Chapter 34: A Lifetime, One Couple

He quickly pulled Zhou Shi aside. “Mother, let me be honest with you. I truly like that young lady. If I were to marry someone else, wouldn’t that be deliberately slapping her in the face? I had already given up on the imperial exams, but it was her encouragement that made me decide to keep trying. And look, I passed the exam this time!”

“And now, with her encouragement, I feel like I can keep pushing forward!”

Zhou Shi: “……”

She hadn’t expected this reason. If that was the case, then it made sense why Shen Xiuyan had been working so hard these days.

No wonder, even after passing the Xiucai exam, he was still so indifferent and going back to study. It turned out he wanted to strive for something more.

Strive for more!!!

Doesn’t that mean he wants to become a Juren?

The difference in status between a Xiucai and a Juren is like night and day, but the difficulty of becoming a Juren is something they couldn’t even imagine. At least, in their county, only a few people had ever become Juren.

Oh my, is he really going to try for it???

Heaven above, do you see this?

The Shen family’s ancestors must be turning in their graves.

Xiuyan actually wants to keep trying for more!

The family wasn’t lacking money, so Zhou Shi couldn’t possibly refuse such a good thing. She smiled and said, “Alright, alright, Mother supports you. Keep studying, as long as you’re willing to study for ten or eight years, it’s okay if you can’t pass before giving up!”

Shen Xiuyan: “……”

Mother, please don’t wish that for me.

Studying for ten or eight years just to become a Juren sounds too miserable.

Just thinking about still studying at the age of forty made him shiver; it was too much.

Zhou Shi was still there, happily thinking, “Ah, now that I think about it, that young lady is really a good one. We can’t disappoint her.”

Now, Su Mingyue’s position in Zhou Shi’s heart had completely changed. This wasn’t just about marrying a wife; it was like marrying someone who motivated Xiuyan to study!

So, this little concubine couldn’t be taken. If it made that young lady upset and she didn’t want to continue motivating Xiuyan, what should they do?

Shen Xiuyan nodded. “Of course, that’s a given. So you can throw away all thoughts of me taking on multiple wives. Isn’t it better to have just one person for a lifetime?”

“Ah? So you won’t marry anyone else in the future?” Zhou Shi opened her mouth wide. She thought he just wasn’t marrying now, but would take a few concubines once he became a Juren.

After all, not only officials but many Xiucai also had more than one wife. Wouldn’t he be looked down upon?

Zhou Shi asked just like that.

Shen Xiuyan pressed his forehead. “Mother, what are you saying? If they look down on me, I look down on them too. Women will only slow down my studies! Do you know why these Xiucai are just Xiucai? They’re always immersed in love and romance. How can they focus on studying? Even if they had time to study, with so many women at home, how could things be good? You’ve heard those stories told by the storytellers; you should understand by now.”

Shen Xiuyan didn’t want to see such things happen in the future. It could easily lead to a broken mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship. He needed to stamp out any dangerous thoughts from Zhou Shi right at the start!

“Let’s not talk about others. Just look at the current Imperial Chancellor. He only has one wife, and why can he be the Imperial Chancellor? Isn’t it because of that?”

“You’re right! I was wrong, I’ll listen to you. If something like this comes up again, I’ll just refuse directly!”

Zhou Shi was now completely swayed by Shen Xiuyan’s words. She didn’t doubt him at all and thought he was right.

As expected, someone who had read books had such insight.

If everyone was like her, her son’s future would be ruined.

Now, in Zhou Shi’s eyes, these concubines weren’t just concubines anymore. They were a threat to her son’s future.

They could never enter the Shen family’s door!

Zhou Shi’s eyes blazed with fury. The next morning, she personally went to the Jiang family’s house to reject the matter.

The Jiang family’s matron stared in disbelief, “Did you really talk to him about this? What’s wrong with my daughter? Why didn’t he agree?!”

Is there really such a blind man???

Zhou Shi smirked. “What’s wrong with her? Pfft, she’s a troublemaker who will delay Xiuyan’s studies.”

The fact that she was willing to be a concubine was enough for Zhou Shi to disdain her!

To Zhou Shi, these concubines were obstacles in Xiuyan’s path to progress.

They could never enter their home!

But since they were from the same village, she couldn’t be too harsh. “There’s nothing wrong. My son just said he wants a single wife in his lifetime. We common folk don’t understand what scholars think. Since the child said so, I, as his mother, can’t do anything about it.”

The Jiang family’s matron thought about Shen Xiuyan’s future and wanted to try to negotiate. “Aren’t you going to persuade him? What if he marries a woman who can’t have children? He’s already a Xiucai, and he needs to provide heirs for your family.”

“!!!”

Those words hit Zhou Shi right in the heart. So, you’re saying that your daughter is the one who can have children, huh?

You even want to curse Xiuyan to not have children???

Her heart was truly dirty.

No wonder Xiuyan said he couldn’t marry a concubine. She saw it clearly now. Even before a concubine was married into the family, the family was already this malicious. If she were truly married in, things would definitely fall apart.

Without saying another word, she firmly stated, “I’m sorry, there’s no room for negotiation. We have things to do at home, so I’ll be leaving now.”

The Jiang family’s matron watched her leave, frowning. Pfft, does the Shen family really think they’re important?

They actually rejected so decisively.

She wanted to see what kind of fairy Shen Xiuyan would bring home.

If not, she wouldn’t hesitate to spread rumors around the village that her daughter was better than that woman.

This small episode didn’t bother Shen Xiuyan much, as his mother was very sensible. After he explained things, she had already firmly decided that Su Mingyue would be the only daughter-in-law.

Originally, he planned to prepare the three letters and six etiquettes to propose, but after passing the Xiucai exam, he became very busy over the next few days.

Just because all sorts of invitations landed in his hands—he definitely declined the ones he could, but there were some he couldn’t turn down, so he had to visit in person.

For example, the headmaster of the academy—he definitely had to make a trip.