Chapter 622 People Fly Kites in the Palace Even in Winter
Granny Wang whispered, "Commander Shang is the Emperor's confidant, and the Shang family holds a very high position in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Your Highness should not offend him. If there is an opportunity, you can try to win him over."
Jiang Fenghua was very polite to Shang Hong when she hadn't lost her memory. The fact that the Emperor could entrust the safety of the capital to him could only mean one thing: Xie Shang trusted the Shang family very much. She had to find a way to win over such a family.
Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, one could hear the sound of Grand Tutor Jiang reading aloud. He was teaching one of the chapters from the Analects. A childish voice slowly rang out; it was Xie Ziyan reciting the text fluently and clearly.
Next up was Xie Hongyou, who recited it haltingly.
Listening to the sounds inside, Jiang Fenghua felt a sense of déjà vu. Did she also recite her lessons like this when she was a child? She pushed open a corner of the window and looked inside. Jiang Huai had a serious face and sharp eyes. Xie Hongyou hadn't recited properly, so he even picked up a ruler and hit his little hand with it.
Xie Hongyou was hit with a ruler but didn't dare to shed a tear. His eyes were slightly red, and he looked pitiful, as if he wanted to cry but dared not.
The ruler struck Xie Hongyou's palm, and Jiang Fenghua shuddered. Intuitively, she felt that Grand Tutor Jiang was a very strict teacher, and she felt as if she had been beaten by him before.
Two other children were also sent to study; they looked so small they could barely sit up and needed to be cared for by the palace maids and nannies.
Jiang Fenghua was speechless. Did the emperor's sons and daughters have to suffer like this? Starting to study at such a young age was simply torturing the children. Was Grand Tutor Jiang out of his mind? Was he really teaching seriously? Did he find it easy to teach?
At this moment, Xie Hongyuan, who was in the wet nurse's arms, finally resisted and started crying loudly. He had probably just woken up and Jiang Taifu had disturbed him.
Jiang Fenghua pushed open the door and walked up to Xie Hongyuan. Looking at her son, who was as cute and innocent as an elf, her heart melted. "Yuan'er."
The moment Xie Hongyuan saw Jiang Fenghua, his eyes lit up, and he suddenly uttered something inaudible, as if he were calling out the words "Mother Empress."
The wet nurse was starting to doze off when she heard the Empress arrive, and she quickly bowed.
Jiang Fenghua said, "Let me hold the Fourth Prince!"
Jiang Huai was about to call out to Ruan Ruan, but before he could say it, he quickly said, "Why is the Empress here?"
“Father, you’ve been teaching and nurturing students for decades, how could you act so recklessly?” Jiang Fenghua said directly.
Jiang Huai paused for a moment, then asked, "How did I do something reckless?"
Jiang Fenghua said, "How can such a young child understand what you're teaching?"
“How could you not understand? When you were still being breastfed, you would cry loudly if I didn’t read to you. But as long as I read to you, you would stop crying and making a fuss. When you grew up, you never had to worry about reading. This method of mine is called ‘ear training.’ Over time, you will naturally learn it.”
“Look at the eldest princess, isn’t she doing very well in her studies? In the future, she will do even better than the Empress did when she was a child,” Jiang Huai added.
"Yan'er, do you like reading?"
Xie Ziyan nodded firmly without hesitation, "I like it. Mother also likes to read, so I like to read too. I always remember Mother reading to me."
"Is Yan'er only fond of him because Mother Empress likes him?"
Xie Ziyan said generously, "Not entirely, Yan'er also likes other things."
"What else does Yan'er like? Mother also wants to like the things Yan'er likes."
"Let's fly kites," Xie Ziyan said sweetly. "Mother, will you fly kites with Yanyan and Youyou?"
"It's too cold to fly kites in this weather. They can only be flown in the spring when there's wind," Jiang Fenghua said patiently. "How about Mother accompanies Yan'er to fly kites in the spring?"
“You can fly kites even in winter because of the wind. There are people flying kites in the sky outside. The kites can fly and disappear in a flash. I saw several kites fly away,” Xie Ziyan said.
Then Granny Wang remembered and whispered, "It sounds like someone is flying a kite..."
Jiang Fenghua said, "Go back and investigate this quietly!" Flying kites in the dead of winter? Are you crazy?!
Jiang Huai said in a deep voice, "It's because Princess Yan is playful and wants to fly a kite! Yan'er, you must study hard. This is what Master Jiang has told you." He doesn't make the children call him maternal grandfather in class; they all call him Master or Grand Tutor, equally.
Xie Ziyan was very obedient and stopped clamoring to fly kites. "Yan'er knows she was wrong. When you grow up, you should be as capable as your mother. Your mother can do everything."
"Yan'er doesn't need to be as capable as Mother. Yan'er just needs to be herself." Her father must be using her success as a role model. She doesn't even fully understand herself. Seeing Xie Hongyou, who was originally lively and cheerful, become so cautious, how strict must Grand Tutor Jiang be!
Jiang Fenghua did not take the two children away directly, but patiently told them to study with Grand Tutor Jiang.
In order to teach by example, she even had Xie Hongyuan sit aside and listen attentively to Jiang Taifu's lecture.
Jiang Huai looked at his daughter with a face full of relief and pride. The daughter raised by the Jiang family could always take control of the situation, no matter what day it came.
He also received a lot of gossip, hearing that the Empress Dowager was very dissatisfied with the Empress when she came to the palace and hoped that the Emperor could protect his daughter.
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Meanwhile, on the other side, Song Qing was not granted permission to attend the Empress's coronation ceremony. In fact, the concubines in the harem were even ordered not to appear in front of the Empress.
Upon hearing that the Empress had gone to the study, Song Qing also wanted to go to the study to see her son. So she came to Chang Le Palace to find Gao Qingtong and tentatively asked, "Doesn't the Noble Consort miss the Second Princess? Being called to study so early in the middle of winter must be exhausting." She wanted to see the Empress, but she couldn't get any information from Kun Ning Palace.
"The eldest prince, the eldest princess, and even the fourth prince have all gone to the Imperial Study. What do I have to complain about?"
Gao Qingtong knew that Song Qing was very resentful of her because her status was clearly not as high as Song Qing's, but she ended up becoming a Noble Consort and even gained power in the harem. However, the Empress had returned, and the power to manage the harem had been handed over to her. She should have returned it to the Empress. She was too lazy to care.
Seeing that her enthusiasm had been met with indifference, Song Qing felt very bad. For her own sake, she decided not to fight for anything. But Rui'er was also a prince!
If it weren't for the hope that he could also be loved by the emperor, how could a mother bear to make him get up early and suffer that hardship?
Just then, the old nanny who served the Empress Dowager came to greet her, saying, "This servant greets Consort Gao and Consort Song."
The old nanny continued, "This old servant serves the Empress Dowager. I am here on her orders to invite the two ladies to Kangshou Palace for tea and refreshments. All the other ladies in the harem have already gone; we are just waiting for the two ladies."
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