"The girl was so frightened that she ran away. Only then did the students and elders stop, but they threatened that if any more girls appeared at the academy, they would take their own children and smash up the academy."
Wan Qiqi was taken aback, filled with doubt.
He is the young master of the Tao family, the son of the head of the Tao household. How dare those people?
"You must be wondering how they dared to do that, right?" Tao Ran seemed to understand Wan Qiqi's thoughts and continued, "Women are not allowed to enter the academy; this has been an unwritten rule since ancient times. If this matter escalates, the government will certainly not help the academy."
Wan Qiqi was puzzled. Shouldn't the troublemakers be punished, but the academy should also be punished?
The academy did nothing wrong; it simply brought a woman to listen in on the lesson.
Has the world's prejudice against women reached such a level?
Tao Ran glanced at Wan Qiqi, picked up the wine bottle to pour himself a drink, and found that the small bottle in his hand was empty. He then slowly put down the small wine bottle, placed his hands on his knees, and sat up straight.
"Among the wives of officials, there are many learned women who have read books like the Admonitions for Women. Their families are wealthy enough to hire tutors to teach them at home. But ordinary people are poor, so how can they afford to educate their daughters?"
Tao Ran's words were quite clear; he was advising Wan Qiqi to give up this idea.
"The daughters of officials and wealthy families are mostly married into families of equal status, and their skills in managing household accounts are put to good use. But poor families, even if they learn, rarely marry into high-ranking families, and even if they do, they are not the principal wife; if they learn to do business, they have no one to help them."
As Tao Ran spoke, he reached for another bottle of wine.
The moment the fingertips touched it, the bottle was snatched away.
He immediately looked up and met Wan Qiqi's slightly angry eyes. His heart trembled, as if he had been stabbed.
“Brother Tao, you are a teacher, a talented scholar who imparts knowledge of literature. Do you also have prejudices against women?” Wan Qiqi’s eyes were slightly red, and her knuckles turned white as she gripped the bottle tightly.
"It's not just my understanding; it's the truth. Can the two of us actually change this?" Tao Ran's hands, resting on his knees, gradually clenched into fists, as if he were suppressing his emotions.
“Who says it’s useless? Didn’t I make money and change my family’s circumstances by doing business with it?” Wan Qiqi retorted.
"Among thousands of women, who else could outwit the mountain bandits like you and earn the Emperor's favor by bestowing upon them a plaque?"
Even though Tao Ran usually speaks softly, her voice was louder now, and even a little cracked.
"Wan Qiqi, not every woman can become you. Just like the women who were arrested back then, they were all from wealthy families, literate, but after they were arrested, they could only wait for someone to rescue them!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
