Do You Know?: Rule the World.

Chapter 1 Rebirth into the Do You Know?

Da Zhou, the first year of Jiayou.

One-third of the world is filled with moonlit nights, and two-thirds of the world is filled with scoundrels. As the intersection of the southern economy and the northern politics, Yangzhou is home to many merchants and is the richest city in the south of the Yangtze River.

Although winter has arrived, merchant ships still stretch for miles. The docks where cargo is loaded and unloaded are filled with the sounds of cars, horses, and people. Everywhere you look, there is prosperity and tranquility.

To the west of the city, in Guizhi Lane, after walking a few dozen steps, you can see a small courtyard that is not very spacious, but is exquisitely designed in every way.

In the study on the east side, the walls are covered with books and the scent of ink lingers.

A handsome young man in a green shirt, with a handsome face, sat at the desk, holding a slightly yellowed ancient book in his hands, reading it intently.

The boy's name is Zhao Han. In his previous life, he was just an ordinary office worker working from nine to five, with elderly parents and no children to take care of.

One night, after accidentally getting lucky, he was directly teleported to this world.

Three years have passed in a flash.

At the beginning of his time travel, Zhao Han thought he had arrived in the real Song Dynasty that existed in history.

But when he completely absorbed the original owner's memory, he learned that the country in this world was called Zhou, with its capital in Bian Jing. It was similar to the Song Dynasty but not the Song Dynasty. The court system was very similar to that of the Ming Dynasty, such as the Wei Suo system and the Five City Military Commission.

The Song Dynasty valued culture over military power, while the Zhou Dynasty emphasized culture over military power. Taizu said that whoever conquered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun would be made a king of a different surname, but he never established a ancestral precept not to kill scholars and officials or those who wrote letters to express their opinions.

The Great Zhou Dynasty mainly relied on defense to deal with foreign enemies, but it was not as weak and vulnerable as the Song Dynasty, which only knew how to buy peace with money.

What surprised Zhao Han even more was that the current Yangzhou Tongpan official was named Sheng Hong, whose ancestral home was Youyang. His father, Sheng Huaiyuan, was the third place scholar chosen by the previous emperor, and his biological mother was Xu, the only daughter of Jinling Yongyi Marquis.

Sheng Hong studied hard for several years and one day passed the imperial examination, becoming an official in the court. With the help of Xu, he married Wang Ruofu, the second daughter of the old Grand Tutor Wang.

Not long ago, Sheng Hong and Wang Ruofu held a grand coming-of-age ceremony for their eldest daughter Sheng Hualan. They set up a banquet with wine flowing down the winding stream and invited all the wives of prominent officials in Yangzhou City. There were even two rows of sedan chairs lined up outside the mansion.

It is said that Wang Ruofu even specially asked someone to customize a set of head jewelry from Zhucuilou, the best in the capital, which cost her over a thousand taels of silver.

After the Jigui ceremony, it means that the girl has reached the age suitable for marriage.

During this period, Wang Ruofu was looking for a husband for Hualan everywhere, from princes and nobles to scholars, determined to find a man with good family background, character, appearance and ability.

“Dongdong——”

A knock on the door interrupted Zhao Han's thoughts. He put down his book and looked up, only to see a woman in her forties, with gentle features and wearing a dark purple flowered gown, walking in.

"Brother, the gifts have been selected from the warehouse. It's time to set off for the Sheng family."

The woman, Ms. Hu, was my mother's personal maid. After my mother passed away three years ago, Ms. Hu took care of all matters in the mansion.

Zhao Han did not learn much information about his father from the original owner's memory. He asked Mrs. Hu, who only said that his father, whose surname was Zhao, had passed away before he was born.

"I think Lord Sheng invited me to his house today to chat. Ostensibly, he was discussing matters concerning going to the capital for the imperial examination, but in reality, he was looking for someone to look for the eldest lady."

Zhao Han shook his head and smiled, "Mother Hu, although our family is not short of money, our family background is far inferior to the Sheng family. How could Lord Sheng and Madam Wang be willing to marry their eldest daughter off?"

As a time traveler, Zhao Han knew very well that Hua Lan was the apple of everyone's eye in the Sheng family.

Sheng Hong not only taught her to read and write personally, but also carried her to the government office to do his work when he was exiled to Quanzhou in his early years because he couldn't bear to leave Hualan behind.

“Young master, don’t underestimate yourself. You passed the county-level imperial examination at the age of twelve and the provincial-level imperial examination at the age of fifteen. Everyone in Yangzhou praises you as the reincarnation of the God of Literature. If it weren’t for the passing of your wife three years ago, you would probably have become an official in the court long ago.” Although Madam Hu was a woman in the inner quarters, she knew that people like Sheng Hong, who were scholars of modest rank, valued their reputation the most.

Compared with marrying down, fathers are more reluctant to let their daughters marry up, so as to avoid being branded as climbing up the social ladder and coveting wealth.

"No matter what, I have to deal with it well when I go to the Sheng family today. Even if the Sheng family doesn't like me, it's fine. After the examination, I won't have any trouble marrying a woman with a clean family background, gentle and virtuous."

Faced with Mother Hu's expectant gaze, Zhao Han had no choice but to nod.

In his heart, he actually still hoped that the Sheng family would be interested in him.

Among the four golden flowers of the Sheng family, only Hualan's appearance made him unforgettable for a long time. She had bright eyes and white teeth, was uniquely intelligent, gentle and bright, and knew etiquette and manners.

Even Madam Kong in the palace praised Hualan for her extraordinary demeanor and said she was the living signboard of the Sheng family.

It's a pity that she married into the declining Earl of Zhongqin's Mansion. Her husband, Yuan Wenshao, was cowardly and foolishly filial. Hualan was bullied by her mother-in-law and elder sister-in-law, and even had to use her own dowry to fill the accounts of the mansion.

If Sheng Hong had not been promoted to a Beijing official and Sheng Changbai had not passed the imperial examination and entered the officialdom, she would have been swallowed up by the Earl's Mansion without leaving a bone.

If Hualan could be kept away from the Yuan family, this den of tigers and wolves, it would be the best of both worlds.

At the urging of Mother Hu, Zhao Han went to the inner room and changed into exquisitely made clothes.

He looked at the young man in the bronze mirror, who had a jade crown on his head, sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes and a slender figure. He secretly felt that if this kind of appearance were to appear in the future, he would definitely become a popular young actor and charm thousands of girls.

Soon, Zhao Han took his servant Chang Qing to the Sheng family.

The two houses are not far apart, both in Guizhi Lane, and can be reached in the time of one stick of incense.

At the same time, in the backyard of Sheng Mansion.

In Old Lady Sheng's side room, the stove was burning with the finest silver charcoal, smokeless and dust-free, with a faint wood fragrance, and the room was as warm as a spring day.

Old Madam Sheng sat upright on the couch, with some exquisite pastries on the coffee table. Mama Fang and Cuiwei stood by, ready to take orders at any time.

Hua Lan was sitting beside Old Madam Sheng, wearing a long brocade dress the color of willows. Her black hair was gently tied up, with only a green magnolia hairpin inserted in her temples. Her eyebrows and eyes were relaxed, and dimples were visible when she smiled. She was dignified but also had a bit of the cuteness that only belongs to a girl.

Sheng Hong and Wang Ruofu sat on a row of huanghuali chairs on the left.

"How have you discussed Hua'er's marriage?" Old Lady Sheng asked softly.

Wang Ruofu couldn't wait to say, "After looking at them for a while, I found a few that caught my eye."

"One is the fifth grandson of Duke Ling, one is the second son of the Earl of Zhongqin, and the other is the son of Mr. Qiu Jingqiu, the prefect of Kaifeng, who was a classmate and good friend of yours."

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Sheng pondered for a moment before speaking calmly, "The Duke's Mansion isn't a good place to be. Although it's a wealthy family, the young men there are all arrogant and extravagant, with numerous concubines and a multitude of degenerates."

"If the Duke and his wife were not still alive, I'm afraid the ancestral property would have been squandered completely."

"In my opinion, his family won't be doing well for many years."

"How could such a thing happen?!" Wang Ruofu widened her eyes and looked at Mrs. Sheng in shock.

She had been so foolish as to believe that although the Duke Ling's Mansion was showing signs of decline, its prestige was still there, and that Hualan would be glorious if she married into it. She had never imagined that the inside was so shabby.

(End of this chapter)