An instant father

Jiang Bin hesitated when he heard that. He had known someone had come to ask Shen Shixu to take him as a disciple, but he had not expected that person to succeed, much less that he was only five years old.

On second thought, though, it was hardly a problem. He was a little older than Shen Shixu himself. If he was willing to take someone younger than himself as his master, what was one more, even younger senior disciple?

And so, under Shen Shixu's incredulous gaze, Jiang Bin agreed. "I'm willing. As long as you'll take me as your disciple, never mind a five-year-old senior disciple—even a three-year-old martial uncle would be fine!"

The corners of Shen Shixu's mouth twitched at his shamelessness. He had thought someone with this brat's temper would refuse. Apparently, he had underestimated just how thick-skinned a person could be.

"Since you're willing, you might as well hold your discipleship ceremony on the same day as your senior disciple. I have a day off in two days, so we'll do it then. I'm in a hurry to get to work, so I'll be going. Just make sure you don't forget."

Jiang Bin beamed when he heard that Shen Shixu was willing to accept him. Learning that he was heading to the Court of Judicial Review, he hurried out after him. "Master, I'll take you there."

Shen Shixu did not refuse and climbed straight into Jiang Bin's carriage. Jiang Bin was exceedingly attentive throughout the journey, offering him pastries one moment and pouring tea the next.

By the time Shen Shixu stepped out of the carriage, he felt stuffed. He went to his office and headed into the back to change into his official robes. He had just finished when a man wearing official robes of the same color walked in.

Their robes were identical in style and color, but one man was young and strikingly handsome, while the other, though not particularly old, was already middle-aged and sporting a potbelly. By any measure, Shen Shixu came out ahead.

Shen Shixu did not know who he was, but judging from the identical robes, he was presumably the other Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Since they held the same rank, neither needed to bow.

"May I ask your name, sir?"

Ma Zhennan nodded to him. "I'm Ma Zhennan. I hear that Junior Official Shen is this year's Top Scholar. I have a presumptuous favor to ask."

Shen Shixu's brows instinctively drew together at that, and he asked with a hint of wariness, "What can I do for you, Official Ma?"

Ma Zhennan patted his potbelly sheepishly, his broad, good-natured face smiling like the Laughing Buddha. "Hehe, it's nothing major. My household welcomed a new baby these past two days, and I was hoping our Top Scholar might help name the child, so he can share a little of your literary talent."

Ma Zhennan was a scholar too, but he had ranked below the second tier in the imperial examinations, nowhere near the Top Scholar.

This son had been so hard to come by that he naturally wanted someone more gifted to choose the boy's name, simply for an auspicious start.

Shen Shixu had thought the man had come to pick a fight. So that was all it was. He set down the case file in his hands and was about to speak when 011 popped up again.

[Big brother, I have some gossip about this Official Ma. His new son isn't his biological child.]

Ma Zhennan froze at the voice—not because of 011's existence, but because of what he had said.

Word that Shen Shixu carried a system with him had long since spread throughout the court. Although Ma Zhennan had spent the past two days at home on leave, his superior had summoned him as soon as he arrived for work at noon and briefed him on the matter.

So the sudden sound of 011's voice did not surprise him much. What did surprise him was what he said. What did he mean, his new son was not his? If the boy was not his son, whose could he possibly be?

Shen Shixu gave Ma Zhennan a pitying look. His colleague with the Laughing Buddha smile had been cuckolded—even worse than the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince had been cheated on, but at least he had not yet brought the crown princess into the Eastern Palace. Official Ma was another matter altogether: he had not only been cuckolded, but had also become an instant father.

[Yiyi, tell me more. What happened?]

Ma Zhennan could not help inching closer to Shen Shixu so he could hear clearly. Nor was he alone: the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, who had arrived at some point, also edged closer.

Ma Zhennan glanced at his immediate superior. He could no longer spare a thought for whether his superior would laugh at him; he only wanted to get to the truth as quickly as possible.

[Strictly speaking, Official Ma's new son is a concubine-born son, though the child was born to his second wife. His first wife died over a decade ago, and they had no children together. Official Ma loved his first wife deeply. After she died, he had no desire to take a concubine or marry again, so he remained alone.

He only married his new wife after being set up. A case he was handling had required him to leave the Capital, and he stayed at an inn while investigating under a concealed identity.

The innkeeper was dishonest. While Official Ma and his subordinates were out, he secretly searched his baggage and found his official credentials. He sent someone to make inquiries in the Capital. After learning that Official Ma had no children, wife, or concubines, he hatched a nasty scheme with his own wife—the woman who is now Official Ma's second wife.

Pretending he had not discovered Official Ma's identity, he befriended him. Official Ma had no idea the innkeeper knew who he was. He merely thought that, having run the inn for so many years, the man might know something useful to the case, so he became friends with him.

Once they were well acquainted, the innkeeper introduced his own wife to Official Ma under a false identity. He claimed she was his younger sister, whose husband had recently died, and that her in-laws had thrown her out and she was now living as a widow.

At first, Official Ma paid the woman no mind. Later, however, he got drunk and ended up in bed with her. In reality, someone had drugged his wine.

Official Ma is an honorable man. Believing he had ruined the woman's chastity, he wanted to marry her. He did not care about family status and took her straightaway as his wife.

Not long after their marriage, the woman announced that she was pregnant. But the child was actually her real husband's—the innkeeper's.

The innkeeper knew about it too. It was precisely because his wife was pregnant that he came up with this rotten scheme, hoping to give their child a good family background.

Official Ma never actually slept with the woman, either. On the occasion that led to their marriage, he was too drunk to do anything.

After they married, the woman drugged Official Ma every night. He's a complete and utter sucker. He got nothing out of it except being thoroughly cuckolded and saddled with a son who isn't related to him at all.]

After hearing 011's account, Ma Zhennan felt the world spin around him. He had been duped so easily, blundering straight into someone else's trap and even feeling delighted about it. He really was the sucker 011 had described.

Seeing him sway on his feet, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review hurried to steady him, his gaze filled with deep sympathy for his capable subordinate.