Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 279 Neither good at literature nor martial arts
Xiong Tingbi's eldest son, Zhao Gui, committed suicide, and his daughter died from excessive grief and anger, vomiting blood. His only remaining direct relatives were his second son, Xiong Zhaobi, and Xiong Tingbi's wife, Chen, and their youngest son.

After Xiong Zhaobi passed the imperial examination, Chen reluctantly sold her family's land and house, and took her old servant, her nephew Xiong Youyi's family, and her two grandsons to the capital to seek refuge with Xiong Zhaobi.

The military officer who passed the imperial examination was different from the centurion. Once you passed the examination, you were considered to have entered the officialdom.

Xiong Tingbi died young. He offended many people with his foul mouth, and after his misfortune, no minister of sufficient influence was willing to help him. He also left no connections for his family after his death.

Without protection, one's official career is bound to be bumpy, and money is indispensable for bribery. That's why the Chen family had no choice but to sell the Xiong family's ancestral property.

Chen is ten years younger than Xiong Tingbi and is now fifty-three years old. Due to her advanced age and illness caused by worry, she sometimes has hallucinations and always sees Xiong Tingbi's figure in the corner of the old house.

When she rushed up to him, leaning on her cane, to question Xiong Tingbi about why he had abandoned their entire family, he vanished as if from a dream. When she came to her senses, her clothes were already soaked with tears.

Chen knew she couldn't wait any longer, because Xiong Tingbi was already eager to see her, and she, too, longed to go to the underworld to meet her beloved.
But she was over thirty when she had this youngest son. After her daughter died, her in-laws, fearing they would be implicated, drove her two grandsons out of the house. At this time, the grandsons were only teenagers. How could they survive if no one took care of them?
Chen's frail body carried too many responsibilities. Sometimes she would complain about Xiong Tingbi's departure without saying goodbye, and about how he had offended people everywhere when he was an official, which led to his death. But she only thought these things in her heart and never said them out loud.

In front of her youngest son, she is a strong mother; in the eyes of her two grandsons, she is a kind grandmother.

When they were destitute and helpless, it was Xiong Tingbi's cousin who gave them a thatched hut as a place to stay.

Although the niece-in-law harbored a lot of resentment, her family were all kind-hearted people. They were sharp-tongued and their words were like knives, but at that time everyone avoided them. It was already quite difficult for them to muster the courage to accept them and give them a place to stay. In the end, they managed to survive.

After the imperial court exonerated Xiong Tingbi, the attitude of Xiong's relatives underwent a complete 180-degree change, including his niece-in-law, Wang.

Chen took out twenty taels of silver to thank her nephew for his care over the years. Wang was a miserly person, and the amount they had spent on helping Chen over the years did not exceed five hundred coins.

Chen had no land and earned money by working at the silk factory in the county. The factory was so busy that it couldn't keep up with all the women working there. Chen begged the factory owner to let her stay, but in the end, she could only receive half the wages of an ordinary female worker, and she was often cheated out of her wages under various pretexts.

But the nephew was mostly kind-hearted; sometimes he would secretly bring a few cakes to help the Chen family's boys, who were only a few years old. Boys that age are hard to support even for men, let alone an elderly aunt like him.

His uncle, Xiong Tingbi, had given him a lot of guidance back then, and although he ultimately failed the exam, he couldn't forget that kindness. However, he absolutely couldn't let his wife know what he had done, or it would lead to another night of arguing. She'd say things like:
"You can't even feed your own four children, and you still have spare money to help others? I was really blind to marry you!"
I was hoping you'd amount to something, but you've studied for ten years and you're neither good at literature nor martial arts. Forget about becoming a scholar, you can't even get the title of a tribute student! You're not good at studying, and you can't lift a finger or carry anything. I've been following you for ten years, and I haven't even been able to get a new set of clothes made for you every year!
You say that Xiong Tingbi was kind to you, he was a high-ranking official back then, but he couldn't find you a job. Now that he's fallen on hard times, he wants to cling to you! Do you think the court would raid their homes for no reason? They were just corrupt officials who got reported! You never get to enjoy the good things, but you bring bad luck into your home. Life is unbearable!

At times like this, Xiong Youyi had no way to express his grievances. He couldn't believe that his uncle, Xiong Tingbi, was a corrupt official. Not only had his uncle failed to find him a job, but his own son hadn't passed the exam either, and his uncle hadn't helped him either.

He felt that his uncle was too upright, but of course he also had his own problems. He was too embarrassed to ask for favors, and when he heard that Xiong Tingbi was fighting the Tartars in Liaodong, he dared not risk his life to seek wealth and status.

Twenty taels of silver was an enormous fortune that Wang had never seen in her life. Chen had truly repaid their kindness tenfold, but Wang felt embarrassed to accept the money. She had her own considerations. Although she always said that her husband was neither good at literature nor martial arts, she still chose to send her sons to school.

Originally, she didn't expect her family to produce a scholar. She just hoped that her sons could read and do math like their father, so that they wouldn't have to live a life of toiling in the fields. Writing letters for people on the street or working as accountants would be a respectable way of life. If they could find a proper clerk position in the government office, that would be even better.

Unfortunately, under her influence, her two sons showed no interest in studying whatsoever, and even whipping them couldn't change their minds. She scolded her husband for being useless, but little did she know that her sons were even worse than their father.

Since studying wasn't an option and she didn't want to farm, she had no choice but to go into business. Wang was greedy and wanted to save money to find small businesses for her sons.

To raise money, she even married her eldest daughter to Huang, a scholar from a neighboring village who was ten years her senior, earning ten taels of silver as a dowry. This made her eldest daughter hate her mother to the core, and for three years after the marriage, she never spoke to her family again.

Although Wang sometimes felt uneasy, she didn't think she had done anything wrong. She gained money, and her daughter was with a rich man and no longer had to suffer. It was clearly a win-win situation. Her daughter was still young and couldn't understand it yet. Once she understood, she would remember how good her mother was!
However, doing business involves both profits and losses. Without official connections or the help of江湖人 (jianghu people, people from all walks of life), even selling things on the streets is easy to be bullied. This is not a good way out. It was just a last resort for Wang Shi after trying various things within his limited knowledge. However, things have recently taken a turn for the better.

Wang politely declined her aunt's offer of a reward. Although she was somewhat harsh, she wasn't stupid. She knew that if she accepted the twenty taels of silver, she would have nothing to do with Chen anymore! Debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay. Now that the Xiong family had turned their fortunes around, they thought they could get rid of them so easily? No way!

Wang knew the importance of money, but she knew even more the importance of officials and their connections. No matter how wealthy a merchant was, he couldn't withstand the machinations of officials. But she also knew she had gone too far over the years, so in the end, it was her husband, Xiong Youyi, who had to handle the emotional maneuvering and networking.

Although Chen had experienced hardship, she was still from a wealthy family. When Xiong Tingbi went away to serve as an official, she, as his legal wife, was the de facto head of the Xiong family. She could see through what Wang was thinking at a glance, but she did not expose her.

She was actually conflicted. Her nephew had been incredibly kind to their family, yet she had tried to humiliate him with money. If Xiong Tingbi were still alive, he would surely have had a huge fight with her. Compared to a man of Xiong Tingbi's stature, she felt that she herself was just as materialistic.

Fortunately, Wang resisted the temptation and did not fall into the trap she had carefully set, which relieved Chen. Then she waited for Xiong Youyi to come looking for her.

Xiong Youyi was a funny guy. He came to see her again and again, showing concern and even spending money to buy her gifts, but in the end, he could never bring himself to ask her for a favor.

Although Chen was somewhat amused and exasperated, she didn't say anything to offer any advice, pretending not to see it, and just wanted to see when her nephew would finally lose his temper.

After several times, Xiong Youyi saw that she had lost her unease and instead became more composed. As for seeking repayment, she still did not mention it, which made Chen feel more respect for her nephew.

People are all empathetic; it is not difficult to share hardships, but it is rare to share wealth. Although her cousin did not achieve official rank, he lived up to the Confucian sage's saying, "Wealth and honor cannot corrupt him, and poverty and hardship cannot sway him."

(End of this chapter)