Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 373 Family Temple
The reason why the Cheng family is considered strange is because of its layout.

The Liang family courtyard that Jiang Xingzong rented was a simple farmhouse. The layout was very traditional, with a main house, side rooms, ear rooms, and a vegetable garden. The largest area was the small vegetable garden behind the house.

But the Cheng family is different.

From Sheng Changquan's perspective, the Cheng family's courtyard occupied a large area, almost twice the size of the Liang family's. Moreover, the entire courtyard was surrounded by a fence made of straw, as if it were guarding against something.

Of course, it's understandable if the host is very vigilant.

However, what puzzled Sheng Changquan the most was why the Cheng family courtyard was built in a concentric square structure, with the main house standing in the middle.

Outside the main house, the Cheng family had even built a high wooden wall around it!

Because Sheng Changquan had excellent eyesight, he could clearly see that the Cheng family courtyard, which occupied a considerable area, had two layers of protection.

"Heh, is this courtyard for people to live in or for people to be trapped in?"

"Why this arrangement?"

"Don't you pay any attention to feng shui or anything like that?"

Sheng Changquan speculated, somewhat amused and exasperated.

After all, people still value these things in this era.

"Huh? Changquan?"

Just as Sheng Changquan was pondering this, a young man walked out of the Liang family's courtyard next door.

The young man was tall and slender with delicate features, and his eyes and brows exuded a clear and genuine quality that made him instantly likable.

This person was none other than Sheng Changquan's cousin, Jiang Xingzong.

"Cousin!"

Upon seeing the honest-looking scholar in simple white Confucian robes before him, Sheng Changquan couldn't help but call out to him with delight.

Jiang Xingzong, the eldest son of Aunt Wei, was someone Sheng Changquan was quite close to.

"Changquan, what brings you here?"

Upon seeing his cousin arrive, Jiang Xingzong naturally smiled.

However, since the autumn examination papers had just been completed, he was quite curious about Sheng Changquan's purpose in coming, and couldn't help but ask a question.

"Don't you need to rest at home?"

Jiang Xingzong took the reins from Hei Feng and walked back to the courtyard first. As he tied it to a wooden stake inside, he asked a question.

Speaking of which, this wooden stake has an interesting story behind it.

It is said that because this place was too far from Xiangshan Academy, Jiang Xingzong had someone buy a mule for him to use as a means of transportation.

However, Jiang Xingzong suffered a great loss in that deal. The mule he bought was really bad. Not only was it bad-tempered, but it was also not much faster than a person walking. Therefore, after learning about this, Sheng Changquan ignored his cousin's objections and insisted on giving him a good horse.

When it comes to horses, Sheng Changquan can truly be considered a big spender.

After all, when he was studying abroad, he found quite a few wild horse herds in the north. Even if he couldn't take them all with him, he could still give away a good horse.

However, Jiang Xingzong was not one to take advantage of others. Because of Aunt Wei's teachings, he was unwilling to accept Sheng Changquan's kindness and refused to take the horse. In the end, the two tormented each other to no avail, and Minglan finally came up with an idea.

Minglan asked Sheng Changquan to go to the market and buy a good donkey for her cousin to use for transportation. However, the money for the donkey should be paid by Jiang Xingzong. Sheng Changquan's role was only to get an insider price and find a good donkey.

After all, Sheng Changquan's many friends were indeed related to some connections.

Moreover, even without Sheng Changquan's intervention, the Sheng family's influence alone would make this matter no problem.

So, in the end, unable to persuade Jiang Xingzong, Sheng Changquan had no choice but to ask someone to find a connection and buy his cousin a good donkey. And this wooden stake was the one that Sheng Changquan drove into the ground in a fit of pique.

The purpose was to make Jiang Xingzong feel embarrassed every time he saw the wooden stake.

However, whether Jiang Xingzong would feel embarrassed is unknown, but Sheng Changquan did feel somewhat embarrassed every time he saw the wooden stake, feeling that he had been rather naive back then.

Getting back to the point, Sheng Changquan wasn't very restrained in front of Jiang Xingzong; in fact, he felt even freer than he did at the Sheng family home.

"hey-hey!"

"Cousin, I'm alright!"

Sheng Changquan didn't stand on ceremony. He walked into the courtyard, plopped down on a stone bench, and said casually, "I already rested yesterday." "Besides, you know my medical skills. How could I possibly neglect my health? Don't worry, cousin!"

"hehe!"

Jiang Xingzong fed Hei Feng some hay, then turned around and smiled, "Alright, as long as you know what you're doing."

"Hey cousin, what's going on over there?"

Sheng Changquan gestured towards the Cheng family's courtyard and asked curiously, "I don't think I've ever seen the Cheng family before?"

"There's something strange about their house."

"there?"

Jiang Xingzong looked up at the neighboring house in the direction he was looking, a hint of helplessness on his face.

"Changquan, that's someone else's business. Why are you meddling so much?"

Jiang Xingzong was a rather easygoing person and didn't care much about other people's affairs. At this time, he only wanted to study so that he could bring honor to his ancestors and make his parents and relatives live a good life.

"Ah? Haha, cousin, you're right!"

Sheng Changquan chuckled and didn't delve into it further, after all, that wasn't his main purpose for coming here.

Speaking of which, Jiang Xingzong's status at this time was not bad. He had already obtained the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). He had also registered to participate in the previous autumn imperial examination, but unfortunately, he failed the exam.

However, at that time, Sheng Changquan asked his father, Sheng Hong, to have someone look at Jiang Xingzong's exam paper. The evaluation was that Jiang's essay had already reached a certain level of skill. At that time, the failure was more due to not understanding the examiner's temperament and writing an essay that did not suit his taste.

Therefore, based on this alone, Jiang Xingzong was remarkable. In fact, from then on, even Sheng Hong praised him highly, saying that Aunt Wei was remarkable for being able to give birth to such a scholarly talent.

Unfortunately, two years ago, Jiang Xingzong's grandfather passed away due to illness, forcing him to observe a three-year mourning period.

He was unable to participate in this year's autumn imperial examination.

Seeing Sheng Changquan's sullen expression, Jiang Xingzong couldn't bear it and finally revealed everything he knew.

"According to Uncle Liang, that courtyard over there belongs to a military officer surnamed Cheng from the capital, and it seems that it was specially built by their matriarch!"

"It is said that in order to commemorate Old Master Cheng, it was deliberately built to look like it used to be, so that it could serve as the ancestral home of the Cheng family and would be used as an ancestral hall in the future."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Sheng Changquan was dumbfounded.

"Can it still be operated this way?"

"Cough cough!"

Jiang Xingzong didn't understand either, but over the past few days, he had come to see some of the meaning behind it.

"Changquan, you've got it wrong!"

"In my opinion, things might not be as they say!"

"Huh? What do you say?"

Since we've come this far, Jiang Xingzong didn't hide anything: "A few days ago, I saw their carriage bring over a master and servant, so they probably intend to use this place as their family temple."

Family temples were private temples used by wealthy families to worship gods, and also served as a kind of prison for family members who had made mistakes.

"Oh? There's such a thing?"

Sheng Changquan was initially surprised, but then frowned.

"By the way, cousin, who are that master and servant? Will they be a problem for you?"

"That won't happen!"

Jiang Xingzong shook his head: "They are just two little girls, seven or eight years old. The younger one is sickly and pitiful!"

"I'm afraid..."

Jiang Xingzong hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Although Jiang Xingzong didn't say it out loud, Sheng Changquan guessed a bit, probably because it involved some dirty business of infighting within a wealthy family.

(End of this chapter)