I Am This Type of Woman
Chapters ListChapter 1: Another Broken Engagement
It was September, a good time for harvest. But Marquis Jingting was hiding in his study, smashing porcelain and cursing nonstop. He looked more like a street thug than a Marquis.
"In the capital, how dare he offend me, Ban Huai! I'll kill him!"
"Father, don't be angry. I'll go find someone to beat him up."
"You want to beat him up? I'll ask the Emperor to deal with him!"
"Have you had enough?" Madam Yin kicked open the study door and looked at the father and son duo, who were gearing up for a fight. She scolded in a stern voice, "Are you trying to make the rumors outside even worse?"
Marquis Jingting and his son immediately fell silent. The Marquis took his foot off the chair, and Ban Heng, the heir, put down his sleeves.
It was September, but Madam Yin had to fan herself to calm down. She ignored the broken porcelain on the floor and walked straight to her chair. The maids and old servants who followed her began to clean up the mess.
The sound of porcelain pieces colliding made her even angrier. She glared at her husband and son, then slammed her hand on the table, causing the teacup to jump.
"He's just a nobody from the countryside. After passing the imperial exam, he dares to break off the engagement, acting as if our family forced him into it! What nonsense!"
"Mother, Mother," Ban Heng approached Madam Yin with a flattering smile. "Please don't be angry. Toads with three legs are hard to find, but men with two legs are everywhere. It's just a matter of words for our family to deal with him. Don't let it affect your health."
"I don't want to be angry, but look at this mess!"
Any mother whose daughter was publicly humiliated by three broken engagements wouldn't feel happy.
She had only one son and one daughter. Although the Marquis was absurd and lazy, he wasn't a womanizer, so there were no concubines or maidservants in the house. That was probably his only redeeming quality.
When her daughter was born, she arranged a marriage with the child of her close friend. However, that child died of smallpox at the age of three.
When her daughter was thirteen, she was engaged to Xie Qilin, the second legitimate son of the Duke of Zhongping. But just before the wedding, Xie Qilin suddenly found his "true love" and eloped with her. Rumors spread that her daughter was an idiot, not even comparable to a maid. Otherwise, why would the young master of the Duke's manor elope with a woman of low birth instead of marrying her?
Although Xie Qilin was eventually brought back, the engagement was broken, and the two families became estranged, almost enemies.
This time it was even more absurd. This Shen Yu was from a distant branch of the Shen family in Dongzhou, barely considered a local prestigious family. After coming to the capital, he fell in love with her daughter at first sight, begging to marry her seven or eight times. As soon as their family agreed, he turned around and broke it off.
When he broke off the engagement, he said on the surface that he was not worthy of their family. But in reality, he despised her daughter for being beautiful but brainless, extravagant and lazy, not a good match.
Why didn't he say that before he passed the imperial exam and became the top scorer? Now he despises her daughter for being extravagant? Their Jingting Marquis Residence was rich, they could afford to let their daughter be extravagant!
While the Ban family was fuming with anger, the one who was actually dumped was still sound asleep.
Ban Hua was dreaming. It was a long dream, so long that when she woke up, she couldn't tell if it was real or just a dream. It was only when she sat up and saw the pearl curtain hanging outside that she realized she had been dreaming.
Right, what did she dream about?
It seemed that she had been dumped again. Someone became the Emperor, her father offended the new Emperor and was stripped of his title, and then their entire family lived a miserable life.
Oh my god, how terrible would life be without being able to compare jewelry and clothes with others?
Without being able to see the frustrated look on those people's faces who had to be respectful to her on the surface while cursing her behind her back, how boring would life be?
This dream was really unlucky, it was better to forget it as soon as possible.
"My lady," the maid came in, wiping her tears and sobbing. "Top Scorer Shen actually came to break off the engagement."
Ban Hua's limp body instantly straightened up: "Break off the engagement?"
Oh no, the nightmare had come true!
If her father wasn't Marquis Jingting, then her brother wouldn't be the heir, and she wouldn't be the Lady of Xianjun bestowed by the current Emperor. How would she enjoy life, riding horses, walking dogs, and appreciating flowers in the future?
Life was short, did she only have a few short years of enjoyment left?
She didn't remember much else from the dream, but she clearly remembered how miserable she was after she was no longer Lady Xianjun. Thinking of this, she suddenly felt sad, put on her shoes and clothes, and ran towards the main courtyard.
"My lady, your hair!"
Fortunately, the servants of Jingting Marquis Residence were tight-lipped. Otherwise, by tomorrow, the hottest topic in the capital would be "The eldest daughter of Marquis Jingting went crazy because of a broken engagement, running around the house in dishevelled clothes."
Actually, this was also Marquis Jingting's first thought when he saw his daughter.
"My dear daughter," Marquis Jingting saw his daughter appear in the study with dishevelled hair and messy clothes, and burst into tears. "My dear daughter, let's not marry anymore. Tomorrow, Dad will buy you a dozen handsome men, both literary and martial, you can choose whoever you like."
Men in the world were all bad, making his daughter like this.
At this time, Marquis Jingting had already excluded himself from the category of men.
Ban Heng glanced at his sister enviously. He didn't even have a concubine, and no one had ever arranged one for him. It would be an elegant thing to have someone accompany him at night.
"Don't even think about it," Madam Yin glared at her son. "You stay home and study."
"I, I didn't think about anything." Ban Heng felt wronged. He clearly didn't do anything, so why was his mother nagging him?
"You came out of my belly. I know what you're thinking with just one look at your eyes." Madam Yin's heart softened when she saw her daughter like this. She wished she could tear Shen Yu apart. But she was worried that her emotions would affect her daughter, so she could only persuade her kindly.
"Although your father's words were foolish, but…" Madam Yin patted her daughter's back gently. She noticed that she was trembling, so she said softly, "There are many good men in the world. It doesn't matter if you can't find one. You have a share of the family's shops, properties, and land. You have money and status, what are you afraid of?"
Ban Hua rubbed against Madam Yin and whispered, "I'm not sad because that someone broke off the engagement. I'm scared because I had a strange dream."
"What did you dream about?" Madam Yin secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her daughter didn't care about the broken engagement.
"The new Emperor ascended the throne, and he stripped Father of his title…"
"Stripped of his title?!" Ban Heng jumped up. "Who's the new Emperor? Let's go ruin him now."
"I don't remember," Ban Hua thought hard for a while. "But he should be a very powerful man."
"You don't even remember who he is, but you remember how powerful he is?" Ban Heng scoffed. "That's too unreliable."
"It's just a dream, don't take it seriously. Wouldn't he be powerful if he could become the Emperor?" Madam Yin knocked on Ban Heng's back, not letting him argue with Ban Hua. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, dreams are fake, isn't our family doing well?"
"Your grandmother is the Grand Princess, who would dare to touch us?" Madam Yin brought up their biggest backer, Grand Princess Dening, to appease her daughter's emotions. "Are you afraid of being scolded by our ancestors?"
"But the new Emperor is not from the Jiang family." Ban Hua blinked, her beautiful eyes covered with a layer of mist, looking extremely pitiful. "The one who ascended the throne is a scheming official."
"Hiss," Madam Yin gasped, glanced at the door, the maids and old servants had already left, now only their family of four was in the room. "Don't say such things outside."
Ban Hua knew that her mother wouldn't believe the dream she had. In fact, even she was half-believing it herself. "In the dream, I was dumped, and then when I woke up, that Shen really did break off the engagement. So… what if it's true?"
"Then, then what should we do?" Ban Huai, who had been a playboy all his life, looked nervously at Madam Yin. "My lady, why don't we secretly find a place to hide some gold and silver treasures?"
"Father, how can you believe my sister's words? She's been dumped several times, and just because of this, you believe her dream is true? That's ridiculous," Ban Heng waved his hand. "Sis, think about it again, did anything else major happen in the dream?"
"Shut up!" Ban Hua poked Ban Heng's forehead with her finger, the precious blood jade bracelet on her arm almost blinded Ban Heng.
"Let me think," Ban Hua withdrew her hand and pulled at her messy hair. "Let me think."
Ban Huai looked nervously at his daughter, hoping in his heart that the dream was fake.
"Right, I remember something else that happened in the dream. Shortly after I was dumped, Xie Qilin fell off his horse and injured one of his eyes." Since he eloped with someone else and embarrassed her, Ban Hua remembered this very clearly.
It was satisfying.
"As expected of my daughter, Ban Huai. Even in your dream, you won't let those who offend you off easy." Ban Huai stroked his beard with satisfaction. "That Xie Qilin is not a good thing!"
"Right!" Ban Heng echoed from the side. "Every time I see him, I'll make trouble for him."
Madam Yin sneered, "But you're the one who suffers every time."
"That Xie Qilin is very knowledgeable and full of tricks. He can always make black appear white. How can I argue with him?" Ban Heng said sullenly. "But I don't suffer either. No matter how sharp his tongue is, it doesn't hurt me. I'll punch him, and he'll still feel the pain."
In Ban Heng's logic, being scolded was not considered a loss, being beaten was. Things like reputation were just passing clouds to him, Young Master Ban.
"My dear daughter, when did that Xie Qilin injure his eye in your dream?" Like Ban Heng, Ban Huai didn't care about reputation at all. Anyway, he had never heard anyone praise him since he was a child.
"The day after Shen Yu came to break off the engagement."
"So that's tomorrow?"