CH 64

Ban Hua didn’t expect to hear such rumour when she was out for a bowl of noodles. To think that Xie Wanyu had ridiculed her as a husband-curse for losing her engagements three times, perhaps Xie Wanyu never expected there was a day when she would also become the target of wild speculation.

To hear her grandmother dragged into this, Ban Hua frowned.

That person at the next table spoke dramatically with the others adding flavours from time to time. They said there was an inauspicious omen in the sky at the time Xie Wanyu was born, her bazi was too harsh that the previous Zhongping couple were harmed to death by her, as evidenced by how they died of illness one after another in the three years after her birth.

* 生辰八字 = Bazi / Four Pillars of Destiny. Chinese astrological concept that a person’s destiny or fate can be divined by their birth year, month, day, and hour.

Three years was not three days, how were their deaths related to Xie Wanyu? Ban Hua felt the logic was strange and full of holes, but all of those jeering people agreed as one to just ignore the holes.

“Two esteemed guests, your noodles are here.”

To make the noodles free of oil, they couldn’t use the original soup base. The cook had gone to a lot of trouble to produce two bowls of fragrant and flavourful clear vegetable noodle soup.

Ban Hua tasted it, the flavour could not be said great but it was not less than the kitchen in her residence either. She understood soup base was most important for noodle soup, the flavour would be ruined by half without the meat-based broth.

Rong Xia noticed it as well, he said, “Apologies, I wanted to invite you out to eat something, but I don’t expect the taste isn’t good if the soup base is changed.”

“No, this noodle is very supple.” Ban Hua shook her head, “The cook must have spent a lot of efforts.”

Rong Xia smiled, “This noodle shop’s soup and noodle is a famous specialty, heard this is a century old shop that moved from Xuezhou to the Capital.”

“Xuezhou?” Ban Hua felt that place sound familiar, but that was the extent of it. She didn’t even know if Xuezhou was on the west, south, north, or east direction.

“Yes. Xuezhou produced wheat in abundance, many Xuezhou people are good at making noodles. Their noodle-making skill that have been passing down for hundred years naturally was more authentic than our Capital’s here.” Rong Xia saw Ban Hua liked the shop’s side dishes, he let Du Jiu called the shop attendant to bring two more plates.

“That’s why a woman whose bazi is bad, who curses her husband and her family, should just go to a nunnery, instead of living at home to harm others.” The person who was gossiping about Xie Wanyu had been buoyed up by his mates that it went over his head, daring to say those things without a thought of Xie family’s eminence in the Capital,

Ban Hua flung her chopsticks to the table, unhooked the whip on her belt, stood up and pulled open the partition to the next table.

At the next table sat several twenty or thirty years old men dressed as scholars. Their robes were starched and not new, a few bowls of clear noodle soup were on the table but no side dishes.

Ban Hua sneered, “I thought it’s some great and important officials spouting arrogant words, turns out just a few poor and bitter scholars talking big. As learned people, you should understand what manner is, what virtue is. As the ancient said ‘a gentleman doesn’t conceal others’ merits or expose others’ flaws’. You are jesting about a woman, showing neither scholarly talent nor human decency. No wonder you can sit here whining, instead of assisting His Majesty with his worries or solving commoners’ problems.”

Seeing a woman pulled down the partition to ridicule them, the scholars immediately felt ashamed and irritated. Especially the one who had just boasted, he stood up and coldly said, “This is the business of scholars like us, what does a vulgar woman like you know. I am a xiucai of this dynasty, why don’t you quickly apologise?”

“What sort of thing are you, that you deserve my apology?!” Ban Hua’s whip lashed on the table, a deep line instantly marked the surface of that wooden table. The scholars jumped in fright, the one closest to Ban Hua recovered and reached out trying to snatch the whip from her hand.

Ban Hua scolded him coldly, “This is a gift from His Majesty, I dare you to try?”

The scholar who tried to snatch the whip was frozen of shock. The young lady was dressed plainly and her face was bare of makeup, so they didn’t think she would be of any remarkable status.

At the second look, they noticed she was not ordinary. Moreover, she dared to state in public that her whip was ‘given’ by the Emperor instead of ‘rewarded’, obviously her background wasn’t simple.

The several scholars silently regretting it. They were xiucai‘s that had failed examination, with nothing to do and not much money in hand, they had came together to chat and pass the time, who knew they would meet a noble person. This noble seemed to be related to Xie family, how was this good?

“I wonder which family Miss is from?” A young xiucai who looked the most decent one rose and gave Ban Hua a deep salute. There was no dissing on women anymore, the salutation was extremely polite, lest they offended Ban Hua in the slightest.

“Which family I am from has nothing to do with any of you. Most scholars I have seen are well-read gentlemen with manner, virtuous and benevolent. How does the few of you are also scholars and yet your speech is so lacking in substance, you have completely ruined the image of scholars.” Ban Hua disliked Xie Wanyu very much, but it didn’t mean she enjoyed listening to what they had said.

This would exactly be the kind who had called her a husband-curse, as if ridiculing women for fun would elevate themselves or make them exceptional.

There were also other scholars in the crowd around them. At first they felt Ban Hua was rude, but after she praised the majority of scholars in the world, they thought she was an outstanding woman worthy of praises, who was bold in her actions, and able to clearly differentiate right and wrong.

Never attempt to understand how scholars think, not many could, even after playing guesses.

“This Miss said it well.” A scholar walked up from inside the crowd, he was dressed cleanly with a square hat. He said in a loud voice, “Us the scholars, we ought to study books, discuss ethics and the way of officials. How do we have time for idle talks about women, that is not the conduct of a gentleman.”

One had stood up and the others followed, who didn’t want to be called a righteous gentleman? Some of these people had idle-talked themselves, but they also needed to show themselves as high moral characters who couldn’t be grouped together with gossippers about women.

As the attitude of the crowd changed, the original several scholars became embarrassed, especially the one who had said that women with bad bazi should be in a nunnery. With a face as red as bleeding due to anger and distress, on the spur of the moment he vehemently said to Ban Hua, “Having spoken improperly, we are willing to reflect on ourselves. But you as a woman, coming to this crowded place instead of serving your parents at home. Is this how a woman should behave?”

His mates hated that they couldn’t plugged his mouth. This young lady wasn’t an ordinary person, talking like that was akin to asking for death.

“Pah!”

Ban Hua was too lazy to talk nonsense with someone as stubborn as a mule. At her one whiplash, the scholar screamed in agony and fell to the floor howling. Ban Hua despised him even more for being like that. That time Shen Yu had endured her two lashes without crying or wailing or rolling on the ground like this one.

This was a scholar? Ridiculous.

The crowd was stunned by Ban Hua’s action, they had not expected that she would really whipped anyone. Noone was able to react yet, but some people came to remember something and their faces were instantly coloured with some awe.

“My grandmother lived through three generations of emperors. She excelled in riding and archery since young, and was able to wield a whip skillfully. Three emperors had praised her as a heroic woman, and none had said she should stay at home to serve her parents lest she violated a woman’s ideal.” Ban Hua raised her chin, “Are you better than an emperor?”

“Hua Hua, what use it is to talk to someone like him?” Rong Xia walked behind Ban Hua. There was a smile that wasn’t a smile on his face as he looked at the wailing scholar on the floor. “A mannerless scholar like this shouldn’t have a rank in his life.”

To hear that Ban Hua’s grandmother had lived through three generations of emperors, being excellent at riding and archery, and skillful with whips, the other scholars could now vaguely guessed her identity. At this moment they had regretted it so much that their intestines were turning green, they could only hope to be forgotten like empty air once Ban Hua left the venue.

Ban Hua’s anger was reduced by half to look at Rong Xia’s face again after the crooked-melon and cracked-jujube faces of the scholars’. She put her whip aside, humphed in a lowered voice, “What kind of scholar is this.”

“This can’t be called a scholar, only a mediocre lowlife lucky enough to get a scholarly rank. I’ll have someone record his name and place of origin to report to the Emperor for the removal of his rank to prevent him ruining the reputation of scholars. If such a person can become an official, it’s just  one extra muddlehead for our dynasty.”

Those who knew Rong Xia wanted to approach to greet, but as there was a young woman wielding a whip on his side, they would rather not getting too close and just cupped their hands to salute from afar.

Shortly after, some of them suddenly remembered something. They turned to look at Ban Hua with astonished eyes, as if they had seen a phenomena that happened once in a thousand years.

Count Rong was said to have been engaged with a noble lady, as Cheng’an Residence had not issued a statement, noone knew which family’s noble lady she was, only that many young girls in the Capital found themselves heart-broken.

This miss who had just whipped someone should be the Grand Princess’ granddaughter Fule Junzhu? She dared to whip the current dynasty’s tanhua Shen Yu, and His Majesty had also removed Shen Yu’s merit and official position. So what did whipping a mere little scholar mean to her?

Only a suicidal with brain damage dared to offend this mistress.

But no…. how could Count Rong be together with Fule Junzhu, did it mean Fule Junzhu…. was Count Rong’s fiancee?

The scholars in the crowd looked at the whip clenched in Ban Hua’s hand and silently gasped. What if Count Rong also had to taste the whip in the future? There were so many good young ladies in the Capital, why couldn’t Count Rong think it through, why did he have to choose this fierce Junzhu?

Xie Qilin walked out of the noodle shop in silence, his heart was in an unspeakable anguish. As that scholar’s speech become more and more unpleasant, he was prepared to stand up and argue, but the person who did it one step ahead of himself unexpectedly was Ban Hua. The Ban Hua who had been clashing with his sister.

So it turned out….. she was this kind of woman.

Thinking of the past, Xie Qilin touched the silver mask on the left side of his face. His steps quickened, he had no courage to look back.

Rong Xia extended his hand as a salutation to all the scholars on site. After a glance back at the direction of the noodle shop’s gates, he took Ban Hua to farewell everyone. He had also paid the noodle shop a compensation of three times the money for the table.

Seeing Rong Xia had to fish out money, Ban Hua uncomfortably looked down to put the whip back around her waist. Having brandished the whip fiercely, had she made the beautiful future husband scared?

“The way you waved the whip just now, it was very good.” Rong Xia said to her after they were out of the noodle shop, “Like a proud peacock, it’s hard to take my eyes off.”

Ban Hua turned, her face was totally complicated, “Are you serious?”

Rong Xia nodded, “Of course.”

“But female peacock is very ugly. It can’t spread any tail, the tail is bald. Not pretty at all.”

“……”

T/N – Xiucai is common in ancient novels and dramas. Just an idea of where a xiucai is in the ancient exam system, here is a general/simplified list:

Imperial Examination 科举 :

1. Palace Exam 殿试 – Produced: Jinshi 进士 —– (*1)

2. Metropolitan Exam 贡试 – Produced: Gongshi 贡士

3. Provincial Exam 乡试 – Produced: Juren 举人

Entry-Level Examinations:

4. College Exam 院试 – Produced: Shengyuan 生員, or commonly known as Xiucai 秀才

5. Prefectural Exam 府试 and County Exam 县试 – Produced: Tongsheng 童生

In short, a Xiucai has passed merely Entry-Level exams.

Only the best performers in College Exams, who were called Linsheng, received allowances. Other Xiucai’s could only remain poor if their background was from poor families. As most Xiucai couldn’t advance to Provincial Exams, they could only returned to their hometowns taking teaching jobs.

Actually even passing Provincial Exams was still not a guarantee of an official position (this link).

(*1 – The third from the top was called Tanhua 探花 . Shen Yu was a Tanhua).