Chapter 222 Noble Academy
"Feng girl, if Yuan Hongqu were the headmistress of the girls' academy, with your connections, wouldn't it be incredibly easy to arrange for Er Ya and the others to enter the girls' academy?" Aunt Xue secretly plotted.
“Aunt, you’re making it sound like the academy is run by your family. Even if it is, you still have to take an exam to get in.” Wang Xifeng knew that Aunt Xue was definitely up to no good.
She had heard that Xue Baochai had failed the exam.
She had the audacity to say she was going to the capital for the imperial concubine selection, but all those other women selected for the selection were appointed as female officials in the palace, while Xue Baochai was still at home with no progress.
She also said she wanted to take the entrance exam for a girls' college, but I heard she didn't pass.
Three teachers came to the academy to interview Xue Baochai. After the teachers left, Xue Baochai cried so hard she almost fainted.
Before the mother and daughter had even returned to the Rongguo Mansion, the news that Xue Baochai had failed the girls' academy entrance exam had already reached Wang Xifeng's ears.
That's the advantage of having a housekeeper; no matter how big or small the matter, you can't escape her eyes and ears.
"Your relationship is closer than that of blood sisters, yet you still need an exam? Is Feng girl afraid that she doesn't have enough influence with Yuan Hongqu to make this kind of favor for you?"
Aunt Xue looked on with amusement, but Wang Xifeng didn't take it to heart at all. Instead, she smiled and said...
"Auntie, you don't know the cost of living until you're in charge of the household. Do you even know how much the tuition is at the girls' academy?"
Aunt Xue really didn't know; she had only heard that it wasn't cheap.
But even if it's not cheap, how much money can it cost? The Xue family is a large and wealthy family, so this amount of money is nothing to them.
At this point, Wang Xifeng continued,
"Tuition is paid every six months, starting at two hundred taels, which is the most basic. In addition, there are regular school uniforms, four sets per season, two sets of thick and two sets of thin. Jewelry and accessories are all the same, which also need to be obtained from the academy. There are also the usual writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, school bags, and textbooks. These expenses alone are more expensive than tuition."
"Based on this calculation, the annual expenses would be around a thousand taels of silver, and three girls would cost three thousand taels a year. Each grade in the academy lasts three years, so over three years that would amount to tens of thousands of taels of silver..."
"In addition, there are occasional gatherings with classmates, poetry recitals, spring outings, moon gazing, and so on organized by the academy. On these occasions, we don't have to wear the academy uniform. So, when we wear our own clothes, shouldn't they be as good as other girls' clothes? And what about jewelry? Shouldn't it also be presentable?"
“Before, our daughters would only visit a few families, and they always had enough clothes. But if they go to the academy, they will have many more classmates, and the friendships they share will be very special. Aunt, if a classmate holds a banquet or celebrates a birthday, there will be clothes and jewelry, and gifts, which will be quite an expense.”
“Even if our family is failing internally, we still have to maintain a respectable image externally. Originally, it was just the men who held things together, but now that the girls are all going away to study, shouldn't the girls also maintain a facade?”
“My aunt’s family only has one daughter, Baochai, and they are very wealthy, so naturally they wouldn’t care about these things. Our family has three daughters of suitable age. If they all go to the academy, then half of the family’s annual income will be used up. The others will have to work themselves to the bone and not eat!”
Wang Xifeng had considered sending the three girls to a girls' academy for some education, but Yuan Hongqu did some calculations for her, and Wang Xifeng immediately gave up the idea.
It's several thousand taels of silver a year, not just a few hundred.
Now she doesn't earn money through dishonest means; her money doesn't come easily.
Besides, Aunt Xue hasn't come to buy "medicinal ginseng" lately, which has made Wang Xifeng want to ask someone to see if she should cause Xue Pan to have an accident and break his leg again so she can make some money!
When Aunt Xue heard Wang Xifeng's calculations, she also felt that the academy was outrageous. A year of study would cost the equivalent of a shop in a good location in the capital.
Who in an ordinary family would dare to read it like that?
"This girls' academy charges such high fees, isn't anyone in charge?"
“Aunt, the female students in the academy are all from wealthy and noble families. If a girl from a family like ours were to enter, her status wouldn’t be very high. This amount of money is practically cheap to them.” On the day of Wang Xifeng’s birthday banquet, she asked the teachers at the girls’ academy quite a bit about the academy.
Although she couldn't send Yingchun and the other two to the academy, she still had her own daughter. When her daughter was old enough to enroll, she would have already built good relationships with the teachers, so wouldn't that make the teachers pay more attention to her daughter?
"I heard that among the students who enrolled this year, there are three princesses and five county princesses. As for other female students of noble status, there are countless others. The current emperor's youngest daughter is already married, otherwise even a princess could probably attend."
Madam Wang recounted what she had heard, saying that in her family, only her daughter, Yuan Chun, was qualified to study at the girls' academy. The others were merely children of lowly servants, destined to be sent away with a dowry; how could they possibly deserve to attend a girls' academy?
"Who can argue with that? Last year, not a single girl who graduated from the girls' academy failed to marry into a high-ranking family. Their ability to manage affairs and get along with superiors and subordinates was top-notch; they were truly virtuous wives. Some even went to the palace to become ladies-in-waiting, and by the end of the year, several had been promoted. So, the girls' academy's reputation has spread throughout the capital." Aunt Xue said, a hint of envy involuntarily showing on her face.
If Baochai from their family can enter the academy this year, after three years, there will be no obstacles for her, whether she marries into a high-ranking family or becomes a lady-in-waiting in the palace.
What a pity...
"Auntie has heard about it too? I've found out even more!" Wang Xifeng said mysteriously.
"The girls' academy has excellent methods for conditioning women's bodies. All the women who marry into wealthy families become pregnant within three months of entering the household. It's even more miraculous than the Goddess of Childbirth! What family wouldn't want to marry a student from the girls' academy? It saves so much trouble!"
Lady Wang and Aunt Xue originally wanted to get information out of Wang Xifeng to confirm whether Yuan Hongqu was indeed the headmistress of the girls' academy.
But Wang Xifeng led the conversation to a different topic.
It wasn't until Wang Xifeng, seeing that it was getting late, said she had to leave that the two women suddenly realized that Wang Xifeng hadn't given them any answers to the questions they wanted to know.
"Feng girl, you still need to go and ask Yuan Hongqu to find out what's going on with the headmaster of this academy, so we can have some idea."
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