Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 33 Cheating
"You don't know, do you?" The speaker lowered his voice and paused deliberately. He waited until everyone's attention was focused before speaking. "I heard that his family paid money to bribe the examiner and replaced him with someone else, so he passed the exam! How could he have such ability!..."

"Is there still this?"

"Of course not! My brother-in-law is the one who is in charge of cleaning at their college. He was drunk last time and let the cat out of the bag."

Everyone was talking and pointing.

Rong Wanyin clasped her fists, signaling silence, and continued, "Secondly, you have no morals. Look, you've had a few drinks, and you're acting crazy and talking nonsense here, which is completely detrimental to the elegance of a scholar! The boss has already said that he's not interested in you, and you're still pestering her, shamelessly saying you want to marry her as a concubine. Everyone, do you think he deserves it? Just because you like someone, they have to like you back, right? Besides, what kind of like is that? Liking someone means wishing them happiness, and you're just harassing them and acting like a hooligan!"

Everyone looked at the beautiful woman who was "silently shedding tears" on one side, and the hypocrite who was making a scene, behaving dissolutely, and had a vulgar face on the other side, and they all shook their heads in disgust.

Someone said, "Look at him, has he lost all his sense of propriety and morality?"

Others said: "With his little sense of propriety and integrity, even a dog wouldn't be able to eat enough!"

Rong Wanyin continued, "Third, greed. The boss opened this shop through his own hard work. Listen to what he just said. What about getting married and not showing up in public? What? He'll sell the shop and give you the money? Is that human? Everyone here works hard to make a living. If you've worked hard to build a family business, would you be willing to sell it to him? It's okay if you don't have money. A gentleman loves money but earns it in a proper way. It's nothing, but you're greedy for other people's money! Besides, during the time of the previous emperor, there was a stunning female prime minister. A woman even became prime minister. What? You think women can't do business? Do you think you're more 'wise' than the previous emperor?"

"Nonsense! I didn't..." Xu Lizhun explained in a panic. The charge of defying the late emperor was too serious a crime and he couldn't afford it!

Rong Wanyin raised her head, smiled, and continued, "No talent, no virtue, no money, and as for appearance..."

Rong Wanyin frowned, her lips curled downwards in disgust, and she looked Xu Lizhun up and down several times with a look of disdain: "As for this appearance, tsk tsk... Never mind, appearance is given by parents, so I won't comment on it. Let's talk about other things. You said that you hate power the most in your life, so tell us what you do on a daily basis?"

Rong Wanyin's expression suddenly turned stern, and she pressed on: "Are you honest and upright, brave enough to do what is right? Or are you not corrupted by wealth and cannot be moved by poverty? When someone comes to collect protection money, do you stand up for the vendors? When you see a thief stealing someone's wallet, do you have the courage to stop him? When you see a corrupt official, do you selflessly report him?"

For your country, have you fought bravely in battle, sacrificing your life to defend your homeland? For your people, have you spoken up for them? For your family, have you worked hard to support your family and ease the burden on your parents?
Well, those demands are too high. What about the art of playing the piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, song, and martial arts? Don't you have any special skills, not counting drunken bragging? You even have the wrong rhyme and rhythm when writing a poem! Ugh, tell me what you're made of? You're saying our boss looks down on you because you're poor? Yes, you're not just poor in person, you're poor at heart too. With such a failure in life, how can you even dare to throw a tantrum here? Just a few drinks and you lose all sense of who you are?
I'm rejecting you, don't you understand? How else do you expect others to reject you? Do I have to roar, "Get away from me," and then do a spinning kick? Do I have to agree to a public declaration of love? Who said that? Then in the future, if a scoundrel takes a fancy to a young lady, he can just declare his love publicly and that's it? If they don't agree, they're ungrateful? Where do you get the nerve to do that? Please, get as far away from me as possible right now! If I see you again, I'll break one of your legs!"

Rong Wanyin slapped a bench in two with a single slap, and everyone cheered, "Great skill!"

Xu Lizhun was frightened and sobered up. The four of them ran away tumbling and crawling. Qian Yuhe ran slower and didn't know who kicked him. Xu Lizhun didn't care about them anymore. As he walked, he turned back and pointed at Rong Wanyin and the others and said, "You, you guys, wait for me!"

Rong Wanyin turned around and put on a smiling face again, with a pitiful look on her face, she clasped her fists towards everyone and said, "Thank you, fellow villagers, it was your integrity and courage that made this man flee in panic. In other words, think about it, if you have sisters or daughters at home, wouldn't they be nauseated even in their dreams if they were suddenly harassed by such a person? It's not easy for us kind-hearted, weak and unable to take care of ourselves. I beg all grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters here, if that person comes to harass us again, I beg you to speak up for us and help us!" Although Xiuniang was not weak, and even a little domineering, she could not withstand the instigation from Rong Wanyin. The onlookers who were just watching the excitement became indignant, as if they were all heroes.

"Of course. If he dares to bother me again, I, Old Man Wang, will be the first one to not let him go!" said an old man angrily.

"that is……"

"No..."

Everyone agreed.

Xiuniang bowed to everyone and said with a smile: "Thank you all for your warm-heartedness, fellow villagers, and thank you for your righteous words. I will have to rely on you in the future. Today's meal is free, so please eat to your heart's content!"

"The boss is generous! He is a kind person!" someone exclaimed.

"Thank you so much." Xiuniang took Rong Wanyin to a small private room.

"You're welcome, lady. I just saw that he was in trouble. I would help someone else as well." Rong Wanyin patted her chest and said.

"Xiuniang, this is not fair. Why do I see you are so patient with that guy, but so unkind to me?" Su Zhan fanned himself and shook his head, with a sigh on his face.

"My dear ladies and gentlemen, to be honest, I fled from Shu County to the capital. His grandfather, Old Master Xu, saved my life, and I want to repay him. His grandfather passed away last year, and the family fell into poverty. I also tried my best to help the Xu family, but who knew that he would become more and more greedy." Xiuniang said with a worried look on her face.

"In life, sometimes you don't have to force yourself. If he is grateful, it's fine. But why do you make things difficult for yourself when he is like this?" Rong Wanyin said angrily.

"Thank you, young lady. I know what to do. If I don't wake up today, I will be letting you down for your kindness today," said Xiuniang.

(End of this chapter)