Baochai from Dream of the Red Chamber 1 Mwah!
Xue Pan certainly has a lot of flaws, but he was genuinely filial to his aunt, Xue Yima. He also truly loved his younger sister, Baochai.
Baochai was ill a few days ago, and he stayed at home obediently, not even stepping out of the door, worrying about Baochai's illness every day.
Seeing that Baochai had recovered from her illness, he couldn't stand being cooped up at home any longer and couldn't wait to take his servant out to have some fun and get some fresh air.
He had just excitedly walked to the gate when he was stopped by two doormen who were all smiles and looking extremely apprehensive.
"Sir, please wait a moment." One of the older waiters bowed, looking embarrassed. "The young lady specifically instructed that if you want to go out, you must first let me go and inform her."
Upon hearing this, Xue Pan's eyes widened like copper bells: "What? I have to report before I go out? Who do you think you are? Don't try to scare me with this girl. Get out of my way, I'm going out today no matter what."
He then rudely pushed aside the two gatekeepers and swaggered out the gate.
"Ahem, bro, where are you planning to go?"
Baochai, accompanied by her maid Ying'er, had already arrived under the eaves.
Upon seeing Xue Pan arrogantly and unreasonably beating and kicking the servants, Baochai's smile faded, and her brows furrowed slightly.
Upon hearing Baochai's voice, Xue Pan almost instinctively shrank back, his fierce energy instantly dissipating by more than half.
He immediately turned around, his face instantly transforming into a wide smile, and strode over to Baochai:
"Oh, my dear sister, you've just recovered from your illness, why don't you rest more in your room?" His tone was clearly ingratiating.
Baochai smiled slightly and said in a gentle tone, "I originally wanted to rest, but I heard that you weren't reading in your study and were going out with someone. I was a little worried, so I came to check on you."
Her voice was soft, but her question made Xue Pan break out in a cold sweat: "Brother, what urgent matter requires you to go out now? Does Mom know you're going out? Have you finished your homework for today?"
Xue Pan choked, opening his mouth but unable to utter a single word.
In the end, he could only walk back like a defeated rooster, head down, shuffling along reluctantly, before heading back to his study in the front yard.
Baochai then calmed down and rewarded the two dutiful gatekeepers with five taels of silver each. She also gave special instructions and warnings to the others.
“They did a good job. Tell the steward that their monthly wages will be increased by five hundred coins. From now on, whenever the master goes out, he must be stopped like this.”
If you can't stop him, send someone to tell me immediately. Under no circumstances should he be allowed to go out alone.
"Stop this old man, and I'll reward you handsomely. But if anyone dares to disobey me and secretly let him out to fool around without my permission, their entire family will be sold off to a desolate place."
The servants felt a chill run down their spines and bowed their heads in agreement.
After dealing with the matter at the gate, Baochai did not go directly back to her own courtyard, but instead took Ying'er and headed towards the main courtyard where Aunt Xue lived.
Aunt Xue was doing needlework by the window when she looked up and saw Baochai arrive. She quickly put down her embroidery frame.
“My son, you’ve only just recovered. Why don’t you stay in your room and rest more? If there’s anything you need, just have a maid run errand for you.”
Baochai walked forward with a smile, affectionately taking her arm and acting coquettishly:
"Mom, the doctor said my illness is no longer a problem. Moving around more will help me recover faster."
She paused, her tone soft but earnest: "Mom, it's not a long-term solution for my brother to just stay at home doing nothing."
If I hadn't been keeping a close eye on him, he would have sneaked out with his men just now.
This household affairs will eventually fall to my brother's shoulders. Perhaps we should hire a learned tutor who can keep him in check?
I heard that there is a teacher named Ling in the south of the city. He is a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), extremely learned, skilled in both literature and martial arts, and strict in his teaching.
Many children have made great progress under his tutelage. Why don't we send him an invitation and formally invite him to our home to properly teach my brother's studies?
Aunt Xue never had any major ideas, and she trusted her exceptionally intelligent daughter Baochai the most.
Hearing her praise Master Ling so highly and eloquently, I also felt it was a very good thing.
“Since that Master Ling is so talented, we should have the steward prepare a generous gift and formally invite him to teach your brother.”
Master Ling is Ling Yi. In this life, her gender is directly set as male, and she has complete identity documentation.
Baochai's character was that after passing the imperial examination, he resigned from his official post and returned to his hometown to open a private school because he was not used to the intrigue and backstabbing in officialdom.
Xue Pan is a fellow that ordinary teachers can't handle. Since he started his studies, Old Master Xue has hired countless tutors, but they would all leave after three or four days to half a month, each one invariably driven to despair by Xue Pan.
Xue Pan was already used to it. So be it. No matter how great a teacher is, he can't stand Xue Pan's tantrums and unreasonable behavior. In a few days, Xue Pan would definitely be unable to continue teaching Xue Pan and would pack his bags and leave.
But this time, Xue Dashan really miscalculated. Ling Yi was the "nuclear-hearted" teacher that Baochai specially tailored for him.
He can be a very patient, erudite, and approachable gentleman who can explain complex concepts in simple terms, like a gentle spring breeze.
But if Xue Pan acts unreasonable, deliberately causes trouble, or doesn't understand human language... he also knows a little bit of martial arts and can give Xue Pan a good beating.
In just half a month, Ling Yi had Xue Pan completely under her thumb, making him obedient and well-behaved. He wouldn't dare go west when told to go east, and he wouldn't slack off when told to study.
While Xue Pan was reforming himself and studying hard, Baochai was not idle either. She dealt with the servants around Xue Pan who only encouraged him to fool around and flatter him.
The maids who were wicked, only good at coaxing Xue Pan, and who dreamed of becoming a phoenix by climbing into his bed, were all sold off far away.
What followed was a thorough purge of the entire household. From the steward and old women to the cleaning servants and maids, everyone had to relearn the rules, and those who failed the assessment were all laid off and sold.
After cleaning up all the sycophantic, lazy, and cunning servants in the house, Baochai immediately began to reorganize the shops and estates outside.
Those shops that consistently lose money and barely manage to stay afloat are all sold off to cut losses in time.
For those shopkeepers and managers who were dishonest and embezzled public funds, no mercy was shown. They were directly ordered to confiscate their property, settle accounts, sell off what needed to be sold, and hand over what needed to be handed over to the authorities.
At this time, the Xue family had begun to show signs of decline, but fortunately, it had not yet suffered serious damage.
To outsiders, Baochai's drastic actions this time seemed like a sign that the Xue family was now just an empty shell, and that selling off servants was a way to cut costs. However, what they didn't know was that Baochai had deliberately created this illusion for others.
Privately, Baochai transformed her family's barren and unproductive estate into a workshop, adapting to local conditions.
The workers in the workshop are all maids and servants who have signed life-long contracts and used loyalty tokens; they are absolutely reliable.
The one in charge is a seemingly taciturn but exceptionally reliable and capable nanny robot.
The workshop produces fresh products: tooth powder, toothpaste, small soft-bristled toothbrushes, delicate face creams, powerful soaps, and scented soaps.
She also used byproducts from soap making to produce bright, smokeless, high-end candles, which were very popular with wealthy families.
In addition, she secretly dispatched nanny robots to assemble a fleet to sail the seas. Using exquisite daily necessities and novel industrial products manufactured in the space workshop at extremely low cost, they traded with merchants from various Western countries, exchanging them for large quantities of gold, gems, spices, and other valuable resources.
On one occasion, when the nanny robot was leading the escort fleet to "pass by" an island, it had some friction with the fierce Japanese pirates there.
Before the nanny robot set off, it received instructions from Baochai that those Japanese pirates were inherently evil, plundering by nature, and could not be reformed or tamed.
If conflict arises, utilize the epoch-making weapons in the space warehouse to completely eradicate them from this world. Remember to nip it in the bud to avoid leaving any future trouble.
Baochai's words were always carried out flawlessly by the nanny robot, who led the guards to wipe out the Japanese pirates. The island nation was thus brought under Baochai's control and transformed into a transit base for her fleet.
The gold and silver mines on the island were secretly mined and smelted, eventually becoming a rich reserve in Baochai's private treasury.
Thanks to Baochai's efforts, the Xue family's business appeared to have closed some unprofitable shops, but their actual wealth had increased many times over, making their fortune astonishing.
What pleased Aunt Xue the most was not how much wealth the Xue family had accumulated, but that Xue Pan, under the tutelage of Master Ling, had actually made a name for himself in his studies.
First, he overcame numerous obstacles and passed the preliminary examination for the first degree, becoming a proper scholar. The following year, he even passed the provincial examination with great difficulty!
Although he ranked last, he did indeed pass the exam. When Aunt Xue learned that Xue Pan had passed the imperial examination and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination), she excitedly hugged him and burst into tears.
In Aunt Xue's opinion, as long as Xue Pan doesn't go out and cause trouble, and can stay at home obediently to study with his teacher, she is already grateful.
As for whether she could get a result? She really didn't dare to think about it at all; she had never dreamed of such a good thing.
So when Xue Pan actually passed the county-level exam and then the provincial-level exam, Aunt Xue was so excited that she didn't know what to do.
After crying, he ran to the ancestral tablets to kowtow, and then donated money to all the temples, big and small, in Nanjing.
Baochai followed Aunt Xue to various temples to burn incense and make thanks, looking helpless. What was the use of thanking those gods and Buddhas when she was the one who had made the greatest contribution?
She went to great lengths to urge Xue Pan to improve himself, personally tailoring a grueling study plan for him and even spending points to have the system trade a civil service examination system from another tasker.
During the day, Xue Pan studied diligently with Ling Yi, and he didn't rest even when he was sleeping at night. His consciousness was directly pulled into the study room carried by the imperial examination system, where he studied all night.
It's fair to say that Xue Pan spent at least 20 out of 24 hours a day studying.
Of course, Baochai dared to do this because studying in the system space would put her body into a deep sleep state, and studying could directly replace sleep without causing any harm to her body.
In order to help Xue Pan succeed, he consumed a lot of the Enlightenment Pills and Intelligence-Boosting Pills from the space. In fact, to improve his intelligence, Baochai even gave him a basic gene evolution liquid to drink.
Xue Pan's intelligence is now quite high, though he's still a ways off from being a true genius.
But he was obedient; he not only memorized the Four Books and Five Classics perfectly, but also wrote them in a neat and beautiful official script.
Perhaps it was because he spent every day surrounded by books and absorbed their scholarly atmosphere, coupled with the gene evolution liquid he took, which completely transformed his body, that he lost a full twenty pounds compared to before.
Now, Xue Pan is wearing a blue robe and walking down the street. His tall and straight figure gives people the illusion that he is tall, elegant and graceful.
To be honest, Xue Pan wasn't ugly, after all, he had good genes from his parents.
To have given birth to such a beautiful and charming daughter as Xue Baochai, Xue Xun and Aunt Xue must have been quite good-looking themselves.
Xue Pan used to be fat and bloated, and always had the fierce and arrogant look of a spoiled young master. He looked dull and stupid, which is why he got the nickname "Dumb Tyrant".
Now, not only has his appearance changed drastically, but he has also become more polite and courteous, exuding a refined and dignified air in his every move. He has gradually gained a good reputation in Jinling City.
When people mention Xue Pan, the eldest son of the Xue family, many can't help but praise him, saying, "A prodigal son who returns is more precious than gold."
In his previous life, Xue Pan killed someone. To avoid disaster, the Xue family hurriedly packed their bags and went to the capital to seek refuge with relatives. They left in a hurry and in a sorry state.
The Xue family's ancestral home in the capital had fallen into disrepair and was uninhabitable.
Adding to Aunt Xue's ulterior motive of wanting to form a marriage alliance with the Jia family, the three of them ended up living as dependents in the Jia mansion, having to be subservient to others and live at the mercy of their masters.
In this life, because Xue Pan was ambitious and hardworking, he first passed the county-level examination, then studied hard for half a year, and finally passed the provincial-level examination at the very bottom of the list, becoming a successful candidate in the provincial-level examination!
Baochai had sent her capable steward, along with silver notes and manpower, to the capital to repair the Xue family's old residence.
That house was acquired by the Xue family ancestors when they were granted the title of Ziwei Sheren, so it was of great significance.
After the old house was completely renovated inside and out, and all the furniture and belongings were arranged, the Xue family packed their bags, took a group of servants, chartered several large ships, and made a grand and respectable journey to the capital.
The Xue family were imperial merchants and belonged to the Imperial Household Department's bondservants. According to the rules, Baochai was required to participate in the Imperial Household Department's annual selection when she reached a certain age.
Of course, this kind of selection can be bypassed by bribing officials or leveraging connections.
Baochai had no intention of entering the palace, nor did she want to get involved in the affairs of any prince or nobleman. Therefore, she had already planned to take the route of exemption from the imperial selection process when she reached the appropriate age.
Starting from Nanjing, their fleet would first sail down the Yangtze River to Jingkou in Zhenjiang, where they would then enter the Jiangnan Canal, and finally head north to Tongzhou Wharf.
The entire waterway was over two thousand miles long. The journey was long, and with the need to stop for supplies along the way and occasionally seek shelter from the wind when the weather was bad, their boat swayed and rocked for more than two months before finally reaching Tongzhou.
In the first few days, Baochai was in high spirits and would go to the deck several times a day to see the scenery along the way, the green mountains on both sides of the river and the sails on the river.
Later, she became completely dejected and didn't even bother to leave the cabin for several days in a row, feeling that the long voyage was just too unbearable.
Although they wrote to their uncle Wang Ziteng and aunt Wang in advance before their trip to Beijing, Aunt Xue did not specify in the letter when they would arrive in the capital.
He simply told them in the letter that Xue Pan was now studying very hard and had already passed the imperial examination to become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations).
Because Xue Pan is going to the capital to take the imperial examination next year, they plan to move the whole family to the capital to live permanently so that it will be convenient for him to prepare for the exam.
After reading the letter sent by Aunt Xue, Madam Wang couldn't help but scoff:
"My sister is really getting worse as she gets older. Her son, Xue Pan, who's always idling around and causing trouble, actually passed the imperial examination? Does he really think just anyone can become a scholar?"
Zhou Rui's wife, who was very good at reading people's expressions, quickly smiled and said, "It's normal that the concubine doesn't know many things because she has lived in Jiangnan for many years."
These words struck a chord with Madam Wang, who proudly picked up her teacup and slowly took a sip.
In her eyes, her son Zhu was so intelligent that he passed the imperial examination at the age of fourteen, which was already one in a million. If he hadn't died young, it would have been only a matter of time before he passed the provincial and metropolitan examinations.
But then again, her daughter Zhu'er hadn't passed the imperial examination before she died, which shows how difficult it was to become a successful candidate.
A spoiled brat like Xue Pan would be lucky to even recognize a few characters. Passing the county-level imperial examination was harder than climbing to heaven, let alone passing the provincial-level examination. It was pure wishful thinking; no one would believe it if you told them.
Because of Baochai, the Xue family moved to the capital two years later in this generation, and Prince Teng, who had been sent to a post outside the capital, had already been transferred back to the capital.
After receiving the letter sent by Aunt Xue, he was overjoyed at his nephew Xue Pan's remarkable transformation.
After reading the letter, he immediately rushed to the main courtyard to share this joyous occasion with his wife.
After reading the letter, Madam Wang Ziteng couldn't help but be a little surprised: "Didn't you often sigh before, saying that your second sister's Pan'er was just as spoiled as your eldest brother's Ren'er, that he was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and that he only knew how to cause trouble?"
How come he suddenly changed his ways in the last two years? He started studying hard and even passed the imperial examination!
Wang Ziteng stroked his short beard: "I do know some of the reasons for this. Ever since my brother-in-law passed away, Pan'er has been useless, and the Xue family has always been managed by my niece Baochai, who runs the household both inside and outside."
To encourage Pan'er to improve, Baochai went to great lengths, hiring a very skilled tutor to teach him.
I've heard that Master Ling is extremely capable, skilled in both literature and martial arts, and very strict in his discipline.
Under his careful guidance, Pan'er got rid of all her bad habits and began to study hard, which led to her remarkable transformation.
He became more and more satisfied as he spoke, and even began to plan: "It seems that after my second sister and her family arrive in the capital, I will have to have a proper meeting with that Master Ling."
If he truly possesses great talent, why not offer him a hefty sum to come and properly instruct our Ren-ge? Perhaps he'll make significant progress!"
When the Xue family's entourage arrived at their ancestral home in the capital, the carriages drove directly through the grand gate and came to a steady stop at the second gate.
Baochai, supported by her maid, gracefully stepped off the carriage using a footstool. Then she turned around and carefully helped Aunt Xue out of the carriage.
After Aunt Xue stood still, she looked around at the familiar yet unfamiliar pavilions and towers, and her eyes couldn't help but well up with tears.
"This house... was originally acquired by the Xue family ancestors when they were appointed as Ziwei Sheren."
So many years have passed in the blink of an eye. Mom never imagined she'd ever move back in like this.
Baochai considerately supported her mother's arm and slowly walked towards the main courtyard: "Mom, don't worry."
Once my brother passes the imperial examination next spring and becomes a Jinshi, our Xue family's life will only get better and better. You can just wait to enjoy the good life.
You must be exhausted after such a bumpy ride in the carriage.
I've already had the heating turned on. Let me help you back to your room to rest for a while.
When the house was being renovated, Baochai specifically instructed the steward to re-lay the flooring in all the courtyards.
Their family was used to living in Jiangnan, and the winters in the capital were dry and cold, so they couldn't rely on charcoal braziers for heating.
After settling everyone in the Xue family, Aunt Xue thought it would be a good time to visit her brother and sister-in-law.
Xue Pan intends to pursue a career in officialdom, and if he wants to gain a foothold in the bureaucracy, he will have to rely heavily on his uncle, Wang Ziteng.
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