Volume 1, Chapter 28: Could Tangtang Actually Possess a Gifted Ability?

Jiang Xian explained with a serious expression, "Of course it's impressive! The person who takes first place in the provincial examinations is called the Jieyuan. It's like you competing against all the children in the entire village and coming in first!"

Tangtang nodded vigorously. "So it's that amazing! Then when I grow up, I'll also place first as a Jieyuan to make Mother proud!"

"Pfft!" Jiang Xian chuckled, gently stroking the little girl's head. "Only men can take the provincial examinations, you silly girl; women aren't allowed to participate!"

Tangtang pouted, correcting her with a determined face, "Mother, Tangtang isn't silly. If Tangtang can't take the provincial exams, I'll just take others. Either way, Tangtang is going to be number one!"

"Alright, my daughter is the best! Now, hurry up and eat your tangyuan!"

Chen Daniu also asked with curiosity, "Xian-ya, why are you so concerned about the Jieyuan?"

Jiang Xian shook her head. "I'm not concerned. I'm just curious about the gossip everyone is talking about, so I went to listen!"

"Good grief!" Chen Daniu laughed helplessly. Once the three of them finished eating, they climbed onto the donkey cart to start purchasing supplies for the New Year.

After buying enough rice, flour, grain, and oil to last through the winter, they picked up two ten-pound slabs of pork back fat, along with salt, sugar, tea, and wine. Recalling the cured meat and dried fish that Qian had prepared at the start of winter hanging under the eaves at home, Jiang Xian only bought five pounds of pork belly and a lamb leg, skipping any other food items.

She did, however, head to the garment shop to buy fifty pounds of cotton and four bolts of high-quality satin. She planned to have new outfits made for herself, Tangtang, and her parents, with the leftover fabric to be used for hats and inner garments.

Noticing that Tangtang’s shoes were not warm enough, she took the girl to Ruifuxiang to buy two pairs of cotton-lined shoes. Naturally, she didn't forget new shoes for herself and Qian. Soon, the donkey cart was packed to the brim.

Watching Jiang Xian’s shopping spree, Chen Daniu felt a mix of envy and amazement. When it came to a woman who knew how to spend money, Jiang Xian was in a league of her own in Taoyuan Village; no one else dared to spend money like water as she did!

By the time they finished gathering all the New Year supplies, it was already late afternoon. The group headed slowly toward Songhe Hall to see if Qiao Xun had regained consciousness.

...

Li Shuyan pulled Wang Zichen away. They didn't stop until they reached the Chessboard Street in front of the County Academy. Looking back to make sure Jiang Xian was out of earshot, he whispered to Wang Zichen, "Brother Zichen, don't repeat today's words outside again. Be careful, or you might bring a death sentence upon yourself!"

Wang Zichen frowned slightly. "Can Yu Zhiyi really cover the sky with one hand in Junxi County? Besides, this is Junxi County, not Qingzhou City. The Yu clan's reach can't possibly extend that far!"

"Shh! I’m not talking about the matter with Yu Zhiyi you mentioned, I mean Qiao Xun!"

"Qiao Xun? What threat could that unlucky wretch possibly pose to us?"

Li Shuyan looked at his fellow student with a grave expression. "Brother Zichen, that young woman's words today were like a sudden awakening. Many prominent families have formidable feng shui masters who can rewrite a person's destiny or swap their life charts. Just think about how brilliant Qiao Xun was at his studies, and what Yu Zhiyi was like back then. Now, look at them today: one is the famous Yu Jieyuan of Baiyun Prefecture, and the other is a pitiable, luckless scholar. There must be a connection, but it's not something we can speak of. Do you understand?"

Wang Zichen was slow to realize, his eyes widening in shock.

"You... you mean..."

"Shh!" Li Shuyan reached out to cover his friend's mouth.

"Let’s just pretend this never happened. Since the Yu family dared to do such a thing, they will definitely keep a tight watch on Qiao Xun. We should just stay away from him from now on!"

"...Right!" The more Wang Zichen thought about it, the more terrified he became, his face turning pale. He had been keeping a secret from Li Shuyan: he and Qiao Xun were actually in-laws—Qiao Xun's cousin was married to his own older brother. But back then, when Qiao Xun began to encounter misfortune, Wang Zichen had been unwilling to associate with this once-lofty "Man of Letters" who had become such a loser.

But now... if the Yu family was truly targeting and suppressing Qiao Xun, would they find out that his cousin was married to his brother and implicate his own future?

...

At Songhe Hall.

Jiang Xian led Tangtang, who was busy eating a candied hawthorn, through the door. She turned to the waiter sweeping the lobby. "How is the man who was brought in this morning? Is he alright?"

The waiter shook his head. "He’s fine. Dr. Zhou said they were just superficial wounds, exacerbated by the stiffness from the cold out in the wild. After Dr. Zhou applied acupuncture, dressed his wounds, and gave him a bowl of warming medicine, he took his leave."

"Hey, why did he leave without saying goodbye?" Jiang Xian couldn't help but complain, then asked the waiter, "Did he say where he was going? Or did he just go home?"

"Scholar Qiao said he had things to attend to, but he told me that if you returned to Songhe Hall, I must express his thanks!" With that, the waiter took two taels of broken silver from his sleeve and handed them to Jiang Xian. "This is the token of appreciation from Scholar Qiao. He said if you ever need any help in the future, you can go to Huanxi Village to find him."

Jiang Xian accepted the silver, thinking to herself that this Qiao Xun was actually quite decent, despite being a stubborn bookworm who wouldn't agree to her request. She would have to give him a good scare during their matchmaking meeting on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month!

Since Qiao Xun had already left, there was no reason for Jiang Xian to stay in the county seat. She immediately picked up Tangtang and climbed onto the donkey cart to return home.

They didn't find Qiao Xun at the medical clinic, but they ran into him halfway down the road.

Jiang Xian saw Qiao Xun looking disheveled and deeply dejected, walking along the edge of the road like a soulless, walking corpse. He didn't even react when Jiang Xian called out to him, completely lost in his own thoughts.

Jiang Xian told Chen Daniu to stop the cart and shouted at the top of her lungs as Qiao Xun approached, "Scholar Qiao! What are you thinking about? I’ve been calling you for ages!"

Qiao Xun snapped back to reality, showing a flash of surprise upon seeing Jiang Xian, before his face returned to a deathly grey.

"Oh, it's you, Miss Jiang!"

Seeing his poor state, Jiang Xian kindly said, "Scholar Qiao, it will be dark by the time you walk back to the village. The cart is a bit crowded, but you're welcome to hitch a ride!"

Qiao Xun was indeed exhausted, and the pain from the beatings and falls was severe. He had no heart for the journey, his mind filled entirely with the news of Yu Zhiyi passing the provincial exam as the Jieyuan.

He didn't decline and thanked her. "Then I shall trouble you, Miss Jiang, and thank you, Brother Chen!"

Chen Daniu replied courteously, "Don't thank me. My cart is chartered by Xian-ya today, so if you want to thank someone, thank her!"

"Right!" Qiao Xun answered distractedly. Like a soulless puppet, he huddled in the corner, leaning against the wooden board with his gaze fixed on nothing.

Seeing his lifeless state, Jiang Xian swallowed the words she wanted to say, deciding to ask later. Everyone had times when they were in a bad mood; Jiang Xian knew that when she was in a bad mood, she hated people chattering in her ear.

Tangtang kept staring at Qiao Xun. After a while, she tugged at Jiang Xian’s sleeve.

Jiang Xian turned, looking at Tangtang with curiosity, and whispered, "What's wrong?"

Tangtang leaned into Jiang Xian’s ear and whispered, "Mother, Uncle God suddenly smells so, so stinky!"

"Huh? Stinky?" Jiang Xian sniffed hard, but she didn't smell anything foul. She frowned in confusion. "Tangtang, can you describe what kind of smell it is?"

She hoped it wasn't the pork she bought going bad! Perhaps the child's new nose was just more sensitive?

Tangtang pouted and tilted her little head, thinking seriously. "It's like the smell of the outhouse in the summer. It's so stinky it hurts my brain!"

Jiang Xian pointed at Qiao Xun. "Are you sure that smell is coming from this uncle?"

Tangtang nodded like a pestle grinding garlic. "Yes!"

"Then why didn't you smell it before?" Jiang Xian immediately thought of Qiao Xun's abnormal fate and fortune. She wondered if Tangtang had the special ability to identify the quality of one's fortune through scent? After all, her own luck was already heaven-defying, so having another special ability wasn't impossible!

Tangtang shook her head vigorously. "Tangtang doesn't know, it just suddenly got so stinky!"

Jiang Xian asked again, "Then what do I smell like?"

"You smell fragrant, just like the clove herbs at Master's place. It’s clean and smells good!" Tangtang answered without hesitation.

Jiang Xian pointed at Chen Daniu. "And what about Uncle Daniu?"

"Uncle Daniu has no smell."

Jiang Xian understood immediately. It was exactly as she thought: Qiao Xun's fortune had suddenly shifted, and someone must have been meddling behind the scenes.

Could it be that Qiao Xun started to reek because Yu Zhiyi had returned to the county seat?

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Xian looked at the despondent Qiao Xun and spoke softly, "Scholar Qiao, I heard a strange thing today!"

Qiao Xun turned mechanically, staring at Jiang Xian with curiosity, remembering that she had sent him to Songhe Hall. Shen Juntang was the second young master of Songhe Hall; perhaps he had said something.

Qiao Xun curled his lips into a self-deprecating smile. "Did Shen Juntang tell you something? If you believe him, Miss Jiang, there's no need to say it. If you don't, then one day, if I can clear my name, the truth will come out on its own."

Jiang Xian shook her head, her expression entirely serious. "No, I don't believe a single word Shen Juntang says!"

Those words caused Qiao Xun’s dead-grey eyes to light up instantly. His tone was full of disbelief. "Miss Jiang, you..."

Jiang Xian smiled faintly and pointed to her own eyes. "I only believe what I see with my own eyes. As the saying goes, 'Hearing is deceptive, seeing is believing.'"

A warmth flowed into Qiao Xun’s scarred heart.

He lowered his head silently. "But I am truly not the person I once was!"

"Scholar Qiao, aren't you curious about what strange thing I heard?"

"What else could it be? Probably that I went from a celebrated 'Man of Letters' to a laughingstock, an unlucky wretch in the county academy." As Qiao Xun finished, the black aura above his head seemed to spread downwards, as if it were about to envelop him completely in darkness, never to see the light of day again.

"That's part of it, but what's even stranger is that I heard from other students that Yu Zhiyi, the Yu Jieyuan who was just celebrated in the good news, was previously just an average student from a wealthy family. He only became the Jieyuan by leaning on his family's connections. But exam fraud is a crime punishable by the execution of one's entire clan. Does Scholar Qiao really think Yu Zhiyi’s sudden academic brilliance is just because of his family background? Or is there something else?"

Qiao Xun squinted, looking at Jiang Xian with a hint of confusion. "Miss Jiang, what do you mean by that?"