Chapter 7: CH 7

Once Cui Xie’s plans of leaving spread, several acquaintances rapidly arrived to send him off. Everyone was extremely reluctant to part so they took a long time to send him off, before finally letting him out of the city gates and then each returned to the city in their own carriages.

Cui Yuan drove the Cui family’s original carriage in front while Coachman Zhao, hired by Landlord Yan, drove the carriage that carried the harmonious Cui Xie and Pengyan together. They meandered along the road, one in front and one in the back. When they arrived near the Wuli Pavilion located outside the city, suddenly, two small green carriages appeared on the same road, and from the interior of one of them, the curtain lifted to reveal an elegant middle-aged man who then hopped out of the carriage. It was actually Assistant Liu who never showed up again after asking after the progress of his medical treatment.

Wuli Pavilion was an ancient, farewell pavilion located in the eastern suburbs of Fuzhou, built during the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in Houpu Village, Gushan Town in the summer of 2006. 

Cui Xie promptly got off his carriage, supported by Pengyan, and immediately thanked Assistant Liu and Fu Senior Provincial Official’s concern and care.

Assistant Liu smilingly stroked his long beard and said: “I am here today, not only to send off Young Master, but to also deliver to Young Master the gift prepared by the Senior Provincial Official.”

Several manservants removed two large wooden trunks from his car, silently opened the lids of the trunks, and then stepped back, revealing two compartments filled to the brim with books.

Assistant Liu pointed to the trunks and proudly spoke: “Our Senior Provincial Official knows of Young Master’s heartfelt intentions to study, specifically ordering me to deliver a comprehensive and complete collection of the《Four Books and Five Classics》. This full set can only be found in the Qian’an county academy, even ordinary scholars who want to borrow them won’t be able to. Young Master can take these annotations on the Four Books. The righteous Five Classics can be used to illuminate and compare, try to thoroughly fathom by reading and writing more, and do not let down Fu daren’s beautiful intentions.”

Cui Xie’s was serious and solemn as he got up, bowing deeply with one hand cupped in the other to express his thanks. 

Daren: honorific used to address government officials or one of higher authority

Cui Xie would have saluted/bowed something like this…

Assistant Liu had a hard time receiving Cui Xie’s formal bow and then waved his hands around a few times. Those same manservants once again reached into the carriage to pull out a smaller trunk, which was also full of books after the lid was opened.

Cui Xie could not help but swallow nervously, starting to doubt whether his own 12 years of exam-oriented education and four years of university of work-study experience would be good enough in these ancient times.

But, he still had the third-eldest’s portable hard disk in his brain, and the hard disk was 2 terabytes. Although there were many videos and downloaded internet novels on it, there seemed to be more than 1 terabyte of storage remaining. It should…should be enough to store all of these books, right?

Seeing how Cui Xie’s expression had gone blank from shock, Assistant Liu thought that the boy had been moved by his sincerities and smiled with satisfaction, saying: “These were all gathered and collected by the entire province’s efforts a couple of days ago. Under Northern Zhili’s jurisdiction, all the top scoring county, prefecture and even anshou’s examinations have been carefully handpicked and curated into a set. You take it to diligently memorize it for two years and this one doesn’t dare to say anymore, but the position of tongsheng will surely be achieved.”

Zhili was a northern administrative region of China in the Ming Dynasty.

Tongsheng: a candidate who has passed the county-level imperial exam

Anshou (案首, lit. “first on the desk”), the highest ranking linsheng, and thus the top shengyuan who ranked first in college exam.

Good Diagram for Imperial Examinations: As you can see shengyuan is ranked pretty low.

I highly suggest you read it and as well as the wikipedia page. Otherwise, I can keep trying to insert the diagram at the end of each chapter as a refresher. I know it’s a lot, but please bear with me!

….only memorizing all those books in those trunks could one become a tongsheng, was Assistant Liu encouraging him or trying to give him a psychological blow?

Assistant Liu ordered the servants to move the heavy trunks into the carriage Cui Xie had been riding in, earnestly slapping his hands together and persuading: “I know that you are a child of an official, even if you do not walk the path of taking the imperial examination, there are still methods to be elected as an official. One can become a donation official*, but to obtain a position through the shadows is after all not the right way*. Not only will it depend on your esteemed father’s official post, moreover, but your future prospects will also be limited, most likely only able to become a seventh-rank position at the end. It is still better to struggle onto the two lists*…at the very least be like our Senior Provincial Official, a proper, self-cultivated juren with self-confidence.”

Tongsheng(童生, lit. “child student”): an entry-level examinee who had passed the county/prefecture exams.

*The ‘official donation system’ was a way to spend money to buy an official position. If one failed the imperial examination, you can donate and become an official that way (corrupt and often nepotistic, one of the many reasons why this was a flawed system). 

*the right way: refers to the right way of becoming an official, by passing the imperial examination

Juren: successful candidate in the imperial provincial examination

Two lists: In the Ming Dynasty, the A examination was the jinshi (highest rank) examination and the B examination was the juren examination (township/provincial examination). They were called the A list and the B list, and collectively called the two lists. Anyone who passes the B list and then passes the A list to become an official is called ‘born of the two lists’. Of course, the jinshi and juren are stratified into further rankings which you can read about on the wikipedia for Imperial examinations.

He said these few phrases very lightly, but they reverberated like a heavy hammer in Cui Xie’s ears, suddenly dispelling the momentary mental fear that he had been gifted too many books.

This was the Ming Dynasty, where there were four clear and distinct classes (scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants), and an official’s influential and valiant power was impossible to resist.

If he failed to pass the juren and jinshi examinations, then for the rest of his life, he would have to lie prostrate to this original owner’s father, even lying under that Imperial Academy attending stepbrother of his, because graduates of the Imperial Academy could be directly appointed as officials. If the second younger brother of the original owner became an official, and Cui Xie remained as a mere ordinary citizen, then at that time, let alone enacting revenge for the dead young Cui Xie, even his future life would be under the control of others’ fingers.

Even if he could make money exploiting the chemistry’s book advanced technological techniques to earn money, it would be all useless. This era emphasized ‘honor one’s parents, for their love is selfless’. Xu furen was his stepmother, possessing a mother and child relationship. No matter how much money he could earn, he was just merely someone else’s cultivated money tree*. If he failed to supply their avarice, he would be quickly cut down and sold off.

夫人(fū ren): the mistress/wife, also a general term to refer to an official’s wife/madam.

money tree: in ancient Chinese culture, this was a legendary tree that sheds coins when shaken. As an idiom, it means: a source of easy money

If he were to become independent, then no one present would ever dare to dispose of him at will—then could he come up with a plan for the future.

He took a deep breath, clearing his mind. He then raised his head to look up at Assistant Liu, sincerely thanking him: “Many thanks for Assistant’s Liu reminder, this one will be sure to diligently study and live up to Mister’s teachings today.”

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Assistant Liu beamed and nodded, watching Cui Xie leave until the carriage was but a mere speck in the distance. Touching his beard and whispering to himself: “Has Young Master Cui truly started to understand things properly? Why does it seem that after I persuaded him a few words, his whole temperament became heavier and steadier, no longer like his previously fickle and impatient manner? Once the subject of studying was brought up, why did he act as if there was someone after his life?”

The nearby servants did not know what their Master was muttering about, so they pulled the horses over, asking him if he wanted to return to the city. Seeing the huddle horseheads, he suddenly let out a chuckle: “The other is the son of a five-rank official, his future prospects will naturally be taken care of by that Official father, what use do I get out of standing here randomly thinking about it. Next year, the Ministry of Appointments large scale audit will be launched, I better go back and think about how to straighten out the money and grain accounts in order to help daren obtain the highest-quality evaluation!”

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After securing the three trunks gifted by Assistant Liu, both carriages were weighed down to the point that the axles creaked and groaned, moving extremely slowly. The group of fear did not dare to drive in the dark, so they had no other alternative but to retire early during the journey, unhurriedly following along Tianfu (area in Chengdu, Sichuan) and turning into Yongping (county in Yunnan Province). It was not until the morning of the third day that the group arrived outside the ancestral home located in the northern part of Qian’an.

In early years, this residence had been mortgaged to Official Cui’s county study-mate, Scholar Wang, who opened a school. But, last year, Qian’an county and the surrounding villages were overrun by floods. Master Wang’s residence and land had been submerged, and his parents had died due to the floods. As such, he returned to the residence and went to observe the mourning period for his parents’ funeral. 

Under the deluge of floods, the courtyard had been completely submerged and then subsequently left empty and unattended for an entire year. It was now displaying a somewhat dilapidated and broken appearance: the top of the ruyi gate was missing several tiles, the decorative carved stone bricks under the roof’s eaves were spotty, one block missing here and there. Flourishing moss and lichen climbed up vigorously along the outer walls and the original red lacquered door had paint peeling off it everywhere. A well-used brass lock was hung on the door’s knockers, which had been placed by Scholar Wang after he had moved out.

ruyi gate: the ‘as you wish’ gate symbolizing good fortune is common in traditional Chinese compounds known as siheyuan, a courtyard surrounded by buildings on all four sides.

Cui Yuan got out of the car, took out the key to open the gate, and asked the Coachman hired from Tongzhou to help him unload the luggage from the carriage threshold.

The two large carriages were creakily squeezed in, the racket it raised actually long alarmed the neighbors residing in the left and right households. All the neighbors in the vicinity were secretly watching the newcomers and sizing them up from behind their own doors. But, most of the people currently at home were furen, seeing that Cui Yuan and Coachman Zhao driving the car were both mature, able-bodied males, it made it even more difficult for them to come forward and strike up some small talk.

The two large carriages entered into the courtyard, one after the other, hurrying past the front entrance into the other courtyard, stopping next to the steps of the main gate in the second, enclosed courtyard.

Cui Yuan moved out of the carriage first, opened the main gate and called Pengyan to sprinkle water and sweep, to clean up a place for his little master to rest. Coachman Zhao looked for a log of wood to jam the wheels in the courtyard and then moved the luggage down from the carriage.

Cui Xie’s bottom was still injured, if he moved too much he was afraid of reopening his wounds, so he had been helped off the carriage slowly, first looking around the residence’s courtyard.

When Old Master Cui originally lived in the residence, he had set aside financial capital and renovated the house once. The bricks and wood used were all first-rate materials and the mortar used for bricklaying consisted of glutinous rice juice blended inside. After numerous years of wind and rain, the residence’s walls were still quite complete and sturdy.

The residence’s gates opened at the southeast corner, and upon entering the gates, one would directly find themselves facing a screen wall*. Beyond the entrance and to the back left direction of the main gate, there was an inconspicuous reverse-facing South Wing, and in the outer courtyard facing west, there was a stone and brick built horse stable located there. Draping tasseled hyacinths were harmoniously carved onto the screen wall, uprightly positioned opposite to the main gate. After the tasseled hyacinth gate was the main courtyard. The entire courtyard was a slender strip, the pathways paved with bluestones. The pathways then parted, one leading to the central quarters or main room, while another two paths led to the residence’s east and west side wings respectively. The flowerbeds on both sides of the courtyard was full of weeds and dead branches, and in the northwest corner, there was an eight trigram-sided well*. The interior of the well was black and indistinct, and there was not much water in those depths, green algae bordered along the well’s sides.

*A spirit screen is also called a screen wall or spirit wall and it literally means ‘shadow wall’ that is used to shield an entrance gate in traditional Chinese architecture. They can be positioned either on the outside or inside of the gate they are protecting. Generally, yingbi = outside or inside spirit screen and zhaobi= screens only positioned on the outside

Eight-trigram sided well, but definitely more exquisite than our mc’s!

The main courtyard was constructed like it would usually be in a siheyuan (type of Chinese compound), but it was slightly different from the typical Beijing siheyuan. There was a hall in the middle of the main room, and through the entrance, one could see the two back rooms. These two side chambers protruded forward, enclosing the inner half of the courtyard into a concave-like shape. The courtyard was surrounded by hand-painted verandas, with pallid, washed out dark red pig blood paint on it. The paint’s veneers were all flaking off and the original surface revealed an old wood with its original brown lustrous color.

Cui Xie’s heart was beating like crazy, and there was an unexpected sense of happiness.

This residence may not be five or six hundred square meters, and there were more than 20 rooms, all equipped with their own little gardens. In his previous life, he could not even afford to buy a room here, but now he was to live in this large residence all on his own, yet Cui Yuan and his son still had strained expressions on their faces, as if they were suffering some major hardships.

If this was considered hardship, he was willing to suffer such suffering every day!

The three of them were to live in such a large residence, and they could have the final say in everything. Compared to being locked in a house, forced to fight with family and randomly suffering beatings, wasn’t this much better?

Cui Xie sighed at the residence for a while, and then walked to the carriages to help Coachman Zhao and Cui Yuan to unload the trunks. The three who were working immediately stopped him and said, “This Young Master is a scholar and shouldn’t carry heavy things, otherwise you might hurt your hand.”

Cui Xie’s sleeves had already been all rolled up, but seeing that they did not even want to use him, he could only pull his own dignity and find a respectful task: “Then I will find two wooden boards and you all will push the trunks down the boards. It will save the effort of lifting it instead. There are not many valuable objects in the trunks anyway, it won’t matter even if they are dropped.”

In the corner of the courtyard, there were piles of wooden boards and bamboo poles that had been cut down from who knows where. He went over to grab a few pieces, but then Pengyan hurriedly rushed over to drag Cui Xie away, forcing him to go inside and obediently take a rest. The father and son pair set up a ramp down the carriage, picking a few trunks containing porcelain and ornaments and then threading a bamboo pole through the trunk’s handles. They then asked Coachman Zhao to help take this trunk in, while the rest of the luggage was directly pushed off the makeshift wooden ramp, saving a lot of manpower.

There was no place for Cui Xie to intervene, but he was a good young man born under the red flag and had grown up in the modern years as part of the great youth. He was really not used to sitting and watching other people work, so he just wandered around the three workers, handing them water, tying ropes, helping as much as he was allowed to.

Coachman Zhao took a few sips from the water pouch and admiringly commented: “Your family’s little official is really considerate of people. I have traveled to Northern Zhili by carriage many times. Those who hired coachmen all wished they could treat people as cows and horses, no matter how heavy the box is, they would request it to be lifted by hand. We even feared to the point that if we were to accidentally scrape the leather trunks, we would get our flesh cut off as punishment. I have never seen a family’s Master personally handing water to the servants.”

Cui Yuan, on the other hand, felt inwardly distressed and concerned : “My family’s Young Master has taken the Sage’s teachings to heart, benevolence…”

Cui Xie looked at the Pengyan, whose forehead glistened with sweat, immersed in his work. He silently thought: Your own son is the one who deserves your concern, A child as young as 13 or 14 years old has to work for others…truly a feudal society without human rights.

TN: New release! This chapter is quite heavy in setting the academic and historical background. I know the scholarly/imperial exam terms are used heavily throughout the book, so I highly recommend looking through the diagram/chart I made, but if you don’t want to I don’t blame you XD!! I really like this author’s narration style, they are sooo good at describing the day to day things and their attention to detail/historical accuracy is just so refreshing. I hope you guys enjoy and feel free to ask for any clarifying questions about this stuff, I know it can be confusing!

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