Chapter 70: What a “Woman’s Duty!”

Within the academy, the scholars normally wouldn’t gossip like idle women.

But some people were simply pedantic.

And some had filthy mouths.

Tang Chaoyang pressed Su Ziliang for answers before she finally learned why the two brothers had been punished.

Among the academy’s instructors was Master He, a man known for being especially old-fashioned.

During his lecture today, he had mentioned The Four Books for Women.

The Four Books for Women comprised four volumes: Precepts for Women, Admonitions for Women, Domestic Lessons, and Analects for Women, and Models for Women.

These texts outlined the conduct expected of women throughout their lives, advocating that women must fulfill their natural duties: obey their husband’s household, remain loyal and chaste, and uphold the “Three Obediences and Four Virtues.”

Young Master Ye, son of the Minister of Personnel, had long disliked Su Zijing.

After class ended, Young Master Ye deliberately used Tang Chaoyang’s affairs to provoke Su Zijing.

“You really ought to have your cousin properly study the Four Books for Women. Chastity is the most basic virtue any woman must observe.”

Su Zijing punched Young Master Ye square in the face.

And so the two began brawling.

Su Ziliang, who was in the neighboring classroom, rushed over when he saw his younger brother fighting. He tried to pull them apart.

But Young Master Ye had a few friends with him. When they saw Ye getting beaten, they joined in—“pulling them apart” by stomping on Su Zijing several times.

Su Ziliang lost his temper and joined in, stomping back at them to defend his brother.

In an instant, the entire scene devolved into chaos.

Tang Chaoyang listened to Su Ziliang’s account in silence. She nodded slowly and asked, “So only the two of you were punished?”

Su Ziliang said helplessly, “Master He punished only us.”

Master He didn’t think Young Master Ye had been wrong at all. In fact, he fully agreed that all women ought to study The Four Books for Women.

Tang Chaoyang let out a cold laugh. She walked over to the Morning and Evening Drum.

She picked up the drumstick and turned to smile at her cousins.

“You two fought because of me today. I am very pleased. Today, your cousin shall also stand up for herself.”

She lifted the drumstick and struck the drum!

The Morning and Evening Drum was only to be sounded at designated times.

Tang Chaoyang’s sudden, forceful strike unleashed a thunderous, uninterrupted peal of drumbeats.

The entire academy heard it.

The drum’s reverberation spread through the bitter wind.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

The deafening rhythm startled everyone within the academy.

“What’s going on? Who dares beat the Morning and Evening Drum at random?” In the lecture hall, a master’s expression turned to astonishment.

The students were equally perplexed.

The drumbeats did not stop.

When the master stepped out to investigate, the students hurried after him.

“Let’s go, let’s go! We have to see who’s bold enough to do this!”

They crowded toward the square.

There they saw a woman draped in a red velvet cloak, striking the drum.

“How brazen! Who dares act so wildly in the academy?”

The Deputy Headmaster strode over, brow tightly furrowed. He shouted sternly at Tang Chaoyang:

“Young lady, do you even understand what you are doing?”

Tang Chaoyang set down the drumstick, turned, and saluted him with perfect composure.

“Today I have come specifically to debate with Master He and Master Wang.”

At this moment, the Headmaster was playing chess with Fei Yan.

When he heard the Morning and Evening Drum, he set his chess piece down in surprise.

“Prime Minister, shall we go see who dares make trouble here?”

Who would be so audacious as to stir up such a commotion in the academy?

Fei Yan inclined his head slightly. The two rose and walked out of the study hall.

**

Su Ziliang and Su Zijing were both staring with round, stunned eyes.

They could never have imagined their cousin would be so fierce as soon as she arrived—

She had actually struck the Morning and Evening Drum.

Su Zijing was dumbfounded. He turned to look at his elder brother, silently asking:

What do we do now?

Su Ziliang shook his head.

He had no idea either.

We’re doomed.

We’d better hurry back to find someone to save us.

The Deputy Headmaster fixed Tang Chaoyang with an extremely displeased stare.

“You want to debate Master He? Utter nonsense. You are merely a woman—leave the academy at once.”

Tang Chaoyang swept her beautiful eyes around the crowd.

She curved her lush red lips into a faint smile and said coolly:

“What, are Master He and the others afraid to debate with a mere woman like me?”

She stood there alone, her voice calm as she posed the question.

The Deputy Headmaster’s brows knitted together. He was about to order someone to throw her out when a middle-aged voice came from the crowd:

“Who said I am afraid?”

A tall, thin Master He had just stepped onto the square. He happened to hear Tang Chaoyang’s mild yet provocative remark.

Master He was so incensed he actually laughed.

Where had this woman come from, daring to be so insolent?

He looked her up and down carefully, his gaze carrying a hint of disdain that was hard to conceal.

“You wish to debate with me? Very well—I am willing to grant you that chance.”

Tang Chaoyang bowed properly, her courtesy flawless.

“This humble woman thanks Master He for his instruction.”

Among the students, some who had seen Tang Chaoyang before had already recognized her.

“Ah, so it’s Miss Tang come to make trouble.”

“Who is she?”

“She’s from the Yong’en Marquisate—Tang Chaoyang, Prime Minister Fei’s former wife.”

“What? That’s her? The woman who… in the temple…”

This was truly an extraordinary spectacle today.

A divorced woman of ill repute, daring to come to the Capital Academy to debate the masters.

Wang Quan had rushed over. The moment he laid eyes on Tang Chaoyang, stunning in her bright attire, he felt a surge of delight—

But the situation quickly left him bewildered.

Since Master He had agreed to the debate, the Deputy Headmaster naturally would not throw her out again.

Let this woman see for herself that she had come to the wrong place.

“This humble woman, Tang Chaoyang, has a question,” she declared evenly.

“Should a woman, simply because she was born female, live her whole life never free—unmarried obeying her father, married obeying her husband, widowed obeying her son, upholding the four virtues: virtue, speech, appearance, and work?”

Fei Yan and the Headmaster stood not far away. They had chosen a hidden spot, unlikely to be noticed.

The Headmaster, wearing a blue scholar’s robe, stroked his beard and turned to Fei Yan.

“So that is Your Excellency’s former wife? I heard she was not well-versed in letters.”

Fei Yan’s gaze rested on Tang Chaoyang, dark and unreadable. His brows knit faintly.

“Indeed, Headmaster.”

Tang Chaoyang—what are you trying to do? Such ignorance… yet fearless enough to come here to debate!

Master He listened to Tang Chaoyang’s question and smiled coolly.

“A woman, unmarried obeying her father, married obeying her husband, widowed obeying her son—this is a woman’s duty. It is how a woman maintains her place and secures her livelihood.”

“What a ‘woman’s duty!’”

Tang Chaoyang’s expression remained calm, but in her clear eyes, it was as though a fire blazed.

She let out a soft, mocking laugh.

“So from birth to death, a woman has no freedom—she must always cling to a man to survive? These so-called Precepts for Women are nothing more than the private desires of men! A pack of sanctimonious hypocrites!”

Her slender forefinger rose and pointed to the men standing before her.

Their faces all changed.

“Ignorant woman!!” Master He bellowed.

Tang Chaoyang lowered her hand and smiled.

“Qin Liangyu was a woman—yet she mastered military strategy, leading soldiers to repel invaders. She was loyal and brave, defending our nation. If she had obeyed your Precepts, would she ever have fought the enemy?”

“Never mind distant examples—look only to my own maternal grandmother, Madam Su. Thirty years ago, she led only a hundred soldiers to intercept the Man barbarian raiders at Guanjia Pass, easing the pressure on the front lines. If she had obeyed your Precepts, what would have become of that?”

Her voice was clear, tinged with cutting irony, and carried across the entire crowd.

“Well said!”

An aged woman’s voice suddenly called out.

Everyone turned toward the unexpected cry and saw an old woman with white hair, but a straight, vigorous bearing.

She wore a crimson gown embroidered with auspicious clouds, the rank robe of a first-rank titled lady.

In her hand she held a finely carved cane as she slowly advanced.

Tang Chaoyang’s eyes flew wide in surprise.

“Grandmother!”