Transmigrating to the Ming Dynasty’s Imperial Examination Ch. 150

Chapter 150

During the workdays, Hanlin Academy scholars often slacked off from their official duties to write plays instead of compiling documents…although their supervisor turned a blind eye to this, it would not be appropriate to invite their superiors to the play. This is because the conversation might shift to exchanging experiences in writing the play and expressing their melancholy and sorrow of being too busy with official duties to write poems and compose plays. 

So, for the first performance, they only invited those who participated in writing the play and had been eagerly asking when it would be staged.

Though Yang Tinghe was only a minor seventh-rank official, since he was the main writer of the play, Li Dongyang seated him in the place of honor, when arranging the seats while he, along with Xie Qian and Wang Hua, accompanied him. The next few rows were arranged according to rank, from the Senior Compilers to the Editors, Reviewers and Bachelors. Two people who were not Hanlin Academy scholars were also present and inserted in the middle – the original author Cui Xie and the artistic director, Teacher Lu.

These two, who had not even passed the Imperial examinations, were so excited to sit among the Hanlin scholars, that they could barely contain their excitement. 

Cui Xie wanted to sketch everyone’s portrait to take to his grave, hoping future historians would recognize this moment. Lu juren, inspired, scribbled down fleeting poetic lines that flashed through his mind in his small notebook with a pencil.

The Hanlin scholars were equally excited. On the stage in front of them, it was set up like an elegant, serene boudoir: colorful silk curtains hung, flowers artfully arranged in diagonal angles, a painted wall with two windows revealing distant mountains and nearby trees. A young branch drooped gracefully outside, as seen in the corner of the window. The table was adorned with jade pots, golden cups, fresh green grapes, yellow and highly fragrant pomegranates, and a carved lacquer dressing table with its back facing the audience. Decorative flowering crabapples patterns exuded a sense of indolent charm beloved by literati.

Once everyone was seated, Li Dongyang clapped his hands and ordered the play to begin. The door to the boudoir at the end of the stage was pushed open, and a graceful figure holding a pipa stepped inside. Silhouetted by several sheer curtains hanging in the room, the figure of Yao-niang was alluring and elegant, her fair, snow-white skin complemented by a purple muslin jacket, exuding indescribable charm.

It was a pity that her face was too round, her eyes not long and beautiful enough, and her nose a bit too round and blunt, not matching the beauty depicted in the illustrations. The audience murmured softly, wishing they could find the artist who drew such a stunning beauty in the manuscript and ask why he had not invited her to perform instead!

Fortunately, the actress had applied thick powder, her mediocrity concealed by the whiteness. Although she did not look as pretty as the fairy in the painting, from a distance, she appeared fair and pleasing, like someone from inside a painting. After entering the room, she half-turned, glanced out the fake window, and hearing the sound of strings, she began singing a line from【Wind on the River】.

“After the rain, the mountains are washed clean and become clear, worthy of being painted on silk.”

With such a vivid voice and vibrant colors, she became a real beauty!

The audience burst into applause and everyone praised Yang Tinghe, “Jiefu, what a stroke of genius! Ordinary plays would start with some dialogue, but this opening melody goes straight to the heart!”

Yang Tinghe modestly replied, “No, no, why would I seek novelty? I just felt that such a beautiful scene should not be wasted and must be sung.”

As he said this, he glanced around towards the back, looking for the handsome young talent who provided the illustrations for Li Dongyang. After searching around, he spotted only two scholars among his colleagues. Even Li Dongyang’s younger brother and son had been detained by him in the courtyard to study, and they could not listen to the play. Out of the two scholars, one was Li Dongyang’s disciple and the other Lu juren from Henan—Yang Tinghe surmised that one of them must be the author they had been eager to meet. 

He gave Lu juren a deep look, but felt that the other did not look much younger than himself. His heart wavered as he clutched the wine cup, feeling uncertain whether to approach him.

The play on the stage was just right, so let’s finish watching that first.

After three lines, Yao-niang introduced herself, stating that her family lived in Binzhou, and her father was a local pastoral official known for his integrity and wholehearted dedication to the court. She and her mother spent their days quietly at home, enjoying the scenery and awaiting her father’s return from presenting tributes to the Emperor.

Continuing her story, Yao-niang plucked the strings of her pipa, singing about the ‘shadows of trees cast on the windows, the moss creeping on the curtains’ and ‘the clear sound of the pipa, the golden pot casually tilted’. As she was lost in her pleasant reverie, the strings on the stage suddenly stopped and a beautiful, middle-aged woman rushed onto the stage with small steps, wailing sadly about how Yao-niang’s father lost the tribute, was tried in the capital, exiled to the western frontier, and had died along the way in sorrow.

The joyful tune turned into a sorrowful one as mother and daughter embraced and wept. A maid untied the sheer curtains from the pillars on both sides, enclosing the scene and blurring the once elegant boudoir.

The next scene depicted Wang furen‘s sacrificial loyalty to her husband, and Yao-niang’s relentless search for the truth behind her father’s downfall, finally discovering the identity of the black-clad thief and vowing to avenge her father. The stage setting changed to a mourning hall, and the purple curtains were replaced with white silk. Lu juren, worried the stagehands might not arrange it tastefully enough, quietly left his seat to help with the set.

The second act began with Wang furen, dressed in plain mourning white robes, holding a sharp knife to her chest, singing 【Drunken Peaceness】mournfully:

“The path to fame and fortune is steep, the sea of right and wrong is full of people. Who knew that hatred would come in from the ordinary, ending all happiness in a day. Carrying out public duties led to death…”

After singing, she drew the knife across her throat, pressing her left hand against the blade to squeeze out a stream of bright red blood, staining her clothes bloodred. Yao-niang emerged from the back, saw the blood, and rushed to support her mother, touching her lips, and Madam Wang bit her lips, spitting out blood.

It was actually chicken blood.

The actress displayed great artistic skill, spitting the blood in small, sorrowful bursts while speaking, and could still talk while doing so. Wang furen instructed her daughter to live well and that sooner or later, their family would be avenged and to burn paper money as an offering to inform them in the afterlife. Yao-niang tearfully agreed and repeatedly agreed, sang two slow songs, and then Wang furen finally tilted her head and died. Yao-niang, in heavy mourning attire, collapsed over her mother, as fine white flakes fell from above. One could not tell if it was snow, poplar flowers, or paper money.

White curtains gradually fell on both sides, covering the vast white ground on the stage.

A few Hanlin Academy scholars couldn’t help but applaud, with Yang Tinghe particularly moved, exclaiming, “How was such a part staged! Although I wrote this play, I did not expect snow here! The June snow echoes the form of 《The Injustice to Dou’ E》 and just as Dou E was wronged and framed by villains, so too was Wang Yao-niang‘s father. Dou E’s father sought justice for his daughter, while Yao-niang avenged her father. This use of snow is truly well used!”

Wang Hua countered, “How is it snow? Is it not poplar flower? How could it snow indoors? There is a poplar branch outside the window, I think it should be poplar flowers. The wind blowing away the flowers signifies the end of spring and the coming of summer. When Yao-niang sheds her mourning clothes, she’ll head to the capital right?”

Both had valid points, and the Hanlin scholars began to debate, unsure of which interpretation was correct. With the curtain taking a long time to rise due to the stage crew clearing the white fluff on the stage, a few young and energetic Hanlin scholars, eager to settle the dispute, pulled Lu juren aside, asking, “Worthy Little Brother Lu, are those poplar flowers or snow? Is the falling poplar flowers signifying the end of spring or the heavens pitying the orphan, with frost in March?”

Teacher Lu didn’t know ah!

Feeling the pressure and happiness of being surrounded by Hanlin scholars, Lu juren decisively said, “They are reed catkins! We picked them by the water pond before coming here! As for why we used reed catkins in this scene, you’ll have to ask Cui Xie, who arranged the play.”

Cui Xie came up with the idea of using the reed catkins, saying they looked good melting on white clothes. Naturally, he had to be asked!

Cui Xian sheepishly rubbed his nose and said in embarrassment, “I just thought it looked good this way…”

He had seen many movie scenes with people buried in snow, which looked artistic, so he casually mimicked them. He did not expect it to inspire such deep reflections after viewing. The Hanlin scholars, true to their reputation of crafting exam questions for the crown prince, seized every opportunity for interpretive analysis!

At this time, Yang Tinghe stared intently at Cui Xian’s face, compared it to Lu juren standing beside him, then touched his own face…

Now, this was the young talent they had been looking for, and Lu juren seemed older than him!

Turning to Li Dongyang, he asked, “ Li-xiong, just tell me which talented scholar it is who wrote the manuscript, is it your disciple?”

All the other scholars ignored the reed catkins and the one sitting next to Cui Xiequickly pulled him up, asking, “Is he the mysterious talent? Li da-ren, you hid this so well ah!”

Li Dongyang smiled calmly, reservedly and modestly, “What is there to say, the script was written by Jiefu, revised by many talented scholars. He is just a young kid who can draw a bit, nothing special.”

Quite special! Without the exquisite illustrations of the beautiful Wang Yao-niang, the handsome Colonel Xie, and without…hey, who was missing?

The one in white robes, with a cold and aloof demeanor, yet elegant….

Oh yes, the white-clad Jinyiwei who married Yao-niang!

Without these exquisite, embossed portraits, how could Yang Tinghe have willingly written the script? How could so many have helped scrutinize and revise it?

They immediately dropped the debate about poplar flowers and snow, bombarding Cui Xie with questions about the portraits. They had occasionally seen Colonel Xie, whose portrait was about seventy to eighty percent accurate to the real person. What about Yao-niang and her husband? Were there real-life models?

Yes, but not from the Ming Dynasty.

Cui Xian sighed, “This student just drew what came to mind and did not draw real people. Only Colonel Xie was based on a real person since he was involved in the case.”

Such a beauty not existing in reality…

Indeed, such beauty seemed otherworldly. The Hanlin scholar, though disappointed, felt a sense of reasonability and inevitability, sighed, let go of his arms and joked, “Academician Li’s disciple’s painting skills rival those of Shen Zhou from Wu. In the future, when I am a hundred years old, I’ll ask him to paint my portrait!”

No need to wait until you’re gone, how about we paint now?

Cui Xian rubbed his hands together eagerly, itching to paint portraits for the bigwigs as soon as the play was over. Li Dongyang, however, pressed him down, advising his colleagues, “Don’t praise him too much, causing him to focus on this. I am still counting on him to pass the provincial exams next year and return as a jinshi in his twenties, so as not to disgrace his Master’s reputation!”

The next provincial examination was on August 9th of the following year, and with no leap month in between, so there were only 364 days left. Li Dongyang and his fellow scholars, as well as his colleagues and friends, were all prodigies who had passed the Imperial examinations at a young age. Cui Xie, who was also considered a prodigy and had such a renowned teacher, would bring some embarrassment to his mentor if he only managed to pass in his twenties.

Yang Tinghe laughed, “What is Li-xiong worried about? With Hezhong now enjoying such advantages, studying the 《Four Books》with questions set by Hanlin scholars and exam questions answered by the Crown Prince himself, how many scholars in the world get such treatment? If you are worried about his grasp of the classics, I… well, with Wang Hua and Xie Qian, two zhuangyuan here, we can have them draft more test papers. How can he not become a juren?”

Everyone laughed, “Exactly. Although we may not have Yang da-ren’s skill in writing lyrics, drafting some classic questions isn’t difficult. We could provide a set every day if needed.”

Li Dongyang thanked his colleagues on Cui Xie’s behalf, patting him and asking, “How do you feel about that?”

What else could be said? Cui Xian thanked everyone and chanted with his eyes closed, “There is no easy road to learning,  diligence is the path. There is no end to the sea of knowledge, hard work is the boat.”

His hard work made the bigwigs’ entertainment much more enjoyable.

As the white curtain reopened on stage, the backdrop changed to a picturesque scene of weeping peach trees with blossoms hanging over the shore, winding mountain streams, and a small stone bridge crossing the stream. The stage was set with weeping willows, poplar trees, and oddly shaped rocks. Yao-niang, dressed in light-colored gauze robes, with a simple bun, gracefully glided to the center of the stage, holding her pipa.

A breeze from an unseen source gently blew towards her, making her gauzy sleeves and skirt billow as if she were about to fly. Just by looking at her posture, there was no need for her to sing with great emotion; even a few casual lines would give off an ethereal fairy-like presence.

From the second act onward, Yao-niang played her pipa and sang, inquiring about the black-clad thief from old men, vendors, and grannies, seeking to enter the capital for revenge, and encountering checkpoints by the Jinyiwei. Throughout her dusty and tiring journey, her plain attire remained spotless, making her appear whiter and purer against the backdrop of her hardships, moving even those who wrote and edited the script to tears.

Before the play even ended, the audience began requesting ink, paper, and brushes from the Li Residence, using all their talent to write poems and essays praising Yao-niang and hailing the play as the best drama of the Chenghua era.

After the authors had seen the premiere, it was time for the main subjects of the play—the hero Colonel Xie and his Jinyiwei team.

Xie Ying rented a garden outside the city, inviting the Fortune and Longevity troupe to perform for five days, from the 9th to the 13th, just in time to avoid the busiest palace guard duties around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

On the first day of the performance, he invited his superior, Zhu Ji, the commanders of the southern and northern administrative pacification commission offices, fourteen available Colonels, and those commandants and others under his command. Those on leave that day also attended.

Xie Ying originally intended to invite Imperial Noble Consort Wan’s brother, Vice Prefect Wan, but he had just been transferred to the Rear Guard and was busy hosting banquets for his subordinates, disdaining an invitation from a mere Colonel, so they did not come. The two administrative pacification commission officers were too busy with Mid-Autumn duties to attend to as the Mid-Autumn Festival approached.

Only Assistant Commissioner Zhu Ji, having recently exempted the guards from an assessment, was free and came to the banquet to have some drinks and watch the play.

As the guests arrived at the garden theater and saw the meticulously crafted stage set, they were all taken aback. Commander Gao clucked his tongue in amazement, “This Fortune and Longevity troupe is really clever. I wonder whose drapes and props they borrowed; it looks good, almost like something this official would design.”

While others focused on admiring the beauty, he was critiquing the set design. If it weren’t for Gao gonggong’s status, someone might have wanted to put him in a sack and drag him offstage.

Fortunately, the early parts of the play were filled with sorrow and lament, which the Jinyiwei did not care much for. They admired Wang Yao-niang‘s fairy-like appearance and Wang furen’s beautifully tragic blood-spitting performance, showering the stage with loud applause and coins.

When the reed catkins fell, covering the mother and daughter, they did not bother guessing whether it was poplar flowers or snow, simply admiring the beautiful woman in white, covered with the white flakes.

As Yao-niang wandered with her pipa, the authors were moved to tears, but the Jinyiwei were more interested in discussing her figure, demeanor and appearance, contemplating how they might heroically save her if they encountered such a pitiful beauty.

Amidst their fervent discussion, a troupe of Jinyiwei suddenly emerged from the side of the stage, dressed similarly to the current fashion in long yesa, all looking dashing and heroic. The leading Jinyiwei, with more pronounced makeup, had long eyebrows, large eyes, slightly thick lips, and a graceful figure. He stopped Yao-niang and questioned her identity.

Several Jinyiwei in the audience, who had patrolled the streets before, slammed the table in anger, “Nonsense! How dare they slander this Jinyiwei Grandfather! When have we ever questioned such a pitifully beautiful woman with such a dark expression!”

Someone knowledgeable calmed him down, advising, “This is a play commissioned by Colonel Xie and will run for several days. How could it be slander against us?”

Zhu Ji was also surprised, “There’s a play featuring the Jinyiwei? No wonder you rented the theater to invite people. Do the Jinyiwei only question her, or do they help solve the case too?”

Xie Ying smiled at the stage and replied in a low voice, “Of course, the Jinyiwei are involved throughout. If it did not portray us well, how could I invite da-ren and my colleagues to watch? This is just the beginning; da-ren will know if watching carefully.”

After questioning Yao-niang‘s background, the lead handsome Jinyiwei actor declared, “Young Lady’s background is pitiable, your intentions admirable. As a man, a guardian of the Emperor, how can I not compare to a weak woman in chivalry? How can I let such a virtuous woman wander in the dust?”

This was the true nature of the Jinyiwei!

The patrolmen cheered, and several Colonel sighed, wondering why they never had the luck to encounter a beauty. Zhu Ji suggested, “Perhaps I should submit a memorial to have you all take over Xie Ying’s duties in the capital, sparing the current officers from day and night patrols, which even makes me feel sorry for them when this old official sees them?”

Forget it, they had families to look after and could not compare to the single Xie Ying.

Amidst their banter, the play reached the part where the Jinyiwei officer Feng Yun, the captain, arranged for Yao-niang to stay in an inn, ensuring her safety before discussing anything further.

The Jinyiwei first exited the stage, leaving only the handsome male lead to escort Yao-niang offstage, and then the curtain fell. When it reopened, it revealed a grand official’s residence. At the center stood a young man with his back to the audience, and a pair of Jinyiwei emerged from behind the screen. Finally, a tall and handsome young man in a green yesa stepped out.

This man was taller and more elegant than the others, exuding extraordinary charm and presence, far surpassing the previous actor who played Feng Yun, who had saved Wang Yao-niang before, in terms of grandeur.

He walked to the center of the hall with a distinctive gait, his steps different from others and displaying a special demeanor. The audience immediately speculated that this must be the true protagonist; his manner alone was impressive.

Only Xie Ying, noticing the tall figure and the slightly swaying steps, thought of the elevated insoles Cui Xie had shown him and could not help but smile.

At that moment, onstage, Feng Yun bowed and recited, “This humble officer, Feng Yun, pays respects to Colonel Xie.”

The audience erupted in an uproar, even Assistant Commissioner Zhu almost stood up. He looked at the actor playing the role of Colonel Xie on stage, exclaiming, “There really is a Colonel Xie? The previous act only mentioned the black-clad thief, but it was indeed the one you caught!No wonder that actor’s stature is tall, and his eyebrows and eyes somewhat resemble yours. Is he really portraying you? And who is this Feng Yun?”

The patrol officers in the audience began to identify with Feng Yun, thinking that the name or the role must relate to themselves, especially those who had dealt with the black-clad thief.

However, Commander Gao, who hadn’t patrolled the streets, couldn’t relate and instead focused on another aspect, pointing at the actor playing Colonel Xie, “Isn’t that Lu Erlang playing Colonel Xie? I remember he’s of average height, not even as tall as me. How does he look taller playing Colonel Xie?”

Indeed! He plays the role of the Colonel and looks more handsome than the average officer, so they did not argue, but how does he appear taller? The heels of his shoes seemed flat.

Xie Ying recalled Cui Xie’s boast about the insoles and lowered his eyelids with a faint smile, “He just added insoles to his shoes. I’ve seen them and they are uncomfortable compared to regular high-soled shoes. If you really want to know, I can ask how they were made. But should we not focus on the play now? Wang Yao-niang is about to appear again.”

Yes, they should!

The previous scenes were all about sorrow and complaints, but now it was all about the Jinyiwei and the beautiful Wang Yao-niang. Just watching the characters and costumes deserved careful attention and rewatching several times!.

Everyone quickly turned their eyes to the stage—

The curtain opened and the scene resumed with Feng Yun at the inn, informing Wang Yao-niang that the case of the black-clad thief had been reported to the Colonel. He assured her that their Colonel had ordered an investigation throughout the capital to help her seek revenge and find the thief.

Yao-niang, holding her pipa in her arms, bowed in gratitude and offered to sing a song to comfort him, then began a performance with a set piece from 【Liangzhou Xu】 to express her feelings: “…The cold wind cuts, the fine ice sand, the mountain and river paths are blocked, how can I return? The tears of an orphan girl are known to few… Today, finally, the heavens have opened their eyes, allowing me to sacrifice myself, to assist the officers in capturing the thief.“

After she finished singing, she bowed deeply. The audience was invigorated, cheering loudly and anticipating Feng Yun to sweep the beauty off her feet for a romantic night. Just then, the dignified Colonel Xie reappeared, instructing Feng Yun to help Yao-niang up, praising her for her filial piety and bravery, and agreeing to use her in a beauty trap to catch the black-clad thief.

The curtain fell, obscuring the stage. But whether it was two people or three, including the superior officer, the implications changed—having Colonel Xie, this great Buddha here, they dared not have any imaginations about Feng Yun and Yao-niang in the backdrop! What a waste of Feng Yun’s good looks and what a waste of his elegant clothes!

The audience was critiquing the play’s writing for not understanding the people’s taste and did not understand the aesthetic taste of the masses, but when the curtain reopened, a delicate room was revealed while smoke rose from the incense burners. The room was once again decorated like an elegant boudoir. Four maidservants, dressed in matching double-breasted jackets and skirts, with double buns on their heads, stood around a vanity.

A copper mirror on the stage obscured Wang Yao-niang‘s face, showing only her hair in a high fairy bun decorated with colorfully dyed wooden beads inlaid with copper and made into gold flowers.

As the strings and pipes played, the four maids stepped back in unison.

From behind the mirror, Wang Yao-niang sang, “Green clouds piled upon the temples, her face dusted with rouge and light fragrance,” then stood up from behind the table, revealing her beautiful face with long, slender eyebrows, slightly curved upward at the ends, her cheeks lightly dusted with blush, and snow-white skin with red lips. Her high bun was adorned with many ornaments, and she wore long pearl earrings and a red flower on her forehead. She was dressed in an ivory-colored double-breasted jacket over a light pink lotus undergarment with a high collar, and a gold choker inlaid with jade and pearls around her neck.

The soft yellow light from the sides of the stage softened her face from both sides. Blurring the delicate contours on her face, leaving only the picturesque features of her painted eyebrows, eyes, red lips, black hair like the clouds, making her look even more ethereal and beautiful beyond words.

The song matched the scene perfectly, with lines like “A smile in the wind is not spring, it’s like the soul of a pear blossom in the moonlight…”

Who said the scholars couldn’t write a good play? It was excellent! The character, the scene, and the song fit perfectly!

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TN: Have a good rest of your week everyone and enjoy the chapter! this chapter felt really long to translate, but perhaps the author was just really excited and made this chapter longer XD

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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