Chapter Thirteen: Advancing One's Studies

  Afternoon, I smoked three cigarettes in a row and actually got dizzy from the smoke. My head is spinning, I feel nauseous and want to vomit. How could this be?!

  ……………………………………

  The time for the county test is limited, it's just one article, and it's only two hours. If you can't even do a good job on an article in two hours, then your level is definitely limited.

  From the time it took to hand in their papers, one could roughly gauge each person's level. Several candidates who had already made a name for themselves finished and handed in their papers within half an hour, which the county official immediately recorded. From then on, pressure began to build up among the remaining candidates. The number of places available for this round was limited - only fifty. If one handed in their paper too late, even if it was excellent, there was no way the county official would change his mind, after all, he had already posted the results, which were just the top fifty papers that had passed.

  After taking seven or eight more candidates, the writing speed of the following examinees gradually accelerated. Wang Guanlan was not worried and continued to write at a steady pace. Since it was stipulated that two hours would be allowed, it was impossible to fill all fifty places within those two hours; otherwise, this county examination would become a typing contest! The county official would at least reserve three places for after the two hours were up. Moreover, it was impossible for the county official to determine all the places in one day. Only those who truly excelled and had scholarly talent could be selected on the spot.

  Therefore, Wang Guanlan seemed very carefree, writing with ease, while the county official did not have a good mood. In fact, during this county exam, half of the county official's mind was on Wang Guanlan. No matter what, as the son of Ning Wang, his identity was there, and he would definitely be taken care of within the allowed rules. The county official didn't mind giving Ning Wangfu a favor, but it was only a favor, not a backdoor deal.

  So, when it was almost time to submit, after Wang Guanlan handed in his paper, the county official looked at it very carefully, unlike before when he would just glance over most papers and take or reject them without comment. The county official wouldn't leave while looking at his own paper, which was also a rule. After glancing at Wang Guanlan's paper several times, the county official clearly let out a sigh of relief, nodded slightly after a few breaths, "Hmm, not bad. Although there aren't many outstanding parts in this article, it wins with its maturity and steadiness. At your age, being able to write such an article is truly not easy. A xiucai's honor is more than sufficient!"

  "Thank you, County Lord!" Although he had been confident from the start, it wasn't until now that the dust had settled that Wang Guanlan finally let out a sigh of relief.

  "Congratulations, young master!"

  "Congratulations, young master!"

  ……

  ……

  All the way out of the county government, his ears were filled with congratulatory voices. Both familiar and unfamiliar people came forward to offer their congratulations, leaving Wang Guanlan somewhat overwhelmed. It wasn't until they finally left the county government that things calmed down. On the way back to the Wang estate, the servants had already received the news and their attitude towards him had changed. They looked at him with even more reverence in their eyes. Although Wang Guanlan didn't pay too much attention to how others perceived him, he couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself in this environment, with a strong sense of returning home in glory.

  Young master, the steward has arrived for quite some time now and is currently handing over the assets of Yicheng to the madam! As soon as he stepped into Qing Song Garden, he saw Green Lotus leading a group of servants from Qing Song Garden to welcome him, with extremely joyful expressions on everyone's face.

  When one man gets the way, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. In the Wang's mansion, even the lowest servants are divided into three six nine classes. The status of their masters directly determines their position in the mansion, even their fate. Before, the servants in Qing Song Garden walked with their heads down, but now they hold them high. As Wang Guanlan's status rises, their position in the Wang's mansion naturally rises too. There aren't many people in Qing Song Garden, and now that the young master has made it big, he must be adding more staff. Those new people will of course have a lower status than these old-timers. Moreover, Yi Cheng's industries are already under Qing Song Garden's management. If they do well and gain the young master's favor, who knows, they might even be sent out to manage Yi Cheng's industries - that would be a plum assignment!

  It was under this psychological drive that the hearts of the people in Qing Song Garden had already begun to burn with passion.

  "Oh, so soon to hand over the industry?" Wang Guanlan raised an eyebrow in surprise. She had just entered school and even though she had received the news earlier, this move was too quick.

  "Heh heh, Thirteen Young Master, actually the Prince had expected you to pass this time, so he got me here early in the morning!" A deep voice came from within the courtyard in response to Wang Guanlan's question.

  "Chief Steward, I didn't expect you to come in person!" Wang Guanlan saw the visitor and didn't dare to be slow. The visitor was none other than Wang Fu, the Chief Steward of the Ning King's Mansion. Although his name was ordinary, his position within the mansion was extremely high, holding great power like a prime minister of a country, deeply trusted by Ning King Wang Bizheng. Wang Fu himself was also very cautious in his actions, with clear rewards and punishments within the mansion, and he did things with measure, so he had great prestige in the mansion.

  Due to his high status in the mansion, he was a general figure on the left and right of Ning Wang, so generally speaking, ordinary things would not be able to disturb this great steward. Therefore, today this great steward personally appeared here, which made him feel somewhat honored and surprised.

  "Fourteen Young Master's wedding is such a joyful occasion, how could Wang Fu not come to join in the celebration?!" Wang Fu said with a smile, this robust middle-aged man's smile was very sincere, and his sincerity carried a warm and friendly tone. "Young Master Fourteen, the things from Yicheng have all been handed over to your wife, if there's anything else, just come find me, your old servant!"

  "I don't dare, I don't dare!!" Wang Guanlan said repeatedly, sending Wang Fu all the way out. After seeing off Wang Fu, he returned to Qing Song Garden, where Madame Wu was already waiting, and a celebratory banquet had been set up on the table. The banquet was not grand, but it was very exquisite, clearly having been prepared in advance. If he passed the exam, this would be his celebration feast; if he didn't pass, it would be a consolatory meal.

  "Hehe, as expected of Mom, she's always so thoughtful! I'm starving!"

  "If you're hungry, eat a bit more. There's also wine here. Once you've entered the school, you'll grow up anyway. It doesn't matter if you drink less wine!" Madam Wu said with a thick smile.

  "Wine is a medicine that goes through the intestines, it's better to drink less!" Wang Guanlan sat down and gently pushed away the jug of wine on the table, "It's been a long time since I've tasted your cooking skills, Mother!"

  "You've learned to be smooth-tongued now, hurry up and eat, after eating we'll talk about the Yicheng industry matters!"

  "I was just about to say that, Mother, you handle the family business in Yicheng, I want to study and practice martial arts, where do I have time to deal with these mundane things?!"

  "This won't do, the industries of Yicheng were handed over to you by the royal family, and now they're in my hands, what kind of decency is this!" "In matters like these, there's no such thing as decency, You are my mother, managing my industries on my behalf is a matter of course!" Wang Guanlan said.

  "I'm just a housewife, what do I know about managing the estate?!" Wu Shi said with a bitter smile. Wang Guanlan was speechless, and indeed, things were as Wu Shi had said - she was only a former servant girl of Ning Wang, after all, without any talent for managing the estate. Moreover, most importantly, when Wang Fu's steward came to hand over the estate today, he mentioned some things that gave her a bad feeling.

  "I heard the steward say that although the estate in Yicheng is a royal estate, it has always been managed by a certain young master of the mansion, so..." The rest of the words were not spoken, and Wang Guanlan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, this was something he had not expected. The Ningwang Mansion was very large, apart from the members of the Ningwang family and their servants, there were also other special groups of people with whom they had a certain relationship. In his previous life, these special relationships had a common name: skirt ties."

  The more prosperous the family is, the more complex and close the kinship ties are, so another important young master group has emerged, which is the cousin.

  In the Ning Wang Fu, there were many young masters who were relatives of the king. Some were the king's own nephews, while others were the sons of the king's brothers or other relatives. Among these young masters, some were quite prominent because their aunts were highly favored or held high positions in the palace. For example, the personal nephews of Ning Wang Fei, who had several brothers and many nephews, but these nephews did not have much to do with the palace. The fact that they could become queen meant that their own family already possessed great power, which was not inferior to the Ning Wang Fu. In fact, this queen was herself the daughter of another king in the Da Qi dynasty, and her marriage to Ning Wang was a political one. Moreover, the territory governed by that king was 108,000 li away from the three states guarded by Ning Wang, so it was unlikely that those young masters would appear in the palace or control the palace's industries.

  However, several concubines of the Ning King were different. The concubines of the Ning King came from Dian, Qian and Li's three states, and their families behind them were also local tyrants in these three states. They may not be as prominent as the Ning King's mansion, but they are enough to be called a local snake, with a good family background. In addition, having a relationship with the Ning King's mansion, the young masters who have a relationship with these concubines live even more comfortably than the orthodox young masters of the Ning King's mansion. And relying on this skirt relationship to control some of the Ning King's mansion's industries is a very normal thing.

  Wang Guanlan was also aware that there were many people who, relying on their own background, had taken the Ning Wangfu's industries as their own private property. They only paid a symbolic amount of taxes every year to appease the Ning Wangfu, and the Wangfu had always turned a blind eye to these unimportant assets. However, when a member of the royal family like him accepted an inheritance, they would often encounter trouble. Of course, no one's troubles were as big as his, because others only inherited a few shops, while he was about to inherit the entire industry of Yicheng. This would inevitably affect the interests of some people. Wu Shi's vision was limited, so she was just worried, but Wang Guanlan understood that this was an extremely troublesome matter. "Mother, did the general manager tell you who is managing the Yicheng industries?!"

  "I heard him say that he is probably Mrs. Hou's nephew."