Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 58 Kun who laid golden eggs

"Question 20!"

"One night, Zhang San returned home and saw a female corpse. He had evil thoughts and entered."

"The female corpse is alive."

"Ask Zhang San if he committed a crime. If so, what crime did he commit? If not, does it count as saving a dying person? Why?"

"Zhang San died of fright. Did the woman commit a crime? If so, what was it? If not, what is the explanation?"

At this moment, Song Yan seemed not to be alone.

After talking about twenty difficult legal problems in one breath, he couldn't help feeling dry in the mouth. He picked up the wine glass in front of him and took a sip. A slight blush appeared on his cheeks. These two thousand taels of silver were easily earned.

In fact, money is a small matter, he doesn't care about money... The main thing is that he can make a small contribution to the imperial examination in Daning and the improvement of the academic level of Daning students, and he will be satisfied.

Mr. Lu, Mr. Zhao, and Cui Shian were all trembling slightly.

Zhang San, Zhang San, Zhang San...

The devilish sound entered my mind, and the name was like a strange ripple, spreading in circles in my mind.

They originally thought that it was outrageous enough that Zhang San used ghost money to pay for going to a brothel, but now they know that it was far from Zhang San's limit.

No wonder Song Yan strongly requested confidentiality and refused to sign his name. One can already imagine the scene of scholars jumping up and down and cursing in the dormitory.

As for Cui Shian, he was quite proficient in mathematics and was also invited to help set questions. Of course, his questions were much more serious than Song Yan's.

Song Yan was drinking and listening with a smile. The development of mathematics in this world was relatively backward. The original math test questions were probably at the level of a second-grade primary school student. The questions asked by Cui Shian were slightly more difficult, but only at the level of a third-grade student. Even Fan Wei couldn't fool him.

He did have some issues in mind, such as the bored administrator who was adding water to the pond and pumping water from it at the same time. However, he had already made two thousand taels, and it was not good to be too greedy, so he had to leave some money for others.

Before we knew it, all the questions had been asked, and as we drank more and more wine, we became more and more engaged in conversation.

Maybe because he was drunk, he spoke without restraint.

"Brother Song..." Cui Shian mumbled with a dazed look in his eyes and the smell of alcohol on his lips, "I'm really a little curious. With such great abilities, why do you want to be a son-in-law? How does it feel to be a son-in-law? I heard that sons-in-law are not allowed to sit at the table during meals."

Chui Sai On is a very versatile person and would not speak like this under normal circumstances. However, when drunk, people's will is always out of control. It can even be said that the more rational a person is in normal times, the more abnormal his behavior will be after being drunk. It is probably because he is too depressed in normal times and always needs some way to release it.

Song Yan smiled and didn't get angry at the presumptuous question: "Very good."

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

He pursed his lips and prepared to reach for the fruit bowl, only to find it was already empty. Cui Shian's mouth was stuffed full, like a hamster. No wonder his speech was slurred. He smacked his lips and withdrew his hand. "Excuse me, Brother Shian, are you from the Cui family?"

Cui Shian waved his hand nonchalantly: "What Cui family? They're just a second-rate merchant."

It turned out to be the Cui family.

Another aristocratic family.

In today's era, having not experienced the suppression of Wu Zetian and the massacre of Huang Chao, it can be said that the aristocratic families are at their most powerful.

However, the Cui family is somewhat special.

In general, large families have the tradition of passing on farming and studying.

It means occupying a large amount of arable land, producing a large amount of food, and feeding a large population of their own. At the same time, they monopolize a large number of books and pass on knowledge. A large part of these books are rare and ancient books that cannot be found in bookstores. This is the true heritage of the family.

The imperial examination was a means to break the monopoly of aristocratic families in officialdom.

But the initial imperial examinations could not be said to be completely useless, they were just insignificant.

On the one hand, the gap in knowledge reserves between the two sides is too large. Ordinary students may only be able to read the Analects of Confucius and Mencius, but these children from aristocratic families have read countless books.

On the other hand, children from aristocratic families, well-fed and well-clothed, could devote the vast majority of their time to study and learning, while ordinary students often struggled to make ends meet. While these could enlist renowned teachers and maintain clan schools within their own families, ordinary students were forced to attend the most modest academies in the county, often under the tutelage of veteran students who couldn't even pass the imperial examinations. Even the so-called "poor" students couldn't compare to the common people; after all, a poor family was still a family.

As a modern person, Song Yan is very clear about the amount of educational resources and how much impact they have on a student. Even if the examination room is absolutely fair and the examiners are not biased, it is still extremely difficult for ordinary students to pass the exams better than those from aristocratic families.

While other aristocratic families were trying their best to send their offspring to the imperial court, the Cui family was doing business.

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

When natural disasters and man-made disasters occurred and other noble families donated money and grain to disaster relief to gain fame, the Cui family was doing business.

While other aristocratic families were spending money to support talented poor students and common people and expand their influence, the Cui family was still doing business.

In terms of family power, the Cui family is not worth mentioning among many wealthy families, but if compared in terms of wealth, the Cui family can bluntly say that everyone present is trash.

Song Yan grinned: "Brother Cui, don't blame me. I'm just curious. The Cui family is so rich and has no power in the court, so why can it still exist today?" This is simply a miracle.

Not to mention the gluttons in the court, even Emperor Ning, could he really tolerate such a big piece of fat dangling in front of him without eating it?

Cui Shian smiled and said, "Actually, this is not a secret." He picked up the wine glass and took another big gulp. He wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. Cui Shian then said, "The Cui family is not as rich as it seems. 70% of the money the Cui family earns belongs to others."

"Who?"

Cui Shian pointed to the top of his head: "That one."

Song Yan was stunned and shocked. Could this be referring to Emperor Ning?

Looking at Mr. Lu and Mr. Zhao next to them, they didn't look surprised at all, and it was obvious that they had known about this situation for a long time.

"The Cui family keeps 30% of their earnings for themselves, and 70% goes to the emperor's treasury. This has been the case since the founding of Ningguo."

This is not surprising.

Every year, 70% of the wealth is given to the emperor. It is either from the national treasury, the inner treasury, or the emperor's private money. As long as the emperor is not stupid, he will take good care of this Kun who lays golden eggs.

The old foxes in the court all knew that the Cui family was the emperor's white gloves, so they didn't dare to make things difficult for them.

"What's more, every generation of the Cui family will have a legitimate daughter who will enter the palace as a concubine..."

This is double protection.

Such a concubine who came from the family of the God of Wealth naturally had a very high status in the harem.

"What a pity, it's gone from now on." Old Lu teased.

Song Yan looked puzzled: "Why is this?"

He seemed to be very interested in these things. Although they were just some gossip, they could help Song Yan understand Ningguo a little better.

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

"Yes, there are." Cui Shian sighed. "This generation of the Cui family originally had three legitimate daughters. However, more than ten years ago, a plague swept across the Central Plains, and the Cui family was also affected. The eldest and second sisters died in the plague, leaving only the third sister."

Even though these things happened more than ten years ago, when he brought them up again, there was still some sadness in Chui Sai On's tone.

"However, my third sister is not a quiet person either. She doesn't want to be trapped in the deep palace for the rest of her life, so she found her aunt... well, the current Consort Shu, and told His Majesty that she doesn't want to enter the palace as a concubine."

"At that time, His Majesty's eldest prince was still young, and my third sister had already reached marriage age. The age difference was a bit too big, and His Majesty felt it was not appropriate, so he approved my third sister's request. As for the women entering the palace, they could choose from the next generation."

This wasn't exactly a secret; anyone who had spent any time in the business and government circles knew it. Old Zhao then took over the conversation, saying, "Since she doesn't need to enter the palace, and the Third Lady of the Cui family is getting older, the old man of the Cui family is planning to choose a husband for her. The first choice is the son of the Duke of Yang."

First?
"Duke Yang is from a family with a long history of military service, and all of their descendants have joined the army. Just as they were getting engaged, a conflict broke out on the border, and the Duke's son rushed to the frontier, and then... died on the battlefield."

That young man must have been quite talented. When Old Zhao spoke of him, his voice was filled with regret: "The following year, they chose a second one, this time a new runner-up. He died drunk in the Imperial Music Bureau on the night of his engagement."

At this point, even Song Yan couldn't help but be stunned. Two of his fiancés had died in succession. Even without being told, one could guess what kind of rumors would spread.

"At this point, there aren't many people who are still willing to get engaged to Miss Cui San."

"The old man from the Cui family chose a young merchant, but he never expected that young man to become obsessed with the belly of a woman who died suddenly in a brothel."

"Old Man Cui's hair has almost turned white with worry over Madam Cui San's marriage. He said that even if she becomes a beggar, it will be fine. After all, the Cui family is rich and powerful and can afford it."

Cui Shian was clearly also worried about his third sister's marriage. His brows furrowed as he continued, "There was actually someone who didn't believe it. It was a servant in our family. As a result, he died on the spot because he was too excited just after my father agreed."

In other words, he was drunk, otherwise Chui Sai On would not be willing to mention these bad things.

Even Song Yan, a staunch materialist, was shocked by these words. Wasn't that a bit scary? It was like a rule straight out of a weird novel: anyone who married Miss Cui Sanzi... no, just got engaged, would die?

Could this be the legendary fate of being alone and unlucky?
Seeing Song Yan's expression, Cui Shi'an clapped his hands and laughed, "Yes, yes, yes, it's your expression that shocked even His Majesty. He even asked someone to hint that the Cui family's relationship with the royal family is close enough that it doesn't matter even if there is no marriage."

Is this something that even the emperor is afraid of?

Song Yan shook his head and smiled bitterly, his fingers slowly stroking the teacup, feeling that things might not be that simple. The oldest and most likely Crown Prince among Emperor Ning's children should be the one born to Concubine Yang Miaoyun.

Emperor Ning broke off the marriage alliance with the Cui family. Was it simply because of the rumor that she was a jinx?

Or is there some other reason, such as... not wanting the Cui family and the Yang family to have too deep a connection?

After all, the Yang family has power in the court, there are princes in the harem, and the Cui family is rich. If they join forces... could it be that the emperor knows something?
Chapter 1 is 3,000 words. Thanks to the bored drunkard for the tip.

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(End of this chapter)