Chapter 35
The next day, when we arrived at the academy, the list of successful candidates for the major examination was already posted in a place that everyone had to pass through. My cousin sighed and said, "If Baihe Academy is at the top again this time, Mr. Zhu will say that Bailu Academy is wasting its teaching resources and he will try to persuade the dean to close it down."
Xie Qinghong was unaware of the previous events. He only knew that this Mr. Zhu spoke unpleasantly and looked down on women's pursuit of education. However, he did not expect him to be so rigid, forbidding anyone from studying at Bailu Academy from doing so without the top scorer.
She frowned in regret: "If only I had been more careful, I might have done even better on the test."
As soon as she finished speaking, her classmate, who was walking towards her, chuckled, took her hand, and led her forward, saying as they walked, "If you had done any better on the exam, Mr. Zhu's face would have turned as black as the bottom of a pot. Come and see, you're at the top of the list! Let's see what they have to say this time."
The teachers from Bailu Academy were also on the list. When they saw Xie Qinghong, they smiled and said that she was outstanding in literature, calligraphy, painting, and even arithmetic. She was the undisputed number one on the list this time.
All the students at Bailu Academy were proud of this, but in contrast, Mr. Zhu's face darkened for a whole day. He cursed at Baihe Academy, "So many young men can't even compare to a girl. They must not have put their hearts into their studies. They should drop out and go home to inherit the family business."
Xie Qinghong was weeding the vegetables in the backyard with his classmates, and you could hear his voice. Then you heard that he was so angry that he left the group of people from Baihe Academy and went straight home.
When Xie Qinghong was scolded by Mr. Zhu for no reason that day, she was thinking about how to get revenge. However, the teachings of respecting teachers and valuing morality since childhood made her endure it. Afterwards, she put it aside and never thought about it again. She said, "Don't be angry, don't be angry. If you get sick from being angry, no one can take your place."
But she never expected that getting first place would make Mr. Zhu leave in anger; this was truly an unexpected delight. Gentlemen, especially Mr. Zhu, please rest assured, she will definitely study diligently and strive for excellence from now on, and will never settle for second place if she can get first.
Thinking of this, she suddenly had a brilliant idea: "If I could become an official based on my exam scores, I would definitely participate."
The girl weeding also dreamed: "If farming could lead to becoming an official, I could definitely become a powerful minister."
Xie Qinghong earnestly encouraged her: "You're right. If I pass the exam, I'll promote you to farm and become an agricultural official. If you become a powerful minister, I'll suggest that you take the exam to become an official."
The two were speaking with great seriousness, and my cousin listened blankly, wondering if she had missed something. Were all her classmates so ambitious? They were thinking so far ahead even when there was no precedent for women holding official positions.
She couldn't help but remind her cousin, "Sister, you'll be the wife of the Prince of Nan next year. When the prince inherits the throne, you'll be the Princess Consort of Nan." How will you then take the exams and become an official?
Xie Qinghong was indeed reminded and grabbed her classmate's hand: "I've got it. It's said that the southern lands are barren and unsuitable for farming. Do you want to come with me to reclaim the wasteland? We can farm together, and once we achieve something, when I become the Princess Consort of the South, I will appoint you as the agricultural official of the South."
The classmate's eyes lit up, and he gripped the hand in return: "With your words, I will go back tomorrow to study how to grow crops in the southern soil. Wait for my good news."
My cousin was stunned. "Don't just casually agree on this! Do you really believe what you're saying? You don't actually believe yourselves, do you? Didn't you plan all this without including me?"
After weeding, the classmate went to put her things away, and the two cousins went to wash their hands together. The younger cousin was still in a daze, and Xie Qinghong waved her hand in front of her: "What are you thinking about?"
My cousin snapped out of her daze, utterly bewildered: "Sister, what you were saying just now couldn't be true, could it? Qingqing always loves to daydream, she might actually believe it. Her family only has elders in the clan, but they're not close to her and don't really care about her. What if she really wants to go with you to the southern lands to reclaim the wasteland?"
Xie Qinghong had actually known about her classmate Yuan Qingqing for a while, because her hobbies were quite different; she liked farming. Her parents died in an accident when she was young, but fortunately they left behind a considerable amount of property. The elders in her clan did not embezzle it, but they did not show her much care, and because of her unique hobby, they rarely interacted with her.
Her words weren't just a spur-of-the-moment decision, because she had discovered that Yuan Qingqing truly had a talent for farming. Whether aquatic or terrestrial, everything she tended thrived. Moreover, Yuan Qingqing acted according to her own whims; she was a bold and perceptive girl.
So she boldly extended an invitation, leaving it entirely up to Yuan Qingqing to accept or not.
“There are always things in this world that we have no choice but to accept, but I think we should take some of our fate into our own hands first,” Xie Qinghong said earnestly.
My cousin seemed to understand but not quite, then turned and quietly went to find Yuan Qingqing, saying, "Sister Ayao, you haven't married into the Nanwang Mansion yet, and we don't know what the future holds. Do you want to think about it again? The Nanwang Heir's reputation is so terrible, and we don't know what the Nanwang and Nanwang Princess are like. I'm afraid you'll suffer."
Yuan Qingqing smiled and said, "I know all that, but I feel that I am destined to be with Ayao. Perhaps we should go to the south together. Besides, I have no interest in Huaizhou. I have long wanted to go out and travel around. With the wife of the Prince of the South taking me, I don't have to be afraid of anything outside."
Seeing that she couldn't persuade either side, my cousin could only keep the matter to herself and didn't tell anyone else.
After the exam results were posted, the academy would have a month-long holiday. Xie Qinghong and Yuan Qingqing arranged to meet at a teahouse in two days to discuss the details.
The next day, thinking that she should write an article demonstrating the feasibility, so that she would have something to follow and evidence to rely on when discussing it with Yuan Qingqing, she immediately picked up her pen and started writing. After writing a few pages, her cousin came to find her excitedly and said, "I heard that Mr. Zhu is sick with anger!"
Xie Qinghong was shocked. They were all great Confucian scholars of the time. Shouldn't they be more temperamental?
My cousin looked around and gestured for the maid to leave for the time being. Then she lowered her voice and told her, "It turns out that Mr. Zhu had a concubine at home, and that concubine ran away with all the valuables in the house."
Xie Qinghong quickly put down his pen: "How come Mr. Zhu has a concubine? I thought he was either single or only had his wife." After all, Mr. Zhu disliked women so much, so why would he take a concubine? It's not proper at all.
My cousin was also surprised: "Mr. Zhu kept it a secret, but this time his concubine ran away. He went to the authorities to report it himself. When asked about the relationship, he said he wanted to 'apprehend the runaway concubine.' The constable was so surprised that he shouted it out, and several people waiting to report it heard it. Among them was the 'know-it-all' in the city, and the news spread. Then Mr. Zhu got sick from anger. I asked around, and it's true."
Xie Qinghong was filled with astonishment. Just the day before, he had thought Wangjing would be very lively, but now it seemed that Huaizhou was just as lively—a great scholar was deeply embroiled in a scandal of private morality, and his concubine stole money and ran away. What was the reason for this?
After discussing it with her cousin, her urge to confide in him hadn't subsided. She remembered that she had replied to her brother and the others, but she didn't know how to reply to Pei Du's letter. Thinking that they had been scolded by Mr. Zhu together, no, Pei Du had been scolding Mr. Zhu back. She immediately unfolded the letter paper and wrote a letter to Pei Du.
It also lets him know that his words back then were very apt, and that he had accurately described Mr. Zhu's selfless virtue.
She wrote several pages, and without reading them carefully, she put all the letters into an envelope. She also had some Huaizhou specialties sent along with the letter, so that Pei Du would not think that she was deliberately delaying her reply.
After the letter was sent, she remembered the feasibility study she was writing. She searched her desk but couldn't find it in any book. Fortunately, she remembered the contents, so she continued writing, thinking she would look for it again after she finished.
When Pei Du received the letter, he was practicing volley shooting at the horse farm. The Prince of Nan was watching him closely. A guard took the letter inside, unsure whether to interrupt. The Prince of Nan glanced at it and asked, "Whose letter is this?"
Pei Du immediately stopped, rode up to the guard, and held out his hand: "Give it to me."
The Prince of the South narrowed his eyes, first noticing the smile that appeared on Pei Du's face when he saw the envelope, then noticing that Pei Du had pulled out a thick stack of papers from the envelope. He could only try to reassure himself: maybe it was cursing him, it couldn't be a heartfelt confession, could it? Why does the youngest daughter of the Xie family talk so much?
But when Pei Du looked closely, he frowned again, as if he had seen something he couldn't understand.
The King of the South immediately felt refreshed and invigorated; he must have been cursing him.
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