stonecrandall Chapter 111 Six Years in a Hurry
Chapter 111 Six Years in a Hurry
Chapter 111 Six Years in a Hurry
On the carriage.
After listening to Wang You recount how he met Zhao Sheng, Feng's expression remained unchanged.
"Since you later found out that he was the heir of the Prince of Yong, why did you still associate with him?"
Throughout history, how many of those who participated in the struggle for the crown prince position have had a good ending?
"When Mother found out later, why didn't she send someone to fetch her child?"
Wang You feigned bitterness and said, "When I met the Prince of Yong, I did not know his identity, let alone that the young prince was still alive at the time."
When Mother found out, she forbade anyone to bring the child back. Wasn't that because she was afraid of offending the Prince of Yong's heir?
"That's because you didn't refuse in the first place."
Madam Feng said coldly, "It was fine if you didn't know his identity before, but now that you do, you should slowly distance yourself from him."
The Prince of Yong's heir just came to see you; you should have made an excuse to refuse. Even if it was inconvenient for you, you could have revealed his identity, and I would have helped you.
"I didn't think that much about it at the time, I'll be more careful in the future," Wang You said.
"Tell me the truth."
Madam Feng looked at Wang You earnestly and said, "Is it because of your relationship with the Prince of Yong's heir that you're hoping to gain favor if the Prince of Yong becomes the crown prince in the future?"
"How could a child have such thoughts?"
Wang You quickly shook his head and said, "I only recently learned that he is the heir of the Prince of Yong. I just didn't know how to tell my parents, so I kept the news from them."
There is no best.
Feng said, "If one's virtue is not commensurate with one's position, disaster will surely follow."
Even if one rises to a high position through opportunism, they will ultimately come to no good end.
Wang You looked at Madam Feng with surprise, never expecting her to say such a thing.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Madam Feng said irritably, "You should be thinking about how to explain things to your grandmother and your father when you get back."
"I'm not worried about Father, but Mother will have to help me with Grandmother's side," Wang You said ingratiatingly.
Because of Wang You's analysis last time, Wang Min was indeed promoted and no longer treated Wang You like a child.
If I have any work-related issues that I don't know how to handle, I'll ask him to come over and chat with me.
What Wang You was afraid of was Old Madam Wang, even though he had mentioned her to her before because of Kang Wangshi's matter.
Although the old lady was angry, she didn't do anything to him.
But that was because the old lady was in the wrong, and she herself knew that she had been too biased towards Lady Kang.
Because of the guilt in her heart, she wouldn't easily waver even if she knew.
Wang Min didn't even dare to mention it.
How could she not feel ashamed to be questioned by a junior like Wang You?
Although there are still no plans to change things, it's not enough to punish Wang You for it.
But this time it's different. Getting involved in the succession struggle could lead to the destruction of a family and even death.
This concerns the survival of the family; it would be strange if the old lady let him off easily.
"Now you know fear?"
Madam Feng glared at her and said, "Your grandmother might even punish me, so why would you expect me to help you?"
"Forehead--"
Wang You thought about it carefully and realized that what Feng said made sense.
Whether she will be punished is hard to say, but as the matriarch, she's bound to get a few scoldings.
Wang You could only figure out a way to escape this calamity on his own.
Upon returning home, Madam Feng took her two sons directly to Jingxin Hall.
When Madam Feng told the old lady what had happened, the old lady did not get angry as Wang You had expected. Instead, she pondered for a moment and looked at Wang You, saying, "From today onwards, you are not allowed to go anywhere except to study at the Sheng family's residence."
There can be no delays after school; come straight home.
"Grandson has remembered!" Wang You bowed and said.
"Go back and reflect on your actions. Don't eat dinner tonight," said Old Mrs. Wang calmly.
Wang You wanted to say that he hadn't even had lunch yet, but seeing the old lady's expression, he obediently bowed and left.
"It is my daughter-in-law's fault for not raising her properly; please punish her, Mother!"
After Wang You left, Madam Feng got up and knelt down in the middle of the hall.
Seeing his mother kneel down, Wang Zhuo couldn't stand either, so he knelt down as well.
Get up.
Grandma Wang pointed to a seat next to her and said, "Come and sit down."
"yes!"
With Wang Zhuo's help, Madam Feng got up and sat down on the other side of the soft couch.
"Do you know why I didn't punish You-ge'er just now?" Old Mrs. Wang said.
"I don't know." Madam Feng was also somewhat puzzled by Old Madam Wang's reaction.
Grandma Wang looked at Wang Zhuo and asked, "Zhuo-ge'er, do you still remember the origin of the name 'Jingxintang'?"
"My grandson remembers his grandmother saying that his grandfather gave him this name."
My grandfather loved the *Great Learning*, and my name is taken from it: "Knowing where to stop, one can then be resolute; being resolute, one can then be calm; being calm, one can then be at peace; being at peace, one can then deliberate; deliberating, one can then attain."
"What do you mean?" asked Old Mrs. Wang.
"It means that only after clarifying one's life goals or the level one should reach can one have a firm will."
Only with a firm will can one remain calm and composed. Only with a calm mind can one remain unperturbed and at ease in the face of change.
Only after achieving peace and contentment can one think things through thoroughly; and only after thinking things through thoroughly can one ultimately reap rewards. Wang Zhuo said.
"good."
Grand Tutor Wang smiled and nodded, saying, "Your grandfather once said that this principle applies not only to studying but also to how one conducts oneself in society."
When faced with a major event, one must first be able to calm down in order to remain fearless in the face of danger.
This matter could be big or small, and You'er doesn't represent the Wang family.
What good would punishing him do? Would it inform outsiders and demonstrate the Wang family's stance?
If we really did that, we would be giving an explanation to the Prince Chong's Mansion, but wouldn't we be offending the Prince Yong's Mansion?
You'er is still young; we can just gradually distance ourselves from the Prince of Yong in the future.
It's not good to punish him for spreading the news himself, but it's even worse if someone else spreads it.
If he's really punished, how will he go to study at the Sheng family tomorrow?
"Daughter-in-law understands."
Madam Feng suddenly realized and said, "If Mother hadn't told me, I would have wanted to teach him a lesson later."
Grandma Wang's meaning was simple: if Wang You were punished with family discipline, he would be unable to study at the Sheng family.
Then the fact that Wang You was punished could no longer be kept secret.
Once the Prince of Yong's residence finds out, will they think the Wang family is biased towards Chongwang?
Even if they didn't think that way, the Wang family's eagerness to sever ties would displease Prince Yong.
Preventing Wang You from contacting Zhao Sheng and thus demonstrating the Wang family's stance is the best option.
Old Mrs. Wang glanced at Madam Feng. How could she not know that Madam Feng was only trying to exonerate Wang You by saying that?
Cold comes and heat goes, white sunshine passes in the blink of an eye.
Before we knew it, six years had passed.
Inside the Sheng family school, all was quiet, with only the occasional rustling sound.
After sitting down at the head table, Zhuang Xuejiu held a book and read it, occasionally glancing at Sheng Changbai and the others who were writing articles.
He didn't know how much time had passed when his attendant reminded him that it was time. He put down his book, stroked his beard, and said, "Stop writing. Zecheng, bring me the article later."
"Congratulations to the scholar!"
Everyone stood up and bowed in respect.
"Um."
Zhuang Xuejiu nodded slightly and looked at Rulan and Minglan, saying, "Fifth Miss and Sixth Miss, take a day off tomorrow and copy the Analects five times."
Rulan was taken aback and was about to speak when Minglan quickly interjected, "Yes, scholar!"
Only then did Zhuang Xuejiu leave with his entourage, who had packed their belongings.
"Why am I being punished to copy books for no reason?" Rulan said, somewhat indignantly.
"Of course it's because of those little things you did in class that Zhuang Xuejiu saw."
Mo Lan waved her round fan, a hint of schadenfreude in her voice, "Don't think that just because Scholar Zhuang is old, he's blind. Your little tricks can't be hidden from him."
The three girls studied to understand principles, and Zhuang Xuejiu did not have high expectations for them.
Normally, when we give essays to Sheng Changbai and others, we don't require them to write them.
When Rulan was bored, she turned her head and saw Minglan dozing off, so she tore off some paper, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at Minglan.
Mo Lan, sitting behind Ru Lan, could see everything clearly.
If she hadn't been punished along with Zhuang Xuejiu for complaining earlier, she probably would have complained directly, given her personality.
"you--"
Rulan glared at Molan with embarrassment and anger.
Seeing Rulan's angry expression, Molan's smile widened.
"It's one thing for Fifth Sister to play around like this after class, but what if it affects my elder brother and the young master while they're writing their essays?"
"This is just a small test, not a real imperial examination, so what impact could it have?" Rulan retorted.
"Fifth Sister makes it sound so easy, look—"
"Cough cough—"
Sheng Changbai coughed twice and stood up, saying to Wang You and Qi Heng behind him, "Ziqian, Yuanruo, how about we go for a walk together?"
"it is good."
Qi Heng and Wang You responded and got up to follow.
"Wait for me." Sheng Changfeng also chased after him.
"How was your essay, young master?" Sheng Changfeng asked with a smile.
"The questions Zhuang Xuejiu set weren't very targeted. Not only did we need to come up with ideas on the spot, but we also had to write them down. One class period was too rushed," Qi Heng said with a wry smile.
In previous years, Zhuang Xuejiu would use the better essays from past imperial examinations as model essays to explain to them.
In the last year or two, they have started to give them essay prompts from time to time.
However, Zhuang Xuejiu rarely sets targeted questions; instead, he sets questions randomly.
Not only were the questions arbitrary, but they were also extremely vague.
Take today for example, we asked them to write an article covering the period from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods to the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty.
There are no specific requirements regarding what to write.
With such a long time span and involving so many feudal lords, there's so much to write about.
Such a problem, even just figuring out where to begin, cannot be solved in a single lesson.
Not to mention that I still have to write.
Although Zhuang Xuejiu only required them to write short stories and did not require them to finish them before the end of get out of class, Qi Heng still found it very torturous after a few times.
If you're just going to coast through life, that's one thing, but with such a long time span, you can just write whatever you want, and it won't be too bad anyway.
However, Qi Heng was somewhat competitive and unwilling to rush things. Whenever he had some ideas, he would write just the beginning before get out of class ended.
After thinking for a long time, I still haven't written what I wanted to write, so I naturally feel very upset.
"Actually, Zhuang Xuejiu is training our problem-solving skills."
Wang You said, "Once the imperial examination begins, the questions will be much more open-ended, and how to solve them will be the most crucial thing."
Although the imperial examination process was very long, precisely because there was so much to write about, one had to make quick choices.
Throughout the imperial examinations, it was common for candidates to have an initial idea, but as they wrote, they would come up with a different idea.
Ultimately, the time limit was reached, but the article was never finished.
"That's right."
Sheng Changbai nodded in agreement, saying, "Literary talent in the imperial examinations is one aspect, and the entry point is another."
Two years ago, Su Zizhan was already famous in Bianjing before the imperial examination, and he even got second place in the first class in the metropolitan examination, but he only ranked fourth in the palace examination.
This shows that literary talent is not the key to success in the imperial examinations.
The most important thing in the imperial examinations was actually predicting the exam questions, not just guessing what might be asked in advance.
You also need to consider various factors when answering questions.
For example, you could incorporate recent current events or the examiner's preferences.
These are all factors that need to be considered.
For a simple example, the questions in the provincial examination were related to the reform.
At this point, the examiner's attitude becomes especially important.
Whether or not someone passes the imperial examination rests with the chief examiner.
If the examiner is a reformist, and you answer the question by saying that the ancestral laws cannot be changed, you will almost certainly fail.
vice versa.
"I understand, but every time I want to write something, I can't, and I don't even know if my thinking is right," Qi Heng said with a wry smile.
"If you didn't write it down in class, you can write it down when you get home, and then go back and ask a scholar for corrections," Wang You said.
"Too."
Qi Heng nodded and looked at Wang You, saying, "Ziqian, I used the argument that there were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period as my starting point. What about you?"
"What a perfect description of the Spring and Autumn Period, where there were no righteous wars! It perfectly captures the essence of the Warring States Period," Sheng Changfeng praised.
He had always wanted to curry favor with Qi Heng, and since this was Mencius's saying, a sage's words, he naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by.
Sheng Changbai and Wang You exchanged a glance but neither spoke.
"What do you think, Zecheng and Ziqian?" Qi Heng was a little embarrassed by Sheng Changbai's praise and looked at Sheng Changbai and Wang You.
"Ziqian, you go first," Sheng Changbai said.
"When we read the words of the sages, we cannot just read the book; we must also consider the context of the time."
Wang You said, "When Mencius was alive, the Zhou emperor was still alive, so it's natural that he said there were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period."
However, more than a thousand years have passed since the Spring and Autumn Period, so from today's perspective, it cannot be said that there were no righteous wars.
The saying "There were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period" comes from Mencius, Book 7, Part 2. The original text reads: "There were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period. If the other side was good at fighting, then there would be wars. A war is when a superior attacks a subordinate; enemy states do not wage war against each other."
Mencius believed that the Zhou rites stipulated that "rites, music, and military expeditions should originate from the Son of Heaven," which was in accordance with righteousness. However, during the Spring and Autumn period, "rites and music collapsed," and the feudal lords launched wars on their own initiative, mostly for the purpose of expanding their private interests, which lacked legitimacy.
At that time, the Zhou emperor was still alive, and the feudal lords were nominally under the emperor's jurisdiction.
Confucian sages like Mencius also advocated morality such as loyalty, filial piety, propriety, and righteousness.
From their perspective, there is no problem.
Wang You paused for a moment, then continued, "But the unification of the world is an inevitable trend. After Xiang Yu destroyed Qin, he enfeoffed many princes, but ultimately died at the hands of Emperor Gaozu of Han."
After unifying China, Emperor Gaozu of Han began to eliminate kings of different surnames and established the White Horse Alliance, stipulating that no one other than a member of the Liu family could be granted the title of king.
"Isn't my cousin questioning the words of the sages?" Sheng Changfeng retorted.
He had just praised Qi Heng, and then Wang You immediately belittled Qi Heng. Wasn't that also belittling him?
Wang You looked at Sheng Changfeng as if he were a fool and said, "When did I ever belittle sages?"
"You say that the unification of the world is an inevitable trend, then why did the Zhou Dynasty last for eight hundred years before it perished, while few unified dynasties lasted more than three hundred years?" Sheng Changfeng questioned.
The distinction between the two Han dynasties existed long before that; it was not a distinction made by later generations.
Some people believe that the Han Dynasty was one dynasty, while others believe that it was two.
Therefore, it's not wrong for Sheng Changfeng to say that.