing tall beside her, fearing that he would be sad. So although she felt a little sad, she still defended her daughter-in-law: "We like her, not these material things."
Fang Weiyan glanced at his aunt Fang Furong, and a hint of amusement flashed across his eyes, but it was fleeting. Only Shen saw it. But when she looked again, she found that Fang Weiyan still looked very happy, and she thought she had seen it wrong.
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