Feng Xing: Chapter 96
Hi everyone! It’s been half a year since the last chapter. I still have some stuff to sort out irl but I’m a lot better now.
I started translating this novel 11th of July last year, so almost a year has passed. I’m currently working on stockpiling chapters so I can update more frequently. Apologies for the long wait and thanks for sticking around despite the lack of updates. Enjoy the chapter!
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Translation: marchmallow
Just as Feng Sheng predicted, a full-fledged drama was indeed underway. The Chen family’s methods were even more ferocious than imaginable. No one had expected them to scour for the family that had raised Consort Li.
This ‘raising’ was not literal in meaning. It alluded to people who specialized in the business of raising thin horses.
Aware of the huge profit this business brought, those people often bought pretty-faced girls from poor families or from middlemen to raise. These girls cost only ten or twenty taels upon initial purchase, but after grooming and training, they would be sold for thousands of taels to those who sought them. Many people witnessed that it had good prospects for gain and competitively followed suit, eventually bolstering it into a trend.
The family that had raised Consort Li in those days specialized in this trade. They collected dozens of different girls and raised them in their home. Thin horses were also divided into grades. For instance, Consort Li was the best thin horse in that family’s hands at that time. Originally, she was sent away as a present from a salt merchant to a Chen family master, but never had it dawned on her that it would spur her to be taken back to the capital.
When the family had purchased Consort Li from a middleman, the way Consort Li was dressed made her appear to be, without a doubt, a poor family’s daughter. She had a jade lock1 strung around her neck, but it was of little value. Because the quality of the jade lock was nothing worth mentioning, it was kept. The family did not take it away and let her wear it all the time, and it had become one of the ways to verify her identity.
The Chen family also found a maid who served by the precious concubine’s side prior to her death and used her as proof.
It was said that Consort Li and the precious concubine had such an uncanny resemblance that it was only natural for the old master of the Chen family to recognize her. Those days, since the Chen family were in desperate need of assistance to solidify the Crown Princess’ favor, and out of the old master’s selfish motives for his daughter, he had Consort Li sent there.
In the eyes of Old Master Chen, for his daughter to serve the crown prince was her good fortune, and even more so the Chen family’s good fortune.
Such a well-founded narrative not only explained the whole matter seamlessly, but it also indistinctly flattered the Jianping Emperor. Therefore, it was not unreasonable to say that the Chen family deserved to be recognized as a towering giant for so many years.
Feng Sheng didn’t have the opportunity to witness the incident, hearing it only from others’ tattles after its occurrence.
It wasn’t just her who heard word about it, but also probably half of the people in the capital.
Back on the discussion of the Chen family, their ability to tower like a giant for so many years had a lot to do with their means. To assuage any future trouble from coming their way, and to prevent Imperial Noble Consort Li from shirking from them, they effectuated a great deal of momentum. The Chen family’s unconstrained performance in searching for their daughter had several ebbs and flows, adding a lot of enjoyment to the capital’s common people. Their ultimate goal was to reach the imperial palace which they considered the end of the show.
In other words, after all sorts of intrigues and wiles, regardless of whether or not Imperial Noble Consort Li admitted it, in the eyes of outsiders, she was the Chen family’s daughter.
No one had foreseen things to develop like this, but beyond all doubt, the Chen family was the biggest winner so far. Since it was not easy to make discreet inquiries about the imperial palace, for a time, all curiosities headed towards Prince Wei. When Princess Consort Liang bumped into Feng Sheng, even she couldn’t help but ask a few questions about whether or not it was veritable.
But, ultimately, was it true?
There was no news of activity in the imperial palace, nor did the Jianping Emperor make any move. It dragged on for more than half a month. When news from the imperial palace finally came out, it was said that Imperial Noble Consort Li wouldn’t listen at all, that her heart would ache upon any mention of it. She also said she had scant memories of her childhood as she was but a wee lass at that time. She only recalled suffering a few hardships while in the hands of the middleman as well as the people from her family.
Apart from this, she said nothing else. She didn’t admit it, but also didn’t not admit it. The matter was actually left unresolved and became a secret worry for the Chen family; however, this was a part of the story to be recounted later.
In brief, the world had always been a place where the strongest prevailed. If Imperial Noble Consort Li wasn’t favored at present, perhaps today’s matter wouldn’t have transpired like this. For the same reason, only this way, by throwing the Chen family aside, could she ignore them at will, making the Chen family look like buffoons performing strange antics.
Consequently, it aroused many people’s doubts. How could a family like the Chen family have lost their young miss back then? Even if she were a concubine-born daughter, such a thing shouldn’t have occurred. Perhaps, there were a few shameful secrets in the rear court. Now that the person was flourishing, they had no sense of shame and relied on the person in power.
These sorts of opinions were most dwelled upon by great relish in private, which no person had expected at the outset.
However, this affair did not persist for long and was robbed of publicity by another incident: Prince Wei opened an academy called ‘Jinjiang Academy’2 on the outskirts of the capital.
Prince Wei opening an academy was not peculiar, and the name Jinjiang also wasn’t peculiar. What was peculiar was that Princess Consort Wei structured a Women’s Hall in the academy specifically to take in women as students.
The news broke at a time when the Imperial Noble Consort Li, the Chen family, and Prince Wei were at the cusp of the storm, so it had spread quite extensively. The academy was not only for men, but also for women between six and twenty years old.
It was said that upon the academy’s opening, in order to attract students, not only would they waive the tuition charges on the first year, they would also included board and lodging. If a student had outstanding performance, rewards were to be expected.
These were only a few of the benefits. The most eye-catching aspect of the academy was that, every year, the academy would select a few exceptional students to be directly admitted to the Imperial College.3
That was to say, if one wished to take the path towards the imperial examinations, if one could rise above others in the academy, they would be exempt from taking the child exam up until the college exam——these three fundamental examinations.4 This mustn’t be looked down on. One must bear in mind that a multitude of people failed to pass the college exam every year.
If one wanted to become an official through becoming a student of the Imperial College, one could directly omit contributing grain and silver in exchange for an official position. One must know that such an act required the right social connections, and apart from that, it required a large sum of silver taels.
For the Women’s Hall, the academy also gave very noteworthy advantages. Those who performed with excellence could be recommended for appointment as female officials in the palace.5
In the palace, there had always been a rule of selecting female officials among commoners, but the slots were very few, and they were generally chosen even before the news was circulated. Female officials were different from palace maids. Unlike palace maids, female officials weren’t bound by the rule that they couldn’t leave the palace. Furthermore, after five or six years of service, they could return home.
Female officials not only received a sizable annual salary, but their family also received preferential treatment, such as exemption from corvée, prerogative to refuse working in the yamen as a runner, and other such things. Regardless of whether one came from a poor or wealthy family, this was extremely tempting. Poor families could be spared from forced labor, and their daughters could learn to read and write and earn an official status for their families. As for daughters of wealthy and influential families, it could serve as a channel to acquaint themselves with imperial kinsmen, whether it was to benefit their clan or to seek a better marriage for themselves.
After the news came out, countless people delighted in talking about it, and no one questioned whether or not the Jinjiang Academy could do what it promised. Prince Wei served precisely as its gilded signboard.
After a while, countless people went to inquire for information.
Although the academy wasn’t yet open for the time being, others could visit in advance. It was said that Prince Wei and Princess Consort Wei were very meticulous with the construction of the academy——from the lecture halls where lessons were taught, the dormitories for lodging, to the library that possessed a large collection of books. The library was enough to make people acclaim it as the pinnacle of perfection, and contained inside were book collections that one would expect to find, including the only existing copies of masterpieces and rare collections on the market.
The academy was formerly an estate built on a hillside with a garden for archery practice, a horse arena for horseback riding practice, and so on. The landscape was extremely beautiful, not inferior to some of the most renowned academies in the world.
It was also said that all the teachers who would conduct lectures in the academy were great scholars, many of whom from the Imperial College and the Hanlin Academy invited by Prince Wei by virtue of their status.
Those who came to visit the academy were simply curious. Whoever wanted to meander about the academy, there would be a specific carriage to send them there. There were people in charge of explaining and guiding them along the way. Just listening to these people’s narrative, they began growing restless and couldn’t help themselves. Some directly registered on the spot, and some returned to encourage their families to send suitable children to the academy.
However, it wasn’t enough for an individual to just come and register. After registration, the academy would conduct an admission test to select students who were suitable to study at the academy.
After receiving a babel of criticism from each direction for nearly a month, time came for the academy’s admission test. Hordes of people crowded inside and outside the academy.
Students from impoverished families accounted for the majority, but among them were also children from humble families, as well as large and wealthy families. The most eye-catching were female students who arrived to take the admission exam, most of whom from destitute households. Many were there because they were not well-off and had poor living conditions at home. They rushed there because they had heard of the free tuition for the initial year as well as the free board and lodging.
Moreover, most of them were very young. When the slew of people hove into their sight, they were rendered aghast even with the company of their family. Fortunately, Feng Sheng had already made prior arrangements. She opened an exclusive road and ordered a person especially appointed to have these girls access the academy.
It was naturally unavoidable for there to be people to raise the concern that ‘reaching the age of seven, boys and girls should no longer sit together’. Some even called into question whether or not it was necessary for men and women to learn in the same academy.
In this regard, the academy also gave a statement. First of all, the men’s and women’s halls were separated. In addition, there were strict rules in the academy to prevent anything from happening. Furthermore, there were a large number of guards and teachers in charge of supervision, so there was no need to worry.
Feng Sheng needed not to pay heed to the admission exam of the men’s hall, she only needed to concern herself with the women’s hall.
When she saw the girls who came to take the admission exam, she sighed despite having forecasted it in her heart.
“Alright. First, send their families out,” Feng Sheng ordered.
Hearing this from the woman who emerged from outside, some of the parents who accompanied their children couldn’t help but stand gazing at each other. Upon hearing that this was the princess consort, they were so affrighted that they bowed their heads low and retreated.
As Feng Sheng stood in front of these twenty girls, she could perceive that all of them hailed from poor backgrounds. Most of them were dressed in coarse and discolored cotton cloth. Only a few looked like they were from families with more satisfactory circumstances, and this ‘satisfactory’ simply meant families who were slightly comfortably-off.
“What’s your name?” Feng Sheng approached a girl and asked.
“My name is Xiao Ya.”
Xiao Ya was just under six years old, a little thinner than other children her age, with light brown hair. She wore blue-green coarse pants and had a hole in her shoe. As she seemed very uneasy, she couldn’t help but wriggle her foot and expose her toes through the hole.
“Can you tell me why you came here to study?” Feng Sheng asked, trying to make her voice as gentle as possible.
“My mother, my mother said there is food here.”
Xiao Ya was already very nervous. The house here was so tall and big, and the people inside were all nobles. At her age, she didn’t know who the nobles were. She only knew that nobles couldn’t be offended, and that she should walk away if she saw them. Moreover, the nobles were not very good-tempered. They might beat and scold her as they wished, and she would have no choice but to receive it.
But the aunt in front of her was very gentle and pretty. Xiao Ya thought to herself that this aunt would definitely not beat or scold anyone, so she dared to whisper what her mother told her not to tell anyone.
“Just food? Is there no food at home?”
“There’s food at home, but, my little brother and little sister……”
Xiao Ya was still trying to mutter something, but Feng Sheng couldn’t bear to ask any more. She stroked Xiao Ya’s hair and then asked another girl.
After some inquiries, most shared almost the same situation, but there were a few from good backgrounds, saying that they came to study and learn to become female officials.
There were also liars. It was too easy to tell if children this age were spouting untruths. Their family conditions were clearly poor, and they wore shabby clothes. They might not understand what reading and literacy were, but they nevertheless said words that were pleasant to hear. Feng Sheng guessed that their family had taught them for fear that the academy would not accept them, or perhaps these children already had a sense of awareness. Regardless of the reason, she didn’t have the heart to refuse.
In the end, the twenty or so girls were accepted, and Feng Sheng suddenly felt that she seemed to have taken something for granted. There was nothing wrong about teaching these girls to read and write or to let them know what else lay ahead in this world, but before that, it was important for them to be able to feed and clothe themselves, otherwise everything would just be empty prattle.
Author’s Note:
To say Feng Sheng never suffered when she was a child is quite wrong. Her suffering centered more on the mental and spiritual aspect. For instance, since her mother couldn’t birth a son, she had to regard herself as a boy and even ended up getting told that women were inferior to men. When she grew older, the fact that she was a woman still trapped her. Nevertheless, she never suffered from actual poverty, where she would starve from the lack of food. Families facing poverty prioritized nurturing sons over daughters. If a girl’s younger or older brothers were sick or wanted to bring in a wife, her family could sell her off for some silver. Such sufferings hailed from the pressure of survival.
For Feng Sheng, the reason she wanted to establish a Women’s Academy stemmed from her own experiences, for mental and spiritual gain. That idea had sprouted from Man’er, as she felt that Man’er could not spark Fan Jin Chuan’s interest due to her illiteracy and lack of knowledge. However, the cruel reality was that Feng Sheng had to deal with it from the very foundation. To teach young girls to be independent women, she must first solve the problem of food and clothing before equipping them mentally and spiritually.
If Feng Sheng were transmigrated, she might first open a New Oriental Lanxiang Technical School or something similar →_→.
1 From ancient times to the present, children wearing jade ornaments is a custom that can be seen everywhere. Jade lock is naturally one of the popular items. It’s said that the health effect of jade is not only beneficial to children, but also effective for adults. Wearing a jade lock can supposedly rub the neck and acupuncture points, activate the meridians between the human body and the brain, promote metabolism, and activate cell tissue and enhance immunity.
2 Fun fact, the site where Feng Xing is published is called 晋江文学城, literally ‘Jinjiang Literature City’.
3 国子监: The Guozijian, sometimes translated as the Imperial College, Imperial Academy, Imperial University, National Academy, or National University, was the national central institution of higher learning in Chinese dynasties after the Sui dynasty. It was the highest institution of academic research and learning in China’s traditional educational system, with the function of administration of education.
4 Entry-level examinations were held annually and accessible to educated individuals from their early teenage years. These were held locally and were collectively called Tóngshéng shì (童生试, “Child Exam”) or Tóngshì (童试). Tóngshì was broken down hierarchically into the Xiànshì (縣試, “County Exam”), the Fǔshì (府試, “Prefectural exam”) and Yuànshì (院試, “college exam”). One becomes a xiucai (秀才, lit. “distinguished talent”) when one passes the college exam. Feng Sheng passed all three as Fang Feng Fu, who is a xiucai on paper. I’ve previously used the literal translation, “distinguished talent” in the past chapters.
Basically, whoever did well in the academy didn’t have to take the entry-level examinations to be admitted to the Imperial College.
5 “Female officials” (nüguan 女官) or court ladies were seen in the imperial palaces of all imperial dynasties. Parts of them were secondary consorts and concubines, but most of them were appointed to specific tasks in the management of the private quarters of the imperial palace. The Ming dynasty perpetuated this system of the six services with the service bureaus (liuju 六局). Female officials were to be selected after a kind of examination with the degree of “cultivated talent” (nü xiucai 女秀才).
There were in total 187 positions to be occupied. Girls serving in the palace were allowed to return to their parents after five or six years, in order to await marriage. Service in the imperial palace greatly raised the “value” of a girl ready for marriage.
