Chapter Twenty-Six Another Year

  Another half year has passed, and it's already the 45th year of Kangxi. Cao Gong is now 12 years old, growing taller rapidly, almost as tall as Hui Xin and An Xiang. According to his own estimate, he should be over 1.6 meters tall. The happiest person this New Year is Cao Song, whose younger brother Cao Shuo is seven years old and will start attending the clan school after the New Year. He has invited a famous teacher to come to their residence to give lessons.

  Gu Nai participated in the autumn examination last year and achieved second place, obtaining the title of Juren. Ma Jun also took part in the same period and came third, while the first place was taken by Wang Yunjin from Wuxi County, Changzhou Prefecture. According to the rules of the imperial examination system, new Juren were required to pay their respects to the examiners. The chief examiner for this year's Jiangsu provincial examination was Cai Shengyuan, a Hanlin Academy attendant scholar and the top scorer in the 21st year of Kangxi's reign.

  Cai Shengyuan saw the top name, Yu Wang Yunjin, who was nearly fifty years old, with a face full of wrinkles, and although his hair was dark black, it was sparse and unpleasant to look at. He didn't like him in his heart. Then he looked at the second name, Gu Na, and the third name, Ma Jun, and was surprised and delighted. Gu Na was fifteen years old, and Ma Jun was eighteen years old. The two had elegant and handsome appearances, with a dignified demeanor, standing out among the new scholars like a crane among chickens. Cai Shengyuan's love for talent was stirred, and he wanted to take the two as his students, bring them back to the capital to personally instruct them, in preparation for the spring examination next year.

  Ma Jun's father, Ma De, was very conservative and thought that if his son followed Cai Shengyuan, it would be okay if he had a chance to pass the imperial examination next year; but if he failed next year and took the exam again in the future, there might be a chance to meet Cai Shengyuan at the trial, and as a disciple, he would have to avoid taking the exam, which would delay his career. Therefore, he politely declined.

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, it was only natural for Cao Yin and Zhuang Chang to take charge. Zhuang Chang had many tasks to attend to, although he had a good heart and wanted to instruct his disciples well, but most of the time he still had to rely on Gu Nai reading books himself. Cai Shengyuan was a scholar from a prestigious background, having served as a Hanlin for over 20 years, and it was truly fortunate to have such a renowned teacher. The two also thought about avoiding the exam, as it related to Gu Nai's future prospects, so they explained the situation to him and let him make his own decision. After thinking it over for one night, Gu Nai decided to follow Cai Shengyuan to the capital.

  In the Jiangning Weaving Bureau, Cai Shengyuan met with Cao Yin after meeting with him in the Cao family's guest hall and formally accepted the tea presented by Gu Nai, which was considered a formal acceptance of this student. When Cao Yun heard the news, he didn't know whether to be happy for Gu Nai or not. With Gu Nai's intelligence, if there were no accidents, the exam should not be a problem. After becoming a middle-ranking scholar, Gu Nai would either enter the Hanlin Academy or become a county magistrate in a local area, and in any case, he would have no opportunity to return to Jiangsu. A person without parents to care for him, without brothers and sisters to support him, was truly pitiful. Thinking of these things, Cao Yun asked Hui Xin to prepare silver notes and a small box of gold leaves for Gu Nai's expenses. Gu Nai had previously received dividends from Lin Xiashi and still had a considerable amount of money on hand, so he refused to accept more. Cao Yun thought of Yongqing, who had not joined the army but had entered the Imperial Guard under his grandfather's arrangement, and wrote him a letter asking him to take care of Gu Nai when he had time.

  Now Gu has been away from Jiangning for two months, and every month there are letters coming, although the words are not many, but everything is fine, and he is preparing to take the exam with a peaceful mind.

  In the first month, the Jiangning Weaving Bureau was decorated with lanterns and streamers inside and out. The old lady felt more relaxed than ever before during the festival, because her nephew Sun Wenqi from her hometown had taken office as the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau last winter, and now the Sun family was visiting in Jiangning. Although the Sun family was a big clan, the only brother of the same parents as the old lady was Sun Wenqi's father. The old lady's affection for this nephew was no less than that for Cao Yin's two brothers.

  On the fifteenth day of the first month, an imperial edict was issued from the capital. In addition to rewarding the Cao family members, Kangxi also had an edict for Cao Yin and his wife. He ordered Cao Yin's wife, Li Shi, to bring their daughter to Beijing in August to participate in the selection process, and also mentioned that Cao Yin should enter Beijing in September.

  The Eight Banners all chose beautiful girls, but each had its own differences. The Cao family, as a package of clothes, should have participated in the spring small selection, rather than the big selection that takes place every three years. The object of this small selection was the daughter of the upper three banners' package of clothes, and those who were selected would enter the palace to serve as palace maids, only being released when they reached the age of 25. This triennial selection of beautiful girls, however, was for selecting consorts. In addition to choosing concubines, the Empress Dowager also arranged marriages for the princes and nobles among the selected girls.

  The imperial decree of Kangxi was to promote the Cao family and arrange a good marriage for Cao Yan. Mr. and Mrs. Cao thanked heaven's grace, adding countless gratitude. Only Zhao Jia's mother thought that as the granddaughter of the old lady, Cao Yan was about to fly onto the golden branch, while her own daughter Cao Ying could only marry a juren. She had dissatisfaction in her heart but didn't dare reveal it in front of the old lady because this marriage was arranged by the old lady herself and the son-in-law was none other than the old lady's nephew's grandson, Sun Wenqi's eldest son, Sun Ke.

  The Cao family's three sisters, Cao Ying was eliminated in the initial selection three years ago when she was fourteen and had spent a lot of money to come to the capital for the selection. Afterwards, under the arrangement of the old lady, Cao Ying was betrothed to Sun Ju, and the wedding date was set for this March. Cao Yan will be coming to the capital this autumn, although Cao Yu is listed in the family genealogy, she does not have the qualifications to participate in the selection because she is an adopted daughter.

  Corresponding to the four major families that appear in "Dream of Red Mansions", is it Sun's family corresponding to Shi's family, or Li's family corresponding to Shi's family? Nowadays, among the three major weaving families in Jiangning, Cao's family, Li's family and Sun's family are connected by kinship. What about Xue's family, one of the so-called "four major families of Jinling", which has no trace? Cao Yun thought it unclear and was too lazy to think again.

  Sun Wenqi's three sons are all older than Cao Guang, and his youngest son Sun Lin is two years older than Cao Guang. Sun Wenqi's eldest daughter Sun Yu is 15 years old, two months younger than Cao Yan, and will take the imperial examination in Beijing this autumn. Although the Sun family was serving as officials in the north, the siblings still often came to Jiangning to pay their respects to the elderly lady. Sun Yu has a good relationship with her sisters Cao Yan, and every time they come, they stay at Yunyongzhai.

  When relatives and sisters came, Cao Yu seemed a bit lonelier. She was nominally adopted by the Cao family, but after all, she was not a blood relative, and it was not good for relatives to be intimate with her. Cao Yun thought of the little girl who was originally lively and lovely, and now in the Cao Mansion, she became more and more like a lady, and he felt very sorry for her. Although his body was the same age as Cao Yu's, his mental age had increased by twenty years. Sometimes, Cao Yun treated Cao Yu with paternal love, so naturally, he couldn't bear to see her suffer any grievances.

  In the warm pavilion, Cao Yu smiled and said: "Brother, is this really a gift for Ping'er?"

  Cao Gong sat in the chair and smiled back: "Of course, when have I ever deceived my sister?"

  Fang Cha came up to serve tea and asked, "Is this only for our young lady or is it also for the two older ladies?" Fang Cha was actually Tea Jing, originally a second-class maid by Old Lady's side, who had been given to Cao Yu by Old Lady. After Cao Yi arrived at the Cao residence, due to the lack of attendants by Cao Yi's side, Cao Yu sent Tea Jing to Chun Nuan Ju.

  Cao Gong heard Fang Cha's question and felt a bit strange, thinking that the words sounded familiar. After some thought, he realized it was a quote from Daiyu in "Dream of the Red Chamber". Cao Ye's smile slowly faded away, and he lowered his head without speaking.

  Cao Gong saw this situation and knew that there must be a reason for it, so he asked Fang Cha: "What's going on? Has someone been disrespectful to your mistress?"

  Miss Lin angrily retorted, "In our household, which of these housekeepers isn't blinded by wealth and status? Our young lady isn't the flesh and blood of Master and Mistress, so naturally they look down on her. It's not just that they're slow to act, but there are even those shameless rascals who have their sights set on our young lady's monthly allowance, repeatedly finding excuses to ask for money. If it's not given to them, they'll even bring leftover food to her door. I wanted to go find Mistress and the old mistress to take charge, but our young lady is just too tolerant. Now, what kind of nonsense are they spouting? Saying that since she's not a real miss, why should she still be treated like one?"

  Cao Gong's face turned iron-green: "And what about that sister of yours, standing idly by?"

  "Second Miss has been busy learning etiquette for the past two years, how would she notice these things?" Fang Cha said with some resentment.

  Cao Gong saw Cao Yun's red eyes and knew that Fang Cha's words were not false. He was quite annoyed in his heart, because he lived in the front yard and didn't know that there were such things in the backyard. The old lady didn't care about anything, Li Shi was a good-tempered person, treated the servants loosely, and didn't expect that there would be such presumptuousness.

  Cao Guang inquired about the names of those officials, remembering them in his heart. After the New Year's festival was over, he would have a chance to settle accounts with them.

  Fang Cha finished speaking, with a hint of pride on her face, but she just lingered in front of Cao Guang, refusing to leave. Cao Guang saw that she was wearing a pair of cat-eye earrings, which were the birthday gift he had given to Cao Yi last year, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly as he said to Fang Cha: "Go to my courtyard and find Hui Xin, tell her I want to play some leaf cards with your young lady, and have her prepare some small change!"

  Fang Cha went out at the sound, and Cao Gong asked Cao Yun: "What's going on? Why is Fang Cha wearing the pendant I gave you?"

  Cao Yu lowered his head and muttered: "Fang Cha sister said she likes it!"

  Cao Gong saw Cao Yun like this and felt a headache, it seemed that he was wrong again, and he was annoyed with Fang Cha's troubles and sent her to Chun Nuan Ge.

  Cao Gong saw Cao Yu's pitiful appearance and stretched out her hand to touch the small Jingba in her arms: "This was specially bought for you to relieve your boredom, not even big sister or second sister have one! No matter who says they like it, you absolutely cannot give it away!"

  Cao Yu raised his head, his eyes shining brightly, unable to conceal his delight, and nodded vigorously: "Brother, rest assured, I'll take good care of it, no one can snatch it away!"

  Cao Gong couldn't help but laugh at her childishness: "Well, give it a name then, and take good care of it. Animals are human's good friends!"

  "Human?" Cao Yu was slightly puzzled.

  "Humans are just a general term for us people, just like how 'chicken' is a general term for chickens and 'dog' is a general term for dogs." Cao Yun explained casually.

  Cao Yu had not spoken yet, when he heard someone laughing outside the window: "Some humans don't believe in equality of all living things, otherwise why use chickens and dogs to describe the spirits of all things." It was Cao Yan who brought his cousin Sun Yu over.

  Little girls are powerless against cute things, Cao Yan and Sun Yu saw the small dog curled up in Cao Yi's arms, instantly forgetting their maidenly reserve, they quickly surrounded her.

  "Is this a gift from little brother? And did third sister name it?" Cao Yan hugged the puppy, loving it to bits.

  Cao Yu shook his head: "Sister is the most knowledgeable, give the puppy a name?"

  Cao Yan murmured: "This dog's fur is as white as snow, let's call it 'Ao Feng', the 'Ao' in 'Ao Feng Dou Xue'."

  Several little girls all thought the name was good, and they started calling out to the small dog with "Ao Shuang", "Ao Shuang". Cao Guang rolled his eyes in his heart, such a feminine name, this little Beijing boy was clearly a Mr.