The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 836 - 179: Don’t Even Think About Marrying In_4

Chapter 836: Chapter 179: Don’t Even Think About Marrying In_4

"To stay decent in Capital Jingcheng! As long as you earnestly be an official in the Six Ministries, you will rise eventually!" Fang Li retorted; his father had considered sending Dalang to the outer areas, influenced by what Pei Qin and her group had suggested.

Grandma Fang barked angrily, "Shut your mouth! As a capital official, do you really expect to rise? Isn’t it thanks to Qinqin and her group!? If not for Qinqin inventing the hand-cranked threshing machine, Dalang wouldn’t have been promoted to Sixth Rank. By being assigned outside, serving as an officer for a few years and then returning to Jingcheng, he will indeed get promoted."

"Isn’t the Shen family very influential? Dalang is also on good terms with Young Master Shen; how could he not rise!" Fang Li insisted stubbornly.

"You think the Shen family would help you without Qinqin!" scolded Grandma Fang.

Speaking of this, Fang Li again blamed Pei Qin, "Why wouldn’t they help!? Pei Qin is now favoring Wendong greatly, making room for Dalang early. Now that she values him, initially when she was to marry Young Master Shen, she adamantly refused and insisted on choosing Mo Heng, just for a handsome face—of what use is that!? If she had married Young Master Shen, Dalang wouldn’t have needed to make room!

"You damn fool, spouting nonsense!" Grandma Fang, also furious, stepped forward to hit him.

Fang Li quickly dodged. What he said was true. Pei Qin had chosen Mo Heng, but could have married Pei Yuan to Young Master Shen, which would have been the same. Instead, she chose someone who was never home and lived hundreds of miles away. If only Fang Fang looked decent, he would have sent his own daughter instead.

"Disaster! Get out of here! With you being so short-sighted as the head, our family would be doomed sooner or later!" Old Scholar Fang cursed, then couldn’t help but cough.

Seeing this, Grandma Fang grew anxious, "Old man!"

From the kitchen where she was picking vegetables, Lady Ruan also hurried over, "Father!"

Old Scholar Fang’s face turned red from coughing, and it took him a while to catch his breath.

Fang Li didn’t dare to talk back anymore, but he was still unconvinced deep down. It seemed that both his parents knew about Dalang’s assignment abroad, keeping him in the dark! Dalang had also told him that he wouldn’t be sent abroad, which turned out to be a deception too.

Seeing both Old Scholar Fang and Grandma Fang were angry, Fang Li turned and went out to the Pickled Bamboo Workshop to ask Lady Yu, "Did you know about Dalang being sent abroad?"

Seeing his expression, as though he had argued at home, Lady Yu didn’t pay much attention to him, "I didn’t know."

"You didn’t know? I see you clearly did, and you all kept it from me, right!?" Fang Li burst in anger.

"Keeping it from you, have you ever thought why we would do that!? If you were reasonable, would we need to hide it from you?! Only thinking about your own face, not considering Dalang’s future!" Lady Yu also replied sternly.

"I’m not considering Dalang’s future? You all don’t know shit!" Fang Li thought they were all fooled by Pei Qin, who wasn’t a straightforward person but a schemer who wouldn’t have married Mo Heng and be involved with Shen Songming to help facilitate such large business deals.

Lady Yu argued loudly with him.

The two parted on bad terms. Furious, Fang Li didn’t want to hear Old Scholar Fang and others preach, so he simply drove from the Sweet Potato Flour Workshop to find Pei Qin.

When Pei Qin saw him coming furiously, she calmly waited for him.

As Fang Li approached, his face clouded with anger, "Was it you guys who instigated Dalang’s assignment abroad!?"

"No," said Pei Qin, her voice grave.

Fang Li glared, "You still don’t admit it!?"

"What’s there to admit? If I did it, I’d admit regardless of the consequences. If I didn’t do it, naturally there’s nothing to admit!" Pei Qin raised an eyebrow. Dalang’s assignment abroad was Mo Heng’s idea.

"You..." Fang Li looked at her, enraged at her demeanor, as if she was still behaving like a Third Rank Lady in front of him, "Dalang is your brother-in-law, do you look down on us, or what? If Dalang does poorly, is Pei Qian going to benefit? By relocating him to the backwoods, can you rise higher and Wendong prosper, is that it!?"

"What do you mean?" Pei Qin’s gaze turned frosty.

Fang Li scoffed, "What do I mean? Wendong is a good Sixth Rank capital official, deserving a promotion to Fifth Rank, yet you deceived him to the backwoods, what are your intentions? Even if Wendong stayed in Jingcheng, wouldn’t he be out of your way!? If he got promoted in Jingcheng, Pei Qian could also benefit from him, couldn’t she? Couldn’t you rely on him too!?"

Pei Qin looked at him with a cold laugh, "Of each Imperial Exam, only those ranked in the top tier—Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua—are assigned to Hanlin Academy for a three-year observation. The rest of the Palace Graduates are usually assigned to local offices to serve as officials. Those in the top tier, after three years at the Hanlin Academy, needing promotions, also start with assignments abroad. Do you really think serving as an official in Jingcheng is the best!?"

She spoke but Fang Li didn’t believe her at all, "Originally doing well in Jingcheng, if not for your scheming, he would never have been assigned abroad!"

"If you don’t understand, read more books. You’re the father of a capital official after all, don’t let others joke about you." Pei Qin spoke coldly and turned to busy herself. Shen Songming would be arriving soon; last year’s soy sauce and century eggs were almost sold out, and many were requesting additional orders. This year, Pei Qin planned to handle more soy sauce and ideally sign contracts with the cargo traders so that later movements could be managed by the Transport Gang, simplifying the process to just delivering goods and collecting payment.

Fang Li, infuriated by her straightforward demeanor said, "You all sound right, yet none of you truly care for Dalang’s future. No matter how beautifully you argue, I don’t believe you! If Dalang is not reassigned back to Jingcheng... you, Pei Qian, forget about marrying in!" He dropped a harsh threat.

"Then he’ll never come back to Jingcheng!" Mo Heng stood at the road’s end, watching him coldly.

Fang Li spun around to face him, even more infuriated, "What capability do you have to keep Dalang forever out of Jingcheng!? You’re still but a minor official with ninth rank, how can you influence a Sixth Rank capital official!? You think you’re still the privileged son of the Mo family, with power and prestige!?"

Mo Heng remained unruffled, "With or without power, I can still keep him from ever returning to Jingcheng, you can try."

Fang Li thought about how Dalang had been deceived, with Pei Qian also in collusion with him. He wouldn’t listen to sound advice now. In an instant, Fang Li felt as though Pei Qin and Mo Heng were like cunning wolves that devoured without spitting out the bones, also capable of beguiling people. Dalang would eventually be ruined by them, convinced as his parents were!

Mo Heng glanced at him and walked past him into the workshop.

Fang Li trembled with anger, "I will never let you deceive Dalang! If you don’t get Dalang reassigned back to Jingcheng, Pei Qian can forget about getting married into our family!" After saying that, he turned and went to send a message to Dalang, telling him to request an immediate reassignment back to Jingcheng.

After writing the letter, Fang Li realized he didn’t even know in which county of the Chuan Region Dalang was located, leaving him no way to send the message.

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