Chapter 3

Using his injury as an excuse, Wang Fulin directly dismissed the middle-aged woman who was clearly a matchmaker with a verbal message. As evening approached, after returning to his room, he ate something to stave off his hunger, feeling both physically and mentally exhausted, and simply went to bed and fell asleep. In a daze, he vaguely heard women talking outside, but he was too lazy to pay attention to what they were gossiping about.

It was only when the situation truly fell upon him that he realized, even the smog, toxic food, and soil pollution that he had once cursed about on forums were better than being suddenly thrown into such a strange era!

He slept very soundly. When Wang Fulin woke up again, seeing the mosquito net above him, the fir bed beneath him, Jin Bao sleeping at the head of the bed, and the bright sky outside, he had to accept reality and seriously consider what he should do next.

After all, the original owner of this body seemed to have lost all memories of human relationships and worldly affairs. Until now, he had only roughly determined that it was mostly the Ming Dynasty based on the clothing and conversations, though it could also be a completely different parallel universe.

He glanced around and suddenly noticed a book in the corner of the bed against the wall. Previously, he had been too troubled to pay attention to anything but coaxing information from Jin Bao. Now, he carefully moved his body and reached out to grab the book. Upon opening it, he saw that the cover read "Annotations on the Analects of Confucius" by Zhu Xi, which immediately annoyed him.

He had never had a good impression of Zhu Xi!

Though the cover of this "Annotations on the Analects of Confucius" was wrapped in mulberry paper, it was already quite old, clearly having been read frequently and even carried around at all times. However, when he skimmed through it, he found that he actually had memories of the content, as if he could recite it after a single glance. He thought this might be a compensation from heaven, but when he closed his eyes and tried to recall and organize his thoughts, he realized that it wasn't just this. He could also remember many other disorganized passages from the Four Books, Five Classics, and the eight-part essay. He then understood that these were likely deeply ingrained in the original Wang Fulin's mind, remaining even as all other memories had vanished.

But these memories were very scattered, with bits and pieces here and there, making it a delusion to hope they could help him pass the imperial exams!

The margins of the pages were filled with small regular script notes. Initially, they were orderly, likely taken during lectures by the teacher, but after flipping through a dozen pages, they gradually became more varied. The writing became smaller and smaller, requiring great effort to read, but it seemed to be a diary, recording the tedium of studying, complaints about not being able to go out, excitement over praise from teachers, accounts of famous Wang family members, complaints about his sisters' pranks, and melancholy thoughts about his sick father...

It turned out these were written during breaks, using such small writing to avoid detection by elders!

Unconsciously, he became engrossed in reading, and the originally vague image of Wang Fulin gradually became vivid in his mind, helping him finally understand the era he was in.

It was the Longqing era.

He was at least a history enthusiast and knew that the Jiajing Emperor was now a thing of the past, and the Longqing Emperor, upon ascending the throne, had delegated power to the cabinet, which included Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng, while indulging in pleasure. Although there were occasional small disturbances in the north, the Central Plains had enjoyed peace for a long time. However, he couldn't remember all the specific major events. Moreover, he couldn't expect a small scholar from the mountains of She County to remember what was happening in the distant capital. Having a reign title as a reference was good enough; the specific year wasn't mentioned in the diary, so he could ask others later.

Fortunately, regarding family matters, the young scholar Wang Fulin frequently mentioned them in his diary, recording them in great detail.

The Wang family was a prominent clan in Huizhou, tracing their ancestry back to Tang Yueguo Gong Wang Hua. They had been living and multiplying in the six counties of Huizhou Prefecture for hundreds of years. In She County alone, there were over a dozen branches, with at least hundreds of clan members. Among them, the Wang family of Songming Mountain Qianqiu Li was originally unremarkable, having migrated from Xiuning County and lived there for over a dozen generations. Initially, they were farmers in the mountain valley, with a modestly prosperous life, and thus, though they had a private school like other small villages in Huizhou, no one had ever entered the school.

It wasn't until a few generations ago that a bold ancestor named Shouyi Gong emerged from the fields, leading seven brothers in the salt trade, becoming a leading salt merchant in Huai and Zhejiang. The wealthy brothers then gave back to their hometown, funding major academies in She County. Their eldest grandson, Nanming, even passed the imperial exams and became the governor of Fujian. However, the diary only mentioned this Nanming by name, saying he was a fifth-degree relative, without mentioning his actual name. For the current Wang Fulin, the most critical issue was not only that the diary didn't specify who this person was, but also that he didn't recognize him even when he stood in front of him!

In the past twenty years, about five or six scholars and candidates had emerged from the Wang family of Qianqiu Li. Wang Fulin, at fourteen, was a young scholar, but he was the last on the list and had a bad reputation, making it uncertain whether he could rely on clan support. Moreover, his father had not returned to the village for many years and had little interaction with the clan. His mother, Wu Shi, came from the Wu family of Nanshan in Yanzhen, and her brother, Wu Tianbao, was the head of that branch. However, compared to the prominence of other Wu family branches, this one was small and poor, with few successful scholars and mostly modestly prosperous merchants, with no influential clan members.

His elder sister, Wang Yuanguan, had married into the Xu family in Doushan Street, Huizhou Prefecture. The Xu family was large, but her husband was not even a scholar, and thus had little influence. His younger sisters, Wang Shaoyun and Wang Youhan, were still unmarried. Given this situation, Wang Yuanguan had likely returned from the city specifically because of his condition, as their parents were not at home.

Wang Fulin was self-aware. He had some knowledge of ancient texts and classics from his previous life and retained these fragmented memories of the Four Books and Five Classics, but that didn't mean he could write a good eight-part essay. The imperial exams were too competitive, and he had worked too hard in his previous life. Now, being a leisurely small landlord was quite nice.

But to enjoy a peaceful life, he first needed to deal with his parents' expectations and solve the immediate problem—his relationship with the accursed Cheng Gongzi and who was trying to ruin him with accusations of filial impiety and cheating, which not only affected his reputation but also his future life!

The primary task now was to handle this crisis, but the resources available for crisis management were far from sufficient.

Suddenly, he saw a record of his interactions with Cheng Gongzi in the tiny writing. Wang Fulin had met someone during the county exam, who was two years older. They ranked third and fourth in the county exam, and their rankings in the prefectural exam were also close, thirteenth and fourteenth. However, in the provincial exam, due to performance issues, they both ended up at the bottom of the list, becoming close friends. When he read to the end, he found the familiar name—Mo Xiang—and several entries mentioning that Cheng Gongzi had introduced Mo Xiang to him several times.

"Without a servant, only tenant farmers and servants to clean, if I could have Mo Xiang to serve and read with me, I would never be lonely!"

At the end, the last stroke of the character "lonely" was elongated, and Wang Fulin couldn't help but smile, feeling greatly relieved.

After reading so much of the diary, he no longer thought the original Wang Fulin was just naive and deceived. He felt pity for the young boy.

Sent to the Wang family's private school to study the classics from a young age, he studied the Four Books and Five Classics every day without holidays or social interactions, only interacting with the teacher and classmates. When preparing for the county, prefectural, and provincial exams, it was even more intense than modern college entrance exams, being confined at home with a veteran candidate teaching him, doing countless practice essays, studying predecessors' works, and learning all the eight-part essay examination techniques. The diary even mentioned that the first rule of the family was "Lust is the greatest evil, filial piety is the greatest virtue," and he hadn't seen any female servants except his sisters, showing the strict family discipline.

But the elders had forgotten the psychology of a fourteen-year-old boy! Fortunately, the worst didn't happen, and he was truly grateful to heaven and the Buddha!

"Don't, don't sell my mother..."

Wang Fulin was lost in thought when he suddenly heard this muffled voice. He immediately looked at the head of the bed and saw that Jin Bao was still asleep but mumbling in his sleep, with a look of fear on his face.

"Don't sell my mother... Brother, please..."

"Mother... don't cry... When I grow up... I will definitely find you..."

"Confucius said, 'Is it not a pleasure to learn and practice what you have learned?'..."

At first, Wang Fulin frowned, thinking that Jin Bao's brother, Wang Qiu, was a terrible person, selling his half-brother and even his mother. But when he heard the last mumble, he couldn't help but laugh and cry. Listening closely, he realized Jin Bao was reciting the Analects, though some parts were unclear, the parts he could hear were fluent and accurate, word for word. Just as he found it interesting, the mumbling suddenly stopped. He looked down and saw Jin Bao groggily opening his eyes, looking up and immediately sitting up straight.

"Father... you're awake!"

Can we change this title?

Wang Fulin couldn't help but twitch his temples and decided to be straightforward: "Jin Bao, were you talking in your sleep?"

This simple question made Jin Bao jump up like a startled cat. He took a few steps back, then realized his mistake and bit his lip, kneeling down and saying softly, "Father, I didn't mean to. Brother has beaten me many times, but I can't help it. What did I say in my dream?"

"You didn't say much." Wang Fulin smiled as if being magnanimous, seeing Jin Bao's relief, and his lips curved into a sly smile, "Just recited a long passage from the Analects."

"Ah?" Jin Bao didn't think this was a joke. His lips turned pale, and he suddenly came to his senses, desperately banging his head on the ground, "Father, I won't do it again, I promise! I won't eavesdrop on people reading at school, and I won't practice writing anymore!"

Wang Fulin was startled by Jin Bao's intense reaction. Just as he was about to get out of bed to help him up, a voice came from outside the door.

"Little brother, are you awake?"

Recognizing his elder sister's voice, Wang Fulin immediately shouted at Jin Bao, "Get up quickly, elder sister is here! If she gets angry at you, do you still want to stay?"

Jin Bao scrambled to his feet, his forehead bruised. He didn't dare to cry out in pain and hurriedly stumbled to the door, carefully opening it and bowing, "Elder sister."

Wang Yuanguan glanced at Jin Bao, frowning, "What happened to your forehead?"

"Ah? It... I was dozing off while watching over Father, and when I woke up to a noise, I accidentally fell and hit my head!" Jin Bao quickly lowered his head even more, not daring to look up.

Wang Yuanguan said nothing more. She gestured for Jin Bao to step aside and, when she came to Wang Fulin, hesitantly asked, "Little brother, why did that Cheng Gongzi send someone?"

Wang Fulin was still thinking about Jin Bao's intense reaction, trying to figure out the reason and assess his own crisis, so he was somewhat absent-minded, "I didn't accept him, elder sister, you don't need to worry."

Wang Yuanguan knew her little brother had always been focused on his studies and was somewhat introverted, and that trying to advise him would only backfire. She never expected Wang Fulin to react so calmly. She hesitated, thinking of the scholarly trends she had heard from her husband, and cautiously said, "Since you have entered the school, having a book boy to assist with writing is normal, but Qiu Feng is handsome, and his character is unknown. Moreover, receiving such a large gift requires a return gift, and twelve taels of silver is not a small amount..."

Before she could finish, Wang Fulin interrupted her seriously, "Elder sister, though Cheng Gongzi and I entered the school the same year, we are not close enough for him to give me a servant. During several banquets, he often brought a book boy named Mo Xiang, who spoke ambiguously to me. When he sent Qiu Feng through a matchmaker this time, his words were unbearable. Elder sister, please read his letter."

Seeing Wang Fulin openly hand her the letter, Wang Yuanguan felt both relieved and moved. She was relieved that her little brother finally understood some human relations and was moved by his trust in her. She quickly took the letter and, after reading it from beginning to end, her eyebrows furrowed and her face turned green with anger.

"Shameless!"

Very good, as long as he cleared things up with his elder sister, he could later cut ties with that suspected homosexual and distance himself from him!

Wang Fulin gritted his teeth but comforted his elder sister, "Elder sister, one can know a person's face but not their heart. I made a mistake in my choice of friends and will not associate with him in the future."

"Little brother..." Wang Yuanguan couldn't help but reach out to smooth his disheveled hair, seeing his discomfort, she smiled, "I'm relieved to hear you say that. You were injured by thieves, and since Father and Mother are not here, though Uncle took care of you, I still asked my in-laws to let me return to take care of you for a few days. Now that you have woken up, I need to return to my in-laws' home."

At this point, Wang Yuanguan hesitated. She didn't know when she could visit her little brother again, and with the rumors outside, should she warn Wang Fulin? But he was still weak...

Just then, a loud voice came from outside.

"Elder sister, brother, Uncle is here!"

Wang Yuanguan, understanding, said, "Uncle is family, and you are still recovering from your injury, so you don't need to go out to greet him. I'll go outside and see, you wait here, Uncle won't blame you."

"This isn't right, is it?" Wang Fulin was afraid of exposing any inconsistencies in front of relatives and wanted to gather more information, but in the end, his sense of crisis prevailed, "I owe Uncle a lot for taking care of me after my injury. I even met the matchmaker sent by Cheng Gongzi, so I should personally welcome Uncle."

But before he could act, a voice like a bell came from outside the door, "Shuangmu, are you really okay?"