BERW - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Shi Caiwen nodded.

"I did not expect Princess to still remember what Your Servant said before. It was reckless of Your Servant to say it in front of so many people. It is only that Your Servant is truly angry. Why is it that when the fault is clearly someone else's, we women must bear the bitter fruit?"

The more Shi Caiwen thought, the angrier she became. More than once before, she had wondered: if she had not quarreled with Yang Keqing back then, would her younger cousin have escaped this undeserved disaster?

Her younger cousin was already pitiful enough, alone in the capital with no one to rely on, her parents far away in that dangerous, barren land.

"Though there are many mediocre and foolish people in this world, there are also those who understand reason. Why don't you tell me exactly what happened?"

Shen Yuyao's words stirred Shi Caiwen's heart.

Others could not change Shi Xiaoxiao's current predicament, but Shen Yuyao could! She was the most favored princess; she could do so many things.

"It is rare for Princess to be willing to listen to matters of Your Servant's family. Then Your Servant will dare to speak in detail. If Princess finds anything improper, you may stop me at any time."

"You and I are just having a heart-to-heart, speaking casually. What is said tonight is known to heaven and earth, to you and me, and there are no outsiders. What is there to be wary of? Speak freely."

Shen Yuyao gave Shi Caiwen a calming pill, and Shi Caiwen let out a breath before beginning to explain the ins and outs in a low voice.

The new Top Scorer's surname was Ding, given name Ding Yuan. He was a native of Qinchuan in Zuozhou, twenty-three years old this year, of striking appearance, and could be counted as a young talent.

What people enjoyed discussing even more was that after years of diligent study of the classics, he had no wife. At home he had only his aged father and mother and a very young younger brother.

To have studied for so many years, Ding Yuan's family must have had some surplus wealth, but unfortunately a great flood in Zuozhou submerged the family's hundred mu of fertile land, and the whole family lived frugally in the capital for a time.

Last year, while fleeing disaster, Ding Yuan had several encounters with Shi Xiaoxiao.

Ding Yuan had even helped Shi Xiaoxiao; it could be considered a life-saving favor.

At that time, Shi Xiaoxiao was being escorted to the capital by her father's loyal servant. She happened to encounter refugees. At a glance, she looked of good birth, carried food on her, and was also pretty, so many refugees harbored ill intentions.

If Ding Yuan had not warned Shi Xiaoxiao in advance, she might have died on the road.

Shi Xiaoxiao had always kept this kindness in her heart. When Shi Bingsheng revealed that he intended to take the new Top Scorer as a son-in-law, Shi Xiaoxiao privately sought out Shi Caiwen and poured out her feelings.

Shi Caiwen had no expectations about who her future husband would be. She thought that since Shi Xiaoxiao liked the man, she might as well help fulfill their wishes. By then, with mutual affection between them, their days would be more agreeable.

So she turned around and told Shi Bingsheng about it. Unlike most rigid-minded men, Shi Bingsheng had raised a girl as unconventional as Shi Caiwen, which showed he was quite open-minded himself.

He did not scold Shi Xiaoxiao or accuse the pair of secret exchanges, and was even rather pleased.

Ding Yuan had some talent, only his birth was too low. Shi Bingsheng was a pillar of the commoner scholars, so he was naturally willing to assist the younger generation. If he could also solve Ding Yuan's pressing need, all the better; this was called satisfying both sides.

Shi Xiaoxiao was one of his pressing concerns as well. If he chose someone else as Shi Xiaoxiao's husband, Shi Bingsheng would worry that he had failed his cousin's trust. With Ding Yuan, he knew him thoroughly; he could not go far wrong.

"Things had reached this point, and everyone was happy. It was only because I am two months older than Xiaoxiao, and there is a rule that an elder sister should not remain unmarried while a younger sister marries first, that the engagement date was delayed. I never expected that in just those few days, Ding Yuan, that scoundrel Ding Yuan, would send someone with a message saying he was unwilling to marry Xiaoxiao!"

"Bang!" Shi Caiwen slammed a palm on the small table, and the fruit plate on it jumped.

But these sounds were nothing compared to the fury in Shi Caiwen's heart.

"He is unwilling to marry? Before, when the one discussed for marriage was you, he was willing; when it is your younger cousin, he is unwilling. A man who so seeks to attach himself to the powerful..." Shen Yuyao frowned. This Top Scorer chosen from thousands in Great Zhuang, how could his moral character be so rotten?

Great Zhuang is doomed!

"Princess, you are right. He is currying favor with the powerful. I went to confront him in person, and he still had the face to tell me that before he did not understand love and mistook pity for affection, but now that he had met the one he truly loved, he did not want to hold my younger cousin back."

When Shi Caiwen said this, she clenched her fists. If Ding Yuan were before her, she would certainly throw a punch at him!

When Ding Yuan had been before her earlier, she had done exactly that!

That's right. Shi Caiwen had originally gone to see what had happened, but Ding Yuan was so shameless that she was angered into using her fists directly.

Although Ding Yuan was an adult man, he spent years bent over books, so his physical condition could only be called average. Shi Caiwen was different. Though she had not made much of a martial artist of herself, her physique was good; for so many years she had practiced the basics of martial arts in earnest.

So Ding Yuan was pinned to the ground and pounded by Shi Caiwen. If not for the thought that Ding Yuan had once had a sliver of kindness and had indeed saved Shi Xiaoxiao's life, Shi Caiwen truly would have wanted to beat him to death and be done with it.

What kind of words were those? Should the Shi family thank him for waking up early and not abandoning Shi Xiaoxiao after marriage?

The Shi family's daughters were not to be bullied!

Because if this got out, it would indeed sound disgraceful, and Ding Yuan did not want future colleagues to know that he had been pinned to the ground and beaten by a weak woman without being able to fight back. So the matter was suppressed by the Shi and Ding families working together.

The matter was more or less over, but the earlier marriage negotiation had involved many people, and some rumors had inevitably spread outside. Moreover, Shi Caiwen had always wanted to know who exactly was the woman Ding Yuan, upon his sudden awakening, had fallen in love with. This matter was not so easily brought to a complete end.

"Later, after several inquiries, I heard that before this, Ding Yuan had attended a Poetry Gathering. The daughters of the Yang, Qi, Qin, and Zheng families had all been there, and Ding Yuan had even met one of the Yang daughters once."

As soon as Shi Caiwen heard this, she knew Ding Yuan had fallen for Yang Keqing.

"How are you certain he must have fallen for Eldest Miss Yang? She should not have been the only one present that day." Shen Yuyao was very curious. Shi Caiwen was so certain; was it a woman's intuition?

"Princess, when the other Yang girls stood beside Yang Keqing, could you see what the others looked like?"

Faced with this question from Shi Caiwen, Shen Yuyao hesitated.

Recalling Yang Keqing's face, already beautiful enough to overthrow a kingdom, Shen Yuyao truly could not remember what the others looked like.

Only Shi Caiwen, whose temperament burned like fire, could leave a deep impression and not be the least bit overshadowed before Yang Keqing.

Shi Caiwen and Yang Keqing had never gotten along since childhood. She could not stand Yang Keqing's rule-abiding ways, her daily pretense, and her haughty manner that seemed to see no dust beneath her eyes.

Yang Keqing, for her part, thought Shi Caiwen was noisy and rash, unlike a noble young lady, almost as rude as a village girl.

But though the two were in conflict, there were some things on which they could reach consensus.

For example, Yang Keqing had to admit that Shi Caiwen had a photographic memory, was clever and quick-witted, and nimble. Shi Caiwen also had to admit that Yang Keqing came from a great clan, was learned in antiquity and modern times, and had a beautiful face that everyone would praise.

Shi Caiwen detested Ding Yuan very much. "Ding Yuan was obviously moved by lust at the sight of beauty, yet he kept talking about true love. It truly disgusts me to death."

Shen Yuyao nodded. The man was indeed deficient in personal morality, but this matter seemed to have nothing to do with Yang Keqing, right? Being beautiful could not be a fault.

Shi Caiwen also knew the matter had nothing to do with Yang Keqing. Those words at the time had merely been said in the heat of argument.

When quarreling with someone, if you don't hit their sore spot, how is that any different from not quarreling at all?

Moreover, after being rejected by Ding Yuan, Shi Xiaoxiao was depressed and kept pressing Shi Caiwen to tell her who had made Ding Yuan transfer his affections.

Shi Caiwen had no choice but to speak Yang Keqing's name.

Who knew that Shi Xiaoxiao would act as if possessed, thinking all day about how to take revenge on Yang Keqing for stealing her love, without showing the slightest complaint toward Ding Yuan.

Shi Caiwen was thoroughly annoyed at home. After hearing it too many times, sometimes her mouth moved faster than her mind and she let it slip.

After Shen Yuyao understood the causes and consequences, she lit a candle for Yang Keqing in her heart. This was truly an undeserved disaster.

As for Shi Xiaoxiao's behavior, Shen Yuyao could mostly understand. In this world where even the Crown Prince was romance-brained, was it any wonder that Shi Xiaoxiao was also romance-brained?

Perhaps Ding Yuan was also romance-brained. Knowing full well that he was of commoner scholar stock and could not hope to match a noble daughter of the Yang family, he still braved the pressure of offending Shi Bingsheng and kept himself chaste for Yang Keqing.

Thinking of this, Shen Yuyao shuddered, frightened by her own choice of words.

You must not talk nonsense. Ding Yuan, keeping himself chaste? Once he gained power and influence in the future, he would probably be the first to become a philanderer.

Still, Shi Caiwen's account was somewhat interesting. Throughout this story, she had not mentioned a single thing about her own marriage.

If she had not learned from Yu San that her full brother had chased all the way to Yudu Town, Shen Yuyao really would not have thought there was more to Shi Caiwen's story.

"What a coincidence. After dinner today, Your Servant received a letter from Xiaoxiao. She said she will leave the city tomorrow to find Your Servant, wanting to go to the Lantern Festival in Yudu Town to take her mind off things. Princess, Your Servant has not yet replied. Do you think we can bring Xiaoxiao along?"

If only Shi Caiwen were in Yudu Town, she would naturally agree to let her younger cousin come for a visit. But things were different now. Shi Caiwen had the duty of accompanying the Princess on her outing, so she had to ask Shen Yuyao first.

Shen Yuyao nodded. "Adding one person is nothing; it does not matter. However, I heard that Eldest Miss Yang has not yet left Yudu Town. Are you sure your younger cousin is coming to relax?"

She is not coming to make a move against Yang Keqing, is she?

They had just fought not long ago. If Shi Xiaoxiao came and meddled too, this matter would very likely be brought before the elders.

As long as the elders did not know, whatever the younger generation stirred up could be classified as a joke. If the elders learned of it, the matter would not be simple.

The "learning of it" here did not mean simply knowing; it meant letting outsiders see that they knew.

Shi Caiwen did not think much of it. She had always felt Shi Xiaoxiao had the heart of a thief but not the courage, and what methods did Yang Keqing have? Could she be schemed against by Shi Xiaoxiao?

As the eldest daughter of the Yang family, Yang Keqing had no shortage of methods. Shi Xiaoxiao's little schemes were nothing before Yang Keqing.

Seeing how confident Shi Caiwen was in Yang Keqing, Shen Yuyao suddenly became curious.

These two foes were, in a certain sense, the people who understood each other best.

"I recently came into possession of something called a sand table. I am thinking of presenting it to Father at the Double Ninth Festival, but the sand table is not yet perfect. Tomorrow, would Second Lady help me improve it a little?"

Shen Yuyao very much wanted to see just how much ability Shi Caiwen had.

What she wanted was not the ability to fight in household or palace intrigues, but in political and military struggles.

Although using a sand table for matches carried a strong suspicion of armchair strategy, using it for amusement could also reveal another person's true depths.

Shi Caiwen acted wildly, but she had a good sense of limits. She knew she could personally pin Ding Yuan to the ground and beat him without suffering any harm, and she also knew she could not actually beat him to death and cause trouble for herself.

"To have earned Princess's trust, Your Servant will certainly spare no effort to lend Princess a hand." Shi Caiwen said this with a serious face, but her eyes were full of laughter.

Seeing this, Shen Yuyao also smiled lightly, sweeping away the displeasure that had just appeared.

The two passed cups back and forth, drinking a little wine, eating snacks, and chatting, until before they knew it, the night had deepened.

The next day, when Shen Yuyao woke, she found herself sprawled crookedly on a small couch, her head somewhat dizzy.

She reached out to rub it, and her hand touched a handful of flesh.

Opening her eyes, she saw that her hand was pressing right on Shi Caiwen's face.

The two were lying on the small couch with limbs sprawled to the sky, in a very unrestrained posture.

Shen Yuyao's somewhat muddled mind instantly cleared. She sat up and shook her head, thinking that she seemed to be meeting her full brother today!

Surely she was not already late!

She quickly pushed open the window and looked out through the crack. The sun had just risen; it was still early.

Get instant access to all chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next