Chapter 25: The Audacious Yingxia

"I am the one who wrote this story!" Chen Fan said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Su Wenqi stared at Chen Fan in complete shock. "This... the story of the Monkey King was really written by you?" she asked, finding it hard to believe. In her impression, Chen Fan was just a penniless young man; how could he possibly be literate? Moreover, the calligraphy was excellent, as if he had decades of experience.

"It is absolutely true," Chen Fan said, taking her surprise as a matter of course. Internally, he could only offer a silent apology to Old Wu.

Having received confirmation, Su Wenqi studied Chen Fan with curiosity. This young man had given her so many surprises; what else was there about him that she did not know?

"Don't look at me like that, or people will get the wrong idea," Chen Fan said with a laugh.

It was a joke, but to Su Wenqi, it caused a flush of red to spread across her face. Images of the intimate night they had shared began to surface in her mind, making her blush even more deeply.

"You... don't talk nonsense. I'm taking this book to show Lanlan," Su Wenqi said nervously. With that, she turned and hurried away as if in flight.

Watching her retreating figure, Chen Fan felt a complex mix of emotions. He did not know how to face her. If she were an ordinary woman, he would have swept her off her feet that night. After all, the Great Xia dynasty practiced polygamy, and his wives, Yingchun and Yingxia, had been urging him to take more spouses. However, Su Wenqi’s status was special. Although she had no blood relation to the Su family, in the eyes of society, she was the aunt of Yingchun and Yingxia. This left Chen Fan feeling conflicted.

"Young Master Chen, the new batch has sold out again. We need to print more!" Guo Hua rushed over, looking excited. He had even changed his address for Chen Fan to "Young Master Chen." In Guo Hua's eyes, Chen Fan was like a cornucopia of wealth. The money he had earned following Chen Fan over the past few days exceeded what he used to make in an entire month. More importantly, Chen Fan always had fresh ideas for making money. Take this book sale, for instance—Guo Hua had never been optimistic about it, but he never expected it to be so profitable. Even though he only took a ten percent cut, it was still a substantial amount.

"Then print some more. I suspect there will be even more people tomorrow," Chen Fan said with a smile. He was quite satisfied with Guo Hua; though the man was a bit sly, he was efficient and clever in his work.

By evening, Chen Fan returned home carrying a large sack of silver.

"My heavens, Husband, how do you have so much money?" Yingchun and Yingxia looked at the large sack of silver, eyeing Chen Fan with curiosity.

"This is the money from the book sales today. It totals three thousand four hundred and twenty taels," Chen Fan said with a smile.

Hearing this, the sisters were even more astonished. They never imagined that selling books could earn such a fortune.

"Husband, I believe you will surely surpass the Su family within a year," the sisters said happily. "Then we'll see what Mother has to say about you."

One could only wonder what Su Yi and Wang Wei would think if they saw their daughters siding with an outsider.

"Don't you think you should reward your husband?" Chen Fan asked with a mischievous grin.

Seeing that smile, the sisters both looked a bit fearful.

"Husband, why don't you find us... no, wait, you should find at least two more sisters for us!" Yingxia said earnestly. "You are just too powerful; my sister and I can hardly handle it."

Yingchun blushed and nodded in agreement.

Being pressured by his own wives to find more women, Chen Fan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Husband, Aunt has been alone for many years. Why don't you bring her over? At least that way, the 'fertile water' won't flow into outsiders' fields!" Yingxia said seriously. "I saw her bathing when I was a child; her figure is much better than ours."

At these words, Yingchun’s expression changed instantly. "Yingxia, shut your mouth! Some things should not be said!" Yingchun rebuked, her face darkening. Yingxia’s words were far too bold; if an outsider heard them, they would surely call her shameless. More importantly, Yingchun worried that Chen Fan might misunderstand Yingxia as a woman who disregarded social morals.

What Yingchun didn't know was that Chen Fan actually quite enjoyed what Yingxia had just said.

"Sister, I'm just telling the truth!" Yingxia insisted. "Look at Aunt, she's been alone for so long, she must be so lonely..."

"Yingxia, be quiet! Don't say another word," Yingchun interrupted, blushing deeply. Yingxia felt indignant.

"Husband, tell me, am I right? Aunt must be so lonely after all this time. Why not let her come and serve you with us?" Yingxia asked, looking at Chen Fan defiantly.

This put Chen Fan in a difficult spot.

"Let's talk about that another time. Tonight, let us explore the mysteries of the body," Chen Fan said ambiguously. With that, he lunged toward the sisters, and the room was soon filled with the sounds of their intimacy.

The next day, just as Chen Fan had predicted, the crowd queuing to buy books was much larger than the day before, with many people traveling from neighboring counties.

Zhao Da, the magistrate of Dongyang County, arrived outside the city early in the morning with his officials. Along with him, Chen Hao and several other scholars were also dressed in their finest, having arrived early. Today was the day the Imperial Academy was to visit Dongyang County to examine the students.

Chen Hao and the others looked nervous. Magistrate Zhao Da, however, frowned as he looked at the handful of scholars. "Why are there only a few of you? Where are the others? Did I not say I wanted a larger turnout?" the magistrate asked, dissatisfied. In previous years, when the Imperial Academy came to examine the students, the area would be packed with scholars; this year, there were only a few.

"Reporting to the Magistrate, the other scholars are all in line to buy books," Chen Hao replied respectfully.

"Buy books? What kind of sage's classics could be more important than welcoming the scholars from the Imperial Academy?" Zhao Da asked, puzzled.

"Reporting to the Magistrate, they are not books of sages, but storybooks," Chen Hao replied.

Hearing this, Zhao Da was incensed. "Hmph! These scholars are queuing to buy storybooks? It seems the academic atmosphere in our Dongyang County is deteriorating," he fumed. "Go and bring them here at once! The officials from the Imperial Academy are about to arrive."

A secretary standing nearby stepped forward. "Reporting to the Magistrate, I already sent men to summon the scholars, but none of them would come. They said that since the Imperial Academy won't select them anyway, they might as well spend their time buying storybooks."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Da was even angrier, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't exactly drag them there by force. He could only pray that the officials from the Imperial Academy wouldn't blame him for this.

Not far from Dongyang County, a carriage was approaching. Surrounding the carriage were many scholars, who were rushing toward the county with such speed that they were actually faster than the carriage itself.

"Hongwei, why are these students in such a rush to get to Dongyang County?" asked an elderly man with a white beard and a scholarly appearance, sitting inside the carriage.

The young man next to him was Zhao Hongwei, the magistrate’s son. The elderly man was Liu Mou, a Libationer of the Imperial Academy, who was in charge of the assessment.

"Reporting to Libationer Liu, these scholars have likely heard of your arrival in Dongyang County, and they all wish to see a man of your stature!" Zhao Hongwei said respectfully.

Liu Mou felt pleased, but he put on a displeased expression. "What is there to see in an old man like me? They would be better off using this time to read more books so they can contribute to the nation!" the Libationer said, feigning dissatisfaction.