In early November, it was a clear and windless winter day, and the air was dry and cold.
At three o'clock in the morning, the faint sounds of several women talking could be heard from the dean's study in the southeast corner of the North Fifth Institute.
Concubine Wen, who was sitting on a carved chair near the left wall, was wearing a loose orange-red winter robe decorated with white mink fur and rolled with silver. While stroking her belly that was not yet showing her pregnancy, she looked at the yellow lady sitting in the middle.
Concubine Jing on the rosewood table said with some embarrassment:
"Sister Royal Concubine, I also know that it is not appropriate to resign at the moment, but you also know that the fetal position is the most unstable in the first three months of pregnancy. It is not easy for my sister to conceive a dragon fetus. Facing the position of a female master, I really feel a little bit.
It’s beyond my capabilities.”
An Bin, who was sitting next to her, heard the words and glanced at Concubine Wen's clothes with her peripheral vision. She saw that her sleeves and the hem of her winter robe were embroidered with bright golden silk threads with large and brightly blooming pomegranate flowers and flowers.
A pomegranate with its skin peeled open to reveal its kernels
Guo, stretched out his right hand to pick up the blue and white porcelain tea cup placed on the high round table beside him, opened the lid of the cup and flicked a few gold-rimmed roses that had been soaked in the cup, lowered his head and took two sips without saying a word.
.
To be honest, Concubine Wen’s reasons are reasonable. If you serve as a female master, except for the three days of rest every ten days, you have to work hard to prepare lessons, give lectures, and correct homework. In addition to these things that are within your responsibilities,
, rush from Yongshou Palace in the southwest corner to Beiwu Palace in the northeast corner every day.
Therefore, even riding in a sedan chair takes more than a quarter of an hour, and the process of going back and forth requires a lot of energy. Not to mention this, the safety of the emperor's heirs in the harem is always the first consideration.
Yes, Concubine Wen's idea is not wrong, but she is still young and her behavior is a bit too high-profile...
Qingyan also understood the importance of things, so as soon as Xiao Niu Hulu finished speaking, she smiled and said:
"Sister Concubine Wen is right. The emperor's heir should naturally be taken care of with care. You are right about resigning, and I, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager see your usual dedication and dedication to your job.
It is worthy of commendation. While it is still early, you should go back to Yongshou Palace to have a good rest. I will send someone to give you a resignation gift later."
Qingyan looked at Xiao Niu Hulu who was sitting at the bottom and said with a smile.
When Concubine Wen heard what she said, she was slightly startled. She didn't expect that Concubine Jing would be so easy to talk to. However, the purpose of coming to the North Fifth Institute today had been achieved, and she didn't intend to stay here any longer.
"Then my sister will go back to the palace to drink anti-fetal medicine."
Concubine Wen stretched out her right arm and was helped up by the eldest palace maid standing behind her. She leaned towards Concubine Jing, holding her belly slightly, and the master and servant left together.
After Concubine Wen walked away, Concubine An put down the tea cup in her hand and turned to look at Concubine Jing, who was sitting in the middle seat with a slightly frowning brow. She couldn't help but joked: "Is it true that Dean Jing is reluctant to part with Master Wen?"
When Qingyan heard Li's provocative words, she couldn't help but turn her eyes to her and said quietly:
"There is still more than a month before the annual vacation in the twelfth lunar month. There is currently only Concubine Wen, a female master of arithmetic, in this college. Now that Concubine Wen has suddenly left, is it possible that Master An can replace her in the following courses?
?”
As soon as Mrs. Li heard this, she immediately smiled coquettishly, picked up the teacup and drank tea with her head down to cover it up.
Don't be kidding, she is the martial arts master who wields swords and sticks in the academy! Even if she can read the account book, she has to stand on a three-foot podium with a charcoal pencil and write and draw on the white glazed wooden board.
She thought it was too difficult to break up the arithmetic knowledge and explain it clearly to the little girls. She would rather take them to the martial arts field to jump around, wave their arms and punch, which was so refreshing!
Qingyan also looked away again, and tapped the table with her right index finger, frowning in deep thought.
Her purpose of becoming the dean is to give the princesses and princesses the opportunity to study and understand things, so that they can stand up in the life of Fu Meng and marry each other, and live a better life for the rest of their lives.
In the future, this princess academy can also be used as an opportunity to promote girls outside the palace to have the opportunity to study and study as soon as possible. I hope that in my lifetime I can contribute to the good education of Qing women.
However, the empresses, mistresses and female officials who come to this academy to serve as female masters have different ideas. Some are for fame, some are for profit, some want to use this as a springboard to get close to the empress dowagers of the two palaces, and some just want to do it.
I want to find something to do to kill the long idle time in the palace, but there is always a big gap between imagination and reality. It has been a year since the Princess Academy was opened. At the regular meeting every ten days, Qingyan, the dean,
You can also see the status of the female masters.
Except for those who are really willing to teach and like to teach and solve doubts, the rest of the utilitarians have been worn out by the day-to-day teaching.
Qingyan, who was also a migrant worker in her previous life, understands the latter's thoughts very well.
She originally planned to wait until next spring to hold a trial competition again to recruit a group of new people for training, and slowly replace the few female masters who were having a hard time.
Unexpectedly, Concubine Wen's sudden pregnancy and quick resignation would directly disrupt her follow-up plans.
No matter when, what the academy lacks are "good teachers" rather than students seeking knowledge.
These first batch of female masters were all trained by her personally. When the college expands, she will only become busier and busier, and will no longer be able to train them one by one in detail. What's more, she is worried that Concubine Wen will be the first to resign.
, then this has opened a gap. If nothing else, there will definitely be a few people who can't do it or don't want to do it, and they will come to ask for resignation.
Although there are only two classes now, there are all the courses that should be offered, and basically each female master teaches one class. Even if only one of them resigns, if a suitable successor cannot be found, then this
The class had no choice but to be suspended for the first time, and it was these little girls who were delayed.
Thinking of this, Qingyan couldn't help but lean back in her chair with some frustration and let out a long sigh. The bottom line is: The college is short of people! It is short of good teachers who really love teaching!
Seeing Qingyan's distressed expression, An Bin turned her head and glanced out the window. When she saw that the sky was getting darker, she stood up from her chair and said to Qingyan:
"Sister Jing, it's getting late, let's go back first."
When Qingyan heard her words, she turned around and glanced at the sky, nodded and said:
"It's time to go back. Fortunately, this is an arithmetic class and not an aside. I can take over Concubine Wen's class for a while. Let's look for more new people during the annual vacation. The college needs to recruit a few more female masters.
Already."
"Okay, but you'll be very busy from now on."
An Bin said this with a smile, and then raised her hand to take down the two mink cloaks hanging on the mahogany hangers at the door. One was handed to Qingyan, and the other was draped on herself. By opening the door curtain, she
Concubine Jing whispered beside her:
"I see that Concubine Wen has so many pomegranate seeds embroidered on her body. It seems that she has high hopes for this child, but she still lacks the stability compared to Queen Niu Hulu."
Qingyan understood the implication of her words. When Niu Hulu, the successor, was pregnant, she said it was for the queen's position or to protect the child in her belly, but she kept it secret for more than three months.
The empress dowagers and the emperor of the two palaces hid it.
Now that Concubine Wen has been pregnant for just over a month, the entire Forbidden City has known that she is also the daughter of the Niu Hulu clan. The emperor does not want his successor Niu Hulu to give birth to a legitimate prince. Is it possible that he will be unhappy with this?
Does the prince born to Xiao Niu Hulu love him with all his heart?
Qingyan thought of the reputation of the tenth "bastard" in history, shook her head and smiled and whispered back: "Sister An, she thinks too much. Xiao Niu Hulu is a smart person. She has been looking forward to it for two or three years and finally her stomach is full."
There was movement, but didn't you feel dizzy with joy as soon as you came up? She must have woken up when the child landed."
When Concubine An heard Concubine Jing's determined tone, although she didn't understand why, she still raised her eyebrows and said nothing more.
When the two of them walked out of the study, two confidants, Bai Lu and Xue Yue, who were waiting outside, also walked quickly towards them.
Qingyan and Li did not take the sedan chair, but gathered their cloaks with their hands, and each led their eldest maid to walk along the palace road to the west.
The busy days passed by in a flash, and for the next month or so, Qingyan was so busy that she didn't even have time to play with Xiao Si.
After finishing the Laba porridge, finishing the year-end exams in the college, and not until the middle of the twelfth lunar month when Beiwu Institute went on annual vacation and the palace affairs were handled, she stopped spinning like a spinning top and completely relaxed and sat in her Chuxiu Palace.
The fish lie down and wait for the New Year.
Since the beginning of winter, it has often snowed, and it was not until late at night on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month that heavy snow fell in the sky. It finally felt like "auspicious snow heralds a good harvest".
Qingyan asked the palace servants to use a small red clay stove to warm a small pot of peach blossom wine in spring, and she lazily leaned on the heated kang in the side hall, holding an emerald wine cup and slowly sipping it.
The three-and-a-half-year-old Xiaosi was also sitting cross-legged not far away, playing with the gift that Yinreng had given him on New Year's Eve. Mother and son were drinking and playing without disturbing each other.
The gift that the young prince gave to the fourth child was a small, exquisitely crafted telescope. The two lenses inside were new products produced by the glass workshop of the Hershey family.
The shape of the telescope is modeled after the shape of eyeglasses. The outer shell is made of ivory white jade that is warm to the touch. However, in order to prevent falling, several thin pieces of gold foil are inlaid in several key positions, and the inconspicuous parts of the gold foil are ironed.
Two small "Yinzhen" characters were added. Considering that the four children might inadvertently lose the telescope when they went out to play, Yinzhen also specially asked the craftsmen to thoughtfully hang a strip on both sides of the lens tube.
The thin gold chain is convenient for Xiaosi to hang around his neck without losing it.
Xiaosi has been extremely excited since receiving this gift two days ago. Except when sleeping, he hangs the telescope around his neck. From time to time, he lifts it up to his eyes to look at it, or looks up to observe the beams.
carvings, or running to the front yard to check the bird's nest on the ginkgo tree. Even the little white-haired Pekingese was held in his arms by Xiao Si, who held up a small telescope and carefully looked at the fur on its body to make sure
Little Jingba's body was completely clean without a single flea before Xiao Si raised his hand and let him go with satisfaction.
Everyone in the Chuxiu Palace knows that their young master is obsessed with small telescopes recently.
After Xiao Si wiped the lens of the telescope clean with a goose-yellow soft muslin cloth, he lifted it up again and lay on the window sill to look out, when he suddenly saw the familiar Prince Yu Fujin Siruke with a somewhat unfamiliar face.
The young woman stepped across the wooden threshold of Chuxiu Palace and hurried in.