Qiao Ruoyi said, “Xishan Academy is not short of silver taels. Today’s Xishan Academy is very good. Besides, the president said that if I go there to teach, I can bring my maids with me.”
Qiao Jinniang thought about it. She had been giving a lot of silver taels to Xishan Academy in the past few months, so the conditions must have improved a lot.
Qiao Jinniang smiled and said, “Okay, if you encounter anything, just come to the East Palace to find me.”
Qiao Ruoyi nodded and said, “There is just one thing. Recently, a lot of matchmakers have come to propose to me on someone’s behalf, but I don’t want to get married so soon. Please tell Mother about it.”
Qiao Jinniang laughed. “Then if you want to get married, you have to tell me.”
Qiao Ruoyi blushed. “Okay.”
It was inconvenient for Qiao Jinniang to return to the Duke Anyuan Mansion, as it would be too eye-catching, so she asked Nuomi to serve Zheng Xiao, fearing that Zheng Xiao would be wronged in the Duke Mansion.
Nuomi wrote a letter to her, saying that Zheng Xiao was the real master of the Duke Mansion now. If she asked Duke Anyuan to get lost, he would immediately disappear from her eyes, and if she asked Duke Anyuan to serve her, he wouldn’t dare to neglect either, which made Qiao Jinniang relieved.
After all, Nuomi would not lie to her.
Qiao Jinniang didn’t pick up Xi’er every day.
But she would make lunch for the Ji Mansion every day.
Of course, she didn’t really make the dishes herself, but instructed the royal chefs to do it.
Everyone in the Ji Mansion liked to eat the food she made, so she had people send them dishes every day.
On this day, when she was instructing the chefs to make cakes, Yuyan hurried in and said, “Your Highness, an imperial censor impeached you in today’s levee!”
Qiao Jinniang thought that she hadn’t even been out of the East Palace these days. Why did that imperial censor impeach her?
“Impeach me for what?”
“The imperial censor is the father of Prince Su’s concubine. He impeached you for disrespecting the Crown Prince’s teacher, making him so angry that he was bedridden and was unable to teach the children of the royal family, and he also impeached you for interfering in the education of the imperial grandsons!”
…
Early in the morning, when Lu Chen heard the impeachment, he said coldly and sarcastically, “It hasn’t been long since Tong Lei was dismissed from office. Is this the way your imperial censors are doing your jobs?”
Prince Su came out and said, “Your Royal Highness, you don’t need to be angry. Everyone has already known what happened in the south study that day. The Crown Princess forcibly meddled in the studies of the imperial grandson and forbade him from practicing calligraphy, which angered Mr. Tao so much that he is now bedridden.
“Now everyone says that the Crown Princess is going too far. Besides, the imperial grandson is talented. She shouldn’t bury his talent!”
Prince Qi, who hated Qiao Jinniang, also came out and said, “Yes, yes, although my Bao’er is a bit stupid, he has long since memorized the Thousand Character Classic.
“I don’t know what kind of teacher the Crown Princess has found for him, who just teaches Bao’er the characters “Heaven” and “Earth” every day. Bao’er said that in addition to eating, they were playing!”
Prince Su cupped his hands and said to Emperor Huilin, “Father, the Crown Princess drove Mr. Tao away and went to hire a commoner who is a worthless teacher. He only teaches the children how to play games every day, which will only make their learning go backwards.”
The father of Prince Su’s concubine also said, “Your Majesty, your eldest grandson has always been incomparably intelligent, and he has long been able to write a thousand characters and write essays.
“But the teacher that the Crown Princess hired only taught the characters “Heaven” and “Earth”. He has been teaching for almost three days but hasn’t taught any new knowledge besides those two characters.
“Your eldest grandson is very worried about his studies. Please hold justice for Mr. Tao and let him continue to teach the children!”
All the courtiers bowed their heads. It was about the imperial grandson and the Crown Princess, so they had better keep their mouths shut.
Prince Chu looked at Prince Su and Prince Qi and said, “If you don’t want to let the teacher whom the crown princess hired teach your children, go ahead. Just ask Mr. Tao to teach them!”
It was not easy to have the Imperial Teacher teach his child. Although Prince Chu knew that he could only be an idle prince in this life, he still wanted his Yun’er to make great achievements.
But he also hoped his Yun’er would have a good career in the future.
Now that the imperial grandson was studying with so many children, Yun’er couldn’t stand out.
But if Bao’er, Zhen’er and the others were all gone, his Yun’er would be the only classmate of the imperial grandson, which would be wonderful!
Prince Qi wasn’t really stupid. Looking at his second brother’s expression, he hurriedly said, “No, no, this is the Crown Princess’ kindness. Bao’er will still study with the imperial grandson.”
Besides, his wife was very satisfied with the new teacher. He’d better not seek trouble.
But Prince Su said, “But Mr. Tao has been sick for a few days after being horribly humiliated by the Crown Princess … Even if Zhen’er wants him to teach him, he can’t!”
“Father, please punish the one who humiliated Mr. Tao and uphold justice for him!”
Emperor Huilin said to Lu Chen, “Crown Prince, what do you think?”
Lu Chen cupped his hands and said, “Teacher is quite old. Since he is ill, he should retire and return to his hometown.
“As for Brother Su, if he looks down on the teacher the Crown Princess hired, he can find a teacher for Zhen’er himself!”
Lu Chen’s words shocked everyone.
The Crown Prince had already offended the Duke Wu Mansion for the Crown Princess, and now he even abandoned his teacher for the Crown Princess?
Was he bewitched by the Crown Princess?
All the ministers turned their eyes to Duke Anyuan.
Lu Chen said firmly, “My teacher insulted the Crown Princess, but the Crown Princess chose to pass over his rude remarks.
“But now Brother Su demands Father to ‘uphold justice’ for him? Isn’t it ridiculous?
“Besides, the teacher the Crown Princess hired is the mentor of Father and I, Mr. Ji Wangkui.
“Since Prince Su and Imperial Censor Su felt that even the Imperial Teacher was unworthy to teach Lu Zhen…
“Then don’t send Lu Zhen there. I heard that he has indeed been absent from class for two days already.”
The ministers were all surprised. How could it be Ji Wangkui, the Imperial Teacher?
Ji Wangkui was already in his eighties. How could he still accept such a group of young disciples?
Prince Qi’s heart was pounding hard. Fortunately, he didn’t promise Prince Su just now. Otherwise, his consort would have beaten the hell out of him!
Emperor Huilin looked at Prince Qi, who was weak in the legs, and slightly curled his lips with contempt.
Emperor Huilin said, “The imperial grandson has already told me how the Crown Prince’s teacher disrespected the Crown Princess. The Crown Princess forgave him for the sake of his former teachings for the Crown Prince. Since he is ill, I will allow him to retire and return to his hometown.”
Prince Su said, “But Father, even if Mr. Tao contradicted the Crown Princess, it was because the Crown Princess didn’t allow the imperial grandson to practice calligraphy. How pitiful Mr. Tao is! He wanted the imperial grandson to practice calligraphy just because he wanted to teach him well and cherish his talent…”
Lu Chen said to Prince Su, “The imperial grandson has already explained the reason. Practicing calligraphy too early is not good for his hand bones.”
“But we all started to practice calligraphy at the age of three!”
Prince Su asked, “Junior Duke Yun and my Zhen’er also started to practice calligraphy at the age of three. What’s wrong with that?”
Lu Chen said, “Although I started to practice calligraphy at three, I didn’t copy copybooks, but Mr. Tao asked the imperial grandson to copy a copybook, which is not good for his hands.
“The famous calligrapher Mr. Liu once said that nowadays, many people make three-year-old children copy copybooks. Little did they know that this would only do the children more harm than good, and it is best for children to do that when they are five or six years old.”
In terms of calligraphy skills, no one in Chang’an could compare to Mr. Liu or his successor, the Crown Prince.
Since he had said so, Prince Su couldn’t even find a word to rebut.
…
In a teahouse in Chang’an, Tong Yingying was sipping her tea casually, waiting for the good news from Prince Su.
Prince Huai was not her choice, neither was Prince Chu. Prince Lu was out of His Majesty’s favor due to the Jian family. She finally managed to meet Prince Qi a few days ago, but she didn’t expect Consort Qi to be so fierce and unreasonable.
However, perhaps God was helping her and let her meet Lu Zhen who was returning to Prince Su Mansion alone… so she learned about the fight between the Crown Prince’s teacher and the Crown Princess.
And Lu Zhen’s grandfather, Imperial Censor Su, used to be her father’s subordinate, so Tong Yingying could make good use of this matter.
Tong Yingying said to her maid, “I used to focus on the princes, but His Majesty is healthy, so maybe I should turn my eyes to the imperial grandsons.
“Although Lu Zhen was born by a concubine, he is the eldest grandson of the Emperor. More importantly, he is extremely intelligent and eager to learn. This time, His Majesty will definitely have a very good impression of Lu Zhen.”
