The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 43: Thirteenth Uncle

Chapter 43: Thirteenth Uncle

Although Song Yuyan did not get excited because of Du Yan’s success in the imperial examination, she still felt happy for him in her heart.

Originally, she wanted to write a letter to Du Yan to congratulate him, but considering that he should be quite busy at this time, she chose a day that was neither too early nor too late to send the congratulatory letter.

Du Yan received Song Yuyan’s letter only at the end of April. Before that, he had already received letters from many friends congratulating him, as well as fine gifts sent by his father-in-law’s relatives and friends.

When he saw these gifts, his mood was a bit complicated. Back then, he had been bullied by his elder brother and was not tolerated by his stepfather, feeling a kind of茫然 and sorrow as if “the whole world was vast, yet there was no place for him to settle.”

Fortunately, he adjusted his mindset, wandered around everywhere, and did not give up any opportunity to learn. It was precisely this character of never giving up and being persistent that won the appreciation of Madam Xiangli’s father, who married her to him and sponsored his studies…

However, his time in the Xiangli family was not entirely smooth. For example, those clansmen and relatives of the Xiangli family, which one of them did not mock him behind his back as a son-in-law who married in and relied on the Xiangli family for everything? He had endured it for many years and finally, after failing the provincial exam that time, decided to travel far away. Increasing his knowledge was one reason, and he also wanted to go out to relax his mind.

He had accumulated deeply and now broke through thinly; this success allowed him to finally hold his head high! And to tell the truth, he felt a bit proud in his heart, just as the poem Meng Jiao wrote after his own success that year:

The squalor of the past is not worth boasting about; now in the morning, my wild thoughts have no bounds.

With the spring breeze in my sails and my horse’s hooves flying fast, in one day I see all the flowers of Chang’an.

The people who once looked down on him now all came to curry favor with him; wasn’t this exactly riding the spring breeze in triumph?!

He had been proud for more than a month before he received the poetry tube containing Song Yuyan’s letter. He did not think that Song Yuyan was also rushing to write to curry favor with him, because among the people who succeeded in the same year as him, even Feng Yuan from Panyu in Guangnan, the farthest away, had received congratulatory letters from friends in his hometown, so there was no situation where Song Yuyan had received the news of his success very late.

Song Yuyan writing to him at this time clearly showed that she did not want to appear as if she was currying favor with him. But she also would not deliberately show off her own aloofness by delaying the letter until very late.

She had grasped the timing well, and Du Yan had also slowly calmed down from his triumphant mood, so when he received her letter, he did not have so many thoughts in his heart.

Song Yuyan’s letter was contained in a new poetry tube. After he got it in his hand, he first admired the openwork carving on it, secretly praising that Song Yuyan’s drawing skills and carving skills had improved again, and only then did he slowly open the lid and take out the letter inside to read.

Song Yuyan had always been the type who did not ramble on endlessly when writing letters to people; this time writing to Du Yan was the same. Besides congratulating him, she did not talk about too many irrelevant things.

Du Yan read the letter back and forth several times and saw that there really was nothing else on it, so he could not help but say, “This Song Dalang is still the same as before; the letters she writes are concise and to the point, not willing to write even half a sentence of nonsense.”

His wife Madam Xiangli, hearing this, smiled and said, “Since you, my lord, know it is nonsense, how could Song Dalang not know? Since she knows, why waste ink? Moreover, in this more than one month, have you, my lord, heard little nonsense?”

Although Du Yan going to the capital for the exam might not necessarily pass, to avoid being distracted by miscellaneous affairs before the exam and not being able to focus on reviewing, Madam Xiangli had come here to arrange everything before he arrived in Kaifeng.

Du Yan finished the provincial exam in the first month and participated in the palace exam in the second month; it was only in the third month that it was formally decided. Madam Xiangli had been taking care of him in Kaifeng during these days.

Du Yan listened to his wife’s words and felt that it made sense. He happily picked up the poetry tube to show Madam Xiangli and said again, “This young person’s character and temperament are very much to my taste; I felt like I had known him at first sight and thus took him as a close friend. Although he is not as talented as me in literary talent, he also has astonishing abilities in certain aspects. Just look at this carving work; it is both novel and elegant. Without some talent, how could one come up with it!”

He spoke as if he wanted to pick up a knife and carve, but thinking that although he had the level to appreciate, he did not have this skill, he could only suppress his restless heart.

Madam Xiangli thought to herself that he had never given such high praise even to his own son, but he was not stingy with words of praise for that young man, so she felt a bit jealous in her heart.

But her lord was different now from the past; she naturally followed his words and also praised Song Yuyan a bit, then mentioned that someone had invited him to a gathering at Fanlou.

Du Yan thought about it; since it was going to Fanlou, it must not be for discussing poetry and literature, but for drinking, feasting, sightseeing, and indulging in pleasure.

He had just been thinking that when writing back to Song Yuyan, he would advise her to return to the Song family义学 and study diligently, perhaps in the future she could also turn hardship into sweetness like him. So if he accepted the invitation to the gathering, it would inevitably slap his own face, so he said:

“If it were a elegant literary gathering, I could go, but this time their invitation is not for discussing poetry and literature, but for eating, drinking, and playing; I still won’t go.”

Madam Xiangli let out a sigh of relief; she had been worried that her lord, who had endured so much contempt before, would become complacent and greedy for glory and wealth once he succeeded as a jinshi.

Fortunately, his mind was still very clear.

____

Song Yuyan read Du Yan’s reply letter, as if she saw a little person on the paper urging her: “Look, although I started studying late, I did not lose my enterprising spirit. I immersed myself wholeheartedly in studying and finally got some return. We are close friends, so I won’t mislead you; I suggest you also go back to diligent study and hard work, and in the future, we still have the opportunity to realize our ambitions in politics together!”

Song Yuyan: “…”

Sorry, big brother, I have no ambitions in politics.

On this path, she was destined to disappoint Du Yan. However, Du Yan was right about one point: no matter what kind of adversity one was in, one still needed to have an upward and positive heart.

So she accepted Du Yan’s suggestion and usually worked harder to improve her own cultural level.

Currently, the books in the Song family, besides the enlightenment books she bought back for the two little radish heads to study, were only the “Analects” and “Erya” that Du Yan had given her. Song Yuyan humbly thought that with her current ability, she could only digest these two books; she understood the principle of biting off more than one can chew, so she did not rush to read more books.

Almost no one could achieve self-teaching without a teacher in the matter of studying; Song Yuyan also did not plan to work behind closed doors. She excerpted the sentences she encountered that she did not understand, and when she met with Wang Zhi and others, she would discuss them together. For those that both sides could not figure out, she would return home and ask Song Zhu for advice.

Song Zhu still thought that it was Du Yan’s success as a jinshi that stimulated her, so now she was even more diligent. He was happy to see this. To encourage Song Yuyan, he also told her about the official position Du Yan had obtained:

“Shichang has been appointed as the Inspectorate Deputy of Yangzhou and will soon go to Yangzhou to take up the post. Fortunately, Yangzhou is not too far from Mingzhou, so in the future, exchanging letters will be even more convenient.”

The Inspectorate Deputy was actually the deputy of the Inspector of Yangzhou, in charge of judicial affairs. And the Inspector in the Tang Dynasty still had real power, equivalent to the head of the Discipline Inspection Commission, directly dispatched by the court.

Later, for reasons everyone knows, by now, whether it was the Jiedushi or the Inspectors, Military Commissioners, and so on, they all had no real power and became nominal titles.

However, this did not mean that Du Yan’s new official position had no status. Generally, when the court set up a Jiedu Prefecture or an Inspectorate Prefecture, the administrative head of the place was the Jiedushi or Inspector, but these were just titles, while the real position was “Knowing the Affairs of the Prefecture.”

Take the Inspector of Yangzhou as an example; his duty was “Knowing the Prefecture,” which was equivalent to the central government sending a powerless Discipline Inspection Commission head to Yangzhou to act as mayor. And Du Yan’s actual work was like the president of the Municipal People’s Court.

Compared to most second- and third-class jinshi, who either worked as clerks in capital departments or as secretaries to county magistrates, his starting point was very enviable. It was normal for Song Zhu to use this to motivate Song Yuyan.

Of course, whether Song Yuyan was motivated or not, Song Zhu did not know; he only knew that the frequency of Song Yuyan’s returning home had not changed at all, which made him so angry that he kept scolding Song Yuyan as a piece of rotten wood that could not be carved.

But when Song Yuyan returned home to collect grain, he pulled her along again and asked if she had any questions to ask him.

Song Yuyan felt that this Thirteenth Uncle as a teacher was quite ethical, dutiful and responsible, and fond of teaching and resolving doubts. Since the other party wanted to teach the student so much, she thought for a moment and said, “I wonder if Thirteenth Uncle can give some pointers on Ye’er’s lessons?”

Song Zhu still thought she wanted to ask him to help point out her own studies; what was the matter with pointing out a little radish head who had just started enlightenment?

It was not that he looked down on Ye’er who was learning the primer, but he thought that he was at least a Jie Juren who had read extensively; teaching enlightenment to children would be a waste of his talent, and Song Yuyan had not realized his true value.

The clan leader did not think as much as Song Zhu; after hearing Song Yuyan’s words, he was slightly surprised: “You have sent Ye’er to start enlightenment?”

Song Yuyan said, “For this more than half a year, my grandniece has been teaching Ye’er to recognize characters; now he already recognizes many characters and can recite the Three Character Classic, so my grandniece is planning to send him to a private school to receive proper education.”

Song Yuyan had originally taught the two little radish heads to recognize characters also to avoid Ye’er going to school for the first time after growing so big, only to not recognize a single big character and be laughed at by classmates, so she first gave him preschool education as a buffer.

She had saved for more than a year, finally scraping together enough tuition for him to attend primary school. Moreover, the clan also had education subsidies, which could lighten her burden a lot.

The clan leader and Song Zhu were both stunned; this father and son had not expected that Song Yuyan’s “prodigal daughter turning back” this time would turn back so thoroughly, even putting down the past grudges and willing to let Ye’er go to school.

The clan leader quickly asked Song Zhu to go back with Song Yuyan to test Ye’er and see if he really recognized characters and could recite the Three Character Classic as Song Yuyan said.

Song Zhu followed Song Yuyan back to the Song family small courtyard in the county; at the door, he heard several clear and tender reading voices, and his heart felt slightly sour—both for Song Yuyan’s change, and for Ye’er’s diligence, and even more heartbroken for the living environment of these three children.

For the first time, he felt guilty toward Song Yuyan.

He was a scholar and believed that he had read many sage books, so he could grasp most of the truths in the world, that is, he knew more than most people.

But when Zhou Shi lost her husband and was coveted by Song Yaokang for her family property, he only considered whether what was in Zhou Shi’s belly was a boy; if it was a boy, he could step forward to help Zhou Shi keep her husband’s family wealth; if it was a girl, he thought that if Zhou Shi could not keep the family property, he himself had no way to do anything.

After Zhou Shi died, when Song Yaokang proposed to raise Song Yuyan, he also did not object, after all, this was the most common way of handling in the world. As for whether Song Yaokang would treat Song Yuyan well, he had no assurance and also thought he had no right to interfere.

When Song Yuyan went astray, he had also thought of advising her to turn back to the right path, but having never encountered Song Yuyan’s situation himself, he naturally would not understand that his admonitions were like an article that sounded good but was impractical, pleasant to hear but of no use at all.

So Song Yuyan being able to wake up, he also did not think it was the clan leader or his admonitions that played a role; he had actually done nothing for Song Yuyan, or even for these children; how could he not feel ashamed and guilty in his heart?

____

Song Yuyan did not know Thirteenth Uncle’s mood; even if she knew, she would advise Thirteenth Uncle not to think too much.

After entering the door, Song Yuyan found that Tang Zhi was also there, and from the way she was holding the book and staring at Ye’er at this time, she should be supervising Ye’er in reciting the book.

However, when Ye’er could not recite, she did not criticize him, but gave a slight reminder. Even Song Zhu could see that this should be Ye’er who had actively asked her to supervise.

Song Zhu asked Song Yuyan, “Whose little lady is this?”

“Clerk Tang’s sister; she is a good person and has helped my nephew a lot, so both Ye’er and Bing’er are very close to her.”

Song Zhu still had some impression of Tang Haogen, after all, when Tang Mother was alive, it was she who brought Tang Haogen to the Song family and begged the Song family义学 to accept her child. Later, Tang Haogen dropped out due to family changes; after regretting it, his memory of him had faded a bit.

Hearing that it was the sister of a former student, and she was helping Song Yuyan urge her younger brother and sister to study, and this job of not recognizing characters could not be done, which showed that Tang Zhi could also read. Under this filter, Song Zhu’s favorable impression of Tang Zhi rose rapidly.

“How old is she?” Song Zhu asked quietly again.

If the age was suitable, she would match well with his nephew; if his nephew fancied her, he could ask his father to handle the marriage for his nephew.

Alarm bells rang loudly in Song Yuyan’s heart; could her Thirteenth Uncle have some strange fetish? Otherwise, why would a big uncle who was old enough to be Tang Zhi’s father ask for the age of a little girl he met for the first time?

In just an instant, associations flashed in Song Yuyan’s mind, like the famous case of Wu Zetian being defiled by the forty-year-old Li Shimin at fourteen. Because people in this era generally thought that having relations with such a young girl was not something worth condemning, she was so vigilant.

Song Zhu saw that she did not answer immediately and did not mind, because their arrival had been noticed by the people in the room. Tang Zhi put down the book and came out of the room, “Song Dalang, you are finally back.”

She saw the middle-aged man beside Song Yuyan; although she did not recognize him, from his attire and age, she could guess roughly.

Song Yuyan took the initiative to introduce Song Zhu; Tang Zhi was a bit puzzled why he suddenly appeared here, but this was a Song family matter, and she had no intention of interfering.

After Song Zhu entered the room, Song Yuyan took the initiative to tell her that after Thirteenth Uncle came, the matter of Ye’er entering school might have hope.

Tang Zhi was also quite happy to hear it, but soon frowned again and asked Song Yuyan, “Then if you have to support Ye’er in studying, won’t it be very hard for you?”

Families with no one who had entered school did not know the expenses required for studying; she knew clearly that just the brushes, inks, paper, and inkstones were a considerable expense, not to mention the monthly tuition fees and the costs for buying books.

Although Song Yuyan earned more and more money each month after working steadily, Tang Zhi felt that her income was still not enough to support Ye’er studying for a long time; this meant that in the future, she would have to tighten her belt every day to live, which was too hard.

Song Yuyan was stunned; it was the first time someone asked her if supporting Ye’er in studying would be hard. She chuckled and touched Tang Zhi’s head, saying, “This path is destined to be very hard, but we cannot stop walking it just because it is hard. Thank you, little lady.”

Tang Zhi’s head was pressed by her palm; she looked a bit unhappy on her face, feeling that the other party was treating her like a little radish head! But Song Yuyan’s words touched her heart; her heart felt a bit itchy, and she could not say what this feeling was, only knowing it was very awkward.

Song Yuyan glanced at Song Zhu and saw that he was talking to the two little radish heads, so she said in a low voice to Tang Zhi, “You go home first; after I send off Thirteenth Uncle, I will come to find you.”

Tang Zhi thought to herself, “You are already back; why still come to find me?”

But she was a bit looking forward to Song Yuyan coming to find her, so she did not object and went back to the Tang family first.

Inside the room, Song Zhu slanted a glance at Song Yuyan, feeling even more smug in his heart: “Little one, as expected, you fancy her; you are already so intimate, yet you hide it and don’t tell me. Hmph, there is a long way to go; when you want to find someone to act as matchmaker, see if I will bother with you?!”