Chapter 45 Holding fast to chastity and purity of heart, how can peaches and plums compare?

When Wang Lingshu's mother arrived after hearing the news, Fu Sui's guards had already completely surrounded Wang Lingshu's courtyard, and even Wang Lingshu's personal maid had been driven out of the courtyard.

"Why has the princess come here?"

Wang Lingshu's boudoir wasn't very large, but it was decorated very elegantly, with several of her calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls.

Fu Sui paused in front of a painting and calligraphy, appreciating it carefully.

Wang Lingshu's painting skills are similar to Qiao Zhenzhen's; they are presentable but not masterpieces. Qiao Zhenzhen likes to paint flowers and birds, using vibrant colors and meticulous details, while Wang Lingshu prefers landscapes, using cool ink and sharp brushstrokes.

Beside the painting was a short poem written by Wang Lingshu herself; the poem was good, and the calligraphy was also excellent.

After admiring the gifts, Fu Sui slowly spoke: "I heard you got engaged, so I brought gifts to add to your dowry."

Wang Lingshu showed no sign of panic and even had the composure to retort to Fu Sui: "Does the princess have such good intentions? However, the princess's intentions are so forceful that I dare not accept them. May I ask, princess, where do you place your trespassing on the residence of a court official? Where is the law and etiquette?"

Fu Sui turned around and smiled at Wang Lingshu, not caring much: "Your Wang family has known about my lawlessness, lack of integrity and righteousness for a long time."

Wang Lingshu knew that even if she appealed to the Emperor, the Emperor would only favor Fu Sui, so she sat down angrily and turned away from Fu Sui.

Wang Lingshu didn't want to talk to Fu Sui, but Fu Sui insisted on saying, "People outside say you admire Tao Yunzhong's talent and learning, is that true?"

Wang Lingshu sat with her back to Fu Sui, her back ramrod straight, not uttering a single word.

Fu Sui walked around to Wang Lingshu and tilted his head to look at her. Wang Lingshu turned her head away and only showed Fu Sui the back of her head.

Fu Sui strolled slowly around Wang Lingshu's room with his hands behind his back, touching and looking around: "I heard that Tao Yunzhong is fifty-seven years old, and has married two wives. His eldest grandson will be able to take the imperial examination in a few years. It is said that the way of husband and wife requires careful management, and that yin and yang must be in harmony and that advance and retreat must be in moderation in order to last. Tao Gong is at such an age that he must be very good at this, and he and his new wife must be very close. Madam Wang can rest easy and have no worries."

Fu Sui's words were harsh, and Wang Lingshu's face turned ashen. She bit her lower lip so hard that her nails were digging into her palms, forcing herself to remain silent.

There were several half-open chests in the room, seemingly containing fabric, probably for new dresses made for Wang Lingshu. On a small table on the couch were some needles and thread, and an exquisite wedding box was covered with a round fan embroidered with gorgeous and charming flowers and birds.

Fu Sui picked up the round fan and examined it closely. A thread hung from the fan surface, with a few extra grains of rice sewn onto one side. It seemed to be Wang Lingshu's wedding fan. He wondered whether it was purchased or embroidered by the Wang family's embroiderers, and whether it was brought to Wang Lingshu to embroider a few stitches as a token of his affection.

Such a brightly colored item is completely out of place with the interior furnishings.

Fu Sui placed the fan on the small table and then fiddled with the other items in the wedding box. There were some embroidered handkerchiefs and purses scattered around, all small items to pass the time. Except for a few pieces on the top that were almost untouched and made of festive colors, the two or three pieces at the bottom that were embroidered were in colors like plum red and turquoise, which were popular with young girls.

Wang Lingshu still had her back to him. The weather wasn't particularly cold in late summer or early autumn, and Wang Lingshu was still wearing light summer clothes, revealing prominent bones in her shoulder blades. Perhaps because of the thin clothing, Fu Sui felt that Wang Lingshu seemed a little thinner than in spring.

The purse was made of the finest brocade, cool to the touch. The zither and orchids are images most often used by scholars to express their sentiments, but when put together... Fu Sui had a vague guess. She stared at the purse for a moment, then spoke with a cold and mocking tone: "To embrace chastity in a turbid world and to pass on refined virtues to a pure stream, this is Xue Guangting's writing."

Wang Lingshu was shocked. She had originally decided to pretend she hadn't heard anything Fu Sui said, but now she couldn't care less. She turned her head and saw the purse in Fu Sui's hand, and lunged to snatch it.

Fu Sui deftly dodged the attack with a twirl, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.

Wang Lingshu tried to snatch it twice but failed. Seeing Fu Sui holding up the purse and shaking it, she gradually stopped. She shouldn't have tried to snatch it. Whether it was the zither or the orchid, no one could find fault with it. That was precisely why she dared to embroider it on the purse and put it in front of her. But by trying to snatch it, she confirmed that Wang Lingshu was guilty.

“My purity remains unchanged, my fragrance lingers on my clothes. I wish to be bound together with you forever, and entrust my pure heart to the vast emptiness.” Fu Sui stared intently at Wang Lingshu. “Wang, where does your heart lie, and with whom do you wish to be? Look at all these wedding boxes and new clothes in this room. On your wedding night, Wang, please don’t call out the wrong name.”

"You!" Wang Lingshu's finger trembled as she pointed at Fu Sui. She practically gritted out the words between her teeth: "Stop talking nonsense. I know you're trying to humiliate me, but if the princess really has nothing to do, she should study the Book of Rites instead of just being a gossipy owl who barges into other people's boudoirs and insults their innocence."

Fu Sui tossed the purse to Wang Lingshu: "I have no parents and no upbringing. I live one day at a time. I don't need Madam Wang to bother teaching me. I just feel sorry for Madam Wang in her youth. Which young man in the capital wouldn't be good enough for her? Why did the Wang family choose this path after so many selections?"

Wang Lingshu wanted to hide the purse in her sleeve, but then felt that it would make her seem like she had something to hide. Just then, the dressing table was right next to her, so Wang Lingshu simply sat down in front of the dressing table, pretending that she didn't want to see Fu Sui's face, and then sat down with her back to her, taking the opportunity to stuff the purse into the drawer.

Once the purse was in the drawer, Wang Lingshu finally breathed a sigh of relief. She heard her own voice saying the words she had heard again and again: "Master Tao was a great Confucian scholar of our time, well-versed in the Six Classics, and an expert in the classics. How could he be compared to ordinary people?"

Fu Sui didn't want to hear Wang Lingshu's words, which could be directly copied into the epitaph. She interrupted Wang Lingshu: "You know perfectly well whether that's what you really think. Since when did the Wang family start valuing only talent and learning when marrying off their daughters? Do you dare say that the Wang family has no selfish motives whatsoever?"

Wang Lingshu remained silent, but Fu Sui persisted: "We've known each other for a while now, so let me give you a piece of advice: if you marry Tao Yunzhong, there's no turning back."

Wang Lingshu coldly retorted, "I don't need your fake kindness."

Fu Sui almost laughed out of anger. Had Wang Lingshu forgotten her surname? Fu Sui wished the Wang family would die.

Silence fell inside the house, and it was quiet outside as well. Fu Sui's guards were dutifully keeping watch over the courtyard; unless a fight broke out, the Wang family wouldn't be able to set foot inside.

After calming down a bit, Fu Sui asked, "Can't the Wang family take a step back? The Qian and Gao families both took a step back. What's wrong with taking a step back?"

Fu Sui's question seemed absurd, but Wang Lingshu didn't want to pretend she didn't understand. She stood upright, her head slightly raised, both proud and vulnerable: "The Wang family has a history of hundreds of years. We are a distinguished family and a model for officials. How can we be subservient to others and ruin our centuries of glory?"

Fu Sui couldn't understand it; she even found it absurd: "There is no emperor who lasts forever. Does the Wang family want to remain a powerful clan forever? If they refuse to back down, does the Wang family intend to fight the emperor for power? Is the emperor sitting on the throne my Fu family's emperor or your Wang family's puppet?"

"The legacy of a distinguished family is the result of generations of merit, with poetry and propriety as their family tradition and classics as their profession. Generation after generation, they uphold their integrity, taking loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness as their foundation. If Your Majesty desires a well-governed and peaceful world, you should give important positions to distinguished families. Distinguished families share the fate of the nation and are the cornerstone of stability. My Wang family has never had such a lineage, yet we have been repeatedly suppressed and feared, causing the virtuous to hesitate and the mediocre to advance. The Wang family is merely doing its part to uphold the integrity of the court for the sake of the nation and its people." Wang Lingshu retorted sharply, directly confronting Fu Sui.

"Hahahaha..." Fu Sui laughed uncontrollably, "Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, serving the country and the people? Wang Lingshu, do you even believe those words yourself?" She spread her arms and walked around the room, passing through the room full of wedding decorations: "What kind of people are your father, brothers, and uncles? What are their schemes? Don't you have any idea?"

"The wise are hesitant, while the mediocre advance. Who are the wise, and who are the mediocre? Are they the commoners who entered officialdom through the imperial examinations? Then I would like to ask, why has not a single member of the Wang family passed the imperial examinations since the reform of the system? In recent years, which member of your Wang family who has passed the examinations has not been a commoner? Wang Lingshu, tell me yourself, do you think their writings are worthy of your attention?"

Fu Sui pointed at Wang Lingshu's back and questioned her.

"Those with low talent and knowledge have high self-esteem, and those from humble backgrounds still call themselves scholars. What do they have to do with serving the country and the people, or being the cornerstone of the nation? They just can't stand seeing those commoners who used to be trampled underfoot by aristocratic families enter the court and be promoted, and they can't stand seeing themselves fall from their high positions of power."

The polished bronze mirror on the dressing table reflected Wang Lingshu's stubborn expression. There seemed to be water in her eyes, but a tear was hidden inside and refused to fall.

Fu Sui and Wang Lingshu looked at each other through the bronze mirror: "Do you know why His Majesty is pressing the aristocratic families step by step? You rely on your intricate kinship ties and mutual support, as if these official positions in the court were born to be yours, and the imperial court is nothing but your private hall, and the local prefectures and counties are your own backyard."

"The Three Dukes and Nine Ministers are all from aristocratic families. The emperor's decrees need the approval of these families. How can any emperor sleep soundly in such a court? Even the collateral branches of the imperial family have to find their own way out. Aristocratic families can wield power in a region simply because of their surname. There is no such logic in the world. The current situation is entirely their own fault."

"Wang Yifu is dead. The era of the Wang family has ended. The Wang family should give up now."

"Once I held the reins of the state, now I am a lowly official. How can I accept this?" Wang Lingshu said calmly, whether she was lamenting the Wang family's predicament or mocking their obsession with power.

"What can you do if you're unwilling? You probably know Xue Guangting's articles by heart, right? If the Wang family wants to regain its former glory, then people like Xue Guangting will never have a chance to rise again. Can you imagine him, barely clothed and starving, groveling and begging for survival to powerful families?"

“He won’t!” Wang Lingshu retorted sharply.

"Yes, he won't, neither will Hugechi, nor will Yu Wei. How confident is the Wang family in suppressing them forever?"

Perhaps because Xue Guangting was mentioned, Wang Lingshu's voice trembled slightly: "Noble families and commoners can coexist."

The protruding bones on Wang Lingshu's back resembled two broken wings; once the feathers were removed, only the deformed bones remained, piercing through the flesh. The Wang family spread her reputation as a talented woman throughout the north and south, and everyone who mentioned the Wang family praised her for her extensive talent and learning.

But in this corrupt and powerful family, only she, this woman of talent, was valued for her abilities. Those who built her up to be a figurehead had eyes filled with power and desire.

Fu Sui remained silent. Both she and Wang Lingshu understood that there were only so many official positions in the court, and giving way to commoners meant the decline of powerful families. Wang Lingshu didn't care whether the Wang family declined, but the other members of the Wang family clearly didn't think so.

Fu Sui murmured softly, "If you pull back from the brink, there's still a chance; but if you chase a rabbit at the eastern gate, it will be too late for regrets."

Wang Lingshu remained seated before her dressing table, her gaze no longer visible in the bronze mirror, only her lowered eyelashes. Fu Sui, regardless of whether Wang Lingshu had heard him or not, rose and walked out.

As she approached the door, she hesitated for a moment before advising Wang Lingshu, "Although you are surnamed Wang, you don't necessarily have to follow the path prepared by the Wang family. In the end, the world still belongs to the Fu family."

What other path could she take? The world belonged to the Fu family, but she was the daughter of the Wang family. Her father and brothers needed her; how could she escape?

Sounds returned from outside—a cacophony of noise and hurried footsteps. Wang Lingshu suddenly rose, grabbed a pair of scissors, and shredded the purse and the wedding fan to pieces. Her noble character and pure heart were unmatched by peaches and plums. The elegant orchid, now cut in two, lay scattered amidst the profusion of blossoms.

Many people rushed in—her maids, her mother, her father. Wang Lingshu stared blankly at the people before her, watching them surge in, surround her, and disperse.

A dull ache settled in her chest. She should be sad, but she felt no grief. She was like an outsider, her detached soul coldly observing this walking corpse from the air.

"Oh dear, why did they cut them all like this? Yong'an has gone too far," she heard her mother say.

“Just get a new one,” she replied.

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The author's note: A heart of pure virtue and noble character, how can peaches and plums compare?

She was a noblewoman, and also a bargaining chip.

"King" was her illustrious title, but also her boundless shackles.