Author: Yue Xia Die Ying

NOTES:

  1. Fǔ – household; official residence; mansion
  2. Hou Shizi – Viscount; Marquis’ heir
  3. Xiangjun (Country Lord) – Title given to wives or daughters of high ranking noblemen
  4. Gōng zǐ – title used for sons of officials or nobility (I’ve translated this as Lord)
  5. Taking others’ money makes your hands short – If you take money/favours from others you will have to be friendly to your benefactor and treat your benefactor well

Chapter 6 (Part 1) – Fierce Woman

Ban Hua and Ban Heng moving in unison, turned their heads around and saw a man in a plain brocade robe wearing a silver crown standing a few steps away with two guards. It looked like he had come out of the forest.

Ban Hua calmly put the shovel into Ban Heng’s hands and stood up, patting away the soil on the corner of her robe. As a result, because of the dirt on her hands, the robe became more and more dirty. She simply gave it up as a lost cause and walking towards the other person, saluted him, “Greetings Count Cheng An. My brother and I are just playing a game of treasure hunt.”

“Treasure hunt?” Rong Xia looked at the two siblings with their faces smeared all over with dirt. If not for the two people’s riding clothes embroidered with complicated and gorgeous decoration, they really didn’t look like the children of a noble house.

“My younger brother is immature. After reading a few books, he wanted to imitate those predecessors in the book who did good deeds.” Ban Hua turned her head back to Ban Heng with a shut-up look. “For example, a man led by fate finds the silver he buried and breaks out of poverty and sickness and so on.”

Rong Xia’s facial expression was a bit complicated at the moment, but soon he laughed. Taking out a handkerchief, he handed it to Ban Hua:” Your honourable younger brother is sincere and virtuous.”

“Thank you, but I don’t need it.” Ban Hua lifted her sleeves and wiped her face indiscriminately. What could such a small handkerchief clean? However, this Rong Xia is really good-looking and he looks so perfect when one gets closer. Shen Yu who had previously broken the engagement with her didn’t have skin as good as his and his nose was not so tall and straight either.

Seeing Ban Hua not using his handkerchief, Rong Xia took it back with a light smile: “Do you need our help?”

“Forget it. This thing can only be done secretly and once someone discovers it, there will be no sense of mystery.” Ban Hua kicked the two bags on the ground, and said to Ban Heng, “Go and ask the guard to tidy all this up.”

“Oh,” Ban Heng who saw his chance to escape this awkward atmosphere, bounced up from the ground, turned around and walked away quickly. If it were discovered that he had been doing such a stupid thing, even though he was shameless, he felt that this kind of situation was embarrassing enough to make him want to bury his face in the pit he had just dug.

“We did not mean to disturb Count Cheng An’s scenery appreciation. I will say goodbye,” After the guards had come and taken away the two sandbags filled with silver, Ban Hua bowed in goodbye to Rong Xia, “Farewell.” 

Rong Xia apologized: “I’ve disturbed the young lady and honourable younger brother while they were playing and I must ask the young lady to forgive me.” 

“You are too polite, then … you continue?” If she were dressed in her usual splendid attire, Ban Hua would still be willing to continue the conversation with Rong Xia and appreciate such a beautiful man. But she was now wearing a men’s style hair bun and her body was still stained with soil. Showing this kind of appearance to others was an insult to her god given beauty.

“Take care on your way, young lady.” Rong Xia saluted Ban Hua which Ban Hua had no choice but to return. She turned around and escaped after kicking some dirt over the pit they had dug.

The mountain forest regained its quietness again and Rong Xia looked at the pit in front of him. He chuckled and asked in an indifferent tone: “Did you get to the bottom of this?”

“Replying to the Lord, Ban Xiangjun and Ban Shizi really climbed this mountain by accident today” said  a middle-aged man walking out from the grass behind him, “This pair of siblings are said to be famous wastrels in Beijing, and they have never done anything useful.”

“Ban Xiangjun?” Rong Qi thought about it, “The one who was jilted a few days ago? “

“Yes, it’s her.” The middle-aged man thought to himself, in the whole of Beijing, who can raise children who have nothing better to do with money than play by burying it except for the Jingting Hou Mansion?

Rong Xia walked to the side of the mountain and looked at the two siblings who were slowly walking down the mountainside. In an unclear tone, he said: “The relationship between those two siblings seems to be quite good.”

“They are siblings born from the same father and mother. Naturally, how can their relationship be lacking?” After the manservant next to Rong Xia replied thus, he suddenly recalled some previous events and immediately fell silent in fright.

“Sister, the lies you just made up were not very clever,” Ban Heng snorted. “As one of the capital’s famous wastrels, how can I do such a senseless thing?”

“If you could think of something better, why didn’t you?” Ban Hua took the handkerchief handed to her by one of her female guards and wiped her face clean, “I’ve never been so embarrassed before in all the years of my life.”

Ban Heng whispered softly, “Then you can’t let me take the blame here.”

“Have you ever heard of the saying that taking others’ money makes your hands short?”, Seeing Ban Heng’s unhappy look, Ban Hua turned the kerchief around to wipe off the mud marks on his face and whispered, “It’s okay. There’s nothing we can do about it now. We can’t let him doubt our motives.”

Ban Heng took the kerchief and scrubbed his face roughly: “But what was he doing in the mountain forest this early in the morning? Just appreciating the scenery?”

“Elegant gentlemen like him will inevitably have some strange hobbies. Maybe he wanted to stay on the mountain at night to look at the stars and the moon and get inspired to compose a poem and song.” Ban Hua said with a glance at Ban Heng, “What do you care about him?”

Ban Heng glanced around and whispered in the ear of Ban Hua: “You said that the new emperor in your dream looks good and does not have the surname of Jiang. Is it possible that it is Count Cheng An?”

“How is it possible?” Ban Hua said, shaking her head. “This kind of handsome young nobleman doesn’t seem like a person who would do that kind of thing. ” 

“One may know a person for a long time without understanding his true face. You can’t rule out suspicion just because of his elegance and grace.” Ban Heng snorted, “Which of the charming ladies in the palace doesn’t seem gentle and tender? But who knows what their inherent nature is? Even they may have forgotten their own natures.”

“Who can pretend to be a gentleman for so many years? Wouldn’t that be maddening?” Ban Hua thought for a while and decided that this might not be very probable, “The gentleness of those beauties in the palace is just a role they play in front of His Majesty. Cheng Anbo’s elegance and demeanor is from the bones and not something you can just pretend to have.”

“That’s also true.” Ban Heng nodded.” If I had to hold myself back so much, I couldn’t stand it for more than three days.”

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TL’s Meanderings:

I don’t know which part is funnier. Ban Hua’s lame excuses or that Rong Xia actually believes them. (－ლ)

Ban Heng as always is a treasure. He’s just worried that this stuff is going to ruin his wastrel street cred with his friends.