Horse-head Wall Reflects the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 88 Bored, I invited Qingshan to congratulate him; with good intentions, I offered him a small gift for his marriage.

"How come there's a Mr. Cheng in the capital, and now we have another Mr. Cheng here?"

"Which Mr. Cheng is the real one, and which Mr. Cheng is the fake one?"

The news that Cheng Heng, also known as Cheng Jianwei, had gone to high school reached his hometown, and even reached Guan Yin's ears before his own letter did.

The sudden news caught Guan Yin off guard—after all, his disguise wasn't perfect, and those who had designs on him should have been able to guess most of the cause and effect after that incident.

"Why do you care about Mr. Cheng or Mr. Bu Cheng? There are countless people in the world with the same name. It's just a name, yet you're starting to doubt 'Mr.'!"

This has been true throughout history: students who don't do well academically and are mischievous will inevitably gravitate towards a teacher who, in their eyes, genuinely cares for all students.

Now that Cheng Jianwei has passed the high school entrance exam, all that's left is to deal with the old issues related to the housekeeper.

Guan Yin sat in the noisy private school, and beyond the endless green mountains, Cheng Heng stood alone, facing countless congratulations.

"This year, Huizhou Prefecture has two of the top three spots, and Zhang Shuwen even won the top scholar title!"

"So what if he's the top scholar? I heard his mentor was trying to arrange a marriage for him... but who knew he'd say there's a courtesan from his hometown waiting for him to return."

"Don't you think this is ridiculous?"

Refusing this marriage proposal was tantamount to refusing a promotion opportunity offered by his superior. Such an opportunity was something most people would dream of, yet Zhang Shuwen not only rejected it outright but even hired someone so unworthy of respectability.

"A courtesan has bewitched the top scholar's soul. What an absolute beauty she must be! If I had known, I would have spent a night with this beauty even if it meant going bankrupt... If the top scholar can't be the one, can't you and I share the same woman with him?"

The rich and idle playboys on the street talked about "going bankrupt," but in reality, the money Ling Xiao earned from one night of singing and dancing was nothing more than a drop in the ocean to them.

"You wouldn't believe it, the top scholar told my uncle that this woman remained chaste for him, and even if she had to live a life of poverty, she would never sing or play music for others again..." The first person to speak said, licking his lips, as if he was still not satisfied.

He rolled his eyes at the former, who seemed to have an air of knowing all along. The playboy cracked his knuckles, making a series of sharp, clattering sounds. "You don't know this, it's precisely this kind of thing that's so interesting!"

The two exchanged a smile and walked away down the main road of the capital—even completely unrelated matters could be the subject of idle gossip among these people, and even the fidelity between men and women was treated as a joke.

"You're not going to use the same excuse to reject me too, are you?" A fat man and a thin man walked along the corridor, their figures obscured by the shadows cast by the eaves. "If that's the case, I'm not doing it!"

What seemed like a joke, Cheng Heng understood when he heard it that it was not as simple as it appeared.

The phrase "the same excuse" brought a haunting image to Cheng Heng's mind. The more he told himself to think clearly about his feelings and not to think about them, the clearer the image became in his mind.

If you don't answer well, the things you need to do later will become even more difficult.

The simplest way is to agree, but whether it's out of his own heart or out of responsibility to the original Cheng Jianwei and that girl, this simplest way can hardly be considered a solution.

"What? Do you really have something going on at home...?" The words were tinged with dissatisfaction when they were spoken again.

The fact that the official was able to openly express his dissatisfaction to Cheng Heng shows that he knew Cheng Heng couldn't do without him for the time being and that he valued him. Otherwise, his words would have been like riddles, left for the official to guess.

"No, it's just that I haven't established myself yet, so I don't dare to start a family."

"You're teachable," said the official, now speaking as a senior figure, earnestly explaining to Cheng Heng, "This is where you're wrong. Settling down and starting a family... there's no such thing as turning things upside down."

"Even if the student passes the exam now, he may not be able to hold any official position. If he can manage to stay in the capital, it's not too late to make plans later."

Cheng Heng would never agree to this, no matter what. Looking up and meeting that truly sincere gaze, Cheng Heng suddenly felt a pang of guilt for having used him.

“What difficulty is there for a third-ranked scholar to settle down in the capital? I’m afraid you just don’t want to stay here.” The old fox was shrewd. From the beginning, this official from the same Huizhou Prefecture could see Cheng Heng’s intention to leave. “If you have any concerns, or if you still have people in your hometown, you can bring them over after your marriage is complete. Why be so timid?”

"I feel so sorry for that young lady."

"Hmm..." Although he and his wife treated each other with respect, there wasn't much warmth in their family life; every day felt like a routine...

The lady watched her husband leave home, tidied up the house, and waited for him to return. Then she had the servants bring up the prepared food. Any leftovers were given as a reward or fed to the stray dogs outside. Day after day, this routine had long since worn away the initial novelty and tenderness.

“In this world, there’s no such thing as being worthy or unworthy. You have needs, and she has needs too. It just so happens that she has what you don’t, and you have what she doesn’t. That can be considered a match made in heaven, a perfect pair.” After a moment of silence, an answer that he had once demanded came out of the mouth of the second-rank official in the capital.

His own recklessness, Guan Yin's composure, his own... By the time Cheng Heng realized he had gone astray, he had already left this person, who was half elder and half superior, hanging in the air for quite a while.

However, the latter was not annoyed, knowing that Cheng Heng needed time to weigh the pros and cons. After a while, just before Cheng Heng could find another seemingly reasonable reason to speak, she took a step to distance herself from Cheng Heng: "I'll go to my study to attend to some official business. Come find me if you've made up your mind."

The person left, but Cheng Heng, who remained behind, was still in a daze.

In the play, a grand marriage followed by a second marriage is a beautiful story, but in my case, it's become a source of trouble. That wretched Zhang Shuwen, I wonder how much sincerity he has for Ling Xiao; instead, he's using Ling Xiao as a shield!

"What should we do? What should we do?"

The very first sentence was already a warning. Even if the original owner of Cheng Jianwei had some arranged marriage that she didn't announce first, it could now be completely disregarded in this environment where rank could be everything.

As for settling down and starting a family, Cheng Heng already knew what kind of family background the girl Zhang Shuwen had rejected came from.

Her father was in poor health, and the family had no male heirs, so they doted on this young lady. She was spoiled rotten, with little talent or learning, and her beauty couldn't compare to Ling Xiao, whom Zhang Shuwen could easily have.

Unable to win the favor of the top scholar, they naturally turned to the second and third place candidates. Unfortunately, the second-place candidate was tall and burly, not pleasing to the eye, and the young lady naturally didn't fancy him either—and after much back and forth, the choice eventually fell to Cheng Heng.

Back inside, Cheng Heng was overwhelmed by the sight of a table full of materials prepared for his child's early education—he was reminded of Guan Yin again.

If Guan Yin could offer some advice, things might be easier. Unfortunately, they are thousands of miles apart, and if he were to send a letter back explaining the whole situation, there's no guarantee that no one would cause any trouble along the way.

After all, Guan Yin still has to face that old fox Liu Qingxian, even though he's thousands of miles away. No one has it easier than the other.

"Guan Yin, Guan Yin... Guan..." What if I directly confessed the matter with the steward?
The steward's affairs involved many things, and Cheng Heng couldn't help but worry that a second-rank official from the capital might also be involved. If he confessed without being asked, he'd be like a lamb entering a tiger's den, with absolutely no room for maneuver! "Jiao'an'er, you haven't misjudged him this time." Thousands of miles away, Cheng Heng's father, worried about Liu's potential conflict with Guan Yin, had already set his sights on a new target. Holding a newly arrived letter, his gaze fell on the person crossing the threshold.

"Father, what are you saying?" Who has he taken a fancy to this time?

Upon hearing Qingmiao say that the news of Cheng Jianwei's passing the exam had already reached the local area, Liu Jiao'an immediately understood which "person" her father was referring to.

But Liu Jiao'an knew she couldn't appear too clever. Her father wanted her to be reasonable, but he didn't want her to see through everything he said.

As she drew closer, Liu Jiao'an, still showing signs of confusion, asked, "Who is Father talking about?"

"Father is talking about that Mr. Cheng."

"You and that... Humph!"

"The Mr. Cheng you met at the private school has now graduated from high school and even became the third-ranked scholar in the first class."

“Father, Mr. Cheng is already a third-place scholar in the imperial examinations, how could he possibly look down on me?” Liu Jiao’an could see that Cheng Heng had someone else in his heart. As time went by, the relationship between Cheng Heng and Guan Yin was no longer purely one of dependence.

The budding of love, between two people who belong to the same time, should not be arbitrarily extinguished by those in power.

"Father intends to betroth you to him, what do you think?"

“Father, Mr. Cheng is a third-ranked scholar in the imperial examinations. How could he possibly be interested in a woman who has been married twice?” That won’t do! Liu Jiao’an’s heart screamed in refusal. “Besides, with our family’s social standing, we probably wouldn’t have been able to be matched with a third-ranked scholar in the first place.”

"So what? With your father here, he's just a third-ranked scholar, still a subject under my jurisdiction. If he doesn't comply... we can bring up some of his past deeds!"

The ruthlessness that flashed through her mind made Liu Jiao'an doubt her judgment of her father once again.

"Of course, if he agrees, your father will be of great help to him in his official career in the capital." After a fleeting moment of ruthlessness, he returned to the warm demeanor he had just shown when he called Liu Jiao'an closer. Liu's father never concealed his emotions.

"Father, please forget it... I don't like him."

Liu Jiao'an was a little scared, scared of her father's rapidly changing expression. She even went so far as to belittle Cheng Heng, just to make her father give up the idea: "I know that person. In many ways, he seems like a pretty face with no substance."

"A pretty face but no substance?" Mr. Liu looked at his daughter with a hint of suspicion.

"Father, Father, to be honest... I suspect that Mr. Cheng has homosexual tendencies. Back then, with me, my..."

"How did things go with that kid?"

Sure enough, as soon as the topic of that young man from the music academy came up, Liu's father's attention immediately went to him. He didn't have time to think about Mr. Cheng or the third-ranked scholar: "Explain things to your father clearly."

“The two of them were very close, and sometimes they would talk in a room away from me. My daughter... my daughter argued with that man because of this.”

After hearing what Liu Jiao'an said, Liu Qingxian fell silent.

The gentle sound of orchids unfurling their buds became perceptible.

"Ha, ha ha, ha ha ha ha!" Liu Qingxian laughed wildly without any restraint in front of his daughter. "It's truly laughable, truly laughable!"

"Do they even know that a dignified third-place scholar like himself has homosexual tendencies?"

This time, Liu Jiao'an remained silent, silently apologizing to Cheng Heng in her heart, but letting her father go crazy—once he went too far, it would be good for Guan Yin and Cheng Heng to avoid the limelight and shift her father's attention away from the marriage.

"Speak, Jiao An'er, what else do you know?"

"I don't know anything about the other daughters, I only know that the two of them were behaving intimately..."

"Well done, Mr. Yin Yunshan, and Mr. Cheng, you've ruined the integrity of Huizhou."

Liu Jiao'an stood opposite her father as if in a meditative state, still without saying a word.

"Alright, it's all thanks to you for stopping me... otherwise I would have thought this third-ranked scholar was some kind of good person." Liu Qingxian seemed to be considering his daughter's feelings in every word and action, and he was worried sick about his only daughter.

"Go and rest. With your father here, I will not let them bully you anymore."

Liu Jiao'an nodded her thanks to her father, Liu Qingxian, and slowly left the room, leaving the latter alone in the study, silently radiating the madness within him.

"Well, so you've got Yin Yunshan here, and Mr. Cheng... Hehe, I was just worried that you'd be causing trouble in my jurisdiction, and now it's like a pillow being delivered to my head when I'm sleepy!"

The brush was saturated with ink in the inkstone, and the ink paste had brought out the tip of the brush. Liu Qingxian took the neatly cut paper from the table and wrote lines of characters on it.

Outside the study, the sky was clear and cloudless, and the distant green mountains were even visible to the naked eye. A long, visible mist, like silk, covered half of the green mountains.

"Miss, what did the master say again..."

"No." Liu Jiao'an was brought back to her senses by Qingmiao's question, and her gaze returned to this square patch of sky. There were no green mountains, no blue sky, only a patch of eaves that couldn't be illuminated by light, black and white, naturally mottled by moss—which seemed somewhat ironic.

Just now, Liu Jiao'an saw some yellowed letters in her father's open box. Piecing together her father's words, Liu Jiao'an suddenly felt that she had been living in the deception of others all her life.

"Qingmiao, would you lie to me?"

“Miss, Qingmiao doesn’t know how.” Qingmiao answered decisively.

"Then dare you swear you won't lie to me?"

"Qingmiao swears on his life!"

"No need..." That's too much. Liu Jiao'an appreciated the loyalty Qingmiao showed her, but she didn't want to see a girl almost her age making such a heavy vow. "Don't say that again. No one is worth risking your life for."