Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 513 Zhuangzi
Sheng Hong stood in the center of the brightly lit hall, looking at his two sons standing side by side, and felt a surge of hot heat in his chest.

Changbai was dressed in a dark blue official robe, his posture as upright as a pine tree, his brows and eyes already displaying the composure of a court official. Changquan, though young, was already the top scholar in the imperial examination, his moon-white robe making his face as handsome as jade and his eyes as bright as stars even more striking.

That youthful exuberance almost made Sheng Hong see a reflection of his younger self, yet one far surpassing him.

"Thinking back, Father... back then... this must have been the worst..."

Although he harbored resentment towards his father, Master Sheng Xu, Sheng Hong had to admit that Master Sheng's demeanor in his prime was indeed extraordinary; otherwise, he would not have been able to attract the only daughter of Marquis Yongyi.

Sheng Hong's throat bobbed. The restraint he had developed over many years as an official allowed him to suppress his surging emotions, but the fingers stroking his beard trembled slightly uncontrollably.

After a long while, he cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound calm and normal, but when he spoke, there was still a slight hoarseness that was hard to detect.

"Good, good! This is how diligent and ambitious the Sheng family's children should be!"

"When brothers are of one mind, their strength can break metal! This is truly a great blessing for our family, a blessing from our ancestors!"

His voice was loud and clear, and he tried his best to maintain the dignity of the head of the family. However, the slight sob at the end of his voice revealed his deep fatherly love and his ultimate satisfaction with the family's glory. This complex and sincere emotion touched the hearts of every relative and friend present more than any gorgeous words.

However, the Grand Master Sheng focused all his admiration and pride on his two most outstanding sons. His burning gaze swept over the guests, accepting their envy and compliments, but he overlooked the son who also shared his bloodline—Sheng Changfeng—in the shadows of a corner of the hall.

Sheng Changfeng huddled in an inconspicuous seat, as if trying to embed himself into the cold chair back. He held a glass of Jinhua wine tightly in his hand, the amber surface of which remained undisturbed for a long time.

Looking at Sheng Changquan, who was surrounded by his father, elder brother, and other prominent guests, laughing and talking with ease, as if he were bathed in a dazzling golden light, he felt a tightness in his chest. His heart was filled with a mixture of emotions, like a jumbled bottle of mixed flavors, with sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty churning violently. In the end, all that remained was an endless bitterness and an envy that almost overwhelmed him.

There was a time when he studied diligently until late at night, and was praised by Mr. Zhuang for being "full of inspiration and quite talented"; he also dreamed countless nights of "riding a horse in the spring breeze and seeing all the flowers of Chang'an in a day", and fantasized about his glorious moment of passing the imperial examination and bringing honor to his ancestors.

If it weren't for... if it weren't for that time, when his mother, Lin Qinshuang, blinded by greed, used such underhanded and vicious methods to scheme and frame him, completely ruining his promising future... today, he might be the one standing in the center of the light, receiving everyone's admiration and bringing unparalleled glory to the family!
Sheng Changfeng subconsciously rubbed the slightly cool wine glass hard, his fingertips turning white from the force, his eyes glazed over, as if he could see his spirited self in another parallel universe through the hustle and bustle in front of him.

However, there is no medicine for regret in this world. Endless regret gnawed at his heart day and night like a maggot clinging to his bone, eventually transforming into a complex and unspeakable conflicting emotion of resentment and pity towards his birth mother, Lin Qinshuang.

He resented her for her wickedness, ruthlessness, and foolishness, which ruined his future; but she was, after all, his birth mother, and the debt of her giving birth to him was greater than heaven. After the incident, he had done everything in his power, kneeling until his knees were worn out and crying until his voice was hoarse, in order to plead with his father in his rage for her life.

Now, he only wishes that he never sees her again for the rest of his life, and that they can live out their remaining days in a corner where they cannot see each other.

Thinking of this, he suddenly downed the bitter liquor in his glass. The strong liquor burned his throat, but it couldn't suppress the desolate coldness in his heart.

……

While the Sheng family mansion was filled with clinking glasses and joyous celebrations, a completely different scene unfolded in a remote farmhouse far outside Bianjing: a scene of utter desolation and near-despair.

This estate wasn't far from the Cheng family's estate; both were forgotten, desolate corners outside the bustling city of Bianjing. The last rays of the setting sun barely pierced the chill and gloom of the place. Cheng Shaoshang, accompanied by his maid Lianfang, was aimlessly picking some unknown wildflowers on the low slope behind the estate, trying to pass the long, boring hours. Suddenly, a sharp commotion and a mournful, inhuman cry and laughter shattered the silence of the countryside, startling several crows into flight.

Cheng Shaoshang frowned and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw a dirty and tattered woman being dragged and pulled mercilessly by several burly, fierce-looking women. She was being dragged back to a low, dilapidated mud house.

The woman's hair was disheveled like withered autumn grass, her face an unhealthy sallow color, and her eyes were cloudy, flashing with a crazed and disordered light. She kept screaming incessantly, her voice hoarse yet exceptionally shrill: "Let me go! I am a concubine of the Sheng family! My daughter is the esteemed eldest daughter of the Yongchang Earl's Mansion! My son is a scholar! You lowly servants, how dare you touch me?! Let go of your filthy hands! I want to go back to Bianjing! I want to see Honglang... my Mo'er... my Feng'er... you can't keep me locked up like this!"

The leading old woman, her face contorted with extreme impatience and disgust, roughly shoved her into the house as if discarding some filth. She then spat, "Pah! You're always going crazy and daydreaming! A concubine of the Sheng family, huh? You're nothing but unwanted junk! Just stay put, or you won't get any food!"

With that, a heavy iron lock fell with a clang, locking the mournful wails and vicious curses behind the dilapidated wooden door.

Cheng Shaoshang stood at a distance, his delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, a hint of disdain barely perceptible on his face.

“Miss,” Lianfang, who was beside her, cautiously approached and whispered the information she had gleaned from the servants, “that’s the madwoman the Sheng family sent over. I heard… I heard she’s vicious and used some underhanded means to harm the master’s offspring, which is why the master rejected her and sent her to this manor to die.”

"When she was first brought here, she cried and threw tantrums all day long, trying to act like a mistress or concubine. She insisted on wearing gold and silver and eating delicacies, otherwise she would curse loudly. Lately, she has become more and more insane, often talking nonsense, sometimes crying and sometimes laughing. She looks both pitiful and terrifying."

"Harmful to other people's offspring?" Upon hearing this, Cheng Shaoshang's eyebrows furrowed, her pretty face instantly turning frosty, and her tone became icy. "Then this is retribution! They truly deserve it!"

"However... if that day ever comes, it would be truly satisfying to send Grandmother and that wicked aunt over as well, so they can keep this crazy woman company and face her every day!"

"Ah?! Miss!" Lianfang gasped in fright, her face turning pale. She hurriedly looked around, afraid that others might overhear. "You...you must be careful what you say! If this gets out..."

"Alright, alright!" Cheng Shaoshang waved his hand impatiently, suppressing the surging hatred in his heart, and said speechlessly, "I was just thinking about it, just venting my frustration. Do you really think I have some kind of superhuman ability that I can do anything to them right now?"

but……

Cheng Shaoshang's gaze fell once again on the tightly closed, dilapidated wooden door that seemed to separate the human world from hell. From inside, faint, intermittent sobs, a mixture of crying and laughter, and vicious curses could be heard.

She remained silent for a moment, then a thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and she muttered to herself, "Could it be... that the time I overheard that the seventh young master of the Sheng family inexplicably injured his hand and almost missed the important matter of the imperial examination was because of this crazy woman's scheming?"

Thinking of this, she sighed softly. Her initial excitement faded, replaced by a subtle, sympathetic feeling: "...It seems that even in a strict, scholarly family like the Sheng family, the lives of children in these grand mansions...are not necessarily as easy as they appear on the surface."

……

Inside the main hall of the Sheng family mansion, Sheng Hong was completely unaware that in a remote village far away, intricately connected to his family, a tragic love affair that he himself had ended was unfolding in a frenzied and desperate manner.

He felt an immense sense of joy in his chest. All the caution, hard work, and repression he had accumulated over half a lifetime, as well as the constant pressure of walking on thin ice in officialdom, seemed to find their greatest release and reward in the unparalleled glory brought by his two sons today.