Chapter 462 Women Can Also Stabilize the Country Through Cooking
That day, Daiyu was inspecting the restaurant when she saw a familiar figure—it was Xichun who had returned from Sichuan to make purchases.
"Sister Lin!" Xichun held her hand. "The soldiers in Shu love these military rations! Especially the sour and spicy soup, which is perfect for the damp and cold climate there."
Daiyu exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you back?"
“I came here specifically to place an order,” Xichun said with a smile. “We also need to build a branch workshop in Sichuan so that we can produce locally in the future.”
As the sun set, the two stood on high ground, watching the convoys loaded with goods drive off in all directions.
Smoke curls from distant chimneys, while the aroma of food wafts through the air.
"I remember when we first established the academy, some people mocked women for only knowing how to embroider and cook," Daiyu said softly.
Xichun smiled: "Now they should know that women can also bring peace and stability to the country by cooking."
As they were talking, several female employees from the restaurant passed by on their way home from get off work and bowed to the two of them.
They all had rosy complexions and light steps, completely different from the gloomy-faced women of the past.
Yuan Hongqu appeared beside her at some point: "See? We not only made sure the soldiers ate better, but we also provided so many women with a place to live and make a living."
As dusk deepened, the restaurant's lights began to illuminate the night.
In these lights, there is the hard work of countless women and the hopes of countless soldiers.
Perhaps, as the folk song sung on the frontier goes: "The women of the capital are so skillful, making delicious military rations. With plenty to eat and drink, they fight to the death, happily defending their country..."
All of this stems from the original intention of cooking a bowl of hot soup for the soldiers.
That afternoon, Daiyu was handling official business at the Women's Academy when Xueyan rushed in with a serious expression: "Miss, Miss Yingchun has arrived. She looks like she has been crying."
Daiyu quickly put down her pen and ink: "Please come in quickly."
Yingchun, dressed in a slightly worn lotus-colored shirt, with red and swollen eyes, entered and immediately knelt before Daiyu, pleading, "Sister Lin, you must save me this time!"
Daiyu quickly helped her up: "Second sister, what are you doing? Let's talk this out."
Before Yingchun could speak, tears streamed down her face as she choked back sobs as she recounted the events.
After the Ningguo Mansion was raided, Jia She lived in constant fear, lest he be implicated.
Recently, he somehow learned that the emperor was going to select concubines to fill the palace, so he got the idea and insisted that Yingchun participate in the selection.
“Father said that our family is now weak, and if I can be selected, even as a lady-in-waiting, I can speak up for our family before the Emperor.” Yingchun sobbed uncontrollably. “But I… I have seen my elder sister’s life in the palace, it’s not a place for humans! I would rather marry into an ordinary family than go to that shameful place!”
Daiyu was furious: "Uncle is so foolish! The Rongguo Mansion has not been implicated, why must he treat his daughter like this?"
Yingchun shook her head: "My second brother and sister-in-law went out to check the accounts, and that's why Father dared to pressure me. He said if I didn't comply, he would betroth me to a sixty-year-old Hanlin scholar as his second wife..."
Daiyu pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Second Sister, do you still remember how Xichun escaped back then?"
Yingchun was taken aback: "You mean... I can also enter the academy?"
“That’s right.” Daiyu smiled. “The academy is now an official school recognized by the court, and the students are protected by the court. If you come here to study, your uncle will not dare to force you to participate in the imperial selection.”
Hope flickered in Yingchun's eyes, but quickly dimmed again: "But... what about Father..."
“That’s easy,” Daiyu said calmly. “I’ll write a letter to my uncle right away, saying that the academy is going to open a school for girls from the imperial family and that you are specially invited to be a teacher. This is an imperial order, and he dares not refuse.”
As she spoke, she immediately laid out paper, ground ink, and wrote a carefully worded letter, then stamped it with the official seal of the Women's Academy.
"But..." Yingchun was still uneasy, "How could I possibly teach? My skills in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting are all just so-so..."
Daiyu grasped her hand: "Second sister, why belittle yourself? You are gentle and patient, more than capable of teaching some introductory courses. Besides, the academy is not just a place to teach music, chess, calligraphy and painting."
She led Yingchun on a tour of the various departments of the academy: students in the Department of Medicine were identifying herbs, students in the Department of Mathematics were checking accounts, and even in the Department of Engineering, there were women learning to draw blueprints.
“Look,” Daiyu pointed to a nanny teaching a little girl to embroider, “she used to be just an ordinary embroiderer, but now she’s an instructor at the academy. Second Sister’s needlework is among the best in the capital, so why can’t she teach others?”
Looking at these busy yet confident women, Yingchun's eyes gradually lit up.
As expected, after receiving Daiyu's letter, Jia She, though unwilling, dared not disobey since it was an imperial envoy, and had no choice but to release her.
Yingchun was a little reserved when she was teaching for the first time, but she gradually opened up in the harmonious atmosphere of the academy.
She discovered that she was indeed exceptional in needlework, so she began teaching embroidery classes.
On this day, Daiyu came to listen to the lesson and saw Yingchun patiently instructing a student: "The stitches should be close, but not too tight, otherwise the fabric will wrinkle... Yes, that's it."
The student finished embroidering a plum blossom and happily showed it to Yingchun. Yingchun gave her detailed comments, her words gentle yet every one reasonable.
After class, Daiyu smiled and said, "Second Sister is so patient; she was born to be a teacher."
Yingchun smiled shyly: "Before, I always felt useless at home. Now I realize that I also have the ability to teach people."
However, this period of good fortune was short-lived. A month later, Jia She actually came directly to the academy.
"Yingchun, come back with me!" Jia She's face was ashen. "I've found you a good marriage; it's with the illegitimate son of the Prince of Zhongshun..."
Yingchun turned pale with fright and hid behind Daiyu.
Daiyu stepped forward, speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Does Uncle not know that students of the academy are protected by the imperial court? Sister Yingchun is now a teacher at the academy; how can she just leave like that?"
Jia She angrily retorted, "She is my daughter! It's a matter of course, arranged by parents and matchmakers!"
"What a perfectly justifiable reason!" Yuan Hongqu came over upon hearing the voice. "May I ask, Lord Jia, is it also perfectly justifiable to force a woman to become a concubine? As far as I know, that illegitimate son of the Prince of Zhongshun's mansion already has three concubines!"
Jia She, his thoughts exposed, was enraged and said, "This is our family matter, and it's none of your business as outsiders!"
"If it's a family matter, we naturally won't interfere," Yuan Hongqu sneered. "But Yingchun is now an official of the imperial court—an eighth-rank instructor at the Women's Academy. Does Lord Jia have an imperial decree to take away an official of the imperial court?"
Jia She was speechless. He never expected that Yingchun would have an official position.
At this moment, the Tenth Prince also arrived upon hearing the news: "Lord Jia, what a show of power you have! Should I go and ask Prince Zhongshun why his son wants to take an official appointed by the court as a concubine?"
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