Chapter 14: Friend
14 Friend
The appearance of Jun Hua wasn't just a simple unexpected surprise. Rather, she made the entire class speechless and astounded. While her face was still covered by a veil, she already made all those noble girls in the class feel defeated, and especially envious.
Lin San stared at that face with so much hatred and jealousy. She didn't want to see someone as beautiful as Jun Hua standing there. Her mere presence had already gained the attention of the whole class. Then, there was her brother, Jun Min, who makes all these girls want to get closer to her even more. Lin San shifted her gaze away, refusing to look at the girl.
As Jun Hua was still standing, her gaze naturally caught Lin San's action. She smiled underneath her veil. Before long, she would make that girl come to her on her own will. Of course, it would require some efforts on her side as there was no way she could change an arrogant girl like her so easily.
But it was alright, she has plenty of time. Jun Hua then turned back to the smiling teacher and she bowed a bit.
"Jun Hua greets Teacher Pei."
Teacher Xuan Pei was not a noble; rather, he was a scholar who had achieved outstanding results. He refused to serve as a palace official because he despises the dirty palace. Thus, he became a teacher in this academy.
Xuan Pei nodded and allowed Jun Hua to take her seat again before discussing this week's lesson plans. After making sure that the girls understood the week's lecture, he called on the female teacher to start teaching the girls how to do needlework.
Most of them were already skilled in this subject matter since they have learned the basics from the year prior. However, for someone like Jun Hua who only began to touch needles yesterday, this was a huge hurdle. It didn't take her long to make a tangling mess out of her thread.
"Teacher, I think I need some help."
The female teacher almost fainted when she saw the mess that Jun Hua made. In the end, she had to start explaining all of the process to Jun Hua before the girl could make a barely decent stitching pattern.
Even after the first hour of the lessons ended, she was not able advance further than one line.
"Wow, I never thought that there's someone worse than me."
A comment from the side made Jun Hua raise her head in bewilderment. She caught herself staring at another girl around the same age as her standing beside her with her hands on her hips, looking at Jun Hua's 'needlework'. The girl had a delicate face that, though it may not be considered stunning, was graceful. Her clothes were made of fine silk materials showing her family's prominent status.
Jun Hua lowered her eyes. "I have never learned any needlework before."
The girl grinned. "Well, I have only learned a little bit. I just find these things boring! But my father won't allow me to escape from my lessons."
Jun Hua was surprised to meet a very straightforward girl among these nobles. Most of them spoke with colorful and flowery words, but beneath them were deadly traps. Seeing someone who speaks out what's on her mind in a carefree manner was truly a pleasant surprise, a breath of fresh air in the midst of a stuck-up society.
"My name is Fan Lanying. I'm really curious, are you really a useless woman like in the rumors?"
With the question headed to strike her weakest point, Jun Hua found no way to answer back. It wasn't that she is completely useless. At the very least, she still knows how to count their income and manage their household (by dumping everything to her servants). However, compared to many other nobles, she had to admit that she was not their match.
As Jun Hua didn't answer, Fan Lanying immediately thought that she was a timid young lady. She also didn't press her any longer, only took a seat next to her.
"The chair next to you is empty. Let me see your needlework. Although I'm not the best, I should be able to do better than you."
Jun Hua passed the silk on her hand to Fan Lanying and she examined it closely for a moment before smiling.
"It's not too bad, but you're a little too rough…"
For the next hour of the lesson, Fan Lanying helped her make another neat stitching line and told her how to make various shapes and patterns. She herself made her own embroidery, and it still looked very beautiful in spite her claim that she was the worst in this class.
Soon after, the lesson for needlework has finished. Fan Lanying stretched up her body with happiness.
"Finally, I can go home and continue my training."
Fan Lanying's words piqued Jun Hua's interest. She didn't have enough knowledge about the Fan family, but the girl in front of her was quite interesting.
"Training…?"
"Yes! I wish to become a general like my father."
Jun Hua blanked for a moment. A general? Isn't Fan Lanying a girl? She couldn't recall that their law allowed women to participate in the war. Otherwise, why would she even have bothered to change her identity?
Fan Lanying laughed when she saw Jun Hua's face.
"Right now, it's still impossible for women to join the army. But even so, there's no rule that prohibits a woman to train and become stronger. Even if I won't be able to become a general, I wish to be stronger so I could help my brother training."
Jun Hua nodded. Her words made sense. Although they were not allowed to participate in the war, there were no specific rules prohibiting women to grow stronger. For a highly patriarchal society, if a woman was not 'virtuous' and 'gentle', how could she possibly be married in the future? Those high-ranking officials would in no way choose such a tomboy-girl.
Fan Lanying peered into her face. "Don't think about it, my family will resolve those matters for me."
Jun Hua smiled. It seemed Fan Lanying had long gotten used with the people's reaction towards her decision to train and didn't follow the usual norm.
"See you tomorrow, Jun Hua."
"See you tomorrow."
Fan Lanying waved as she walked towards her carriage. Not long after, Jun Hua also cleaned up her things and headed towards Xia. Today's lesson was really tiring.