A Complete Explanation of the Negative Textbooks for the Imperial Examination

  Is the position of Madam Hou something she deserves?

  Under the guidance of the servant, Xiao Jing Duo walked toward the study.

 

    The servant stopped in front of the door, bent down and stepped back, and said to Xiao Jing Duo softly, “Da Lang Jun, Hou Ye is inside.”

 

    Xiao Jing Duo reached out to push the door. When the palm of his hand touched the warm sandalwood door, he couldn’t help but stop going in.

 

    His father, whom he had longed for day and night for the past nine years, is now sitting behind this wooden door. Once the door is opened, he will no longer be that ordinary country boy but become the son of the marquis of this dynasty.

 

    Xiao Jing Duo calmed down and pushed open the wooden door that divides his fate, striding towards his father.

 

    Although it was still dark, candles were already lit in the room. Hearing the footsteps, Xiao Ying, who was flipping through the military newspaper behind the desk, raised his head, and his eagle-like eyes shot at the approaching person.

 

    Xiao Ying’s eyes are sharp and bright as if there is a substance. Xiao Jing Duo felt nervous under such eyes. His voice trembled slightly and called tentatively: “Father…Father?”

 

    Xiao Ying looked at him blankly. His eyes were on his face for a particularly long time. When Xiao Jing Duo almost thought that he had done something wrong to make his father unhappy, Xiao Ying said, “You are… Xiao Jing Duo?”

    Xiao Jing Duo breathed a sigh of relief and replied quickly, “Yes.”

 

    Xiao Ying nodded. Only then did he show a little smile: “Very good. How old are you this year? Are you literate? What do you do on weekdays?”

 

    To be honest, when his subordinates came back and reported that there was a son left by him in his hometown, Xiao Ying was still not too sure. It wasn’t until his subordinates brought Xiao Jing Duo in front of him and saw Xiao Jing Duo’s face, Xiao Ying was more than certain in his heart.

 

    This child looks so much like him that everyone who sees this child will not doubt their kinship. After confirming that this was his own bloodline, Xiao Ying’s mood became clear. During these years of war and chaos, Xiao Ying spent most of his time in the military camp and didn’t have the energy to take care of his family business. Although he is not too old now, on the contrary, he is at the peak of the balance between men’s power and physical strength, and some beautiful women would like to give birth to his sons. It is impossible for a man not to value his offspring. Xiao Ying is no exception. It is a secret regret in his heart that he has no offspring. But now someone tells him that he already has a nine-year-old son. Xiao Ying showed a rare smile and looked at Xiao Jing Duo with a much kinder gaze.

 

    This is his eldest son, a son who has been separated for nine years. In addition to being happy, Xiao Ying also quickly thought about his son’s upbringing. Although Xiao Jing Duo has been living in the outside world these years, he is still young. From now on, he will be carefully cultivated. Everything will be on time.

 

    After answering his father’s question, Xiao Ying did not speak for a long time, and Xiao Jing Duo naturally did not dare to speak. He secretly thought to himself that his father deserved to be the founding general of the country. He exuded the might of killing in every gesture of his actions. At first glance, he was a real soldier who had seen blood on the battlefield.

 

    The person in front of him was exactly the same as the image of his father in his imagination, even taller than his imagination. Xiao Jing Duo admired his father even more, and couldn’t help peeking at his father out of the corner of his eyes.

 

    What kind of person Xiao Ying is? He naturally noticed the eldest son’s small movements. He smiled lightly and said to Xiao Jing Duo kindly: “These days, you are busy on the road. You are also tired. Go down and rest first. I have asked Xue Lan to take care of your yard. If there is still something missing, just tell the servant directly.”

 

    Xiao Ying was very generous with his only son.

 

    “Yes.” Xiao Jing Duo promised. He should have stepped back and left. But there was no movement on his feet. Xiao Jing Duo raised his head and glanced at Xiao Ying quickly, and found that his father was still so easy-going and loving.

 

    “Father, the son suspects that someone wants to be unruly with Mother, and even poisoned Mother in the medicine!”

 

    Xiao Ying’s eyes flashed. But his tone did not fluctuate at all, he just asked lightly: “Oh? What do you say?”

 

    Xiao Jing Duo told the story of the inn, from when he found out that the medicine had been replaced, to testing it with a dog, and then going to the kitchen to check the dregs, all of them went to Xiao Ying.

 

    The difficult childhood greatly trained Xiao Jing Duo’s ability to live in the world. He knew what to say and what not to say. It’s fine to say anything about the poisoning. But I can’t say a word about things related to my grandmother and my father’s maid.

 

    After Xiao Jing Duo finished speaking, he waited eagerly for his father to make a ruling. However, Xiao Ying’s reaction was very dull. Instead, he asked, “Do you understand pharmacology?”

 

    “I can’t say I understand. I just know some common recipes.” In front of his father, Xiao Jing Duo didn’t dare to be arrogant and humbly refused.

 

    Xiao Ying nodded and said, “Okay, I know what’s going on. You go down first.”

 

    Seeing that his father cared so much about him, Xiao Jing Duo thought that his father would be very angry about his mother’s murder. However, he never expected that his father would pass this in such a light-hearted manner. Xiao Jing Duo frowned and wanted to speak: “Father…”

 

    “Okay.” Xiao Ying made a stop gesture and said flatly, “I will handle this matter. You don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

 

    Since his father said that, Xiao Jing Duo could only swallow his words to his stomach no matter how unwilling he was. “As ordered, I’ll retire.”

 

    After Xiao Jing Duo left, Xiao Ying stared at the shaking candle and suddenly sighed.

 

    He is willing to admit Xiao Jing Duo, but it does not mean that he will admit Xiao Jing Duo’s mother. Son and woman can’t be the same. Xiao Ying and Zhao Xiu Lan didn’t know each other before they got married. Not long after they got married, he left home to join the army. So on all counts, Xiao Ying and Zhao Xiu Lan didn’t get along for a few days.

 

    It would be too much of a pity to sacrifice the position of the Madam of Hou Fu for a woman who was not very familiar, not very well-born, and even had an average appearance.

 

    He was uneasy about keeping Zhao Xiu Lan in his hometown. First, it would give others a hand. Second, he was afraid that something would happen to Zhao Xiu Lan. It would also be inconvenient to bring her to Chang An. If the Wu family knew about it, it would be even worse.

 

    So the best way is to let Zhao Xiu Lan die without knowing it on the way to the capital. It is normal for a weak woman to die due to illness on a bumpy journey, and on the way, many traces will disappear naturally. He does not even need to deal with the aftermath. For this reason, he suppressed his homesickness and did not send anyone to visit when Qin Wang was ordered to attack Zhuo County. It would be tricky if his colleagues in the military knew that he had a family in his hometown.

 

    It’s a pity. Why did Zhao Xiu Lan come to the capital alive? Xiao Ying reached out to pick up the fallen fire core, thinking with regret in his heart. Xue Lan did not succeed on the road. It would be much more difficult to do it next.

 

    As soon as Xiao Jing Duo entered the mansion, he was called by Hou Ye. The sisters hid in the carriage and looked at his distant back enviously.

 

    Xiao Yu Li put down the curtains. She said with a bit of bitter taste: “The biological and the next room are different. Just after entering the house, the eldest brother was called away by the uncle.”

 

    Xiao Yu Fang said: “That’s the case. If my father treats you and Xiao Yu Mang the same, can you accept it?”

 

    “I haven’t seen my eldest uncle yet. So I don’t know what the uncle looks like.” Xiao Yu Li looked at the furnishings of the Hou Mansion with envy. She lowered her voice and said to her sister, “Eldest sister, you say, will these things in the Hou Mansion belong to the big brother in the future?”

 

    “I think most of them are.” Xiao Yu Fang also showed an envious look. Thinking again in her heart, it would be great if she was the daughter of the big room.

 

    Unfortunately, she could only think about it. So Xiao Yu Fang quickly put the idea aside. Instead, she moved on to Xiao Jing Duo’s idea.

 

    I heard from the maid that the eldest uncle has only one son, the eldest brother. Looking at the situation just now, the eldest uncle also values ​​him very much. If she wanted to live well in the Hou Mansion and no longer be kidnapped by Xiao Yu Li, a traitor, then Xiao Jing Duo’s attitude towards her would be particularly important.

 

    Xiao Yu Fang was thinking about how to please Xiao Jing Duo until she retired from the Gao Shou Tang. Xiao Yu Fang was amazed by the magnificence of the Gao Shou Tang. The three of them were secretly looking at the vases and jade objects on both sides. Hearing Xue Lan said that Gao Shou Tang was the most respected yard in the Hou residence, and only grandmother was qualified to live there. Xiao Yu Fang felt discouraged. All the good things are not hers.

 

    They were again fiddled with the etiquette of the morning and evening. After finishing everything, Xue Lan let the female relatives go out.

 

  Xiao Yu Fang has a quiet temperament. She has no temper when being manipulated like a doll on a string. Although the family said that her temperament would suffer, Xiao Yu Fang knew that many times, the loudest was not necessarily the loudest, and the honest people who kept silent would bite the most. When Xiao Yu Fang followed her mother, she was keenly aware that her aunt, Zhao Xiu Lan, was gone.

 

    Even the people from the second and third rooms guarded their grandmother in Gao Shou Tang. Xiao Yu Fang sensed something was wrong, but she said nothing and stepped back obediently.

 

    Gap Shou Tang.

 

    Xue Lan helped Old Madam Xiao to sit down. A maid in a lake blue dress gently stopped beside Xue Lan. Xue Lan just glanced at her lightly, and then said indifferently: “Are the surroundings cleaned up?”

 

    “Yes, the second Miss wanted to eavesdrop and was sent back by me.”

 

    Old Madam Xiao showed an embarrassed look: ” Xiao Yu Li is an ignorant girl. I’ll let you see a joke.”

 

    “What’s the matter?” Xue Lan didn’t care. She just said softly, “Old Madam, the happy event is coming soon. With picking you up, we are in a hurry. It’s a little bit more disrespectful. Please forgive this servant, Old Madam! “

 

    “It’s okay. ” Old Madam Xiao waved her hand and said indifferently, “Da Lang wants to marry a wife. Even if it is a sea of ​​swords and flames, I will walk through.Da Lang has finally made a fortune, and of course, he has to marry the right lady of the official family! “

  Xue Lan smiled and corrected: “Old lady, our new lady is not a lady of the official family. She is a daughter of an aristocratic family, the daughter of the dignified Qinghe Wu family. The prestige of the aristocratic family is comparable to that of the current royal family. It’s a great blessing for our house to be able to marry the daughter of the Wu family!”

 

    Old Madam Xiao doesn’t understand Xue Lan’s words. Her new daughter-in-law is not the lady of a high-ranking official? What is the difference between aristocratic and official? But these things she didn’t care about, she only knew that Xue Lan and Xiao Ying had agreed that this marriage would be excellent, and all the people and things that prevented her son from marrying a high-level daughter-in-law would be ruthlessly swept away.

 

    Neither Xue Lan nor Old Madam Xiao mentioned the original wife who had disappeared. In their hearts, the position of the daughter-in-law of the Xiao family had already been vacated. To be able to enjoy a handful of glory and wealth before death is already a great luck. The rest is really not something that she, a peasant woman, should expect.

 

    Old Madam Xiao was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked: “Xue Lan, what do you think Duo er will do?”

 

    “Da Lang Jun is the son of Hou Ye. Naturally he is the eldest young master of our mansion. “Xue Lan said, “Da Lang Jun will live separately from that person in the future. Anyway, Lang Jun is not too big now. After a few years, these things will be forgotten long ago. Moreover, Da Lang Jun is smart and clever. Wait for him to grow up. When he is older, he will understand the painstaking efforts of Hou Ye. There is a mother from an aristocratic family, which is a blessing that no one else can ask for!”

 

    Xue Lan repeated as if trying to convince someone: ” Hou Ye did this. This is for his own good.”

 

    “Yes, it’s all for Duo er.” Old Madam Xiao murmured.

 

    Old Madam Xiao paused for a moment, suddenly closed her eyes hard, and said in a low voice: “In this few days, you can continue to deliver medicine to her. This time, it will take a longer time, but it will not cause suspicion. “

 

    “I understand.” Xue Lan also agreed in a low voice, “Last time, we were ill-considered. There was a clue that Da Lang Jun saw. This time we will definitely handle it neatly.”

 

    “Okay.” The old lady nodded. She thought of the woman who had always been weak. Although she didn’t like her eldest daughter-in-law, Zhao Xiu Lan, she had lived in the same courtyard for ten years. The old lady felt heart palpitations when she thought that her life would be sacrificed at her hands. On the way, Xue Lan had turned her back on everyone and secretly relayed Xiao Ying’s meaning to Old Madam Xiao. Although Old Madam Xiao hesitated, she was definitely towards her son, not to mention that Old Madam Xiao also believed from the bottom of her heart that Zhao Xiu Lan was not worthy of Xiao Ying.

 

    So it didn’t take long for the old lady to agree to Xue Lan’s plan to poison Zhao Xiu Lan at the inn. It is a pity that the poisoning plan was ruined in the hands of  a young child,  Xiao Jing Duo.

 

    Xue Lan was still talking to the old lady about the details of the chronic poison. During this conversation, Zhao Xiu Lan’s life and death had already been decided. At this time, Zhao Xiu Lan, who was brought to the side courtyard, didn’t know that her life was no longer in her hands.

 

    While they were discussing, a hurried shout suddenly sounded outside the house: “Da Lang Jun is here!”