Fix Smile Order Chapter 6
Pure: There'll be a lot footnotes because this novel references a lot of actual ancient people and texts.
Translated by Pure
Edited by cookiecrunch
Chapter 6: Female Head Commissioner
The next day, Tang Tianyuan went to Chizhou Prefecture, handed in an official letter from the Ministry of Personnel, went through the formalities, and officially became the magistrate of Tongling County.
The bailiffs were all readily available, and they can be recruited again. The county's head commissioner was a little bit more difficult. Tang Tianyuan did not have a commissioner, so he had to post a notice and openly recruit for one.
Recruitment, however, did not go well.
Tang Tianyuan had anticipated this as the previous county magistrate died unexpectedly, and the head commissioner had also run away. Many saw this county government as an ominous place. In addition, the new magistrate was unknown and doesn't seem to have a backer... A scholar who didn’t need to worry about making a living would never be dispatched to a place like this.
Therefore, most of the applicants who came to apply in the past two days were people who wanted to watch a good show or were just trying their luck. Some of these people didn’t know how to recite the Three Character Classic[1]. When the eliminated people left the county government office, they began to promote how handsome and suave the new county magistrate was, thus attracting a whole nother group of people who wanted to take a look at the county magistrate...
Tang Tianyuan was about to be ruined by them. So in the end, he created a few exam questions, extracted some words from the Four Books[2] and Five Classics[3], and let the bailiffs memorize them. If someone came to apply, the bailiffs first tested those people, and they had to answer at least half of them correctly before they could see the county magistrate.
This trick worked very well and blocked many people.
On this day, a bailiff came excitedly to report to Tang Tianyuan that someone had answered all the exam questions he gave correctly!
Tang Tianyuan was elated, but what the bailiff said next made him a little disappointed.
It was a maiden.
Forget it, a maiden was fine too. He could think about it after meeting them.
However, his mood worsened when he saw the maiden. The person in front of him left him with a lot of not-so-good memories, and he didn't want to see her at all.
Tan Lingyin walked in and bowed respectfully to Tang Tianyuan, who was sitting. "Commoner Tan Lingyin pays her respectful greeting."
"Fork her out."
"……"
The two bailiffs were a little puzzled but responded and grabbed Tan Lingyin's arms, ready to take her out. Tan Lingyin kicked her legs vigorously, making Tang Tianyuan dazzled for a while, "Sir! You can't look down on women, your mother is also a woman!"
She seemed to be unaware of the reason for him sending her away. Tang Tianyuan waved his hand, "Stop."
The bailiffs immediately put Tan Lingyin down.
Tang Tianyuan looked at the embarrassed Tan Lingyin and felt better. He hooked his finger at her, "Come here."
Tan Lingyin got closer.
"Look at who I am." Tang Tianyuan said.
Tan Lingyin couldn't see clearly, so she got closer and suddenly realized. She let out a laugh similar to that day, which was very wretched in Tang Tianyuan's ears.
Tang Tianyuan's face sank, "Guards, kick her out."
"Don't, don't, I'm a person with real skills!" Tan Lingyin hugged her head and ran around. The two big men chased after her, but couldn't catch her.
One of the bailiffs sympathized with her. The girl didn't do anything wrong, why did the county magistrate have such a deep prejudice against her? He stopped and tentatively suggested to Tang Tianyuan, "Sir, why don't you first see what this girl is capable of?"
Tang Tianyuan didn't want to make such a fuss, either, so he asked Tan Lingyin, "Tell this official... What are you capable of?"
"I've read many poetry and books, I know astronomy and geography, and I also know a little about chess, calligraphy, and painting."
Oh, her bragging skills are brilliant.
Seeing that he was indifferent, Tan Lingyin added, "I can also tell fortunes and read faces. Sir, I can show you." Then she stepped forward, only two steps away from Tang Tianyuan, she stared at his face seriously. A pair of clear eyes were like two pools of autumn water. Eyelashes were extraordinarily long, blinking twice like a butterfly flapping its wings.
Tang Tianyuan was a little uncomfortable, and turned his face away from her, "What do you see?"
Tan Lingyin was amazed, "Sir, to be honest, I have never seen such a good face before."
Tang Tianyuan nodded. She is also very good at flattering.
"You came from an extraordinary background, and you have had no worries about food and clothing since you were a child. You are destined to be an extremely noble official. You will be prosperous and wealthy, and you will be blessed with many descendants. Oh, by the way, you will marry a particularly prosperous wife in the future, and then you will have many children and grandchildren..."
"Okay," Tang Tianyuan waved his hand, interrupting her. He wasn't interested in this kind of charlatan-like universal compliment. This girl's level was just that. She had just read a few more books than most ordinary people. In short, he will not allow her to cause damage to the county government. So Tang Tianyuan pointed to the door, "Turn around, walk, keep walking, and don't stop."
Seeing that he was chasing her away again, Tan Lingyin hurriedly said, "Sir, don't be impatient! I can also read palmistry, take out your hand, I'll show you, I just need to look..."
Tang Tianyuan was very impatient and wanted to send her away as soon as possible, so he asked, "Leave right after you look at my hands?"
"Leave right after I look at your hands."
So he stretched out his hand.
"No, your left hand: male left, female right."
And so he changed his hand.
Tan Lingyin lowered her head. Because of her bad eyesight, she got so close that it seemed like she was about to kiss his hand. Tang Tianyuan was even more uncomfortable, and instinctively wanted to withdraw his hand.
"Don't move." Tan Lingyin quickly reached out and grabbed him in a hurry. Afraid that he would continue to pull back, she simply held his hands with both of her hands. She scrutinized his hand with a serious look on her face.
Tang Tianyuan: "..."
He has an unspeakable quirk. If a girl had a beautiful face, he may be able to remain indifferent, but his heartbeat would always speed up when he looks at a woman’s beautiful hands and feet. He used to have a maid who had beautiful hands and feet, but then that maid... Forget it, it’s better not to mention it.
Tan Lingyin's hand in front of him was unusually beautiful. As long as they were well maintained, a woman’s hands would not be too ugly, however, bones and muscles were innate, and it was near-impossible to change and improve. Although Tang Tianyuan couldn't see Tan Lingyin's whole hand, he saw from her thumb and index finger that her fingers were slender, with evenly distributed flesh on bones. A little more would be too plump, and a little less would be too thin. It was really rare for him to see such perfectly sculpted hands. White jade couldn’t even compare to her delicate and moist hands. A thin wrist peaked through her cuffs, clean like just fallen snow; like a tender lotus root newly picked in autumn.
Stop, don’t look any more. Tang Tianyuan turned his head with difficulty.
The two bailiffs watched in surprise as their county magistrate's pale face quickly turned red.
His eyes could no longer see, but his hands could feel it. The back of his hand was in both her palms, the soft touch left him too much room for imagination; it was more beautiful than looking at it.
Tan Lingyin began to explain palmistry to him. Tang Tianyuan didn't hear a single word, he pulled his hand back, frowned and said, "Have you had enough?"
Tan Lingyin straightened her back and looked at him with a smile. It seems that this county magistrate was not easy to fool.
Tang Tianyuan calmed down and decided to drive her away without hesitation.
This time, she didn't run around, but hugged the door frame and didn't let go, "Sir, what can I do for you to make me the head commissioner?"
Tang Tianyuan stepped down from his seat, he had now regained his composure, "Want to be a commissioner? Tell me where Miao Miao Sheng is first."
This time, Tan Lingyin really believed that this county magistrate admired her. For someone to be so obsessed, it was either admiration or hatred. She had no one who would hate her this much. So she let go of the door frame and stood on the steps with her hands behind her back. Her expression was profound, like an expert from another world.
"I’ll be honest with you," Tan Lingyin raised her head proudly, "I am Miao. Miao. Sheng."
.translat ed by pure tl. com / do not re post
.
Footnotes:
[1]Three Character Classic- (三字经) a 13th century reading primer consisting of Confucian tenets in lines of 3 characters
[2]Four Books- (四书) are the Great Learning 大学, the Doctrine of the Mean 中庸, the Analects of Confucius 論語|论语, and Mencius 孟子
[3] Five Classics- (五经) the Five Classics of Confucianism, namely: the Book of Songs (诗经), the Book of History (书经), the Classic of Rites (礼记), the Book of Changes (易经), and the Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋)