Miss and farmhand

When Shen Jingzong approached Zhu Xiaoxu, he knew things were settled and took the initiative to bring Huang Xingyu with him.

His matter was completely unrelated to Shen Jingzong's matter, but they were both targeting the same person, and unexpectedly they were able to help each other.

Shen Jingzong didn't have a deep impression of Huang Xingyu. He only remembered that Huang Xingtong was a tall and silent man. Huang Xingtong was unruly and managed the entire academy. He silently did everything and worked hard without complaint. The hard work was his, but the reputation belonged to his younger brother.

He never complained over the years. Originally, as a scholar, he wouldn't have gotten such a good job at Jianshan Academy without Huang Xingtong. His respectable status and later wealth all came from his job as a tutor at the academy, so everyone felt that it was only right for him to work so hard.

Shen Jingzong had heard about Huang Xingyu taking a concubine this year, and the comments were rather unpleasant. But it was always the women who were criticized for such things, the strange concubine and the poor wife at home. No one talked about how Huang Xingyu himself could do such a thing.

If you ask a man to think about it, isn't this perfectly normal? After all these years, he's only had one wife, and we've never heard of Huang Xingyu going out to socialize or socialize. He's been feeling stifled for so many years, and now that he's middle-aged and his son is all grown up, he finally got a cousin. What's the big deal?

Everyone still thinks he's a good person and that he's been able to endure this long.

Therefore, without any prejudice or preconceived notions, Shen Jingzong carefully examined Huang Xingyu and then sincerely said to him, "If it weren't for Changyi speaking up for me on behalf of the students, I wouldn't have known that I had mistreated Brother Xingyu so much over the years. Now that we know, we can't delay; we must immediately set things right."

Before Huang Xingyu arrived, Zhu Xiaoxu had explained the situation to him. Those who were not qualified had to rehearse before meeting officials. They would not be allowed to be disrespectful in front of officials, so everything was taught to them step by step: what the official would say to them, how much gratitude they should show, what to say, what instructions to follow, what reward they would receive, how to kowtow and express their gratitude.

Just like officials must perform etiquette when meeting the emperor, if you can't be taught, you're not allowed to go up and offend the emperor's eyes.

However, Huang Xingyu remained expressionless. After listening, he said that he had lived up to expectations and bowed, but he showed no sign of being attentive. He did not feel flattered at all when listening to him speak.

Shen Jingzong was somewhat displeased. He looked at Zhu Xiaoxu.

"Of course, you've been familiar with the academy for a long time. Now that you're finally the headmaster, you should still take good care of it. As for your younger brother, he needs your help, but you don't need to do anything. Changyi will arrange everything for you, so that you and your brother won't have any disagreements over trivial matters."

Originally, he was supposed to continue managing Huang Xingtong's confinement, but because he was unhappy, the matter was reassigned to Zhu Xiaoxu. Huang Xingyu had no objections and still bowed respectfully. He was tall and imposing, and when he bent over, he exuded an awkward sadness that made him even more unpleasant.

Shen Jingzong gave him a formal document, very solemnly, but assigned the most important personnel to Zhu Xiaoxu.

When they arrived at Huang Xingtong's house, before announcing their arrival, they had people guard the gates at both ends and blocked the path leading to the back garden of the academy. After entering, they found only Huang Xingtong.

"I don't care how long the mountain is, but my brother and I separated a long time ago. What right do they have to block my door!"

"Please calm down, sir," Zhu Xiaoxu greeted him with a smile and polite manner, even though the atmosphere around them was extremely tense and awkward. "What are you talking about? Your family is neighbors with the master's family. What's the difference between that and a large house with two doors? How can close relatives be separated so easily? Now that you have been dismissed from your post and are awaiting punishment, the master has asked the clan to discipline his younger brother first. This is for your own good and will at least appease the superior's anger. Considering that the master has already disciplined him, the punishment will not be too difficult for you."

Only Zhu Xiaoxu could make such a nonsensical piece of nonsense sound so dignified.

Huang Xingtong didn't want to talk to him anymore, and even looking at him was an eyesore. So he turned to Huang Xingyu and said, "Brother, don't be deceived and used by him! How could things have come to this? We brothers have always been of one mind. When our parents passed away, they said we should support each other. How did things come to this!"

Huang Xingtong genuinely thought this way, and the expression on his face was extremely sincere.

Huang Xingyu looked at him, but he didn't know where he got the nerve to bring up the scene of his parents' departure at this time.

His father said to him, "You must not cause trouble for your younger brother. He's going to do great things in the capital. I won't expose your intentions now that you've married a woman like that, but if you're still a man, you should keep your woman in check and not let her lay her hands on your younger brother. And don't think that just because of her, you can ruin the family!"

His mother said to him, "Your life is like this. I don't expect anything from you in the future. As long as you take good care of your wife and brother, you'll be fine. Listen to their opinions in everything. Your father doesn't like Yu Niang, but I think that although she has a bad temper, she has genuine feelings for you, and she's not bad at managing the household. If you treat her well, you'll be doing yourself a favor. I'm not worried about you, I'm only worried about you. You're keeping quiet and have no one to talk to. Your wife probably can't take care of you. You can talk to your brother about anything. You're brothers, he'll definitely want what's best for you."

Huang Xingyu couldn't remember how he answered his parents back then. Perhaps he didn't answer at all; he simply didn't have the strength to respond to those words he had heard since childhood.

He now had a different kind of strength, because his situation was very different now. He actually wanted to have a good talk with his younger brother about what he had been holding back all these years.

But he didn't say anything. This was the most effective tactic he had learned from childhood to university. If you don't speak, no one will know what you're thinking. They won't know what you're really like, so all their evaluations of you are just empty words, fabricated out of thin air. That's ridiculous, and there's no need to waste words correcting or mocking you. So he spoke less and less.

He just stared at Huang Xingtong, unsure of how he felt.

Are you relaxed? Are you proud?

It seems like there's a little bit of both.

Just like how he saw Shen Yurui after he got Luo Shutao.

A small act of revenge. I wouldn't even bother letting them know about it.

But it was only a little bit, and it passed in an instant. Afterwards, it was back to his usual long, repressed silence.

He remained silent throughout, only using his eyes to confirm the last remaining possibility between the brothers with Huang Xingtong.

They all knew that clan rules were meaningless; the Huang family had no foundation, no clan rules, and didn't even have an ancestral hall. Huang Xingyu couldn't establish his elder brother's authority on his own; he could only rely on Shen Jingzong's influence to show off his power.

Shen Jingzong's desire to justify confining Huang Xingtong was even more unreasonable than Huang Xingyu's desire to establish his authority. If Huang Xingyu did not agree, he would have no other choice.

Huang Xingtong didn't believe that his own elder brother would help outsiders at such a critical moment; it was as if he had personally sold his younger brother to Shen Jingzong.

He opened his mouth, as if to ask, "What is it you're after?"

Huang Xingyu knew he wanted to ask this. But he wouldn't answer him.

He remained silent.