Chapter 43: 042 A Fine Cabbage Unfit for a Pig to Root Up

Zhao Han took the ingredients he had bought down to the thatched hut at the foot of the hill and handed them to Xu Ying's parents to prepare.

After a quick word with Pang Chunlai, he followed Madam Lou to the academy.

After all, his true identity was that of a page boy — being a student was only a side role. When the master's family arrived, he had to attend to them.

Madam Lou and her daughter both rode sedan chairs up the hill; Zhao Zhenfang walked the whole way on foot.

Zhao Han asked with concern, "Little sister, are you tired?"

"Not tired," Zhao Zhenfang said cheerfully, in high spirits. "I eat my fill at every meal now, so I'm much stronger than I was in Tianjin. I've been cooped up in the inner courtyard all this time — today I get to come out and climb a hill, and I've got Second Brother keeping me company. I couldn't be happier."

"Good, as long as you're not tired." Zhao Han smiled too.

They climbed all the way to the hillside and at last arrived at the Hanzhu Academy.

Fei Ruhe abandoned his mother and sprinted ahead, racing toward the courtyard where his father studied, shouting as he ran, "Father, Father, Mother's here!"

When the group reached the courtyard, Fei Yinghuan came out to greet them at the news, along with Hu Mengtai, Zhan Zhaoheng, and several other scholars.

Madam Lou busied herself distributing gifts, helping her husband build goodwill with his fellow students.

The two young ladies, Fei Rulan and Fei Rumei, had never been to the academy before. They looked around curiously, peering in every direction.

Seizing the moment, Zhao Zhenfang pulled her brother aside and, barely containing her excitement, said in a low voice, "Second Brother, I can earn money now too."

"Little sister, that's wonderful!" Zhao Han praised her.

Zhao Zhenfang drew a string of copper cash from inside her clothes and pressed it into Zhao Han's hand. "When I heard we were coming to the academy, I brought my money along. Second Brother, take it all and use it."

The coins were threaded on a cloth cord — about five hundred of them, all wages and tips. The winter solstice bonus money hadn't been given out yet.

The top-tier household slaves of Fei Yinghuan's family could earn a monthly wage of two taels of silver, and they held managerial posts with under-the-table perks to be skimmed as well.

The senior maids of the inner courtyard earned about one tael a month.

As the young ladies' playmate, Zhao Zhenfang had her meals, lodging, and clothing provided, plus a monthly wage of five hundred cash.

The lowest-rank servants had it hard — not only were their wages meager, but the stewards often docked their pay. Some household slaves lived wretchedly, yet they did not resent their masters, only those stewards great and small.

Of course, it also depended on which family one served.

Even within the same Ehu Fei clan, Fei Yinghuan's second younger brother's household was harsh. The mistress was extremely stingy, slashing the household slaves' wages by half outright, and she would curse and beat them at the slightest provocation. Not long ago, she struck one dead by accident, then simply claimed the slave had fallen ill and had him quietly buried.

"Don't you ever spend money?" Zhao Han asked.

Zhao Zhenfang smiled. "No need. Food and clothes are all provided, and the Young Madam treats me wonderfully." As she spoke, she pushed up her left sleeve and showed the silver chain on her wrist. "The Second Young Lady gave me this. She has several new ones, so she didn't want the old ones anymore."

"All right then, Second Brother will keep it safe for you. Whenever you need it, you can take it back." Zhao Han tucked the string of coins into his own clothes.

The eldest young lady, Fei Rulan, paced a few circles around the courtyard, then could not help saying, "Mother, may I go look around the rest of the academy?"

Madam Lou doted on her daughter and at once summoned Fei Ruhe. "Take your elder sister for a walk around."

"I want to go too!" Fei Rumei cried out at once.

Madam Lou laughed. "Go, all of you, go."

Since Fei Ruhe was leading the way, Zhao Han and Fei Chun, as the page boys, naturally had to follow along as well.

The eldest young lady Fei Rulan had her maid Xiyue; the second young lady Fei Rumei had her maid Chunfang — well, that was Zhao Zhenfang. The whole party left the courtyard together, with Fei Ruhe eagerly clearing the path, dashing far ahead of everyone else in a flash.

Watching the children leave, Madam Lou suddenly asked, "I hear… the family that erected the Chaste Widow Archway is also living at the academy?"

Fei Yinghuan nodded. "They'll be moving down the hill soon."

Madam Lou said, "A widow and her orphan child — pitiable indeed. Send them a share of the winter solstice gifts."

Wei Jianxiong, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly popped up. "I'll deliver it. I know where they live."

Madam Lou sorted out a portion of the gifts and handed it to Wei Jianxiong. "Just these."

Wei Jianxiong grabbed them and ran off, his heart already blooming with joy.

"What's gotten into him?" Madam Lou could not make sense of it.

Fei Yinghuan laughed. "No idea. He's been acting very strange these days."

Before long, Madam Chen arrived with Fei Yuanjian to thank Madam Lou for the winter solstice gifts, Wei Jianxiong following beside them, his face brimming with delight.

From the look of it, things seemed to have progressed somewhat.

A chaste widow cannot withstand a persistent suitor. For all her cunning, Madam Chen was still a woman starved of affection — and what was more, the two had known each other since childhood.

Madam Lou and Madam Chen, the two women, exchanged pleasantries.

The atmosphere was exceedingly harmonious, and they even made plans to go worship Buddha together before the new year.

After Madam Chen had taken her leave, Madam Lou smiled faintly. "That young aunt of yours is a sharp and clever one."

Fei Yinghuan's attention, however, was elsewhere. He murmured to himself, "Old Wei is not himself at all. Even if he is carrying on with that Madam Chen, he mustn't make it so obvious. I must remind him when I get the chance. Since it's a secret affair, it should be kept utterly silent — unknown to gods and ghosts alike, only then can it last."

Eldest Young Master Fei's train of thought was, as ever, bizarrely unconventional.

Upon detecting a clandestine affair between his household slave and an elder kinswoman of the clan, his first reaction was not to stop it, but to critique the household slave's technique in conducting the affair, and to plan on advising the man to act with greater discretion.

Madam Lou fought back the powerful urge to roll her eyes and could not be bothered to waste half a word — clearly, she was long accustomed to this.

Suddenly, Fei Yinghuan clapped his hands together. "I forgot to tell you, my lady — that boy Han has come up with a new diversion. You combine two sets of cards, and the game is called mahjong. Come inside quickly, and I'll explain it in detail!"

Madam Lou was dragged into the room, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Fei Yinghuan brought out a wooden box and, like a man presenting a treasure, said, "That boy Han is a clever one. Following his idea, your husband here hired someone to carve a mahjong set out of wood, and even had dice specially made to go with it. Sit down, quick — your husband will teach you to play."

Madam Lou could hold back no longer. Her face hardened as she demanded, "You abandoned the household and ran up this mountain to shut yourself away and study — and what you've studied out is a mahjong set?"

Fei Yinghuan gave a sheepish chuckle and, with thick-skinned cheer, said, "Don't be angry, my lady. I don't play every day — it's just a diversion for when I'm weary of studying."

Madam Lou sat down and sulked.

Fei Yinghuan, utterly shameless, coaxed and cajoled until he finally succeeded, and husband and wife set about investigating the art of mahjong.

…

Zhao Han normally stayed at the private school at the foot of the hill and had never been to the academy on the mountain. He wandered about aimlessly with the group.

The library here was vast, far larger than the one down below.

Thirteen-year-old Fei Rulan raised her eyes toward the library and murmured softly to herself, "If only I had been born a boy — then I wouldn't have to stay cooped up at home all day learning needlework."

Fei Ruhe laughed. "Elder Sister is cleverer than me. If you had been born a boy, you would probably already be a xiucai by now."

Fei Rulan gave a helpless smile and said no more.

Her betrothed, born into a prominent Jiujiang clan, had a dissolute reputation that had already reached Yanshan.

A wastrel, he could not even pass the xiucai exam. He became an Imperial Academy student through hereditary privilege, and recently spent money to buy a minor official post.

Governor Wei Zhaocheng kept his word — he took two thousand taels of silver and quickly helped secure a substantive appointment.

A hereditary Imperial Academy student certainly could not become a County Magistrate, but a Principal Graduate of the Eighth Rank serving as Assistant Magistrate was possible. He only had to wait until after the New Year to take up his post in Shanxi.

The price of buying offices had also been rising year by year.

In the middle Jiajing years, an Assistant Subprefect cost only three hundred taels, and a Bureau Director only three thousand. So cheap and affordable — partly because silver was scarce at the time, and partly because the buyers themselves had sufficient qualifications.

By the late Jiajing years, the price of a Bureau Director had already risen to over ten thousand taels. By then, the influx of American silver had increased, and they dared to sell offices to those with insufficient qualifications.

As for now, three thousand taels would only buy the chief post of a small county. A wealthy large county would take no less than seven or eight thousand, or even over ten thousand.

And a whole supporting financial business had emerged — powerful figures in Beijing specialized in offering usurious loans.

No money to buy an office?

No need to worry — just take out a usurious loan.

This kind of usurious loan was called "capital debt." Borrow ten thousand taels, and you would actually receive only five thousand, with terrifyingly high interest on top. After buying an office with borrowed money, you had to squeeze the locality at once, or you would work for nothing your whole life.

Fei Rulan thought that in another year or two she would have to fulfill the marriage contract and wed a worthless wastrel, and suddenly she felt like dying.

She walked slowly to the cliff's edge and gazed out over the fields. An impulse to leap down surged within her. She looked back — all around her were little children. She could not help but recite a poem: "In the third winter month, the year of the Jinglong dragon, the Son of Heaven in ten-thousand-chariot procession views the winds out from Ba River. From afar I watch lightning leap — a dragon become horse; I turn and gaze on frost-white plains where jade makes the fields."

Zhao Han found a rock and sat down crookedly, then stood up again at the cold. He laughed. "Does Elder Sister wish to be Shangguan Wan'er? A pity the current Emperor is a man."

Fei Rulan was somewhat surprised. "You have studied this obscure poem? Even juren and jinshi have rarely heard of it, I fear."

"My late father taught it to me." Zhao Han was used to this by now — he pushed everything onto his father.

Fei Rulan said approvingly, "Your honored father must have been a man of broad learning."

Zhao Zhenfang quickly said, "My father was amazing. He read many, many books."

Fei Rumei, unwilling to be outdone, said, "My father is amazing too. He also read many, many books."

The two little girls, six or seven years old, understood nothing of the matter — they only knew how to compare whose father was more amazing.

Fei Ruhe, feeling he could not get a word in, deliberately sought a topic. "Zhao Han is incredible. When the teacher taught us arithmetic, he only studied for a few days, and then the teacher had to consult him instead."

"Really?" Fei Rulan did not believe it.

"I'm not lying. If Elder Sister doesn't believe me, ask Fei Chun," Fei Ruhe said.

Fei Chun nodded vigorously. "It's true. Brother Han's arithmetic made my head spin just watching."

Fei Rulan was, after all, only thirteen. Her suicidal thoughts rose and vanished in an instant, and now she recovered a young girl's liveliness. She said with a smile, "Then let me test you. There are pheasants and rabbits in the same cage. Above, there are thirty-five heads; below, there are ninety-four feet. How many pheasants and rabbits are there?"

Uh, chickens and rabbits in a cage — could we have a little originality?

This problem seemed about first-year middle-school difficulty, or maybe sixth grade.

Zhao Han could not even be bothered to write out the equations. He answered, "Twenty-three chickens, twelve rabbits."

"Your skill in mathematics is indeed brilliant!" Fei Rulan praised.

Zhao Han said modestly, "I only understand a little."

Fei Rulan had long dwelt deep within the inner chambers, able to go out only on three or five festival days each year. In ancient times there was no internet, and being a shut-in girl was miserable — she could not even find more than a few novels to read.

Finding Zhao Han rather interesting, her desire to talk surged at once. She quickly asked, "Can you compose poetry?"

"No." Zhao Han answered very crisply.

Fei Rulan was slightly disappointed, and asked again, "Can you match couplets?"

"No, that either." Zhao Han could not be bothered to expend brain cells.

Zhao Zhenfang suddenly said, "Second Brother can. Father taught him to match couplets. When we were fleeing the famine, Father was still teaching him along the road."

"Er..." Zhao Han was speechless.

Fei Rulan thought for a moment and set a topic: "A handsome talent — why is he drunk on wine? Give me a matching second line."

Zhao Han said offhandedly, "A fine cabbage — how can it bear the pig's rooting."

"No, no, completely wrong," Fei Rulan shook her head repeatedly, then burst out laughing with a pfft. "Who ever matches couplets like that? Not the least bit refined."

Ah, I just don't want to keep rambling with you. This game is really too childish. I'd rather practice martial arts with your brother.

Fei Rulan had finally found someone to chat with and talked nonstop the whole way. Zhao Han tossed back a few casual replies, and she would cover her mouth giggling — who knew why her threshold for laughter was so low.

At noon they ate at the academy. After resting for half a shichen, Lady Lou took her daughter and went down the mountain.

Fei Rulan was somewhat reluctant to leave. Once she returned home, there would be no one to talk to again — only her maids to play with.

Supper was eaten in Pang Chunlai's thatched hut. Xu Ying's whole family was there.

Master Pang was very happy and drank a few extra cups. Then he fell ill — simply because he had not covered himself properly with his blanket at night.

Damn this weather!

A cold wave struck in the middle of the night, and heavy snow began to fall.

When Zhao Han rose in the morning and pushed open the door, everything as far as the eye could see was white.

He finally understood the power of the Little Ice Age. This was Jiangxi, and overnight the snow had piled up half a foot deep.

It was a good thing he had not stayed in the north, or who knew what frozen wretchedness he would have become.

Master Pang fell ill, and for the next half month he had the teaching assistant take over the lessons.

Zhao Han studied the classics in the morning, practiced martial arts at noon, practiced calligraphy in the afternoon, and tutored his classmates in arithmetic in the evening. In the blink of an eye, it was nearly time for the Little New Year.

Whether at the academy or the private school, the students all went home one after another.

Fei Yinghuan personally tutored his son's studies, because the child-student examination was in early spring, and Fei Ruhe was being forced to sit for the child-student test.

Whether he would pass was beyond doubt — the emphasis was on experiencing the examination-hall atmosphere.

(Offering two books: "Bringing the System to Great Tang," the second year of Kaiyuan, the flourishing Great Tang. Friends who like the glorious Tang era absolutely must not miss it.)

"These Monsters Are Too Hard to Enfeoff" — heavy on foreshadowing, rich in suspense, grand in scope. An adventure xianxia mystery with an original cultivation system. It really takes off after chapter 30.)

(End of chapter)