CH 52

County Magistrate Qi wanted to persuade Cui Xie to change storefronts, but he hadn’t expected that Cui Xie would plan to set up a library for the county and even open it free of charge so that all scholars in the county could visit and read. This kind of thing should have been a matter done by him, as a County Magistrate, but he did not expect that this child had such a desire. Cui Xie even wanted to use the money he earned from his bookstore to support this depository….

This would not do….

“This type of thing should be put into practice by the benevolent government, how could we ask you to contribute money and such effort?” County Magistrate Qi wrinkled his brows and said, “This matter, I will put some consideration into. If you need to print books, then continue doing so. Just don’t publish those gaudy love letters anymore, and don’t use the name Cui Beauty anymore as well.”

Cui Xie did not want the name Cui Beauty more than he did, so he assented, “When the times comes for wansheng[1] to move to a new place, I will change the name of the bookstore and from then on, the name of Cui Beauty will completely disappear from history.”

However, 《Three Kingdoms》still needed to be printed. When the book was being printed, the publication seal just needed to be changed a little bit. Then, one could say that the original bookstore had been closed and that a new bookstore bought the old manuscripts and color printing technology. The new bookstore insisted on publishing the unfinished work for the customers.

“But, it will not be easy to change hands for my bookstore. I am afraid that the next owner will use the name ‘Cui Beauty’ to attract customers, and let such a name be remembered for a long time. Da-ren might as well use this courtyard instead. I am willing to exert some effort into the preparations for the matter and after it is built, it will be donated to the county. The only thing I request is that in the county records, it is written down that this courtyard belongs to my late Mother, Liu shi, the furen’s dowry. Just let it be known as a piece of heart from an earnest and beloved son for later generations, that will suffice.”

“That…..” County Magistrate Qi subconsciously wanted to refuse, but seeing Cui Xie’s eyes that were full of sincerity, he swallowed down the words that came to his lips and sighed, “To be willing to donate your late Mother’s dowry to help add a book collection for the county, this is also an act of loyalty and filial obedience that satisfies both sides, how can I refuse? When the day comes for the establishment of the book collection, this Magistrate will announce your donation of your bookstore to the county, for the sake of encouraging learning, to the Imperial court. Although such a deed may not result in a commendation or plaque, and perhaps the Emperor will not send down another Imperial edict, this Magistrate will surely ask someone to chisel an inscription onto a stone tablet to be placed outside the building, forever marking your righteous deed.”

Cui Xie bowed his head deeply: “This student traveled all the way from the capital alone. Without the da-ren’s care and the helping hands of the neighbors, how could it all be such smooth sailing up until today? I dare not make extravagant demands for the Imperial court to award me for this matter. As long as it is useful for the fellow locals and da-ren, this is sufficient enough for my wishes.”

After completing the ceremonial etiquette, Cui Xie lifted up his head and said with a bit of nervousness and apprehension, “Actually, this student has a request for da-ren’s aid in regards to a matter——can da-ren please write an article for me that thoroughly separates me from the name ‘Cui Beauty’? There is no need to write too much, just mention that Zhirong bookstore is to be closed and that the people are gone and the place is empty. “

Qi Sheng twisted his beard, and didn’t answer immediately as he muttered to himself irresolutely. He actually enjoyed writing articles, but unfortunately, his writing style was not considered to be outstanding. He was only a jiansheng[2], basically at the bottom of the hierarchy for literati. The articles he wrote were not well circulated in the county, and he was even less confident that it could circulate outside of the county, overpower the rumors, and tear Cui Xie away from that alluring, glamorous reputation.

Of course, this was also to blame that no one in the current marketplace would take on the #Qian’an County Magistrate’s Exclusive Reveal: the man behind “Cui Beauty” was actually him!# With such a striking headline, County Magistrate Qi would have the confidence to dispel rumors and have such headlines spread even farther than the rumors.

Seeing his hesitation, Cui Xie took the initiative to say, “Wansheng has previously read da-ren’s articles on restoring Qian’an’s temple academy  and it felt as if daren’s writing about the scenery and condition of the temple was just like a picture scroll in front of my eyes. Therefore, I have long since had the mind to request a few of da-ren’s articles and make a compilation. I hope that da-ren will add a note to the travel logs, separate me from that gaudy name. Once the travel logs are published in the future, my reputation will be cleared and I will be at ease studying for the Imperial examinations in the future.”

County Magistrate Qi had no choice but to tell the truth: “My articles cannot be considered fine writing…..”

It didn’t matter whether the article was good or not, then were  the《Integrated Fragrant Diaries》really good to look at? But there were four beautiful women adorned with costumes and makeup, acting as a signboard. Additionally, there were a group of literati who had made commentaries and essays, and there were even beauty contest events where one could vote for their favorite that had promoted more active participation from people and increased the popularity. And hadn’t such a large fire burned for quite a while, and even now there were still sales?

As for County Magistrate Qi’s travel logs, once it was outfitted with some hipster packaging, embellished with a few more colorful portraits and then if one invited a few talented scholars to write a preface, it would also be enough to sell a few waves.

He comforted County Magistrate Qi, “Da-ren is merely trying to perfect articles that are already outstanding and have high standards. How does one know whether others will think it is good or not? I know that da-ren does not want to seek fame from publishing articles. Just think of publishing an anthology for the sake of wansheng’s reputation, how about it?”

Qi Sheng struggled for a long time, but in the end, he still gave in and also thought that from the bottom of his heart, he also had a desire to publish a book, “When the building is finally built up, I will write a record of establishment for the building, and clear up your reputation in the records. Later, I will rummage out some articles later, edit them a little and hand them over to you.”

Cui Xie replied docilely and when he saw that the matter had been settled, he got up and said his farewells. County Magistrate Qi ordered the Recordkeeper Zhang from the Office of Household Affairs to escort him out and along the way, take Cui Xie to take a look at the new location for the bookstore he had picked out and help him to prepare for the move.

The courtyard that County Magistrate Qi had picked out used to be a fabric shop and the residence was much more open and spacious. Compared to Cui Xie’s previous courtyard, it was much more expansive and wide. The residence had two layers of courtyards inside and it also had a two-storied building for the shop front. Originally the fabric shop’s business had gone quite well, and Cui Xie’s residence had also bought from them a few times. However, due to the rumors in recent months that the Young Khan was going to invade the areas near Yongping and the Shanhai Pass, business transactions had dwindled. Additionally, the roads used to replenish stock were obstructed and a few tax tolls had been set up along checkpoints. As such, the store was simply abandoned and after bringing along the concubines, familial property and servants, the family had returned to the south, leaving behind only a middle aged servant to look after the residence.

When they had arrived, the owner’s old servants and real estate agent showed them around the residence. The shopfront’s cabinets and chairs were all quite complete and someone was currently residing in the rear courtyard. Once it was tidied up, Cui Xie could move into the residence immediately. In the storehouse, there were some old fabrics and utensils that the previous owner had been unwilling to bring with him, once they were washed clean, they could be put to good use.

This residence had been handpicked by County Magistrate Qi and he had originally planned on exchanging residences with Cui Xie, using the money earned from selling off the bookstore to buy this place for him. But now, since Cui Xie intended to donate the bookstore to the county to give the late Cui furen a good reputation and because Cui Xie was also unwilling to take advantage of County Magistrate Qi’s good intentions, he firmly asked Cui Yuan to fetch silver to give to Recordkeeper Zhang.

Recordkeeper Zhang could not persuade Cui Xie, so he could only write up a deed for him and arranged for him to pay 120 silver taels as mortgage and ten years later, he would redeem it. Because there was a Recordkeeper from the Office of Household Affairs overlooking the transaction, that old servant did not dare to ask for a higher price, but just before signing the deed, he tremblingly requested, “You must take good care of this residence, my Master spent no less than three or four hundred silver taels on renovating it. If it weren’t for the frequent incursions from the Tartars, just how could we bear to give it to someone else?”

Cui Xie smiled, “Uncle, do not worry, we have bought it to also do business and as a place of residence. Is there any reason not to carefully cherish it?” Seeing that the elderly servant was getting on in age and didn’t have much strength, he inquired, “Do you want to return to the South? At such an age, it is not convenient to travel with money on your person, right? Let me add an extra two or three taels, this way, you can hire a young and vigorous worker to accompany you during your journey.”

The older servant straightened his back, bowed his head to look at Cui Xie and the Recordkeeper with a slight grin, “No need, the master has deep relations with the elders of the Han family who sell flowers and trees. Later, I will join them on the Han family’s boat and travel with them to the South. It is just that the Han family boat is set to depart at the end of the month and I will have to ask this Young Master to let me stay here for a few more days.”

This was no big deal.

Cui Xie agreed, “You may stay here with a peace of mind, but it is just that, in the next few days, the artisans and workers from my family will be moving here, one after the other. It may be a bit noisy, I hope sir can forgive me.”

The new bookstore’s shop front was twice as big as his original store and because the previous owner had 

raised a concubine, the first and second strata of the residence were separated by a few small courtyards, which was suitable for employees with families to live in. In the future, their residence’s North Pavilion could be converted into a workshop and there was no need to set aside a whole courtyard for the staffs’ dormitory.

When he returned home, he called together all the artisans and told everyone the news. After hearing it, Shopkeeper Ji was stunned in his spot and then anxiously stood up, “Such a good store and we are just letting it go like that? It was with great difficulty that we engraved out Zhirong Study’s trademark seal….

Cui Xie calmly waited for the other’s fussing to finish, then leaned back into the chair and putting his hands on his lap, he faintly said, “Is it famous because of the name of Zhirong Study or because of the name Cui Beauty?”

Shopkeeper Ji’s anger immediately diminished as if fire extinguisher foam had been poured all over his head, his expression withering and his head drooping, and he did not dare to answer.  As the ones who directly handled business transactions, how could they not know of this Cui Beauty name that had been fiercely spread throughout the streets? But, they had continued to hide it from their Boss, but who knew, Cui Xie had long already known of the matter.

Silence descended upon the meeting room and Cui Xie continued, “I have already decided to donate Zhirong Study to the county and the new residence will be the Zhao family’s silk fabric shop located on North Street. I just went over to take a look and the courtyard inside is wider than ours by two-fold and has many separated, smaller courtyards, it is also cheaper for those who want to move over there.”

“Although the courtyard can only be used for ten years, I should have entered the capital after that period of time and you can relocate the study back here again. There is a memorial archway, and runners frequently patrol the streets, there is no one that dares to stir up trouble here. If this place is inadequate, you can also rent a big residence in Beiguan district, which is cheaper and not too far away.”

The artisans’ thoughts had been somewhat riled up and they looked at Cui Xie with hope and expectation. Fearing that business would not be as good in the future, Shopkeeper Ji sighed deeply and asked, “What about the books and drawing prints that were published by the bookstore before? There is also the Three Kingdoms, are we not releasing them anymore?”

Of course they were to be released. He wanted to completely tear out this harmful, asset stripping ‘Cui Beauty’ name, but it did not mean he would cut off his own wealth.

Cui Xie grinned slightly and instructed, “First, put up a sign to inform the customers that the bookstore is to be closed and that there will be a big clearance sale….all currently available merchandise will need to  be cleared out. There are only a few hundred, or a few dozens of books left and it will be first come first served. For those who arrive late, we can only offer them our apologies.”

“Don’t tell anyone that the bookstore is to be relocated and reopened on North Street in the future. I plan to change the name of the new bookstore to be called, ‘Peace of Mind Study’. We will switch out a few new faces to run the store and exclusively sell books related to the Imperial examinations. After the examination papers picked out by Grandpa Assistant Liu are picked up by Clerk Ji, we will start printing the autumn provincial examination’s weimo papers. In the future, you can continue to sell the 《Three Kingdoms》, but the 《Integrated Fragrant Diaries》and beauty prints will no longer be sold anymore.”

Peace of Mind study was the name of the study when he had signed Colonel Xie’s painting. Upon reading it, it sounded like a top-grade bookstore. From now on, the new store would specialize in selling fresh, hipster literature and art, as well as collections of essays, instructional materials, auxiliary teaching materials and subsets of classics that contained meaningful content and were high-end, elegant and classy. In the future, when he passes the examinations and enters the capital, when others mention the owner of the Peace of Mind Study, they would feel that he was an upright, talented printer and talented book collector.  If he were to take out Colonel Xie’s Guanyin painting, it could be regarded as a valuable celebrity work.

But those beauties were the moneymakers! Shopkeeper Ji stood up in a gloomy manner and said, “Young Master, is this true? We can’t sell them anymore? That book had just gained some traction in the South and some big merchants had come by boat to buy….”

Cui Xie firmly replied, “My reputation is more important. This store has already been donated to the county. Let’s clear out the stock for a few days and then close the store. Let’s not hinder County Magistrate da-ren’s renovations.”

Later on, they could slowly sell the remaining stock in other bookstores and a collector’s edition could be sold at small vendor stalls. After two years, the limelight would have all but passed and they could use another bookstore’s name to sell the reprinted edition and then in another few years, they could sell the collector’s commemorative edition…..

It was better not to sell.

After listening to this theory, the look in Shopkeeper Ji’s eyes had completely changed——A son of an official who did not need to worry about clothes or food, how could he be so ruthless in his methods of money making? To sell a few rounds every few years, just like rotation of crops for farmland, even experienced bookstore owners did not do business like this!

If Cui Xie was born during the Three Kingdoms period, he would be an ambitious and ruthless character dominating in a chaotic era, just like Cao Mengde (Cao Cao).

Shopkeeper sighed inwardly and began to preside over the move of the store and the artisans. Some customers came to inquire as to why the store was being closed down, so he squeezed out a few tears but did not mention the reason, but instead tearfully said, “In the future, there will be naturally be someone who will take over the color printing techniques and reproduce the 《The Romance of the Three Kingdoms》. Such a good book will surely not vanish into thin air!”

Some big merchants from other places wanted to take over the bookstore and conveniently obtain the color printing method that way, but Shopkeeper Ji ambiguously dismissed them, “This bookstore is already the property of the county, how could private sales be allowed? All of you must not fret, our Qian’an is a place full of talented literati. Color printed books will surely not disappear in the end.”

After a few days of clearance sales, Zhirong Study immediately ceased operations and closed on the spot. County Magistrate Qi raised some funds from some wealthy families and together with the books donated by Cui Xie, he began to rebuild the store into a library.

Having donated the bookstore so neatly and efficiently, the gifted talents and scholars Cui Xie was acquainted with were all quite shocked and visited his residence to ask, “You said donate it and it was donated, don’t you feel a little heartbroken? What other promising properties will you have in the future?” 

The Zhao family was even more worried that he would have to return to those original days when he could not even repair the residence. Old Patriarch Zhao personally visited him and narrowly snatched him back to raise him instead.

Cui Xie’s heart was moved and he thanked them all for their concerns and then expressed his worries about his reputation and comforted them, “I only donated the bookstore, aren’t the workers and color printing technology still mine? I will open another bookstore in the future and continue to publish the Three Kingdoms.”

He also wanted to offer an explanation to Young Master Wang, but it was a pity that he was currently in the military barracks and it was not easy to send  messages. He wrote a letter and together with a few newly printed sets of the Three Kingdoms, it was packed together and he asked a familiar soldier to lend a hand to send the package towards the border garrisons. Since Wang Xiangzhen had to prepare for battle and training was extremely strict, his books were not allowed to pass through and no reply had been sent. His father, Guard Commander Wang asked someone to invite Cui Xie over.

This Guard Commander had always been busy with his official duties and was disinclined to meet his son’s wealthy friends. This was actually the first time he had met him. Cui Xie deliberately dressed with diligence, wearing a headscarf and white robes typical of scholars. He did all that he could in order to leave behind a good impression and earn some face for Young Master Wang.

When Guard Commander Wang caught sight of him in the  main hall and saw Cui Xie enter, resembling orchids and jade trees[3], with an upright and honorable gaze illuminating onto others, he could not help but secretly praise Cui Xie. With crinkled eyes and a smiling expression on his face, he said, “Young Master Cui, please sit. The reason I have invited you is to thank you and hope that you do not think my gratitude came too late. In the past, I was too negligent towards you.”

Overwhelmed by favor from a superior, Cui Xie replied, “Wansheng is but a junior of the younger generation, how can I dare to accept the da-ren’s thanks.”

“You are deserving of it. I only learned later on that it was your paintings that riled up Xiangzhen’s heroic spirit to go against the enemy and that you also helped paint him the hero portraits that the Earl of Anshun wanted. As such, the Earl of Anshun took him under his wing and it is all thanks to you as his friend for helping him to plan and prepare.” Although Guard Commander Wang looked at him with a slight smiling expression, while his gaze contained traces of a smile, it could not completely conceal the aura of withering autumn leaves lurking behind. It was just like frost and snow, resembling Cui Xie’s first impression of Colonel Xie when they had first met. 

Perhaps for those who had gone onto the battlefield before, it was hard for one to completely put away this biting cold and imposing aura.

Cui Xie suddenly remembered that he should also send a letter to the capital and inform Colonel Xie that he had closed the Zhirong Study and was opening a new study. This way, it would prevent the other from worrying too much in the capital. But, this idea soon shifted and he awoke from his stupor——Colonel Xie did not even know he had opened a bookstore, nor did he know that he was the rumored ‘Cui Beauty’ in the streets and that there was completely no need to write such a letter.

Once the library was built and the new study was also on the right track, he could send a few sets of the《Three Kingdoms》 into the capital and tell the other the news about these new faces, right? Anyways, once the year came to an end, he still needed to send a festival gift….

This thought lightly churned around in his heart as he politely answered Commander Wang. Guard Commander Wang complimented him a few more words and then mentioned some things about Young Master Wang. With a junior scholar, there was really not much to talk to him about. After pondering for a while, he said, “Previously, Xiangzhen used to let you come to practice horseback riding at our racetrack, and you may continue to do so. In addition, I see that your stature is not very tall and I am afraid that all that studying will ruin your body. You are not that old yet. Later, I will personally pick a guard to teach you and you will be able to practice some attacking skills.”