On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Yang Cui and Cen Xiao took the children to pay New Year's respects to Qiu Tianyun.
Even if he doesn't want to meet, we still need to show proper courtesy and not let others find fault with us.
As expected, Qiu Tianyun refused to see them. Cen Xiao handed the gifts to the Duke's steward, and then the family returned to the General's Mansion.
None of their relatives in the capital visited the Duke's mansion, so the New Year's greetings were considered complete.
Yang Cui also had some free time. If it weren't for setting a good example for the children, Yang Cui would have loved to sleep until the sun was high in the sky.
Even during the Chinese New Year, the children are not idle, especially An Xiaohu and Qiuqiu, who get up early to practice martial arts and complete the homework assigned by their teachers.
Er Ya and San Ya had it much easier. Yang Cui encouraged them to read more books and write in their diaries every day, which both children managed to keep up with and found quite novel.
Leisurely days always fly by, and before we knew it, it was the ninth day of the lunar month.
At this time, the Hope Private School, under the names of the Top Scholar Fund and the People's Worry Fund, was officially established and began enrolling students.
Because of the tight schedule, they couldn't build the house on time, so the classrooms were the property they bought at a huge cost.
Yang Cui's Hope Academy only hired four teachers, and mainly wanted to first educate the children of the tenant farmers on her own estate, so the number of students was limited to around two hundred.
In order to gain a better reputation and stand out, the Hope Academy for the People and the Hope Academy for the Top Scholar set the number of free places for the first term at 500, which directly exceeded the enrollment number of the Hope Academy established by Yang Cui.
Parents all felt that their son was talented and knew that studying was the only way to get ahead. In addition, their son received free early education, free writing materials, and subsidies for those with good grades to continue their studies.
Driven by the mentality of "why not take advantage of a bargain," city dwellers flocked to the private schools with their children, nearly wearing down the thresholds of both schools.
These days, everyone in Kyoto is praising this.
Praise Yang Cui, praise those wealthy families who spend money lavishly, praise the Emperor.
In short, everyone in Kyoto was very happy.
At this time of great joy, various powerful families have been repeatedly exposed for embezzling grain!
The total amount of grain embezzled by the various noble families reached as high as six thousand shi!
An ordinary family of ten would only have about one jin (500 grams) of food per day. Six thousand shi (1,000 bushels) would be six hundred thousand jin, enough to feed the entire population of a county for a month (a county was much smaller in ancient times than it is today).
What a terrifying number!
The crucial point is that all the grain was bought by people of unknown origin, which makes one suspicious of their motives!
The Emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation!
Rumors circulated that the grain had been secretly purchased by the Southern Yue and that they were stockpiling it in preparation for attacking our dynasty.
Some say that the eldest grandson of the emperor secretly plotted a rebellion.
Some say that the third prince is planning a rebellion.
Some people say that the Prince of Qingyang rebelled by hoarding grain.
Throughout Kyoto, a climate of fear and unease prevailed. From members of the imperial family to the city's elite, everyone lived in constant anxiety.
Following that, less than two days later, the eldest grandson of the emperor was placed under house arrest. According to the eldest grandson's confidant, two thousand shi of grain were hidden in a cave on Cangying Mountain, three hundred li away from the capital. This grain was prepared for the army to attack the capital.
The remaining grain had been secretly transported to the Nanyue people by the eldest grandson of the emperor, in exchange for a thousand warhorses.
Cen Xiao and his men indeed found two thousand shi of grain at Cangying Mountain, and it has now all been escorted to the capital.
Now that the evidence is conclusive, the eldest grandson of the emperor still refuses to confess his crimes or reveal the location of his private army and warhorses. The emperor is furious and orders him to be placed under house arrest.
As long as he is under house arrest, even if he has a private army and warhorses, he will not be able to rebel.
On the other hand, with so much grain in hand, the emperor feared that the Southern Yue would launch an attack, so he ordered Cen Xiao to guard the border to prevent the Southern Yue from invading.
You need to be extra careful.
Even though Yang Cui knew it was a setup, she couldn't help but worry.
"Don't worry about me. It's you who need to be accompanied by guards when you go out, and you can't stop having nourishing soup while I'm away."
Upon hearing about the tonic soup, Yang Cui's face scrunched up: "I'm already strong enough to kill a bull, why would I need any tonics? Look how much weight I've gained."
"Not fat at all, it feels nice to my touch." After saying that, she reached out and touched it a couple of times.
Yang Cui playfully slapped his hand away, thinking that since he wasn't home anyway, he wouldn't know whether she drank it or threw it away.
Cen Xiao seemed to see through her thoughts and said, "I will send someone to supervise. If you dare to secretly pour out the tonic soup, wait until I get back and see how I deal with you."
Upon hearing the word "clean up," Yang Cui couldn't help but squeeze her legs together, a subtle movement that pleased someone, who smiled.
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