Hehe, the Zhao family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked at each other and laughed.

The woman had been glancing in my direction from the start, and I was wondering what she was up to. Turns out, this was it.

Huang smiled.

"Oh, madam, how is Miss Yun? Has she recently hired a female tutor to teach her etiquette and manners?"

Miss Yun attended my family's victory celebration banquet.

Didn't she tell you that five members of my family passed the imperial examination at the same time, becoming scholars?

Sigh, maybe my family's status isn't high enough to attract others' attention.

To my shame, my wife is nearly sixty years old, and yet no one in our family has passed the imperial examination.

The men in the family studied diligently for less than three years, and only ten of them managed to pass the imperial examinations and become scholars. Alas…

It's rare to have a scholar in the family, but it's not a big deal.

If there are two, that's remarkable; if there are three, that's a once-in-a-century occurrence; if there are ten, what do you call that?

It should be called Good Luck.

Why? Even with a high failure rate in the imperial examinations, out of ten scholars, surely one will pass and become an official.

Ji originally intended to disgust the Zhao family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, saying that the master of the house had already passed the imperial examination and become an official, while your family only had the title of Xiucai.

A scholar who has achieved the rank of Xiucai (a low-ranking scholar in the imperial examinations) dares to hold a celebration banquet? Bah!

Now, after hearing Huang's description, Ji suddenly realized how stupid she had been.

This was a wedding dress made for Huang, giving her an opportunity to boast.

"I'm sorry, I've been quite busy lately. Since my daughter Qiao'er came back, I haven't really asked her much about the banquet at your house."

I've only heard that the Zhao family is holding their banquet in the fields this time. Is that true?

I wonder if the Zhao family's courtyard is too small or what?

Huang laughed heartily, “It’s not that the courtyard at home isn’t big enough, but that we had a banquet last time.”

Holding a banquet in the open space in front of the Zhao Family Ancestral Hall is an age-old tradition.

Whenever there is a major event in the clan, a banquet is held in front of the ancestral hall.

A rain shelter was set up, and sun umbrellas were erected.

Several large pots were set up at the village entrance to cook bone broth, which was served with steamed buns to people from all around who wanted to share in the joy.

The wedding banquet that day was attended by over a thousand people, including people from my Zhao Family Village, students and teachers from the county school, and even Magistrate Qiu from Qingyang County.

Everyone said that eating noodles under the sun, looking at the nearby wheat fields and the distant scenery, felt peaceful and serene.

No one asked if the yard was big enough.

The women nodded.

Even the county magistrate attended their banquet, so what is there to complain about? Even if it was poorly organized, it was still perfect.

But today, Madam Ji is at odds with the Zhao family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

A person who always has to win an argument is repeatedly defeated today; how can he accept this?

He gave a forced, insincere smile.

"Oh, I was being narrow-minded, only thinking about whether my yard was big enough."

I've heard the Zhao family is well-off, but I wonder how big their courtyard is?

The other female guests at the table exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming with gossip.

They no longer care that the Ji family delayed their meal.

"This old woman is getting on in years, so she doesn't really know how big my Zhao family's yard is."

To live more comfortably, they bought a hilltop and built their home halfway up it. The hilltop wasn't large, only about a thousand acres in size.

“Wow. That must be huge!” said a woman in a maroon silk dress.

Huang nodded, "It's alright, it's alright. If we want to digest after the meal, we can just take a walk up the mountain behind the house and pick a fruit or two from the orchard along the way."

They brought spring water from the mountains to their home, and there was a water trough every so often along the way, making it extremely convenient to wash fruit or something similar.

Huang became increasingly excited as she spoke, for that was her home. This prompted many ladies to express their desire to visit the Zhao family home.

I'm really curious to see what kind of paradise this family, which can produce ten scholars, must be.

Is their yard more beautiful than my own expensive little backyard?

Ji nearly ground her teeth to powder.

Why can't this old woman from the Zhao family follow the script?

Unable to bear Huang's boasting any longer, Ji raised her voice slightly.

"Come on, everyone, eat your food. It's getting a little cold, and it won't taste good when it's cold."

The ladies at the table weren't fools either.

The Ji family is using these people as pawns to embarrass others.

But why should you have grievances and delay our meals?

No one is short of food. Even at Wangyuelou, if you don't eat there every day, you can afford to go every few days.

At this point, no one paid any attention to the Ji family; everyone was talking to the Zhao family.

"Can spring water really be diverted down from the mountain?"

"What kinds of fruit trees are there on such a big mountain?"

"There's even a martial arts training ground? Why practice martial arts? Aren't you afraid that women who practice martial arts won't be able to get married?"

"May I visit your home? Don't worry, I will definitely not touch anything I shouldn't."

As Madam Wang chatted with someone, she turned her head to look at the next table, where everyone seemed to be having a pleasant conversation.

She nodded to herself inwardly, thinking that this sister-in-law could at least hold out for a while in a critical moment.

Little did they know that the ladies at this table would never attend any of the banquets the Wang family would hold in the future.

Even more unexpectedly,

After returning home, these women discussed with their husbands the possibility of sending their children to the Zhao family school.

Merchants' children often went to school to earn a living, but the content taught in private schools had nothing to do with business.

Often, after children have studied in private schools for several years, their natural intelligence is worn away.

The Zhao family's academic teachings, aside from anything else, were particularly interesting to these merchants, especially their arithmetic skills.

In particular, the fact that both boys and girls can study in the clan school makes it even more suitable for the children of merchants.

Not to mention other crafts.

The Zhao family's clan school unexpectedly experienced a surge in enrollment.

The Zhao family naturally had no reason to refuse the money.

If there are too many students, then just add a few more teachers.

The tuition fees collected are basically enough to cover the expenses of the children in the clan, so why not?

If there aren't enough classrooms, it's even simpler: buy bricks and build houses; that's an easy solution.

What's even more amazing is that the painting classroom was actually built with bamboo, supposedly for the purpose of cultivating one's character.

It's truly a place to cultivate one's mind; the lush greenery is so inviting, it feels so close to nature.

The children all really enjoy the art class.

When taking a painting class, you can paint inside the bamboo house, or outside the bamboo house, or even pull up a bamboo chair and sit against the roof of the bamboo house.

Therefore, there will be a lot of materials for drawing classes; you draw me, I draw her, he draws it.

Following Wang Guangzong's victory celebration, the Wang family welcomed the marriage of Wang Guangzu's eldest daughter from Jiaxi.

Xi Da, the young lady, went to the county town a few times and spent some time with Lü Feng. She felt he was alright; Lü Feng was a responsible and steady person.

People who are good to children can't be too bad, can they?

Ten days after Wang Guangzong took office, Xi Da's daughter got married.