With the object of their protest having become their brother, the protest naturally fell through.
The group of people at the bottom of the lecture hall looked at each other, completely unable to manage their expressions for a moment.
But Tie Ci had already finished copying, smiled and cupped her hands to everyone, then called it a day.
Everyone watched in astonishment as she went to the corridor to report to the supervising administrator. The administrator also hadn’t expected this fellow to finish copying so quickly. He flipped through the pages several times, saw the handwriting was clear and consistent, could only accept the papers, sternly reprimand her a few times, and let Tie Ci go.
The crowd, having only copied a quarter, watched the three leave gracefully. Seeing the two maidservants shaking their wrists, they finally remembered that it seemed like one assignment had been done by three people…
Tie Ci had never been a well-behaved girl since childhood. The words “mischievous and unruly” were inevitably written for long periods in the evaluations of the great scholars and ministers in the Imperial Study. Getting her palms struck was routine, and being punished with copying books happened every other day. But she was a busy person with extremely heavy coursework, absolutely no time to slowly copy books, so she trained Chi Xue and Dan Shuang to write in identical handwriting to hers. When copying, it was like Tie Ci multiplied by three—how could these little fools compare?
Passing through the now-empty dining hall, Tie Ci saw people fighting over leftover scraps, some searching tables for remaining food, and others by the dishwashing pools outside the dining hall, using wooden food bowls to scoop something from the water.
Tie Ci asked in surprise: “Did someone drop something? That pool is clearly visible—no need to scoop around like that.”
Chi Xue, who came from poverty and had sought ways to sell herself into the imperial court since childhood, smiled: “They should be scooping rice. Many people waste grain and are lazy—when washing bowls, they leave lots of rice in them and just rinse with water. It all accumulates in the pool. It’s all good rice—scoop it out, wash it, dry it, and it’s edible.”
Dan Shuang, whose family circumstances had been decent in her youth, had never heard of such poverty and hardship. She was shocked into stopping.
Tie Ci was silent for a while, then said: “With countless people crying out for food, if there are starving corpses on the roads, it’s the emperor’s fault!”
“Young Master has always had the world in mind—in this situation you think of all the people. Those in court always accuse you of being an ignorant woman unfit for great responsibility—they’re truly a bunch of blind fools.” Chi Xue said, “But if there are starving corpses, it’s not entirely the emperor’s fault. Some places have poor mountains and evil waters, no roads connecting them, unable to leave the mountains for hundreds of years. Even if the court has good intentions, it can’t reach in. Places like Sichuan’s Qing Zhou—endless high mountains, no postal roads, many villages scattered deep in the mountains. I heard they can’t even get proper clothing. The whole family has one pair of cotton pants in winter—whoever needs to go out wears them.”
Tie Ci didn’t speak.
Master had said that poverty alleviation was also a thousand-year enterprise. There were countless reasons for poverty, myriad paths to wealth. Teaching a man to fish was better than giving him fish. No matter how difficult, it was still the emperor’s responsibility. But no matter how many great ambitions one had in heart, you still had to pass your own trials first.
She memorized those people’s faces but didn’t linger, continuing to get clothing and bedding from the house supervisor.
She paid the enrollment fee at the supervisor’s office. The person flipped through the register with a troubled expression: “First House originally had empty spots, but coincidentally several auditing students came recently and filled the positions. How about this—there’s a spare communal dormitory with two spots left. You can stay there. As for your attendants, they’ll stay in the reverse rooms of the women’s quarters.”
Tie Ci smiled.
Using First House’s name but not giving First House dormitories—this was making her attract hatred without benefits.
But this communal dormitory…
“Isn’t it one person per room?”
“Only excellent First House students get single rooms. If you want this treatment, wait until you get grades on major and minor exams!” The person slammed the register down and answered with a half-smile.
A servant nearby brought up a pile of things. It looked like a big bundle, but Dan Shuang could lift it with one hand.
Tie Ci was too lazy to argue with the administrator. To her, who she roomed with didn’t matter. Though living in a dormitory full of First House students wouldn’t worry her about someone covering her nose at night, constantly being on guard would be tiring, wouldn’t it?
Following the administrator’s directions, the three passed First House, passed Second House, passed Third House… finally, beyond Fourth House, they found a building half-hidden by trees. A row of three rooms with “Fifth House” written above.
So with a first-class title, she ended up in fifth class that couldn’t even make the official rankings.
This building had three rooms in a row. Through the entrance was a small hall, with curtained rooms on both sides. When the breeze lifted the curtains, various odors wafted out—stuffy human smell, foot odor, sweat, grease… countless unpleasant smells mixed together into a very complex and soul-stirring aroma. Tie Ci stood at the doorway motionless, somewhat transported by this smell.
She suddenly remembered Master once describing the boys’ dormitory from her high school days with very nostalgic tones: “The stuffy dormitory, smelly sneakers piled all over the floor, dirty socks stuffed under bedsheets unwashed for days, empty bowls of instant noodles and cola stacked on tables, and from three meters outside the door, you could smell the extremely deafening aroma of all these things intertwined…”
Now Tie Ci finally experienced it.
To think such things could be missed.
Master was truly a pervert.
Both rooms were quite large. Through gaps in the curtains, you could see many beds inside. It was actually a mixed communal dormitory.
This was rest time, so snoring of various pitches came from the left room. The right room’s curtain lifted and someone emerged. Seeing Tie Ci, he said in surprise: “Oh, a new person!”
At these words, several heads poked out from the right room in succession. Some looked curiously, others curled their lips and retracted their heads.
The first person came to take Tie Ci’s luggage, smiling: “I’m Li Zhi from Hedong. Pleased to meet you, brother. Did you just arrive today?”
“Ye Shiba, from Suzhou in Jiusuai.” Tie Ci introduced herself, glancing at the coarse hemp trim on his sleeves.
Eighteen was her obsession. She no longer paid tribute to Mao Shiba because this place wasn’t too far from Ziyang, and she feared someone might have heard of Mao Shiba’s reputation.
Though she had mobilized troops with the Crown Princess’s command, her identity was only known to a few high-ranking people and shouldn’t have spread to the academy.
The dormitory was one large room, dimly lit and cramped, with eight beds total. One was piled with miscellaneous items, leaving only the eastern wall-side and western window-side bunks empty—one too sunny, one too cold.
The other dormitory residents also came over. One had a pale face with black cotton trim on his sleeves, looked fairly decent but had shifty, dizzying eyes. He introduced himself as being from Bian Zhou, named Jin Wanliang, from a family of generations of merchants.
While introducing himself to Tie Ci, his eyes kept glancing at the two beautiful maidservants. This made Dan Shuang’s face frost over, and only Chi Xue’s restraint kept her from exploding.
Bian Zhou was prosperous, and Bian Zhou people’s business abilities were the best under heaven. Bian Zhou’s southern location had always been Da Qian’s center of culture and refinement. The central-south leaned more toward literature while Bian Zhou had stronger economics, largely due to scholarly influence. Bian Zhou merchants liked to align themselves as scholarly merchants, finding connections to send their children to Yue Li Academy, mostly for prestige.
Another classmate differed from this snake-waisted Bian Zhou merchant’s son—he was burly with a thick beard, the type who could perform Li Kui on stage with two battle axes. He strode forward vigorously, extending palm-like hands. Tie Ci watched him warily as those big palms reached past her to grab Tie Ci’s bundle from Chi Xue’s hands, shouldering it. Then his bronze bell eyes stared at Tie Ci, Tie Ci stared back in confusion, he stared at Tie Ci, and after this affectionate gaze for half a quarter-hour, the big man spoke in a delicate voice: “Where should I put the bundle?”
Tie Ci: “…”
Too many things to complain about, couldn’t express them all at once.
She casually pointed to the eastern wall side. Three walls for security.
It was only two steps away. The big man set down the bundle with a bang, causing it to scatter. Even the money pouch inside opened, spilling various gold and silver trinkets, delicate items, and banknotes across the bed.
Tie Ci: “…”
The man lying on the bed opposite her hadn’t looked up or spoken. Now he put down his book and quietly glanced at the bed full of gold and silver.
Jin Wanliang had hurried over, pushing away the burly man while chiding: “Fat Tiger, look how heavy-handed you are! Stop being so clumsy! Come, come, let me help you organize.” While quickly gathering things, he slipped a bright pearl into his sleeve.
Dan Shuang: “You—”
Tie Ci’s gaze turned over, and Dan Shuang stopped speaking.
At this time, the scholar sitting by the bed also stood up. This person had a poor complexion with drooping eyebrows and eye corners, naturally looking sorrowful and gloomy. He walked over and sat on Tie Ci’s bed without ceremony, casually picking up a small porcelain bottle—the most popular skincare holy grail in the capital, Pearl Moon Radiance Cream. Never mind that the cream was made from ten-colored fresh flowers with pearl powder and various premium spices, worth a thousand gold per bottle—just the bottle itself was beautifully polished glass with different patterns at every angle. It was a limited supply item from the capital’s Wan Bao Studio, selling only one hundred bottles per year. The one in Tie Ci’s hands was especially a treasure among treasures, the type exclusively supplied to the imperial family.
Da Qian’s young men loved refinement, with men also using skincare products. They used to use face powder too, starting with families opposing Tie Ci as Crown Prince, who deliberately used powder to mock the Crown Prince. Later it became fashionable, with everyone considering powder beautiful, competing to paint their faces white as walls, automatically providing horror movie effects when going out at night.
Later when Tie Ci reached ten years old, at a palace night banquet inviting noble and official families’ children to celebrate together, Tie Ci arrived and was made to sneeze by the hall full of powder smell. That group of powdered men laughed at her delicateness, saying girls were like this, only knowing how to dress up, falling at the slightest breeze.
In anger, Tie Ci called for water in the court, washing her face in the great hall. After washing, the basin of water remained clean. The ten-year-old Crown Princess had people take the basin down and present it in turn to those noble sons, asking them to look in the mirror to see who really used more powder, who was more feminine, who was better at dressing up!
If they still couldn’t see clearly, the Crown Princess didn’t mind personally letting them experience who was more likely to fall!
That day in the great hall, powder fell like snow and the whole court was in chaos.
From then on, men in the capital dared not use powder anymore.
But skincare products were still necessary, especially since excessive powder use had damaged their skin, making them pursue skincare products even more.
This person looked up and down at the bottle, opened the cap to smell it, showing reluctant-to-part-with delight, then looked at Tie Ci.
Tie Ci smiled at him as if not understanding his hint.
So he said: “Brother, this cream looks really good, clearly fine goods from the capital, probably costs ten taels of silver per bottle. No wonder brother uses it—your skin is so smooth and delicate, truly enviable. Unfortunately my skin keeps breaking out recently, and I have no money for good cream…” He touched his face and sighed.
Chi Xue stepped forward, smiling gently while saying, “This servant knows a little about skincare. Looking at your skin, it’s probably caused by inferior oils and creams. Stop using them and it will improve…” While gently taking the glass bottle from his hand, “Be careful, young master. This bottle is precious—one bottle costs one thousand taels of gold. If it breaks, it would be difficult for everyone to explain.”
The person was startled and released his grip, showing some embarrassment on his face, yet still staring at Chi Xue: “You understand skincare? Then come daily to take care of my skin.”
He spoke as if ordering his own servant, shaking his indigo cloth-trimmed sleeves, adding: “I am Cui Shi from Long Xi, a Second House student. Naturally I’m the room leader here. Having you serve me wouldn’t disgrace you.”
Chi Xue smiled without speaking, turning to organize Tie Ci’s luggage. Seeing her non-response, the man raised his eyebrows to get angry, but Chi Xue held up Tie Ci’s newly issued blue robe and shook it open before him with a flourish.
The snow-white satin on the blue robe was blindingly bright.
The whole room fell silent.
Tie Ci’s smiling voice sounded at the right moment: “Come, call me room leader.”
Cui Shi was silent for a long while, then snorted coldly: “What a stingy character, thinking you can be room leader!” He threw down a medicine bottle he’d just picked up and turned back to his own bed.
The bottle’s stopper came loose from the throw, spilling qi-replenishing medicinal powder all over Tie Ci’s bed. Li Zhi had been watching dumbfounded and now hurried over: “Oh dear, this is hard to clean up. Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Let me help you dust it off…”
Tie Ci pushed him away with one hand, saying lightly: “I most despise fence-sitting nice guys.” With her other hand, she hooked Cui Shi’s back collar, spread her five fingers, and pressed down, slamming his head onto the bed with a bang, making him inhale a noseful of powder.
“Lick it clean,” Tie Ci said.
Author’s Note: Feiyu will appear soon! Guess what identity they’ll have this time—male or female?