The Ming Dynasty: My sister, Empress Ma

After leaving Guanyun Bookstore, Ma Wenyuan pondered what to eat.

I wandered around aimlessly, and somehow ended up back in Qingxi Lane.

"Hey bro, come on in and have some fun!"

It wasn't a madam soliciting customers; this was the landlady's grandson.

He was born tall and burly, with a thick waist and a strong body.

He was thirteen or fourteen years old, about the same height as Ma Wenyuan, over 1.8 meters, and weighed about twice as much as Ma Wenyuan.

Now, Ma Wenyuan is used to being in his prime, and he feels a bit absurd whenever he hears this burly man call him "Big Brother".

"It's Zeng Qing."

Ma Wenyuan walked into the old lady's dessert shop, patted Zeng Qing on the shoulder, and exclaimed in surprise, "You've gotten even stronger."

"Didn't you go to work today?"

Zeng Qing's family owns land, I heard it's about five or six mu, all of which are rented out by relatives outside the city.

Nowadays, the three generations of the family rely on rent and a small shop to make a living.

Zeng Qingyou was born with broad shoulders and a thick waist. Now that he was fifteen years old, it was impossible for him to stay at home doing nothing.

He went to work as a transport worker at the docks a long time ago.

"Hehe, today is my day off."

Zeng Qing chuckled sheepishly.

Then another female voice rang out.

Looking to the side, he saw a young girl, about the same age as Zeng Qing, walking out from the inner room of the shop.

Their names are Zeng Xiu and they are twins.

Their appearances are quite different; Zeng Xiuren, true to her name, is much more delicate and refined.

She was a little over 1.5 meters tall, with a pretty face, looking like a girl next door.

But Zeng Xiu smiled and said,

"It's all because my elder brother went to the dock last time. Manager Wang heard that my elder brother was a tribute student, and he's been very attentive to him lately."

"I'm afraid he'll get too much sun and I'm afraid he'll get too tired. I wish I could treat him like a king."

Zeng Qing nodded quickly in agreement, "My monthly salary has increased."

"That's a good thing." Ma Wenyuan laughed, which shows that scholars really have status these days.

At this moment, the landlady also came out, with a very kind smile, carrying a bowl of wheat rice, a side dish, and a bowl of soup.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? I specially saved this for you, it's free," the landlady said with a smile.

Ma Wenyuan wanted to refuse, but then he saw the old lady suddenly put on a stern face and say, "If you don't eat, you're not allowed to come."

Having no other options, Ma Wenyuan had no choice but to eat there.

"What are Xiaoqing's plans for the future?"

Ma Wenyuan picked up his rice bowl, took a couple of bites, and then turned to ask another question.

Zeng Qing glanced at his grandmother, then at Ma Wenyuan, and stammered for a long time without saying a word.

"I..."

It was obvious that the old lady was there, so he didn't dare to talk nonsense.

Ma Wenyuan saw this and said, "It's alright, please speak freely."

As for Ma Wenyuan, he didn't know when his death would come, so he might as well help those around him while he still had some status.

Seeing Zeng Qing begin to think, Ma Wenyuan immediately felt that he had asked a pointless question.

An uneducated simpleton, an elderly woman in her seventies, and a little girl who is not quite grown up—they are mostly thinking about how to survive, not about the future.

Setting down his bowl, Ma Wenyuan pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, how about we go into business?"

Zeng Qing spoke almost simultaneously, "I want to study."

This surprised both Zeng Xiu and the old lady.

My own big, burly younger brother/grandson actually wants to study?

The old lady thought Zeng Qing would say he wanted to lead troops into battle.

She absolutely did not want this, as her son and husband had both died on the battlefield.

Ma Wenyuan was also somewhat surprised, but then he thought that in this day and age, all other pursuits are inferior, only studying is superior.

"Then I felt relieved," Ma Wenyuan said.

"In that case, you don't need to go to work at the docks tomorrow. Come and study with me..."

At this point, Ma Wenyuan glanced at Zeng Xiu, whose eyes were full of envy, and pointed at her, saying, "Why don't you join us? Help your grandmother with chores during the day and learn something at night."

Ma Wenyuan didn't know any great Confucian scholars, nor did he know many other scholars.

After much thought, I realized that only I am suitable.

Moreover, Ma Wenyuan thought that Zhu Yuanzhang in his current state would not do something like exterminating three or nine generations of a family.

There's no need to worry about Zeng Qing being affected by me in the future.

Zeng Qing, unaware of Ma Wenyuan's thoughts, suddenly knelt on the ground and began to perform a grand salute.

dong dong dong.

He kowtowed with all his might.

Zeng Xiu wanted to follow suit, but she still hesitated, "Women should study..."

Before she could finish speaking, Ma Wenyuan waved his hand.

"There's no difference. Who says it's useless for women to study? Empress He Xi of the late Han Dynasty and Empress Zhangsun, which one of them didn't study?"

Even when it comes to being a good wife and mother, there's always a difference between someone who's educated and someone who hasn't.

Empress Ha Hee was the first woman to be called a female scholar, meaning a female scholar among scholars.

The most famous person after her was Empress Renxiao.

Xu Da's eldest daughter, who should be eleven or twelve years old this year, is not suitable to be used as an example.

Zeng Xiu then performed the apprenticeship ceremony with Zeng Qing.

The old lady was quite pleased, as the son of the wealthy Zhang family next door was only a scholar.

The old lady was naturally happy that her two grandchildren had become teachers of a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations.

After laughing for a while, the old lady seemed to remember something and hurriedly went out.

Get up.

Without refusing their apprenticeship ceremony, Ma Wenyuan waited quietly until they stood up before speaking.

Before Ma Wenyuan could speak, a voice was heard from outside the door.

"Is Magnum here?"

Looking to the side, I saw a number of people standing outside the shop. The leader was wearing a square-shaped turban, a gray round-necked right-fastening robe (also known as a multicolored round-necked robe), and cloth shoes.

"That's me." Ma Wenyuan immediately understood that the other party's status couldn't be very high, after all, this outfit was typical of a commoner.

"I have met Magnum."

The leader immediately said, "I am the owner of Zheng'an Bookstore. I was not at the bookstore when Mr. Ma came to visit, so I came here to apologize."

As he said this, the man waved his hand, and many gifts were brought forward.

Ma Wenyuan's expression hardened, and he raised his hand to stop the other party.

Zheng'an Bookstore was the first bookstore he visited, and it was also the largest bookstore in the entire Jinling. But there's no such thing as a free lunch.

The bookstore owner's initial arrogance followed by obsequiousness forced Ma Wenyuan to treat him with caution.

He was indeed a tribute student, but that alone wouldn't necessarily earn him such treatment from a wealthy merchant.

The middle-aged man quickly added, "I've come here for two reasons: first, to apologize, and second, to ask Ma Gongshi for a favor."

"What is it?"

"I wish to publish Magnum's work and sell it in bookstores."

His attitude remained respectful, even somewhat humble.

After staring at the other person for a long time, Ma Wenyuan suddenly smiled and said, "You may go back now."

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then said nothing more, bowed, and left.

After he left.

Not long after, another group of people arrived.

At the same bookstore that Ma Wenyuan visited today, he saw his guest off again, without even accepting the gift.

"Brother, why won't you accept it?"

Zeng Qing was somewhat puzzled. He had met a fellow townsman who had passed the imperial examination and received all the gifts that came his way.

"You should call him teacher," Zeng Xiu corrected.

Ma Wenyuan did not answer.

These people were able to come here not because of his status as a tribute student, but besides that, he only had the identity of a suspected brother-in-law of the Ming Dynasty.

Few people know this.

It was probably only Li Shanchang, Zhu Biao, Zhu Yuanzhang, and a few of their close confidants.

Logically speaking, Li Shanchang shouldn't have known, but this guy was good at guessing the emperor's thoughts.

The arrival of those two groups was most likely at the behest of Zhu Biao and Li Shanchang.

Ma Wenyuan was able to accept Zhu Biao's overtures, and he was able to accept them publicly.

But isn't there still Li Shanchang?

What good could it be if Hongwu Emperor and Li Xiang were on good terms?

Since Ma Wenyuan couldn't distinguish who was whose, he naturally had to refuse them all.

……

After the meal.

Just as Ma Wenyuan was about to leave, he saw the old lady come back carrying a large pile of miscellaneous items.

Dried meat, celery, lotus seeds, etc.

The six gifts of money were given in double portions.