On this day, Li You was sitting in the deposit room of the agency, thinking about the trivial matters of his life.
Suddenly, Zhao Liangli, a high-ranking official, barged in and shouted, "You are so unbecoming of an uncle!"
Li You stood up and said politely, "Why would a high-ranking official say this?"
"Have you seen my little daughter? Why did you instigate her to disobey her parents?"
Li You sighed, the little lady was really trying to trick him yesterday. If he wasn't careful, she actually said something. He probably used it to reason with his parents when he got home. That's all the little girl had in mind.
"What did Miss Qi say?" Li You asked.
Zhao Liangli sat down and said, "She said you told her that marrying the Qian family was just an attempt to connect with each other and echo each other. But the Zhao family is already extremely wealthy, so there is no need to do this. Don't you think that when the water is full, it will overflow and the moon will be full?"
Loss. Furthermore, the Zhao family, with its reputation for literary talent and long history as a distinguished official, established itself in the scholarly community and married into the royal merchant family, which greatly increased the family fortune, but the Zhao family may not have benefited."
Li You quickly denied that he was not a talkative woman, so he had no interest in talking about other people's family affairs. He just subconsciously said, "The Qian family is not a friend." He didn't expect that after returning home, the little seventh lady would add fuel to the fire and lead to many of these truths.
, and he pretended that it was his words, but he was accidentally used as a gun by the little girl.
However, this passage seems to make some sense. The Zhao family does not necessarily need to marry the Qian family.
"This is really not what you said?" Zhao Daguan confirmed again.
Li You shook his head and said, "I have no interest in other people's housework."
"That's right! You have always ignored matters that don't concern you, just for fear of getting into trouble." Zhao Liangli nodded and said, "Besides, you are not such a hypocritical and vulgar person."
Li You, who was praised for no reason, didn't understand. Is it not vulgar to encourage Zhao Liangli to marry his daughter to Qian Huang's merchant?
He felt Zhao Liangli's thinking start to jump, and he saw that he was making a grand statement: "Most of the world is hypocritical and true temperament is not seen! Everyone knows that choosing a son-in-law should focus on talents rather than wealth. Is this really good?"
This... Li You can't keep up with Zhao Daguan's thoughts. According to what he has seen personally, people in the world obviously value money over talents when marrying. There are many fights between the two parties over a few taels of silver. How come Zhao Daguan
People say that everyone values talent over wealth?
After thinking about it, it was probably the reason why he and Zhao Liangli had different life experiences.
To use an analogy, if a rich man with great wealth is looking for a son-in-law, one option is a young and poor scholar who has good academic performance and can be exempted from taxes and is expected to pass the imperial examination. The other option is a wealthy family who is also rich. At this time, the poor scholar may not be as good as the son-in-law.
Well-off households are less competitive, so they tend to prioritize talent over wealth.
Li You felt that he had nothing to say and continued to listen to Zhao Daguan's complaints.
"Everyone says that my Zhao family is a scholarly family with a prosperous literary style. It is rich and noble, and it has no shortage of financial resources. It is a good idea to recruit a son-in-law who is a scholar and should not collude with any imperial businessmen. Even my daughter thinks so,
I only want to marry a talented man."
Actually, I think so too, Li You thought to himself. Since your family belongs to the circle of civil servants and scholars, it is indeed the right thing to collude with scholars. Why are you getting involved with the vulgar emperor merchant?
In fact, in these days, literati are not very repulsive to businessmen. Many officials' families also have people doing business. But the key is that the Qian family is said to be somewhat of a relative, and Li You is not clear about it.
"It's ridiculous that people in the world are burdened by false reputations. A few books about men and women are nothing but talented men and beautiful women. They are not fresh at all, but it hurts people's hearts a lot. In fact, promising scholars have ambitions, and those who have ambitions must
If you take the Jinshi exam and become an official, you will have to move around a lot. If you have a family, you will have to travel around the country for several years. If you don't have a family, take a look at Chen Xundao, where are his wife and children?
I heard that it was placed in my hometown, how is this different from living as a widow? If you can't even pass the exam, it will make people laugh! Should my daughter, Zhao Liangli, have to suffer all these hardships just to gain fame?"
Li You finally understood that Zhao Daguan was not here to investigate, but because he was not understood and was looking for someone to talk to.
"In contrast, although the Qian family is not a well-established gentry, they are also members of the empress dowager family of the current dynasty who are rich and powerful. They have lived in Suzhou for generations as royal merchants. When you marry into his family, you will be comfortable and wealthy, and you will be close to your natal family, so you will not have any worries.
How is Fang's suffering compared to a scholar whose future is uncertain?"
Li You was secretly surprised when he was a member of the Empress Dowager's clan. Although he was a low-ranking official, he also knew that the Emperor was only eight years old when he came to the throne. It has been seven years now and he has not yet been married to take charge of the throne. The Empress Dowager holds a very important position in the palace.
Rumor has it that the Queen Mother almost set a precedent in the Ming Dynasty when the late emperor's edicts were supervised by the Queen Mother. However, the Queen Mother was a virtuous person and assigned all political affairs to the cabinet.
In the end, Zhao Liangli lamented and concluded: "There are very few fathers in the world who are as considerate as mine. It's a pity that all the painstaking efforts only lead to complaints. Weisi people know who they are."
After finishing his speech, Officer Zhao picked up a stack of paper from the case and slapped it in front of Li You: "Don't be in a daze, just write for me."
"What to write?" Li You asked curiously.
"Write down everything I just said and write it as a letter to your niece. Instruct her to live in peace for a year or two and get married, and don't be obsessed with stories about talented men and beautiful women, especially the one you made up about choosing a few young ladies.
I’m a young man, so I don’t know what it means. Many women like to read it. By the way, I have to write two letters, and one to my brother.”
It turned out that Zhao Liangli was nagging her heart and soul like an old woman, just to ask him to act as a close uncle and write a letter... Li You clenched his hands tightly, he couldn't write this letter, at least not now.
It's a joke how his bad handwriting can be seen in the light and shine in front of others. Normally, scribes do the official work, but here you can't ask others to do it for you.
The more important reason is that the things the Qian family did were so audacious that if they failed to prevent them, there would be endless troubles. Is it really appropriate to persuade the Zhao family to take unnecessary risks and get married? He still hoped to embrace the Zhao family.
But the Qian family's involvement in embezzling seawall stones should be kept strictly confidential. For their own safety, no one should know what they have discovered. Should you say it now?
Seeing that Li You was motionless, Zhao Liangli looked suspicious, "Are you still unwilling to let me marry the Qian family?"
"That's exactly what I mean." Li You said seriously.
Zhao Liangli also noticed Li You's tangled mood, as if there was something unspeakable. He suddenly realized: "Could it be that...you are interested in my little girl but you are ashamed to say it? She is only four or five years old."
Li You was startled and coughed violently, "I already have a wife! Don't talk nonsense!"
Zhao Liangli said with a smile: "I am very fond of you as my son-in-law. You are good-looking, have some poetic talent, and you can become a seventh-rank official at a young age. The most rare thing is that you can be an official in your hometown without having to travel far away from home.
, this is enough to make everyone envious. It’s a pity that we are already married. I should have caught you earlier."
Li You retorted: "Back then, I was just a minor official in the county government. I don't believe you dare to be so condescending as to marry your daughter to a minor official."
"That's right. I almost forgot that you are also a man who sells his life to get an official position. If you don't become someone else's son-in-law, you will have to suffer a lot."
Li You feigned anger, slapped the case and stood up, saying: "Ms. Zhao is too humiliating! I won't send him away!"
"Stop pretending." Zhao Liangli didn't care at all, "I know you're not angry. I really don't understand. What do you mean?"
Li You had no choice but to sit back down. Do you really want to tell the truth? So he probed: "How much do you know about the Qian family? Do you know about their stone business recently?"
"So what?" Zhao Liangli didn't understand why Li You mentioned this.
Li You carefully observed Zhao Daguan's expression and determined that he did not know the truth, so he leaned closer and whispered.
Zhao Liangli was stunned when he heard, "Is it true that seawall stones are being stolen and sold?"
Li You nodded.
Official Zhao smiled bitterly and said: "What kind of unique luck do you have that you can run into big crimes wherever you go?"
"This is wrong. I am no different than others. There is no airtight wall in the world. There must be others who have discovered it, but they are just like me who are afraid or don't dare to say it openly because they don't have a good time. You can know because of me
If we tell the truth, but if the insiders don’t tell it, then it’s as if the incident didn’t happen.”
Zhao Liangli sighed: "It makes sense, even I have to pretend not to know. Who knows whether this matter has anything to do with the Queen Mother. With this hidden secret, I must not marry with the Qian family. In fact, I just want to be safe. If I get involved,
It’s not a good deal. Let’s give up on the marriage, but we have to think of a suitable way to say it.”
Li You was about to see off the guests, but Zhao Liangli brought up another story: "The last time I told you about the selection of the oiran in this year's flower ranking..."
Li You was speechless about this. He had just finished discussing the affairs of his children, and in the blink of an eye he started talking about the affairs of the prostitute's family, without even a buffer. Don't you think it's very awkward and against the rules?
"I intend to strongly recommend you to be the main commentator." Zhao Liangli explained his meaning.
Li You refused without thinking: "I am now a seventh-grade life officer. How can I do such a thing in front of everyone? It is unbecoming."
"Your work as an official is becoming more and more dull and boring. What does it mean to be promoted to an official of the seventh rank? Just think of the time when people were on the Qinhuai River to admire beauties and appraise flowers, and second-rank ministers would come out to sit in the chief position. You are not born in Qingliu, so why do you need to pretend to be serious?"
Li You, who was scolded, interrupted and said: "It's still early, let's talk about it later."
"Okay, let's not talk about these things today. The spring weather is just right now. In a few days, I want to go boating for a spring outing, and you want to enjoy it." Zhao Liangli got up and left.
For Li Tuiguan, this matter is not over yet...
After returning home, Zhao Liangli, a senior official, thought hard about what excuse he could use to break off his marriage to the Qian family.
In the end, he did not disappoint everyone. He used his usual unobtrusive style and sent people to Qian's house to spread the message - I am very sorry, Zhao Daguan has changed his mind and plans to marry his daughter to Li Tuiguan of the government office, so he cannot communicate with Qian.
My family is getting married, and I hope your family will be considerate and understanding.
Poor Li You was once again used as a rogue by Zhao Liangli, and he was unexpectedly involved in a crisis that could not be said to be good or bad.
