Doctoring the World Chapter 1 Part 2/2

Translated by: Naervan

Edited by: Sin

[EN: Wow this chapter was hard for Nae and me. Like no idea what was going on half the time but somehow we managed it lol. >.<]

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After hearing this, Hu XiaoTian’s expression suddenly became very gloomy and depressed. In Da Kang, there was no such thing as a romantic love between husband and wives, and the parents were the matchmakers and absolute decision wielders when it came to marriage. Although this was not as free as a romantic marriage, there was also a good side to this. In Da Kang, polygamy was legal. As long as you have enough money, you can have as many wives as you desired. This was a time where powerful individuals were respected, and as long as you had enough power and strength, you could have all the land, resources, gold, houses, and beautiful women that you wanted…

Arranging marriages between babies was a popular thing to do in Da Kang, and it involved matching the social status between families. People such as Hu XiaoTian, who were children of officials, were like hotcakes – they were in extremely high demand. When he had only been in his mother’s belly for three months, his wedding had already been set. The family of his fiancee was ZhouRuiYuan, a former first rank official whom had been directly serving under Da Kang’s Right Prime Minister, the Crown Prince, and the Imperial Tutor. They were from the Imperial Academy and were employed as the Imperial tutor of the Crown Prince and were also able to talk on the same level with those who were of higher rank. They were one of the dynasty’s upper pillars, and very celebrated figures in the Da Kang. For the Hu Family, this was akin to marrying up the ladder. Even though Hu BuWei held great financial power, he was only a third rank official. Just as Hu XiaoTian had turned two, other families caught wind that the Hu Family’s Young Master was a retard. As such, Hu BuWei was forced to cancel the engagement without any hesitation.

The power gap between a two ranks, even with only one rank of difference, could oppress a person to the point of death. Hu BuWei didn’t dare say anything in front of a first rank official, and could only subserviently cancel the marriage, all while smiling and apologizing, despite hating the ZhouRuiYuan family to his very bones. Three years ago, the east palace’s Crown Prince, Long YeLin, was crippled due to losing favor, and as the Crown Prince’s Imperial Tutor, the Zhou Family could not avoid getting involved. Of course, Hu BuWei wouldn’t let go of such a great opportunity to throw stones at the one who had fallen in the well, and so he followed in the footsteps of other officials and proceeded to ruthlessly participate in the robbing of this bastard’s assets. This directly caused the Zhou Family’s demotion to commoner status, and at long last, Hu BuWei could finally vent the frustrations that had settled in his chest.

Although the news that Hu XiaoTian is an idiot is known throughout all of the capital, the amount of people coming to apply for a marriage between their daughters and Hu XiaoTian did not decrease. Of course, they were all lower ranked officials. Nobody really desired to give their daughter to an idiot, and only valued the power and authority that Hu BuWei held as the Minister of Financial Affairs.

As an experienced official who had held a position for many years, Hu BuWei could easily see through the intentions of these people. Although he was an expert in the art of currying favor, he despised those who were like him the most, down to the very depths of his heart. As such, he rejected all of them. Even though his son was a retard, he would not allow him to be taken advantage of. As a result, this situation had come about over the course of time in which Hu XiaoTian remained single at the age of 16, with no marriage in sight.

Hu BuWei had originally thought that he had to feed and raise this idiotic son for the rest of his life. Due to the natural aptitude of his son, it was obviously hopeless to expect anything great for him. At least under his care, his son would be able to live in a carefree manner and enjoy life to its fullest. Hu BuWei was not someone without ambitions, but no matter how big ambitions can become, it still needs to lower itself in the face of reality.

Hu XiaoTian’s sudden awakening gave Hu BuWei a pleasant surprise, and at the same time, released the wild ambitions that he had locked up deep inside his heart. He quickly arranged a marriage between Hu XiaoTian and the daughter of the Jian NanXi province’s governor. The family head was known as the Glorious Grand Master, and was the Head of the Ministry of Warfare. He possessed great speaking power, and administered his own prefecture. With over three thousand households, his name was Li TianHeng. Although he was also only a third ranked official in Da Kang, he was a legitimate border official and possessed the deep trust of the current Crown Prince, Long YeQing. The day after the Crown Prince gained the throne would be the day that Li TianHeng rises up. Hu BuWei, as someone who lived in the court, was extremely familiar with the way the court operates and had a deep understanding of court history. As a result, he knew how to handle opportunities like this, watch the trend, and predict the future. Hu BuWei took the initiative to arrange the marriages between their two families precisely due to this matter.

In actuality, Hu BuWei had already hinted towards this much earlier, but the arranged marriage had been fake and only the alliance was real. The Li Family’s daughter was paralyzed, and rumors had it that she was ugly beyond words. Even so, Li TianHeng did not wish to pair his daughter with a retard.

The paper marriage allowed Hu XiaoTian to realize that his unrealistic fantasies were merely that – fantasies. To marry someone who he does not even know the appearance of, and one with a paralyzed lower body as well as rumored to be ugly beyond words… Was there even any fortune to speak of?

So when Liang DaZhuang mentioned this matter, Hu XiaoTian immediately became unhappy. He sighed and said, “It’s best not to not mention it!”

Liang DaZhuang looked very dumb, but his brain was not so.  He was actually very skilled at observing a person’s mood, else he wouldn’t have been able to become a servant of the Hu Family and take on heavy responsibilities such as becoming Hu XiaoTian’s personal servant. He could see that Hu XiaoTian’s mood wasn’t the best and so he said cautiously, “Young master, today’s weather is great. How about we go outside for a walk and relieve some of your boredom?”

Hu XiaoTian nodded and said, “Good suggestion!”

The Ministry of Finance’s noble son, despite not needing people to beat the drums and clear the way with heralds announcing his presence, needed for others to shout and yell everywhere so that people’s attention would focus on him. Other than Liang DaZhuang, there were three other servants accompanying him. All of them were wearing black clothes and a small cap as they walked with their heads held up high behind Hu XiaoTian. They bluffed as hard as they could while under the presence of their Young Master. It was a great example of a fox pretending to be a tiger in order to scare the dog. As a third rank official’s servant, they were at least comparable to a ninth ranked official in terms of authority. Their ego was enormous.

 

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