Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2802 Master Qingsong 20.0
"Background?" Jin Miaomiao and Meilin exchanged glances. "The advisor's background is just that of a merchant family, isn't it?"

"If it were that simple, I wouldn't have brought it up."

Shen Cha gently shook her head, exchanged a glance with Shen Haolin and Song Yaojia, and the three of them smiled in unison.

"So, the advisor isn't just a simple merchant?"

“Yes!” Shen Cha nodded. “Whether it’s household registration or the actual business of his family, he comes from a merchant family. But in reality, his situation is the same as that of Old Madam Ning and my master.”

"Old Madam Ning and Uncle Qin?" Jin Miaomiao suddenly realized, her mouth agape. "If you're saying that, then it's not..."

“That’s right!” Shen Cha smiled. “Your grandmaster, Master Qingsong, is from a respectable aristocratic family. Now you understand why the academy’s dean and teachers treat him that way, right? It’s a great honor for a scion of a prominent family to study at their academy!”

"It really is true." Jin Miaomiao sighed softly, silently digesting this shocking news. "But Master never told me this."

“When he told me, he didn’t mention it intentionally; he just happened to be talking about this topic.” Shen Cha smiled. “But I asked about your advisor’s situation at the time, and I slowly recalled it just now.”

“I see,” Jin Miaomiao frowned slightly, “but, aren’t scions of aristocratic families not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations? Even scions of families that are merchants are not allowed. So how did the betrayal by Wang and Dong happen later?”

“Because apart from his own family, only the academy's headmaster and teachers know his background. No one else knows.” Shen Cha smiled and looked at Song Yaojia. “Although Master Huilan said that his master’s family had no choice but to go into business, he himself wasn’t very clear about the inside story.” She paused and said, “Does your royal uncle know anything about it?”

“I know. Actually, it’s not a secret, just something that can’t be discussed openly.” Song Yaojia smiled. “The reason their branch was separated was because they were caught up in a power struggle within the clan. Master Qingsong’s great-grandfather didn’t want to be caught in the middle, so he had no choice but to take his branch away from the main family and later move to Songjiang Prefecture. Songjiang Prefecture isn’t far from their main family, and they still have some contact with each other occasionally.”

"So, they weren't expelled from the main family and are still part of the aristocratic family, right?" Jin Miaomiao breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Song Yaojia nod. "I see. However, it's quite impressive that they were able to escape unscathed from the power struggle within the clan."

"Because Master Qingsong's great-grandfather was well-liked and never offended anyone easily, the two sides vying for power knew it was not good to make things difficult for him, so they mercifully let them go. Not only did they let them go, but they also gave each of them a large sum of money so that they could live a good life."

"Is this the capital they used to do business later?" "Yes!" Shen Cha nodded. "However, it turns out that Master Qingsong's lineage has a talent for doing business. If they had stayed in the main family, they would probably have ended up doing this business anyway."

“That’s true!” Jin Miaomiao thought for a moment, “Does the advisor know about his background?”

"He didn't know about Wang and Dong's betrayal until after that incident."

"So, at the beginning, he also thought he was capable of conducting scientific research, right?" Jin Miaomiao sighed. "After that incident, he realized that whether there was betrayal or not, he didn't have the right to do so, which is why he felt so heartbroken and wanted to completely forget about it, right?"

“No, it’s mainly a backstabbing.” Shen Cha shook her head. “I think Master Qingsong is exceptionally intelligent. Although my family hasn’t explicitly said so, he would have guessed it.” She sighed softly. “How could he not guess something that we can all guess? He’s just pretending to be ignorant and ignoring it!”

“I heard that the reason Master Qingsong went to the academy was because staying at home might be more boring, and having the reputation of a child prodigy would attract attention from all sides. It would be better to send him to the academy to help him avoid some trouble.” Shen Cha sighed. “I thought the academy would be quieter, but I didn’t expect,” she gave a helpless smile, “to be even more chaotic than outside.”

“The academy is a microcosm of society,” Song Yaojia sneered. “There are all sorts of people here, like Meng, Ao, and Tang, as well as Wang and Dong, and that family that was killed before. Of course, there are also the dean and teachers. In fact, there are just as many people to deal with as outside. It’s just that we’ve established our authority over this cheating issue, so this kind of trouble should be greatly reduced.” He looked at Jin Miaomiao. “That’s probably the main reason why Master Qingsong is so nosy.”

“I was thinking about this when you were talking about it just now,” Jin Miaomiao sighed. “But the advisor didn’t expect that he would save two ungrateful people and give them a chance to reform. But at the most critical moment, these two people still put profit first and betrayed him without even thinking about it.”

"These two aren't going to use the same methods Meng, Ao, and Tang on Master Qingsong again, are they?" Song Yaojia frowned slightly. "That would be too boring."

“No need. The clerk isn’t short of money, and besides, he’s known as a child prodigy. No one would believe he cheated. But the rumors they spread were indeed related to cheating.” Jin Miaomiao paused, took a sip of cold tea to moisten her throat, and continued, “These two people know how powerful rumors can be, so they had people spread rumors everywhere, saying that the clerk had powerful backing, changed his household registration and age, and that he wasn’t qualified to participate in the imperial examination at all. Not only that, they even betrayed their own dean, saying that the dean of the academy was the one who helped the clerk do these things, the one who gave them the advice.” She sighed softly, “Although all the rumors were later clarified, the examination period had already passed, so even if he wanted to go, he would have to wait another three years.”

"Didn't they find out it was Wang and Dong who were behind this?"

“We did find the evidence, but we didn’t have any concrete evidence, neither witnesses nor physical evidence. So,” Shen Cha spread his hands, “we had to let it go. Later, by chance, Master Qingsong was taken away by his master to travel around. When he returned to Songjiang Prefecture, it was the time he took Master Huilan and Uncle Shi back with him.”

"Do you know who took Master Qingsong away?" Seeing several people shake their heads at the same time, Song Yaojia smiled and said, "It was someone from their own family. According to seniority, he should call him uncle."