bookbashuk Chapter 86 Wang Min Arrives in Beijing
Chapter 86 Wang Min Arrives in Beijing
Chapter 86 Wang Min Arrives in Beijing
"This wasn't bought for me, it's for Sister Minglan."
Mu Jie'er said, "Didn't Second Brother say that Sister Minglan will be arriving in Bianjing soon?"
"Sister Mu is quite sensible."
Wang You laughed and said, "Have you ever thought about what will happen to your other two cousins if you prepare a gift for your sister Minglan?"
'
"Sister Rulan is coming to Bianjing too?" Mu Jie'er blinked in surprise.
"Forehead--"
Wang You thought about it carefully and realized that when Mu Jie'er left Yangzhou, she was a little depressed because she was reluctant to part with Minglan.
He told her that his uncle's family would also come to the capital after the New Year, and then he would be able to see Minglan more often.
The little girl probably didn't hear the beginning clearly; she only heard that she would be able to play with Minglan often in the future.
"Your aunt and uncle's family will be coming to Bianjing. Why don't you choose one for your sisters Molan and Rulan as well?" Wang You said.
As the saying goes, it is not scarcity that is a concern, but inequality.
The gift from Mu Jie'er wasn't particularly valuable, but since it was given specifically to Minglan, wouldn't that be causing Minglan trouble?
"Then I'll choose one for Sister Rulan," said Sister Mu.
"And what about your sister Mo Lan?"
"I don't like her, that's why I won't give it to her."
"Alright then, hurry up and choose."
Wang You looked at his sister picking out a gift and gave a self-deprecating smile.
To be honest, he also disliked Mo Lan.
This dislike wasn't just because I knew what she would do in the future, but also because of the impressions I got from my two visits to the Sheng family.
Although he visited the Sheng family twice, he barely spoke a few words to Mo Lan.
But he disliked Mo Lan's tone and manner of speaking.
If he were to prepare a gift, he would definitely prepare one for Mo Lan as well.
Dislike is one thing, giving gifts is another.
We could choose not to prepare any for Minglan and Molan, but since we've already given gifts to Rulan and Minglan, we can't leave out Molan.
This is the habitual way of thinking that adults use to deal with people.
But Mu-jie is still young and doesn't think that much; she only has simple likes and dislikes in her heart.
After Mu Jie'er made her choice, Wang You had Xiao Man pay for it, then took her to where the carriages were parked and they went home by carriage.
When they got home, they inevitably got a lecture from Mrs. Feng, who said they came back too late.
Upon learning that Mu Jie'er had prepared gifts for Ru Lan and Ming Lan, Madam Feng said irritably, "Of the three girls, how can you prepare gifts for two and leave one out? Mu Jie'er may be immature, but are you immature too?"
"Mother, just pretend you don't know. Who can blame Mu'er?" Wang You said with a smile.
"Go back and rest now."
Upon hearing this, Madam Feng didn't say anything, and waved for Wang You to go and rest.
After the commotion caused by the Yuan family, Madam Wang felt aggrieved and complained to Madam Feng, inadvertently revealing the affair of Lin Xiaoniang.
Only then did Madam Feng realize that Madam Wang had been suffering from the mistreatment of a concubine all these years.
Although the sisters-in-law don't usually have much contact or interaction, they don't have a deep relationship.
But Madam Wang was a member of the Wang family, so naturally she had no good feelings towards Madam Lin and her illegitimate children.
I just said we couldn't leave Mo Lan out; that's a matter of etiquette.
Wang You told her to pretend she didn't know, and she realized what he meant.
Mu Jie'er is still young and cannot represent the Wang family's etiquette, so no one will blame her for it.
"Mother, these three lacquerware pieces cost me a lot of money, and I'm out of money. You see—" Wang You said with a pleading face.
"Go back and rest. Tomorrow, have someone go to the accounting office to withdraw ten taels of silver," said Madam Feng.
"Then I'll take my leave." Wang You knew when to stop.
Although not all of it was reimbursed, getting ten taels would still be good.
Although the Wang family has some wealth, their daily expenses are still considerable.
Even wealthy families have to be careful with their money.
At the very least, after deducting expenses, there should be a certain amount of surplus from each month's income.
This is also why Wang You is thinking about making some money.
With his meager monthly salary, he could often go out to enjoy delicious food in Shouzhou, and at most occasionally go out to try snacks in Bianjing.
The reason I brought so much money today is because I'm going to Fanlou.
This already includes all of his family's wealth.
If Zhao Sheng hadn't treated us to a meal, we wouldn't have had the money to buy a gift.
There's no way around it; this is the standard of the top restaurant in Bianjing.
A casual meal at Fanlou would easily cost several taels of silver.
If you eat something nice, spending tens of taels of silver is quite normal.
After washing up in his room, Wang You lay on the bed, tossing and turning in thought for a long time, but couldn't come up with any good ways to make money.
If it's simply about making money, then he has plenty of ways to do it.
However, due to his status, he cannot do many things, let alone personally appear in public.
Moreover, Wang You had no one else he could rely on. The only people he trusted were Shi Tou and Xiao Man. Xiao Man was young, so he was fine with running errands, but it would be difficult for him to do business.
As for Shi Tou, needless to say, if you let him go into business, he'd probably ruin even the best business.
After thinking it over and over but not coming up with a good solution, Wang You simply gave up on thinking about it.
That's one of his strengths; he doesn't cause himself any trouble.
At the end of February, Wang Min finally completed the handover and arrived in Bianjing, accompanied by two concubines and Wang You's half-brother.
Wang You's younger brother is named Wang Yong, and he is only six years old this year.
I originally planned to start school this year, but it was delayed because of Wang Min's promotion.
Wang Yong is currently living with his birth mother, but once he officially begins his studies, he will move out and live separately. His upbringing will be taken care of by Madam Feng.
With Wang Min's arrival in Beijing, the family was reunited except for the absence of Wang Zhuo.
However, with Wang Min bringing his concubines to the capital, the residence became somewhat crowded.
There's nothing we can do about it; it's already good enough to have a house in the inner city of Bianjing.
As you can see, the Sheng family mansion is located in Jiying Lane, which is only inhabited by officials of the third or fourth rank because it is close to the inner city.
It's very difficult to buy a larger house in the inner city; even the royal family couldn't afford one.
The Wang family's current residence is worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.
You could sell your current place and buy a bigger one in a less desirable location in the outer city.
However, this made attending court and taking up duties inconvenient, as the round trip was too far.
Wang Min arrived in the capital, rested for one night, and went to the Ministry of Justice to report the next day.
Because I had just arrived in Beijing, the Ministry of Justice was very considerate and gave me three days off to take care of household chores.
When Wang Min returned from the Ministry of Justice, he summoned Wang You to his study.
"I heard you gave your grandmother a good scolding?" Wang Min said with a gloomy face.
"I was just trying to reason with my grandmother, but she—"
"Reasoning?"
Wang Min scolded, "What have you been doing all these years of studying? You can't even disobey your parents' orders, let alone your grandmother."
Besides, your grandmother is old; if she gets really angry, I'll beat you to death, you unfilial son!
"Father's reprimand is correct, I know I was wrong," Wang You honestly admitted.
Although Wang Min's words made him very uncomfortable, that was the way of etiquette in this era.
There are no parents who are not good.
Not to mention that he was talking back to his grandmother.
Even though the Song Dynasty used the imperial examination system to select officials, and the system of recommending filial and incorrupt officials had long been abolished, filial piety was still an important criterion for selecting officials.