Chapter 33
Chapter 33
A short while later, Mulan set the table with the rice and side dishes she had brought. She was the precious daughter of the Count's Estate, and Shen Lang was the live-in son-in-law, yet she had never once put on airs in front of him. Aside from not sharing a bed, she fulfilled her duties as a wife flawlessly.
"Husband, they say your older brother's life is no longer in danger. Physician An said he should wake up in two or three days."
"Wife, let me correct you again. He is Big Dummy, not my older brother."
"He's Big Dummy, and you're a little dummy. Aren't you brothers?"
Shen Lang said nothing.
‘Alright, you’re beautiful, and you’re a 75E. Whatever you say is right!’
Watching Shen Lang eat, Mulan asked.
"Husband, how did Big Dummy get hurt? Why hadn't he been treated until now? Physician An said he wouldn't have made it if he'd been found just a few hours later."
Shen Lang told Mulan about how he had come across Big Dummy. Mulan became very angry and said.
"How despicable! A father like that is worse than a beast! Husband, rest assured. The Count's Estate will take responsibility for Big Dummy's treatment. And if you take him with you from now on, he will always have a full stomach."
Shen Lang stopped his chopsticks and looked at her gently.
"Wife, thank you."
Mulan felt a little uncomfortable under Shen Lang's gaze and changed the subject.
"Husband, what were you doing earlier?"
"My father-in-law has confined me. He said the confinement will be lifted only when I have memorized all of the *Jin Clan Family Maxims*."
"Memorizing that book was a nightmare for every child of the Jin Clan. It took me a full 23 days to memorize it all."
Jin Mulan spoke with pride, as her record was the best among the Jin Clan's children in several decades, but then her expression turned serious.
"Do you need to go out urgently, Husband?"
Shen Lang had to go see Tian Heng tomorrow. If he failed to appear before Tian Heng, his own credibility would be shattered.
"I'll go to Father and ask him to lift your confinement."
Shen Lang smiled and shook his head.
"No, that's alright. Doing so might undermine my father-in-law's authority."
His father-in-law was a truly good person, and Shen Lang wanted to consider his position. Jin Mulan looked at Shen Lang for a moment and said.
"Then you must study the maxims well in the study. I'll bring you your meals and a change of clothes. As for Tian Heng, please don't worry too much. When the opportunity arises, I will surely clear your name."
"Thank you, Wife."
Although he said thank you, he knew he had to take revenge himself. It was enough to have borrowed the Count's Estate's prestige. If the estate even carried out his revenge for him, he would truly become a worthless man.
* * *
Left alone in the room, Shen Lang slowly began to turn the pages. He was literally just turning the pages. His actions didn't look like memorization, but rather like he was taking a picture of each page. That was right. Shen Lang was taking pictures with his eyes. The laptop computer inside his body served as an intelligent brain, and his eyes were no different from a camera. A single serious look was enough to perfectly record the information onto the computer.
The fifty thousand characters of the *Jin Clan Family Maxims* spanned about two hundred pages. But Shen Lang memorized it all in just one hour.
The Count had taken 33 days to memorize the maxims, and Mulan had taken 23. The heir of the Count's Estate had still not managed to memorize it.
Shen Lang's record would surely be unprecedented. Shen Lang lay comfortably on the bed in the study, debating whether to go to his father-in-law now and pretend he had just finished memorizing it, or to go first thing in the morning.
‘It’s probably better to go first thing in the morning.’
A man has to have some conscience. Going now to such a good man as his father-in-law would be a thoughtless act, disregarding the Count's pride in his and Mulan's records. Still, he was curious to see the Count's expression when he found out.
"Sigh, just how long am I supposed to sleep alone? This is far too lonely a bed for a married man. When will I finally get to share a bed with a beautiful, fragrant woman? It’s hard to fall asleep like this. The thought of every night being like this... that's a special kind of torment."
He grumbled and complained, but it wasn't long before Shen Lang was sound asleep. The sound of his snoring from inside reached the ears of Jin Zhong, who was standing guard outside the door. Jin Zhong felt a surge of contempt.
‘What time is it? It’s not even nine o’clock! Don’t tell me he went to bed without even trying to study? Even our own young master, who’s rumored to be a fool, studies late into the night. At this rate, when will he ever memorize the *Jin Clan Family Maxims*? He'll be in this study for a year. A truly worthless man can't be helped!’
* * *
In the Count's chambers, the Count's voice could be heard.
"I think that boy, Shen Lang, is a decent person. He doesn't seem as uneducated and untalented as the rumors suggest. While he may still be a bit frivolous and unrefined, he seems like a good kid at heart. At the very least, I'm a good judge of character. Of course, no matter how good-hearted he is, his recklessness cannot be overlooked. He must be taught properly. That's why I confined him, to prevent him from going out and causing a ruckus."
The Countess said in a gentle voice.
"Confinement? He just joined our estate as a live-in son-in-law. If you punish him so soon, won't he resent you in his heart?"
"No, he won't. I've tasked him with memorizing the *Jin Clan Family Maxims* and promised to lift the confinement once he's done. Only members of the clan are qualified to memorize the maxims, so this shows I don't consider him an outsider."
"My lord, you still have a knack for clever plans."
The Count said with a laugh.
"No matter how wild and reckless a young man is, he can always be tamed by propriety and education. Just you wait. He'll be lucky to get out of that study in fifty days. Not a moment before."
"But you never know. Everyone says he's uneducated and untalented, but on the wedding day, he knew his characters well enough to defeat Zhang Chunhua. He might be even more amazing than you and memorize it all in less than a month."
The Count shook his head.
"That's impossible. It's not just an empty boast when I say it took me 33 days. Shen Lang will take at least a month and a half. Even if he's not as foolish as the rumors say and is actually intelligent, it's no easy task. And how could he possibly be more intelligent than me?"
As the Count finished speaking with a faint smile, a cunning glint appeared in the Countess's beautiful eyes.
"You never know. He seemed very clever to me. Perhaps he will beat you. I'm also a good judge of character, you know. Or shall we make a bet?"
The Countess was approaching her forties this year, yet she still possessed a stunning beauty. Especially today, with a flirtatious look in her eyes, she looked just as she had in her youth, and the Count gazed at her with immense affection.
"My lord, if Shen Lang beats you, then the next time we have our private time, you'll be on the bottom, and I'll be on top."
At her suddenly provocative words, the Count's face instantly flushed crimson. How could a dignified Countess say something so brazen? Where was her decorum? Where was her decorum? The Count said.
"How can such brazen words come from the mouth of a lady from a prestigious family like you? That is too undignified!"
"Hmph! What can't a husband and wife say to each other under the covers? Your thinking is so old-fashioned. So, are you going to avoid the bet? Besides, it's more fun when the woman is on top, being active and taking the lead."
The Count's ears turned red as he said.
"Th-that is a reversal of yin and yang! Absurd! Simply absurd!"
"Let's set the time limit at one month. If Shen Lang memorizes the *Jin Clan Family Maxims* in exactly one month, we'll call it a draw. But for every day he finishes before the month is up, I get to be on top once. If he finishes two days early, I get to be on top twice."
The Count was adamant.
"Absurd, simply absurd…"
"Then it's settled. They say the man handles the outside affairs and the woman handles the inside affairs. If I can't even decide a small matter like this, what's the point of being someone's wife?"
"Wife, that's not what 'the man handles outside affairs and the woman handles inside affairs' means."
"My lord, are you now showing off how well-read you are even to me?"
"I did no such thing."
The Countess got out of bed, dressed, and left the room. Feeling a sudden emptiness as his wife left the covers, the Count spoke without thinking.
"Where are you going?"
He missed the warmth and happiness of the blankets where his wife had been.
"Our son-in-law must be struggling, pulling an all-nighter to study. I'm going to make him some walnut and lotus leaf porridge to help nourish his mind."
An hour later, the walnut and lotus leaf porridge was ready. The Countess placed it in a food container and went to deliver it to Shen Lang herself.
* * *
When she arrived at the study, the lamp inside was still brightly lit. The Countess thought to herself.
‘We really have a good son-in-law. To be studying so hard at this late hour.’
The rumors that Shen Lang was uneducated, untalented, and only liked to fool around were truly absurd.
"Greetings, Your Ladyship, the Countess."
Seeing the Countess, Jin Zhong was startled and immediately knelt to greet her.
"Seeing the lamp still lit, our son-in-law must be working hard studying inside. I've brought some walnut and lotus leaf porridge to help with his hunger."
Jin Zhong looked troubled as he said.
"The Young Master-in-law is already asleep."
Upon hearing this, the mother-in-law was even more troubled.
"When did he fall asleep?"
"He fell asleep before nine o'clock."
So, he was even lazier than her own son? Her son, despite his shortcomings, was at least diligent enough to study late into the night every day. But this…
‘So the rumors about him loving to fool around and being uneducated and untalented were true after all?’
The Countess, furious, silently cursed to herself and turned back. She was worried she would lose her bet with her husband miserably.
"Is Shen Lang still studying? Tell him to go to bed early. What if he strains his eyes?"
The Countess, thoroughly annoyed, said sullenly.
"He apparently fell asleep before nine."
Falling asleep before nine o'clock was just too much. The Count said, his voice filled with anger.
"An uneducated, untalented, idle vagrant, just as they said! At this rate, he won't be able to memorize it even in two months. I'll have to teach him a lesson myself tomorrow."
Despite his outwardly angry appearance, the Count was smiling inwardly.
‘My dear wife, it seems you are going to lose. The natural order of yin and yang between us will not be reversed.’
* * *
The sun rose, and Shen Lang naturally opened his eyes. Then, the sight of the Count's cold face entered his vision.
"Shen Lang, is this behavior of yours a sign of your dissatisfaction with my order?"
Shen Lang got up and bowed to the Count without the slightest neglect.
"How could that be? My respect for you, Father-in-law, is far deeper than a flowing river."
"I told you to memorize the *Jin Clan Family Maxims* because I wanted you to become a proper man. Yet you went to bed early without even studying. If that isn't a display of dissatisfaction towards me, what is?"
"Father-in-law, it seems there's been a misunderstanding. The reason I went to bed early is that I had already finished memorizing it."
For a moment, the Count was so angry that he trembled all over.
"Now you dare to lie to my face? Have you lost your mind? It took me a month to memorize it, and Mulan, who is naturally gifted, took 23 days. And you claim to have memorized it all in one night? Just how foolish do you think I am that you can spout such nonsense? Do you take me for a three-year-old child?"
Facing the Count's fury, Shen Lang quickly shook his head and replied.
"Father-in-law, I really have memorized it all. How would I dare lie to you? If you truly do not believe my words, why don't you test me yourself?"