jdhmnovel Chapter 306 Could it be that my father-in-law has made a mistake?
Chapter 306 Could it be that my father-in-law has made a mistake?
Upon returning to his residence, Dong Jin immediately informed his wife, Jiang Xiwen, of the arrival of the Fourth Prince in Linhai County.
"What? They've actually come to Linhai!"
Jiang Xiwen wasn't particularly afraid. With her excellent martial arts skills, she knew that even if the Fourth Prince got close, he wouldn't be able to force her.
However, if he accidentally injured a member of the royal family, his own family would not fare well either.
Thinking of his grandfather, father, and brother-in-law, all of whom were officials, Jiang Xiwen understood for the first time what it meant to "throw a stone at a rat for fear of breaking the vase."
She's now caught in a dilemma, because she has family members to worry about and is constrained by them, which makes her hesitant to act.
"I'll have the advisor accompany him around. You should take this opportunity to pack your bags and go into hiding."
"Hide? Where can we hide? Husband, don't panic. Since he hasn't come to our door forcefully, it means there's a way to deal with him."
"How else can we respond to powerful forces?"
"Husband, don't rush. Recall all the details of your meeting with the Fourth Prince today, and then we can discuss it."
Jiang Xiwen always felt that what her father was saying was somewhat far-fetched, but now that the fourth prince Zhao Hongsheng mentioned in the letter had actually come to Linhai County, she felt a little uneasy.
Could it be that my previous guess was wrong? Yes, that guess was a bit too bold and too shocking.
Dong Jin didn't understand why his wife was asking about such trivial details, but he still honestly recounted the scene of meeting the Fourth Prince today in detail.
This includes many details such as the Fourth Prince Zhao Hongsheng's own attire, the number of his entourage, the attire of his entourage, and their expressions.
As Jiang Xiwen listened, she paced back and forth in the room.
"You mean those six guys who look like me and my second sister are here too? And they're all wearing tattered clothes that only scholars would wear?"
"Yes, wearing tattered clothes that only scholars can wear, I'm sure those six people are definitely not scholars."
My father-in-law also mentioned in his letter that the four prince bought these six people from a slave trader during his inspection of the river.
"For someone of low social status to wear a scholar's tattered robe is a grave crime! How dare they!"
Dong Jin himself had worked incredibly hard to pass the imperial examinations and become a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). Only after becoming a Xiucai was he barely qualified to marry the granddaughter/daughter/sister of a Xiucai.
There were many scholars in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but only those who had truly gone through ten years of hard study and passed the county, prefectural, and provincial examinations had the opportunity to become a junior scholar.
Although becoming a scholar is only an insignificant first step on the road to officialdom, it is also the other shore that many people can never reach in their entire lives.
Dong Jin himself knew best the value of a Xiucai degree. If he hadn't been lucky enough to meet his wife, he wouldn't have had the support of his brother-in-law's family.
He knew his own limitations all too well; without his brother-in-law, his ultimate goal would be to become a "scholar" (a low-ranking scholar in the imperial examinations).
With the help and encouragement of his brother-in-law, he was able to advance to the provincial examination and even the metropolitan examination and the palace examination.
He passed the imperial examination and became a county magistrate. While his own efforts were not without merit, the contributions of the entire Jiang family should be considered the majority.
Even those who held minor official positions had earned their positions through rigorous examinations, enduring countless days and nights of hard work and dedication.
Now, this tattered robe, which symbolizes a special status, has been used by the Fourth Prince to dress up several servants he bought casually.
What is this? Is this some kind of theatrical performance? Or is it an insult to all scholars?!
Dong Jin became angrier the more he talked, and the angrier he became the more he thought about it.
Jiang Xiwen grabbed her husband, who was on the verge of exploding, and tried to calm him down.
"Do those six people... really look like us?"
Dong Jin choked. He really didn't want to admit it, but those six really did look alike.
"Yes, they look very similar."
Some have similar eyebrows and eyes, some have similar face shapes, and some have similar noses and mouths. In short, it is impossible to say that they are completely similar, but they are three or four points, or even five or six points.
However, now that his wife is married, her appearance has changed somewhat from when she was still a young lady. She has lost some of her naivety and gained more tenderness and kindness.
"Husband, then... how much do you think those people resemble Seventh Brother?"
"Seventh brother? You mean Ming Fei?"
Dong Jin was a little confused. Did these people look like Ming Fei? They seemed to look alike, no, they looked very alike!
They resembled his wife and second sister even more, and today those people happened to be wearing tattered clothes.
What did Mingfei look like when he wore tattered clothes? I can't quite remember.
Mingfei passed the imperial examination at the age of seven, becoming the youngest person to achieve the "Three Excellences" in the imperial examinations. However, Mingfei did not often wear tattered clothes.
I only wore it when I met with the school administrator, and also when I visited several of my mentors at the clan school.
As a later entrant, Dong Jin did not witness his brother-in-law's moment of glory. When he and his wife were discussing marriage, his brother-in-law had already gone out to study under a master.
At that time, my brother-in-law was in Yunqing Mountain. Later, he returned home and became the son-in-law of the Jiang family. He came back once in the middle of the journey, dressed in a neat martial arts outfit.
Later, when he sent several people to participate in the provincial examination, his brother-in-law actually wore tattered clothes.
Dong Jin was lost in memories, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
"To be honest, I didn't realize it until I thought about it carefully. But after recalling it carefully just now, the way those people were dressed in tattered clothes really does look like the outfits Mingfei wore when he took us to the provincial examination that year."
It's not just their attire that's similar; their facial features are also alike. From a distance, they might look about 70-80% alike, but up close, the difference is striking—their overall presence is vastly different.
Jiang Xiwen's eyes darkened; perhaps her bold assumption wasn't just a wild guess.
"Are those people definitely all men? Or just girls dressed as men?"
Dong Jin was a little stumped by this question. They all looked like men, but who could guarantee that the Fourth Prince didn't have some unusual fetishes?
But recalling what my father-in-law said, that the fourth prince bought six boys on his way south, that must be true.
"That's right, they are all men, not a single woman."
This time it was Jiang Xiwen's turn to frown. Dong Jin had been paying close attention to his wife's expression, and with her asking many strange questions, he couldn't help but ask one too.
"My lady, why are you asking these questions? Have you guessed something? Or do you know what the Fourth Prince is really planning?"
Jiang Xiwen opened her mouth, but seemed unable to say it.
Dong Jin was a little anxious. "Wife, if you have discovered anything, just tell me. Then we can discuss it together."
Since you're unwilling to go out and hide, we have to face the problem head-on and solve it.
Jiang Xiwen sighed, "Father may have misunderstood."
"Huh? Father-in-law, you've misunderstood? What have you misunderstood?"