I Am This Type of Woman

Ban Hua got out of the sedan chair and said to the servant who came to greet her, "Is the Heir back?"

"Lady, the Heir returned half an hour ago," the servant replied with a bow. "He is studying in the study."

"Studying?" Ban Hua raised her eyebrows. Her younger brother was the type of person who would get dizzy when he entered the study. If he could calm down and study, it would be a wonder. "Let's go, I'll go and see him."

"The Master said: 'I am not concerned that I am not known; I am concerned that I do not know others'…"

As soon as Ban Hua reached the door of the study, she heard Ban Heng's reading voice coming from inside. Ban Hua pushed the door open and saw him shaking his head with a serious look on his face. She crossed her arms and said, "Stop pretending, you're reciting the Analects, but you're holding the Book of Rites in your hand. You're really something."

"I'm using a mixed memorization method. My eyes are looking at the Book of Rites, but my heart is reciting the Analects. Only in this way can I improve my memory," Ban Heng argued without blushing or a heartbeat. "You, a woman, what do you know?"

"Hmm?" Ban Hua raised her eyebrows. "What did you just say?"

"I, I didn't say anything." Ban Heng put down the Book of Rites in his hand and approached Ban Hua with a flattering smile. "Sis, you know my brain is not working well. I was just talking nonsense."

Ban Hua ignored him, walked to the bookshelf, and took out a set of Mencius. As soon as she opened it, she found that this was only the cover of Mencius, but in fact, it was some kind of miscellaneous notes. Before she could open it, the book was snatched away by Ban Heng.

"Sis, my good sister, you can't read this book." After Ban Heng snatched the book, he stuffed it into his arms. This kind of book could not be seen by his sister, otherwise, their mother would beat him to death.

"Even if I don't read it, I know what's in it. It's nothing more than stories about meeting fox spirits in the mountains and young masters and misses promising each other for life." Ban Hua glanced at the shelf full of books. "Why are you so honest today?"

Ban Heng lowered his head and said nothing.

"Did you cause trouble outside again?" Ban Hua glanced at him suspiciously. "Or are you short of money again?"

"Well… it's not a big deal." Ban Heng looked at the roof and the ground, but didn't dare to look at Ban Hua. "It's just a small matter."

"Tell me, what happened." Ban Hua sat down on the chair and pointed to the seat next to her. "Sit down and tell me slowly."

"When I was riding back today, someone suddenly rushed out from the side and was accidentally kicked by my horse." Ban Heng felt that he was also quite wronged. He was riding very slowly, but who knew someone would suddenly run out and startle his horse, and then be kicked over by the horse.

It was important to know that this horse was given to him by his grandmother. It was said to be a purebred horse from beyond the border, with particularly strong legs. He suspected that the person who was kicked was seriously injured.

"What happened next?" Ban Hua frowned. Although her brother was idle and unmotivated, he would never do such a thing as running over and injuring someone in the downtown area.

"Later, I was about to take him to see a doctor when suddenly several people rushed out from the side, dragged the man from the ground and ran. I didn't even have time to react." Ban Heng touched his not-so-smart head. "What do you think we should do about this?"

"Report it to the authorities," Ban Hua said lazily as she peeled the dried fruits in the fruit plate and ate them. "Anyway, we can't find anyone, and we don't want to be plotted against, so we might as well report it to the authorities openly."

"What if they arrest me?"

"Are you an idiot?" Ban Hua glared at Ban Heng angrily. "Can't you just say that you saw someone suspected of being chased and killed today, and that person bumped into your horse? You were worried that something would happen, so you came to report it. Besides," Ban Hua touched the blood jade bracelet on her wrist, "who dares to touch you now?"

"That's true." Ban Heng thought that his family would not be in trouble for another five years, and immediately became confident. "But what if it wasn't a chase?"

"Do you know what 'suspected' means?" Ban Hua clapped her hands and stood up. "Whether it is or not, you should clear your name first."

"I understand. I'll go right away." Although Ban Heng's brain was not very good, he had one advantage, that is, he was open to good advice. So when Ban Hua said so, he obediently did it.

At nightfall, Zhao Dongan, the county magistrate of the capital, was about to change out of his official robe and go home for dinner when he heard the jailer say that the Heir of Jingting Marquis Residence had come to report a case.

As a small eighth-rank official in charge of the capital's security, Zhao Dongan had been living a difficult life because this was the foot of the Son of Heaven, and any small matter could turn into a big one. In addition, there were many nobles in the capital, and even ordinary people might have one or two prominent relatives. So for the sake of the capital's security, he was simply heartbroken.

Now, when he heard that the Heir of Jingting Marquis Residence had come, and to report a case, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

The dignified Grand Princess's own grandson, what could he not solve? Even if there was really something, he should go to the prefectural magistrate. What case did he have to report to him, a small eighth-rank sesame official? Although he was extremely aggrieved, County Magistrate Zhao didn't even dare to show it on his face. He straightened his robe and strode out.

As soon as he reached the door, he saw a young man in a brocade robe, with a jade crown tied up in his hair and a brocade belt around his waist, standing in the courtyard. At first glance, he looked like a handsome young man.

It was a pity that he only looked like it.

"This humble official, Zhao Dongan, greets the Heir Ban."

"You are too polite, Master Zhao." Seeing that Zhao Dongan was not old, but his hair was already quite white, Ban Heng sympathetically reached out to help him up. "I am here today to report a case to you."

County Magistrate Zhao's heart trembled: "May I ask what case the Heir wants to report?"

"It might be a murder case."

Mur, murder?!

County Magistrate Zhao's heart almost collapsed. Don't think that you can talk nonsense just because you are the Heir. It is not a small matter to be involved in a human life.

Ban Heng didn't care how much Zhao Dongan's heart collapsed. He roughly told County Magistrate Zhao what he had encountered in the afternoon, and finally sighed: "Thinking that this person was injured and taken away by people of unknown identity, I felt uneasy, so after thinking about it, I came to report the case. County Magistrate Zhao wouldn't blame me for making a fuss, right?"

What could County Magistrate Zhao say? He could only respectfully send the person out of the yamen, and even praised him as a good citizen of the Daye Dynasty.

Note: A yamen refers to administrative office or residence of a bureaucrat responsible for accepting disputes, investigating criminal cases in imperial China.

"Master County Magistrate, what should we do about this?" After Ban Heng left, a yamen runner looked at Zhao Dongan with a troubled expression. "Should we investigate or not?"

"The Heir of Jingting Marquis Residence personally came to report the case. You tell me, should we investigate or not?" County Magistrate Zhao sighed. "Not only do we have to investigate, but we also have to investigate with great fanfare. However, we can't investigate it as a murder case, but in the name of improving the security of the capital and strengthening patrols."

Although the yamen runner didn't understand why he had to do this, he still followed the county magistrate's instructions.

Zhao Dongan scratched his gray hair in distress, feeling that after tonight, there would be a few more white hairs on his head.

"Sis, I've taken care of it." Ban Heng rushed to Ban Hua's courtyard excitedly. After drinking two cups of tea, he said with satisfaction, "That county magistrate praised me to high heaven. I blushed when I heard it. I don't know how he came up with such praise."

"Don't worry, when you are no longer the Heir, no one will praise you against their conscience." Ban Hua sat still on the chaise longue and stretched out her hand for the maid to paint her nails. "Now that there are still people willing to praise you, you should enjoy it."

"You are really my good sister." Ban Heng moved closer to Ban Hua and stared at her hand for a while, then suddenly said, "Sis, I found your hands are quite beautiful."

"Yes, I think so too. Congratulations on finally discovering this fact after living with me for fifteen years." Ban Hua raised her chin. "There are a few banknotes in the box over there. Take them and spend them."

"Sis, I knew that you are the best to me in the whole residence." Ban Heng happily found the banknotes and stuffed them into his arms. "How did you know that I was short of money?"

"When are you not short of money?" Ban Hua raised her beautiful eyebrows slightly. "But you can take this money to fight cocks and crickets. Don't you dare step into places you shouldn't go. If you dare to do so, you don't need father and mother to discipline you, I will beat you up first."

Ban Heng remembered that his sister had learned boxing and kicking skills from his grandfather, so he immediately swore that he would never go to places like brothels and casinos.

His grandfather had been a general before his death, leading his generals to the battlefield to kill the enemy. The late emperor had praised his grandfather as "the best warrior in the court." It was a pity that his grandfather injured his arm on the battlefield and never went to the border again.

It was said that when his grandfather was alive, he liked his sister very much and protected her like a treasure since she was a child. He gave her gold, silver, and jewelry as if they were nothing, so his sister became what she is now.

One day at the end of September, Ban Huai went out early in the morning and didn't return to the residence until before the curfew. The other three members of the family saw that his clothes were stained with dirt and he had a mysterious look on his face, so they were all curious about what he had been doing.

"I buried two jars of silver in our villa," Ban Huai whispered. "Even the servants don't know that I went to bury something today."

Madam Yin couldn't help but say, "What's the use of burying it in the villa? When the new emperor confiscates our property, will we still be able to enter the villa?"

Ban Huai was stunned. He only thought that the Marquis Residence would be searched, but he forgot that after the incident, the villa would probably no longer belong to him. Thinking of this, he slumped down. Today's work was in vain.

However, this gave Ban Hua an idea. Silver could not be buried in the villa, but it could be buried in some sparsely populated woods. She would go for a walk with Ban Heng tomorrow to see if there were any places that were not easy to find and where they could dig out the silver after their house was ransacked. Moreover, they had to bury it in several places. Even if some of them were discovered, there should be some fish that escaped the net.

Early the next morning, the Ban siblings took a few guards out of the city, and then in the name of exercising their younger brother's physical strength, they asked Ban Heng to carry two bags of sand up the mountain by himself, and did not allow the guards to help.

"The boxing technique passed down by grandfather cannot be broken in your generation." Ban Hua specially wore a riding outfit that was convenient for movement today. She said to the guards behind her, "You guys go outside and guard."

The guards thought that the Lady wanted to teach the Heir Ban the secret boxing technique of the Ban family, so they all tactfully retreated to the periphery.

Stealing a teacher's skills was a serious crime if discovered. They were doing well in the Marquis Residence and didn't want to cause trouble for themselves.

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and dig!" Ban Hua took out the small shovel hidden in the bag and began to dig while half kneeling on the ground.

"Sis, my hands are about to break." Ban Heng grimaced and shook his sore arms, then resignedly squatted down and began to dig, making "hehe haha" boxing sounds from time to time to prevent the guards from being suspicious.

The siblings were digging very seriously with both hands and feet, but they didn't know that someone was walking towards them.

"What are you doing?"

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