The imperial examination is the only way for civil servants to become scholars, and it has always been the most fair. However, the name of the top scholar still depends on the favor of the emperor, and which one your Majesty wants to promote.
Therefore, although Xie Jin did not finish in the top three, he still sat firmly in fourth place.
Because Gu Xiang came back today and had to separate the family and deal with adoption matters, Marquis Changning took leave and stayed at home. The father and son were talking in the study.
Seeing that his son was so puzzled, he advised him: "You need to remember that thunder, rain and dew are all gifts from the king. If your majesty gives it, you will take it. If you don't give it, don't force it."
"The Xie family is far smarter than you, and Xie Jin is far more forward-thinking than you."
Gu Zhixuan paused, then came to his senses and asked, "Is this your Majesty's intention?"
Marquis Changning said: "The power of the Xie family is too great. There should not be another top pick. Some things should not be taken too far. Not only the Xie family, but also any family."
"The Xie family accepted it much more easily than you. They even said that Xie Jin made a mistake in front of the palace and covered it up. They are the smart people. Don't get entangled in this matter."
"Let's go. Your second sister and the others are back. Let's go out and have a look."
"yes."
The father and son left the study and walked to the main courtyard of the outer courtyard. When they came, the people from the mansion had already arrived. The room was full of excitement. After everyone greeted them, they sat down.
Mr. Jiang was very happy: "A-Xuan won the top prize, which is really a great joy for the whole family. We need to set up a few tables to celebrate."
Gu Zhixuan was not in such a mood. He said: "Grandma, there have been a lot of things going on in the house recently, so I won't do anything about it for now. I'll invite some gentlemen and classmates from the academy to a restaurant for some food in the next two days."
When Mrs. Jiang heard what he said, she also remembered that there was indeed a lot going on in her family recently, so she nodded: "That's right, then we won't do it."
Thinking of those bad things, the smile on Jiang's face faded a lot.
"Mother-in-law, Axiang and the others are here." Ms. Zhou on the side reminded her.
Jiang raised his eyes and saw Gu Xiang and Jiang Zeyun walking from outside, one behind the other, with two people's distance between them, and their faces didn't seem to be very good.
Jiang Zeyun still had a cold face, not feeling happy at all, and Gu Xiang's face didn't look good either.
The two came forward to salute.
"Meet Grandma."
"Meet uncle and aunt."
"Meet my father and mother (father-in-law and mother-in-law)."
"Get up, everyone, sit down." Jiang asked them to sit down calmly.
The two thanked him and sat down on the chairs that had been prepared for them. Xie Yixiao sat aside and took a look. Jiang Zeyun was wearing a purple robe and a golden crown. He was handsome and noble, worthy of the title of second male lead.
.
Gu Xiang was wearing a purple dress, a cross-breasted jacket, a pleated skirt, and a long-sleeved gown. Her hair was combed into a woman's bun, and she was wearing a gold hairpin and a walking stick inlaid with precious stones. She was also dignified and noble.
gas.
If the two of them didn't look so bad, they would look like a good match.
Jiang Zeyun was dissatisfied with Gu Xiang, because he had his own heart and didn't want to marry him in the first place. It's strange how good a look he could give to someone who was escorted back to marry him. He didn't want to come back today, but he was forced to do so.
With.
Gu Xiang was also dissatisfied with Jiang Zeyun, for no other reason than that on the night of the wedding, Jiang Zeyun was so drunk that he even asked someone to bring the wine into the house to soothe his sorrows, without leaving Gu You's lips.
When they went to serve tea the next day, Mrs. Wu'anhou asked about the fact that the two of them didn't have sex last night. Gu Xiang just said that he was drunk and confused the matter.
After returning to the courtyard, she also drank tea from two concubines. These two were originally Jiang Zeyun's maids, and it was normal for them to become concubines after they got married. Gu Xiang didn't think much about it at first.
But not long after, she heard people whispering that Jiang Zeyun had originally sent these two people away in order to marry Gu You, but had only sent someone to pick them back a few days ago.
Gu Xiang was so angry that she was dizzy with such different treatment, but she tolerated it. However, that night she mentioned that since they were husband and wife, they should have sex earlier, but he pointed at her and scolded her.
A meal.
He scolded her for being shameless, scolding her for being cheap, scolding her for not being as good as the prostitute in the building, saying that she had taken over the position of his legitimate wife, making it impossible for him to marry Gu You, and wishing that she would die soon.
When she got here, how could Gu Xiang endure it? Not to mention her impulsive temper, which no one could tolerate.
The two had a fight, and Jiang Zeyun turned around and went to his aunt's room. He was so angry that Gu Xiang couldn't sleep all night.
So when I came home that day, I naturally felt unhappy.
Jiang ignored the expressions on the two men's faces as if they hadn't seen him, and didn't ask how Gu Xiang was doing at the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion, and went straight to the topic.
"You are here today. I just want to tell you two things. One is that the family is going to be divided. I have been settling the accounts of the family in the past few days."
"Now there are only your uncle and your brothers in the house. Logically speaking, your uncle is the legitimate eldest son, so all the ancestral property belongs to him. The rest of these will be used as betrothal gifts for the weddings of the young masters and girls in the house. All of them will be seventy-three.
The number is seven for the eldest son and three for the second son.”
"In addition, the courtyard on Xiping Street where the third one enters is also given to the second child. What do you think?"
In this era, the eldest son inherited the family business. The ancestral property, title and house belonged to the eldest son, and the second son received 30% of the family property. This was a common method of division, and Mr. Gu had already been divided according to the share of the legitimate son.
If you really want to bring up the issue of him being a bastard, since he is the only one in the family, it would be good to give him 20%. If there were more brothers, he might not even get 10%.
A direct descendant must account for at least half of the family business.
This was probably the last bit of friendship Jiang had for Mr. Gu.
Marquis Changning said: "The son has no objection, the mother will make the decision."
Mrs. Zhou also nodded: "My daughter-in-law has no objections either. She listens to her mother-in-law and Lord Marquis."
Jiang nodded, then looked at Mr. Gu: "Second brother, what do you think?"
Of course, Second Master Gu has objections. He doesn't want to separate the family. Even if he is given so much money and property, it will not be as comfortable as being the Second Master of the Hou Mansion.
He begged: "Mother, can we not separate the families? It was the son who was confused before, but the son..."
Before he could finish speaking, Mrs. Sun on the side said quickly: "We must divide things up. We won't bother mother-in-law. Mother-in-law said it right. Let's follow this division."
Ms. Sun wished that the family could be separated as soon as possible. As long as the family was separated, she could come out and she wouldn't have to be disciplined by Mr. Jiang.
Jiang nodded again: "In that case, let's divide it like this. I'll take stock of things in the next few days and find a good day to worship our ancestors. Then you can move there."
"One more thing is to adopt Axiang into the eldest house. We have discussed it and agreed. Now Axiang, I want to ask you and your wife what you want, are you willing?"