172. "The Male Concubine"
Qu Zijin stared at them for a long time, speechless, his lips trembling: "What...what did you just say? Male...male concubine? Who taught you that word?"
His mind went blank, and he felt like the sky was about to fall.
The oldest of them is only six years old, how could they say such shocking things!
The second brother scratched the back of his head and said in a carefree manner, "It's His Majesty! Yesterday in the Imperial Study, His Majesty said that if the little princess doesn't want to get married in the future, she can keep male concubines, and he even asked the little prince to help with that in the future!"
The young prince added earnestly, "That's right! Father said I'm going to find all the most talented boys in the capital to be Chaoyun's male concubines! Grand Tutor, you're so knowledgeable, you must know where to find such people!"
They began to embellish and freely alter Wei Xiuming's statements, and even nodded in affirmation of their own remarks.
Qu Zijin, unaware that his speech had been altered, was in a daze and could only barely stand by holding onto the table.
Surprisingly! It was actually the Emperor himself who suggested it!
How could His Majesty say such a thing to a child?!
He couldn't understand.
Qu Zijin took several deep breaths, trying to stay awake.
He told himself that His Majesty was a smart man, and he wouldn't bring these things up for no reason...
Yes, there must be a deeper meaning behind it!
His Majesty must have given this matter considerable thought!
Although he couldn't understand it, His Majesty must have his reasons!
Yes, that's it!
Holding fast to his loyalty to the emperor, Qu Zijin tried hard to convince himself to accept it.
Four children surrounded him with bright eyes, urging him to give an answer: "Grand Tutor, Grand Tutor, where can we find the best male concubine?"
Qu Zijin forced himself to speak: "This... I don't know anything about this... I don't usually... pay attention to this kind of thing..."
The little dumpling blinked, then asked in confusion, "Huh? Even the Grand Tutor doesn't know? Then where should we go to find male concubines?"
The four children were a little troubled when they saw that Qu Zijin couldn't answer either.
"How about we go out into the street and randomly grab a few people?" the little prince suggested.
"Okay, we'll sit on the street and pick one out slowly. Once we find one we like, we'll grab it and take it with us!" The little princess clapped her hands and cheered.
"But... can Little Cloud and the Little Prince go out?" the little dumpling asked.
“It doesn’t matter if they can’t get out, little sister. I’ll go with you to look for them outside the palace, and let the little prince and princess look for them inside the palace!” The second brother offered the perfect solution.
"Yay!"
Qu Zijin couldn't stand listening to these outlaws' arrest plan any longer, so he opened his mouth to try and reason with them about the law.
Before he could even speak, the little princess suddenly clapped her hands, turned her head and stared straight at him: "Hey! Grand Tutor, how about you become my male concubine and play with me for now? You can continue being the Grand Tutor when a new male concubine arrives!"
Qu Zijin felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
He stumbled backward, nearly knocking over the bookshelf behind him, his voice trembling: "What kind of behavior is this? What kind of behavior is this! I am your Grand Tutor, how could I... how could I do such a thing!"
He was panicking and felt he couldn't stay in the school any longer.
If we keep talking, I'm afraid these little devils will scare me half to death.
The four little ones looked at the terrified Grand Tutor with astonishment.
The little dumpling, not understanding what was going on, went over and patted Qu Zijin's arm with her little hand, saying, "Grand Tutor, don't be nervous, you're just playing with us."
The young prince nodded in agreement: "That's right! If the Grand Tutor becomes Chao Yun's male concubine, he can play with us every day!"
The second brother's eyes lit up: "Then we don't have to go to class! That's great! Grand Tutor, you must become the little princess's male concubine!"
Qu Zijin was shocked: "No! Absolutely not! This is utterly moral decay! The world is going to the dogs! Society is in chaos!"
Seeing that Qu Zijin wouldn't agree, the little princess pouted and instead took the little dumpling's hand, whispering, "Little Moon, if Grand Tutor Qu isn't willing, then let's find someone else..."
"Then who should we look for?" The little dumpling fell into deep thought.
"That's it!" The little princess quickly came up with an idea. "Your brother Xie seems really good too. He's both capable and handsome. Last time he even helped us teach the wicked prince a lesson. How about making him your male concubine?"
The little dumpling's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes! Brother Xie is so great!"
The second brother immediately slammed his fist on the table excitedly: "Then let's quickly divide it up! Grand Tutor Qu will go to the little princess, and Lord Xie will go to the little sister. That way, we can both benefit and have someone to play with every day!"
The little prince waved his hand, exuding an air of dominance, and said, "It's settled then! After school, I'll go tell Father Emperor to have them both come and become my male concubines!"
As Qu Zijin listened to the four children solemnly assigning tasks to themselves and Xie Wenling, he felt dizzy, unsteady on his feet, and his hands trembling.
He had lived for over twenty years, considering himself well-read and worldly-wise, but he never imagined he would encounter such a situation one day…
This class is impossible to attend!
He must find the emperor right now and get to the bottom of this, or he'll be driven mad by this absurdity sooner or later!
He turned around and hurriedly ran out of the Wenhua Hall, but before he had taken two steps, he suddenly stopped.
Because I almost bumped into someone.
"Grand Tutor Qu? Where are you rushing off to?" Xie Wenling, who had almost been hit on the head, took two steps back and couldn't help but ask, looking at Qu Zijin who was covered in sweat and looked flustered.
He had just escorted Xiao Tuanzi and her second brother to the Wenhua Hall when he discovered that Xiao Tuanzi's cloth bag containing her schoolwork had been left on the carriage, so he turned back to return it.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived, he saw Qu Zijin running out in a panic, as if he were hiding from some flood or ferocious beast.
Before Qu Zijin could answer, footsteps sounded behind him, and four children came running out.
The children, puzzled as to why the Grand Tutor was behaving strangely today and had suddenly run away, followed him out out of curiosity.
However, as soon as they saw Xie Wenling, their eyes lit up one after another.
The little dumpling ran up to Xie Wenling with her short legs, tilted her round little face up, and smiled the happiest smile: "Brother Xie! You're here, that's great!"
Immediately afterwards, she tugged at his sleeve and said in a childish voice, "Brother Xie, how about you be Yue'er's male concubine? And if Grand Tutor is Xiao Yunduo's male concubine, then we'll both have male concubines!"
Xie Wenling had a smile on his face when he saw her, but the smile faded after they finished talking.
The usually composed Xie Wenling showed a rare look of shock: "Princess, what did you say? Male concubine? Who taught you that term?"
He immediately turned his suspicious gaze toward Qu Zijin.
Although he believed Qu Zijin was not that kind of person, Xie Wenling, as the children's teacher, had every reason to doubt him.
Qu Zijin, listening from the side, felt his vision blurring. Trembling, he pointed at the children and said to Xie Wenling, "Lord Xie, please don't ask me... It was... it was His Majesty who told them that if the princess didn't want to marry, she could keep male concubines, and he even asked the princes to help arrange it... The children insisted on choosing you and me as their male concubines..."
Before he could finish speaking, the little princess ran over, grabbed his finger pointing at them, and looked up at him, shouting, "Master Qu! Why did you run away just now? I just realized I'm a princess, how could you refuse me?"
The moment the words "Qu's male favorite" were uttered, Qu Zijin's vision went completely black.
He could no longer hold on and collapsed straight down.
Xie Wenling reacted quickly, catching him in his tracks and shouting to the palace servants beside him, "Quick! Summon the imperial physician!"
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