Meanwhile, Yan Yonghe and Qian Hong followed Secretary Fu and his entourage out of Yan Xiaoyu’s shop and turned into a teahouse.

After settling into a private room, Secretary Fu turned a stern face toward Yan Yonghe: “The Magistrate holds Yan Shaoxuan in high regard—he even intends to marry his third daughter to him. I advise you not to cross him.”

Yan Yonghe clenched his fist, his fingernails digging into his palm, yet his expression remained humble: “Xiucai Yan was this year’s top scholar in the imperial examinations. I admire his erudition and merely wish to take him as a role model to spur myself on—I have no intention of opposing him. Today’s incident was entirely a coincidence; like you, I had no idea the Yan family owned half of this shop.”

“That is for the best.” Secretary Fu gave him a deep look. “The Magistrate judges by appearances. Yan Shaoxuan is handsome, and his scholarship is second to none; winning the Magistrate’s favor is far easier for him than it is for us.”

“Besides, he’s Master Luo’s top disciple. Master Luo may be out of commission now, but he’s taught so many students—who knows, perhaps one of them is in a high ranking position now. If something happens to Yan Shaoxuan, Master Luo will certainly find a way to help him out.”

At this point, Secretary Fu spoke with a touch of frustration: “You, Yan Shaoxuan, are fellow villagers. You even entered the county academy before him—how is it that you never managed to become a disciple of Master Luo?”

Yan Yonghe’s eyes grew cold; his heart ached so much it felt as if it might bleed.

He was always being compared to Yan Shaoxuan. He used to be the undisputed leader in Xiling Village, but ever since Yan Shaoxuan appeared, everything had changed.

Even those crude villagers who couldn’t read a single character dared to use Yan Shaoxuan to belittle him, as if Yan Shaoxuan’s victory over him meant they, too, had triumphed over him..

Master Luo criticized him for lacking pure intentions, but he had grown up in the countryside. Aside from a grandfather who was a poor scholar—one who despised the poor and looked down on others—and an uncle who had studied himself into a stupor, he had nothing. To have achieved what he had today was the result of giving it his all.

If he possessed Yan Shaoxuan’s natural talent, had a great scholar like Master Luo to guide him, and had the magistrate’s son eagerly seeking his favor, he too would devote himself wholeheartedly to his studies. Why would he need to flatter and curry favor with others at every turn?

At first, Magistrate Ji had simply looked favorably upon Yan Shaoxuan, but this time, even though he had clearly taken the initiative, Magistrate Zhong still favored Yan Shaoxuan more. Even though Yan Shaoxuan had already refused, Magistrate Zhong still wanted his own daughter to marry Yan Shaoxuan.

As for him, he could only carefully curry favor with Secretary Fu’s daughter, destined to be nothing more than the son-in-law of Magistrate Zhong’s subordinate.

How could he not be filled with hatred?

But no matter how jealous he felt inside, he couldn’t show it on his face. And now, the only person he could climb the social ladder through was Secretary Fu.

Yan Yonghe put on a helpless expression and smiled wryly. “I heard that the essay by Scholar Yan that caught Master Luo’s eye was actually found by his young granddaughter, who showed it to her grandfather. Perhaps I simply lack a bit of luck.”

“Oh?” Secretary Fu looked somewhat surprised. “Yan Shaoxuan doesn’t even have time for the magistrate’s son. I thought he wasn’t the type to climb the social ladder by attaching himself to the powerful, but it turns out he’s been climbing a different kind of ladder.”

Yan Yonghe looked innocent. “Perhaps we’re reading too much into it. Maybe Master Luo’s granddaughter was just reading his essay.”

Secretary Fu scoffed, “Hah! How studious can a young lady really be? Yan Shaoxuan certainly has a face that’s worth something; it’s only natural that the girl would be charmed by him.”

He tugged at the corner of his mouth and shot Yan Yonghe a scornful glance. “I know exactly what’s going on in your little mind. No need to play the innocent in front of me.”

Yan Yonghe’s heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat broke out on his brow.

Secretary Fu didn’t press the matter further; he merely sighed. “That young man was quite handsome today. I had actually planned to present him to the county magistrate as a birthday gift, but it’s a pity that Yan Shaoxuan is so obviously protecting him. If I push this too hard, I’m afraid he’ll make things public.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Yonghe and Qian Hong both looked taken aback.

“Never mind,” Secretary Fu waved his hand. “I have business at the county office. I’ll be taking my leave. You two should hurry and secure the shop within the next few days.”

His gaze swept over Qian Hong and Yan Yonghe in turn, his tone laden with meaning: “I know nothing of your business and won’t meddle in it, but you must deliver every last bit of what was agreed upon to me. Otherwise, it won’t just be me—I’ll have a hard time explaining myself to the magistrate as well.”

Yan Yonghe and Qian Hong nodded repeatedly. “Rest assured, Sir. It is our honor that this venture has met with your approval and that of the Magistrate. We would never dare to cut corners.”

Secretary Fu nodded in satisfaction, and the soldiers he had brought with him departed.

Only after he had left did Qian Hong dare to voice his complaints.

“We were this close to snatching that shop from Yan Xiaoyu—that Yan guy really picked the worst possible time!” Qian Hong still seethed as he recalled the earlier incident. “Yan Shaoxuan has only just passed the Xiucai exam; it’s not even certain he’ll pass the provincial exam. Why on earth is Secretary Fu so afraid of him?”

Yan Yonghe looked pensive and said nothing.

Qian Hong went on and on: “We even hired Secretary Fu as our legal advisor, but he couldn’t do a thing against them. I’m afraid Yan Xiaoyu has to be ruined! He’s been working against me time and time again, causing Uncle Wu to be locked up by the county magistrate’s men for so long and subjected to torture, and forcing me to spend a huge sum of silver. Yet all I managed to do was ruin his stall in town—he got off easy!”

“No, I still won’t accept this!” He slammed his fist on the table in frustration. “Brother, if Secretary Fu is useless, can’t you get the Magistrate to step in and deal with Yan Xiaoyu?”

Hearing this, Yan Yonghe finally snapped out of it: “Didn’t you hear what Secretary Fu just said?”

“The Magistrate has a fondness for striking looks. If we get him to deal with Yan Xiaoyu, aren’t you afraid we’ll end up ‘losing more than we gain’?” He snorted. “Let’s wait a bit longer. There’s no need to rush.”

Qian Hong felt a surge of frustration welling up inside him. After a moment’s thought, he said, “If Yan Xiaoyu is someone we offered up, the magistrate shouldn’t go after us just because of him, right? I get the feeling that Yan girl has caught his eye. If we can break them up, that’ll be payback for me!”

Yan Yonghe was taken aback by what he heard.

Judging by Yan Shaoxuan’s behavior on these two occasions, he must be infatuated with Yan Xiaoyu—and likely quite deeply so.

If Yan Xiaoyu were to be taken from him, he would surely be crushed. He might even lose all hope, fall into despair, and fail the provincial exams!

At this thought, Yan Yonghe’s finger trembled slightly; his heart raced, and his blood began to boil.

The problem now was how to persuade Secretary Fu. After all, it was Secretary Fu who had first conceived the plan; this matter could not be carried out without his approval.