Chapter 111 Differential Treatment A few days later, Yinreng returned from outside…
A few days later, Yinreng returned from outside. Under Cheng Qianyue's hopeful gaze, he slowly told her about the Emperor's permission for Moyaqi to enter the Imperial Study and study with Hongchao.
Cheng Qianyue was overjoyed and immediately called Mo Yaqi over to tell her the good news. Mo Yaqi was indeed excited and cheered with joy, waving her arms and legs.
Seeing the mother and daughter holding hands and jumping around happily, Yinreng felt that he was a good husband and a good father.
After a while, Cheng Qianyue and Mo Yaqi rushed to Yinreng's side. The two looked at him as if he were a great hero. One of them went up to massage his shoulders and the other imitated him by making fists and massaging his legs.
Yinreng was served a couple of times before he stopped them, laughing and saying, "Look how happy you are." It got even worse when it came to dinner that evening, with one after another putting food on his plate. If the rice bowls and plates hadn't been shallow, they might have piled up into a small mountain.
After they had eaten and the children had gone out, Cheng Qianyue asked about the details.
Yinreng said, "I had already written the memorial and was ready to submit it, but the Emperor summoned me yesterday while he was having lunch. So I took advantage of lunch to tell the Emperor about it."
Cheng Qianyue hadn't expected this matter to be brought up in front of the Emperor, so she nodded and said, "Yes, what did His Majesty say?"
Yinreng smiled knowingly: "Of course, I'm just telling the truth."
Moyaqi and Hongchao were twins, a boy and a girl, and had grown up together since childhood. Not long ago, Moyaqi had a terrible cry, which her mother "couldn't handle." This was all true; he didn't need to embellish it at all. He simply mentioned wanting Moyaqi to go to the Imperial Study at the end, and the Emperor relented. It's likely the Emperor thought that the little girl hadn't experienced the hardships outside, and might back out once she did. But regardless, the matter was settled.
Cheng Qianyue said, "That's wonderful, Your Majesty has worked hard." To be honest, although she knew that Yinreng and Kangxi were father and son, she had always regarded Yinreng and Kangxi as emperor and subject. However, at this moment, she realized that the two of them could actually sit together and chat like ordinary people.
Yinreng smiled, but quickly added, "It's just that His Majesty said that Moyaqi is still young, and once she grows up and the rules of propriety between men and women apply, she won't be able to go to the Imperial Study anymore." After all, the Imperial Study isn't just for her cousins; there are also some imperial family members who accompany her as they study, as well as Haha Zhuzi, the son of an official from a bondservant family. It wouldn't be good if there were any clashes.
Cheng Qianyue thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "The age at which the separation of men and women is formally established, do you mean seven years old, sir?"
Yinreng said, "More or less."
Cheng Qianyue thought it was still too early. She consciously considered seven years old as seven years old in her maternal age calculation, which meant another two or three years, a long time from now. Besides, who knew what the situation would be like in a few years? Maybe their whole family would be trapped. In short, live in the moment. Moyaqi could go to school outside now, and that was enough. Even if Moyaqi couldn't go outside when she grew up, just thinking about this moment would make her happy.
Sure enough, February has just arrived, and Hongchao and Moyaqi are about to go to the Imperial Study to study under a master.
Cheng Qianyue got up very early with Mo Yaqi today, and was already dressed while it was still dark. Since it was Mo Yaqi's first day of school, she had to give her some good instructions.
Cheng Qianyue wasn't in a hurry to eat. While Moyaqi was eating her steamed buns, she reminded her, "It's an opportunity you worked so hard to get to go to school with your brothers, so you can't give up halfway. If you do, your mother will be very disappointed in you."
Moyaqi, unable to speak clearly because of the food in her mouth, nodded heavily. After swallowing the bun, she assured her, "Mother, I know." She knew that it had taken a lot of effort for her to be able to leave this house, so she cherished it all the more.
Cheng Qianyue hummed in agreement and took the small schoolbag that the servant brought over, putting it on her back. This schoolbag was made by Cheng Qianyue after it was confirmed that Mo Yaqi could go to school. She chose Mo Yaqi's favorite pinkish-blue color, and embroidered a peach blossom on the corner.
Cheng Qianyue straightened her clothes and continued, "There's a small box of chestnut cake inside. If you get hungry along the way, just take it out and eat it."
Moyaqi tilted her head and sweetly said okay.
At this moment, Ruoyun came in from outside and said, "Master, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince have arrived."
Cheng Qianyue nodded and said, "Let them in." Back at the end of the first month, Hongchao had moved to the east back courtyard to live with Hongyan. However, the three siblings had agreed that they would go to the Imperial Study together from now on.
Before long, the brothers Hongyan and Hongchao entered the house one after the other. After tidying up, Moyaqi dashed over to her brother's side. The three children stood in front of Cheng Qianyue, their heights varying, each carrying a schoolbag, looking like a pair of long and short Wi-Fi phones.
Cheng Qianyue instructed Hongyan, "Take good care of your younger brother and sister while you're out there, okay?"
When Hongyan was entrusted with this important task, he immediately straightened his chest and said, "Mother, don't worry, I will definitely take good care of them." In the past two years, he had grown a lot taller and understood a lot of principles. He thought to himself, not to mention that the three of them were princes and princesses from the East Palace, there were three of them. If you count the two older brothers, there would be five of them. Who would dare to bully them?
Cheng Qianyue walked over and patted each of them on the shoulder, gently telling them to go outside. She stood at the door watching the three children walk out side by side, followed by Hongyan and Hongchao's several little pigeons. After they all left, Cheng Qianyue began to eat breakfast. She had planned to sleep a little longer after breakfast, but the more she ate, the more energetic she became, and after finishing her meal, she didn't want to go back to bed.
Cheng Qianyue got up and sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) by the window, suddenly feeling a profound sense of emptiness in the room. Although there were people standing beside her, she felt a profound sense of solitude. She wondered if this was the pain of children growing up. She used to hear their chatter every morning, but now she couldn't hear a thing.
As she pondered, her thoughts drifted to other things. To be honest, she was a little worried. She was concerned that her two children wouldn't adjust well on their first day of school, and also worried that Moyaqi might face gender discrimination. Just imagine, a girl mixed in with a group of men—would they look down on her, openly or subtly?
Cheng Qianyue spent the whole morning worrying. Then, before 2 PM, Mo Yaqi returned from outside. Cheng Qianyue was a little puzzled. Wasn't martial arts practice supposed to last until 3 PM? Why was she back so early, and alone? However, Mo Yaqi seemed alright; she didn't appear to have been bullied.
Cheng Qianyue asked her softly, "Moyaqi, why are you back?"
Moyaqi handed her schoolbag to someone and walked over with light steps to answer: "Because the martial arts instructor, Anda, told me not to force myself and just do my best. After that, I did a horse stance for about fifteen minutes, and my legs started shaking. I felt that if I continued like this, I would definitely fall, so I asked Anda for leave, and Anda allowed me to come back."
Cheng Qianyue's forehead slowly creased with a question mark upon hearing this, but after a moment's thought, she understood. This was special treatment for Mo Yaqi. She guessed that the other officials were worried about Mo Yaqi getting hurt and scarred, which was why they didn't make any demands. Having figured this out, she didn't know what to say. However, Mo Yaqi didn't seem to mind this preferential treatment.
Cheng Qianyue then asked her, "So, do you feel happy studying and practicing martial arts outside?"
Moya thought about it carefully and replied, "I'm still happy. Although studying and practicing martial arts are a bit tiring, I've met so many people, and I can play with them during breaks." She had never met so many people before; they were all children around the same age as her. And they were all so kind to her, caring for her during breaks.
Fine, Cheng Qianyue thought as long as her daughter was happy. As for differential treatment, well, men and women are inherently different. Take strength, for example; men are naturally stronger than women, so where can you find the logic in that?
However, differences don't really matter. People at their level aren't going to rely solely on brute force to survive. A person's potential is determined by their intelligence and character. So there's no need to dwell on these things. Is Moyaqi going to fight in wars or farm in the future?
Thinking this, Cheng Qianyue looked at Mo Yaqi with a gentle smile, reached out and rubbed her arms and legs, and then said, "Has your literature teacher assigned any homework? After you finish your homework, you can talk to your mother about what happened today, okay?"
Moyaqi came back with this in mind. She raised her head and said with great pride, "I just wrote a page of large characters in the Imperial Study before coming back. I only need to write two more pages to finish the assignment given by my master."
She asked Anda for leave, and then told her two older brothers before returning to the Imperial Study. There, she wrote a page of large characters, copying from a calligraphy model. However, none of the rooms in the Imperial Study were occupied, except for the young eunuchs busy sweeping. She hadn't brought any maids with her, and her brothers' servants, Haha Zhuzi, were practicing martial arts at the Arrow Pavilion and couldn't come back with her. So, after finishing the page, she felt bored and asked a young eunuch to tidy up and bring her books back.
After listening to her babbling away, Cheng Qianyue said gently, "Knowing that you're working so hard makes me happy. If your father knew, he would be proud of you too." She patted her little bottom and urged her, "Alright, go back to your room and do your homework."
Around 4 PM, Hongyan and Hongchao returned from outside. Hongchao was unsteady on his feet, looking utterly hopeless.
Cheng Qianyue knew immediately, because Hongyan looked exactly the same when he first returned home. She guessed it was because he had been practicing martial arts for too long and his muscles were sore. She said, "Come here, let me give you a massage."
After Hongchao stood up, he stretched out one arm, and Cheng Qianyue began to massage it here and there. Hongyan stood on the other side and simply started massaging his other arm as well, saying, "It's like this for the first few days, you'll get used to it." Cheng Qianyue chimed in, "Your brother was like this before too, it felt much better after he was massaged."
Hongchao was being massaged by the two of them, and he couldn't help but grimace. If they pressed on a painful spot, he would cry out in pain.
Moyaqi had just finished writing and came over from the west wing when she immediately saw her fourth brother's miserable state. She ran over laughing and squatted down to pinch his calf.
Hongchao was in excruciating pain and cried out anxiously, "Sister, you're kicking me when I'm down!"
Cheng Qianyue chuckled when she saw Hong Chao looking like a scarecrow. She put Hong Chao's arm down and said, "Alright, have your eunuch massage you after dinner." With that, she ordered someone to fetch the meal from outside.
After some time, Hongchao and Moyaqi's studies gradually settled into a routine, and Cheng Qianyue gradually became less worried. However, as the old saying goes, she just felt a little lonely. With Yinreng not returning and the children gone, her life seemed to have suddenly become peaceful.
As Cheng Qianyue sewed spare schoolbags for the three children, she thought: "Hmm, her temperament seems much calmer than when she first entered the palace. But this can't go on forever; I still need to find something to do. But what can I do?" She was a little annoyed because this was the Forbidden City, not the West Garden; everything she did had to be carefully considered.
While pondering whether she should cultivate a particular hobby, such as gardening or jumping rope, she watched the days pass by. As a result, after March, before the Emperor's birthday celebration this year, she heard from Yinreng that the Emperor intended to make a southern tour after the birthday celebration, and Yinreng wanted to take her with him.
Wow! Traveling is great, and to be precise, it's even a publicly funded trip. Cheng Qianyue thought with great interest.
However, Cheng Qianyue soon faced another problem: she and Yinreng went out, what would happen to the child?
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