Before Wen Heyu could figure out how to handle the situation, a young dandy stepped forward and slung an arm around his shoulder, his eyes and brows brimming with glee.
He had long been dissatisfied with Wen Heyu. Given this opportunity, how could he resist taking the chance to mock him?
"Brother Wen, look at you. You're as elegant as a jade tree and as talented as can be. But why is the family member you've brought so out of place? Is she your wife from the countryside who just arrived in the capital and doesn't know the rules? You should have told me about this problem earlier. I could have sent the nannies from my mansion to your place to teach her a thing or two, so as not to let your wife make such a fool of herself."
The smile on Wen Heyu's lips finally couldn't hold up. It twitched a few times, and he quickly denied, "No, no, no... She's not..."
"Brother Wen, don't decline," the man didn't give Wen Heyu a chance to defend himself and continued, "Why is your wife wearing a veil? Is she ugly? But no matter how ugly she is, she's still your first wife. Why do you need to hide her like this?"
"How about... asking your wife to take off the veil so that we can get a look at the true appearance of the wife of the third-place finisher in the imperial examination!"
With this man's words, the onlookers around also chimed in one after another.
But the "Shen Linyi" at the table seemed not to hear the teasing of others and still ate heartily.
Wen Heyu felt a blackout in front of his eyes. Judging from Shen Linyi's eating manner, he could guess that even if the face under the veil was as beautiful as a goddess, it must have been completely ruined by these greasy dishes.
Moreover, he had never seen the appearance of Shen Linyi under the veil. What if she was extremely ugly? Wouldn't it be a complete embarrassment?
Thinking of this, Wen Heyu was even more determined not to let others see Shen Linyi's face under the veil.
"You're overstating it. That person is not my wife. Please don't misunderstand. She's just the daughter of a servant in my family..."
"Is that the benefactor who sponsored you for the imperial examination? I've heard you talk about it before. I'm sure you, Young Master Wen, are a person who will repay kindness generously. You won't treat your benefactor badly, right?"
Liu Jingxian spoke up in time. She wasn't going to let Wen Heyu know so soon that the person wasn't Shen Linyi.
When Wen Heyu heard Liu Jingxian speak, a cold sweat broke out on his back instantly, and he immediately regretted it.
At that time, he shouldn't have blabbed about being sponsored by someone just to leave an impression on Liu Jingxian that he was still unyielding in the face of difficulties.
Moreover, in order to make Liu Jingxian quickly accept that he was going to take Shen Linyi as a concubine, he also said that the person who sponsored him was an embroideress from his hometown in the south of the Yangtze River and that he must repay her kindness.
Now he was really in a difficult situation.
If he denied it, Wen Heyu was afraid that with Shen Linyi's personality, he didn't know what else she would say at the banquet.
The third-place finisher in the imperial examination, who was as eloquent as a lotus in the examination hall, was suddenly speechless and didn't know how to answer.
He was reluctant to give up the help from Liu Jingxian's family, and he was also reluctant to give up the alluring appearance under Shen Linyi's veil. He wanted to enjoy the blessings of having two wives, and for a moment, he really found it hard to make a choice.
And Shen Linyi stood not far away, looking at Wen Heyu's long - maintained hypocritical mask cracking bit by bit with amusement. The smile under her veil grew wider. Liuyun beside her even clapped her hands and shouted that it was really satisfying.
Moreover, the noble ladies who had already learned about Wen Heyu's true nature from Liu Jingxian also joined in the fun.
"I heard that Young Master Wen wants to force his benefactor to be his concubine. I wonder if it's true?"
"I've heard about it too. No decent woman would want to be a concubine. It seems that this Young Master Wen is really repaying kindness with ingratitude."
"If the scholar I sponsored passed the imperial examination and then said he wanted to take me as his concubine, with my personality, I would definitely beat him up to vent my anger."
"Exactly..."
In this dynasty, the social atmosphere was open. There were countless female officials in the court, and there were also independent female households in the folk. Therefore, the noble ladies dared to discuss so boldly.
As women, they understood better the hardships of women. Even though there were female officials in the court, there were still many women trapped in the inner courtyard, still bound by the concepts of chastity, innocence, and the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues.
So when they learned that Wen Heyu wanted to force his benefactor to be his concubine, they were so angry.
The surrounding discussions made Wen Heyu feel like he was on fire. He didn't know how this matter had spread and how these noble ladies had learned about it.
He first looked at Shen Linyi, who was still gobbling down food, and then shook his head. Shen Linyi had been staying in the Jingxin Nunnery and had no connections at all. How could she have let these noble ladies know the news?
After that, he cast a suspicious look at Lao Bo beside him. Lao Bo had been with him for a long time, and Lao Bo knew all his affairs.
Maybe Lao Bo had accidentally let it slip to the servants, and then the servants had spread it out one by one, which was how these people had found out.
After thinking about it, this seemed to be the only possibility.
But in any case, he was already on the spot. If he didn't clarify, it might have a bad impact on his future marriage.
So he quickly opened his mouth and wanted to defend himself, "Everyone has misunderstood. There's no such thing..."
"You're such a person, Young Master Wen," Liu Jingxian spoke up again. Her expression was exaggerated and her tone was intense, stopping Wen Heyu from saying what he wanted to say.
Seeing Liu Jingxian looking at him like he was a scumbag, Wen Heyu became even more anxious and desperately wanted to explain.
But Liu Jingxian pretended not to hear anything and turned around and left.
The noble ladies who were still watching also gave Wen Heyu a few disgusted looks and followed Liu Jingxian away.
When the others saw that the excitement was over, they no longer gathered here. They left in groups of twos and threes. But as they walked, they still looked back, and the teasing looks landed on Wen Heyu, which was more painful than being executed by slow slicing.
When the young dandy was leaving, he even sighed loudly, "The Jinshi these days are really getting worse and worse every year. When I get back, I must tell my father to have a good talk with the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and examine the characters of the Jinshi before appointing them to official positions."
These words completely made Wen Heyu's heart sink into an ice cellar.
His fists under his sleeves were tightly clenched, and his fingernails dug into his palms.
Lao Bo didn't even dare to breathe loudly beside him. After the crowd had dispersed, he carefully opened his mouth, "Young Master... What should we do now?"
Wen Heyu hung his head. Lao Bo couldn't see Wen Heyu's expression, but he could feel the anger emanating from Wen Heyu's whole body.
"What should we do?"
"You're asking me what to do now?"
Wen Heyu suddenly raised his head, his eyes were fierce, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Lao Bo was like looking at a dead man.
Lao Bo was just about to defend himself, but the next second, he only felt a pain on his cheek, and his head was knocked to the side.
He opened his eyes wide, as if in disbelief.
His young master... had slapped him.
"Young Master..."
Wen Heyu shook his slightly numb palm from the force and gritted his teeth. His voice seemed to leak out from the depths of his throat, "Lao Bo, if it weren't for the fact that you've served my family for many years and been loyal, I would never let you off for today's matter."
Lao Bo didn't dare to look Wen Heyu in the eye directly. His heart was extremely complicated. There was annoyance, anger, but more of it was disbelief.
He had watched Wen Heyu grow up from a babbling toddler to the elegant third - place finisher in the imperial examination.
He had thought that he could live a good life after Wen Heyu passed the imperial examination. Who would have thought that the child he had watched grow up had changed.
He had become hypocritical and cruel, unfeeling, and completely unrecognizable...