Ma Wencai left the examination compound with his friends. They had originally planned to invite a few more friends for a gathering on a Painted Boat, but his conversation with Jiang Hao had left him feeling deeply stifled. He found an excuse and went straight home.
Although the Ma family was not extravagantly wealthy, they lived comfortably enough. They ran two silk shops, and Ma Wencai's maternal cousin was the Hangzhou judicial commissioner. With that connection, the Ma family's business remained secure.
Ma Wencai had been somewhat clever since childhood and was decent at studying, so Steward Ma longed for his son to earn an Official Title and raise the Ma family to prominence.
When Ma Wencai entered the house, the servants and maids immediately bowed. Wearing a dark expression, he headed straight for the back courtyard. His wife was directing the maids as they tended the flowers in the yard. The moment she saw her husband, she stood up. Ma Wencai glanced at his ordinary-looking wife, felt a surge of disgust, and went directly to the study.
The study was elegantly furnished. Books on the Imperial Examination System filled the shelves, and a couch for resting stood nearby. Ma Wencai sat on the couch, staring gloomily at the bookshelves as he cursed under his breath.
"Humph! A poor scholar, yet he dared put on airs before me. I already asked candidates from Lanxi in Jinhua Prefecture. He's just some nobody without any background. Does he really think a little talent means he can rise above everyone else?"
"I don't know what Yuxian sees in him. She must have been blinded by Jiang Hao's sweet talk."
"Buying her freedom, buying a house, more than ten thousand taels of silver... How could that poor wretch, someone with no backing at all,