I Am This Type of Woman

75.2

"Fine." Rong Xia agreed right away.

Du Jiu's face didn't show any expression, but he was thinking that she named her own horse Inky Jade while calling other's horse White Jade Cake. Could she not add that 'cake' word?

"Alright." Ban Hua withdrew her hand from the horse, "Go back."

Rong Xia gazed at Ban Hua. Her eyes were very beautiful, like clean and clear lake, so clear that he barely could move his eyes away. But in this pair of clear eyes, there was no reluctance to part from him, there was no lingering feeling for him. There was not even much affection.

She didn't like him, or it could be said..... her heart was not moved by him yet.

She looked at him in a way of looking at an ornament she liked, a pretty peacock. There was amazement and appreciation, but the feeling between a man and a woman was missing.

"Farewell." Rong Xia smiled.

"En." Ban Hua smiled until her eyes turned into a pair of crescents. She waved to Rong Xia, "Take care."

The sound of horse hooves was soft. After Rong Xia's shadow disappeared, Ban Hua turned to Ban Heng, "Let's go back."

"Sis, we aren't going to the estate anymore?" Ban Heng thought they were going to bury some silver, who knew they would meet Rong Xia as soon as they stepped out of the gate. One thing led to another and it was put off until now.

"Not going." Ban Hua raised her head to the sky, "It's getting dark soon, next time."

"Alright." Ban Heng was slightly disappointed. After burying silver twice, he found it a fun activity and he came to love this game.

—

The area where nobles lived and the building where Yunniang lived was quite a distance away. The palanquin bearers walked fast but the sky had gradually become dark before they arrived.

As they approached the red-light district, the sort of people on the street had also become more diversed, they had to be careful among the unhinged drunkards on the road. When they entered the alley, a young man dressed in a dishevelled scholar attire came out.

He staggered as he walked, muttered something about the injustice of the government, cursed his friends and family. He then crashed headlong into the palanquin, fell to the ground and rolled twice. As his mouth opened to cuss, a man appeared of nowhere pulling out a large sword with a faint cold glow. The young man was so frightened that he couldn't speak.

In Daye, anyone who dared to carry weapons in public would have special identities such as soldiers, yamen runners, or guards in nobles houses. Mere commoners did not walk around with a sword because they would have been tackled and taken to yamen in less than 20 steps.

He thought the person in the palanquin guarded by some armed guards must be a flower girl favoured by a noble man. Only after the palanquin passed that he dared to curse in a lowered voice.

"Just a courtesan, what's so great of that one. When This Master, I, ..... becomes a zhuangyuan, I can even marry a gongzhu. It is in the books, the books have face like jade. Women aren't good things......" He burped, climbed up from the ground, without patting the dirt on his robes, he staggered away.

* yamen = local governmental office in town or region level. They managed local finance and capital works, the judging of civil and criminal cases, and issuing of decrees and policies. * the queen of flowers 花魁 = a famous courtesan. * zhuangyuan 状元 = the top scorer in palace examination stage of imperial examination system.

Walking into a desolate alley, he saw two men dressed in black were thrusting their swords through the fat belly of another man. He was so shocked that the content of his stomach was almost out, but this time he was able stay quiet, probably because he had just been scared by the previous incident. Only after the black-clad men left that he was able to hold onto the wall while creeping closer to the man on the ground.