Chapter 170: One man's poison is another man's honey
If it were anyone else, Zhou Wu would only need to convey the order from his superiors and wouldn't have the patience to reason with her. But after all, Cui Qingyi was Shufeng's family, so their relationship was closer than that of ordinary people.
Zhou Wu was not stupid either. After a little thought, he understood what Cui Qingyi was worried about.
"Many women in the palace enter the palace as young as eight or nine, eleven or twelve, to serve there. Miss Cui need not worry about this. Furthermore, the girls selected from the girls' schools and sent to the palace will, if nothing unexpected happens, only serve in the inner chambers.
Your Majesty is benevolent. If palace maids and eunuchs make mistakes, they will be tried by the Inner Court. There will be no such thing as palace maids being beaten to death for no reason.
As long as they don't have any other thoughts, it won't be a problem for them to stay in peace and wait until they leave the palace and get married."
Although she said that, Cui Qingyi was not comforted much.
After conveying the order from above, Shufeng had already eaten and drunk well under Konjac's care, and had a good exchange of feelings with his mother and brothers. Zhou Wu then prepared to get up and say goodbye.
Cui Qingyi personally saw them off. When they reached the door, Zhou Wu looked at the brand new slings on Shufeng's back and said something more: "Miss Cui, forgive me for being blunt, but some things are like poison to one person but honey to another.
You may think that entering the palace is full of danger and uncertainty, but there is no guarantee that others will think the same.
If the small Dongping County could produce a female official, it would be a supreme honor for anyone, and she could be enshrined in the ancestral hall and receive incense for a hundred years."
After saying this, Zhou Wu took Shufeng away on his own.
But his words were like a bucket of cold water poured on Cui Qingyi's head, making her shiver in the hot weather.
She had traveled through time and space and had witnessed the prosperity of the world and the numerous crises hidden behind it. During the twenty years she had spent here, she had never worried about being strangled by the feudal era and had only wanted to live a stable and peaceful life.
But she is a one in a hundred thousand case. Who can she represent, and who wants to be represented by her?
She didn't want to enter the palace, didn't want to be close to the rulers of this era, but what about others? Was everyone like her, just wanting to live a mediocre life in this small county town?
Entering the room with a lot of thoughts in mind, Cui Qingyi and Konjac sat opposite each other under the eaves. Cui Qingyi suddenly asked, "Konjac, if you had the opportunity to enter the palace to serve the nobles and also have the chance to be awarded the title of female official, would you be willing to go?"
When Zhou Wu and Cui Qingyi were talking before, Konjac was also listening. At this time, she didn’t think that Cui Qingyi wanted to send her to the palace, but she could probably understand why Cui Qingyi asked this question.
She pondered for a while before replying, “If I hadn’t met the girl, and someone told me there was a chance to enter the palace and serve the noble, I would definitely be willing.
The imperial palace was the most prosperous place in the Jin Dynasty. Even if life was poor there, having enough food and clothing would definitely not be a problem. If you were lucky, you might be appreciated by a noble and be given the title of a female official. When you were old enough, you could be released from the palace. Even if you were a single woman, life would not be too difficult.
If someone has family ties, entering the palace would bring honor to the family. Whether or not they are willing to do so depends on their own thoughts."
There are some things that Konjac doesn't dare to say too absolutely. She has been by Cui Qingyi's side and has been inevitably influenced by Cui Qingyi over time. Compared to pursuing wealth and glory, she prefers her current ordinary and busy life.
So she couldn't say for sure what other people would think.
Cui Qingyi thought about it all night. The next day, classes resumed at the girls' school, and Cui Qingyi went there early in the morning.
The embroidery class for girls now has quite a large number of students, and is divided into several classes according to their progress.
Cui Qingyi thought that the selection of female officials by the court was a big event after all, so she gathered all the girls from the embroidery class together early in the morning.
Such time for everyone to gather together is rare in girls' schools, and the only times it happens are for major events like parent-teacher meetings.
So when Konjac notified everyone to gather in front early in the morning, the children knew that something big was going to happen again, but they didn’t know whether it was a parent-teacher meeting or the competition that Master Konjac had mentioned before.
But no matter what it is, the children always expect a little more.
Cui Qingyi stood on the steps, looking at the faces below, some curious and some quiet, with mixed feelings. No matter what, these were still children. The situation in the palace was so complicated, who knew what would happen if they went in.
Afraid that the students didn't hear clearly enough, Cui Qingyi tried to explain things as simply and clearly as possible.
"I've gathered everyone here today because I have something important to announce. You must listen carefully, and then go home and tell your parents exactly what I'm going to say.
It is a good year and the emperor’s grace is great.
A group of female officials and palace maids who have reached a certain age will be sent out of the imperial palace in the capital. As the palace is short of staff, the court will select women of appropriate age from all over the country to serve in the palace.
Our Dongping County is also on the list this time, but we want to select embroiderers who can embroider double-sided embroidery and enter the palace to serve the nobles.
Go back and tell your parents about this. If anyone is willing to enter the palace, you can come to me today to register."
As soon as Cui Qingyi finished speaking, the girls who had been quiet started talking. Even Chen Yingchun, the oldest and usually calm girl, showed a look of surprise on her face.
Just like that, the girls from the embroidery class had just arrived and then hurried back home.
Qijia
Qi Moxuan is now obsessed with writing various storybooks. He dislikes the noise in the bookstore and often stays at home. Fan Hui is busy doing laundry and is startled to see Qi Yuan rushing back.
He pulled his daughter over and looked her over before asking, "Why are you back at this time? What happened in school?"
Qi Yuan had been thinking about a lot of things on the way home. When she got home, her face was still flushed. When she heard her mother asking, she didn't care about anything else: "Mom, the palace wants to select embroiderers from the girls' school to serve in the palace. Mr. Cui asked us to come back and ask my parents for their opinion. If you want to go, go to the girls' school today to sign up."
Fan Hui was stunned by her daughter's string of words and asked uncertainly, "Enter the palace? They want you to enter the palace. Is this true?"
At this time, Qi Moxuan also heard the noise and walked out of the study. When he heard Fan Hui's words, he hurried over.
When Qi Yuan saw Qi Moxuan, he hurriedly repeated what he had just said. Qi Moxuan and Fan Hui looked at each other, then turned around and changed their clothes tacitly.
Sophora japonica Lane
The old lady of the Li family was sitting under a locust tree, listening to the other old ladies gossiping and showing off the new clothes her granddaughter had made for her.
"Look at the stitching, isn't the technique top-notch? And isn't the material very comfortable?
My daughter Xiao Miao is a good girl. She got some new fabric from the teacher at school, and when she got home, she made a new set of clothes for me and her mother. It was worth it for us to send her to school to learn a craft. This child knows how to be grateful.
The other old ladies felt their teeth aching and couldn't help but reach out to touch the clothes on Old Lady Li. Regardless of whether Xiao Miao from the Li family was filial or not, the material from the Cui family must be of good quality.
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