I Am This Type of Woman

"Rong Xia?" Ban Hua had heard of this Lord Rong. He was the unparalleled gentleman of the capital, Rong Xia, a master of calligraphy and painting, more handsome than Pan An, a man who was chased by women wherever he went.

"What, you don't like him?" Princess Anle looked at her with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"An unparalleled gentleman, even a talented woman like Shi Feixian once praised him personally. For me, it's not a question of whether I like him or not," Ban Hua thought openly, "Someone like him, probably likes a woman like a celestial concubine. I'm not going to join in the fun."

In her memory, she had not seen Rong Xia many times, but every time she saw him, she felt that he was not human. He was like a snow lotus on a mountain, a bright moon in the night sky, so they were not a match at all.

Seeing that Ban Hua didn't seem to have any romantic feelings for Cheng'an Bo, Princess Anle was relieved: "Fortunately, you're not like some women who are crazy for Rong Xia. I'm relieved."

Ban Hua was not in the mood to think about men at this time. Just thinking about the fact that she would no longer be a Lady of Xianjun in five years, she felt that the whole world was bleak.

At noon, they had a crab feast. Ban Hua sat on the right side of Princess Anle, and on the left side of Princess Anle sat Lady Kangning, the daughter of the current Emperor's younger brother. Ban Hua's relationship with her was only barely amicable, and they were not close at ordinary times. Ban Hua knew that she had a cold personality and didn't like to be around her, so she just lowered her head and picked out the fat crabs to eat.

"Lady of Xianjun seems to have lost some weight recently. You should take care of your health," a young lady looked at Ban Hua, her tone somewhat sarcastic, "Don't keep anything bottled up inside. Anger hurts the body."

"I look better in clothes when I'm thinner. I never keep my anger bottled up inside. I usually just let it out on the spot," Ban Hua put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and looked up at the young lady who had spoken, "Whose family are you from? Why haven't I seen you before?"

"Hua Hua, she is Li Xiaoru, the daughter of Lord Li. She usually gathers with us," Lady Kangning said with a faint smile, "How could you not have seen her?"

Ban Hua raised her eyebrows and said lazily, "I really never noticed." Thinking that Li Xiaoru wanted to laugh at her for being dumped by Shen Yu but still had to pretend to be fine, Ban Hua didn't give her any face, "Maybe it's because Miss Li dresses too plainly. I've always loved excitement. I can't remember people who aren't eye-catching."

"You…" Li Xiaoru's eyes reddened, tears welling up in them, like a small flower bud that had been ravaged by a strong wind, shrinking pitifully, waiting for someone to protect her.

"Lady of Xianjun," Shi Feixian frowned slightly, then smiled at Ban Hua, "Why do you have to do this?"

The whole table was silent.

Ban Hua lowered her head and tapped on a crab claw, turning her head to Princess Anle and saying, "This crab is good, the meat is fresh and tender."

Princess Anle knew that she was deliberately ignoring Shi Feixian, and smiled helplessly, "If you like it, take a basket back later."

Everyone at the table knew that Ban Hua was deliberately pretending not to hear Shi Feixian's words, and their disgust for Ban Hua grew even stronger. Wasn't it just because she had a grandmother who was a Grand Princess that she could be so arrogant? Shi Feixian was the granddaughter of the current Right Prime Minister, which was much better than her father, who had a title but no real power.

To embarrass Shi Feixian in front of so many people was like stepping on the face of the Right Prime Minister's family. Was Ban Hua crazy?

They didn't know if Ban Hua was crazy or not, but now no one dared to provoke her. Who knew what she would do? People with normal minds had traces to follow, but a thoughtless person like her acted entirely on emotion. It was beneath them to argue with her, but they felt aggrieved if they didn't argue with her, so it was best not to provoke her at all.

Xie Wanyu and Shi Feixian had both been embarrassed by her, so why should they bother to provoke her again?

They didn't know if it was their illusion, but although Ban Hua used to be a bit casual, she wasn't so disrespectful as she was today. What was wrong with her today? Could it be that Shen Yu's withdrawal from their engagement really stimulated her, making her give up on herself?

Many people present thought so. Some kind-hearted people began to sympathize with her, while others began to secretly gloat.

With the examples of Shi Feixian and Xie Wanyu, no one dared to provoke Ban Hua again. Even until the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet was over, no one said a few more words to Ban Hua.

"You might as well change your temper," Princess Anle couldn't help but sigh when she saw Ban Hua off, "Now you're even more arrogant. If this continues, what will happen if you bring trouble upon yourself?"

"There's one less day to live a good life, so just enjoy yourself while you can," Ban Hua said indifferently, "They never liked me. Even if I speak to them nicely now, when I'm down and out, they'll still rush to see me make a fool of myself. Why should I be nice to them?"

"What do you mean down and out? Why are you thinking about such things?" Princess Anle laughed, "Be careful that grandmother will hear this and punish you."

Ban Hua smiled, didn't say anything more, said goodbye to Princess Anle, and got into the sedan chair.

In a famous antique shop in the capital, Ban Huai looked at the jade pendant held out by the shopkeeper and shook his head: "This won't do. Do you have anything else?"

"Marquis, how dare I lie to you? This is already the best thing in the shop," the shopkeeper said with a flattering smile, "Why don't you take a look at something else?"

"No," Ban Huai turned his head, "When you have something good here, I'll come back and see."

"Alright, take your time, Marquis." The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. Although this Marquis Jingting was a bit picky, he was generous and wouldn't take it out on them if he couldn't find anything he liked. He was a good customer to serve. So even though people outside said that this man was a playboy, those of them who were in business quite liked this Marquis Jingting.

"Marquis, something seems to have happened up ahead." Xiao Zhu'er, the young servant beside Ban Huai, approached the sedan chair Ban Huai was riding in and whispered, "We can't get through."

"What happened?" Ban Huai lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and heard cries coming from ahead. Many commoners were gathered there, arguing and making a fuss. He didn't know what had happened.

"Go and ask what happened." Ban Huai was in a hurry to return to the residence. Hearing the crying and shouting, he was too lazy to take a detour, so he had to ask his servant to go and ask.

After a while, Xiao Zhu'er ran back: "Marquis, I've found out. An old couple came to the city to sell mountain goods, but they encountered a swindler. The copper coins he gave them were actually fake. The old man fainted in anger."

In the past, Ban Huai wouldn't have cared about such a small matter, but today he didn't spend the silver he had in his pocket, so he took a rare interest and took out a piece of broken silver from his pocket, "Give this silver to them."

Anything that could be solved with silver was not a big deal.

"Okay." Xiao Zhu'er took the silver, trotted all the way into the crowd, and put the broken silver into the hands of the crying old woman: "Old woman, take this silver and get a doctor to take a look at the old man."

"How can this be done?!" The old woman looked at the piece of silver in her hand, her face pale with fright. Seeing that the person who gave her the silver was wearing a fine cotton robe, she didn't dare to take it, "Thank you for your kindness, sir, but I can't accept so much silver."

"Take it easy. This is from our Marquis." Xiao Zhu'er saw that the old man lying on the ground had a sallow complexion, sighed, stuffed the broken silver into the old woman's hand, turned around, and walked back.

"What a good man!" The old woman held the broken silver with tears in her eyes and kowtowed several times in the direction of Ban Huai's sedan chair.

Seeing this, a strong young man helped her to call for a doctor. After a while, the old man woke up. The old woman was so happy that she cried and laughed. Finally, she remembered to ask the people around her who the man who had helped her was.

"I know that man. His aunt is a distant relative of our family," a middle-aged man in clean clothes said slowly under the admiring eyes of everyone, "I heard that his whole family works as servants in the Marquis Residence. He wears fine cotton clothes and eats meat every meal. Many servants in the Marquis Residence are under his control."

"So he's from the Marquis Residence." The people around suddenly realized, but there was no shortage of Marquises and Dukes in the capital, so someone asked, "Do you know which Marquis Residence he's from?"

"He has a great background. Do you know the Grand Princess? This Marquis is the son of the Grand Princess, Marquis Jingting. The one who just gave the old woman the silver must be Marquis Jingting."

The son of the Grand Princess, that was the current Emperor's cousin. He must be a very powerful person.

"This Marquis is such a kind man."

In the end, the ordinary people who knew nothing about the aristocratic circles of the capital came to this conclusion.

Not far away, the man sitting in the sedan chair quietly watched this scene. After the crowd began to disperse, he put down the curtain of the sedan chair: "Return to the residence."

"Lord, aren't you going to Duke Zhongping Residence?"

"Not going," the man's calm and steady voice came from the sedan chair, "I'll go tomorrow."

"Yes."

The sedan chair turned around and walked back. After walking not far, a red satin sedan chair with tassels came towards them. At a glance, it was a sedan chair specially used by a young lady from a wealthy family.

The man lifted the curtain of the sedan window and saw the complicated peonies embroidered on the opposite sedan curtain, with jewels and jade embedded in the middle, which was very luxurious. His eyes swept over the ruby embedded on the top of the sedan chair, and slowly lowered the curtain.

Fortunately, the road was wide, so there was no need for anyone to give way. The red satin sedan chair brushed past the blue-topped sedan chair. After walking far away, they could still hear the tinkling bells coming from the sedan chair.

Although Ban Huai took a detour to return to the residence, he felt that he had done a good deed today. He suddenly felt that the jade pendant hanging on his waist became even brighter. Even when his son came to him to ask for silver, he couldn't help but give him an extra one hundred taels.

"Father, other playboys spend thousands or tens of thousands of taels of silver at a time. The playboys in our family can't lose to others," Ban Heng said, waving the one hundred taels of silver in his hand, "Where will this put our Marquis Residence's face?"

"When did our family have any face? Anyway, we don't want any face," Ban Huai puffed out his chest, "Don't wander around if you have nothing to do. Go back to your room and study."

Ban Heng: "…"

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