Chapter 756 Miss Feng bows her head and apologizes
The square of the girls' school was quiet.
Those young ladies who had originally stood with Feng Jingfu, fearing they would be implicated, silently took a step back.
The commoner girls who had been humiliated before suddenly felt a sense of triumph, and their eyes shone brightly as they looked at Cheng Wanwan.
So this is Lady Sui. Many people say that Lady Sui is the Lady of the common people, and only today do they understand what that means.
Lady Sui is an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings. With Lady Sui as the headmistress of the girls' school, their lives here should be much better.
Feng Jingfu raised her head, bit her lower lip, and said, "Doesn't Madam Sui think there's something wrong with her stance? Just because I spoke a few truths, she wants to fire me. Madam Sui's vision is nothing special."
"Truth? What is the truth?" Cheng Wanwan looked at her solemnly. "Is it the truth to divide people into different classes? Is it the truth that daughters of noble families are noble and daughters of commoners are lowly? Is it the truth that daughters of commoners are not worthy to appear before daughters of noble families? If these are the kinds of statements you speak of, then it can only be said that Feng Taibao has indeed failed in his duty to educate his daughter. A person who cannot even discipline his own children is not worthy of being the Crown Prince's tutor."
Feng Jingfu was about to retort that she could scold her, but she couldn't criticize her father.
Cheng Wanwan didn't give her a chance to refute, and said coldly, "Hundreds of years ago, the first emperor of the Xiao family was a beggar. More than two hundred years ago, your Feng family didn't even know where they were. More than a hundred years ago, which of the Zhou, Zhang, and Li families present here wasn't a commoner? To despise commoners is to despise one's ancestors. People who don't even respect their own ancestors are not worthy of being called human!"
“Going back three or five generations, who dares to say that their ancestors weren’t the lowest-ranking commoners?” Her gaze swept across the entire room, and every word she spoke resonated deeply. “The four characters, ‘scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants,’ are not meant to rank people by social class, but rather to say that no matter what one’s status, everyone has a reason to exist and is an indispensable and important member of our great Yu Dynasty.”
"Among those present are daughters of scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants. It is thanks to the efforts of your fathers and grandfathers that our Great Yu Dynasty has gradually prospered... Elsewhere, there may be discrimination based on social status, but at the Great Yu Girls' School, every student is equal. No one is more noble or lower than anyone else... If we must divide them into different classes, then we can do so according to their academic rankings, with top students and struggling students. This is the proper hierarchy a school should have..."
As she finished speaking, enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.
A look of shame suddenly appeared on Feng Jingfu's face. Her father had told her countless times that her great-great-grandfather was a carpenter who was summoned to the palace to make canopy beds for the royal family because of his outstanding skills. Their Feng family had started to rise in status from the generation of her great-great-grandfather...
She actually forgot her roots and showed contempt for her ancestors.
Because of these ignorant remarks, she was expelled by Mrs. Sui on the first day of school.
If her parents found out the reason she was expelled, she would be forced to kneel in the ancestral hall for a month, then confined to her quarters and never allowed to leave the house again...
The little girl turned pale at the thought of the serious consequences.
Cheng Wanwan looked at her and knew that the little girl had realized her mistake.
She proposed firing him, but she didn't really mean to fire him; she just wanted to make an example of him.
If Feng Taibao's youngest daughter behaves obediently, the other daughters of prominent families will naturally not dare to cause any more trouble, making them much easier to manage in the future.
"Today's matter is nothing more than a verbal dispute," Cheng Wanwan softened her tone. "Miss Feng, just apologize, and this matter will be over."
Feng Jingfu pursed her lips, struggled with her thoughts for a long time, and then said, "Madam Sui, I'm sorry, I was being presumptuous just now."
The other party was Lady Sui, a second-rank official, an elder, and the headmaster; it was alright for her to bow her head and apologize...
She repeatedly convinced herself in her heart, and finally managed to say the apology completely.
“Miss Feng shouldn’t be apologizing to me.” Cheng Wanwan turned to look at the silent crowd beside her. “She should be apologizing to them.”
Feng Jingfu looked up in disbelief.
Lady Sui actually made her apologize to a group of commoner women? Is she crazy?
She was the legitimate daughter of a high-ranking official, a top figure in the circle of aristocratic young ladies; these commoner women weren't even worthy of carrying her shoes...
Her gaze still held disdain.
The ordinary women involuntarily took a step back; none of them dared to accept Miss Feng's apology.
“Ms. Feng now has two choices,” Cheng Wanwan said calmly. “Apologize, or drop out of school. The choice is yours.”
Feng Jingfu bit her lower lip until it turned white.
She didn't want to apologize.
They were even less willing to be expelled from school.
She really wanted to argue with Madam Sui, but Madam Sui was too eloquent, and she couldn't win the argument.
After much thought, it seems I can only choose one of the two options.
Feng Jingfu felt as if a hundred years had passed in her heart. After a long while, she finally lowered her noble head, looked at the dozens of commoner women, and said in a low voice, "I was just being presumptuous and rude. Please don't take it to heart."
The sound was extremely low, like the buzzing of a mosquito.
Cheng Wanwan frowned, but before she could speak, Feng Jingfu quickly changed the subject, raising her voice considerably this time: "To express my apology, after the morning classes, I'll treat everyone to a meal at the girls' school cafeteria. Please feel free to eat as much as you like, and all the expenses will be on my tab."
The commoner women all waved their hands.
"Miss Feng, you're too kind."
"Of course we won't take it to heart."
"No need to treat me."
Feng Jingfu generously replied, "It's necessary, very necessary."
These ordinary people have the sharpest tongues. They can talk about even the smallest things for a long time and they will spread inexplicably in the neighborhood. If she doesn't appease these gossips, her parents will definitely find out what happened at the school tonight, and she will inevitably get a scolding. It's not a big deal for her, since it can be solved with a little money.
Seeing that there was no longer any lingering resentment between them, Cheng Wanwan didn't say anything more.
She never imagined that Miss Feng's act of bowing her head this time would set a precedent for friendship between a woman from a prominent family and a woman from a commoner family.
To say that they crossed the class divide is an exaggeration, because that would have been impossible in feudal society. But at least in the girls' school, in that small space, the daughters of scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants could live together in harmony and peace, which was already a great step forward.
Once all the registered students had arrived, they first gathered in the square, followed by the opening ceremony.
The headmaster of the girls' school was Cheng Wanwan, and there were two deputy headmasters, namely Master He and Master Jiang. They also hired more than ten outstanding female teachers to teach... The teachers would go on stage and meet the students one by one.
Originally, Cheng Wanwan planned to have the Empress give a speech on the first day of the girls' school, but the Empress's special status made it difficult for her to leave the palace.
Therefore, Cheng Wanwan had to give the speech at the opening ceremony herself.
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