Marrying The Imperial Elder Chapter 57

Since they would be sharing a room from now on, the three girls all made an effort to become friendly despite having only just met.

After eating dinner together, they had learned a little about one another. Their conversation gradually became much more natural and relaxed than it had been at first.

Perhaps because it was everyone’s first time away from home in a completely unfamiliar environment, after taking turns washing up and extinguishing the lamps that evening, all three found themselves lying awake in bed, unable to sleep.

Zhen Tingyun rested her head on her pillow and breathed in the familiar fragrance lingering in her bedding.

Closing her eyes, she began mentally reviewing the arithmetic text she had studied not long before.

Since mathematics had always been her weakest subject, thinking through the problems soon made her pleasantly drowsy.

Qian Manyue and Du Qingqing, however, remained wide awake.

Separated by the long table that stood between their beds, they began chatting quietly.

At first they deliberately kept their voices low so they wouldn’t disturb Zhen Tingyun. But after a while, when she didn’t respond, they assumed she had either fallen asleep or simply didn’t mind.

Little by little, their voices grew louder.

Zhen Tingyun wasn’t particularly bothered.

Back in the countryside where she had grown up, the nights had never truly been quiet.

Sometimes it was someone’s child crying.

Sometimes a husband and wife arguing.

Sometimes a widow shouting curses at the top of her lungs.

Even a passing stranger startling a dog could set off a lengthy bout of barking.

After living with such noises for more than ten years, she had long since developed the habit of tuning out sounds around her.

Still, half-asleep as she was, she couldn’t help overhearing bits and pieces of what Qian Manyue and Du Qingqing were talking about.

Du Qingqing had a bit of the shrewdness and quick wit often found in merchant families, but she had clearly been pampered since childhood. She genuinely wasn’t malicious. Straightforward by nature, she spoke her mind without much filtering. She was a little spoiled, loved showing off, and sometimes blurted things out rather too directly.

Still, people like her were actually quite easy to get along with.

Just as now, after only a few exchanges, Du Qingqing’s frankness had her spilling her family’s story as easily as beans pouring from a basket.

Her father had originally been a traveling peddler in the countryside. Later, using her mother’s dowry as capital, he began doing business. Blessed with a talent for making money, he gradually became one of the leading merchants in his hometown, and by now the family even owned silk shops in the capital.

More remarkably, her parents had always shared a loving marriage. As the family business prospered over the years, Madam Du also gave birth to three sons in succession, transforming what had once been a family with only a single heir into a flourishing household.

Then, after Madam Du had already passed thirty, she unexpectedly conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, Du Qingqing.

As the family’s youngest child and only daughter, she was doted upon by both parents, while her three older brothers cherished and spoiled their little sister as well.

By the time Du Qingqing was born, the family had already become wealthy.

Her father was both perceptive and farsighted. Seeing how bright and gifted his daughter was, he placed great hopes in her. He hired a female tutor to teach her reading and writing from an early age and even spent a considerable sum inviting a famous etiquette instructor from the capital to educate her.

That was how Du Qingqing had eventually qualified for the Capital Women’s Academy.

In truth, the Du family lacked neither money nor property.

They owned several residences and shops in the capital.

But neither of her parents had received much formal education. In their eyes, the women’s academy belonged to the refined scholarly world. Though they themselves were wealthy, merchants had always occupied a low social rank and were rarely respected.

They believed their daughter should live at the academy so she could meet people from better families and build valuable connections.

Even if it brought no benefit to the family business, it would surely help her future.

Listening to all this, Qian Manyue couldn’t help sighing softly. “Your father and mother are so good to you.”

At that, Du Qingqing smiled proudly. “Of course they are!”

Qian Manyue fell silent. A moment later, the sound of quiet sobbing came from her bed as she hugged her quilt. 

Startled, Du Qingqing quickly asked, “W-What’s wrong?”

Qian Manyue answered in a trembling voice, “There are six people in my family, my parents, me, and my three younger brothers. My youngest brother is only two… There are so many mouths to feed, but my father doesn’t have steady work. My mother only earns a little by washing clothes for other people. Our family can barely afford food anymore. Before coming here, I hadn’t even had meat broth for several months…”

As she spoke, her tears flowed again.

Her voice was so soft and pitiful that it made one’s heart ache. “The money for me to attend the academy… my mother borrowed it from other people. And because of that, my father beat her. I don’t even know how things are at home now…”

Hearing this, Du Qingqing became even more sympathetic and immediately began comforting her in a gentle voice.

For a while afterward, the room was filled with Qian Manyue’s quiet complaints and Du Qingqing’s earnest words of comfort.

Zhen Tingyun listened absentmindedly.

Before long, drowsiness overtook her, and she drifted off to sleep.

Perhaps because she wasn’t used to sleeping in a new place, or perhaps simply because there were strangers in the room, she never slept very deeply.

She woke early the next morning.

Outside, dawn had barely broken. Only the faintest strip of pale light stretched across the eastern sky. Because her bed stood beside the window, there was just enough light.

Turning quietly on her bed, she could make out Du Qingqing sleeping across from her and Qian Manyue on the other side.

The two of them had probably chatted until very late the previous night and were still sleeping soundly.

Not wanting to wake them, Zhen Tingyun moved as quietly as possible.

She carefully changed into the academy uniform she had folded beside her pillow before going to bed.

Although both Yuhua Women’s Academy and the Capital Women’s Academy required students to wear matching blouses and skirts, the colors differed.

At Yuhua Academy, Zhen Yiyun had always worn a blue blouse with a white skirt, sometimes accented with silk tassels. The overall effect was elegant and understated.

The Capital Women’s Academy, however, issued bright red blouses paired with white skirts. The vivid colors gave the girls a youthful, spirited appearance.

Both academies also embroidered their respective emblems onto the uniforms.

The embroidery was subtle, but anyone looking closely could easily distinguish one academy from the other.

After dressing, Zhen Tingyun took her washbasin and toiletries from the wardrobe and headed to the communal washroom.

Although it was early, she wasn’t the first student awake.

As she stepped outside, she noticed a tall, slender girl wearing the same red-and-white academy uniform.

Already fully dressed and prepared for the day, the girl leaned against the corridor railing, reading a book by the dim morning light.

When she saw Zhen Tingyun carrying her basin, she simply nodded in greeting before lowering her head to continue reading.

Taking a deep breath, Zhen Tingyun inhaled the cool, moist morning air. The fresh air lifted her spirits immediately.

The atmosphere for studying really is much better here than at home, she thought. With food, lodging, and everything provided, life here isn’t difficult at all.

In a good mood, she quickly finished washing up before returning to the room.

Seeing that it was getting later, she worried her roommates might oversleep and be late, so she gently called out to them several times.

Qian Manyue woke first.

Together they then roused Du Qingqing.

Soon the two girls were laughing and chatting as they got ready.

Girls of their age generally had light, sweet voices.

Their cheerful conversation sounded like the songs of orioles, filling what had been a quiet room with warmth and liveliness.

Once they had both changed into their uniforms, Zhen Tingyun opened the window, picked up a book, and sat by her bed reading.

Without looking up, she reminded them, “Stop chatting for now. There aren’t many people using the washrooms yet, so you should hurry and wash up. After that, we’ll have breakfast together in the dining hall. And once we’ve eaten, it’s time to choose our classes.”

The previous day, during enrollment, Zhen Tingyun had already learned roughly how the first day worked.

The opening day after enrollment was relatively relaxed.

The morning was devoted to selecting courses.

In the afternoon, students would formally meet the instructors for the subjects they had chosen, receive their textbooks, copy down their personal class schedules, and prepare everything they would need.

The following day would mark the official start of classes at the women’s academy.

However, aside from Classics & History and Etiquette, which every student was required to take, all of the elective courses had fixed enrollment limits. If you arrived too late, the most popular classes would already be full, leaving far fewer choices.

That was exactly why Zhen Tingyun had woken Qian Manyue and Du Qingqing. Since they shared a room, it only seemed natural to give them a heads-up.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the two had finished washing and getting dressed.

Du Qingqing was rather particular about her appearance. After washing up, she took out a jar of fragrant face cream and carefully applied a little to her cheeks.

Qian Manyue watched with unconcealed envy, stealing several glances at it.

Du Qingqing was generous by nature and certainly not stingy. Seeing this, she simply pushed the half-used jar toward Qian Manyue. “Do you want it? You can have this one. I still have plenty.”

Qian Manyue’s face immediately turned crimson. “T-thank you.”

Du Qingqing smiled, then casually opened a brand-new jar for herself.

Qian Manyue’s fingers tightened around the little box until her fingertips turned pale from the pressure.

Zhen Tingyun glanced at the two of them and sighed inwardly.

One thinks too little; the other thinks too much… Sometimes even kindness can end in resentment.

It was only a passing thought, however. Soon her attention returned to the book in her hands.

Both Qian Manyue and Du Qingqing were equally concerned about choosing classes that morning and didn’t want to keep Zhen Tingyun waiting.

They quickly finished getting ready.

The three girls hurried to the dining hall for a simple breakfast before making their way to course registration.

By the time they reached the lecture hall where registration was being held, many new students had already gathered outside.

Rows of girls in identical red blouses and white skirts walked through the covered corridors.

The hems of their skirts fluttered in the breeze, the brilliant scarlet uniforms creating a sea of color, accompanied by the faint fragrance drifting through the morning air.

There were exactly one hundred freshmen in their year.

They had been divided into three classes:

• Class A: 30 students
• Class B: 30 students
• Class C: 40 students

Thanks to her unexpectedly strong entrance examination results, five A grades and one B, Zhen Tingyun had been assigned to Class A.

Only now did she remember to ask Qian Manyue and Du Qingqing which class they were in. To her surprise, both were also in Class A. 

That gave her a clue. Perhaps the dormitory assignments had also been based on entrance exam results. Since the three of them had performed similarly, they had naturally been placed in the same room.

Of course, Zhou Qingyun and Yang Qionghua, the two girls she had met during the entrance examination, were probably in Class A as well.

As luck would have it, she immediately ran into one of them.

Yang Qionghua.

Although she came from a military family, Yang Qionghua was even smaller than most girls her age. She had delicate, sweet features that suited the academy’s bright red uniform remarkably well. Leaning casually against the railing, with raven-black hair, snowy skin, and scarlet robes over a white skirt, she was both striking and beautiful.

The moment she spotted Zhen Tingyun, her eyes lit up.

She waved enthusiastically before hurrying over.

Her warmth was almost startling.

But the very first thing she said was, “Besides Classics & History and Etiquette, every student has to choose at least six electives. Tingyun, which ones are you picking?”

Before Zhen Tingyun could answer, Yang Qionghua clasped her hands together pleadingly. “Please take Horsemanship and Archery with me! No one else is willing to sign up for those two!”

To be honest, horsemanship and archery were among the least popular subjects at the women’s academy.

Most girls had already passed the Six Arts examination during admissions.

Many felt that their riding and archery skills were just barely adequate, enough to save face, and had no desire to spend additional time improving them.

Yang Qionghua, however, came from a family of generals.

Her family had made it perfectly clear that she had to enroll in those two subjects, or she’d be in serious trouble when she got home. That was why she had reluctantly signed up.

After all, no one liked being the only student in class.

She had been waiting outside all morning, hoping to persuade a few acquaintances to join her so she’d at least have company.

Now that Zhen Tingyun had appeared, and considering she’d earned A grades in both riding and archery during the entrance examination, Yang Qionghua naturally refused to let her escape.

Zhen Tingyun instinctively looked toward her two roommates.

Qian Manyue misunderstood the glance and hurriedly shook her head. “I’m terrible at riding and archery. I only managed two Bs on the entrance exam through sheer luck. I definitely won’t be choosing those.”

Du Qingqing, influenced by the conversation, hesitated before saying, “I… don’t really like riding or archery either.”

Yang Qionghua looked at Zhen Tingyun with hopeful eyes, waiting anxiously for her answer.

Zhen Tingyun couldn’t help sighing. “All right. I’ll take riding and archery with you.” Then she turned to her roommates. “You two go ahead and choose your own classes. I’ll head over first.”

Yang Qionghua was overjoyed.

She immediately grabbed Zhen Tingyun’s hand and dragged her over to the registration tables for Horsemanship and Archery.

Qian Manyue and Du Qingqing could only nod as they watched the two leave.

Together they wandered among the registration desks for Flower Cultivation, Incense Making, Calligraphy, Painting, Chess, Dance, and several other courses.

Unlike the nearly deserted riding and archery classes, which had required Yang Qionghua to recruit classmates personally, these were the truly popular electives, crowded with eager students.

After signing her name for Horsemanship and Archery, Zhen Tingyun began considering her remaining four electives.

Madam Chu had specifically instructed her to spend more effort improving her Calligraphy and Music, so those two were obvious choices.

She registered for Calligraphy first.

But when she arrived at the Music registration table, she discovered that the subject was divided according to individual instruments.

Standing beside her, Yang Qionghua explained, “The entrance exam only tested the basics. Once you’ve demonstrated a foundation, the academy considers you qualified to pursue further study. But music includes so many instruments. As the saying goes, if you try to chew too much, you can’t digest it. If you study too many instruments at once, you’ll only divide your attention. Usually people just pick one instrument they’re best at and focus on mastering it.”

Zhen Tingyun frowned thoughtfully. Then, with complete seriousness, she wrote her name down for both the qin and the xiao. 

Yang Qionghua stared at her. “…You’re signing up for two instruments at once? Studying both is going to be incredibly hard.”

Zhen Tingyun, however, said, “When I was little, I always wanted to learn the qin, so there’s no way I can give it up. As for the xiao, my teacher taught it to me, so I certainly can’t quit halfway either.” At the very least, she absolutely could not let the purple jade xiao Yuanhui had given her go to waste.

Yang Qionghua had no way to argue with her and could only say, “All right.”

The two of them walked while making their selections. Besides mounted archery, Yang Qionghua chose Literature, Qin, Chess, and Painting.

Aside from Riding and Archery, Zhen Tingyun chose Literature, Qin, Xiao, and Painting. After finishing, she remembered the incense ingredients Yuanhui had prepared for her and tentatively asked Yang Qionghua, “They said we have to choose at least six elective subjects, so it should be fine if I choose more than that, right?”

Yang Qionghua answered casually, “According to the women’s academy rules, there’s no problem with that. But if you take one extra subject, you’ll have to take one extra exam. If you do well, that’s fine. But if you fail, you’ll have to graduate a year later. You know how precious a young lady’s youth is. You can’t keep delaying yourself year after year over something like this…”

Zhen Tingyun nodded. She hesitated for a while before finally gritting her teeth and choosing an additional elective: Incense Making.

Yang Qionghua: “…”

So everything I just said was for nothing.

Thinking about how Zhen Tingyun had accompanied her in choosing mounted archery, Yang Qionghua felt genuinely touched. Moved, she also gritted her teeth and signed up for Incense Making as well, looking thoroughly loyal as she declared, “I’ll do it with you!”

Zhen Tingyun suddenly felt that Yang Qionghua really was quite a wonderful person.

With that, they had finished choosing their courses. That afternoon, they still had to visit each instructor in person. The instructors would return the greeting, hand them their textbooks and a list of the materials needed for the course. Only then would the course selection process be considered complete.

Neither Zhen Tingyun nor Yang Qionghua was an indecisive person. They finished early and still had plenty of time left, so they found a place to sit nearby and chat.

It had to be said that, although they had not seen each other for quite some time, Yang Qionghua’s love of gossip had left a very deep impression on Zhen Tingyun.

Sure enough, Yang Qionghua immediately pulled her aside and whispered some gossip about Zhou Qingyun.

“You have no idea. Zhou Qingyun had 6 As this time, and she became incredibly famous because of it. Even more people are going to the Zhou family to propose marriage now. I even heard that Yan Wangfei is especially fond of her and invited her to the Yan Wang Manor for a visit…”

Zhen Tingyun was not particularly surprised.

In fact, in the dream, Zhen Yiyun had been able to marry into Yan Wang’s household partly because of her reputation as a talented young lady. That alone showed that when Yan Wangfei chose a daughter-in-law, literary accomplishment was indeed one of the key criteria. The only thing that puzzled her was this: in the dream, Zhou Qingyun should also have gotten 6As. The Zhou family ranked considerably higher than the Zhen family, and Zhou Qingyun had even outshone Zhen Yiyun by a small margin. So why had Yan Wangfei ultimately passed over Zhou Qingyun and chosen Zhen Yiyun instead?

The question only flickered through her mind for a moment before she put it aside. She changed the subject and began asking Yang Qionghua about the women’s academy instead.

Yang Qionghua said, “Classes officially begin tomorrow, though we probably won’t cover much. It’s mainly to let everyone get used to life at the academy. Then, on the fifth day of the seventh month, there’ll be the joint examination between the two academies. Once the exams are over, it’ll happen to be the Qixi Festival. The academy will have a day off then and hold a garden festival. It’s a lot of fun.”

Hearing that, Zhen Tingyun immediately became interested and asked, “A garden festival? What’s so fun about it?”

Yang Qionghua had grown up in the capital. Although she had only just enrolled, she had visited the women’s academy garden festival in previous years and spoke of it enthusiastically. “Anyone who buys a ticket can come in and enjoy the festival. Of course, all the money from ticket sales is donated afterward.”

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