After being rejected by Yao Niang, Prince Qing has not dined at Jin Yu Lou for a long time.
Gu Yaoniang's anxious heart gradually calmed down.
Shuojing City remained prosperous, and Jinyulou's business was getting better and better. Customers were familiar with Jinyulou's operations, and the first and fifteenth of each month were always particularly busy.
Princess Ruining's newly established girls' school has been completed, and she is currently searching for teachers. Gu Yaoniang has contributed greatly to this effort, especially in terms of funding.
Together, the two named this brand-new academy "Jade Carving Academy." Like uncut jade, a woman awaits carving and polishing, and will surely reveal her dazzling brilliance.
The emperor greatly appreciated this. Inside the Yong'an Palace, Princess Ruining knelt before the bed, carefully massaging Emperor Zhenlong's calves.
Emperor Zhenlong looked at his daughter with affection: "Why do you have to do it yourself? Just let the servants do it."
Princess Ruining dripped some medicinal wine into her palm, rubbed her hands together to warm them, and then placed them on her father's joints before looking up and smiling as she replied, "No servant knows as much about propriety as a daughter. Father, this is a massage technique I specially learned from a traveling doctor; it's especially effective for your foot pain."
Looking at his daughter's hands, which were rough and yellow from rubbing the medicinal wine every day, Emperor Zhenlong felt both pleased and heartbroken. He sighed, "These useless imperial physicians!"
Princess Ruining laughed: "They're not useless! It's just that you can't stand the smell. If it weren't for me, who would you let put these things on you every day? Wouldn't you have had Eunuch Dengbao drag you out and give you a beating?"
Emperor Zhenlong glared at her, then stopped talking and watched her repeat the rubbing and applying motions. He then put away the medicinal wine and had a maid fetch water to wash his hands.
He said with heartache, "Are the rose dew and pearl cream from the south useless?"
He gestured with his lips, looking at Princess Ruining's yellowish palms. Her fingers were originally slender and delicate, but her palms were now somewhat yellowish-black.
Princess Ruining clenched her fist loosely, seemingly unconcerned: "It will likely take years. Father, don't worry about it."
Emperor Zhenlong beckoned to her, and Princess Ruining knelt down by the bed, resting on Emperor Zhenlong's lap just as she had when she was a child.
Emperor Zhenlong lovingly stroked her long hair and asked, "Have you been tired lately? You look like you've lost weight."
Princess Ruining suddenly straightened up, touched her waist with both hands, and then lay back down on her father's lap: "No way! Father is just talking nonsense."
Her voice was soft and sweet, a stark contrast to her resolute demeanor in court.
Emperor Zhenlong laughed heartily and asked her about her recent diet and daily life, to which Princess Ruining answered in detail.
The emperor smiled gently, his eyes kind and gentle: "My Yao Yao has grown up. Are there any talented young men in the court that you find suitable?"
Princess Ruining suddenly sat up, her voice indignant: "Father! I told you I wouldn't pressure you to get married!"
Emperor Zhenlong blinked innocently: "When did I urge you? I was just asking. It was just a question."
Princess Ruining pouted and refused to acknowledge him.
He put on a stern face and feigned anger, saying, "You're already twenty-three by the Chinese age reckoning! You'll be thirty in the blink of an eye. Look at Qiu, she's even younger than you, and she's already had a child! What about you? It's normal to be a little pressured!"
Xie Danqiu gave birth prematurely to a daughter at the end of May. The baby was sweet, soft and cute. Her friends all sent congratulatory gifts. Even Gu Yaoniang, who was unable to go to the Qin family in person, asked Princess Ruining to send a congratulatory gift.
When Xie Hou entered the palace to play chess with the emperor, he openly and secretly boasted about his granddaughter's cuteness more than once, making him extremely envious.
He's the emperor! How could he not have what his subjects have?
Princess Ruining was furious: "Father, I just turned twenty-one! Even if it's the traditional Chinese age reckoning, how can you be so old!"
He stood up and made a gesture to bow and take his leave.
"Stop right there! You think you can ignore me?!"
Emperor Zhenlong tried to stand up, but seemed to feel pain in his foot, and swayed slightly. Princess Ruining quickly supported him. He then took the opportunity to pull Princess Ruining back down to sit on the edge of the couch.
Princess Ruining felt utterly helpless looking at her father, who bore no semblance of an emperor.
“Father, you wanted me to participate in politics. I’m currently observing affairs in the Ministry of Revenue and preparing for the establishment of the Jade Carving Academy. How can I have time to get married and have children? Aren’t you making things difficult for me?”
"Then I won't go."
"What do you mean you're not going? Where are you not going?" Princess Ruining's voice suddenly rose. "Father! Are you regretting it? You won't let me do anything anymore! I knew it, men are unreliable, and you're no exception!"
There is probably only one person in the whole world who dares to speak to Emperor Zhenlong like this.
The phrase "Men are unreliable" was uttered by Gu Yaoniang, who found it quite reasonable and blurted it out without thinking.
Emperor Zhenlong was both amused and exasperated: "I haven't said anything yet."
He first coaxed Princess Ruining to sit down before asking solemnly, "I haven't asked you yet, how is Yuzhu Academy doing now?"
Seeing that the conversation had turned to serious matters, Princess Ruining also lowered her gaze and replied, "The school buildings have now been renovated, teachers are still being searched for, and I am currently working on the curriculum. I expect that we will be able to accept students in a few days."
Emperor Zhenlong nodded: "Well done. I originally wanted to allocate funds from the Ministry of Revenue, but those old fellows keep complaining about being poor, so I had to ask you to do it this way. Fortunately, you have that young man from the Lu family and the Gu family to help you."
This is good; since it's not an official school, you're essentially the headmaster. What the academy teaches and how it's taught are all up to you. And you don't have to listen to those old fogies' opinions.”
Princess Ruining chuckled to herself. Who would have thought that the Emperor spoke of those high-ranking officials who disagreed with him in such a way behind his back?
She lowered her eyes and nodded in agreement. Emperor Zhenlong then asked, "Do you still remember why you and I, father and daughter, wanted to establish a school for girls?"
"It was so that women could have a skill, learn how to govern a country, and have other paths to choose from besides marriage and childbirth."
Princess Ruining answered in a deep voice.
Emperor Zhenlong looked at her and said, "Very good. I will take care of things in the court. But how to get those women to come to your academy and learn what you want to teach, I will leave that to you."
Princess Ruining agreed firmly, but hesitated before speaking, "Father, I have something to ask you."
"Ask if you want."
Why did you teach me these things?
Why would you allow her to study governance? Why never teach her the traditional virtues of obedience and submission? Why allow her to grow up as unrestrained as any man in the world?
Emperor Zhenlong was taken aback, but then smiled: "Because you are the apple of my eye."
Emperor Zhenlong only snapped out of his daze when Zhao Yao could no longer be seen outside the gates of Yong'an Palace.
Why?
Because he had witnessed too many women fighting and vying for power in the world, a struggle that was both unwarranted and inevitable.
So many delicate flowers, which should have bloomed freely, were completely unaware of their own existence, seemingly living only to climb, and ultimately withered away in haste.
If his precious daughter could have a different, expansive world, wouldn't everything be different?
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