Wife, Don't Be Like This!

Chapter 58 - The Kun That Lays Golden Eggs

"Question Twenty!"

"One night, Zhang San was returning home and encountered a female corpse. An evil thought arose in his heart, so he entered it."

"The female corpse came back to life."

"Question: Has Zhang San committed a crime? If so, what crime? If not, does it count as healing the dying and rescuing the injured? Explain?"

"Zhang San dies of fright. Has the woman committed a crime? If so, what crime? If not, explain?"

At this moment, it was as if Song Yan was not a person.

He had recited twenty difficult legal questions in one breath. It was inevitable that his mouth and tongue were dry. He picked up the wine cup in front of him and took a light sip. A faint flush also appeared on his cheeks. These two thousand taels of silver were earned quite easily.

Actually, the silver was a small matter, he didn't care about the money... The main thing was being able to contribute to the Daning imperial examinations, to make a humble contribution to improving the academic standards of Daning's students. That was satisfying enough.

Old Lu, Old Zhao, and Cui Shi'an, their bodies were all trembling slightly.

Zhang San, Zhang San, Zhang San...

Demonic sounds entering their minds. This name was like a strange ripple, spreading through their minds in circles.

They had originally thought that Zhang San using hell money to pay at a brothel was ridiculous enough, but now they knew that was far from Zhang San's limit.

No wonder Song Yan had strongly requested secrecy and to absolutely not sign his name. One could already imagine the scene of scholars in their examination cells, jumping up and down and cursing.

As for Cui Shi'an, he was quite proficient in mathematics and had also been invited to help create questions. Of course, compared to Song Yan's questions, his were much more proper.

Song Yan listened with a smile while drinking. The development of mathematics in this world was relatively backward. The original mathematics exam questions were roughly at the level of second-grade elementary school.

The questions Cui Shi'an came up with were slightly more difficult, but only around the third-grade level, not very challenging.

He did have some questions in his mind, such as the one about the bored administrator who was adding water to a pond while simultaneously draining water from it. But he had already earned two thousand taels. It wasn't good to be too greedy. One had to leave some profit for others.

Before they knew it, all the questions had been created. They also drank more and more wine, and the conversation became more open.

Perhaps because of the drunkenness, they spoke without inhibitions.

"Brother Song..."

Cui Shi'an's eyes were hazy, his mouth reeking of alcohol. He mumbled:

"I'm really a bit curious, you have such great abilities, why be a live-in son-in-law? How does it feel to be a live-in son-in-law? I heard that live-in son-in-laws can't even sit at the table during meals?"

Cui Shi'an was a socially adept person and normally wouldn't speak like this. However, after getting drunk, a person's will is always out of control. It's even said that the more rational a person is on a daily basis, the more out of line they will act after getting drunk. It's probably because they are too repressed on a daily basis and always need some way to release it.

Song Yan smiled, not getting angry at this presumptuous question: "It's pretty good."

"You don't have to do anything, and you don't have to worry about food or drink."

He pursed his lips and prepared to reach for the fruit platter, but helplessly found that the platter was already empty. Cui Shi'an's mouth was stuffed full, like a hamster, no wonder his speech was slurred. Smacking his lips, he retracted his hand.

"May I ask Brother Shi'an, are you from the Cui family?"

Cui Shi'an waved his hand nonchalantly: "What Cui family? Just a second-rate merchant household."

He really was from the Cui family.

Another aristocratic family.

The current era, having not experienced the suppression of Wu Zhao, nor the slaughter of Huang Chao, could be considered the era where the aristocratic families were at their strongest.

However, the Cui family was a bit special.

A typical great family had the saying of 'passing down the family legacy through farming and reading.'

This meant occupying a large amount of arable land, producing a large amount of grain to support their own large population, while at the same time monopolizing a large number of books to pass on knowledge. A large portion of these books were sole extant copies and ancient texts that could not be found in bookshops. This was the true foundation of an aristocratic family.

And the imperial examinations were a means to break the aristocratic families' monopoly on officialdom.

But the initial imperial examinations, one couldn't say they were completely useless, only that their effect was minimal.

On one hand, the gap in knowledge reserves between the two sides was too great. What an ordinary student could read might just be the Analects and Mencius. But the books that the sons of aristocratic families had access to were innumerable.

On the other hand, the sons of aristocratic families did not have to worry about food or clothing and could devote the vast majority of their time to their studies.

Ordinary students mostly had to struggle to make a living. The sons of aristocratic families could hire famous teachers and also had clan schools within their families, while ordinary students could only go to the most common academies in the county and study under old elementary scholars who couldn't even pass the 'Xiucai' exam. Even the so-called 'students from poor families' were not comparable to ordinary commoner students. After all, a 'poor family' was still a 'family'.

As a modern person, Song Yan knew very well how much the amount of educational resources could affect a student. Even if the examination hall maintained absolute fairness and the examiners showed no favoritism, it was still as difficult as ascending to heaven for a commoner student to outperform a student from an aristocratic family.

While other aristocratic families were sharpening their heads to send their heirs into the imperial court, the Cui family was doing business.

While other aristocratic families were frantically occupying land, the Cui family was doing business.

During natural disasters and man-made calamities, while other aristocratic families were taking out money and grain for disaster relief to gain a good reputation, the Cui family was doing business.

While other aristocratic families were sponsoring talented students from poor and commoner families to expand their influence, the Cui family was still doing business.

In terms of family power, the Cui family was not worth mentioning among the many great aristocratic families. But if it were a comparison of wealth, the Cui family could unceremoniously say that everyone present was trash.

Song Yan grinned.

"Brother Cui, don't take offense. Little Brother is just curious. Since the Cui family is so rich and has no power in the imperial court, how has it managed to survive until now?"

This was simply a miracle.

Let alone those gluttonous beasts in the imperial court, even the Ning Emperor, could he really tolerate such a large piece of fat meat dangling in front of his eyes and not eat it?

Cui Shi'an smiled: "Actually, this is no secret."

He picked up his wine cup, took another fierce gulp, and wiped the liquor from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. Only then did Cui Shi'an say:

"The money the Cui family earns, seventy percent of it belongs to someone else."

"Who?"

Cui Shi'an pointed upwards: "That one."

Song Yan was stunned, his heart jumping in shock. Could he be pointing to the Ning Emperor?

Looking at Old Lu and Old Zhao beside him, there was not the slightest surprise on their faces. They had clearly long known of this situation.

"The Cui family keeps thirty percent of the money it earns, and seventy percent is sent to the emperor's private treasury. It has been this way ever since the founding of the Ning Kingdom."

Then it wasn't strange.

Every year, seventy percent of their wealth was sent to the emperor. Not to the national treasury, but to his private treasury—the emperor's personal pocket money. As long as the emperor wasn't a fool, he would take good care of this Kun that lays golden eggs.

Those old foxes in the imperial court all knew that the Cui family was the emperor's 'white glove,' so they naturally wouldn't dare to make things difficult for them.

"What's more, every generation of the Cui family will have a legitimate daughter enter the palace to become an imperial consort..."

This is a double guarantee.

A consort from the family of the God of Wealth would naturally have a very high status in the rear palace.

"A pity that from now on, that's over," Old Lu teased.

Song Yan's expression was strange: "And why is that?"

He looked as if he were very interested in these things. Although it was just some gossip, this gossip could also give Song Yan a better understanding of the Ning Kingdom.

"Could it be that this generation of the Cui family has no legitimate daughters?"

"They do, they do." Cui Shi'an sighed.

"This generation of the Cui family originally had three legitimate daughters. But more than a decade ago, a plague swept through the Central Plains, and the Cui family also suffered a disaster. My eldest and second sisters both died in the plague, leaving only my third sister."

Even though these events had passed more than a decade ago, bringing them up again, Cui Shi'an's tone still couldn't help but hold a bit of sadness.

"It's just that this third sister of mine is not a quiet one. She didn't want to be trapped in the deep palace for her whole life, so she found our aunt... hmm, that is, the current Consort Shu, and conveyed to His Majesty her unwillingness to enter the palace as a consort."

"At that time, His Majesty's eldest prince was still young, while my third sister had already reached marriageable age. The age gap was a bit large, and His Majesty also felt it wasn't very appropriate, so he granted my third sister's request. As for the woman to enter the palace, one could be chosen from the next generation."

This wasn't much of a secret; most people who had been around the business and official circles for a while knew about it. Old Zhao took up the thread:

"Since she didn't have to enter the palace, and the third miss of the Cui family was getting older, that old man of the Cui family prepared to select a husband for the third miss. The first one was the young master of the Duke of Yang's family."

"The first one?"

"The Duke of Yang's is a military family. All the family's descendants have joined the army. They had just gotten engaged when a conflict broke out at the border. The young master of the Duke of Yang's family rushed to the frontier, and then... died in battle."

That young master must have been a talented one. When Old Zhao spoke of him, there was considerable regret in his words:

"The next year, they chose a second one. This time it was a new Bangyan (Number Two Scholar). On the night of the engagement, he drank himself to death in the Jiaofangsi."

At this point, even Song Yan couldn't help but be stunned. Two fiancés dying in a row—even without saying it, one could guess what kind of rumors would spread.

"At this point, there weren't many left who were willing to be engaged to the third miss of the Cui family."

"That old man of the Cui family then chose a merchant's son. Who would have thought that the young master would linger in a brothel and die suddenly on a woman's belly."

"For the sake of the third miss's marriage, the old man Cui was so anxious his hair almost turned white. He said that even a beggar would be fine; anyway, the Cui family is large and wealthy and could afford to support him."

Cui Shi'an had clearly also been worried sick about his third sister's marriage. His brow furrowed tightly as he picked up the story:

"There was actually one who didn't believe in the superstition. He was a house servant from our family. As a result, just as my father agreed, he died on the spot from being too excited."

He was only saying this because he was drunk. Otherwise, Cui Shi'an would probably have been unwilling to bring up these vexing matters.

Even for Song Yan, a firm materialist, he couldn't help but be shocked upon hearing this.

This is a bit scary, isn't it? It's like a rule from a weird fiction novel: whoever gets married to... no, just engaged to the third miss of the Cui family will die?

Could this be the legendary 'Lone Star of Heavenly Calamity' fate?

Seeing Song Yan's expression, Cui Shi'an clapped his hands and laughed loudly.

"Yes, yes, yes, exactly that expression! Even His Majesty was shocked. He even specially sent someone to cryptically express that the relationship between the Cui family and the imperial family was already close enough, and it was alright even if they didn't have a marriage alliance.”

So even the emperor is afraid?

Song Yan shook his head with a bitter smile, but his fingers were slowly caressing his teacup. He felt that the matter was probably not that simple. Right now, under the Ning Emperor, the eldest and most likely to become the Crown Prince should be the imperial son born to Noble Consort Yang Miaoyun.

The Ning Emperor broke off the marriage alliance with the Cui family. Could it be purely because of the rumors that she 'jinxes her husbands'?

Or was it for other reasons, for example... he didn't want the Cui family and the Yang family to form too deep a connection?

After all, the Yang family has power in the imperial court, has a prince in the rear palace, and the Cui family has money. If these were to join together... that emperor, could it be that he knows something?