Chapter 347

In all fairness, Jiang Chengfeng was a very good protector.

With the Jiang Family as his amulet, he was fearless in the face of any powerful family.

His character was slick enough. Except for women, he dared to fight anyone, and he was not shy about making a scene.

Even in courting favors, he could solve it casually in a corner without paying attention to trivialities.

Xu Mo admitted he could not do the same.

Whether it was the influence of his background or his parents' education, he and the two Jiang brothers had completely different personalities.

He was upright and unyielding.

The Jiang brothers were slick, unrestrained and carefree.

In the past, Xu Mo admired this kind of unbendable spirit. It was this spirit that supported him from Xieyang County to Fengjing.

But the exam results were swapped, the Fang family deliberately made things difficult for him, especially when he was taken to the brothel, which made him feel that some of his perceptions were subverted.

No matter how strong a person is, they are always helpless in the face of soft knives. Just like Fang Heng back then, facing his once intimate little cousin kneeling and pleading, then yelling angrily, only by fleeing to the frontier could the waves be calmed.

It was the same with the brothel girls blocking the road and pestering him. If it wasn't for Jiang Chengfeng, Xu Mo really didn't know how to avoid it.

But Jiang Chengfeng could only help him for half a year. After the exam ends in half a year, he would have to walk his own path in life, and still have to smooth his own way.

Vaguely, Xu Mo realized that the uprightness he carried might not be suitable for Fengjing anymore, nor for officialdom, nor for the court, nor for the intrigue between powerful families.

He was as clean as a young bamboo, of course the wind could not blow him down and the rain could not make him crooked, but if a couple of shovelfuls of fertilizer were poured on him, the bamboo would always rot from the roots.

And who would be willing to rot away?

Xu Mo looked absently ahead, as if seeing his father's unyielding straight back, and as if seeing the relaxed smile on Minister Dou's face, as well as the similar smiles that would be on all officials' faces.

"Slickness is indispensable if you want to get along well," Jiang Chengfeng said, nodding his head. Though casually said, it parted the clouds. Xu Mo's footsteps slowed slightly, his eyes were bright. "Brother Jiang is right. May I ask whose words they are?"

Jiang Chengfeng was stunned. "They were my father's. He taught me and my elder brother this when we were very young, and asked us to listen, watch and learn more, because the intrigue of powerful families is cunning and all kinds of dirty tricks exist."

Things like what Xu Mo had experienced were just small troubles. In the past, there was even a family who specially trained their daughters and sent them to be concubines for major families to harm their legitimate sons and daughters, and to support their own children to take power.

More than ten years later, most of Fengjing’s heirs were related to that family, and their status can be imagined.

There was also a family who specifically trained their daughters to be widowers, raising the disabled eldest sons of their husbands, then giving birth to baby boys. Not only did they themselves gain respect and favor, but their maternal families also rose with the tide.

"There is nothing in this world that you don't know, only things you can't imagine," Jiang Chengfeng concluded. "Brother Xu, you are smart and upright, but you have seen too little. If the Fang family dared to take me to a brothel, I would have to let them send me a first-class courtesan."

"Why don't we go take a look at the brothel today so that you can adapt flexibly the next time this happens?"

Xu Mo almost choked on his saliva.

He really wanted to handle things smoothly, really wanted to learn the Jiang brothers' unrestrained ways, but going to brothels was out of the question. As the eldest brother, he could not be a bad influence on his younger siblings.

"Let's go home first," Xu Mo said gently as he got on the carriage.

As the carriage wheels rolled forward, the National Academy and the autumn wind were left behind.

The pensive young man, in the year he arrived in Fengjing, in order to overthrow Zhu Zhixue, learned to make friends and lobby the children of officials, taking the first slippery step.

Now, after Fang family’s education and Jiang family’s guidance, he understood the essence even more clearly.

With the passage of time, the crisp young bamboo would eventually grow into a real bamboo, bending in the strong wind and standing upright in gentle breeze, soft and flexible, yet able to stand proudly upright.

Just like the four words written by Wenchang Pavilion - Young Master Green Bamboo.

As the carriage wheels stopped rolling, the small second courtyard appeared before his eyes.

Xu Mo slowly got off the shaft and turned back with a bow. "I have to thank Brother Jiang these days. Our tutoring should also be put on the agenda. I dare not guarantee Brother Jiang will pass the imperial examination, but I will definitely impart all the knowledge I have."

He still looked the same as before. Upright and still. But also different from before somehow.

Jiang Chengfeng bowed back accordingly. "Good. Then I'll have to trouble Brother Xu."

The carriage left again, and the door of the small courtyard opened, revealing Zhang’s round face.

"Elder brother is back!" Jiang Sheng was very excited. "You didn't get bullied today, did you? You didn't suffer a loss, did you?"

Look, even his sister was worried about him. As the elder brother, he actually made his younger siblings fret over him, and rack their brains to save him.

It really shouldn't be like this!

Xu Mo smiled slightly and stroked her black hair. "Don't worry, it won't happen anymore."

He would no longer let the Fang family calculate against him, no longer stubbornly stick to righteousness, and no longer evade all the intrigue and shameful things.

But if asked whether his heart was still the same as before.

The answer was undoubtedly yes.

A person's behavior may change, cognition may change, thoughts may change, but what is upright in one’s bones can never turn evil, not even bend easily.

In the next few months,

Xu Mo taught Jiang Chengfeng in earnest, and he also absorbed the unrestrained temperament unique to the children of powerful families from him. They learned from each other, protected each other, helped each other, and developed some friendship.

After failing several times, the Fang family never bothered them again.

Even Jiang Chengfeng believed that the Fang family had no way to go on, but Xu Mo was still vigilantly on guard.

When the autumn wind turned into cold wind, and icy snow covered the earth, he went to Wen Zhiyun who was studying medical books.

"Fourth Brother, I need your help now," Xu Mo said solemnly. "I want to get sick."

Wen Zhiyun stood up blankly, belatedly realizing that his suggestion had been adopted.

"Eldest Brother, aren't you the most unwilling to fake anything?" Zhang Yan was so shocked that he even dropped his chopsticks. "You even have to put rouge on your face. Are you really okay with that?"

Why not?

Xu Mo smiled. "The Fang family won't let me off. Rather than waiting for them to make a move while we try our best to guard against it, it's better to directly reduce their vigilance. It's just some rouge, just some feigned illness."

A true man can yield as well as carry on.

Back then, his father was slandered but chose to commit suicide to prove his innocence just because he was too stubborn.

But what good did that do? Zhu Zhixue still became county magistrate. The common people of the entire Xieyang County suffered unspeakably, and his only son barely survived, his legs completely broken.

Little Xu Mo was used to admiring his father, respecting his character, and admiring his integrity and incorruptibility.

Now he still admired his father, but no longer wished to be like his father - an upright yet brittle bamboo.

"Come on, little Four." He stretched out his hand, serious and calm. "Make me sick. Make me a weak young master in everyone's eyes."

Maybe he could also feel what Elder Brother Fu had gone through all these years.