Choosing His Own Marriage
As soon as Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan was helped up, Fu Yunlang seemed to have a switch flipped, and he started crying again, "Mother, it hurts so much."
Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan's lips moved as she looked at her eldest son, about to speak, but she met his eyes, which were filled with a murderous aura. The words she was about to say stuck in her throat.
"If Mother pleads for him because of his crying and whining, then I will punish him with ten more lashes." Fu Yunkai's face was ashen, and his words were ruthless. "If his body can't take it, we can do it in stages. After the remaining five lashes, wait for his skin to scab over, then give him the ten more lashes. In short, it won't kill him."
"No, no, no..." Upon hearing this, Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan waved her hands repeatedly, "I won't plead for her. You can do it, just finish these ten lashes, don't add any more."
The eldest son had been whipped by his father many times when he was young, Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan was very familiar with this kind of punishment.
If someone is punished with ten lashes, the person administering the punishment will subconsciously loosen their grip after the fifth lash, fearing the person being punished might not be able to withstand it, and intentionally preventing them from fainting, so that they will remember the pain. Before making a mistake next time, thinking about that pain might stop them from acting foolishly.
However, if the punishment is administered separately, the force of those ten lashes will be truly substantial.
Most importantly, the wound had barely scabbed over when she was whipped again, causing it to reopen. Each lash was equivalent to suffering twice the pain, making the ordeal even greater. Her pleading now would only harm her youngest son.
Upon hearing his mother's words, Fu Yunkai immediately instructed the servants, "Help Madam back."
Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan could no longer bear to see her youngest son suffer here, so she slowly walked away, supported by her maids and servants.
Fu Yunkai stared expressionlessly at Fu Yunlang. Seeing that he stammered and shut his mouth, he raised the whip and continued to lash his back.
"Ah, ah..." Fu Yunlang's screams echoed through the Marquis of Pingnan's Residence's mansion, carrying far and wide for a long time.
After the whipping punishment was over, Fu Yunkai had someone apply ointment to Fu Yunlang's wounds and helped him back to his room before going to the main courtyard and kneeling directly in front of the door of the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan's room.
Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan, having received the maid's report, rushed out, annoyed, and said, "What... what are you doing?"
Fu Yunkai knelt upright and clasped his hands in a fist salute to his mother, saying, "Your son is unfilial; please punish me, Mother."
Seeing her eldest son, who was becoming more and more like her husband in both appearance and mannerisms, Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan felt utterly powerless.
"Get up, Mother didn't mean to blame you." She helped her eldest son up herself, then turned and went back into the house to sit down.
Seeing her eldest son follow her in, she slowly said, "I know you and your father both complain that I've spoiled Yunlang. How can the children of our military families not suffer? But you should try to understand me."
She burst into tears, covering her mouth with a handkerchief, and pointed outside, saying, "In this entire mansion, besides me, only your brother is related to me by blood. You and your father are away from home year after year. Who else can I have besides your brother? How can I bear to see him suffer any more? You want to take him to the border; how is that any different from tearing my heart out?"
"Why don't you go to the palace and tell the Emperor about this?" Fu Yunkai said calmly.
Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan's crying stopped abruptly, and after a long silence, she weakly said, "I... I didn't mean that."
"What does Mother mean by that?" Fu Yunkai's voice was not loud, and his tone was neither hurried nor slow, but every word seemed to strike at the heart. "Since His Majesty has spoken, if our household doesn't show any response, if we don't give Yunlang a few lashes, what will His Majesty think?"
Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan also knew that her husband and the family's current status was not only due to her husband's military achievements, but also because of the emperor's favor. There were many soldiers on the border, but her husband was the first to catch the emperor's eye and be promoted by him.
"I... I didn't mean to stop you. I'm just a little sad and wanted you to understand my difficulties."
"Thank you for your understanding, Mother." Fu Yunkai bowed to his mother.
After a moment of silence, he continued, "Also, Mother, please don't rush my marriage. I want to choose someone myself. Once I've decided on a family, then you can send someone to propose."
"This won't do!" Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan exclaimed anxiously. "This won't do!"
"Why not?" Fu Yunkai looked at his mother.
"You don't understand those noble ladies, how would you know who's good and who's bad? Don't be like your brother, infatuated with some woman and determined to marry her. I won't allow those who only bewitch men and behave improperly into my family."
"Of course I won't be like him. But I have my own reasons." Fu Yunkai stood up. "In short, Mother, don't rush my marriage. Even if you prefer someone, ask me first. If I agree, then we can proceed to the next step. Don't make decisions on your own. If I don't like someone, even if you've already arranged it with them, I won't marry them!"
With that, he bowed and strode away.
It turns out he didn't care about his marriage. He figured that since he was going to be in the military for a long time, the woman he married would be his mother, and he would spend every day with her. So, marrying a woman his mother liked and being able to keep her company would be a good thing.
But the older he got, the more he felt that his mother lacked knowledge and consideration.
His father came from a poor family and achieved his current success entirely through fighting and risking his life on the battlefield. His mother came from a humble background and was not very literate; she was far removed from matters of politics and court intrigue. He couldn't expect his mother to advance further; he only hoped that the wife he married would not be a woman who only focused on domestic matters and knew nothing else.
Therefore, he would rather spend more time and energy choosing a good marriage for himself, so as not to regret it too late after marrying into the family and finding out that the marriage was not good.
Back in the front yard, he asked his attendants, "Have you found out everything?"
"Yes," the attendant replied. "After leaving the palace, Lord Zhang returned to the Court of Judicial Review. Mister Kumu went to Beining to paint. According to his gatekeeper, someone from the palace just summoned his master to the palace, and his family has already sent someone to Beining to fetch him. He should be back soon."
"Then let's go to the Court of Judicial Review first. Have someone wait for you in front of the Kang Residence. When Mister Kumu returns home from the palace, come and report to him," Fu Yunkai said.
Logically, he should first apologize to Mister Kumu, and then go to the Court of Judicial Review to apologize to Zhang Changshen. But now he can only do it the other way around.
Deep down, he was unwilling to apologize to Zhang Changshen. Putting aside the natural antagonism between civil and military officials, the fact that Zhang Changshen had gone to the emperor to sow discord between the Marquis of Pingnan's Residence and the emperor made Fu Yunkai dislike Zhang Changshen.
But what could he do when Fu Yunlang was so ignorant and verbally abusive towards Zhang Changshen? Now he had no choice but to act subservient in front of him.
As for whipping Fu Yunlang beforehand, it was his way of showing Zhang Changshen and Mister Kumu his attitude. Punishing first and then apologizing showed more sincerity.