Chapter 178 Absolute fairness will never exist in this world.

The next day, after breakfast, Jiang Yu met Jiang Yunkang and Jiang Yuan. The two little ones were whispering to each other, it seemed that yesterday's matter had been put behind them.

She called the two of them over, told them about today's "homework," and then went back to her dormitory to change clothes, preparing to attend Prince An's invitation.

With the New Year approaching, the teachers at the family school will be on holiday, which is why Jiang Yuan and Jiang Yunkang come over every day. Otherwise, she wouldn't have time to tutor the two children. Assigning them homework is something they requested themselves.

Jiang Yu knew that Jiang Jiamu had asked Jiang Yunkang to bring this up with her, and she could understand Jiang Jiamu's intentions. Firstly, he didn't want Jiang Yunkang to slack off, and secondly, he wanted Jiang Yunkang to develop a relationship with her. Both were understandable; everyone would think of themselves and their children.

After tidying herself up, she took Dongxue and Xiahe and went out. The place where Prince An had arranged to meet was a bit far, so they would be traveling by carriage today. Before they even reached the second gate, a woman in her twenties dressed in a scarlet dress, holding the hand of a girl of about seven or eight years old, walked towards her.

"Greetings to the Duke." Both the woman and the girl bowed to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu couldn't immediately recall who the two people were, but still smiled and said, "No need for formalities."

At this moment, Dongxue approached her and whispered, "These are Aunt Gui and Miss Wu."

Jiang Yu understood; these were Jiang Chengye's aunt and illegitimate daughter. She just didn't know what their purpose was in deliberately bumping into her.

Aunt Gui could tell that Jiang Yu was going out on business. After hesitating for a moment, she pushed the Fifth Miss in front of Jiang Yu and said, "This child loves to read, and the teacher often praises her at school. I...I was thinking, could we ask the Duke to give her some guidance?"

Jiang Yu listened to her words without changing her expression and said, "The tutors hired by the manor are all carefully selected. If Fifth Sister has any questions, she can just ask the tutor."

Despite being rejected, Aunt Gui did not back down. She looked at Jiang Yu and said, "But wasn't the Duke instructing Jiang Yuan?"

Even though she felt it was unfair, Jiang Yu's expression remained unchanged. She gave a faint "hmm" and didn't say another word. However, Aunt Gui sensed the pressure emanating from Jiang Yu. She gripped the Fifth Miss's hand and involuntarily tightened her grip.

But having taken this step, she didn't want to come away empty-handed. She opened her mouth to say something, but then Steward Hu came over, bowed to Jiang Yu, and said, "Lord Duke, the carriages and horses are ready."

Jiang Yu glanced at Aunt Gui and said, "It's cold outside. Aunt, take Fifth Sister to play for a while and then go back."

Having said that, she strode forward. Aunt Gui wanted to follow, but Steward Hu stopped her, "Aunt, is Madam aware that you've come to see the Duke?"

Aunt Gui looked flustered. Lu Yifang was in charge of managing the inner courtyard, and she should have informed Lu Yifang first if she had anything to say. Her running over to stop Jiang Yu was overstepping her bounds.

She glanced at Jiang Yu's retreating figure again, then pulled the Fifth Miss and turned to leave.

......

As Jiang Yu boarded the carriage, Xia He remarked, "This Aunt Gui really doesn't know any manners."

Jiang Yu nodded and said, "She also wants to plan for her own child."

However, Aunt Gui used the wrong method. Aunt Gui thought that since Jiang Yuan was also a concubine's daughter, and her father and mother both had shameful pasts, one dead and the other exiled, if she could raise such a person by her side and teach her, then her daughter could too.

But she didn't consider that there are many unfair things in the world, and things can't always go according to one's wishes. Besides, with so many things happening in the Duke of Chu's mansion, is it fair to Jiang Yuan?

The things that happened before were as unfair to Jiang Yuan's mother as they were to Jiang Yuan herself. She wanted Jiang Yuan and Jiang Yunkang to stay with her, firstly because Jiang Yuan was being raised by Lu Yifang, and secondly because she genuinely felt sorry for Jiang Yuan.

But aside from that, she treated the children in the manor no differently. The school in the Duke of Chu's manor is now divided into two parts.

One curriculum was geared towards the imperial examinations. The other was the traditional curriculum for daughters of wealthy families; the children could choose what they wanted to learn. She gave everyone a fair learning opportunity.

However, the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children still needs to be made. Jiang Yunkang is the heir apparent, and in some respects, his position is unshakeable.

As I said before, absolute fairness will never exist in this world.

The carriage rumbled forward, and Jiang Yu didn't dwell on Aunt Gui's matter. She believed Aunt Gui would be punished for her actions. However, she wouldn't interfere in this matter.

After driving for a little over fifteen minutes, the car arrived at the entrance of a quiet and elegant house. Jiang Yu lifted the car curtain and saw the three characters "Wen Cha Ju" (问茶居) written on the plaque above the door.

As Jiang Yu alighted from the carriage, a neat-looking maidservant immediately approached, smiling and bowing, "Honored guest, please come in."

Jiang Yu, accompanied by Xia He and Dong Xue, followed the maid inside and was led into a tea room. Upon entering, Jiang Yu saw Prince An sipping tea, with the handsome Prince Rui sitting opposite him. Prince Rui, however, was engrossed in reading, completely unaware of the newcomer.

When Prince An saw her arrive, he stood up. Jiang Yu bowed to the two of them, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness Prince Rui and Your Highness Prince An."

Only then did Prince Rui raise his head. Upon seeing that it was Jiang Yu, he immediately stood up and said apologetically, "Duke of Chu, please have a seat."

Jiang Yu smiled and walked over to sit down. Then she saw the book that Prince Rui was reading, which contained Chinese numerals and graphics. In her previous life, many historians had said that the ancient Mohists had studied mathematics and science, but many of their works had been lost.

Upon seeing what appeared to be a book from the Mohist school, she couldn't help but say to Prince Rui, "Your Highness, may I take a look at this book?"

Prince Rui paused for a moment, then immediately said, "Of course, here you go."

He handed the book to Jiang Yu, who took it and carefully examined it, becoming increasingly alarmed with each page. The Mohist school's research into mathematics was already quite advanced, approaching modern levels. This book even contained geometric diagrams and calculation formulas.

After looking at the book for a while, Jiang Yu returned it to Prince Rui and said, "My elder brother has long admired the works of the Mohists. May I ask Your Highness to lend me a few books on the Mohists?"

“Of course.” Prince Rui said without hesitation, “Later, I’ll have your brother come to my residence to choose.”

Jiang Yu quickly expressed his gratitude, and Prince Rui said, "I should thank you too. You gave me a lot of inspiration that day. After studying for many days, I think that the explosive force of gunpowder is the greatest, and the force produced by the gunpowder explosion is mainly generated by the impact of the gas produced by the explosion. I think my next research direction is how to safely produce gas with impact force."

He spoke with a serious and earnest expression, but Jiang Yu felt that Prince Rui was radiating light at that moment.