Chapter 198 I'm Not Xu Ying
The Grand Tutor wanted to persuade him again, but the Emperor just refused to listen.
He also advised the Imperial Tutor, "The prince and princess are both my children, why can the prince sit on the throne but not the princess? The ancients said that the wise and the capable should be chosen, and now I will also give them the opportunity to display their talents."
In the end, the Taifu was fooled by Emperor Zhaoming and agreed to be the teacher of the princes and princesses in a daze.
Emperor Zhaoming did not let Tutor He do this alone. "I also plan to teach them myself." Of course, he would personally select the future successor to the world.
Grand Tutor: ...
Now, no matter what the emperor wants to do, Master He will no longer be surprised.
The news that all the princes and princesses of the right age should go to school together was spread to the harem, and the concubines were also very surprised. Of course, they did not have the courage to think that their daughters could also succeed to the throne, and they just thought that the emperor was sick again.
The queen said to her daughter worriedly, "I wonder what your father is planning to do next?"
"No matter what he wants to do, studying is never a bad thing."
The queen frowned and said, "But I always feel that it's not that simple."
Princess Zhaoyang also studied with the princes in her early years. They were all children at that time, and the teacher came every day to teach them how to read and write. When she grew up a little, Princess Zhaoyang only studied with princesses of similar age. She learned to compose poems every day, and the content was mostly about love and romance, or about calligraphy and painting that could cultivate one's mind. She also read classics and history, but only superficially to understand the meaning.
At that time, when she saw the homework of her imperial brothers, she was already writing state governance strategies. Even the annotations in their books were different from hers.
The eldest prince, the second prince and the third prince could not come to this lecture. The three of them had already married and been crowned kings, so there was naturally no reason for them to return to the palace to study.
Hearing what Grand Tutor He taught them, Princess Zhaoyang was surprised. She knew how to be a king and a minister, how to open up channels for communication, win people's hearts, select talented people, and respect and love the people.
If it was just a guess at first, when Princess Zhaoyang saw her father coming in person to teach them, she was almost certain that her bold guess might be true.
Xu Heng has been a little irritated recently because he found that he had not seen Princess Zhaoyang for a long time, and he could do nothing about it.
Princess Zhaoyang is the emperor's most beloved princess. The word "Zhao" in the country's name can be used as her title. Such favor is not enjoyed by other princesses, or even princes.
Xu Heng could only wait for the princess to come and see him, as he had no way to go find the princess. Only then did he realize that he had been too overconfident in the past.
"Brother, when I was injured before, Miss Duan came to visit me at home and gave me a lot of gifts. Now that I am better, shouldn't I go to the Duan family to pay a visit?"
Now was not the time for envoys from vassal states to pay homage to the emperor. The Honglu Temple was very quiet. Officials there could often chat for half a day over a cup of tea. Xu Heng felt that in such a place, his talent had nowhere to be used. He was not successful in the officialdom, and the matter of Princess Zhaoyang made him irritated. So when Xu Ying came to talk to him about this, Xu Heng just said, "It's up to you to decide. Tomorrow, ask the nanny to help you pick out some gifts. Don't be impolite when you go to someone's house."
Xu Ying naturally agreed obediently. Someone would tell Xu Heng about the matters at home. Seeing that Xu Ying was the same as usual recently, he didn't take the matters at home to heart.
When Xu Ying went out the next day, the maid she brought with her was a servant bought in the capital by Xu Heng after he passed the imperial examination and became the third place in the imperial examination. Her name was Dou Yan. Xu Ying thought her name was interesting, so she asked her to serve her and did not change her name.
However, in order to prevent Xu Heng from becoming suspicious, Xu Ying also brought Liuli, who had always been following her, because she knew that Liuli was Xu Heng's person.
When the carriage was halfway there, Xu Ying suddenly said anxiously, "What a pity! How could I forget to take the most important thing?"
"What's the matter, girl? What did you forget?"
"I made this purse with Miss Duan. It was finished yesterday. It was late last night. After I finished it, I put it in the secret compartment at the head of the bed. But I forgot to take it out today."
Hearing this, Liuli said without hesitation: "It's still early now, I'll go back and get it for you."
Liuli was bought by Xu Heng and placed by Xu Ying's side before he went to Beijing for the exam. She treated Xu Heng as her master, but she served Xu Ying sincerely. The maid bought by Xu Heng was unaware of the twists and turns. In her heart, Xu Ying was the master's sister and also the master.
"That's fine. You've always been the one taking care of my room. I'm afraid Douyan doesn't know. If it's not on the bed, look for it somewhere else. Maybe I put it somewhere wrong and forgot about it."
Xu Ying and Doufan got off the carriage and handed it to Liuli. "I see there's a jewelry shop here. Doufan and I will go in and take a look. We'll wait for you when you come back."
Liuli did not suspect anything and went home alone to get something. Xu Ying did not run around at first, but went to the jewelry store to look around and bought a hairpin before coming out.
After coming out of the jewelry shop, Xu Ying stood on the street and suddenly felt dazed for a moment.
Douyan asked in confusion: "Where do you want to go, girl?"
Where do you want to go?
She wanted to go back to Qingzhou...but she couldn't do that now. She looked through the household registration documents in the room, and it said she was Xu Ying.
In the capital, all the people she knew were Xu Heng's sister Xu Ying. Only she herself knew that she was Li Enhua.
When the accident happened that day, Xu Ying was also at the Li family. At that time, she and Xu Heng were already discussing marriage. Xu Ying was Xu Heng's sister, so naturally she often went in and out of the Li family.
When she made clothes, she would also include Xu Ying's share. Xu Ying even tried on new clothes that day... Could it be that because of this, the people in their family mistook Xu Ying for her?
Thinking of Xu Ying, Li Enhua felt a little sad. Xu Ying was indeed a simple and good girl. After the chaos that day, she was protected by the nanny, who changed her into a maid's clothes and helped her escape. On the way to seek help, she rolled down the cliff, and when she woke up again, she saw Xu Heng.
While sorting out her thoughts, Li Enhua looked for a stall on the street where she could write letters. If there was anyone she could trust, it was only her grandparents who were far away in Minzhou.
Li Enhua quickly wrote in the letter what had happened to him, his current situation, and a few things that only the Li family knew.
"Who are you writing to, girl?"
"I met a girl in the palace last time. My brother only let me associate with the girls he told me about. I was afraid he would be unhappy if he knew about it. Don't tell him when you get home, or my brother will scold me again."
Douyan has been following "Xu Ying" ever since he came to the Xu family. Now that he heard her say this, he naturally promised not to reveal it.
There were special messengers in the capital who could deliver letters for people. Li Enhua asked the stall owner to find the messenger and gave him the address of his grandparents and the money for the letter. Douyan was illiterate, but just in case, Li Enhua sent her to buy cakes.