Chapter 41: This is the Rule (Combined Two Chapters)

Chapter 41: This is the Rule (Combined Two Chapters)

Xianjin twitched her lips, taking the lead to greet him, offering a step down from the high horse.

She had met this person before, and it hadn't been a particularly pleasant encounter – he had criticized her for manipulating the scholars of the academy, setting up a game to make money, to which she had responded by tricking him into buying a mystery bag, conveniently sending the off-white card to the safest place in the world.

Xianjin's father from her later life was a nouveau riche, starting as a bricklayer, riding the wave of reform to become the owner of an interior decoration company, expanding from a small county to the capital city. The philosophy he always adhered to in business was "harmony above all," so even if someone pointed their finger at his nose and scolded him, he could still give them a smooth hand massage, complimenting them sincerely and exaggeratedly, "Your hands are so soft!"

If not for the influence of her nouveau riche father, Xianjin might not have adapted so well after being reborn and transmigrating.

But that didn't change the fact that Xianjin, this brat, was essentially a stubborn, proud, mixed-up, and domineering modern rich second-generation heiress!

Therefore, giving a smile first was Xianjin's greatest sincerity.

The smile was received by Qiao Hui.

The young man raised his head and smiled too, tilting his chin to reveal his chiseled profile and straight, prominent nose. "Hello, Accountant He, long time no see."

It wasn't that long ago; on the fifth day of the first month when he saw the girl digging a pit for someone right there, and just a few days later, he heard about Mr. Chen Liu's death in the old village. His father had sent condolences – although he didn't like Mr. Chen Liu very much, the paper from the Chen family was still good, and they had been dealing with each other for years, so it was normal to send some condolences when someone died.

Koi Hua looked at her brother, then at the love at first sight, oh no, the "old acquaintance" owner of the 'Beauty Lamp' shop, and laughed. "…Turns out you two know each other!"

Since they were acquaintances, they could become even more familiar!

Little Koi Hua was very excited, pulling her brother over and pushing him in front of Xianjin, looking extremely proud. "This is my brother! The top scholar of our previous provincial examination! And my father, he's a third-place laureate! Do you know what that means? It means he was the third in the imperial examinations that year! Third in the entire Great Wei dynasty! And my uncle is also a Jinshi! He's currently serving in the capital! And my aunt…"

Qiao Hui expressionlessly pulled back his unambitious sister.

Should he go get the family genealogy? – To facilitate the Winter Sweet Osmanthus' thorough understanding of their family.

Qiao Hui whispered softly, "Little Pearl…"

Koi Hua stopped talking, looking at her brother and then at Xianjin, shrinking her neck, condensing a thousand words into one sentence. "…I… I just wanted to say, don't look at me being clumsy with my hands, unable to even make a lantern properly, but my family is very capable…"

Xianjin smiled, having a rough idea of which family these siblings belonged to – Jing County had only produced one third-place laureate in all these years, and the Qingcheng Mountain Courtyard's Headmaster Qiao Shanchang, who was mentioned alongside the Chen family as the "Jing County Twin Beauties" by Chen Fu, these two siblings were his children. No wonder this Mr. Qiao had some objections to her making money from the scholars at the mountain courtyard's gate.

In the end, it was probably out of good intentions, fearing that the inexperienced scholars would be deceived?

Xianjin's smile gradually became sincere, squatting slightly to ensure her gaze was level with Little Koi Hua's, smiling brightly and introducing herself in the way of Koi Hua. "I am the adopted daughter of the third master of the Chen Ji Paper Shop family. My mother is the third master's concubine. Although my family isn't as impressive as yours, they are all good people. If Miss Qiao is interested, you can come to our Chen Ji Paper Shop after the first month has passed, and I'll perform the paper burning trick for you."

Qiao Hui's eyes flickered, gently pursing his lips.

Koi Hua's cheeks were red, leaning closer to her brother, but her eyes shone brightly as they followed Xianjin.

"Baizhu – My name is Qiao Baizhu, everyone at home calls me Little Pearl."

A twelve or thirteen-year-old girl, sincere and adorable, really like a round, shiny pearl. "What's your name?"

Xianjin exaggeratedly replied, "Then our names are a pair! I'm Xianjin, digging gold out in the open! Precious gems… We two sound like we won't starve!"

Qiao Baizhu covered her mouth with her chubby little hand, but her smile revealed itself through her eyes.

Chen Zuo Niang cleared her throat.

Xianjin raised her head, not understanding.

But Qiao Hui tilted his head, pulling Little Pig even closer to him, glancing at the large hourglass on the nearby lantern tower, noticing the crowd moving, with some people already returning home from the alley. Qiao Hui pressed his sister to bow. "…It's late at night, if the two ladies want to return home, you can take the Qingcheng Mountain Courtyard's green sedan chair."

Chen Zuo Niang bowed gracefully, first thanking them, then insisting she didn't need it, saying she would first find the old lady who had been with her family for years before returning home together. The Qiao siblings then bid farewell accordingly. Qiao Baizhu wanted to talk to Xianjin a bit more, but was dragged backwards by her brother holding her collar.

"Brother!"

Qiao Baizhu was about to cry again.

Qiao Hui first looked back, seeing that the two girls from the Chen family had already walked far away. The back of the He girl was straight and upright, showing none of the sluggishness and coquettishness that the daughters of the boudoir nowadays carried due to being pampered. He felt she was neat and decisive, then turned his gaze back to his own sister with a round, white, pouting face, his voice more severe than usual. "Both parents of the Qiao family dote on you, everyone on the street knows you're called Qiao Baizhu, the daughter of the Qiao family, precious like a pearl."

"But in this world, many women are in difficult situations. Further north, there are even women who need to wear curtained hats to go out."

He didn't expect that this Winter Sweet Osmanthus tree, which seemed unbending, had such an awkward identity in the Chen family.

He had always thought that although Accountant He didn't have the surname Chen, she should at least be a legitimate young lady of the Chen family, able to manage the shops and workshops of the Chen family in Jing County with dignity…

Currently, among the three people in the imperial cabinet, two were extremely supportive of Confucianism, while one believed more in the freedom of heart school. The Sage was deeply influenced by the freedom of heart school and rationalism before the age of forty, his thoughts were free and unrestrained, not bound by etiquette, and he was very interested in new things. But after the age of forty, he gradually leaned towards Confucianism, slowly beginning to emphasize the importance of clans, rules, family, and rites…

The Xuanchou Prefecture where Jing County was located, which was part of the Southern Direct Ruling Region, had yet to be swept by this wind.

It was said that in the Northern Direct Ruling Region where the capital was located, many secluded young ladies and women voluntarily studied "Female Instruction" and "Female Education," and some even wove a big cage for themselves, putting up a monument of chastity for themselves, sorting out the Three Obediences and Four Virtues.

Although these were all bullshit rules, he wanted to spit after hearing about them, and have a good debate with the hypocritical guardians of morality in the Northern Direct Ruling Region for three hundred rounds. But for women in difficult situations, like Accountant He, it was better to avoid trouble – revealing her maiden name in front of strange men, if known by someone with ulterior motives, wouldn't be good for her.

But these words were so old-fashioned that even in front of his own sister, Qiao Hui couldn't bring himself to say them.

Qiao Hui sighed with a frown. "You can go find Accountant He to play, but in your interactions, you must put yourself in the other's shoes and consider their feelings. You mustn't act as you please like you do at home."

Qiao Baizhu felt belittled. "I didn't! This afternoon, when I couldn't make the lantern, I didn't cry!"

Qiao Hui looked at his younger sister.

A little fool.

Everyone in the family was smart, how did she spend her days only eating, playing, and fooling around? Living the life of a retired noblewoman in advance? When encountering something, she could only think of one thing, never two, preferably not even one, everyone was prepared, all had to speak and act with complete sincerity in front of the little miss of the Qiao family…

The siblings didn't take the green sedan chair. Qiao Hui walked slowly ahead, while Qiao Baizhu held onto the corner of her brother's clothes, trailing behind. After a while, Qiao Baizhu heard her brother ask, "Do you like the He Accountant of Chen Ji very much?"

Qiao Baizhu nodded vigorously. "She's great! She… she really thinks the lantern I made is good! Um… it's not necessarily that she thinks my lantern is good, but she definitely doesn't think my lantern is worse than others! Likewise! She doesn't think I'm stupid, she doesn't think I'm fat!" Qiao Baizhu tilted her head, organizing her thoughts. "Some people smile at me on the surface, but in their hearts, they think I'm stupid, fat, and a disgrace to the Qiao family and Father's face. Boss He doesn't! I… I can feel it, she really likes me!"

Qiao Baizhu's words were convoluted, but Qiao Hui understood.

Accountant He genuinely treated and accepted all the differences in this world with equality.

Lanterns can be lit or unlit; maidens can be astute or innocent; figures can be slender or carry a bit of flesh...

Being within the inner quarters yet accepting all differences with an open mind and heart.

This in itself is...

Qiao Hui pondered, this quality alone is truly admirable.

Oh, he had forgotten one point: Miss He was equally emptying everyone's pockets, sparing no one's purse...

For wealthy scholars, she would take a hefty sum - selling blind bags for three hundred coins; for young ladies and matrons living off their allowances, she would take a smaller amount - selling lantern paper and bamboo strips for thirty coins; for the morally corrupt Mr. Chen Liu and that Zhu steward who had done every evil deed, she would decisively... set a trap to claim their lives.

Qiao Hui shook his head and chuckled.

The resentment of being swindled by this girl seemed to have faded significantly.

He was only tricked into buying a blind bag - as one could see, Bo'er and Shun'er next door were not idle during the New Year celebrations. They first unpacked the blind bags they bought, laying out each color card they collected. Shun'er managed to gather all four colors on his own, while Bo'er, with slightly worse luck, only collected three cards.

But Bo'er, through relentless effort, successfully acquired the fourth color card - proving that persistence pays off, matching Shun'er's achievement.

For this fourth color, Bo'er had invested both time - spending considerable hours gathering information and inquiring about insider details at every level and class; and energy - upon discovering that three or four students held the indigo-blue color card, Bo'er employed tactics such as feigning attacks, luring away the enemy, and surrounding Wei to save Zhao. In the end, he wore down one of the students until they agreed to sell the indigo-blue card; and money - he spent eighty-eight taels and eight mace, just to buy that indigo-blue color card.

"…If Zhang Wenbo applied this perseverance to his studies, he would have been the top scholar long ago!"

His father, upon hearing this, lamented with heartfelt commentary.

It wasn't... quite that simple...

Becoming the top scholar still... required a sharp mind...

Up to this point, Sun Shun and Zhang Wenbo were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand.

Since the first month, they had been hunting for the last color card, with Sun Shun even declaring that he was willing to pay one hundred taels for it, with room for negotiation, as long as the person holding the moon-white card came forward.

When it came to spending money, how could Bo'er lose?

He immediately stepped up to the challenge, calling out a price of one hundred and twenty taels.

They were simply waiting for the moon-white card to surface.

Qiao Hui marched forward boldly, a hint of schadenfreude in his heart: All the blind bags released by the Chen Ji Paper Shop had sold out, yet the moon-white card had not appeared. Following the equal-opportunity swindling nature of that Miss He, the accountant -

Would she have directly drawn this color card herself?

Well then... this would be interesting!

Though Bo'er was somewhat dissolute, with a family rich enough to throw money around, he was ultimately a decent person. Sun Shun, however, was different. His family ran a teahouse, making a fortune from a dozen or so attractive tea servers. If he discovered that he had been played, this matter would indeed be difficult to resolve.

Recalling that slender Miss He, the accountant, with her clear and graceful features, who often wore a dung-beetle-colored short jacket that could not hide her elegant beauty, and then thinking of the fat-headed Sun Shun, whose lips were so thick they could be cut off and stir-fried into a dish, Qiao Hui's light-hearted schadenfreude inexplicably diminished.

It was time to restrict the mountain academy students' opportunities to go out.

Qiao Hui thought this in his heart.

...

After bidding farewell to the little carp flower, Qiao Baozhu, Xianjin and Chen Zuo Niang went together to find Suo'er and Mama Zhang at the makeshift stage erected by the theater troupe.

Xianjin, munching on the white jade cream handed to her by Suo'er, watched the acrobatics, flag-waving, and umbrella twirling on stage, joining the crowd in cheering happily.

Exhausted, Mama Zhang led the group back to the old residence.

Chen Zuo Niang and her sister lived in a two-compound courtyard next to the old Chen family residence, so Xianjin bid them farewell first, turning to enter when she was softly called back by Chen Zuo Niang, who then pulled her to a secluded corner by the wall.

Chen Zuo Niang spoke in a low voice, "…Outside, we don't mention our given names… We are maidens, and the eldest son of Master Qiao was just nearby. Even if Miss Qiao asked first, we need only clarify our position within the household."

Chen Zuo Niang's expression was genuinely worried.

Xianjin's mother was a concubine, inherently placing her at a lower status.

Now that her biological mother was dead, there was no one to teach her these rules.

Chen Zuo Niang tugged at Xianjin's sleeve, "These are the rules, do you remember?"

Xianjin fell silent.

Just as Chen Zuo Niang assumed she had listened well and was preparing to leave, she heard Xianjin say solemnly, "In business, if I need to sign and stamp documents in the future, what should I do? Should I write Chen Wuniang? Or press the seal of He Danniang?"

Xianjin curled the corners of her mouth into a smile, "Third Master doesn't handle affairs, so for purchasing goods, sales, and negotiations, I must personally handle everything. When dealing with men in business, if they call me Fifth Lady, the contempt is evident."

"Furthermore, if I need to represent the workshop in signing contracts and write a name different from my registry, will that contract be valid or invalid?"

Chen Zuo Niang was taken aback, this was something she hadn't considered.

Xianjin gently hooked her finger around Chen Zuo Niang's, her voice soft but her tone resolute, "I, He Xianjin, having the courage to compete with men in the business world, am prepared to stand by my name and identity without change."

"If men can write their names as registered, then I can write my name as registered!"

"That is the true rule!"