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SFL Chapter 38

Arc 3.2

Regarding the Mother’s words, Mei Mingxuan is not surprised. For the older generation, once a woman marries into a family, she naturally becomes part of the husband’s family, and her dowry should be used for household expenses.

As for a woman’s dowry, it belongs to the woman herself. Mei Mother, being an ordinary rural woman, doesn’t understand these customs and laws.

Illiterate, she is just a common village woman. Among the Mei family, only Mei Mingxuan understands the law. However, he has never corrected his family’s mindset. The imperial laws are too distant for him, and decades of ingrained thinking are hard to change. He knows their practices are wrong but has no desire to change them.

In the original story, Mei Mingxuan kicks out his wife and her family but treats his own family exceptionally well. His nephews, taking advantage of his influence, cause harm in their hometown, and the original protagonist cleans up their mess.

This is a crucial reason why Mei Mingxuan gave up the imperial examination path. He doesn’t doubt his abilities, but as he rises, the Mei family would benefit, and their newfound power could lead to the same corruption as in the original story. Mei Mingxuan doesn’t want to be any different from the original host.

The Mei family invests heavily in Mei Mingxuan’s education to achieve fame and fortune. Mei Mingxuan’s reluctance to continue this path is met with resistance from his family, who are determined to see him become a high-ranking official.

As a member of the Mei family, even though Mei Mingxuan’s three elder brothers are illiterate, they have confidence in him. Mei Mingxuan, to continue his education, has manipulated their greed, promising a prosperous future for the family.

“Mingxuan, even if you don’t want to use your wife’s dowry, we, your brothers, will do whatever it takes to support you,” Mei Dazhu urgently expresses.

However, Mei Mingxuan shakes his head, saying, “Big brother, can you guess what I realized today in the county town?”

“What?” The Mei family feels uneasy.

“I suddenly realized that for our Mei family to truly rise, it’s not enough with just me. If we compare the court to a village, as an outsider, I won’t stand a chance without allies,” Mei Mingxuan metaphorically explains in terms the Mei family can understand.

As Mei Mingxuan spoke, the Mei family members understood. They realized that even in their village, families with fewer male members often faced bullying and disdain. Although the Mei family, with more male members, hadn’t experienced mistreatment, they had witnessed others with fewer heirs being oppressed.

Mei Mingxuan brought the Mei family’s attention to the plight of those families facing disdain and bullying. An uneasy feeling crept into their hearts. “What should we do? Isn’t it said that excelling in the imperial examinations can lead to becoming a county official directly?”

Mei Mingxuan explained, “Even if you pass the exam, the imperial court won’t let officials serve in their hometowns to prevent them from becoming local tyrants. Many officials are transferred between north and south, serving in different regions. They spend their entire lives away from home and only return after resigning when they’re old.”

“Why didn’t you say this earlier, Mingxuan? If you had, we wouldn’t have supported you for so long,” the Mei family reacted instinctively upon realizing that officials wouldn’t return to their hometowns.

They had anticipated Mei Mingxuan’s future as an official, expecting him to bring prestige to the family. However, Mei Mingxuan’s revelation that he wouldn’t return home made them feel awkward.

Unless Mei Mingxuan became their ultimate support, the Mei family wouldn’t dare to flaunt their influence in front of other officials.

“I didn’t spend all these years studying for nothing. Think about it, I initially only paid a small sum for tuition. Now, the knowledge I gained can benefit many in our Mei family, saving us a lot of money compared to hiring external tutors,” Mei Mingxuan raised an eyebrow.

“That makes sense,” Mei Dazhu and the others realized the potential success of their sons becoming educated, feeling proud and hopeful.

However, Mei Mother remained discontented, unwilling to accept that her son, whom she had supported for many years, might abandon his studies. Unlike others in the Mei family who sought to take advantage of Mei Mingxuan’s influence, she genuinely desired respect for her son.

“My son, those nephews of yours are not cut out for studying. Instead of relying on them, you’d better rely on your old mother,” Mei Mu cried.

These words left Mei Dazhu and his family embarrassed. The enthusiasm that had just ignited within them was quenched, abruptly returning them to reality.

“Mother, if you don’t let the nephews try, how will we know if they can succeed?” Mei Mingxuan smiled. Once the Mei family rose to power through Mei Mingxuan’s influence, Mei Dazhu and his family were more manageable. Despite their greed and ignorance, they were limited to enjoying the flattery and favors in their hometown.

However, the younger generation lacked the slightest trace of simplicity.

Not long after they started forming memories, Liu Jinniang married into the Mei family with a substantial dowry. Since the Mei brothers didn’t separate their households, initially, they supported Mei Mingxuan’s education as a united family. Later, it turned into living together as a large family, aiming to gain advantages from Liu Jinniang that were previously unavailable to them.

So, the younger generation in the Mei family grew up witnessing wealth and prosperity. When Mei Mingxuan, their younger uncle, climbed the social ladder, their status rose with him. With Mei Mingxuan as their support, they became a source of trouble in their own right.

Now that Mei Mingxuan has directly cut off his official career path, the Mei family members no longer possess the means to harm others.

Due to the misdeeds committed by these unscrupulous younger relatives, Mei Mingxuan has decided to correct their behavior and make them experience a taste of discipline.

Mei Dazhu and the others are unaware that Mei Mingxuan is quietly planning to address their sons’ misconduct. They are currently moved by Mei Mingxuan’s selfless guidance to their own sons.

Having contributed both money and effort to support Mei Mingxuan for many years, they didn’t expect the benefits to circle back to their own sons so quickly. As long as their sons achieve success, even if they don’t personally experience the prestige of high-ranking officials, it is still worth it.

Persisting in a course of action is often painful, but giving up is easy. The thought of no longer having to save money for Mei Mingxuan’s continuously depleting expenses on ink, paper, and writing materials lightens the burden on Mei Dazhu and his older brothers.

“It was you who wanted to pursue education in the beginning, and now it’s also you giving up. Since you no longer plan to follow the path of imperial examinations, what about the marriage proposal from the Liu family? Should we cancel it?” Mei’s father said with a world-weary look in his eyes.

Like the rest of the Mei family, Mei’s father also looked down on Liu Jinniang’s merchant background. Even though the Liu family could use money to crush the Mei family, there was deep disdain for the Liu family within the Mei family.

As for the reputation of the Liu family’s daughter after canceling the marriage, the Mei family didn’t care.

From this perspective, it is evident that the Mei family is rotten at its core. The original protagonist was only good at studying, and the more capable he became, the more harm the Mei family caused to the common people. That’s why he enjoyed teaching and nurturing others. The satisfaction of straightening out those with bad character gave him a sense of accomplishment.

“We don’t need to cancel the Liu family’s proposal. Otherwise, the outside world might gossip about our Mei family. We are scholars and can be considered a family of cultivation and learning. We cannot do anything that goes against trust and loyalty,” Mei Mingxuan said.

As for the Liu family, Mei Mingxuan wasn’t worried about explaining himself. Even though he was currently just a scholar, he could still assist the Liu family’s business. Moreover, considering the many elderly scholars with gray hair in the community, the Liu family couldn’t guarantee that their daughter’s husband would definitely pass the imperial examinations.

Compared to Mei Mingxuan’s uncertain academic future, the Liu family undoubtedly valued his identity as a scholar more. If Liu Jinniang could bear a child for Mei Mingxuan, by the time the Liu family reached its third generation and could participate in the imperial examinations, they could leverage Mei Mingxuan’s influence. So, having Mei Mingxuan as a son-in-law was a safe investment for the Liu family.

Because of this, despite the Mei family eagerly eyeing the Liu family’s wealth, there was no shortage of pride within the Mei family.

After discussing the general direction with the Mei family, Mei Mingxuan gave them time to digest the information and went back to his room to study.

The Mei family had many members, and the courtyard was spacious. However, Mei Mingxuan, being the only one, occupied the two best rooms—one for living and the other transformed into a study.

Mei Mingxuan’s most cherished place was his study. Normally, he wouldn’t allow his brothers and nephews to come near, making the study the quietest place in the Mei family.

Returning to his desk, Mei Mingxuan, with a calm and focused demeanor, began silently transcribing those books. With ink on the brush, he completed the writing in one go.

By evening, Mei Mingxuan had finished a stack of papers, not only exceeding the task but also saving a considerable amount of paper.

When they saw Mei Mingxuan coming out, the future troublemakers, the younger nephews who were still quite small, dared not even breathe loudly. Facing Mei Mingxuan timidly, one of them said, “Uncle, Aunt asked me to call you for dinner.”

Mei Mingxuan held a special status in the family; if he didn’t go for a meal, the whole family wouldn’t touch their chopsticks. Mei Mingxuan gently asked, “In a little while, Uncle will be opening a school, and there are spots reserved for you brothers. Do you like that?”

The young nephews nodded eagerly, saying, “We like it. We want to be successful like Uncle and make big money.”

As for how to make money, they hadn’t thought that far yet.

Mei Mingxuan, in a rare gesture, patted their heads and kindly said, “Uncle will open a school soon. Let’s all eat together.”

The little ones couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised, and even their previous timidity towards Mei Mingxuan seemed to diminish.

Seeing Mei Mingxuan willingly getting close to the nephews, the Mei family members were extremely surprised. However, considering that Mei Mingxuan had given up the imperial examinations to start teaching children, they found their own justification for his actions.

The Mei family, being farmers, didn’t adhere to the traditional idea of not discussing business during meals. Mei Mu directly brought up the topic of the marriage proposal with the Liu family at the dinner table.

With Mei Mingxuan’s marriage to Liu Jinniang just around the corner, Mei Mu or Mei Mother was already thinking about using Liu Jinniang’s dowry to fund the establishment of a school once she entered the family. While discussing this, Mei Mu carefully observed Mei Mingxuan’s expression to gauge his attitude.

If Mei Mingxuan approved, his mother would take the initiative to ask Liu Jinniang for money using her own motherly influence. If Mei Mingxuan disagreed, even if Mei Mu had her eye on Liu Jinniang’s dowry, she wouldn’t take action.

In essence, Mei Mingxuan, being the son and husband, played a crucial role in the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

“Mother, I’ll find a way to fund the school myself. Using my wife’s dowry for that purpose, how can I face others?” Mei Mingxuan declined with a smile.

Seeing her son smiling but refusing, Mei Mu felt uneasy.

She was clearly doing it for her son’s good, but why couldn’t her son see her motherly intentions?

The rest of the Mei family members were unaware that Mei Mingxuan’s arrival had taken their family’s prosperity onto an unknown path. Aside from Mei Mu, who felt saddened by her dearest son’s severed official career path, the Mei family’s three biological brothers were happily placing new hopes on their own sons.

Mei Mu had such confidence in Mei Mingxuan, and his usual boasts played a significant role. After all, Mei Mingxuan was the only educated person in the Mei family, and they were willing to believe whatever he said.

Now that Mei Mingxuan had directly pierced through that layer of illusion, Mei Mu couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

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