Lady Kelpi Translations

Chapter Nineteen:
Disappointed

Teacher Xie loves the qin. If you bring a good qin, he will be more tolerant of you.

The question hovered in Jiang Xuening’s mind all night without an answer.

She didn’t know how the selection process was carried out specifically.

Even if an object of suspicion existed in her mind, it couldn’t be verified.

The following day, more news about the selection of Princess Leyang’s study companions came one after another.

For example, the list of study companions.

Since they were children, Shen Zhiyi had played with Xiao Shu, the eldest young lady of Duke Chengguo’s mansion, so she was naturally among them. Eleven young ladies from other ministers and noble families followed her.

Then there was Jiang Xuening, who had the ‘good fortune’ to be among them.

On the list were also Miss Fan and Miss You Yue. Both were at Count Qingyuan’s banquet, where Shen Zhiyi had declared them the winners of the poetry and painting competitions, respectively.

Another bit of news was the specific things they would learn.

Men of the Great Qian Dynasty had to learn etiquette, music, archery, imperial music, calligraphy, and mathematics. At the same time, the daughters of normal families could only recognize a few words at most. They learned optional things such as needlework, poetry, and painting.

But Shen Zhiyi was a princess and had already requested what she wanted, so it was naturally different.

Out of the Six Arts of the Gentleman, there were three things they would learn: rites, music, and calligraphy. One must also learn feminine arts, such as blending incense and painting. In addition, the Emperor favored Shen Zhiyi. He knew she always tried to sneak to Wenhua Hall to listen to the lessons, so he found several knowledgeable senior instructors in the Hanlin Academy to teach her some books that only men could read.
[The Six Arts was the base foundation of education in ancient China. It was made and learned by Confucians and they were: rites, charioteering, archery, equestrianism, calligraphy and mathematics. Hanlin Academy was a university that ran from 708 CE (in the Tang Dynasty) until the Xinhai Revolution in 1911.]

One of the most astonishing things was that one of the teachers invited by the Emperor for her was actually ‘Teacher Xie.’

The current Crown Prince’s Imperial Tutor, Xie Wei!

It was said that he would teach two classes: one was the qin, which fell under the ‘music’ category. The second class would be a selection of different classics and histories, but the specific ones still need to be determined.

When Jiang Xuening heard this news from Lian’er’s small mouth, she wished the ground would swallow her up!

Another piece of news was the arrangement of entering the palace.

Tomorrow she was to prepare to enter the palace and stay there for about three to five days. The female officials in the palace would then teach about the etiquette and taboos of the palace to not make any mistakes or cause any trouble.

If one couldn’t learn or had poor qualifications, they would be politely advised to leave.

Then, they would each go home and stay for a few days before truly entering the palace to be a study companion.

From then on, they would live in the palace for nine days and then have the opportunity to return home for a day. This would continue until they finished the studies arranged by the instructors. They estimated that completing the arranged studies would take half a year.

This was definitely an incredible opportunity.

As long as Jiang Xuening thought of attending the palace as a study companion, her head began to pound. She didn’t dare openly refuse to follow an edict of the Emperor, so she had to find a more suitable solution.

She couldn’t help it if she were ‘dissuaded’ because she couldn’t learn etiquette or had poor qualifications, right?

She made up her mind that she would slack off!

。。。

That afternoon.

Tang’er and Lian’er were cleaning up and packing the things she would need for her first visit to the palace. They also said that she would meet many young ladies from aristocratic families when she entered the palace and that it would be best to go out later and buy some gifts.

Jiang Xuening sat by the window, leisurely reading a book. Her lips twitched slightly as she listened to them.

“People will think Miss will be visiting relatives, not entering the palace to study.”

Lian’er pouted. “Miss has to be well prepared when she enters the palace. This time, we cannot follow her. Who knows what the palace maids are like? If she doesn’t need these this time, she can still use them next time. Our Miss is the only one whose name wasn’t originally submitted but is on the list. She might lose in some things, but she cannot lose with this!”

Jiang Xuening’s eyes twitched as soon as she heard this.

She really should have found a yapo to sell this girl off.
[A yapo is a woman who buys and sells female maids/slaves.]

What was with the pot calling the kettle black?

She buried her head, picked up a preserved fruit from the plate, and ate it, flipping through the book no matter how much they tossed and turned.

Either way, she didn’t plan to stay in the palace too long.

But this could not be said aloud.

If people found out she was deliberately playing tricks and strategizing without wanting to enter the palace, it would cause unnecessary trouble.

The fewer people knew, the better. She preferred no one know.

She was flipping through the pages again when suddenly, there was a sound like something had hit the window panel.

Jiang Xuening looked up but didn’t see anything unusual.

She was about to lower her head and continue reading when another soft thump appeared.

This time, it hit the window lattice, bounced, and rolled onto her book.

She picked up the item and saw it was a golden pine nut with a small opening.

With a forceful squeeze of her fingers, it opened.

It turned out to be fried pine nuts.

Ripe.

Jiang Xuening didn’t see anyone, but she knew who was coming and couldn’t help but laugh. “The walls in the courtyard aren’t built high enough. If my father finds out you didn’t walk through the main door, I’m afraid he’ll have to complain again.”

“Did he see me this time?”

Yan Lin’s voice came from up high and only appeared from the dense shade of the tree under the wall. He jumped down with a leap. Today, he wore a long robe with a small purse hanging from his waist and a handful of pine nuts in his hand. He walked to the window with a smile.

“Only if you complain about it.”

She hadn’t seen him for several days, but he seemed to have tanned a bit. His originally handsome face had a shallow scratch, but fortunately, it wasn’t too deep or too much, and it didn’t ruin his appearance. It added a bit of toughness to his original noble son’s aura, making him even more fiery and brilliant.

“How did that happen?” Jiang Xuening asked.

Yan Lin was still somewhat concerned about his appearance. Hearing this, he raised his hand, touched his cheek, coughed, and said, “When I went to Tongzhou Camp, I drank a bit of alcohol and couldn’t help but spar with my father’s subordinates. I was boxing and accidentally got a bit hurt. It’s no big deal. The military doctor said it’ll heal in a couple of days.”

The Fengtai and Tongzhou camps had been garrisoned throughout history to defend the Capital.

Since Prince Pingnan plotted a rebellion and launched an attack twenty years ago, and neither Fengtai nor Tongzhou had the time to react or enter the Capital to quell the rebellion, the late Emperor established a forbidden army in the Capital, selecting the best of the two battalions to join and guard the Capital.
[The Fengtai and Tongzhou camps were significant for defending the Capital.]

After Shen Lang ascended the throne, he further strengthened the imperial army.

Because he was a firsthand witness to the rebellion, he had a deep shadow over the danger of rebellion of the feudal lords and the slow pace of the army’s support. The positions of the Fengtai and Tongzhou camps in the military continued to decline.

Marquis Yongyi’s family was one of several noble families in charge of military power in the court. They mainly managed Tongzhou Camp, which was further away from the Capital.

As for Fengtai Camp, which was closer to the Capital, Duke Chengguo’s family managed it.

Now, the most important twenty-six guards of the forbidden army were under the joint control of the Emperor and the Ministry of War.

From this, it could be seen that although the Yan and Xiao clans were two prestigious families in the Capital, the Xiao family in Duke Chengguo’s mansion were outsiders of the current Emperor Shen Lang and were more trusted than the Yan family.

She didn’t know who was pushing behind the matter of Marquis Yongyi’s mansion.

“How is Zhou Yinzhi?” Jiang Xuening asked, looking at Yan Lin.

Yan Lin glanced at the busy maids in her room and placed the handful of pine nuts in his hand on the table next to the window. He leaned against the window edge and flipped over to sit down, with one leg hanging outside and the other bent up on the edge. He took a piece of her candied fruit and ate it.

“He’s an interesting person,” he said.

He thought back for a moment and showed a rather appreciative expression. “I saw him before leaving the Capital. He was neither humble nor arrogant, calm and composed. Perhaps because he’s originally a member of the Embroidered Brocade Guards and knows everything about the court, he should be able to handle things. I think he’ll be useful, but not just because of that. Recently, there’s been something related to him. Have you heard about it?”

“There have been assassination attempts recently, and it’s not peaceful,” Jiang Xuening said, curious. “I haven’t gone out or paid attention to the news outside. What’s going on?”

“He had a good horse and loved it very much,” Yan Lin said. “He takes the time to feed it every day. There isn’t much open land in the Capital, and if he has time, he takes it to the suburbs to run. Recently, while he was handling official duties in the security office, a young boy suddenly came. There was a rumor that his horse was sick and about to die. He immediately took a leave of absence from his superiors. After he saw to the horse at home, he drew his own sword and personally killed it.”

Jiang Xuening froze.

Yan Lin laughed. “The next day, when he went to the magistrate’s office, the officer asked him, ‘Is your horse okay?’ He replied, ‘The horse is dead; I killed it.’ The officer was surprised and asked him why he did it. He even said he had raised this horse for over two years, just like his family. But when the horse was sick, he couldn’t bear to see its pain. He just killed it quickly to avoid a torturous death. It can be considered as the friendship between the horse and him for over two years.”

That horse…

How could Jiang Xuening not know?

The horse had been in good condition when she visited Zhou Yinzhi that day. How could it be so sick that it was dying and ‘in unbearable pain’?

At this moment, the only thing she could think of was the excuse she’d casually made for the little boy to find him to bring him back: Master Zhou’s beloved horse was so sick that it was dying.

A sudden chill spread from the soles of her feet all over her body.

Jiang Xuening’s fingers pressed down on the pages of her book, trembling gently.

“It’s hard to say whether this statement is true or false, but his killing his horse is true. His decisive actions are clear. Recently, the Emperor intends to entrust the prison matter to the Brocade Uniform Guard for handling. However, the Ministry of Justice, the Imperial Court of Judicial Review, and the Imperial Censorate all have significant opinions because they were originally in charge of the prison. This time, the official in charge of criminal affairs accused Zhou Qianhu during the incident, which allowed the Three Legal Departments to use the topic as leverage. The Emperor couldn’t withstand the public’s persuasion, and Zhou Qianhu’s official position was revoked. I’ve been working in the court, and this deficiency falls on Zhou Yinzhi.”

Zhou Yinzhi would never release an eagle before he saw the hare.

Yan Lin handled the affairs efficiently, which was also good.

Although Jiang Xuening was reborn, she had no knowledge of the court’s politics from her previous life. She only knew the outcome but was unclear on how things happened, what specific insider information was involved, and how many forces were competing.

She didn’t know what traps would be triggered if she cautioned him without careful consideration.

She was afraid that if she didn’t help Marquis Yongyi’s family, even if it harmed her, it could at least give them the opportunity to be on guard. Also, Zhou Yinzhi was the spy that the Brocade Uniform Guard sent to investigate the relationship between Marquis Yongyi’s mansion and Prince Pingnan. She already knew more than she had in her previous life, so she could provide factual information without drawing enough attention.

Even if they couldn’t avoid trouble, if they took all precautions and prepared in advance, they could still avoid having the same fate as in her previous life.

While some people might have died from the initial raid, even more died while in exile.

Some died because of aging and physical decline, some due to encountering bandits, and some died because of poverty and illness.

This included Yan Lin’s father.

Jiang Xuening felt a sense of heaviness in her heart. Zhou Yinzhi had thoroughly used her in the past. Although she was still dealing with him in this life, she had to take strict precautions.

If he could kill his beloved colt and lie about it without batting an eye today…

Tomorrow, he could raise a butcher’s knife towards her for the sake of his career and future.

She couldn’t stop herself from reminding Yan Lin, “He loved his horse but was able to kill it at any time. He’s decisive, and it was a ruthless tactic.”

Knowing that she cared, Yan Lin’s eyes softened. He only said, “I know.”

Jiang Xuening couldn’t say anything more, so she lowered her eyes and picked up the handful of pine nuts he peeled.

The small pine nut was difficult to peel and could be troublesome.

She frowned as she peeled and peeled.

Yan Lin smiled, untied the bulging purse hanging from his waist, and threw it at her. “I know you’re too impatient to peel these. Open and take a look.”

She caught it. It was heavy.

She opened it and saw it was full of already peeled pine nuts piled together in a glistening yellow.

Although they weren’t valuable, peeling them took a lot of effort.

Just looking at the bulging pouch, she could imagine how the young man sitting on the windowsill carefully peeled the pine nuts out of the shell little by little with his sword-holding hands.

Then, he saved them.

He threw it at her as if nothing happened.

Yan Lin thought she didn’t like it when she said nothing. “You don’t like them?”

Jiang Xuening shook her head. “No, I really like it.”

“Why aren’t you eating?” Yan Lin said strangely.

Jiang Xuening didn’t know how to explain it. Although small, her heart was too heavy, and she was afraid she couldn’t afford this.

There was a cool autumn wind blowing by the window. As September ended, the fragrance of osmanthus was gradually fading away.

Yan Lin saw she didn’t speak for a long time, and for some reason, he remembered the strange words she had said to him that night. Looking up, he saw her maid packing a few more books. “Miss, do you want to bring these books to the palace tomorrow?”

“I won’t.” Jiang Xuening didn’t turn her head back as she responded.

Yan Lin only then remembered the matter of entering the palace. He took another piece of candied fruit and smiled. “You’re going to enter the palace to be the princess’s study companion. You also get to have Teacher Xie conduct the lessons. Are you happy?”

Jiang Xuening was far from feeling happy about it.

She opened her mouth and wanted to say that she didn’t want to go at all.

Before the words could be spoken, she looked up and saw Yan Lin with a big smile on his face. On second thought, she felt as if there were a hint of pride in his words. She suddenly had a bad feeling.

Jiang Xuening’s eye twitched. “You just got back to the Capital and already know about the study companion opportunity in such a short time?”

Yan Lin let out an ‘oh’ and blinked at her. His dark eyes sparkled, and the pride in his expression became more evident. “I knew the princess was choosing study companions. I already told her about you, and she said she would add you to the list, no matter what. You always say you want to go places you haven’t been before. Aren’t you curious about the things in the palace? With such a great opportunity, there was no way I’d forget you. I did a pretty good job with this, right, Ning Ning?”

Jiang Xuening was silent for a moment.

‘You’ve been causing trouble for a long time, and now you’re trying to mess with me!!!’

She suppressed the urge to push the boy off the windowsill and forced a smile, seemingly smiling but gritting her back teeth. “A good job! You did such a good job. It’s such a ‘surprise!’”

Yan Lin didn’t know why he felt a chill go down the back of his neck.

But when Ning Ning was happy, he was also happy.

So he said, “Although I don’t know what books Teacher Xie is going to teach you, his teaching the qin has already been decided. I ordered someone to search for some good qin a few days ago. Some of them are hundreds of years old. Teacher Xie loves the qin, so you should enter the palace with a good one. Even if Teacher Xie has strict requirements, he will be more tolerant of you for the sake of the qin. Today is just the right time. Let’s go, I’ll take you to buy a qin!”

The words ‘Teacher Xie’ gave Jiang Xuening goosebumps. Hearing ‘qin,’ they got even bigger. She wanted to say that she really didn’t need this sort of thing.

But she was no match for the dominance of Yan Lin.

In no time at all, she was forced into a carriage, and they left the mansion to pick up a qin.

。。。

Fourteen days had passed since the Double Ninth Festival.

You Fangyin had entered the trading house countless times and still didn’t like how the staff behind the counter looked at her when she asked for the daily market price of raw silk. She still thanked them sincerely and honestly.

After more than ten days of studying and practicing bookkeeping by candlelight, her eyes were bloodshot.

It was usual for someone to feel lightheaded when they walked out of the trading company.

The street market outside was bustling with people and a constant stream of carriages and horses.

Back home, the rules had been growing stricter, making her secret outings riskier. If her two sisters, especially her second sister, found out, she knew she would face severe consequences.

Her second sister had been selected to be a study companion for the princess, and now, no one in the mansion dared to offend her.

You Fangyin thought it would be best to head home earlier that day.

She had only slept for a few hours and couldn’t handle it anymore.

As she walked, she saw a small stall along the road with many exquisitely embroidered brocade handkerchiefs, sachets, and various embroidery patterns. Among them, she saw a sachet embroidered with orchids with green sepals, and the needlework amazed her as something she had never seen before. Her gaze stopped for a moment, followed by her footsteps.

You Fangyin remembered the white peony sachet she stained.

She reached out her hand, picked up the sachet, and looked closer.

Unexpectedly, someone passed by and accidentally bumped into her. She was already in a daze and not even able to stand steadily. She was pushed forward and, in a panic, swept most of the neatly arranged brocade handkerchiefs and sachets onto the ground.

The vendor was a small businessman and immediately exclaimed, “What’s wrong with you, girl? Are you trying to ruin people’s business?”

“I’m sorry,” You Fangyin said, feeling guilty. “I just wanted to look at this sachet. I didn’t intentionally…”

Everyone around her was focused on her, which made her even more embarrassed. She quickly lowered her head and helped the vendor pick up everything that had fallen to the ground one by one, repeatedly apologizing.

There was a lot of commotion on the street, and everyone couldn’t help but point fingers at her.

Jiang Xuening followed Yan Lin upstairs to the elegantly decorated You Huang Pavilion. Before she could enter, she heard the commotion and turned her head to look. She immediately saw the girl in the crowd who was in a state of embarrassment.

She picked up a sachet but knocked over more, becoming increasingly flustered.

She felt a slight chill when she recognized the girl as You Fangyin.

It didn’t seem that she changed much.

She was just as clumsy now as she was back then.

Looking at the small stall, it sold sachets and brocade handkerchiefs…

She suddenly gave a self-deprecating smile.

What was she really looking forward to?

She had known for a long time that a girl in the back courtyard, who had never learned how to manage a house, might not even know how to read books, couldn’t write more than a few words, and was still constrained by her family. Even if she had money in hand, she could buy some land if she held onto it. Did she really expect her to take risks with money, purchase raw silk, and do business?

There was only the bold and unconventional You Fangyin in her previous life.

Yan Lin followed her gaze and recognized her as the illegitimate daughter of the You family whom she had saved that day. He frowned for a moment and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Xuening withdrew her gaze, lowered her eyes, and said, “Saving someone in the moment doesn’t mean saving a life. Sometimes, even though I know it’s impossible when I see it with my own eyes, I still feel a little disappointed…”

Yan Lin looked back at her with some doubts.

She smiled slowly. “It’s okay. It’s just a little bit.”

…

Next Chapter: Qin