I Am This Type of Woman

Princess Anle was the Emperor's most beloved daughter. Seven years ago, she married the legitimate son of a prestigious family named Wang. The couple was deeply in love for a while, but then Wang, her husband, secretly kept a mistress outside. This angered Princess Anle so much that she whipped him with a horsewhip and drove him out of the Princess's Residence.

At that time, the whole city knew about this matter. In the end, it ended with Wang's death from falling off a horse. Some people said that the cause of Wang's death was suspicious, but no one could find any evidence. Coupled with the decline of the Wang family later, no one dared to mention this matter again. At most, they would secretly sigh behind their backs, "The most poisonous thing is a woman's heart." However, who told Wang to be so ignorant? He dared to fool around outside after marrying the Princess. He was simply asking for death.

After Wang's death, Princess Anle was unwilling to remarry. She raised a group of actors and singers in her villa, drinking and having fun. Sometimes, she would invite noble ladies in the capital to go horseback riding and playing. She was considered one of the representatives of the wanku young ladies' group in the capital.

Note: 纨绔 (wánkù) can refer to wealthy or privileged individuals, often implying a sense of indulgence or frivolity. In this context, it describes a group of spoiled, well-off young ladies in the capital.

This time, Princess Anle held a chrysanthemum appreciation banquet. Almost all the invited noble ladies went to show their faces, and soon the villa became lively.

"Have you seen Lady Ban?"

"No, she probably won't come today."

"Why?"

"I heard that Scholar Shen went to Marquis Jingting's Residence a few days ago to break off the engagement. That day, Scholar Shen was beaten out by Marquis Jingting. Many people saw it."

The noble ladies had nothing to do on weekdays, so when they got together, they would inevitably chat about gossip from various families. Ban Hua being "broken off the engagement again" was considered a hot topic at the moment.

"If I were her, I wouldn't have the face to come and join in the fun," Xie Qilin's younger sister, Xie Wanyu, gently wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and whispered to her companion beside her, "That whole family is full of absurd people. Whoever marries into that family will be unlucky."

Her companion, Shi Feixian, was the granddaughter of the current Right Prime Minister. Not only was she extraordinarily beautiful, but she was also a famous talented woman in the capital. Even the Empress Dowager had praised her personally.

Shi Feixian had a cold personality and didn't have many people she could get along with. Xie Wanyu was one of them. She didn't like Ban Hua's flamboyant personality, so when she heard Xie Wanyu mention her, she frowned slightly and said, "Forget it, it's not a good thing for a daughter's family to be broken off the engagement three times. Let's not talk about it."

"Even if we don't talk about it, others will still gossip," Xie Wanyu thought of her brother and twisted the handkerchief in her hands, "If it weren't for her jinxing my brother, how could his eyes have been injured?"

In the imperial court, there were very few precedents of officials with eye disabilities. Now that her brother had one eye damaged, not only would he not be able to enter the court as an official in the future, but even his marriage would be lowered by a level. Now, her mother cried at home every day, and she couldn't stand the depressing atmosphere at home, so she came out to get some fresh air.

People in the world loved to vent their anger. Xie Wanyu didn't care if those rumors about jinxing were true or not. Anyway, she didn't like Ban Hua's arrogant look. After complaining about Ban Hua, her mood improved a lot.

Shi Feixian listened quietly without saying a word. Naturally, she didn't mention that the day Xie Qilin had his accident, he wanted to give her a book of poems.

As soon as Ban Hua got out of the carriage, the maids and old women guarding the gate of the villa welcomed her. No matter how those noble ladies viewed this Lady Ban, they, as servants, had to serve this master well. Who made her have such a beautiful face and a sweet mouth that could coax the Empress Dowager and the Emperor in the palace to like her?

"Greetings, Lady. You're finally here. The Princess is waiting for you in the inner courtyard. This servant will lead the way for you."

Ban Hua liked it when people treated her like a star. She immediately revealed a bright smile and took out a few silver peanuts from her purse, throwing them to the maid who said she would lead the way, "Let's go. The chrysanthemums at Sister Anle's place have always been more beautiful than those at other people's homes. How could I not come?"

"Thank you for the reward, Lady." The maid who received the reward had an even brighter smile on her face. "This way, please. Be careful of the steps."

"How boring," Princess Anle said, fiddling with the jade beads on her plate. Her eyes swept over the elegant and noble young ladies in the courtyard, and she turned to the old woman beside her, "Has Hua Hua not arrived yet?"

"Princess, Lady Ban hasn't arrived yet today." The old woman remembered the rumors in the capital these past few days, but she didn't dare to show it in front of the Princess. "She must be on her way."

As the master and servant were talking, they suddenly heard the sound of women chatting and laughing outside. A woman dressed in bright palace attire walked towards them with a beauty in her left hand and another beauty in her right hand, smiling.

"I wonder who made such a big commotion. It's none other than her." The smile on Princess Anle's face immediately brightened a few degrees, and she got up and walked towards the person who came, "You're here again to tease my maids. You'll make them call you 'Lady Ban' all the time and forget about me."

"Sister." Ban Hua let go of the beauties in her hands and bowed to Princess Anle. However, Princess Anle held her up, "Stop it. There are plenty of people who bow to me. I don't need you to be one of them."

"We haven't seen each other for half a month. We have to put on a show." Ban Hua walked into the garden hand in hand with Princess Anle. As soon as her foot stepped inside, she felt countless gazes fall on her. She supported the buyao by her temples and showed a beautiful and compelling smile to the noble ladies.

Since they wanted to see, she would let them have a good look.

Her dress today was made of tribute satin, and her jade pendant was a chicken blood jade that couldn't be bought with money. From head to toe, she was exquisite and elegant. She had spent a long time dressing up. Wouldn't it be disappointing if no one looked at her?

Xie Wanyu's face almost twisted when she saw her arrogant look. Her brother's eye was ruined, but Ban Hua appeared here with a radiant face and dressed in a dazzling manner. She couldn't swallow the anger in her heart.

She finally understood why her mother liked to scold certain women as "sluts" in private because only these two words could vent her anger.

The one thing Princess Anle's place didn't lack was beautiful women, fine wine, and delicious food. The courtyard was full of noble ladies, listening to the music played by the musicians while composing poems and painting. Ban Hua had been unlearned since she was a child. She was not good at composing poems or painting. Only her mouth was extremely sharp. She only needed to take a bite to tell which dishes had old ingredients and which were fresh.

"This wine was sent by the people from the village below. How does it taste?" Princess Anle let Ban Hua try the newly obtained fruit wine.

"Not bad." Ban Hua leaned close to Princess Anle's ear and whispered, "Do you see that Xie Wanyu? Her eyeballs almost popped out when she glared at me."

"What? You two can't get along?" Princess Anle was seven years older than Ban Hua. To her, Ban Hua was practically the one she watched grow up, so naturally, she was more biased towards Ban Hua emotionally.

"How can I get along with them?" Ban Hua took a sip of the fruit wine and said lazily, "They love to compose poems and paint, to be gentle and pleasant. You know I've never liked studying."

"Don't complain. If Xie Qilin hadn't eloped with someone, she would be your sister-in-law now."

"Who would want to marry a man with an eye disease?" Ban Hua snorted and put down the silver fork. He had a proper Lady of Xianjun but didn't want to marry her. Instead, he eloped with a woman from a brothel. It simply made her lose face. "Fortunately, he eloped back then. Otherwise, I would have to live with a half-blind, fickle man for the rest of my life."

She had a good impression of Xie Qilin. After all, he was good-looking and knew how to make people happy. At that time, she was young and ignorant, so she asked her parents to agree to his family's proposal.

Later, she realized that believing a man's words was like believing in ghosts in broad daylight. When he proposed, he was considerate and gentle. Later, when he eloped with someone, he put on the appearance of "I was ignorant back then, and now I've found true love."

And that Xie Wanyu, her brother had humiliated her by breaking off the engagement back then, and now she still had the nerve to look down on her. Wasn't this girl sick in the head?

"Lady Ban, everyone is composing poems and having fun. Why don't you come over?" Xie Wanyu waved her handkerchief at her with a smile. "Come here quickly."

"Tsk." Ban Hua was too lazy to pay attention to Xie Wanyu's hypocritical friendliness. She turned her head away and continued to chat with Princess Anle.

Seeing that she didn't give Xie Wanyu any face, Xie Wanyu felt a little embarrassed. She raised her head to meet the gazes of the noble ladies and forced a smile. "Maybe Lady Ban still has some misunderstandings about our family."

Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?

Naturally, it was the matter of the Xie family breaking off the engagement.

Although women in the current dynasty were more independent than before, it was still an era where men were superior to women. When a man broke off an engagement, even if it was the man's fault, it still had a great impact on the woman's reputation.

If you were good, why would the other family break off the engagement? Since the man insisted on breaking off the engagement, there must be something wrong with the woman.

Originally, it was the Xie family who did something dishonorable. However, due to the Ban family's extravagant and pampered lifestyle and Ban Hua's high-profile principle of life, many noble ladies tacitly agreed with Xie Wanyu's statement.

What was the use of being beautiful? Xie Qilin was still unwilling to marry her.

This thought made many noble ladies feel happy. They felt a sense of superiority over Ban Hua. Although the reality was that they didn't dare to be like Ban Hua, who would slap people in the face when she was unhappy and reward people with gold and silver when she was happy, they wouldn't dress as luxuriously and meticulously as Ban Hua.

This was not right. The most important thing for a woman should be her demeanor and inner qualities. A woman like Ban Hua was too superficial and vulgar. She was simply embarrassing her family.

"What's going on with that Shen Yu?" Princess Anle frowned. "Didn't he cry and beg to marry you?"

"Who cares what's going on with him?" Ban Hua used a silver fork to pick up a piece of fruit and put it into her mouth. Her red and moist lips were like ripe peaches, making Princess Anle couldn't help but reach out and poke them.

"Let him break off the engagement if he wants to. Besides his face, there's nothing else about him that I like." Ban Hua put down the silver fork and blinked her beautiful eyes. She remembered that Shen Yu's ending in her dream wasn't very good either. He was branded on his face and sent to the frontier.

"Since you like good-looking men so much, why don't you marry Rong Xia?" Princess Anle laughed. "In the entire capital, there's no man more handsome than him."

Author's note:

Ban Hua: A straightforward history of broken engagements…

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