Chapter 31: The Provincial Examination
When one person was missing from the house, Feng Yuzhen didn’t feel it during the day, but at night, she would realize it.
Previously, Cui Jingkong had slept in the main room. Although they were not in the same room, they were separated by a wall. But she knew that someone was guarding outside, and her heart felt at ease. Especially the dim yellow light from his desk, which would always silently see her back to her room when she got up at night.
The villagers didn’t pay much attention to age, nor did they like to count the days. But after Cui Jingkong left, Feng Yuzhen felt a little at a loss and unconsciously started to count. It had already been seven or eight days.
She also figured out the difference in herself. Back in the third month when she had just moved into the brick house, Cui Jingkong had still been living at the academy, and he had been gone for more than half a month. At that time, she hadn’t missed him like this at all.
It wasn’t just her that had changed. At the beginning of the third month, it was still cold, and few people were out and about. The eighth month was very different. It was also unusual when Cui Jingkong was here. But as soon as he left, it was as if a heavy stone had been moved, and all sorts of pests had come out to cause trouble.
From time to time, idle ruffians would wander around. When Feng Yuzhen was working in the yard and happened to run into them, she would try her best not to make eye contact, pretending she hadn’t seen them, and then would hurry back into the house.
She was even more on edge after the sun set. She would check that the doors and windows were locked several times before daring to go to bed. She slept lightly and would check the fence in the morning, afraid that a gap had appeared. Fortunately, Cui Jingkong had specially reinforced it before he left. In addition, for some reason, she rarely saw these people more than a few times. Some of them she had only seen once and then never again, so it had been peaceful.
The moonlight was hazy. Tomorrow was the autumn provincial examination. Feng Yuzhen closed her eyes and made a wish in her heart, wishing that Cui Jingkong would turn misfortune into good fortune and that everything would go smoothly.
***
The next morning, she finally mustered up the courage to go and apologize to Zhou Fu. Feng Yuzhen had actually gone to the forest twice, but both times had been in vain. She had waited all morning but had not seen her.
She had been worried for some time, unsure of Zhou Fu’s attitude towards this matter, afraid that she would be angry and would spread the news of the incestuous relationship between her and her brother-in-law.
But her intuition told her that Zhou Fu was not the type to gossip. Coincidentally, she had saved up a lot of eggs since her brother-in-law had left. Feng Yuzhen carried a full basket. She had only been there once before and was not familiar with the way. She had to ask for directions all the way to find Zhou Fu’s house again.
The young girl was squatting on the ground, coaxing her younger brother and sister. A grasshopper was hopping on her upturned palm, very lively. The children were giggling.
“A’Fu.”
She turned at the sound. The beautiful woman was standing not far away, looking reserved, a basket of eggs in the crook of her arm.
An unnatural expression crossed Zhou Fu’s face. She gave the grasshopper to the two children, patted their heads, and the children, as if they had received a treasure, ran off to play.
This was not a matter to be discussed in front of others. The two of them, with a tacit understanding, walked along the stream to a secluded spot. Feng Yuzhen said with difficulty, “A’Fu, it was all my fault that day… I just didn’t expect it, and I scared you. I’ve only come to apologize to you after so many days.”
“Not at all. Sister Yuzhen is being so polite with me. Please take the eggs back. You can sell them for a lot of money in town.”
The two of them stopped. Zhou Fu was tired from walking and sat down by the stream, patting the spot next to her, signaling Feng Yuzhen to sit down as well.
She turned her head to look at Feng Yuzhen beside her, her face full of curiosity. She made a gesture with her two fingers together and asked in a low voice, “Sister Yuzhen, are you and that Scholar Cui really…?”
Feng Yuzhen looked at her gesture, and her face inexplicably flushed red. This was a silent admission.
Seeing this, Zhou Fu smiled triumphantly, looking very charming. She was wearing straw sandals and took them off neatly, dipping her feet into the clear stream. Feng Yuzhen hugged her knees and just watched. Zhou Fu then persuaded her, “No one comes here. Why don’t you try it too, Sister Yuzhen?”
The weather was stuffy, and they had walked a long way. A few drops of sweat beaded on her forehead. The stream water was very cool and refreshing. Feng Yuzhen’s heart was moved. Perhaps it was because she thought no one knew her in this strange place. In addition, the tall trees around them were like a barrier, so she boldly rolled up her trouser legs and took off her shoes.
The two of them enjoyed the quiet for a moment. Zhou Fu spoke again, her tone hesitant. “Sister Yuzhen, I don’t know anything about these matters between men and women. Are you going to marry him?”
Feng Yuzhen shook her head at her words. It was the first time she had talked about this with someone else, and she was quite uncomfortable, just wanting to gloss over it. “We’re not at that stage yet. We have to get to know each other.”
Fortunately, Zhou Fu was not a blabbermouth. She just listened and suddenly sighed. “Sister Yuzhen, you’re quite a character. The way that scholar glared at me was so scary. It gave me nightmares for several days of being carried off by a wolf. The only good thing is that I told my mother he wasn’t to my liking. My mother scolded me a couple of times, but she no longer forces me to go up the mountain.”
She started talking about her own affairs, and Feng Yuzhen followed up. “What about your marriage?”
“I don’t plan to get married.”
Feng Yuzhen was stunned for a moment, thinking that Zhou Fu was just being petulant. “Not getting married? But all women have to get married.”
“But I don’t want to,” Zhou Fu said wistfully. “Those men who come to propose, what Wang Wu, Li Si, I’ve never even met them. I don’t even recognize their faces—I really can’t imagine how I would live with them in the future.”
It was the first time Feng Yuzhen had heard such an argument. It was as if she had been pushed into a new and completely unfamiliar place. She said nervously, “A’Fu, if you don’t get married, won’t your mother do something about it?”
“How could she not?” Zhou Fu pulled one of her legs back, bent her knee, and rested her chin on it. “That day I said Scholar Cui was not to my liking, my mother scolded me for having no eyes, for having a head on my neck for nothing.”
“But I really don’t want to get married. Sister Yuzhen, do we really have to marry a strange man, follow him, be tormented by our in-laws, give birth to two or three sons, and then worry about our children for the rest of our lives? It’s too boring, like my mother. I’d rather go and watch that new barefoot doctor practice medicine. If I have to find a companion, can’t I just be by myself?”
“…I don’t know either.” Feng Yuzhen was also confused by the question and stared blankly at the ripples on the water’s surface.
They were silent. Zhou Fu quickly cheered up, two dimples appearing on her cheeks. She smiled, “Look at me. It’s so rare for you to come, Sister Yuzhen, and I’m being so morose. I’ve been thinking about these things for the past few days, and I’ve made things difficult for you by asking.”
Feng Yuzhen shook her head, indicating that she didn’t mind. But the question remained in her heart. After they parted and she went home, she still couldn’t find an answer. Sitting in the house, she felt empty, as if someone was missing.
She had no time to think about it in detail and put it to the back of her mind for now. It was almost the middle of the month, and it was time to go to town.
Because it was not on the way, and perhaps thinking that after Cui Jingkong returned this time, the two of them would be moving away from Qianshan Village soon, Feng Yuzhen planned to take a detour to see her fourth sister on her way back from town.
She was counting the things she had to take when she suddenly felt that the weight of the pouch in her hand was not right. It was too heavy. She opened it and poured it out. With a clatter, she saw a liang of silver squeezed among the copper coins.
Who else could it be? Her heart was moved. She placed the silver on the table and looked at it for a long time, not knowing when her brother-in-law had put it in.
She was a little troubled, but she couldn’t help but smile. She put the two liang of silver aside, treating it as Cui Jingkong’s monthly allowance.
***
Perhaps he was too scared by Cui Jingkong’s fierce expression. Zhong Changxun was very quiet on the way and rarely deliberately found fault. He would only occasionally glance at Cui Jingkong with his small eyes, his gaze sweeping over him sinisterly, as if he were afraid that others wouldn’t know he was harboring ill intentions.
Cui Jingkong didn’t care. He just found it ridiculous. He laughed at Zhong Jide for his elaborate schemes, for trying to step on him to get ahead, but also for being wary, and for becoming more and more old and muddle-headed, to the point of coming up with such a flawed plan.
The journey was long. Zhong Changxun was always whining that the carriage was too bumpy. Fortunately, they had set out early. After two steps and a rest, the original two-day journey was extended to three and a half days before they finally arrived at the capital of Fengzhou—Lingdu.
The scenery of Lingdu was naturally very different from that of the county town. The streets were wide enough for three horse-drawn carriages to travel side by side. Three or four-story buildings rose from the ground. The pedestrians were dressed in all kinds of silk and satin, and it was not uncommon to see people riding on tall horses.
All of this dazzled the servants that the Zhong family had bought from the vicinity of Qianshan Village. They all stood there with their mouths open, looking around, which was quite comical.
Zhong Changxun had grown up in the capital, so he naturally didn’t find it very novel. He was happy to laugh at Cui Jingkong for being a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, but he saw that the other’s expression was calm. He only glanced out the window, unmoved by the prosperity outside.
He suddenly felt that his hopes had been dashed and couldn’t help but think resentfully that Cui Jingkong was just good at pretending, pretending to be pure-hearted and desireless, which was how he had deceived so many people.
On this matter, his guess was indeed very correct.
The Zhong family had already arranged for an inn. The few of them stayed there, rested for two days until the tenth of the eighth month, and the provincial examination was held on schedule at the Lingdu Examination Hall.
Three sessions, nine days. Because the conditions in the examination cells were harsh, in each session, there would be a few people who were physically exhausted and were carried out by the soldiers, collapsing and crying.
At the end of the third session, Cui Jingkong could still walk normally, but his face was inevitably pale. Zhong Changxun, on the other hand, knelt on the ground and vomited profusely. In the end, he was carried back to the inn by the butler and two servants.
Someone had also wanted to help Cui Jingkong, but Cui Jingkong had raised his hand and refused.
Not only was his face pale, but he was also very impatient. The examination was exhausting, for one thing. For another—without his widowed sister-in-law, the pain in his body had been raging for nearly half a month. He just dragged his feet back to the inn, closed the door, hastily drank a few mouthfuls of water, and fell into a deep sleep.
He rested for a whole day before going out. He was woken up by the noise downstairs. This inn was famous. It was said that two top scholars had come from here, so many candidates had chosen to stay here this time.
He saw a group of scholars bustling about, but in an orderly manner. Two of them were surrounded and being asked for advice. Occasionally, there would be a roar of ecstasy or a sigh of disappointment.
Cui Jingkong walked straight to a table by the window and ordered some simple food and tea. Many people had naturally seen him come downstairs, but they saw that although this person was handsome and calm, his clothes were shabby, and he looked like a down-and-out scholar who had traveled a long way for the examination, so no one went up to talk to him.
But the two people who were surrounded looked up and saw him.
One of them walked through the crowd. He was not tall, looked very young, and was holding a fan in his hand. He walked over gracefully and asked him, “Excuse me, may I ask if you are Cui Jingkong from Qianshan?”