The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 623 - 621: Why Are You Splashing Water on Me?

Chapter 623: Chapter 621: Why Are You Splashing Water on Me?

The door was kicked open, and the sight that met them was of a figure lying rigidly on the kang bed inside. The commotion did not wake him, and on top of that, he was snoring heavily, seemingly still lost in a drunken dream.

Wang Yongzhu charged in first, with Wang Yongping hastily following into the room, immediately met by the smell of alcohol.

Wang Yongping asked with puzzlement, "Could he be drunk?"

Otherwise, even the dead would have leapt out of their coffins with such a racket.

Wang Yongzhu sneered coldly, pretending to be drunk? Fine!

He turned on his heel, went to the kitchen to scoop up a ladle of cold water, and drenched Wang Yongan to the core with it.

In the chilly December, such a ladle of cold water had Wang Yongan howling as he sprang up from the kang, his whole body sopping wet, looking both pathetic and comical.

Standing barefoot on the ground, he wrung out his soaked clothes while bellowing, "What are you doing? Why did you splash me with water?"

Wang Yongzhu threw the ladle aside, "What, not pretending to be drunk anymore?"

Wang Yongan’s face tightened, and he quickly replaced it with a look of bewilderment and helplessness: "Little sister, what is this about? I drank too much last night, lay down on the bed, and knew nothing until you woke me with water. What do you mean ’pretending to be drunk’?"

Seeing Wang Yongan still refusing to confess, even at this point, Wang Yongzhu was impressed: Fine!

"You say you were drunk, well then, now that you’re sober, I have a question for you! Your wife insisted on taking me near the county Yamen yesterday to stroll around, and even made a point of walking around the back door. And this morning, the Magistrate’s Lady’s Sister Steward rushed over to say that her lady was enamored with my beauty, wanting to take me as the Magistrate’s concubine. You didn’t know about this? You went to the county Yamen yesterday, didn’t you?"

Wang Yongan immediately protested his innocence with all his might: "Little sister, I really didn’t know about this, I went to the county Yamen because I had business to take care of, and only after that did I go for drinks with my colleagues before coming back! I truly didn’t know about the Magistrate’s wife wanting to arrange for you to become a concubine?"

"Now you know, don’t you! Tell me, who gave Lady Qian the audacity? As a sister-in-law, she actually presumed to make decisions for the family? Knowing fully well I’m betrothed, she still aimed to sell me off as a junior wife to the Magistrate? Do you know what the Sister Steward came saying? They sold me for two hundred pieces of silver, you didn’t know about that either?" Wang Yongzhu emphasized the amount bitterly.

Wang Yongan slapped the edge of the kang bed, "That venomous Lady Qian! Who empowered her? I’ll go and question her!"

Saying this, he wanted to rush outside.

Wang Yongzhu signaled Wang Yongping to block him, "Don’t run off, let’s clear this up today once and for all!"

"So, according to what you’re saying, you had no knowledge of this matter, and all of it was done by Lady Qian without your knowledge?" Wang Yongzhu asked methodically.

Wang Yongan was stunned for a moment, then nodded immediately, even showing a look of indignation. "Yongping never expected that Lady Qian would be such a person. Yongzhu, rest assured, Yongping will definitely teach her a lesson for you."

"There’s no need. As the saying goes, a son’s failure to be taught is the father’s fault; a wife’s failure to be taught is the husband’s fault. Given Lady Qian’s character, would she dare do such a thing without your consent? Wang Yongan, do you think that just because you have studied for a few years and became a Scholar, you can treat everyone else like a fool? What did you say when you went back home during the New Year? At that time, you let Lady Qian praise those official’s wives for their wealth, right in front of me. You said that becoming a concubine to the County Magistrate is a lifetime of fortune. Have you forgotten all that now?"

"Yongzhu, I was really just speaking casually, I didn’t mean anything else. At that time, I also told father that with your talents and appearances, Yongzhu, marrying you off to some country bumpkin would be a great loss. I wanted to take you with our parents to the county town and find you a son-in-law from an official’s family. How could I sell you to someone as a concubine? Would you really see your second brother as such a person?" Wang Yongan put on a wounded expression.

"Yongzhu, ask yourself, other than the land deed issue, when has your second brother wronged you? Remember how good our relationship was before? Every time Yongping came home, he remembered to bring you delicious food and flowers for your hair. He taught you to read and write, treating you as if you were his own daughter, better than even Jinchai. Have you forgotten all these things? Just because of one thing, you no longer trust your second brother?"

"In your second brother’s heart, you are the dearest sister. Naturally, he wants to give you the best things in the world! How could I harm you? Let’s not talk about anything else. Regarding the matter you just mentioned, can you listen to what your second brother has to say?" Wang Yongan played the emotional card, trying to rekindle their relationship through memories of the past.

"Go ahead," Wang Yongzhu wanted to hear what kind of story Wang Yongan could come up with.

"Yongzhu, let your second brother speak from the heart. Before I became a Scholar when I was still in the countryside, I thought being a Scholar Master was impressive. I thought that if I could become a Scholar, I would be content for life. But after I really became a Scholar, I realized, what about it? I’m just a poor Scholar in everyone else’s eyes!"

"Those who haven’t become Scholars, relying on the legacy of their ancestors, live better than me, a Scholar. From the moment they start speaking, someone teaches them to read and write. Their primers are famous scholars, and for people like us, it is incredibly difficult to study under such a scholar."

"Do you know what it feels like to be scorned for something you’ve put all your efforts into? You wouldn’t know! Ever since I started studying, I’ve been feeling this way every single day! After becoming a Scholar, I wanted to become a Graduate, but our family neither had silver nor connections. Finding a good teacher was as hard as reaching the sky."

"If I had always been that poor boy from Qilidun, ignorant of the world, I would have accepted my lot! But I have talent! I’ve seen the bustling world outside. How can I be content with mediocrity, to remain a poor Scholar for life? I can’t be content with that!"

"So, about stealing the land deed and buying the fields, let me tell you the truth: I admit I was wrong! But if I had to do it all over again, I would still do the same! Because this was the only chance I had. If I missed it, I would be doomed to a lifetime of poverty as just a Scholar! I’m not content with that!"

"I don’t think I did anything wrong. I just want to live a better life. I have ambitions and aspirations, but just because I wasn’t born into a good family, I have to stay beneath those who are inferior to me! I’m willing to give up anything to climb higher——"

Wang Yongan’s speech was interrupted by Wang Yongzhu. "Even if it includes selling your own sister as a concubine to the County Magistrate?"

Wang Yongan fell silent.

After a long while, he lifted his head, his face full of bewilderment. "Yongzhu, is it really so bad to become the Second Wife to the County Magistrate? This isn’t just being a concubine, but the good concubines who aren’t bought and sold at will. You would be a proper Good Concubine. Aside from the Eldest Wife, you would be the most respected in the County Magistrate’s household. As long as you capture the County Magistrate’s heart, if you bear him a son, you won’t have to worry about wealth and honor for life!"