QYT - 33

Even though Fudong was still young at the time, she was already an old-timer at the Piaoxiang Estate. She had seen all kinds of debauchery and extravagance, but it was her first time seeing someone like him.

At the banquet, guests were enjoying themselves with the courtesans. The young scholar, wearing a long-sleeved robe and a black headscarf, stood alone in the middle of the pond platform, surrounded by scantily clad dancers who were teasing him. His face was flushed red with embarrassment.

Many people around him jeered, “Scholar Xu, why are you pretending to be so proper? Just hug whichever one you like!”

“Is his mind addled from all the studying? Are these white chests in front of him just steamed buns?”

“Exactly, Matron! Later, you should pick a lovely ‘flower bud’ to open for him. He thinks he’s a saint?”

Hearing the vulgar words, Xu Shubai closed his eyes in distress. But closing his eyes didn’t block out the sounds, so he could only stand in the middle of the pond and start reciting loudly from a book:

“The Master said: ‘Respectfulness without propriety is laborious; cautiousness without propriety is timidity; boldness without propriety is insubordination; straightforwardnessness without propriety is rudeness. When the gentleman is devoted to his parents, the people will rise to benevolence. When he does not forget his old friends, the people will not be indifferent...’ “

“...His feet should be placed with gravity; his hands with respectfulness; his eyes with the correctness of sight; his mouth with the utterance of truth; his voice with the tones of quietness; his head with the straightness of virtue; his carriage with the appearance of dignity; and his sitting with the gravity of a corpse...”

The crowd burst into laughter.

Amidst the noise, the matron took Fudong’s hand and pointed to the scholar in the pond. “Do you see him? He is your patron tonight. Of all the girls I’ve trained over the years, you’ve learned the best. You must do your best tonight to cure him of his stubborn pedantry.”

“I was naive back then, and I thought all men should be like the regular patrons on the estate, becoming extravagant and debauched with just a little encouragement,” Fudong said, and a lonely smile appeared on her face. “I never even thought to wonder why such a pure person would be at the Piaoxiang Estate.”

“It wasn’t until a few years later that I understood. By then, Xu Tu had already climbed the social ladder through his connections with people like Wei Sheng and He Zhongliang because of the wood sale. He was unwilling to be looked down on as a merchant and began to focus on Xu Shubai. He hoped that his scholar cousin could help him deal with and manage these powerful people and that he might even secure an official position. This would raise his own status. That’s why he brought Xu Shubai to this place of vice and pleasure, where these powerful people often came.”

Fudong led Xu Shubai to her room and, following the matron’s instructions, tried her best to seduce him. But he just stood there with his eyes closed and didn’t move at all.

Eventually, Fudong grew tired. She sat down at the table and poured herself a cup of wine. “Alright, I won’t bother you anymore. Come and have a drink, or else the matron will come in later, not smell any wine, and blame me for not trying hard enough.”

Xu Shubai opened his eyes and looked at her, then looked away. “I won’t drink it. Who knows what you’ve put in that wine.”

Fudong chuckled, finding the scholar extremely interesting. She pushed the wine cup aside and picked up the teapot. “How about a cup of tea, then? Look at you, you’ve been reciting from a book all night in the pond and are sweating. You must be thirsty, right?”

Xu Shubai was indeed thirsty. He glanced at the teacup in Fudong’s hand, hesitated for a moment, and took it.

Watching him innocently bring the tea to his lips, Fudong couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh. “Do you think the medicine is only in the wine and not in the tea?”

Xu Shubai was stunned. His hand trembled, and the teacup instantly spilled to the ground.

Fudong found his rigid reaction hilarious. “The matron already warned me that to deal with a blockhead like you, the medicine shouldn’t be put in the wine. It should be put in the pages of books or the tea, where it’s colorless and tasteless, so you would fall for it.”

Hearing this, Xu Shubai felt he had been played. “You—you are simply unreasonable!” he said, and with his hands behind his back, he went to the door and lifted the latch to leave. Fudong quickly went to stop him, her voice sounding hurt. “What will I do if you leave? Today is my ‘Hairpin Removal Day.’ If nothing happens, the matron will beat me.”

Seeing the hesitation in Xu Shubai’s eyes, she continued, “Besides, will the Master Xu who brought you here let you leave just like that?”

She reached out to grab Xu Shubai’s sleeve and shook it. “Please stay here and keep me company tonight, alright?”

Xu Shubai angrily pulled his sleeve out of her hand. He went back into the room and sat down, looking down. “Then I’ll sit here all night. I won’t eat anything, and I won’t touch anything.”

“He was forced by Xu Tu to come to the estate for several days in a row. Each time he would recite from a book at the banquet and sit in my room all night. Just as he said, he wouldn’t eat anything, touch anything, or even dare to sleep,” Fudong said. “The matron and Xu Tu both said to hang him out to dry. When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he would break his vows. But he also had to farm and study during the day and take care of his sick mother at home. How could his body withstand this? One time, I saw that he was pale and sweating profusely, so I gave him the waterskin I had hidden under my bed...”

“‘Drink this. I saved it for myself. Besides a little honey, there’s nothing else in it.’ “

Fudong handed the waterskin to Xu Shubai.

Xu Shubai just glanced at her and turned his head away.

Fudong followed him, moving to his other side. “Do you know why I had to hide the water? Because the matron on the estate was strict. At night, we were not allowed to drink water because she was afraid our faces would swell and the guests wouldn’t like it. We weren’t allowed to eat honey because she was afraid we would get fat and not look beautiful when we danced. That’s why I secretly kept a waterskin.”

She handed the waterskin to Xu Shubai again. “It’s my own. There’s really nothing in it. You still have to take care of your mother. What if you can’t hold on yourself?”

Hearing this, Xu Shubai finally believed her and took the waterskin.

The honey water was like sweet rain on his throat. He was very restrained, only drinking a few sips before handing it back to Fudong. “Thank you.”

Fudong took it and carefully put the waterskin away. “Tonight I’ll let you sleep. But you’ll have to endure it again tomorrow.”

“Why?”

Fudong glanced at him. “The matron said I was incompetent and that she was going to give you a different girl.”

“It’s the same no matter who it is,” Xu Shubai said with a cold laugh. “A gentleman must keep himself pure. As a man, I haven’t established a family or made contributions to society. How can I justify getting lost in a place of music and wine?”

He looked at Fudong, hesitated, and said, “Although you have fallen into this life, you seem to have a kind heart. Why do you confine yourself to this small corner? You should find a way to leave this estate as soon as possible and become a respectable woman.”

Fudong was stunned when she heard this, then she laughed and shook her head. “You really are a scholar who only reads classics. You speak so out of touch with reality. Do you think this estate is a place you can just leave whenever you want?”

Xu Shubai said, “I don’t think so, but the book says—”

“And is it so great to be a respectable woman?” Fudong asked. “The matron taught us long ago that common people are often poor and struggle for a mouthful of food or a winter coat until they get old. They can’t live a life of luxury like mine. Life is only brilliant for a moment, so when it’s time to be drunk, you should be drunk. Even though I am trapped here, by sacrificing myself for others, I get a life of luxury that ordinary people don’t have. What’s wrong with that?”

“That’s not right,” Xu Shubai said. “Some deals can be made, and some cannot. The book says, ‘A gentleman does not stand under a tottering wall...’ “

“He had read many books, but he was so clumsy with his words, a real blockhead. I asked him how to leave the Piaoxiang Estate, and he said, ‘The book says.’ I asked him how to make a deal, and he said, ‘The book says.’ So I said to him, ‘You’re so good at being a teacher, how about I make you my teacher from now on?’ I said, ‘Anyway, you’ll be coming here often. How about you tell the matron that you like me and you only want to come to me? With me, you can have water to drink and food to eat, and I can tell you where all the aphrodisiacs are hidden.’ “

“Actually, I only said that because I didn’t want to be beaten by the matron anymore. Every morning, when she saw a clean white silk cloth without a single drop of blood, she would beat me fiercely. But he actually agreed. He cut his own finger, let a drop of blood fall onto the white silk cloth, and said, ‘Alright, I will come again tomorrow’...”

Xu Shubai had never been a teacher before. This was the first time someone had called him a teacher.

Some of his peers who had passed the provincial exam had already opened private schools, teaching young children. He was very envious of watching those children call his peers “teacher.”

He had originally wanted to do the same, but Xu Tu had high hopes for him, hoping he could get close to the high-ranking officials who came to the capital and secure an official position, then slowly work his way up to become an imperial scholar and pass the imperial exam.

But now, he had finally fulfilled his wish to be a teacher, even if his only student was a courtesan.

She knew how to read, but unfortunately, she only recited vulgar songs and poems. So he taught her The Analects and The Book of Rites.

She could sing, but unfortunately, she only hummed flirtatious tunes. So he taught her The Book of Songs and The Songs of the South.

She was incredibly clever. Whatever she learned, she never forgot and could even draw inferences from it.

Gradually, he no longer resisted coming to the Piaoxiang Estate with Xu Tu and even learned to deal with the officials and nobles.

Until six months later.

One day, six months later, after Xu Shubai had checked Fudong’s homework, he asked her, “Have you ever thought about leaving?”

Fudong looked at him and said, “I was always going to leave one day. The estate won’t raise me forever. Right now, my patron is you. When you follow those high-ranking officials to the capital, my patron will be someone else. When I get a little older and can’t earn as much money for the estate, they will sell me. If I’m lucky, I’ll become a concubine or a mistress. If I’m unlucky, my master might get rid of me and sell me again. In the end, I will never be able to come back to the estate.”

Xu Shubai said, “Not leaving like that. I mean buying your freedom, getting your deed of sale back, and leaving cleanly.”

Fudong stared at him blankly, then laughed and shook her head. “You still don’t understand the rules of this estate. I’m still young. Unless a high-ranking official pays a high price to the matron to get me, it’s impossible for me to buy my freedom.”

Xu Shubai lowered his eyes. His fists on the table clenched and unclenched repeatedly. After a long while, he finally said, “I have an opportunity right now.”

“The Xijintai is almost finished,” he said. “Here in Chongyang County, there are two scholars who can ascend the Xijintai. My uncle... got me one of the spots.”

“Ascend the Xijintai?” Qingwei asked, puzzled.

Jiang Cizhou said, “The Xijintai was not originally a platform, but a single-story building similar to a memorial hall. Because this building was built to commemorate the scholars who drowned in the Canglang River and the soldiers who died in the war at the Changdu River, the late emperor hoped that future generations would carry on their legacy. So he ordered an extra floor to be built, turning it into a platform. He decreed that it be completed on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the following year. At that time, noble scholars from all over the country would be selected to ascend the platform and pay homage from a high place to the scholars who had drowned on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month twelve years ago, and to the soldiers who died in the war afterward.”