Women dressed as men: powerful officials

Chapter 253 Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival night is extremely lively, with red lanterns everywhere on the streets, and it is just as lively as New Year's Eve.

Wu Shiming was busy with the shop's affairs, and sent someone back early in the morning to tell Xu Yuan that he didn't need to wait for him for dinner.

Xu Yuan had nothing to do, so he took out the books he had read and prepared to review them.

Although she had taken part in the national civil service examination, the examination questions were different every year.

This time, it was two years earlier.

She had no idea what the test was about.

Moreover, in his previous life, Shen Yichuan took part in the national examination this year, and Qi Shengxin also took part in the national examination.

These two people are Grade One and Grade Two.

If Shen Yichuan were to take part in the national examination this year, her chance of meeting the emperor would be only one in three.

When I made a wish, I thought about being diligent, but my heart just couldn't calm down.

I hadn't read two pages of the book when I heard the sound of stones hitting the doors and windows outside.

Wu Shiming did not come back.

No one else would be so boring.

Xu Yuan put on a coat and went out, saying as he walked: "Third Prince, you really should take care of your subordinates. How can you just…"

"Master Xu."

Chen Shan stopped in front of the door, but his face was not as playful as Xu Yuan thought, but a serious one.

Xuyuan wondered, "What happened?"

"Third Master, please go to the Shen Mansion." After Chen Shan finished speaking, he remembered the complaint he had just made, and said, "I knocked on the door just now, but now the city gates are setting off fireworks. I am worried that Master Xu didn't hear the knocking and climbed over the wall to leave, but I am afraid that he would be regarded as a thief, so I can only knock on the door and windows with stones."

Chen Shan said it frankly.

Xu Yuan didn't care about it, so he asked, "Did Shen Yichuan get into trouble?"

Xu Yuan suddenly remembered that Shen Yichuan had never come to see her since they parted on New Year's Eve.

Knowing from her memory of her previous life that she was spending the New Year alone in Beijing, Shen Yichuan was afraid that she would be lonely, so he came over specially at night.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan couldn't wait for Chen Shan's answer and asked, "Did something happen to Shen Yichuan?"

"Mr. Shen is fine, but Grand Tutor Shen is not so good. It can't be explained in a few words. Please ask Mr. Xu to go with me."

Xu Yuan did not doubt him and immediately said, "I'll change my clothes."

When Shen Yichuan gave this courtyard to Xu Yuan, it was because he wanted it to be close to the Shen Mansion so that they could take care of each other. Now it really comes in handy for Xu Yuan.

Different from the bustling outside, the Grand Tutor's Mansion was deserted and completely different from the New Year atmosphere. Compared with the surrounding area, it also seemed even quieter.

In order to avoid attracting attention, Chen Shan deliberately brought Xu Yuan into the Grand Tutor's Mansion through the back door.

The two people walked forward in the dark, and no matter how he looked at it, Making a Wish seemed a bit like a thief's act.

Just as she was about to ask why she couldn't go through the main door, she saw a person kneeling in front of the main house from afar.

She paused and asked, "Is that... Shen Yichuan?"

No wonder Xuyuan was surprised.

Shen Yichuan was a well-known nobleman in the capital. He was gentle, knowledgeable, and never disobeyed his elders. Even the emperor admired him and exempted him from the kneeling ceremony.

But now, Shen Yichuan was kneeling in the cold wind.

Today is the Lantern Festival.

I don’t know what I did wrong.

"It's him." Chen Shan lowered his voice and said slowly, "It is said that he has been kneeling since New Year's Eve. He fainted many times during the process. Master Shen said that he would not be punished, but Master Shen still kneeled. If he continues like this, I'm afraid his legs will be crippled."

"Then what's the point of calling me here? Or does your prince think that I can persuade that father and son?"

"Uh..." Chen Shan didn't know how to answer and could only remain silent.

Inside the courtyard, Shen Yichuan was still kneeling. Even though his face was pale and he was shaky, his back was straight.

Seeing Xu Yuan coming, Shen Yichuan said in a somewhat unkind tone: "What are you doing here? Are you here to persuade me too?"

"I don't know what you have done to punish yourself in this way. I only know that if the capital's number one young master continues to kneel, he will become a cripple." Xu Yuan sighed.

She looked in the direction where Shen Yichuan was kneeling.

There was only a tablet in the empty house.

Chen Shan left tacitly, leaving the place to Xu Yuan.

Shen Yichuan said: "That is my mother's tablet."

Xu Yuan nodded and said, "Mrs. Shen, I know, she has been dead for many years."

"That's right." Shen Yichuan nodded, and his eyes softened a little, not as cold as before: "She is a very gentle woman. In my memory, she always smiles and has a gentle look. Even if others mock her for using despicable means to enter the Grand Tutor's Mansion, she still does not feel resentful."

"She and my father loved each other very much, but unfortunately, she was born in a peasant family and did too much hard labor when she was young. She was in poor health. After giving birth to me, she became ill and passed away after only three years. Over the years, I have always kept her teachings in mind and stayed in the Grand Tutor's Mansion and the capital city, never leaving her side."

Xuyuan didn't know what to say.

She looked at the name on the tablet and knelt down with Shen Yichuan.

Shen Yichuan saw it and asked, "What are you doing?"

"She has brought you up very well. If not for that, I wouldn't be here today. Now that I've seen her, I should kneel down and pay my respects to her."

After making the wish, he kowtowed three more times, then stood up and said, "Get up. If your mother were still alive, she would definitely not want her child to suffer so much during the New Year."

Xu Yuan saw that Shen Yichuan's face turned pale, but he was still able to kneel there, only relying on his willpower to hold on.

"You don't have to persuade me." Shen Yichuan lowered his eyes, his tone a little cold.

"If I don't try to persuade you, why are you here today? Although I don't know why you are kneeling, I know that everything you did was not wrong. People have different standpoints and perspectives on things. So, just because you are not wrong does not mean that others are wrong."

The voice of making a wish is very light, like snowflakes falling to the ground.

But when Shen Yichuan heard it, he felt like a huge rock hit his heart.

Shen Yichuan said: "I am not wrong."

"Since you know you are not wrong, why do you punish yourself?" Xu Yuan asked back.

Shen Yichuan did not answer.

On New Year's Eve, he knelt down out of respect for his deceased mother.

He has been kneeling until now to prove that he did nothing wrong.

But he punished more than just himself.

Shen Yichuan raised his eyes and suddenly saw a green figure under the eaves in the distance. It was his father.

He knelt here for fifteen days, and the figure stood under the eaves for fifteen days as well.

Neither the father nor the son bowed their heads.

Shen Yichuan didn't say anything, so Xu Yuan could only speak to himself: "The relationship between you and Master Shen is just like the relationship between me and my father."

Xu Yuan raised his head, looked at the bright moon in the sky, smiled and said, "My father treated me very harshly. When I was little, I even hated him because I didn't understand why other people could play with sand and catch crickets, and even my brothers could go out and play, but I could only guard a window and read day after day."

"Children all like to go out and play, and I was no exception. Many times I would sneak out by climbing over the wall. When I came back, my father would beat me up. I really hated him at that time. Also, because my father was lame and was ridiculed, I felt resentful more than once."

"But later I found out that he treated me very well. My family was poor and couldn't afford to buy books. He taught during the day to earn money, and copied books for me at night. He knew that I didn't want to go to the county school, and didn't want him to teach me. Even though my family was poor, he still hired a teacher for me."

Tears silently flowed down my cheeks.

Seeing this, Shen Yichuan took out his handkerchief and handed it over, saying, "Make a wish, you don't have to talk about the past."

"But I don't want you to torture yourself because of a momentary unhappiness. Just treat it as a joke." Xu Yuan smiled faintly.