A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 202: A Man's Romantic and Heroic Character
Wu Shiling called his wife to take Xiangli to the inner courtyard to comfort her.
Without Xiangli, the three men, old and young, felt much more comfortable.

"It's funny."

"A horse is weak because it is thin, a man is not romantic because he is poor. A man who is romantic is a hero." Li Yi said with a smile.

"Alas, what a bad fate." Wu Shigui laughed at himself.

Lao Wu poured a cup of tea for his brother and said, "I know you still miss Yang, especially when she went on a hunger strike for seven days to save you and Aye, threatening to die in order to force the King to take action.
More than ten years have passed, and she still hasn't married. It's inevitable that you will meet again in Chang'an and rekindle your old love.

But you also have to consider your sister-in-law. She has been married to you for more than ten years and has given birth to four sons for you. She is a good girl and you cannot let her down.

Wu Shigui also knew that he was being unfair to his wife, but he could not control himself.

He wanted to take care of both sides, but he couldn't do either well.

"Qianshui Bo, you are young. If it were you, how would you choose?"

"Only children make choices, adults want both." Li Yi said.

Wu Shigui was stunned.

"Why don't you, Lord Wu, propose marriage and take Yang as your concubine?"

Warrior Wu shook his head.
Although he held the rank of a third-rank duke and was allowed to have six concubines, he was still considered a seventh-rank official.

But Yang's father was the prime minister of the Daye Dynasty and was granted the title of Marquis of Shi'an. His uncle was the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince of Sui and Prince Guan Yang Xiong. The Hongnong Yang family was one of the six surnames in Guanzhong.

How could the Yang family allow Yang to be a concubine to a nouveau riche like him?

Back in Luoyang, when he fell in love with Yang, the Yang family was strongly opposed. It was even possible that he had no intention of offending Yang Su. In fact, it was the people of Guan Wangfang who asked Yang Su to come forward to suppress him, and then forced Yang to come forward to ask the brothers Yang Xiong and Yang Da for help.
They then used their power to force Yang to agree to sever ties with Wu Shigui.
That might be a situation,

After all, Yang Xiong and Yang Su were both from the Hongnong Yang clan. The Yang clan being with a married man like Wu Shigui was a disgrace to the entire Hongnong Yang clan.

Wu Shigui took a sip of tea and said, "Before, most of the royal houses were in Luoyang and Jiangdu, so there might be some possibility, but now," he shook his head.

The brothers Yang Xiong and Yang Da died early, but they had many children and grandchildren. Now Yang Xiong's sons Yang Gongren and Yang Shidao have returned to Chang'an. Gongren was named King of Guan and Governor of Liangzhou, and Shidao was appointed as Yitong and Duwei, and married Princess Guiyang.

Yang Gongdao also had a daughter who became a concubine in the Prince of Qin's mansion.

Although Yang Da's son was an official in Luoyang and was killed by Wang Shichong,

But now that Yang Gongren and others have returned to Chang'an, the situation of the Yang family has improved. It is impossible for Yang Gongren, Yang Shidao and others to let this cousin become a concubine of Wu Shigui.

"Then Lord Wu should coax Lady Xiangli County well. Women need to be coaxed, so just coax them. As for Yang, as long as you two are in love, whether you have a legitimate relationship or not is not that important, right?"

Lao Wu laughed and said, "Look, young people have active minds. Listen to Wu Yi. Don't be out all day and neglect your family. You have to take care of both sides."

"I just feel that this makes her lose her status and I feel very sorry for her." Wu Shigui said frankly.

Lao Wu glared at her, "What do you want to do? You want to divorce me? I tell you, as long as I'm not dead, forget it. Xiangli is your first wife, and you and she have two sons. You're already in your forties, don't do anything stupid!"

"That woman instigated you?"

"No, I, I," Wu Shigui knew he was in the wrong, but every time he faced Yang, he felt even more indebted. Yang was already thirty-nine years old.
The good years have passed by like this,

Now the two have reunited and are finally together again, but he feels bad that they have no official status.

Lao Wu rolled his eyes and lectured his brother, "Either Yang becomes a concubine, or you continue to maintain the status quo. If she wants to be your wife, she can only become your wife after Xiangli dies!"

He also gave Wu Shigui some advice: "From now on, you should go home on odd days, and you can go to be with that woman on even days, but on the ten-day weekends and holidays, you should try to go home to be with your wife and children."

"If you divorce your wife and marry the forty-year-old Yang, you will be ridiculed by the whole world. They will say you have no conscience and that you are trying to cling to the Yang family. Not only you, but our entire Wenshui Wu clan will be unable to hold our heads up."

"You are still young. You are currently the Imperial Court Minister. You will have many opportunities in the future. If you move up further, you may even be granted the title of Duke or even Prime Minister. Don't ruin your future because of such a small matter."

"We come from humble backgrounds, and the aristocratic families in Chang'an City have always looked down upon us. In their minds, you are a timber merchant, I am a country landlord, and Wuyi is a wild Taoist priest.
Although we are now in a prosperous situation, with titles of duke and earl, and wealth of gold, purple, silver and red, few of us are convinced.

If you make a big mistake, they'll immediately and ruthlessly kick you when you're down, hoping to make it impossible for you to recover."

Timber traders, rural landlords, Taoist priests,
Well, Li Yi felt that Lao Wu’s summary was very appropriate. The prejudice in people’s hearts is like a mountain, which is difficult to move.

No matter how Wu Shigui ranks among the seventeen heroes of Yuanmou, and is appointed as the Yellow Gate Minister and granted the title of County Duke, in the eyes of those aristocratic families, he is just a timber merchant who has suddenly gained power.

"Those people will never look down on us, so we must know our own limitations and not flatter them excessively, but we must also stick together to keep warm."

Li Yi thought of his two senior brothers.

Sun Fujia is now a fifth-rank Imperial Censor, but those people always say that he is from a minor family. Wei Zheng is now also a fifth-rank Secretary and has made great contributions, but he is still said to be a wandering Taoist priest.

Both men made numerous contributions to the imperial court, yet they were not even granted a county barony. Yang Gongren, on the other hand, returned to Chang'an as a captive, but because of his connection to the Hongnong Yang family, he was immediately granted the title of Duke. The four brothers, Yang Hongli, were granted the titles of Duke of a county and three of a county simply because they were nephews of Yang Su and descendants of the Hongnong Yang family.

There was also Du Ruhui's illegitimate son, who was only three years old and was adopted by his eldest brother who was killed while serving as an official in Luoyang. He was also directly granted the title of county marquis.

Even the emperor cares about family background and status.
Not to mention those noble families and officials.

"Let's make more friends like Wuji in the future. They are our own people." Old Wudao.

Wu Shigui nodded and said to Li Yi with a smile: "Lord Qianshui, please come to my house more often in the future."

Lao Wu said bluntly, "Your two children, Yuan Qing and Yuan Shuang, were spoiled by Xiangli too much, and you never had the time to teach them before. Now they are a little naughty. When they came to Chang'an, they followed those noble children to make trouble.

I think you should just send them to Wuji Academy in Wuyi Country to study for two years, discipline them strictly and make them calm down, and then send them to the Imperial Academy to study."

Wu Shigui was stunned for a moment.

"The little ones in my family also need to be sent over," said Wu Shiling.

"If jade is not polished, it will not become a useful tool. If children are not taught, they will not become talented. We can't expect to have great abilities, but at least we can't become idle and uneducated playboys. How can we compare with those aristocratic families?"

"Okay, then I'll have to ask Brother Wuyi to help us discipline these naughty kids." Wu Shigui followed his elder brother's advice.

Li Yi didn't expect that when he came to give some New Year gifts to Old Man Wu and to get some medicinal materials for the pharmacy, he would get such a big surprise that he even brought back several students from the Wu family.

The Wu family members who had just arrived in Chang'an were indeed somewhat dazzled by the prosperity of Chang'an. Old Wu also saw it and was worried.

They were lucky brothers, as they had been the founders of the country, and that’s why they were so powerful today. However, their foundation was weak, and they couldn’t compare to the noble families in Guanlong. If the children of the Wu family were not properly guided, they would all be wasted.

Even if the Wu family now has one duke and two county dukes, how long can the family's inheritance last?

If the descendants are not virtuous and there is no one to inherit the family business, I am afraid that it will decline after three generations.

"We come from humble backgrounds, so we shouldn't try to imitate the pomp and show of the powerful. We should remain simple and honest. Otherwise, we will be blinded by the capital and lose our true identity in the end."

Wu Shigui deeply agreed with his elder brother's reminder.
He immediately expressed his intention to donate one hundred acres of land, one hundred thousand coins, and another hundred thousand coins worth of books, paper, pens, etc. to the Wuji Society.

As expected of the former richest man in Hedong and now a rising star, he is very generous and directly donated several houses in Chang'an.

"I think what Big Brother said makes a lot of sense. I have really been confused recently."

The warrior Ling invited Li Yi to have dinner at his residence.

He even called out his wife and his brother's wife Xiangli to join in.
This is a good thing for the whole family.
Wu Shigui specially sent someone home to fetch his two sons Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang, and asked them to worship Li Yi as their master.
The two brothers were ten years old and eight years old respectively. They were dressed in gorgeous clothes and wore gold and jade pendants around their waists.

He is quite strong.

Wu Shiling had many sons, most of whom were adults, so he asked the three grandsons of the eldest son to become his disciples.

"Yuan Qing and Yuan Shuang, this is Mr. Li, the Earl of Qianshui County. He is famous in the capital for writing the Three Character Classic and the Rules for Disciples. He is also famous in the calligraphy world for his thin muscle body style. He founded the Wuji School in Yushukawa. You should come and take Mr. Li as your teacher. After the new year, you will go to study at the Wuji School in Yushukawa." Wu Shigui said to his two sons.

The two young masters of the Wu family looked at the young Li Yi and curled their lips. "He is only a few years older than us. What ability does he have to be our teacher?"

"How dare you! Stop being so rude! Hurry up and serve some tea!" Lao Wu shouted, and the two fat guys immediately restrained themselves a lot. It was obvious that they were still a little afraid of the clan leader.

Lao Wu called his three grandsons forward as well, "Wuyi, these are my eldest son's three grandsons, Jingdao, Jingzhen, and Jingzong. The three brothers are all five years old this year."

Old Wu had more than ten sons. The eldest son, Wu Junya, was an eighth-rank armor officer in the Right Guard. He had no special skills and just lived a life of idleness and waiting for death, but he was better at having children than his father. He was in his thirties and had more than a dozen sons.

"Duke Wu's three beloved grandchildren are still so young, are you willing to send them to Wuji Academy to study as boarders?"

"Why should I be reluctant to leave? I'm going to school, not herding sheep and pigs for a landlord. I won't be exposed to the wind, sun or rain," Lao Wu said cheerfully. "This kid, you can't get too spoiled."

Xiangli wanted to speak up, as she was reluctant to let her son go to the countryside to study and have to live in a boarding school. However, the eldest uncle of the clan spoke up, and she, who was traditional, did not dare to object to him in person.

After Yuan Qingyuan and Jingdao came forward one by one to offer tea and pay their respects to their master, this matter was settled.

Xiang Lishi then spoke tentatively, "How about we buy some land in Yushuku River and build a manor? I can live there with some servants and take care of the children while they study. They are still young, and I am really worried."

Wu Shigui agreed immediately after hearing this, "Since my wife is worried, let's buy a farm."

Li Yi and Lao Wu looked at each other and saw what Wu Shigui was thinking. He was eager to let his wife Xiangli go to the countryside so that he could be with Yang.

Lao Wu sighed helplessly.

"Brother Wuyi, these five naughty boys of my family are now handed over to you. If they don't behave, just teach them a lesson." Lao Wu patted his hands and said seriously.

(End of this chapter)