Hengheng was accepted as Du Jiping's last disciple
Chapter 18: Xiao Yiheng was accepted as Du Jiping's last disciple
As they chatted all the way to Orchid Garden, Du Jiping's admiration for talent reached its peak. He said to Chu Huaibei, who was sitting across from him, "Your Highness, I would like to take Hengheng as my last disciple. Are you willing?"
This surprised Chu Huaibei very much. Accepting Hengheng as his last disciple meant that he would not return to Zhangjia Village in the future, because everyone knew that the child was young and the only adopted son in the palace, and they would never feel at ease letting the child live in the village.
"Master is willing to accept Hengheng as his last disciple. It is Hengheng's blessing. How could he not be willing?" Chu Huaibei stood up, put Hengheng down, and replied politely.
"It's late today, and it's not convenient to buy the gift for becoming a disciple. I will come to pay my respects with the gift tomorrow afternoon." Chu Huaibei said.
"That's great. I'll wait for the prince here tomorrow." Du Jiping originally wanted to become a disciple casually, as he was not a person who paid attention to formalities. However, considering some etiquette of the aristocratic families and that the prince's palace might also attach great importance to it, he agreed.
"Then I will take Hengheng back first. We will exchange gifts tomorrow. I won't disturb you from having your meal. Let Hengheng say hello." Chu Huaibei said.
"See you tomorrow, sir~" Hengheng's baby voice~
Chu Huaibei took out a small box of ointment from the brocade bag and said, "Sir, this is pain-relieving ointment. I guess your hands are sore from holding the trumpet for two days. Apply this and it will be fine in two days."
"Thank you, Your Highness. I'll accept it." Du Jiping didn't expect the King of Zhenbei to be so thoughtful, and happily accepted it.
Chu Huaibei carried the child out of the Orchid Courtyard and headed straight for the dining hall, praising Hengheng all the way: "Hengheng, you're amazing! You captured the master right away. The master loves you so much! You really make your father proud. Bobo~"
After the kiss, Chu Huaibei said, "Just this time, you can't expose your father's shortcomings in front of outsiders. Where will your father's face be~"
"Oh, okay, Hengheng got it~ Bobo~" and received two sweet kisses from his son.
After dinner, Chu Huaibei informed everyone that Du Jiping had accepted Hengheng as his last disciple, and he also boasted about himself, saying that Hengheng's intelligence was due to his father's. Everyone was amused and confused. The good news was that when Chu Huaibei returned to the military camp, he could simply leave the child to the master for instruction. The Dowager carefully explained to Aunt Wen the apprenticeship gifts they needed to buy tomorrow. Apprenticeship was a matter of paramount importance in the Dowager's household, and they had been exposed to it since childhood.
That night, the three of them slept in one room as usual. After they settled down and washed up, Hengheng was very energetic today. He hadn't fallen asleep even after Sun Mingsi finished washing up. "Daddy, Hengheng will be your disciple from now on. What should a disciple do?" Little Yiheng was very curious.
Chu Huaibei's head was already aching from the countless "what"s. Seeing Sun Mingsi approach, he quickly changed the subject: "Let your mother answer you. Daddy is sleepy." Then he lay down on the inside of the bed and pretended to sleep. It was killing me. No wonder parents in their previous lives were so troubled by their children's "100,000 whys".
Seeing this, Sun Mingsi laughed out loud, "Hengheng is really amazing. He can even ask your father a question." He picked up the child and let him lie between them. He began to explain his son's many questions in a gentle voice. Gradually, the child's voice became softer and his answers became slower. Sun Mingsi imitated Chu Huaibei's way of patting the child's chest with his hand, and soon the child fell asleep soundly.
After carrying the child to the bed and covering her with the quilt, Sun Mingsi turned back to the bed and found that Chu Huaibei had fallen asleep. A smile appeared in his eyes. He put her injured hand back into the quilt, then turned off the light and went to bed. He put his arms around her sideways, feeling extremely satisfied.
The next afternoon, after the teacher finished teaching, Chu Huaibei took Hengheng's hand, took the apprenticeship gift his mother had prepared, and went to Lancao Courtyard. Entering the main hall, he asked the guards to put away the things he had brought. Du Jiping had already prepared a cushion and tea for the teacher.
Chu Huaibei had Hengheng kneel on the mat. Mother Yang handed the teacup to Hengheng. Because he was a child with weak hands, she was afraid that too much water would make it difficult to hold the cup steady, so she only poured a third of the water in. Hengheng followed his grandmother's instructions and handed the cup to the master with dignity, saying, "Disciple Chu Yiheng greets the master."
Du Jiping took the teacup, took a sip and said, "Today I accept you as my disciple. From now on, you must cultivate your moral character, hone your conduct, and respect yourself. Never be arrogant because of your talent."
"Disciple will follow your teachings." Hengheng continued to recite the lines given by his grandmother.
Du Jiping put down his teacup and asked Hengheng to stand up. He then said to the two teenagers standing by to watch the ceremony, "Come and meet your junior brother. From now on, I will not accept any more disciples."
"Hello, junior brother. I'm Zhang Zhiheng and I'm your senior brother." said the tall man on the left hand.
"Hello, junior brother. I'm Zhang Rui, your second senior brother." said the shorter one.
"Hello, seniors~" Hengheng replied.
After the apprenticeship ceremony, Chu Huaibei brought Hengheng back to the main courtyard. At dinner time, everyone went home and ate their own meals.
After dinner, the concubine kept them for a chat, mainly about Hengheng's future studies. Since he had already become a disciple, he should let the child study with the master during his days off. By the way, the master did have days off, one day in ten days. If he really worked every day for three months without a break, he was afraid his health would not be able to bear it.
Chu Huaibei nodded in agreement. That made sense. Sun Mingsi wouldn't object either. It was the same for children studying with a teacher. He had a teacher himself back then.
After a month of such busy days, Chu Huaibei told Du Jiping that it was time to test the soldiers. Du Jiping also had this idea, but how to test them was a problem. He had not yet come up with a suitable method.
Chu Huaibei asked Xiao Feng to take out the booklet he had recently made and some charcoal pencils. Xiao Feng sat on the floor, placed a wooden board under the booklet, and began to recite the Three Character Classic. After writing a few lines, he stood up and handed it to the teacher for review.
Du Jiping took the booklet and looked at it. Although the writing was not beautiful, the handwriting was clear, without ink, and the paper was also very clean. The paper in the booklet should be enough to copy the characters taught this month. The King of Zhenbei really cared about this matter and thought of it.
"Very good, Your Highness, your idea is very good, I admire you." Du Jiping praised.
"Sir, you are too kind. It's just that my requirements for literacy are different from those of ordinary people. For my personal soldiers, as long as they can write clearly, it doesn't matter whether they look good or not." Chu Huaibei explained.
"I have made three thousand such booklets and three thousand charcoal pencils. These will be sent to you later, and you will arrange for the examination." Chu Huaibei deliberately made some extra and left them for the teacher to examine the people he liked.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I would also like to thank You on behalf of those people. Your Highness is so generous." Du Jiping understood Chu Huaibei's thoughts after hearing the number, and thanked him on behalf of those who attended the class every day.
Starting the next day, two hundred imperial guards were tested daily, while fifty-one palace guards were tested daily. They were required to write their names on the cover of a booklet and collect their results the next day. Chu Huaibei assigned Xiao Feng to accompany the teacher to tally the names and scores. This round of exams, which lasted ten consecutive days, naturally brought mixed results.
Chu Huaibei looked at Xiao Feng's final performance statistics and was generally satisfied. More than 80% of the students were able to write down half of the answers, and 30% got all the answers correct. His learning efficiency was already quite high.
Chu Huaibei had Lu Shun give each of his personal guards who answered correctly a wooden five-pointed star with a hole for hanging it up. He told them that there would be three tests in total, and whoever could get three wooden stars would receive a reward from the prince. He told them not to bother snatching others' stars, as the prince had a list of names. After he said this, several people actually looked regretful. As expected, the prince had guessed it right...
In the days that followed, the atmosphere of learning among these people became even more intense. Many soldiers who couldn't sit in on the lessons either formed good relationships with others and studied together. Those who weren't good at networking would listen attentively to the discussions. Some even tried to curry favor with the person guarding the blackboard every day, asking them to tell them how to read and what each word on the board meant. In any case, there was always a way to learn to read.
During the soldiers' rest time, groups of soldiers were often seen squatting on the ground practicing calligraphy. The atmosphere in the barracks was much more harmonious than before, and the rate of fighting and disturbances among soldiers dropped sharply.
In this situation, the generals really didn't know whether to be happy or worried. They had been exchanging letters frequently recently, fearing that Chu Huaibei wouldn't notice what they were talking about.
Chu Huaibei certainly knew, but she didn't want to care. It was nothing more than specious speculation, but she had never done anything about it. Of course, she wasn't afraid of being investigated. A person with a clear conscience fears no slant. If she just kept guessing what others were thinking, she wouldn't have any time to live. She would just lose all her hair and become a monk.
Another month passed, and today is Hengheng’s third birthday. After today, hehe, he will accept the love from his old father.
Today was Hengheng's birthday, and the palace didn't hold a grand ceremony. The only outsiders invited were Deputy General Qin Feng and Master Du Jiping. Hengheng wore a bright red dress, looking particularly festive. With outsiders present today, Sun Mingsi also changed into a peach pink outfit and tied her hair in a simple bun. Chu Huaibei couldn't take his eyes off her, having already kissed her twice that morning.
Today, the deputy general gave Hengheng a small wooden sword, and the teacher gave him a copy of the Analects of Confucius with his own annotations. Hengheng was very happy to receive the gifts, and asked Aunt Wen to put them in his treasure chest.
When Du Jiping first met Sun Mingsi, he suddenly realized that he was not an adopted son but his biological son. It was just that for some reason, the child's mother had not entered the palace, and now she had returned. Du Jiping looked at Sun Mingsi and felt that he looked like someone, but he just couldn't remember who. Then he let it go, thinking that beautiful people always look alike.
If there was one thing Hengheng was most happy about today, it had to be the small cake his father had prepared for him. It was fragrant and soft, and it was the first time Hengheng had eaten such a cake. In fact, it was a waterless egg cake from his previous life. She didn't know how to make butter, and she didn't have the time. This one was made in a biscuit oven. It wasn't as fluffy as the ones she had before, but it was still delicious. At that time, cakes were all made from flour, fried, or steamed. They were either sweet or greasy and sweet, which Chu Huaibei didn't like.
Unexpectedly, after the egg cakes were made, not only Hengheng loved them, but also his mother, husband, and deputy general. Before leaving, the deputy general shamelessly packed up six and took them home, saying they were for his mother to try. Since the deputy general had packed some, the husband had to have some too. In the end, the remaining seven were all taken back to Lancaoyuan by the husband. As for how to divide them, that was their business.
Soon after, a famous pastry shop in Fengjing introduced a new pastry called egg cake. As soon as it was launched, they sold out as many as they could make each day. Many wealthy families sent their servants to queue up in advance, and it became an instant hit throughout Fengjing. But that's another story.
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