Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Chen Qingyan cursed him as a shameless scoundrel for stealing his inkstick to pawn. He had forgiven him, but never expected him to hide a cheat sheet in his brush, which led to his disqualification from the imperial examinations.

Zhang Shiqiu was no better, sneering that Chen Qingyan's lack of talent was to blame and that he was shifting the responsibility for his own cheating onto others.

Chen Qingyan angrily retorted, "Do you dare swear to God that you didn’t plant that cheat sheet in my brush? May you never pass the imperial exams in your lifetime if you lie!"

Of course, he didn’t dare swear. With a sneering smile, he said, "You’re only saying this now to salvage your pride, Chen Qingyan. The cheat sheet was found in your exam basket. Whether you hid it or not, I don’t know, but you’ll never be able to take the imperial exams again."

These words enraged Chen Qingyan, who charged at him and threw a punch.

Bystanders quickly pulled the two apart, but Zhang Shiqiu seized the opportunity to hurl a teacup at Chen Qingyan’s head. The heavy porcelain cup immediately split his forehead open, and blood instantly gushed out.

Wang Ying, after hearing the full story, understood everything.

No wonder he had been weighed down with worries these past few days—something this serious had happened, and he hadn’t even mentioned it.

His heart ached with both anger and pity. He said, "You should go back now. Don’t go out these next few days, and don’t bring up that Zhang fellow in front of your brother."

"Oh..."

Back in the room, Chen Qingyan still lay with eyes shut, either asleep or ignoring everyone.

"Mother, Third Aunt, you should go back too. I’ll take care of him here."

"Sigh..." Li Shi sighed and stood up. She decided she would go to the mountain to pray to Bodhisattva these next few days—her son must have crossed some unlucky star, as he'd been having a streak of bad luck lately.

After everyone left, Wang Ying sat by the bed and held his hand. His fingers were ice-cold, his palm clammy.

"I know you’re awake. I’ve got the full story from Qing Song. You shouldn't have hidden this from me..."

Chen Qingyan’s fingers twitched slightly, as if he wanted to pull away, but Wang Ying laced their fingers together. "I know you’re hurting, but what’s done is done. Are you going to punish yourself over someone else’s wrongdoing?"

Chen Qingyan slowly opened his eyes, clouded with confusion and grief. "Brother, why are people so wicked? Twisting right and wrong, I treated him as a friend, yet he repaid kindness with betrayal."

Wang Ying didn’t know how to explain it to him, so he simply told him the story of the Farmer and the Viper.

"They say people are born good, but I believe human nature is inherently evil. Those who follow goodness become truly human; those who choose evil are beasts. Such people feel no gratitude and only impose their malice on others."

Chen Qingyan still didn’t understand. "But when I first met him, he wasn’t like this."

"That was an act. People like him put on a calm front on the surface, but inside, they’re rotten to the core. He was jealous of your better family background, your clean home, and your ability to afford brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

A single meal of yours probably cost as much as his half-month of coarse meals. So he resented you, envied everything about you, and believed you owed your talents to your family.

But as he got to know you, he realized you weren’t just privileged—you were also virtuous and even a better scholar than him. He feared you would pass the county and provincial exams, shooting up the ranks, so he schemed to ruin you."

Chen Qingyan's eyes reddened, and tears of frustration streamed down. "It’s too late now. Today, he smeared my name with cheating accusations in the county exam, and it will soon spread all over town. Then... I’m afraid... no one will come to the private school anymore."

Wang Ying held him tightly, her heart aching, wishing she could tear that Zhang scholar to pieces.

*

Because Chen Qingyan was injured, Wang Ying closed up the shop for now and stayed by his side every day, worried he might do something drastic in despair.

The boy was only turning eighteen after the New Year, an age where pride was everything to him. Wang Ying feared he might do something foolish.

After breakfast, Wang Ying helped him remove the bandage on his forehead and applied fresh medicine.

The injury had looked scary covered in blood, but it was only the size of a fingernail, though quite deep. To avoid scarring, she'd made sure it stayed dry these past few days.

"Does it still hurt?"

Chen Qingyan shook his head.

"The New Year is almost here. I plan to give Er Shun and Dun Zi a few days off to return to the village. I’ll have Uncle Chen stay with you. Don’t dwell on those matters anymore."

"Mm." Chen Qingyan mumbled gloomily.

Wang Ying sighed and went to the front yard to call Er Shun and Dun Zi, handing them their pre-prepared wages.

Originally, Er Shun was to receive 150 coins a month, and Dun Zi 100 coins. But both had been hard workers, especially Dun Zi, who had made that trip to the county seat with them.

Wang Ying wasn’t stingy. Having earned well this year, she was willing to pay them extra.

Besides their regular wages, she gave each an additional 500 coins as a bonus.

The two stared in shock at the weighty money pouches. Dun Zi stammered, "B-boss, you’ve given too much..."

"The extra is a bonus. Come back after the New Year and continue working for me."

"Thank you, boss!" They both knelt and kowtowed.

Wang Ying massaged her forehead—this again. She was almost getting used to these old-fashioned customs.

"Get up quickly. While it’s still early, go stroll around the market and buy something. You can head home today."

At the mention of going home, their excitement was palpable, and they grew eager to leave.

Especially Er Shun—this was the first time he’d been away from home for so long, and he missed his parents and grandmother dearly. He planned to buy them gifts at the market!

Wang Ying reminded them, "Keep your money safe. There are many pickpockets on the streets at year-end. Be careful not to get your pouches stolen."

"Alright!"

"And Er Shun, spend wisely. Don’t buy unnecessary things, or your father will scold you when you get home."

Chen Ershun scratched his head sheepishly. Without the boss’s reminder, he would have forgotten—his parents had told him to save his earnings for marriage, not squander them.

"Alright, off you go." Wang Ying had other matters to attend to. She changed into inconspicuous clothes, pulled up her hood, and slipped out alone.

After a fifteen-minute walk, she arrived at Welcome Guest Restaurant.

The restaurant was nearly empty at this hour. Wang Ying had reserved a room in advance, and the waiter led her directly to a private chamber.

Soon, footsteps echoed outside, and a tough-looking man with a brutish face entered. This was Teng Guang, a known troublemaker in Qingshui Town, often involved in fights and brawls. He was the one who had cut off Chen Qingfeng’s finger when he owed money to the gambling den.

Two days ago, Wang Ying had Uncle Chen contact him and arrange today’s meeting.

"Are you Shopkeeper Wang?"

Wang Ying nodded. "That’s me."

Teng Guang looked her up and down, pulled out a chair, and sat down rudely, pouring himself a cup of tea. "What do you want?"

"I need a favor. This is the deposit." Wang Ying took out a ten-tael silver ingot from her robe and placed it on the table.

Teng Guang’s eyes widened, and he reached for the silver.

Wang Ying pressed down on his hand with a teacup. "Aren’t you going to ask what the job is?"

Teng Guang looked up at Wang Ying, noticing her gloomy expression and realizing she wasn't someone to be trifled with. He reluctantly withdrew his hand and said, "Tell me what needs to be done."

"Break this man’s leg for me," Wang Ying said, providing Scholar Zhang’s name and address.

"After it’s done, you’ll get another ten taels (a unit of silver). But if you take the money, you must do the job. If not, I’ve got plenty of silver to make things happen."

Teng Guang understood perfectly—if he didn’t break that man’s leg, Shopkeeper Wang would likely hire someone to break his own.

He forced an ingratiating smile, wiped the disdain off his face, pocketed the silver, and said, "You can count on me, boss. I’ll handle this perfectly for you!"

"Make sure you don’t target the wrong person."

"Hey, boss, you’re underestimating me. I never mess up a job I’ve taken. Which leg do you want—left or right? I’ll make sure it’s broken."

"Whichever, just break one leg. Don’t kill him."

"Don’t worry about that. I know how to hold back."

Wang Ying pursed her lips and nodded. After the man left, she picked up her teacup and drained it in one gulp, her back already soaked with sweat.

She was, by nature, a law-abiding person, and this was her first time doing something like this—truly driven to desperation.

What Zhang Shiqiu had done was utterly disgusting, but without evidence, reporting it to the authorities wouldn’t lead to any punishment.

Moreover, the man was a hypocrite. Who could guarantee he wouldn’t pass the civil exams in the future and harm them again to cover up his misdeeds? By then, it would be too late to fight back.

Wang Ying wasn’t a soft target. In her earlier life, without parents to rely on and with elderly grandparents, she had relied on her fists to hold her own in the village school since childhood.

Now that someone was pushing her around, not fighting back simply wasn’t in her nature.

Even if this matter came to light, Wang Ying wasn’t afraid. At worst, it would just cost her some silver. Under Wu Dynasty law, as long as it wasn’t a capital offense, flogging sentences could be redeemed with money—five hundred coins per stroke, and a few dozen strings of coins could exempt her from punishment entirely.

If others don’t provoke me, I won’t provoke them. But if they do, I’ll make sure they get a taste of their own medicine!

*

Lately, Zhang Shiqiu had been on edge. Ever since he threw a teacup at Chen Qingyan the other day, his eyelids had been twitching like crazy, making it impossible to focus on his books.

Outside, his mother was stewing chicken soup. After her son became a County Scholar, relatives had suddenly become very attentive—some brought rice and flour, others brought eggs, and someone even gifted two chickens for her to nourish her son.

Zhang’s mother was overjoyed and bragged to anyone who’d listen that her family had produced a star scholar, that her son was a distinguished scholar who would become a high-ranking official after passing the provincial-level exams.

"Shiqiu, stop reading and come eat."

Zhang Shiqiu put down his book and walked over. Seeing the chicken stewing in the pot, he frowned slightly. "Why are you stewing chicken?"

"Your Aunt Fifth gave it to us. If we don’t eat it, it’ll go to waste!"

"Couldn’t you have sold it and bought some high-quality fabric to make me new clothes?"

Zhang’s mother continued eating the chicken, chewing noisily. "Clothes are fine as long as they’re wearable. Why insist on fine cloth? A foot of fine cloth costs forty coins, and making a robe takes at least eight feet. How can we afford that?"

Zhang Shiqiu remembered the slate blue fine cloth robe Chen Qingyan wore at the scholarly debate—not only was the material superior, but it was also embroidered with bamboo patterns, clearly expensive.

He was so jealous he could almost taste blood. Why could others wear such fine clothes while he had only one decent set of clothes?

At the county school, he didn’t dare get it dirty, afraid that changing into patched clothes would make him a laughingstock.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He flicked his sleeves and stormed out in a huff.

"Aren’t you going to eat the meat? Fine, I won’t save any for you." The woman wolfed down the food ravenously, like a starved animal, afraid someone would snatch it away if she ate too slowly.

After leaving, Zhang Shiqiu went to visit a recently made friend. This man, a scholar named Lu, was a few years older than him but yet to pass the county exams.

The Lu family was wealthy, with a solid fortune. Lu Changan greatly enjoyed befriending scholars and, after meeting Zhang Shiqiu, was won over by his smarts, treating him as a close friend.

Hearing of his visit, Lu Changan personally came out to greet him.

"Brother Shiqiu, you’re here!"

"Greetings, Brother Lu."

"Come in, come in!" Lu Changan led him into the main hall and ordered a servant to bring out his best tea to serve him.

"I just acquired a few taels of Maojian tea (a type of green tea) a few days ago. Take some with you when you leave."

"How can I accept that? I don’t know much about tea—wouldn’t it be a waste on me?"

Lu Changan laughed. "You think I’m a tea expert? I just drink for enjoyment."

Zhang Shiqiu didn’t refuse further, secretly pleased. Tea wasn’t cheap, and he could pawn it later for some silver.

"I came today because I’ve hit a rough patch…"

Seeing his furrowed brow and troubled expression, Lu Changan quickly asked, "What happened?"

"Do you know Chen Dalang Chen Qingyan from town?"

"Of course. My mother is friends with his mother—they often go to the mountains to worship Buddha together."

"Do you know why he stopped participating in the civil exams?"

"No, I heard he fell ill after returning from last year’s exams and has only recently recovered."

Zhang Shiqiu sneered. "It wasn’t illness—he was caught cheating and kicked out, too embarrassed to show up!"

"What?! No way!"