Chen Zhiwei
Chen Zhiwei's name was given by her father, an eighth-rank official in the Honglu Temple. It was taken from the "Book of Rites" "To acquire knowledge, one must investigate things", implying that one must also explore the truth in the smallest details.
But this name became an irony after she came of age.
What does truth have to do with a woman like her? Her life has long been confined to the small space of the backyard.
She was smart since childhood, especially in actuarial science.
When her younger brother was beginning to learn to read, the teacher was explaining the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art in the front hall. She could only eavesdrop through the screen with her ears perked up.
While her brother was scratching his head over the complicated "method of surplus and deficiency", she silently calculated in her mind and came up with the answer in an instant.
But when she couldn't help but whisper the answer, all she got in return was her mother covering her mouth in panic and her father's stern glare.
"Wei'er! Stop talking nonsense and disturbing your brother's schooling!" Father's voice came through the screen.
Her mother took her hand and whispered, "My daughter, what's the point of a girl knowing these things? When you marry into your husband's family, you'll just have to manage the household and know how to read the accounts. Don't fight over these empty things."
The feeling of having her talent pressed back into the earth, like the damp rainy season, haunted her entire girlhood.
She watched as her brother received praise from the teacher for the math homework she had secretly helped him complete. Her father stroked his head with a rare smile on his face, saying, "My son has great potential!"
At that moment, Chen Zhiwei felt a tightness in his chest.
When it came to marriage, her father chose a scholar named Wang for her.
Mr. Wang came from an ordinary family, but the title of "juren" was of great importance in the eyes of Chen Shucheng.
He twirled his sparse beard and called Chen Zhiwei to his study, speaking earnestly, "The young master of the Wang family is a scholar with a promising future. If you marry him, you must remember to be gentle, respectful, frugal, and modest, abide by the virtues of a wife, and assist your husband wholeheartedly. If he passes the imperial examination in the future, you will become the wife of an official, and that is the right path for a woman."
Chen Zhiwei lowered her head, twisting her fingers around her belt, her voice as soft as a mosquito's: "My daughter heard that Mr. Wang is nearly thirty years old..."
"Stupid!" Chen Shucheng slammed the table and interrupted her. "When a man gets older, he knows how to care for others! What's important is his reputation! You're a woman, and you still want to be picky? You're really becoming more and more ignorant!"
The mother was silent, only daring to secretly wipe away tears behind her back. She took Chen Zhiwei's hand and said, "Wei'er, accept your fate. This is what women go through. Your father... is doing this for your own good."
"For my own good?"
Chen Zhiwei looked at the sky outside the window and felt that the sky was like a huge well that trapped her tightly.
She seemed to have seen herself for decades to come, staying with a husband who did not love her, doing housework, raising children, her talent and self-esteem being gradually eroded by trivialities, and eventually turning into a silent shadow.
Just when she was almost in despair, news of the "Hairpin Flower Test" came.
Ning Lingyi wants to select women to serve as officials!
The news spread like wildfire in the capital, burning Chen Zhiwei's heart.
She made up her mind almost immediately that she had to participate!
Preparation for the exam was done in secrecy.
She dug out her brother's discarded math drafts, and in the dead of night, with the dim light of a lamp, she wrote and drew on the waste paper with charcoal.
When her mother discovered her actions, she was horrified at first, but then she saw the light in her eyes and finally softened her heart. She secretly helped her cover up and even took the risk of sending away the gatekeeper after she was confined by her father.
"Wei'er, go..." The mother's voice was choked with sobs and determination, "This is how my life will be. You can't... I'll help you this time!"
On the day of the exam, she mingled with the crowd and stepped into the solemn government office. She really passed and she was going to take the palace examination!
When the palace examination came, she walked into the palace and saw the other side of the world. She saw many male officials following Su Qingfan, and saw the Minyou Palace that she had only heard of in legends. When she looked up and could see the figure on the throne, everything was different.
Ning Lingyi was only wearing simple casual clothes, without any makeup, and her face was thin. There was an indelible fatigue between her brows, but it made her look more calm and majestic.
She just sat there quietly.
But it caused a huge wave to surge in her heart.
It turns out... women can really be like this! They don't have to rely on their fathers, brothers, or husbands, they don't have to be trapped in the harem's infighting, they can stand upright in the temple, control their own destiny, and even influence the world!
She was so excited that she could hardly hold the pen. She took several deep breaths before she managed to calm down and focus on the test questions in front of her.
Before she finished writing, she looked at Ning Lingyi again and thought, she must stand by this person.
She no longer remembered how she finished the test paper. She only remembered that when she left the hall, she looked back and saw only Ning Lingyi's back.
The back of a woman, but this woman is standing at the highest point in this country.
She turned around and looked at everything again, and everything had changed.
On the day the results were announced, the Chen family was filled with joy.
Mr. Wang was invited to come and drank with Chen Shucheng in the front hall, discussing the details of the wedding ceremony in a few days. Chen Zhiwei was ordered to stay in the boudoir, listening to the noise in the front yard, feeling extremely anxious.
She didn't know if she could do it, she didn't know if she could win.
Although she is good at math, what if?
There are many questions on the palace examination paper. What if her answers are not as good as others?
She began to panic, as this was her last chance in her life.
Just in case, just in case...
At this moment, a burst of rapid gong sounds came from far away and finally stopped at the door of Chen's house.
The housekeeper rushed in, his voice distorted: "Master! Master! The officials from the palace are here to announce the good news! They say that the young lady has passed the hairpin flower test and has been appointed an official!"
In an instant, the front hall fell silent.
The wine glass in Chen Shucheng's hand fell to the ground with a clang and shattered into pieces. The smile on Mr. Wang's face froze. His face was stunned at first, and then turned ashen.
Chen Zhiwei rushed out impatiently. She straightened her back and took the heavy official certificate from the official's hand.
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!" Chen Shucheng finally reacted, shaking with anger. He pointed at Chen Zhiwei and said, "How dare you take that stupid exam without permission! Hurry and return your official certificate and apologize to Mr. Wang!"
Mr. Wang also stood up, his face gloomy. He suppressed his anger and said to Chen Shucheng, "Mr. Chen, what do you mean? Your daughter has been betrothed to me and is now a member of the Wang family. How can she continue to show her face in public and serve as a female official? This is so shameless!"
Chen Zhiwei raised her eyes, her gaze calmly sweeping across her furious father and her sullen fiancé. She slowly unfolded the official certificate in her hand, no longer timid. "Father, I am Mr. Wang. His Majesty personally granted me this certificate. I am now an official appointed by the court, of the eighth rank. This marriage concerns the dignity of the court, so I apologize for not complying."
"You...you are so insolent!" Chen Shucheng's eyes were red with anger. "I am your father! Your marriage is decided by me! What's the respectability of the court? Don't use your official position to pressure me!"
"Father," Chen Zhiwei met his gaze, refusing to budge. "My daughter and I are now officials in the same court. State laws take precedence over family rules. Are you going to disobey my order?"
The four words "serving in the same court" hit Chen Shucheng's heart like a heavy hammer.
He opened his mouth, looked at the official certificate with the vermilion seal in his daughter's hand, and then looked at the guests around him who were looking at him with surprise, inquiry, and even a hint of anticipation. He felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness. The patriarchy of etiquette and law on which he depended for survival seemed so pale and ridiculous under the imperial power.
Upon seeing this, Mr. Wang snorted coldly and walked away in a huff. "Mr. Chen, it seems your family's threshold is too high for me to reach! This marriage is over!"
It was a farce that ended with Chen Shucheng almost fainting from anger.
A few days later, Chen Zhiwei received the light blue female official uniform.
She returned home and slowly put her clothes on in front of the mirror.
She stroked the lines on the cuffs and the small seal of an eighth-rank clerk, feeling mixed emotions. This was not just a piece of clothing or a seal, it was her proof of breaking free from her shackles and her key to another world.
The servants in the house looked at her with awe and curiosity, no longer with the neglect they had in the past.
When the younger brother saw her, he subconsciously shrank his neck, called out "Sister", and hurried away.
Her mother looked at her with a complex expression, one that contained worry, pride, and a hint of flattery that she herself hadn't noticed. She simply repeatedly warned her, "When you're out on duty, be sure to be careful and cautious. Don't offend the important people..."
Chen Zhiwei knew that this family could no longer hold her back.
Now when she goes in and out of the house, the neighbors no longer look at her casually as the unmarried girl of the Chen family, but instead look at her with a bit of awe and courtesy.
"Master Chen is off duty?"
"Master Chen looks really good today."
Even the families of officials of higher rank than her father would stop and exchange a few polite words when they saw her. "I heard that Lord Chen works in the Military Affairs Office? He's quite promising young man, and his future is limitless."
What she said was no longer about whose daughter she was, but because she herself was "Lady Chen", a female official selected through the "Hairpin Flower Test" set up by His Majesty himself, and someone who could move around in front of the Regent Princess and Lord Su Qingfan.
The attitudes of relatives in the clan have changed drastically.
In the past, when those aunts and sisters-in-law gathered together, they would at most praise her by saying "she is good-looking and blessed", but now they often pull my mother aside to praise her.
"Weiwei is now a legitimate eighth-rank official? Incredible! And she's only seventeen!"
"I heard she works under Lord Su? He's the most favored person in front of His Majesty! I'm afraid Weiwei will be more successful than the men in our family in the future!"
"Her father spent half his life in the Honglu Temple and only reached the eighth rank. With Weiwei's starting point...tsk tsk, in the future, she'll be able to ennoble her wife and children...oh no, bring honor to the family. It's just around the corner!"
"If you ask me, by the time she's her father's age, even a fifth-rank warrior wouldn't be able to stop her!"
Chen Zhiwei just listened indifferently to all these flatteries, whether sincere or false, relayed by her mother or expressed directly in front of her.
She knew clearly in her heart that this sudden appreciation did not come from her, but from the official title "personally granted by His Majesty" and her potential value.
But so what? She was different.
Just over a month later, by the end of autumn, the imperial army was about to set out for the Northern Expedition.
The Military Affairs Department was extremely busy, and these newly promoted female officers were also given the important task of accompanying the army.
When the news reached the Chen family, Chen Shucheng once again tried to stop them: "Swords have no eyes. It's ridiculous for a woman like you to go to the army! Stay home!"
Chen Zhiwei was packing her things. Without even looking up, she calmly replied, "Father, this is a transfer order from my superiors. Military orders are as heavy as a mountain. I am now an official of the imperial court. I earn your salary and bear your burdens. How can I sacrifice public service for personal gain?"
"You... do you still see me as your father?" Chen Shucheng beat his chest and stamped his feet.
Chen Zhiwei finally raised his head and looked at his father's face which was twisted with anger, and his heart was strangely calm.
It turned out that the shackles that once made her feel so terrified were so fragile and unbearable.
She picked up her simple bag and walked out the door. As she passed her father, she said softly, "Father, take care. My daughter, it's time to go to work."
Outside the door, several colleagues were already waiting for her.
There was the poor girl who became successful through self-study, and the woman who worked to supplement the family income. They smiled at each other.
They joined the rolling crowd, followed the black banner, and headed north, towards the battlefield.
The wind blew through the strands of hair on her forehead, bringing the smell of distant dust.
Chen Zhiwei turned around, took one last look at the house that had trapped her for more than ten years, then turned around resolutely and walked forward with firm steps.
The road ahead is unknown, but this time, her destiny is in her own hands.
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