Chapter 1476: Become a Disciple

Zhulan saw Qi winking at her, signaling Qingxue to go down, "Go ahead and talk."

Even though all the maids in the room had gone down, Qi still whispered, "I went to the palace to see Concubine Ran a few days ago. She asked me to tell you something when I have time. Princess Aruna asked her about your granddaughter."

Zhulan twirled her handkerchief, "Thank you."

"There's no need for us to be polite. After all, the Marquis is the only one left in the grassland tribe, and he only has the title but no power. This is a perverse thought."

Qi didn't say anything extra. She knew that Yang knew that if several grassland marquises wanted to gain a foothold in the capital and avoid being swallowed up, marriage was the best way.

Zhulan, "If you have any evil intentions, you should hurry up and hire a good teacher to teach your children. They can only learn literature and not martial arts in the future."

He laughed as he spoke, "Look at what I said, who among these well-known gentlemen would teach their children?"

Qi, "......"

Yang said it all, and her tone of strong sarcasm was really pleasing to the ear.

What Zhulan said was not an exaggeration. A scholar with integrity would definitely not accept the invitation. Several marquises from the grassland wanted their sons to study literature, so they would probably ask the emperor to help find an academy.

As people arrived one after another, Tao asked, "Now that everyone is here, don't hide the painting. Take it out and let us see it."

Zhulan motioned Qingxue to get the paintings. "Both paintings were painted by my eldest son-in-law. One is a snow scene, and the other is titled "Bitterness."

Tao became even more curious, "Why is the name "Bitterness"?

"You'll know when you see it."

As Zhulan spoke, she glanced at Liu. Lord Yu's wife was pretty, with a dimple that added to her looks when she smiled. Her smile was very comfortable, and you could tell at first glance that she loved to laugh.

Qingxue took the paintings and the two maids carefully placed them on the long table. The first one they looked at was the snow scene painting. These two paintings were given by her son-in-law when she was conferred the title of marquis.

The Tao family members like to worship Buddha. "This painting was painted in Huguo Temple. This mountain is Fengling."

Zhulan nodded, "Yes, my eldest daughter went to worship Buddha, and my eldest son-in-law drew it while waiting."

Tao couldn't let it go, "If I ask you to give it up, will you?"

"Don't dream, this is a gift from my son-in-law who has been granted the title of Marquis."

Tao really likes it. She often goes to worship Buddha. After looking at this painting for a long time, she can feel her heart calm. "With your son-in-law's potential, he will become a master sooner or later."

Zhulan said, "He's still a long way off."

But in my heart, I agree with Tao's words that Jiang Sheng will sooner or later go down in history.

Liu was born into a family of scholars, her mother's family was also in Dingzhou. She was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting since she was young. She had also heard that Zhou Hou's eldest son-in-law was a good painter. Today, she saw that his painting was more than good. Some people have painting skills but lack soul. This painting already has soul, but there are still many places that need to be improved.

When the second painting is brought up, everyone knows why it is called "Bitterness". In the painting, a little girl is digging through a haystack and finding a few grains of rice. The little girl does not look happy, but instead has a frown on her face and one hand on her stomach.

Zhulan had different feelings every time she looked at it. According to the sun in the painting, there should be smoke rising from the village, but there was no smoke rising from the farmers' houses in the background. In the winter, there would always be children playing in the village, but now there was not a single child.

Qi felt unhappy. She had been living a life of luxury since she was born. Even during the war, she had never been hungry. She only heard from her husband that there was a food shortage this year and the people were suffering. She also heard that many people had starved to death in some states.

“Is this true?” Dow asked.

Zhulan, "Well, Jiang Sheng only paints what he sees, this is true."

This is a village near the capital. The harvest this year is low, and the people near the capital have to tighten their belts to make ends meet, not to mention the poor states. The eldest granddaughter's tone in the letter she wrote back was also heavy.

Tao moved his lips, but didn't say a word in the end.

Liu suddenly spoke up, "A few years ago, when I was shopping, I saw someone throwing children at the door of a shop. I don't know what happened to these children."

Zhulan knew, "These children are in Dongcheng, and the court has found a maid to take care of them."

These maids are not ordinary maids. The palace maids will leave the palace when they reach a certain age. Many of them leave the palace, but many of them stay in the palace. Some of them do not want to get married and think it is good to stay in the palace for the rest of their lives, while others have a den of wolves at home. Except for a few who have climbed up to the top and gained power, most of them are helpless in their old age.

Then they were used to take care of abandoned children in order to prevent people with food from abandoning their children to get free food and drinks, but this was not publicized in the propaganda newspapers.

Song thought for a moment and said, "The servants in the mansion have a lot of old clothes that can be donated. We also have food."

Zhulan, "Lady Ninghou is very kind."

Because it cannot be publicized, now it is all supported by the court and Shu Ren's supervision that prevents any embezzlement. Now there are more and more children, and life is difficult.

Because of a painting, I got a lot of supplies.

Zhulan found an opportunity to chat with Liu, "I'm also here for the lantern riddle competition. Second Master Yu is better than those brats in my family."

Liu said hurriedly, "He is just lucky. If the young master of the Zhou family got involved, he would have no chance at all."

She was still very clear-headed. Her husband said that the young master of the Zhou family did not participate not because he was afraid of embarrassment, but because he did not want to be in the spotlight, although he had to be in the spotlight because of the conflict with the Wen family.

Zhulan smiled and said, "You are just too humble."

"I'm not being modest. He's my own son, and I know him very well. Maybe because he's young, everyone treats him like a child and gives him some leniency!"

Zhulan motioned Liu to have some snacks, and then said, "I heard that the Yu family always gets married late. The second son of the Yu family is already sixteen years old after the New Year, and he still hasn't found a girlfriend?"

Liu pondered the meaning of this, and seeing that Lady Zhou seemed to be chatting about family matters, she dispelled her doubts, "I haven't seen him yet."

If she could say that the Yu family didn't want to marry a princess, she really wanted to explain that the Yu family didn't have such an intention, and neither did the royal family.

Qi listened with her ears tilted, feeling very sorry. She thought the Yu family was good, but it was a pity that the concubine said that the emperor meant that the princess was still young. What did young mean? It just meant that the emperor didn't have this intention.

In the afternoon, guests left one after another, taking away the Zhou family’s more famous snacks, which were also Li’s most proud snacks.

In the evening, Zhulan and Shuren talked about donating food and old clothes. Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and said, "This is the predecessor of the orphanage."

"Yes, there are also some war orphans. Last year, many families lost their breadwinners. Women who remarried without children can be taken care of together. If this is really a mini ice age, adults won't be able to support themselves, let alone children. Children are the future."

He paused and continued, "Moreover, unified education is aimed at helping children become successful. Children learn to read and write, and this knowledge is passed down from generation to generation. The more they learn, the more open their minds will be."

Is there any faster way than brainwashing children? There is no need to brainwash anything else. As long as children are deeply aware of the importance of knowledge, they will educate their own children to learn knowledge in the future.

Zhou Shuren, "I need to think about it carefully."

"Um."

The next day, Chang Yi met the prince of Ogehou at the Ministry of Rites. He suspected that he had heard wrongly and asked, "Do you want to become my disciple?"