Chapter 7: The Wang Clan (Part 2)

  Seeing the sly look in his father's eyes, Wang Xu felt a bit embarrassed and scratched the back of his head. Those two little brats often followed their parents to Wang Xu's house to play, but how could Wang Xu be interested in playing with them?

  What's more, the two of them pretended to be brother and sister! That day, Wang Yue didn't know which nerve was wrong, and insisted on pulling him together to play. Wang Xu's mind moved and he deliberately pretended to slip and fall, and lay on the ground pretending to be dead, scaring Wang Yue into wailing loudly. And startled the whole family...

  However, Wang Xu only knew the names of the two until now, because they had never really exchanged their names with each other, and at most, he had only heard adults call them Kair and Yu'er.

  Wang Yan couldn't help but smile at Wang Xu's awkward expression, and didn't bring up the matter again. He continued: "Your third uncle, Wang Qian, courtesy name Gongxun, has a son named Wang Fei, who is three years older than you. He likes martial arts and claims he wants to teach you some skills. Besides, you have two aunts. Your elder aunt, Wang Dai, courtesy name Shumei, was married to Chen Ke, courtesy name Hanyu, of the Chen family in Xiapi. They had a son named Chen Deng, who has some reputation for being diligent and studious, clever and wise, and is six years older than you."

  "And your younger aunt, Wang Xiang, whose courtesy name is Yue Rou. She married a rich young man from this county, named Li Yu, with the courtesy name Zi An. Although the Li family isn't of noble birth, they've been merchants for generations and are considered one of the wealthy families in Shanyang County. Your younger aunt often comes to visit you and always buys you some small trinkets, enjoying teasing you. As for your older aunt, she came with your uncle to celebrate your full moon birthday when you were born. However, you were still too young at that time, so you probably don't remember it. These are all the main members of our household; as for more distant relatives, there are really too many, and we'll introduce them to you slowly later!"

  "En!" Wang Xu casually responded with a sound, but his heart was thinking about his father's words in surprise and uncertainty. Unexpectedly, his aunt was actually the wife of Chen Gui, the mother of Chen Deng. The Chen family was also a scholar-official clan, and Chen Gui's talent in the late Han Dynasty, an era that produced many heroes, was not anything special. He could govern a county, and had even served as the Magistrate of Pei in history.

  But his son, Chen Deng, was not an ordinary person. Although he couldn't be compared to the likes of Zhou Yu, Cao Cao, and Zhuge Liang, those ancient geniuses, if we were to categorize talent into different levels, with Cao Cao's group being considered top-notch, then Chen Deng could be said to be first-rate in terms of domestic governance, and second-rate in terms of strategic planning!

  Chen Deng, courtesy name Yuanlong. At the age of 25, he was appointed as a filial and incorruptible official and served as the magistrate of Dongyang County. Later, due to his good governance, he was promoted by Tao Qian, the governor of Xu State, to be the Colonel of Agriculture, in charge of agricultural production in the state. After Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei became the governor of Xu State, and Chen Deng supported him. However, soon after, Lü Bu took advantage of Liu Bei's attack on Yuan Shu and launched a surprise attack on Xu State, and from then on, Chen Deng nominally belonged to Lü Bu. But he looked down on Lü Bu and once designed to help Cao Cao defeat Lü Bu, and was appreciated by Cao Cao and transferred to be the governor of Guangling.

  After Lü Bu's defeat, Cao Cao promoted him to Fubow General and still served as the governor of Guangling. In 199 AD, Sun Ce sent Sun Quan to attack Guangling Prefecture, besieging Chen Deng in Kuaiji City. Facing an enemy army ten times his own size, Chen Deng remained calm and composed, ultimately repelling the Jiangdong army. Soon after, Sun Quan returned with a large force, Chen Deng dispatched his officer Chen Jiao to inform Cao Cao of the emergency while making preparations for battle. Before long, he again devised a plan that threw Sun Quan's army into chaos, then launched an attack and won a great victory, securing the triumph in the Battle of Guangling.

  Because he was in charge of Guangling County and was deeply loved by the people of Guangling, when Chen Deng later transferred to be the governor of Dong County, the people wanted to move with him. Chen Deng tried his best to dissuade them from this crazy action. However, Chen Deng's life was not good, he suffered from a serious illness and died at the age of 39!

  When Wang Xu finished recalling the classics he had read before, he came back to his senses. Turning his head, he found that Wang Yan was just smiling at him and didn't say a word. For a moment, he didn't know what to say either, so he continued thinking about the Wang family's affairs.

  Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Wang Xu's mind again. Ah, yes! The Wang family from Shanyang Gao Ping. In Shanyang County, his younger aunt was married to the Li family? As soon as he thought of someone with the surname Li in Shanyang, he instantly associated it with one person. Since something as absurd as Chen Deng's mother being his own elder aunt had happened, maybe there was a connection this way too.

  Just as he was about to ask, he didn't know where to start. It's not possible to suddenly mention a name, is it? After hesitating for a moment, Wang Xu finally decided to forget it and wait until he was older to slowly find out. If he asked now, it wouldn't be genius, but rather precognition.

  Wang Xu had no choice but to give up further inquiry on this topic. After some thought, he left his father's arms, took a few steps back, and made a slight bow: "Father, I have a request, I hope you will grant it!"

  "Hehe, go ahead and say it! As long as Father can do it, I'll satisfy you. You're my darling!" Wang Yan, who had been smiling and watching Wang Xu's every move, heard his words and agreed without hesitation.

  Wang Xu could certainly feel Wang Yan's love for him, otherwise he wouldn't have been willing to call him father. However, he didn't say much and instead blinked his eyes and said: "This request of mine might be a bit difficult!"

  Seeing Wang Xu's tiger-headed and brainy appearance, Wang Yan was delighted. He smiled immediately: "Difficult? You're so young, what request can be difficult for your father to fulfill? Speak up, I'd like to see what you have to ask!"

  When Wang Yan boasted about Hai Kou, Wang Xu was also straightforward and said immediately: "Father, I want to learn martial arts!"

  "Huh?" Upon hearing Wang Xu's request, Wang Yan was truly stunned.

  "Father, is there something wrong?"

  Wang Xu did not expect that as soon as he spoke, Wang Yan would be stunned, and the words behind him had not been said yet. Therefore, he also opened a pair of bewildered eyes, becoming suspicious.

  "Oh, no!" Wang Yan quickly reacted and shook his head with a smile.

  But then his expression turned serious, and he asked solemnly: "I find it strange that you, being so intelligent and fond of reading, would surely become a great talent for governing the world. Why don't you study literature instead of practicing martial arts?"

  So that's how it is! It seems Wang Yan misunderstood himself.

  Thinking of this, Wang Xu patted his own chest and said in a childish tone: "Father, when did I ever say that I didn't want to study literature? Not only do I want to learn literature to bring peace and stability to the country, but also to practice martial arts to shake the four seas. Therefore, I beg father to grant me permission!"

  As Wang Xu spoke, Wang Yan was stimulated as never before, his pupils constantly shrinking. When the words fell, he stood up excitedly with a "whoosh", his voice trembling slightly: "Really worthy of being a descendant of the Wang family! Good one, literary to stabilize the country, martial to shake the four seas." As he spoke, he couldn't help but walk back and forth in the study room, unable to contain the joy in his heart.

  After a long while, Wang Yan finally calmed down. After thinking seriously for a moment, he looked at Wang Xu deeply and said: "Xu Er, in our scholar family, we all need to learn martial arts. However, human energy and potential are limited after all, so it's extremely rare for someone to be top-notch in both literature and martial arts. For example, your father is a literati, but when it comes to martial arts, he can't even take care of himself against ordinary bandits, let alone compare to the truly brave and fierce generals on the battlefield. Child, learning martial arts for self-defense like your father is one thing, but if you want to excel in both literature and martial arts, that's an extremely difficult task. Have you really made up your mind?"