Transmigrating to the Ming Dynasty’s Imperial Examination Ch. 148

Chapter 148

“Such a thick manuscript, why do you need someone to add or change? Do you think the lyrics are not refined enough, so you want me to revise them?” Yang Tinghe was ultimately moved by the words ‘virtuous and righteous woman’. His thumb stroked the pages, casually flipping open to a page in the middle. At first glance, he saw two lifelike ink sketches.

The ink was slightly gray, with sparse yet dense lines creating two similar-looking, different-dressed, different-postured, handsome Jinyiwei officers, as if they were alive and embedded in the paper.

He was stunned for a moment and asked Li Dongyang, “Are these the two Jinyiwei who captured the thief? The drawings are truly exquisite, especially this side view is well drawn. It is not drawn in the posture with the head bowed and the shoulder hunched, the whole figure is vibrant. And this varying depth and lightness in the ink can showcase the five colors, even better than the popular color prints.”

Li Dongyang lowered his eyes and glanced at it, then smiled, “These are drawn with graphite pencils, somewhat different from regular ink. Look closely, these two portraits are the same person, both are the Jinyiwei Colonel patrolling the capital, capturing thieves. His surname is Xie—the same as the Colonel Xie currently purging the capital of ruffians under Imperial orders.”

Yang Tinghe did notice that they seemed like the same person, but ordinary artists often depicted young, handsome figures with the same face, only slightly altering the expressions, so he instinctively thought these were done the same way.

Yang Tinghe chuckled knowingly, rolled the manuscript, and tapped it on his hand. “So, it is the same Colonel Xie who saved you and Yang da-ren from street ruffians a couple of months ago. I was wondering why you insisted on writing about Jinyiwei capturing thieves despite their bad reputation? Turns out, Academician Li wants to praise an old acquaintance with a play.”

Yang Tinghe tucked the manuscript into his sleeve and gave Li Dongyang a knowing look, “I get it, shixiong. Rest assured.”

No, it wasn’t me, it was my disciple!

Li Dongyang grabbed his sleeve and dragged him along, saying, “How is this me deliberately praising him? This manuscript is based on current events and the cases handled by the Jinyiwei. Worthy little brother Yang, haven’t you heard the stories about the Black-Clad Thief?”

Yang Tinghe, who occasionally went out for drinks, had heard some rumors about the Jinyiwei capturing thieves and arresting criminals, so he dumped the book out of his sleeve and started reading the few pages of the outline from the beginning among the illustrations.

After reading, like Li Dongyang, he clapped his hands and praised, “Good illustrations, good story, and what a remarkable woman! The text is simple and straightforward, as if narrated, but it has an inherent vitality. Reading it feels like looking at pictures. This does not seem like the work of a playwright or storyteller. Is this a new talented youth who had an artisan illustrate it, who then sought shixiong out?”

Li Dongyang stroked his beard, smiled faintly, and deliberately said, “Not that new, but compared to us, he is indeed young. If Jiefu can write the play, I will bring him to meet you and have him treat us to a good meal. How about that?”

Yang Tinghe raised his eyebrows, “Yang-mo usually exchanges one table of wine for one play, this seems too cheap. Unless he gives me this draft in exchange, then I will not suffer a loss.”

Li Dongyang said, “I can make that decision for him. But I cannot give it to you immediately. You need to write the play first, then return the draft so he can convert the illustrations into color prints for the book. Once the color printing blocks are engraved and made, I will request that he gives you this original draft.”

As they were talking in the courtyard, Senior Compilers Wang Hua and Xie Qian walked out of the duty hall, chatting and laughing. Seeing them in deep discussion with something in hand, they could not help but cough lightly and ask, “What are the two da-ren discussing? Is there new official business?”

No new business. If they were not idle, they would not have time to write a play ah.

Yang Tinghe laughed, “Academician Li asked me to write a play for him but only offered a table of wine as compensation. I said it is too little, so he gave me the original draft as additional compensation—The two da-ren, is there such a thing in this world?”

Xie Qian glanced at the manuscript, vaguely seeing the name “Yao-niang,” and asked with a smile, “What kind of manuscript? Is it a newly published novel or story? Trading it for Yang da-ren’s inspection and writing is indeed too little! In my opinion, Academician Li should at least treat us as guests, to a few more meals and drinks.”

Wang Hua stood by, smiling without speaking.

Li Dongyang shook his head and sighed, “This manuscript was given to me by a promising young talent. It’s fine for Jiefu to have a meal for writing the play, but you court officials, distinguished senior scholars and gentlemen, actually have the nerve to ask a junior to treat you.”

Xie Qian, despite being junior to Li Dongyang, was a zhuangyuan, inherently giving him an exalted status. He jested, disregarding the seniority, “Who said we want to drink a young junior’s wine? We just want to drink Senior Li’s wine! Over the years, we have not had the chance to enjoy Senior Li’s hospitality. Today, having stumbled upon this rare opportunity to meet the senior, how can we not take advantage?”

Li Dongyang thought for a moment and sighed with a smile, “Fine, I will treat you. Once the play is staged, I will cover the cost of the food and the drinks at the viewing. How about that?”

Xie Qian and Wang Hua did not hold back, agreeing on the plan for a future gathering to watch the play and drink wine. They then looked at the manuscript in Yang Tinghe’s hands and said, “We cannot just drink Li da-ren’s wine for free. We might as well help review the story, perhaps saving Yang da-ren some effort.”

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The story of the Black-Clad Thief was indeed widely circulated, partly because of its slightly alluring  nature, making it particularly popular among the public. Storytellers outside had already adapted it into vernacular folk tales. The version revised by Cui Xie contained elements loved most by scholars: a righteous woman, revenge for her father, Imperial rewards, and lovers that married..

The only flaw was the male protagonist’s identity. But since the characters were real people, and the real Colonel Xie had once saved Academician Li from ruffians, it was not appropriate to change this identity arbitrarily even if everyone else disliked it.

Additionally, the manuscript was accompanied by beautifully illustrated portraits. Before long the manuscript was already circulated throughout Hanlin Academy. Many Hanlin Academy bachelors, senior editors and compilers, idle and with nothing else to do, would occasionally ponder the lyrics and dialogue—of course, mostly focusing on Wang Yao’s lines.

How could one not use the finest words and phrases to describe such a delicate, yet virtuous beauty?

Li Dongyang told Cui Xie how popular his draft had become at the Hanlin Academy, proudly saying, “Yang Jiefu will write the lyrics for you, and the two top zhuangyuan surnamed Wang and Xie will revise it. Others need not be mentioned… Your manuscript is second to none. When the play is ready, you must invite your teacher to watch first.”

The name Yang Jiefu was not familiar to Cui Xie, and he could not guess who Wang Zhuangyuan was for a moment, but he was certain about Xie Zhuangyuan being Xie Qian! Cui Xian’s eyes lit up, eagerly asking about Yang Jiefu and Wang Zhuangyuan.

Li Dongyang slowly opened his lips and uttered two names: “Jiefu’s full name is Yang Tinghe, and Wang zhuangyuan’s full name is Wang Hua. You have met Senior Compiler Xie before, so no need to mention him again?”

Wang Hua was not a familiar name, but Yang Tinghe was! A child prodigy who passed the provincial imperial examinations at twelve and became a jinshi at nineteen, destined to become a Senior Grand Secretary in the future, no less than Yang Yiqing da-ren!

So his play was being orchestrated bya  future member of the cabinet, with lyrics written by a future member of the cabinet, and revised by a future member of the cabinet..!

Although Wang zhuangyuan was not a member of the cabinet, he was a zhuangyuan, a very amazing and valuable figure!

Cui Xie felt a bit dizzy, rubbing his temples, saying, “When the play is staged, please invite all the da-ren who helped revise it. Though this disciple’s residence has no fine dishes, but with sincere hospitality, I will do my best to host them.

Li Dongyang laughed, “No need to invite so many. I will arrange it for you. But you will need to ask Xie da-ren for some good wine—this play is to bring glory to the Jinyiwei, so how can he, as a Colonel, contribute nothing?”

Cui Xie grinned, “Of course! When the time comes, this disciple will personally pull the cart to Xie Residence to fetch the wine, ensuring there is enough for everyone to drink heartily and get drunk several times!”

Li Dongyang, recalling Xie Ying’s fine wine, felt his spirits lift and asked with concern, “Do you need me to retrieve the draft so you can start the color printing process?”

Cui Xian smiled, “No need. This disciple remembers how everything was drawn and has been slowly working on it these past days.”

After drawing the backgrounds and character designs, he had Cui Qi trace them on oil paper, outline and color them, turning them into the comic book style commonly used in engravings. Now, Cui Qi’s tracing  was quite skillful, and the Peace of Mind Study in the capital had experienced craftsmen for large illustrations. As long as Yang da-ren did not change the scenes, they could proceed with backgrounds, props, costumes, and character standees.

Li Dongyang said, “I noticed Jiefu really likes your illustrations. He’d rather adapt his writing to your illustrations, so he will not easily change your work.”

Cui Xie felt reassured and called Cui Qi to start working with the craftsmen on the background paintings and character standees.

With pencils now available, the process of drawing no longer relied solely on the craftsmen’s eyes and experience, as they could use auxiliary lines. They stretched coarse white cloth over large wooden frames, first marking grids with pencils and long bamboo rulers, then enlarging the original drawings proportionally. They outlined with ink, colored the sketches, and finally used steamed buns to erase the pencil lines…

This method allowed even someone like Cui Qi, whose drawing skills were not yet refined, to produce large, beautiful paintings by  himself.

Looking at his finished work, Cui Qi was amazed and a little surprised, ” Young Master, this method is incredible! I never thought I could create such large, beautiful paintings! No wonder Young Master aced the Imperial examinations after just two years of study, Young Master. Just how was this mind born? It’s exactly like the seven orifices exquisite mind ¹described in the books.

Keke, this was the collective wisdom of people and the advantages of his time travel, having stood on the shoulders of the giants who came before him.

Cui Xie coughed twice, asking Cui Qi to stop praising him to focus on overseeing the costume preparations.

The character design for Yao-niang and her pipa-playing scenes was inspired by Rosamund Kwan in 《The Magic Crane》² but the styling was slightly altered to fit the aesthetic preferences of the Ming dynasty according to the style in 《The Erotic Dream of the Red Mansions》³. Feng Yun’s white outfit was similarly based on Anita Mui’s costume, rival to Rosamund Kwan in the same movie. The people of the Ming dynasty greatly admired this kind of young man with red lips and white teeth who were as beautiful as girls, and the flowing, fluttering white robes were fitting for the male lead.

Tailor Yu, holding the women’s costume designs was so happy he almost cried. He exclaimed to Cui Qi, “I have been begging your Young Master for more designs for ages, but he never agreed. Which deity finally persuaded him to produce so many beautiful designs? The Jinyiwei costumes are ready-made. I will give you two sets that others ordered but have not yet collected.”

Cui Qi politely declined for the moment, reminding Tailor Yu and told him earnestly, “These costumes need to be worn for our play first. You cannot make them for others until we give the go-ahead!”

Tailor Yu laughed, “I know, just like with the Three Kingdoms beauties right? First, let the play become popular, and then the industry and wealthy patrons will come to us. I have been working with the Cui family for so long and you still do not trust me? I will not even make similar costumes for others before your family uses them!”

Cui Qi ordered the new costumes and withdrew thirty-five taels of silver from the coffers, looking for craftsmen who did not covet money to make the gold-plated copper headpieces and jewelry out of four taels of gold. Shopkeeper Ji wrote a letter to Cui Yuan at the old store, to send a few young craftsmen to follow the grid drawing method and create matching large background paintings for the stage. Shopkeeper Ji also contacted familiar opera troupes to set aside time to prepare for the Cui family’s new play.

Cui Liangdong, however, was even busier, sourcing lantern makers and bamboo weavers to work with their own painters to create artificial trees and stones, as well as bamboo-framed, fabric-covered, wax-coated props. It was the family’s first time making props by themselves, so they lacked experience. The furniture could be modeled after their own residence, but the trees and stones looked too artificial compared to the background paintings. Fortunately, when Teacher Lu returned to Beijing and heard that the play was connected to Li Dongyang and written by Yang Tinghe with revisions by two zhuangyuan, he was so excited that he volunteered to help on the spot.

He was a poet and painter with a refined taste in aesthetics. His plum trees had withered branches, his poplar trees were lush and leafy, and his rocks were intricate and delicate…with his guidance, the props gained a touch of scholarly elegance.

By July, the script written by Yang Tinghe was completed.

Yang da-ren, with a smug expression, kept the original manuscript and handed his version to Li Dongyang, saying leisurely, “This script is exactly as Li shixiong envisioned, emphasizing Yao-niang and Colonel Xie’s roles. Feng Yun’s role is a bit lighter but still sincere and fitting, making them a good match. Since I wrote the dialogue and lyrics, they must be performed exactly as written without changing a single word. If anything is off, I will come after its author!”

Li Dongyang, perusing the script, chewing on the words carefully, found it meticulously crafted and impossible to alter. Despite being a southerner, Yang Tinghe had written in precise northern rhymes, with all the words and tones of northern opera. Once the string were added, the rhyme and sound would be beautiful, ensuring the lyrics would harmonize perfectly when sung.

He closed the script with a smile, “Then I’ll have it staged. If it is performed incorrectly, I will personally bring him to apologize to you.”

Yang Tinghe’s script took much longer than Cui Xie’s storyboard, causing some embarrassment for Li Dongyang whenever his disciple visited and he always felt a little awkward meeting him. Now, with the script in hand, he felt relieved and called Cui Xie, who got off from school from the day, over to his bookcase, handing him the script with a casual air, “Take a look. Does this meet your expectations?”

How could a script by Yang Tinghe not meet expectations?

Cui Xian eagerly took the script with both hands, reading through the pages and carefully memorizing the future Senior Grand Secretary’s words. The cover even bore the pen name ‘The Recluse Who Embraces Stone,” another alias like ‘Master of Western Waters’. This was a hand-written, signed script by a future Senior Grand Secretary, something to treasure for years until Yang Tinghe became part of the cabinet…

Feeling overwhelmed with happiness, Cui Xie did not dare to think about it!

He beamed with joy, to the point his pearly whites were exposed. If he was not good-looking, he would have been taken for a thief.

Li Dongyang, unable to bear the sight, playfully knocked Cui Xie’s forehead, “You have the script now. Stop obsessing over it. Go home and have your family find a troupe to start rehearsing. Jiefu and the others are waiting for your performance and wine!”

Cui Xian, rubbing his forehead, cheerfully replied, “Don’t worry, Master. I have already arranged with Colonel Xie for the wine. Tomorrow, after class at the Imperial College, this disciple will fetch it. This time, Master and the distinguished guests will enjoy drinking to their heart’s content.”

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Footnotes:

1. seven orifices exquisite mind: often used in Chinese literature and idiomatic expressions to describe someone who is highly intelligent, perceptive, and insightful. The imagery of a heart with seven orifices suggests a complex and finely tuned mind that can understand and process information with great clarity and depth. ↩︎
2. The Magic Crane: 1993 Hong Kong wuxia film produced by Tsui Hark, directed by Benny Chan and starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Anita Mui and Rosamund Kwan based on the novel Xian He Shen Zhen by Wolong Sheng. ↩︎
3. The Erotic Dream of the Red Chamber: The movie lavishly and vividly depicts the story of 15-year-old Pao Yu and his preoccupation with bedding beautiful women. ↩︎

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TN: Have a good rest of your week everyone and enjoy the chapter! Sorry its a bit late, I got caught up with family visiting!

Update 12/23/24: I just updated it so that all my advance chapters for TMD are up on patreon (and will be continually updated)! Sorry for being so lazy with it and apologies for taking so long to do so. I had to organize a lot of my random documents after a long hiatus last year.

Announcement: We have set up a kofi and patreon account! If you would like to support us or get early access to advance chapters for Blood-Sucking Empress OR TMD, those options are available for you (in support us page)! I have just added a patreon tier for Transmigrating to the Ming Dynasty’s Imperial Examinations in which patreons can have access to a google document with ALL of my advanced translated chapters for the novel. Since I am a grad student, there should usually be at least 10 advance chapters in the document at a time, but depending on my schedules, there may be fewer or more. I’m currently extremely busy, but I have translated out some new chapters for you all! But, I will still post each week with the same schedule. Thanks!

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