The martial arts instructors and teachers who taught the children, hired by the Zhang family, all took a break on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. Xu Bai was also packed up and sent back by the Zhang family. After returning, Xu Bai did not rest. He got up early in the morning to practice his stance and martial arts. After breakfast, he began to read and write. Especially when practicing calligraphy, he would wear a small sandbag that Xu Di had found for him to tie to his wrist. After lunch, he would take a short nap, get up and do a set of martial arts exercises, and then continue reading and writing until dinner. After dinner, Xu Bai would usually go to the old lady's house to chat with her, or he would debate with his other cousins ​​at the old lady's house, making it lively.

Because all the children in the manor had left their schools to prepare for the New Year, when Xu Bai practiced his martial arts every day, his older brothers, who had nothing else to do, would come over and stand by, pointing and gesturing at him as if he were no longer there. Xu Bai was not childish; once he set his mind on something, he would stick to it. No matter how loudly the young masters spoke or how unpleasant their mocking voices were, Xu Bai could calmly do his own thing as if his brothers were not around.

Xu Bai was the youngest child in the household, and apart from Xu Di, he was the most diligent and hardworking, which amazed the heir apparent who was staying at home on a sick day.

As he lay on the warm kang (heated brick bed) at night, the young master said to Ning, who was still getting a facial, "Tell me, how come my third brother is so good at educating children? The eldest young master passed the imperial examination at a very young age, and this seventh young master, who is only a few years old, spends all his time either practicing martial arts or reading. The sandbags tied to his wrists are not something that ordinary people can withstand."

Ning said, "You'll have to ask your third brother and sister-in-law about that. I don't think your sister-in-law disciplines her three children much. I often see her taking the children to do this and that. Could it be that the children really take after their father?"

The prince frowned and said, "Are you implying that your father is not ambitious enough?"

The couple's son, Xu Hua, was the second young master of the household. He was gentle and studied very hard, but he didn't achieve much. He was three years younger than Xu Di and had just barely passed the preliminary examination. At Xu Di's age, he had already passed the provincial examination.

Ning Shi then realized what was happening and quickly apologized, saying, "It's all my fault. I didn't think that my third brother could pass the imperial examination. The eldest young master usually studies with him, and he must have taught me everything, from methods of reading and writing to things to pay attention to during the exam. As for the seventh young master, he has been studying with the eldest young master since he was a child and has been carefully taught by him. Naturally, he is just as good at studying as the eldest young master."

The prince sighed and said, "Now that I think about it, I should have studied hard with my uncle back then. I couldn't bear the hardship of studying. If I had been able to endure that hardship, I might have been able to attend the Qionglin Banquet."

Ning said with a smile, "My lord, it's not too late if you want to study hard. With our Hua-ge'er by your side, who knows, you two might even have another wonderful story of father and son attending the Qionglin Banquet together."

Upon hearing this, the prince laughed and said, "You're teasing your husband now. You need to be focused on your studies. There are so many important and trivial matters in our family that require my attention. How can I possibly have the mind to study?"

Madam Ning said, "That's true. If you inherit this Marquis's mansion in the future, our Hua'er will also have to inherit it. Even if he passes the imperial examination, can he abandon this Marquis's mansion to take up a post in another place?"

The prince said, "That makes sense. Once you have official rank, things will be different from what they are now. We still need to urge our Hua-ge'er to keep up with his studies."

Ning said, "I heard from my third sister-in-law that Bai'er has been exercising since he was a child so that he could pass the exam smoothly in the future. Do you think we should also let our Hua'er exercise like this?"

The prince said, "There's no need for him to practice any advanced martial arts. Just enough to improve his health is fine. Since we've decided to have Hua-ge'er pass the imperial examinations, we must treat this as an important matter. Tomorrow I'll look around the manor to see if there are any suitable guards who can be Hua-ge'er's teachers."

Ning said, "Our Hua-ge'er has found a master, but what about the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth young masters? Why don't we talk to the Marquis and ask him to find a master for all the young masters? It's the same whether we teach one or several. Children can persevere if they have someone to compete with when learning kung fu."

The prince said, "Then I will go and talk to my father about this tomorrow."

The young masters in the manor never expected that it was because Xu Bai insisted on studying literature and practicing martial arts every day that the heir had the idea of ​​finding them a teacher. When the Marquis found a suitable teacher and forced the teenagers to start from the basics of horse stance, and then Xu Bai mocked them every day, they finally realized that what goes around comes around and that heaven will not let anyone off the hook.

The Marquis was naturally pleased that his child was making progress. He took out some writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones from his private treasury and distributed them to each of his grandsons. Even Xu Di received a very valuable Duan inkstone.

After the young ladies in the mansion had new nannies, Ning Shi also began to entrust some of the household management matters to the young ladies.

With many things to do at the end of the year, Ning assigned the cleaning and washing of tea sets and tableware to several young ladies. Except for the second young lady who was about to get married, each of them was given a task starting with the third young lady. Xu Zhi was assigned to lightly check the tea sets from previous years, clean them thoroughly, and mark them so that they could be used directly when relatives came to visit after the New Year.

Of course, Xu Zhi didn't need to clean them herself. There was a maid in the manor who was in charge of the tea utensils. The maid was a very honest person. When Xu Zhi was ordered to go find her, she followed behind Xu Zhi very respectfully and answered whatever she was asked.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!