Chen Yuancheng poured a cup of tea and handed it to Xiao Yunying.
She picked up her teacup and took a sip: "Have you been going out a lot lately?"
"Yes, I'll take your advice and go out more often to relax."
Xiao Yunying agreed, saying, "It's good to go out more when conditions allow. Don't always lock yourself in the house; you'll get sick even if you're not. But it's getting colder now, so be careful not to catch a cold."
"good."
Xiao Yunying looked out the window at the people coming and going below, and suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, do you know which academy in the city is good? I'd like to send my child there next year."
Chen Yuancheng hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yunshan Academy is not bad; my father teaches there."
Xiao Yunying asked in surprise, "Your father is a schoolteacher? Isn't your family in business?"
Chen Yuancheng explained, “My family is not actually a proper merchant family. My mother started doing business after she married my father. My father was a scholar who taught before that. However, due to some issues, he could no longer stay in the capital and returned to Donglin City to settle down five years ago.”
The social circles are different in every place. The capital city is bustling and highly competitive, so being able to become a teacher there shows that one has real talent and learning.
“Your father is amazing to be a teacher in the capital.” Xiao Yunying thought for a moment and then said, “Your mother is amazing too, managing to develop your family business into such a large enterprise in just five years.”
Chen Yuancheng shook his head: "My father wasn't a schoolteacher when he was in the capital."
Xiao Yunying asked curiously, "Didn't you say your father was a teacher?"
Chen Yuancheng said calmly, "My father taught the former crown prince, now the emperor, and several other princes, who have all been granted the title of prince."
"In the past..." Xiao Yunying's eyes widened in surprise: "Your father was the Imperial Tutor!"
She stroked her chin, thinking. The people who taught the Crown Prince must be high-ranking officials. The one who taught literature was called the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, and the one who taught martial arts was called the Crown Prince's Grand Preceptor.
So now she probably understands why the magistrate bowed to Master Chen.
Xiao Yunying leaned forward, almost lying on the table, and whispered, "Was your father demoted because he made a mistake?"
According to her understanding, those who could be selected as the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor or Grand Preceptor were generally gentlemen of high moral character, noble character, profound knowledge, and illustrious reputation, many of whom were prime ministers or important officials of the court.
Scholars, in particular, are often too upright and often say things that are "hard to hear," which the emperor, being in a high position, sometimes cannot listen to.
Over time, dissatisfaction is bound to arise, but because the other party is their teacher, they dare not punish them severely. It is very likely that they will find a mild excuse, such as "returning to their hometown to retire," to remove the other party from their official position.
"No, it's because of some reasons that my father voluntarily resigned from his official post and returned to his hometown."
Xiao Yunying was relieved and sat back down: "That's good."
"Why such an expression? If I were the descendant of a disgraced official, would you intend to distance yourself from me?"
Xiao Yunying poured herself a cup of tea: "I'm not stupid. Your family is doing very well in Donglin City. How could you possibly be the family of a disgraced official? I've never seen such an arrogant family of a disgraced official. Isn't this a slap in the face to the person above?"
Besides, do I look that unreliable? Even if you are the descendant of a disgraced official, at worst you'll be more cautious when you meet in the future. Cutting ties completely is going too far; I certainly wouldn't do such a thing.
"Then why are you so nervous?"
Xiao Yunying had no way to express her grievances: "I cannot deal with officials for personal reasons."
Whatever the reason, that scoundrel has indeed been demoted and his property confiscated. He must have committed a serious crime. This matter cannot be discussed, as the children in the family cannot be implicated.
Xiao Yunying stammered, "Um... how do you save identity documents here?"
Here?
Chen Yuancheng asked thoughtfully, "What is an identity document?"
"It's the identity information recorded by the government. I don't know what it's called. If... I mean, if that bastard... oh no, never mind, I'll just say it outright."
The other party was Chen Yuancheng, so she had nothing to hide: "The problem is that the children's father committed a serious crime and was demoted, his property confiscated, and exiled for a year. Will this affect the children? Can they go to school? Can they take the imperial examinations?"
The two brothers, Luo Chen and Luo Yang, are eager to learn and will take the initiative to memorize their lessons whenever they have free time.
Especially Luo Yang, ever since he heard her talk about fingerprints by the well, he often asks about methods and techniques for criminal investigation.
She wasn't a professional in this area, so she could only tell him what she thought made sense and was most likely to be true, based on what she had read in novels and TV dramas.
She could tell that Luo Yang wanted to rely on the imperial examination to pursue an official career, and wanted to become a good official who would do practical things for the people.
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