Chapter 111

The Zhang family mansion was naturally very large. This was not the mansion where the eldest son lived, but a luxury residence located near the inner city’s commercial district. The two brothers had obviously separated their households long ago.

In ancient times, the social classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants were clearly defined, and most feudal dynasties suppressed commerce. This was especially evident in the Ming Dynasty (there were even restrictions on what clothes people could wear). So even though Zhang Weihai’s biological father, Zhang Erhe, was the richest man in the Ming Dynasty, he was not allowed to live in the inner city’s official residence area because he had no official rank. Even minor officials and compilers could live there, but no matter how rich he was, he couldn’t. Even though his elder brother was the second-in-command, the rules could not be broken.

At that time, the capital was divided into the outer city, the inner city, and the imperial city. The imperial city was where the emperor and some princes and ministers lived, and it was not entirely the imperial palace. The inner city was where officials lived, and there were also commercial and residential areas, but the residents here were mainly wealthy merchants and aristocratic families, not truly poor or ordinary families.

The outer city was where the local people, who were truly under the emperor’s nose and had been touched by the imperial aura, lived; that was the large area close to the second ring road.

This is the capital city of the Ming Dynasty. It is very prosperous, but the hierarchy is strict. It is not as glamorous as many people think. The waters here are deep and complex.

“It’s…it’s the young master! Quickly set off firecrackers! Open the main gate wide to welcome the top scholar of this year’s imperial examination from Yingtian Prefecture!” The steward of the outer courtyard, who had been waiting at the gate for a long time, was very excited when he saw that it was the young master Zhang Dingding returning to the mansion. He immediately ordered the servants around him to open the main gate wide and set off firecrackers to celebrate.

Zhang Weihao returned home this time with the honor of being the top scholar in the imperial examination. Not to mention that the second branch of the family mainly focuses on business, even the first branch would celebrate with firecrackers, and might even open the main gate wide.

Zhang Weihao had naturally used carrier pigeons to send messages before, but that’s how transportation was in ancient times. Although they flew every three days, the actual journey was uncertain. So, three days ago, there were dedicated stewards and servants waiting at the gate for the young master, who had been away from home for more than three years, to return.

“Third Sister! You’ve become even more beautiful in the three years since I last saw you.”

“Dingding, you’re finally back home. Master has been staying here all this time waiting for you to come back. You’ve really made our second branch proud this time. You’re the top scholar in the provincial examination of Yingtian Prefecture, which is much more prestigious than the top scholar in the provincial examination of Shuntian Prefecture from the first branch.”

“It’s different now. My brother is only taking the provincial examination here because of our uncle. If we really went back to our hometown of Yingtian Prefecture, he would most likely be the first to get the top score.” Other aspects are fine, but when it comes to the imperial examination and becoming an official, Zhang Weihao doesn’t think he can be better than his cousin. There’s nothing he can do about it, since his cousin is the famous Zhang Juzheng, a ruthless man who even dared to sleep with the Empress Dowager.

Zhang Weihao had five mothers in this life: his eldest, second, third, fourth, and fifth mothers. But this doesn’t mean that his father only had these five women. These women had official titles, which is commonly known as having three wives and four concubines: one principal wife, two secondary wives, and four concubines. It doesn’t mean that you could marry as many as you wanted. Things like “eighteen concubines” are just private terms and are not officially recognized.

Don’t think that just because you’re a wealthy merchant, you can be an official; there are still rules to follow in this regard.

Therefore, Zhang Weihua did not need to call those concubines and mistresses who had no official status “mother” and dared not show any respect for them. Even if they had children, they were not considered legitimate sons. If they wanted to become illegitimate sons, the master of the house had to recognize them.

If they are not recognized, they are simply born into the household, meaning they were born to slaves without a name or status and are not included in the family genealogy.

Chai Yuguan, the “King of Joy,” came from such a background. Although he was born into the Chai family and even had royal blood, being a descendant of Emperor Wuzong of Zhou, Chai Rong, his childhood was very tragic.

His father, Chai Yiping, was a wealthy man in central Hubei. His mother, Li Xiaocui, was Chai Yiping’s seventh concubine. He had sixteen brothers, and Chai Yuguan was the sixteenth. As a child, he was exceptionally intelligent and could mimic people’s speech perfectly, thus becoming fluent in the dialects of various provinces. After gaining fame, he claimed to be from the Central Plains, and everyone believed him without question. When Chai Yuguan was fourteen, all thirty-odd members of his family died suddenly in one night. After taking over the family’s vast wealth, Chai Yuguan spent his days associating with the lewd and wicked Mandarin Duck and Butterfly Sect, one of the five lowest sects in the martial arts world. Three years later, he had no money left and became a monk.

At the age of seventeen, he joined the Shaolin sect as a fire-working monk. Later, he was expelled for secretly learning martial arts. At the age of twenty, he entered the Twelve Linked Fortresses and was appreciated by the leader of the gang, Tiannan Yijian Shi Songshou, for his eloquence. He was taken in as a disciple. After teaching him for six years, Chai Yuguan had an affair with Tiannan Yijian’s favorite concubine, Jin Yan, and ran away with all of Shi Songshou’s life savings.

Enraged, Shi Songshou mobilized all his disciples to search for Chai Yuguan’s whereabouts. Forced into a corner, Chai Yuguan traveled far beyond the Great Wall and gave the golden swallow to the notorious Seven Hearts Elder, known in the martial arts world as a stepping stone for advancement. Over the next ten years, Chai Yuguan mastered the Seven Hearts Sect’s martial arts to perfection. At that time, Seven Hearts Elder also died suddenly. When Chai Yuguan returned to the Central Plains, he appeared as a chivalrous hero who was generous and righteous. He first united the heroes of the two rivers to wipe out the Twelve Linked Forts and severely injured the Sword of Tiannan, thus becoming famous throughout the world.

In reality, this is a embellished version. Chai Yuguan wasn’t even a son born to a concubine. His birth mother was just a maid, and his biological father had many children, so he wasn’t recognized at all. He was just a “houseborn son” (born to a maid in the household), not included in the family genealogy, and couldn’t enjoy the treatment of a legitimate young master. He was only slightly better off than the lowest-ranking servants. So later, he found an opportunity to wipe out the entire Mu family and inherited all of the Chai family’s property as a “houseborn son,” falsely claiming that he was born to a concubine and was the youngest son.

The reason for wiping out the entire family was that if even one person remained, the right to inherit would have nothing to do with him. Because of this background, Chai Yuguan was ruthless and cunning from a young age, truly possessing the qualities of a gangster tycoon.

For a man like Chai Yuguan, born into a family and wanting to become a concubine, the only way was for his mother to rise in status and become a legitimate concubine or mistress. The only other way was to be adopted by a concubine or wife who had no children but was willing to take him in.

If it’s the legal wife, then the son becomes the legitimate heir. Unless the son was born to the legal wife’s maid who accompanied her in her dowry, and the legal wife herself has no children, it’s impossible for the legal wife to arbitrarily adopt or claim a son.

So don’t underestimate the sons of concubines in wealthy families. With fewer legitimate sons, a son born out of wedlock is very valuable. It’s not just about having a blood relation; your biological mother has to be influential.

The reason Li Huai was bullied at home was that even if Li Manqing personally went to find him and his mother and brought the illegitimate child back, the legal wife would not acknowledge him, and he would not be included in the family genealogy or become a child of the Li family.

This is also the real reason why Li Manqing’s eldest son, Li Zheng, looks down on Li Huai, despises him, and bullies him.

He didn’t treat him like a brother at all; he only regarded him as his servant, and a disobedient servant at that, who often disrespected him.

Because Li Manqing later became the clan chief, a high-ranking official, and a recognized moral gentleman and a great Confucian scholar of his time, he had to set an example and not break the rules set by Confucianism at will.

After all, Confucianism has always placed great importance on these rules, which is why Li Huai has not yet been included in the family genealogy. This is also why his brother Li Zheng dares to bully him and insult his mother as a worthless and rotten woman.

On the way to the manor, Xue Keren had a real eye-opening experience. Although Xue Family Manor was quite large, it was no match for Zhang Family Manor.

This is the capital city, where land is incredibly valuable, right under the emperor’s nose. Not only is it expensive, but the area it occupies is also enormous. She had been walking for ten minutes and hadn’t even finished exploring the outer courtyard yet. The area where Zhang Weihai lived alone was almost the size of the entire Xue Family Village. Not only did it have its own walls, but it was also divided into inner and outer courtyards, with its own pond, academy, and several small buildings.