Chapter 62
The turmoil in the court did not spread to the harem.
Qu Watanabe is delivering gifts throughout the palace.
They were all brought back from outside, including several royal brothers, Sister Zhiyi, Empress Xuan, Concubine Guo, the Empress... almost all the people he knew were there.
This also includes Eunuch Yu and Eunuch Bao from the Zichen Palace.
It’s okay if the person isn’t there, but the gift must be there. No matter how close or not, at least the person receiving the gift should know that he is still thinking about them. Invisible favorability is quite important.
Shunning Palace.
Qu Dubian's bedroom was in the palace opposite to Concubine Xuan. Only Concubine Xuan, Guo Changzai and Zhiyi lived in Shunning Palace, so there were many empty rooms.
His room was chosen by Concubine Xuan as the one with the best lighting.
Since this was the room he would live in for several years in the future, Qu Dubian put forward a few of his own ideas. Concubine Xuan asked the palace ladies to take note of them and to construct and arrange the room according to his requirements.
"And this," Qu Dubian took out the small wooden box that Xie Jingshan had given him, "Uncle Xie asked me to give it to you."
Concubine Xuan opened the wooden box and said, "Thank you for your hard work. You have to go to Xie's house and get something for me."
Qu Watanabe: "It's just a small matter."
He said sensibly, "Please open it and take a look. I'm going to the yard to play with my sister."
Princess Xuan opened the wooden box, which contained a rolled-up book on boxing techniques, several large-denomination silver bills that were easy to store, and some sealed letters.
She opened it directly. Inside were a few words of comfort. Judging from the handwriting, it was written by her brother, but the tone was that of her father. These words were not the main point. The main point was at the end.
Xie Jingshan painted an orchid.
It is not the national flower, Cymbidium orchid, but a common orchid.
orchid……
Concubine Xuan pondered, so the person who instigated Concubine Chu to poison Xiao Qi last time was Concubine Lan?
Qu Dubian didn't know that Concubine Xuan had become wary of Concubine Lan. He was chatting with Zhiyi, "I heard from Concubine Guo that my sister is going to start studying. Do you want to go to school with me?"
Zhiyi showed a somewhat eager look, then shook her head dejectedly: "My mother said that a female official and a nanny would come to teach me in the afternoon. I am a princess, and what I need to learn is different from you."
Qu Watanabe: "What do you want to learn?"
"They sent the book over and asked me to look at it first."
Zhiyi led him to her study, where there were guzheng, guqin and a pile of new books. Qu Duan flipped through them, and found several similar books on top, such as "Female Training" and "Female Virtue". There were other books at the back, but they were all about poetry, rhyme, chess, and flower arrangement.
If you follow this method, you can create a royal lady in the eyes of the people of this dynasty.
Zhiyi: "Brother, your expression when you look at these three books is similar to that of Empress Xuan." The little girl was a little nervous and pointed at them, "Are these three books difficult to learn?"
It's not difficult to learn.
It will just waste a lot of things.
Qu Dubian flipped through the book casually and looked into his elder sister's clean and innocent eyes. He was not willing to let her learn the things in the book.
He didn't know whether the two little girls of the Xie family had studied these three books, but at least they also read books and studied history, and studied with their brothers in the clan school. Under the influence of what they saw and heard, their horizons and minds were broadened.
But these are things that princesses of every generation have to learn. How can a young prince like him convince these adults?
If I go directly to my cheap dad, he will probably just laugh it off and not take it to heart.
If I want my sister to live a more comfortable life and stay away from these things before she forms the correct values, we have to find another way.
Qu Dubian rolled his eyes and suddenly smiled: "Sister, when the lady-in-waiting and the nanny come this afternoon, can I stay here with you?"
"Eh?" Zhiyi said happily, "Okay!"
-
noon.
Purple Palace.
Emperor Chongzhao: "Xiaoqi stayed in Shunning Palace for dinner?"
Eunuch Yu: "Yes, there was a message from over there that the young prince will not be back this afternoon. He said he will accompany Princess Zhiyi to class?"
"Accompany Zhiyi to class..." Emperor Chongzhao suddenly realized, "I asked the nanny to teach the princess in advance. She is almost old enough and it's time for her to learn. After Xiaoqi moves in, Zhiyi can also take her brother to learn together."
"Xiao Qi is not old enough to go to school yet. I don't care. It's up to him before he is three years old. After that, it's not up to him. It would be good for him to be influenced by his elder sister's study atmosphere in Shunning Palace."
Eunuch Yu: “That’s exactly it.”
The other side.
Shunning Palace.
In Zhiyi's study.
"What?" Nanny Su, who was in charge of teaching, was surprised. "The Seventh Prince is also going to learn from him? Concubine Guo, you must be kidding me."
Guo Changzai: "Empress Xuan also agreed, saying that the little prince is bored and it would be nice for him to play with his sister."
When Nanny Su heard this, her expression eased a little.
"Since it's Concubine Xuan, then just put a small table aside."
In the elegant and clean study, the palace servants placed a small table next to Zhiyi's desk and took out a soft cushion.
Madam Su said to Qu Duanbian, "Your Highness, you must not disturb Princess Zhiyi's studies, understand?"
Qu Duanbian said obediently: "I understand, please rest assured, Madam."
He took out the small incense burner of Emperor Chongzhao, lit some incense he had brought from the Purple Palace, and placed it on the small table. Then he took out a few books in a very serious manner and put paper and pens neatly in place.
Nanny Su's eyes softened a bit, and she praised, "As expected of you who attended Dongyuan Academy, your Highness, although young, has already shown some signs of being an elegant young master."
After saying that, she turned her attention to Princess Zhiyi.
Zhiyi sat at the desk, also very well-behaved.
Nanny Su smiled and said, "Princess, let's practice calligraphy while reading. Let's start with this book." She pointed the ruler in her hand at the "Instructions for Women"[1].
"Although you are a princess and do not have to follow some rules, you still need to learn and understand many of the principles above. This book consists of seven parts, namely "Humbleness", "Husband and Wife", "Respect and Obedience", and "Women's Behavior"..."
"Weakness is the most important. In ancient times, when a girl was born, she was laid under the bed for three days and played with tiles and bricks[2]..."
The explanation was very boring. Nanny Su taught in a very strict way, wanting to instill the meaning into Zhiyi first and then teach her to recognize the words.
In Qu Dubian's opinion, this was outrageous. For a serious child to learn to read and write, it was not the enlightenment books with 300,000 words, but things like this that sounded very confusing and extremely frustrating when you think about it carefully.
Zhiyi was young and didn’t understand, and her eyes could hardly open.
Nanny Su repeatedly tapped the table with her ruler to prevent her from falling asleep.
"Your Highness, please correct your attitude. I will ask you questions later about what I am explaining now. If you can't answer them, I will really spank you."
Zhiyi rubbed her face and said, "Sorry, Mammy."
Nanny Su spoke for about fifteen minutes before she went to drink some water to relax. When she arrived beside the Seventh Prince's desk, she saw a lot of writing and drawing on the white paper, and she couldn't help but stop.
The Seventh Prince did not make a fuss or disturb the princess' studies, which was beyond her expectations.
What are you looking at so seriously?
Nanny Su took a closer look.
The Seventh Prince sensibly moved his hand away and showed her the book he was reading. On it were two big words: "Legends for Women".
Aunt Su: “?”
Hesitantly: "Seventh Prince, what do you think of this...?" She thought the Seventh Prince was reading a storybook or the Three Character Classic.
Qu Watanabe: "Because what you say is very interesting, Madam!"
Nanny Su looked at Princess Zhiyi who was yawning on the desk.
He lowered his head again and met the Seventh Prince's piercing eyes.
Aunt Su: “…”
She held the book in her hand, not only did she not feel any sense of accomplishment from teaching students, but she fell into a subtle silence.
I can’t put my finger on it, but I always feel like something is a little weird.
-
One afternoon.
Half of it is learning books, and half of it is learning etiquette.
Walking, sitting and lying down are the most basic movements and need to be practiced from a young age. After many years, elegance and nobility will be imprinted in your bones.
Qu Watanabe also studied for an entire afternoon.
As soon as Nanny Su left, Zhiyi's face immediately fell and she lay down on the table exhausted, "Brother, you've worked so hard..."
Qu Watanabe: "Sister, does Aunt Su come every afternoon?"
Zhiyi: "I heard from mother that Su Ma also has to take care of the concubines in the Cining Palace. She is not free every day. She will rest for two days every ten days."
Her little face was wrinkled. She had only studied for an entire afternoon, but she was already feeling resistance to studying.
"I'm going to start piano lessons tomorrow morning, so I'm afraid I won't have much time to play in the future."
While she was complaining quietly, Guo Changzai had already said goodbye to Nanny Su and pushed the door open, "Come and have dinner, eh?"
Qu Dubian: "Madam Guo, I won't eat here tonight. I'm going to the Purple Palace."
"It's all right. If you want to leave, tell Empress Xuan."
"good."
After Qu Dubian finished explaining things to Concubine Xuan, he took the puppy cart back to the Zichen Palace.
Emperor Chongzhao heard the noise outside and put down his chopsticks. "That's right, go get another bowl."
Eunuch Yu smiled and said, "Okay."
"I'm back," Qu Dubian rubbed his hands and went to the table to eat skillfully.
"Why don't you eat in Shunning Palace? Even if you don't like Concubine Xuan anymore, you can't regret it now."
"No."
Qu Dubian picked up the spoon gracefully, raised his index finger, scooped a spoonful of soup, shook his head and blew it three times, then took small sips.
Emperor Chongzhao stopped eating and a question mark popped up on his forehead.
The younger son picked up the handkerchief again and pressed it against the oily spot at the corner of his mouth. When he saw that he was looking at him, he shook the handkerchief off to cover his face.
He raised his chin and swung his sleeves: "How can I look directly at the princess's face? Come, take her away!"
Emperor Chongzhao: “…”
I'm not angry, after all, I have practiced it.
After a moment of silence, he asked Ye Xiaoyuan: "What did Xiaoqi do today?" He was having a seizure like this.
Ye Xiaoyuan's mouth twitched: "I learned the "Female Commandments" and the princess's etiquette rules from Su Ma. Now, your highness should remember how the princess should respond when a rude person looks directly at the royal princess..."
After he finished speaking, Qu Watanabe took out a book.
Holding the book in his hands, he shook his head and said, "To be quiet and chaste, to be chaste and orderly, to behave with shame, and to follow rules for action and rest, this is called the virtue of a woman. [3] I cannot run around, I cannot shout, I cannot be shameless, only in this way can I be a virtuous woman."
Emperor Chongzhao: “…”
He tried to snatch the book away and said with a headache, "This is what your sister is learning. Why are you memorizing it? If you want to memorize it, just go to the school and memorize it casually."
Qu Dubian held on tightly and refused to let go: "No! I asked around and only my sister is studying this book, it must be a good thing!"
Emperor Chongzhao: "This is a book for girls! Do you still want to become a girl?"
Qu Dubian said stubbornly: "You have to learn it to know if it will change!"
Here it comes, here it comes again.
This is a stubborn expression that refuses to accept.
Emperor Chongzhao said tiredly, "Let go of me now. You are a prince, how can you carry such a thing?"
"This is definitely a good thing!" The more he said this, the more Qu Duanbian insisted, "Otherwise, why did you only let Sister learn it secretly? If I hadn't discovered it, Sister would have learned all the good things. I would have learned it too! I can recite it faster than Sister!"
Emperor Chongzhao: “…”
Is this a question of how fast you can recite it?
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