Chapter 50: CH 50

“This is the brushwork of the genuine Cui Beauty, just as lively as that portrait of you. It seems that the figure is painted according to the real person, the imitation paintings circulating outside cannot produce such illumination and expressions!” The Earl of Anshun, Xue Bao,  unfolded the portrait presented by Wang Xiangzhen, his voice full of praise as his fingers twirled the thin silk borders outside of the painting.

Guan Yu’s face was the color of a dark jujube, with long eyebrows and phoenix eyes, majestic and awe-inspiring; Zhao Yun was gentle and handsome,  unlike other heroic youths of similar age that resembled the sharp and fast blade of a spear, possessing a few degrees more clearness and steadfastness.

It proved worthy to be one of the Cui Beauty’s paintings. Although the vigor of the strokes was somewhat feeble, by just comparing the appearance of spirit infused in the characters, it was no worse than ancient painters, Gu Changkang[1] and Wu Daozi[2].

These were heroes Cui Xie had drawn out of plain air, without any previous foundations. For the first portrait picture, it was just like if a little Wang Xiangzhen was standing in the midst of the painting, about to charge out to launch an arrow at someone!

Xue Bao played with it for a long time before raising his head and smiled at Wang Xiangzhen who had presented the painting, “Although this is just a show of your filial piety, as an elder, I cannot just accept this gift for no reason. How much money did you spend on these two portraits? I will definitely reimburse you, do not refuse it!”

Young Master Wang got up and saluted, grinning, “This youngster knows the Lord Earl is honest and upright, and is usually unwilling to accept the favors of others, but when I requested this painting, I really did not spend more than half a tael. To be honest, that painter does not care for fame and fortune, unwilling to use painting skills to gain fame or use it to earn money. When he occasionally draws portraits for others, he will often give it away for free. How could I swindle the Lord Earl’s money using this freely gotten painting?”

The Earl of Anshun smoothed out his beard, twisted his eyebrows and asked, “Just who is this Cui beauty? I see that her brushwork technique is different from this inscription by this Ruan Sheng. Is it possible to invite the painter over to Yongping so I can meet them?”

After making such a request, he suddenly remembered that the Cui Beauty was a woman, and to travel from distant parts to the military barracks, it would be rather inconvenient. Promptly explaining, “At my age, it is not that I am coveting or greedy after the charm of women. Rather, I pity that with such painting skills, she should not fall into oblivion in the countryside and I only wish for her to become famous, nothing more.”

Originally, Wang Xiangzhen had also wanted to help make Cui Xie famous in the capital on his behalf, but Cui Xie was not fond of the limelight and if he were to obtain such a name, it would not be beneficial for the Imperial examinations. On the contrary, at the moment, it was better not to be recognized. Coming to such a conclusion, Wang Xiangzhen could only vaguely explain, “When all is said and done, they dislike meeting people, even the name ‘Cui Beauty’ was invented after customers who were buying the painter’s works had muddle-headedly started calling as such. In fact, the actual person cannot be counted….does not care about a beautiful or ugly reputation. Their personality is rather stubborn, and I am afraid that he will be unable to pay a formal visit. This inferior official will apologize for his crimes towards the Lord Earl on his behalf.”

The Earl of Anshun was slightly disappointed, but he loved the painting and not the painter. If they were unable to meet, so be it.

He also did not take a lot of trouble to conjecture whether that Cui Beauty was Wang Xiangzhen’s concubine or close female confidante, and only asked, “Since she and you have such similar lines of thinking, then you can just say what you want. As long as I can give it, I will surely not be stingy.”

Young Master Wang was just waiting for the Earl to say such a line, and he stood up and saluted with his hands, his voice ringing out like a magnificent bell, “This inferior official does not request for anything else, I just want the chance to go to the front lines to serve for our nation!”

It would be best if he could go to Datong and face the Young Khan of the Tartars head on; Otherwise, Liaodong was also good, he would just be like Gongsun Zan[3] and bring along his White Riders[3] to inspire awe along the border stations…..

The Earl of Anshun had always seen that Wang Xiangzhen was quite lively and a free spirit, and this youth had even painstakingly seeked out such a painting to please him. He originally thought that the other wanted to look for officials to request money, but unexpectedly, the youth was a fighter who took the initiative to seek out opportunities to attack the enemy at the borders. The Earl could not help but birth feelings of cherishment and affection after hearing such a request.

——A few days ago, he saw the portrait of Wang Xiangzhen donning Xu Chu’s attire, from head to body, every sinew and muscle was rugged and compact, both arms were thick and solid. This was bound to have resulted from the diligent practicing of mounted archery on a horse.

Such a person with firm will and integrity, to have been overlooked in such an ordinary garrison station, perhaps, even in the prime of his twenties, Wang Xiangzhen would rarely have the opportunity to face off against the Tartars. It was a pity. To promote him this once, it would not take too much effort on his part.

Xue Bao stared at Wang Xiangzhen and inquired, “You truly have the desire to throw yourself towards the border station and render service to repay the kindness of the Emperor? Those Tartar barbarians are not like those scattered thieves and roving bandits you come across from within the Pass. The men under the Young Khan are even more cunning and dauntless. Every time they enter the pass to pillage, the kill count amounts up to thousands and tens of thousands of people, are you not afraid of death?”

Wang Xiangzhen shut his eyes, but his expression became more resolute, “It is precisely because the Tartar Khan has massacred and pillaged the innumerable common people of my Great Ming,that this lower official desires to repel the enemy at the border. In that place, to kill a single barbarian, I can save many of my Great Ming’s citizens. This lower official only wants to do everything one can to attack the enemy and kill them, there is no regret in death!”

He had been practicing mounted archery since he was a child, but did he really want to idle away the rest of his days as a simple baihu, a Company Commander in charge of a hundred households, and then inherit his father’s role as a Guard Commander in the future? Even if he were to truly inherit his father’s title, he should obtain some meritorious contributions first. If he was simply the hedonistic son of rich parents, not mentioning the Imperial court, even the young soldiers and brothers under his control would not accept him ah!

Earl Xie clapped his hands and beamed, “Good! Ambitious! If the people who gave these gifts to me all these years were like you and wanted to serve the country by fighting the enemy, then how could we not eliminate the disasters on the borders due to these incursions? Or worry about how to eliminate the enemy in Inner Mongolia? This old man will indulge your intentions this once, how about it?”

However, the transfer of troops was under the Ministry of War’s jurisdiction. Xue Bao was merely a high ranking military officer temporarily stationed here to fortify the Yongping Garrison. It would not be easy to have Wang Xiangzhen sent to Datong, so he thought of a more roundabout method: “For the time being, follow after me here at the Yongping Garrison, gain some first-hand knowledge of fighting at close quarters along the border and accumulate some outstanding military contributions. Later, I will promote you to the vanguard directly under my command. Once you are in the capital, it will be easier to transfer you.”

Although Wang Xiangzhen looked to be a tall, big, swift and fierce hero, he still needed to personally witness the conflicts that appeared on the battlefield. If one merely possessed a matured body, but did not dare to advance during war, such a person would have no alternative but be returned to the Right Xingtun Station; If he was truly a strong and courageous person, then simply transfer him over to the young Crown Prince’s army. Not only would this land him a good background, it would be easier to transfer him within the capital’s battalion guards.

Xue Bao was currently supervising the Yongping Garrison and  to transfer a lower Company Commander to be a part of his personal guard, it was no more than a matter of writing one message. He currently had three hundred sets of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms themed cards in his hands, so he simply took one of the Guan Yu card prints and wrote a few lines on those dense, rich emerald green robes, which did not obstruct the color of ink. He then folded the portrait and robe prints, inserting them into the card slot. He then asked some of the soldiers in his personal guard to escort it to the Commissioner-in-Chief’s residence.

The Rear Commissioner-in-Chief, Chen Ying, was directly in charge of the Right Xingtun Garrison. If the Earl wanted to transfer troops, he needed the consent of the chief official. 

Chen Ying opened the letter, and caught sight of the flamboyant, bold calligraphy, the few lines of big characters filling up the space completely and lightly chuckled, “So this is the print finally obtained by the Earl of Anshun. It seems that he was anxious that he was unable to sit still and wanted to show it off to me. Last time, I invited him over to take a look at the Four Beauty prints, but I was unwilling to give it to him. It seems that this old man remembered this grudge until this day.”

When the Three Kingdoms cards had circulated its way to Tongzhou, he had gone to purchase a few small boxes of it. Previously when he had bought it, the Earl of Anshun was probably not aware of this matter yet.

On one side, he called people to take out the memorial booklets to write a transfer request and on the other side, he instructed his subordinates, “Pack up a set of the general dress-up cards and a set of wenchen[4] paper, attach both of them to the reply letter to the Lord Earl. Their Yongping Garrison is situated in a remote location and it must not be easy to buy a piece of paper. It is convenient for us to do so in the capital, so we must look after him.”

Chang Sui loaded a box of papers and showed him, asking, “A few days ago, the Cui Beauty released the Three Kingdoms Beauty prints, and the details were unusually alluring. The front yard’s steward went to Tongzhou to purchase a few sets, would daren like to add a few sets and send it over to them?”

Chen Ying smiled, “No need, no need. What use were beauty prints in a place of war? Go ask someone to deliver a set to the inner courtyard in the evening, furen and I will appreciate it together. By the way, are there any new releases from those six talented scholars’ commentaries on the Three Kingdoms? Instruct someone to go over there to look carefully, and if there are new ones, then buy some back. Those commentaries written by Tang Ning really penetrated deeply into my old heart, endlessly interesting and witty, displaying originality. I do not know at what time he is entering the capital to take the examinations, but it really makes one want to meet this clever figure just once.” 

Not only did Chen Ying have such thoughts in his heart, when the shengyuan[5] from the Yongping Prefecture entered the capital to participate in the provincial Imperial examinations, practically every person cross-examined the examination lists once through to determine the scholars’ registered birthplaces. Those who could possibly be connected to Qian’an were all pulled over so that one could inquire about the six talented scholars’ matters.

After Guo Yong and ten other Qian’an candidates entered the capital, they were blocked up in the tavern inn all day long, invited to this family’s poetry banquet, invited to sightsee a family’s garden tomorrow;  Marquis Gong residence had bought out a theater and invited them to watch, there was even some such-and-such young lady who requested them to attend her combing ceremony[6] …..it was so much so that even when they went downstairs to eat a meal, there were people that stood in a circle and watched, sighing as they watched, “The talented scholars who commented on the 《Three Kingdoms》actually likes to eat this type of dish.”

The six individuals who had written commentaries received invitation cards until their hands went limp with exhaustion and no longer dared to venture outside and with anxious hearts, they asked the tavern inn’s waiter, “Just why are there so many people inviting us? Although we indeed wrote some commentaries on the Three Kingdoms, the final drafts published were all peaceful, fair and honest and there are no taboo words. What does it mean for these people to be seeking us out?”

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The waiter laughed, “Aren’t you all talented scholars? In earlier precedents, gifted scholars were always treated as such, always going all over the place to participate in some poetry banquets or showing one’s face in public at some official’s residence and what not. Those Jiangnan talents who come for the huishi,the Metropolitan exams, are much more skilled than all of you.”

This was gifted scholar Guo’s first time participating in the huishi and could not help but ask, “Could it be that I am lacking in first-hand knowledge? Did Tang xiong and Wang xiong also receive such favor from the public?”

Wang Zhichang felt his face, and thought that this was unlikely to be due to him growing older and growing a beard and becoming more attractive, so he simply questioned, “Isn’t it all due to little Cui….”

The waiter slapped his thigh, “So you all do know the Cui Beauty!”

…..We don’t know. We only know of scholar Cui.

They all knew the origin of how the Cui Beauty name came into being, but as orthodox literati who grew up reading the Four Books, they were not fond of this name. When people asked about this “Cui Beauty”, they naturally could not say that it was Cui Xie’s nickname, otherwise, wouldn’t it be equivalent to acknowledging this name for him?

Everyone took a quick glance at each other and gritted their teeth, “We only wrote a few commentaries after being invited by the businessman who compiled together the book, we don’t know anything about those rumors spreading in the streets.

Knowing that others were looking for them because of that flashy name, and there was nothing serious about it, they claimed they needed to prepare for the exams and closed their doors, approaching the front line with their spears as if their life depended on it[7]. They were afraid that if they failed the examinations, people would say that their name did not live up to their reputation and they were not worthy enough to comment on the 《Three Kingdoms》.

In the blink of an eye, on the sixth day of August, it was announced that Ni Yue, an academician from the Hanlin Academy, and academician reader-in-waiting Dong Yue were to be the examiners for the xiangshi or provincial examinations in the Shuntian Prefecture. Those scholars and literari didn’t have the time to look for those Qian’an individuals anymore, and these individuals were considered to have smoothly attended the local Guimao[8]year’s provincial examinations without a hitch.

After the three rounds of examinations on the ninth, twelfth and fifteenth days of August, it seemed as if all the scholars had their skin peeled off[9].

But, thanks to the popularity of the 《Three Kingdoms 》, even the Jinyiwei patrolling the examination grounds had heard of their names and were quite lenient with them, and did not make them stand outside and drip with sweat while searching their belongings. Instead, they searched their belongings in advance and arranged a place inside the examination grounds where they weren’t exposed to the scorching sun in addition to a good examination room that did not leak water.

These few individuals, with the title of gifted scholar, took the examinations, paying special care while planning their sections for writing, polishing and refining their work as they went along. They made sure that the scroll of writing was written finely, precisely and full of essence. It was not until the three candles inside the examination rooms fizzled out in the night that they were willing to hand in their examination papers and come out.

After they finished the three rounds of examinations, these ten candidates from Qian’an did not know if they would be able to be selected, but they all had the same idea——quickly pack up and leave the capital. On the day of where the public roll of successful examinees were released, they would send someone over to take a look on their behalf. They could not stay here any longer and have people probe into their relationship with the “Cui Beauty” anymore!

When the rest of the shengyuan all escaped from the atmosphere in the exam room and took a break, they tidied up themselves and prepared to go make friends with the talented scholars. Only then, did they visit the Fuxiang Inn where they had been staying, but the people were gone and the place was empty. The ten shengyuan from Qian’an had long left the capital and bought out a monk’s residence in a temple located outside the city. Once it was the second day of September and the list of names were to be released, if they were not on the list, they would immediately return home.

The whole of Qian’an also kept a careful eye on the results of this year’s provincial examinations.

As soon as County Magistrate Qi had been transferred over, a big flood had struck. The next two years, there was a drought and it could be seen that his official career had reached its limit. He was not one with background or wealth, and to have been promoted to this position, he had already exhausted his whole family’s power. If he were to receive a lower evaluation, there would be no hope in the future.

He racked his brains and spared no effort in managing the rivers and canals, urged mulberry tree farming and when escorting grain taxes, he hated that he could not personally board the boat into the capital. He hoped that when time for evaluations came, that the high-ranking officials would be light in their scoring and allow him to sit as the Magistrate of this Qian’an County for one more term. Additionally, the appearance of successful examinees fell under his jurisdiction and it played an extremely significant part of the inspection. It weighed even heavier than the supervision of agricultural taxes paid in grain. If there were a few that became juren[10] before he left office, his evaluation would be much better and it would more or less offset the impact of flood and famine.

As such, on the second day of September when the list was to be released, he sent his trusted aide to watch attentively for any people who reported success.

The 120th juren is Qian’an’s Wang Zhichang, the 79th juren Wang Pu, 64th juren Tang Ning and 20th juren was Guo Yong….name after name was passed on to the county. Not only was County Magistrate Qi so emotionally moved that he clenched his hands into two tight fists, but even Teacher Sun and two other instructors almost shed tears.

In former years, Qian’an would have at most one or two shengyuan pass the examination that year. Three years ago, none of the shengyuan that had taken the  examination in the Gengzi[11] Year had passed. But under his term, there were actually four juren that had been produced! He had directed the repair of the county school, and the reconstruction of the old school in the Confucian temple had finally paid off. If these four could pass the jinshi examinations next year, he would have left some memorable political achievements during his three-year term…..

County Magistrate Qi’s eyes and nose became sour, and he busily ordered people to congratulate each family. The county also prepared materials and waited for the students to come back so they could celebrate. The subordinates all came over to say their congratulations and someone mentioned, “Among our six talented scholars, we got three successful examinees in one fell swoop. In the future, Qian’an will be like Jiangnan and also become the hometown of talented scholars!”

Qi Sheng just recalled that of the four successful examinees, three of them were talents from the 《The Six Talents and their Commentaries on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms》. He could not help but smile, “The owner of the bookstore really has a bit of insight, able to choose our county’s gifted scholars ah! In the coming days, let’s host a small Luming[12] banquet and invite him as well, so that the talented scholars can have a drink with the owner of the bookstore, it can be considered to be a rather cultured event.”

Wait, wasn’t the owner actually a woman?

Qi Sheng was somewhat unable to reach a decision and instructed his subordinates, “Just invite the man of the house over, do not ask for a woman. For such a proper banquet, we cannot have male and females sitting together and accidentally make a bad name for ourselves.”

A recordkeeper from the Office of Household Affairs grinned and leaned forward, commenting in a low voice, “That owner is definitely not a woman. Their family deeds were all processed by this subordinate and that family’s da-ren is someone we all recognized. It is precisely the owner of the memorial archway, the son of an official, Cui Xie. That famous beauty reputation also has its origins——While it is not his own concubine, but in early years, the courtyard at the back of the bookstore was rented out to an important and rich person from Commander Wang’s family in order to balance the store’s accounts, and Young Master Wang has kept an outside mistress there….”

This Commander Wang was really generous and open-minded, his beloved concubine resided in the Cui Residence, and was even called the Cui beauty, and he was not even worried.

Once County Magistrate Qi heard this fragrant case, his forehead jumped up and down. Frowning, he said, “How can such a person be put in such a good bookstore? Since the courtyard has already been given to others, then why can’t they just rent another place…..No matter, no matter, these filthy rumors are not allowed to be spread in the future. You all better behave, if you ruin a person’s reputation, just see if I will smash you to pieces with a pole or not.”

With such a rare child prodigy, who even published the 《Compilation of Antithetical Couplets from the Four Books》, a book of such upright learning, how could he let such a reputation hinder Cui Xie’s future!

The recordkeeper laughed, “This subordinate’s lips are tightly sealed. It is not that I don’t dare to say this in front of my old parents, but even my wife should not expect to hear a single peep from me, even in my dreams. Then as for the Luming banquet this time around, will we still invite him?” On one side, there was a Commander and on the other side was Official from the Ministry of Revenue. Anyone who stretched out their fingers could kill him, how could he dare to spread such rumors indiscriminately? 

County Magistrate Qi looked at him and gave a cold snort, saying: “Invite! Those who should be invited will be invited, since they all know each other and are all students from the same county, they should spend more time and gather together. But after this banquet, it looks like I’ll need to manage Cui Xie’s bookstore matters!”

Footnote:

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