Chapter 24 The First Building in the Capital
Seeing that Xie Yuntang had left, Xie Yunman coldly addressed Xiao Ling:
"Yu'er invites you to meet her in three days at Room 2, Floor 2, Tianxing Tower."
"What time is it?" Xiao Ling asked hurriedly.
"Three quarters past Chen hour".
After saying that, Xie Yunman turned around and left.
The next day, Xie Yunyu took a carriage out to inspect the family's shops.
When I arrived at Jinxiufang, I saw that there were many people in the store, so I went straight to the back to look at the account books.
Gu Yu was left to entertain the guests in the front hall.
Two young women stood beside Gu Yu.
A woman in a pale yellow dress looked unhappy, while another young woman in an apricot-colored dress was comforting her.
"Sigh, your family didn't do it on purpose. Who knew his family would be like this?"
He hasn't even married his legal wife yet, and she's already about to give birth to his eldest son from a concubine.
Luckily, your family discovered it in time and didn't agree to the marriage, otherwise it would have been terrible.
Because the young woman in the apricot-colored dress spoke rather loudly, a group of young women around her stopped what they were doing and pricked up their ears to listen to the gossip.
The woman in the yellow dress was completely oblivious to those around her, preoccupied only with her own angry rant:
"He calls himself a scholar, what does he even think he is?"
"That's right. They come from an ordinary family of fifth-rank military officers, yet they insist on studying. They've been studying for so many years, but haven't achieved anything."
To do something like this, they've completely lost all sense of shame.
The young woman in the apricot-colored dress echoed.
Gu Yu listened from the side and thought, "Doesn't he sound a lot like the young master?"
So she quietly moved closer, and a round-faced maidservant, at her mistress's behest, moved over and curiously asked:
Which one are you talking about?
"Which other family could it be? The Li family in the west of the city. The head of the family is named Li Shihang, who is a fifth-rank captain in the Imperial Guard."
His eldest son is named Li Juncheng, and his concubine is about to give birth.
Gu Yu immediately recognized the young master's family.
He became even more enthusiastic, straining his ears to listen carefully.
The woman in the apricot-colored dress said angrily, "His family is currently searching everywhere for women to fill the hole for him, hoping to marry his first wife first."
Upon hearing this, the round-faced girl in the pomegranate-colored skirt immediately retorted angrily:
"Pah, what kind of thing is this, daring to make such a plan?"
Everyone should remember this family and warn their elders not to be deceived.
The young ladies and maids around them, who had been listening to the gossip, nodded and began to chat amongst themselves.
Gu Yu quickly went to the back and told Xie Yunyu the good news.
Xie Yunyu listened and said calmly:
"Those who do evil will not live long."
Afterwards, the two went to Tianxing Tower together, with Qingchen driving the carriage in front.
Xie Yunyu came here for two reasons: first, to check on the business of the shop, and second, to reserve a private room for her meeting with Xiao Ling the day after tomorrow.
Tianxinglou was the first shop Xie Yunyu operated.
Originally, it was a teahouse that Zheng gave as part of her dowry, but it was barely surviving. Zheng gave it to Xie Yunyu to practice on.
After studying the situation, Xie Yunyu changed the business here.
Because right in the middle of this street, the most popular restaurant is called Baikelai.
At the far east of the inn was a large private school, and at the far west was a bookstore selling large volumes of books.
Xie Yunyu's shop is located directly opposite these three shops.
So he opened a shop called Tianxinglou, mainly to provide a place for scholars and literati to have a pleasant conversation and exchange ideas.
The couplet at the entrance reads: "As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement; as earth's nature is receptive, a gentleman should cultivate virtue and bear all things with magnanimity."
After Tianxing Tower opened, Xie Yunyu set a rule: anyone who wanted to enter Tianxing Tower had to answer a question.
You can only enter if you answer correctly; you won't be allowed in if you answer incorrectly.
Moreover, the topics change every ten days, with almost no repetition.
With this novel approach, it attracted a large number of scholars as soon as it opened.
Tianxing Tower is divided into three parts: a main building, and two three-story buildings on the east and west sides.
The east wing room is actually a library, containing many books for scientific research, including some rare and unique copies.
The west room is a storytelling and leisure room, mainly for people to relax and have fun.
The central main building has five floors and is known as the Challenge Building.
You can only go up to the second floor if you answer the question on the first floor correctly, and you can only go up to the third floor if you answer the question on the second floor correctly, and so on.
Tianxing Tower: Free entry, free challenges, free reading.
However, leisure and entertainment, tea, pastries, writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones are all charged.
Since its opening, Tianxinglou has become a popular place for literati and scholars.
Within a month of its opening, Tianxinglou attracted a large number of scholars from the imperial court and academies in the capital.
A month later, Headmaster Fu of Nanshan Academy heard about it and became interested, so he asked Xie Yuanshan to bring everyone from Nanshan Academy to Tianxing Tower.
Before the students arrived, they felt confident that they could easily reach the fifth floor and were determined to climb it in one go.
But when they arrived, they were dumbfounded to see all sorts of questions hanging inside the challenge building.
It includes literature, mathematics, agriculture, military affairs, poetry, medicine, divination, various crafts, astrology, and even navigation and foreign languages...
Many people can't even get to the second floor.
Seeing that the academy disciples were defeated one by one, Headmaster Fu personally went up the tower to challenge them.
Starting from the first floor, they made rapid progress and climbed to the fifth floor in one go.
After coming down, Master Fu remained silent for a long time before saying, "From now on, anyone who can climb to the fifth floor can go directly to Nanshan Academy to study."
After this battle, Tianxinglou became famous.
The title of "the best building in the capital" has been vaguely mentioned.
Many people were trying to find out who owned Tianxing Tower, and eventually discovered that it was the property of the Xie family, the former tutor of the Crown Prince.
Those who wanted to seize the Heavenly Pavilion all went to the Crown Prince to find out.
After hearing this, the Crown Prince became very curious about Tianxing Tower and made a special trip out of the palace.
They entered with great enthusiasm, answering the questions.
Then I saw all sorts of bizarre challenge questions, as well as some pictures and foreign languages that I couldn't understand, all kinds of things!
He thought to himself, "No wonder only Master Fu has ever climbed to the fifth floor."
In the west room, a storyteller was reciting "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" with great enthusiasm, but his version was quite different from the one he had read.
But it was so captivating that the audience around me cheered continuously.
The crown prince sat and listened for a long time, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Then I went to the east side of the building and saw many people copying books. Judging from their clothes, they must be poor people.
There is also free hot water available nearby.
The prince stood in front of the bookshelf and looked at it for a long time. In addition to the classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections, there were many books on it that were unique copies.
After wandering around the building for most of the day, the Crown Prince returned to the palace, still feeling unsatisfied.
Upon returning, he told the others that the old tutor had set up a library for poor students to copy books, which was a contribution to the education of the nation.
Upon hearing this, no one dared to make a move against Tianxing Tower.
Although Tianxing Tower only has five floors, in the two years since it opened, only Master Fu has ever been up there.
Until the year Xie Yuntang took the imperial examination, when all the top candidates from the country gathered in the capital, another person climbed to the fifth floor.
That person was Cui Xinghe, the top scholar of the previous year.
After Cui Xinghe became the top scholar in the imperial examination, Tianxing Tower became even more remarkable and was known as the "Top Scholar Tower".
It is said that whoever can climb to the fifth floor will surely be the top scholar in the next academic year.
Although all of this was Xie Yunyu's plan, it was Xie Yunman who carried it out, so those who were interested said that Xie Yunman was a genius.
Some people even suspect that Mr. Xie was behind this.
Old Master Xie knew that Xie Yunyu was responsible, but he just smiled faintly and made no comment.
With another major scientific expedition scheduled for next March, Tianxing Tower is bustling with activity once again.
Xie Yunyu thought she would come and see if there was anything that needed improvement, or perhaps she could take over the neighboring yard and expand it.
As soon as I arrived at Tianxing Tower, I was stopped at the entrance and told that I couldn't enter unless I answered a question.
Xie Yunyu, wearing a cap, smiled, answered the question, and prepared to go inside.
Who knew that the person would stop Gu Yu and Qing Chen, saying that they had to answer questions, and they wouldn't be allowed in if they didn't.
Xie Yunyu handed over the Xie family token she was holding.
The man took it, glanced at it, and said, "So it's Miss. Please."
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