Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 266 The Gu Family's Affairs at the Hai Family Library
"Seventh brother, please rise!"

Hai Chaoyun gave Sheng Changquan a slight nod of support, gesturing to him with the demeanor of a sister-in-law. However, unlike Sheng Changbai, she did not address Sheng Changquan as Xiao Qi.

After all, she wasn't very familiar with Sheng Changquan, and there were some things she was too embarrassed to say.

"Seventh Brother!"

As Hai Chaoyun spoke, she turned around and took a stack of books from the maid beside her, saying, "These are some handwritten notes that I specially found for you. They were left by our clan elders, and I hope they will be helpful for your upcoming academy examination!"

She picked up the stack of books with some difficulty, intending to hand them to Sheng Changquan.

Seeing this, Sheng Changquan naturally could not remain indifferent, so he quickly stepped forward, reached out, and took the book from Hai Chaoyun's hand.

"Thank you so much, sister-in-law!"

Although he hadn't read the contents, Sheng Changquan could guess a bit of it; it was probably the imperial examination notes of the Hai family's predecessors.

"Oh!"

As soon as Sheng Changquan took the books, he immediately felt his palms sink!
"Ok?"

"There are quite a few books here!"

Sheng Changquan was quite surprised.

He hadn't looked closely before, thinking these were just one or two books, but unexpectedly, Hai Chaoyun had given him more than a dozen!

"Hehe, Xiao Qi!"

At this moment, Sheng Changbai spoke up again: "These notes were specially selected for you by my father-in-law after your sister-in-law went to ask him!"

"Official!"

Hai Chaoyun gave Sheng Changbai a coquettish look, seemingly not wanting him to talk about it.

After all, saying such a thing inevitably carries a hint of self-promotion.

However, Sheng Changbai did not listen to his wife's words, but instead told her the whole story in detail.

"Xiao Qi, do you know?"

Sheng Changbai looked at his younger brother with a solemn expression and said meaningfully, "These few notebooks were specially selected for you by your father-in-law from the Hai family library after he inquired about your studies!"

The Hai Family Library is a renowned sacred place in the hearts of scholars, containing numerous masterpieces by famous authors and classics of various schools of thought. It is an unparalleled treasure painstakingly collected by the Hai family ancestors.

It's important to know that the foundation of a family of scholars, besides its reputation and connections, is most importantly its books!
The Hai family library is where the Hai family keeps all their books.

Moreover, in order to preserve the Hai family's literary reputation, the Hai family does not refuse outsiders to borrow books from the Hai family library, or even copy books to take back. Furthermore, for students from poor families with academic talent, the Hai family will go a step further and directly provide them with financial aid!

As a result, the Hai family's reputation improved significantly, winning the favor of many scholars!
Of course, the Hai family wasn't stupid, and they wouldn't give up all their family's resources just for this literary reputation.

Therefore, the Hai family library is actually divided into an outer library and an inner library.

The former is a library specifically for outsiders to borrow and copy, while the latter contains the classics of the former, as well as more rare and precious copies. These are only available to internal members of the Hai family.

There was even a place where more important documents were stored, which was called the Secret Pavilion and was a place that only the clan elders and the head of the family could enter.

The letters that Hai Chaoyun gave to Sheng Changquan this time were indeed copies that Hai Wenyan personally retrieved from the secret archives, and were copied by Sheng Changbai himself.

The reason why Hai Daren did this was actually to take this opportunity to give these things to Sheng Changbai and the Sheng family, in order to enhance their financial foundation.

Of course, this also reflects a optimism about Sheng Changquan.

As an aside, the Hai family and Lord Cui Yue have a good relationship. After all, Lord Cui, who came from a humble background, once borrowed scriptures from the Hai family's outer library.

It was through Lord Cui's words that Hai Wenyan came to value Sheng Changquan so highly.

Because the Hai family's inner cabinet and secret cabinet involve the secrets of the Hai family, Sheng Changbai did not elaborate on them, but simply referred to them as the Hai family's library.

"In addition to the experiences of several predecessors in the imperial examinations, there are also case files from recent provincial examinations, metropolitan examinations, and palace examinations."

Looking into Sheng Changquan's eyes, Sheng Changbai continued, "After he heard that you had achieved the top score in both the county and prefectural examinations, he specifically instructed me to keep a close eye on you!"

"His Majesty also hopes that you can go further and break the old precedent of no one in this dynasty having a continuous succession!"

To be honest, no scholar can be indifferent to the "six-times grand slam".

In fact, in Sheng Changbai's heart, his younger brother Sheng Changquan was a pillar who could set an example for the Sheng family, so he naturally took it very seriously!

"Second brother, I understand!"

Looking into Sheng Changbai's sincere gaze, Sheng Changquan nodded gently.

He knew that his second elder brother was really good to him, at least in that he cared a lot about his imperial examinations.

Although there was some ulterior motive involved, Sheng Changquan did not reject it. After all, even brothers should keep clear accounts, and there was nothing wrong with that.

In fact, in Sheng Changquan's mind, as long as his relationship with Minglan did not change, it didn't matter if the kinship was no longer kinship but turned into a transaction.

He didn't care too much.

"Thank you for the gift, Second Sister-in-law. Changquan loves it!"

After making his promise to Sheng Changbai, Sheng Changquan immediately turned around and replied to the gentle woman opposite him.

"Ok!"

"If Seventh Brother is happy, that's good!"

Hai Chaoyun nodded slightly, a smile appearing on her lips. She took a few steps and obediently stood beside Sheng Changbai, acting as if she were a dutiful wife.

"All right!"

Seeing that everyone had already gotten to know each other, Sheng Changbai's expression softened slightly.

As the eldest brother, he also did not want any sordid matters to arise among the Sheng family's siblings. However, the atmosphere among everyone was quite harmonious, so Sheng Changbai felt somewhat relieved.

Of course, this is also partly due to his recent marriage.

Sheng Changbai looked at his younger siblings and said, "Now that we've all met, let's all go to Shou'an Hall to pay our respects to our grandmother!"

Although he and Hai Chaoyun had met Old Madam Sheng before, this time was different. This time, Sheng Changbai brought the third generation of the Sheng family to pay respects to their ancestor after his marriage.

These two have different meanings, but they are both rules of this world.

"Yes, Second Brother!"

Everyone else knows this etiquette, so naturally they won't object.

……

Shou'an Hall.

In the pear cupboard.

"Brother, when are you leaving?"

Minglan looked at Sheng Changquan sitting at the table and asked.

Because of Sheng Changbai's wedding, Sheng Changquan did not return to his hometown of Youyang to participate in the provincial examination in advance. At this moment, when he heard Minglan's question, he immediately said, "I will leave in about three days!"

Because of the tight schedule, Sheng Changquan had already sent Xu Changqing to escort Mr. Zhuang to Youyang.

According to Mr. Zhuang's plan, they were to meet in Youyang and set off directly after Sheng Changquan finished the imperial examination, traveling from south to north and then from west to east, to thoroughly explore this beautiful land!
"Huh? Leaving in three days?"

This was the first time Minglan had heard when Sheng Changquan was leaving, and hearing him say this made her feel a pang of reluctance.

"Brother, have you prepared everything?"

Minglan looked at Sheng Changquan with concern and asked, "Have you brought all the clothes, money, and first-aid medicine?"

Minglan learned the term "first aid" from Sheng Changquan. Because the two characters were self-explanatory, she memorized them.

"Hehe, sister, don't worry, I brought all these things with me!"

Sheng Changquan smiled and reassured Minglan, "As for emergency treatment, you don't need to worry about that either, because don't you trust my medical skills?"

"With me here, nothing will happen on the way!"

"Hmm!" Minglan didn't speak, she just nodded.

She knew that over the years, Sheng Changquan had not only been studying medicine on his own, but he had also been corresponding with He Hongwen of the He family in Baishitan.

Inside, there were countless real injury and illness cases from that area.

Sheng Changquan used this channel to increase his practical experience and enhance his medical skills.

Moreover, Sheng Changquan would often disguise himself and go to the poor areas of Beijing to provide free medical services to help patients who could not afford treatment.

Over time, Sheng Changquan's medical skills naturally became more and more profound.

"Alright, sister!"

Seeing Minglan's sad expression, Sheng Changquan immediately changed the subject, deliberately saying, "Speaking of which, I still don't know what your second sister-in-law gave you."

"I saw that what my second sister-in-law gave to my fourth sister was a piece of black jade. Not only was it of excellent quality, but it also had a very auspicious meaning!"

"Moreover, I see that the pattern on it is a naturally formed orchid, which is a perfect match for Fourth Sister's name!"

"Yes!"

Minglan knew Sheng Changquan's intention in changing the subject, so she had no choice but to suppress her emotions and calmly say, "I also saw Fourth Sister's piece of black jade!"

"Hmm, sister, what about yours?"

"Actually, what my second sister-in-law gave me was quite something; it was a painting called 'Ascending Clouds over the Xiao and Xiang Rivers' by the Suzhou embroidery master, Ke Dajia!"

"The 'Xiaoxiang Cloud Ascent Map'? Master Ke?"

Sheng Changquan was actually quite unfamiliar with embroidery.

"Sister, who is this Master Ke?"

"hehe!"

Seeing Sheng Changquan's bewildered expression, Minglan burst out laughing.

"Ah? Sister!"

Sheng Changquan deliberately feigned anger, glaring at Minglan with bared teeth and claws.

"hehe!"

Minglan couldn't help but laugh!

Because in her heart, Sheng Changquan was always omnipotent. No matter what he did, he was omniscient, omnipotent, and even omnipotent.

However, the fact that he was in such a bewildered state for the first time because of needlework made Minglan want to laugh.

"Alright, let me tell you about this Ke family!"

Minglan knew that Sheng Changquan was deliberately making a fool of himself to amuse her, but she still enjoyed it.

"This Mr. Ke, whose real name is Ke Yiyi, is from Fengzhou City in Jiangnan Road..."

"..."

Minglan is an embroidery expert and usually attaches great importance to this kind of knowledge, so she naturally knows these people very well.

……

"So this is ah!"

After hearing Minglan's explanation, Sheng Changquan looked enlightened.

"Ah~"

However, even though Sheng Changquan had learned about his blind spot, Minglan couldn't help but sigh again.

"Sister..."

Infected by Minglan's mood, Sheng Changquan also lost his smile.

"Heh, it's nothing!"

Minglan forced a smile, suppressing the reluctance in her heart.

"Sister!"

Upon hearing Minglan's words, Sheng Changquan immediately racked his brains, preparing to continue talking about other topics in order to completely divert his sister's attention.

"By the way, sister, have you heard about Uncle Gu's matter?"

Sheng Changquan thought for a long time and finally came up with something that could attract Minglan's attention.

Of course, it wasn't about the Duke of Qi's mansion; after all, that thing would only make Minglan feel worse.

"Ok?"

Sure enough, Minglan's attention was indeed diverted.

"What happened to Uncle Gu?"

"Is there a problem with what happened with Sister Yanran?"

Because the Sheng family has been busy with Sheng Changbai's wedding recently, Minglan and the others haven't paid attention to what's happening outside, let alone Gu Tingye's affairs.

However, to be honest, the reason why Minglan paid attention to Gu Tingye's affairs was partly because of Yanran, but more so because she still remembered what happened back then.

Back then, Gu Tingye stepped in to find a doctor for her concubine.

Although it didn't have a happy ending, for Minglan, Gu Tingye's intervention that time was nothing short of saving her again!
Their love is higher than the sky, and their kindness is deeper than the sea!
"It's not just that one thing that's causing the problem!"

Sheng Changquan also paid attention to Gu Tingye.

After all, Minglan had mentioned his kindness to him more than once.

"what?"

Minglan was startled: "What else is it?"

"Sister, Uncle Gu has indeed been through a lot lately!"

"Otherwise, he wouldn't have missed his second brother's wedding!"

Sheng Changquan shook his head and began to explain, "I heard from people outside that the reason why Uncle Gu failed the exam this time was actually because the Emperor himself intervened and dismissed him!"

"Your Majesty...shall speak?"

Minglan's voice was a little sore; she simply couldn't believe it!

"Then...then won't he be in the future?"

"Ok!"

Sheng Changquan nodded and said with certainty, "I'm afraid Uncle Gu will only be able to reach the rank of Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) from now on!"

"Then...why did the Emperor do this?"

Minglan was getting a little anxious!

"Even if Uncle Gu has done something wrong, the Emperor still has to consider the Marquis of Ningyuan's reputation!"

"This old Marquis Gu has been diligently guarding the border for the court for many years. Isn't Your Majesty afraid of hurting his feelings?"

"Ah!"

Upon hearing this, Sheng Changquan let out a cold laugh!
"Actually, it can't be entirely blamed on the government!"

Before Minglan could ask, Sheng Changquan continued, "Actually, the reason why the Emperor dismissed Uncle Gu from his ranking is very simple!"

"That is because an imperial censor impeached Lord Gu in court for failing to properly educate his son and for allowing his second uncle to speak ill of the late emperor at home!"

"For the sake of filial piety, the Emperor has no other choice but to do so!"

(End of this chapter)