Li Wei is thinking hard about how to solve the situation in front of him. There are so many clues, but what he lacks now is evidence. There can be no conviction without evidence.
"Mother, Chun Rong from the sewing room is here."
Li Wei asked: "What is she here for?"
"Didn't your Majesty ask her to measure you the day before yesterday?"
Things were messy these two days, so Li Wei cheered up and said, "Let her in."
Chun Rong held a box in her hand, which contained a tape measure, thin charcoal strips for recording, and a booklet.
Li Wei stood up, Chun Rong stepped forward and curtsied: "The Queen Mother, I'm offended."
Chun Rong took out a tape measure and measured the size with Li Wei. Li Wei stretched his arms and chatted with Chun Rong.
"Wan Su is your master?"
Chun Rong was stunned when the Queen Mother mentioned her master, and quickly replied: "Back to the Queen Mother, yes. Wan Su is the slave master."
"Oh, her sewing skills are mediocre. What can she teach you?"
Chun Rong replied cautiously: "Sister Wansu taught me how to read and write, so I worship her as my teacher."
Wansu was a little maid who didn't know anything when she entered the house. Her mother saw that she was honest and smart. She happened to be short of someone around her at that time, so her mother gave Wansu to her. It is said that she taught Wan Su how to read and write.
"How long have you been working at the sewing bureau?"
"Go back to your Majesty, this servant has been working at the Sewing and Threading Bureau for more than half a year. She specializes in sewing."
"Then your skills must be good. Can you draw faces?"
"meeting."
Li Wei thought for a while and said, "Draw a few pictures for me to see some other time."
Chun Rong promised carefully, she had already written down Li Wei's measurements. He lowered his head and recorded it in the booklet. Li Wei sat back on the couch, holding a tea cup in his hand, and secretly looked at the little girl. He was no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, and had a big black braid, which was tied with a white cotton rope. A small face with oval seeds and a pair of big black and white eyes. He looks very alert. It's just that she is a little petite, so she doesn't stand out among the women in the palace.
Li Wei remembered the set of records, and she asked casually: "Chunrong, are you familiar with the people from Xukun Palace?"
Chun Rong said: "You know me, I can't say that I'm very familiar with you. But when I was in the needlework game, I met Zi Ling, the sister of Concubine Qi, a few times."
"Then keep interacting with Zi Ling as much as possible. The closer the relationship, the better. Can you do it?"
Chun Rong didn't know what the Empress Dowager's purpose was in letting her associate with a maid from the Xukun Palace, but she didn't question it too much and had no choice but to do as she was told: "As the Empress Dowager orders, I will do as I please."
"I see that you are quite smart. I believe you can handle this matter well. After you do it, I will reward you heavily."
"Thank you, Queen Mother." These three words were extremely heavy for Chun Rong.
At this point, Li Wei already thought that Concubine Qi was pretending to be ill, but what she lacked was evidence, so she wanted Chun Rong to get closer to the reality of Xukun Palace. As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.
The ninth day of March soon came. From the moment he opened his eyes, Li Wei was on alert. From sitting, lying, walking, to eating and drinking, everything is sweating. Nothing strange happened until I went to sleep.
This day passed smoothly, but it does not mean that it will pass safely in the future.
The Wenhua Hall has been tidied up and arranged. Li Wei went to see it personally. From the furnishings point of view, it is not much different from the study room. The environment is excellent, but the teachers are completely different. Later, with a stroke of his pen, Li Wei ordered the academicians and lecturers from the Hanlin Academy to come to the Wenhua Hall every three days to teach the princess to study Confucian classics. Li Wei's daily tutoring also included several talented female officials selected from the harem.
The day before the official start of classes, Li Xing took a small sedan to Chongqing Palace, where she was selected to accompany Shujia. At the same time, he also came in to keep Li Wei company.
"From today on, you will live in the west wing. Food and clothing will be paid for by me."
Li Xing responded yes. She brought two maids in and asked them to prepare the arrangements for her.
Shujia followed the little emperor and called Li Xingxing's aunt, and the two quickly became familiar with each other. Li Xing even read stories to Shujia, who liked her as an aunt very much.
On the official day of school, Li Wei personally sent the two of them to the Wenhua Hall. On the first day of school, Li Wei invited Bachelor Zhan Yunbai from the Hanlin Academy to take charge.
Zhan Yunbai once gave lectures to the late emperor, but now he had to face a bunch of female dolls. The youngest Ninth Princess was only four or five years old, which gave him a headache. But the Queen Mother was in control of the situation, so she had to bite the bullet.
Li Wei stood up first and spoke to the princess and the ladies from the aristocratic family.
"We opened the Wenhua Museum to let girls like you come to study. I really hope that you can learn something. In the future, the courses will not only cover the Four Books and Five Classics, but astronomy and geography, arithmetic, painting, and chess skills may also be involved. Of course, these things will also be included Make certain adjustments according to the interests and strengths of each of you. Anyway, my original intention is to hope that you can learn knowledge well and be sensible and enlightened. "
Zhan Yunbai was shocked when he heard the Queen Mother's words. Didn't he just teach a few poems and a few classics and that's it? The Queen Mother's requirements are too high for girls. Could it be that he is really raised like a prince? This is too ridiculous and inconsistent with the ancestral system. But these thoughts circulated in my mind several times, and due to her status as Queen Mother, she did not dare to speak out.
From then on, Li Wei would visit the princess in person every day when she went to school, and sometimes even conduct inspections in person. The princesses were very interested in studying at first, and all of them worked very hard. Even the girls from aristocratic families who accompanied them to study also worked very hard to make progress together. Everyone hoped to earn an outstanding position in front of the Queen Mother.
One day after class, Shujia ran towards Li Wei's arms as soon as she entered the room. Li Wei grabbed Shujia's hand and saw that it was stained with black ink, so he asked the palace maid to take her down to wash her hands.
Li Wei asked Li Xing to sit in front of her and asked her what her husband taught her today. Li Xing said: "My husband taught "The Doctrine of the Mean"."
Li Wei did not continue to examine Li Xing's homework, but asked her about Shujia's study. Later he said to her: "In addition to reading, what else do you want to learn? Is it painting or playing chess and piano?"
Li Xing knew that his sister wanted to cultivate her, so he said, "Let's paint."
"Okay, I'll hire a teacher for you to teach you well, and you can study hard."
Li Xing took the opportunity to flatter him: "Your Majesty, your paintings are very good. How about I learn from you?"
Li Wei shook his head and said: "No, I can't teach you. I'd better hire a teacher to teach you, so that the princess can learn from you."
Before he finished speaking, it was announced outside that Princess Dun had arrived, and Li Wei hurriedly said a quick please.
Soon Princess Dun brought Xiao Liu Fukang over to visit Li Wei. Seeing that Xiao Liu looked good, Li Wei turned to Princess Dun and said, "This child seems to be stronger."
Princess Dun smiled and said, "I let him play with the little eunuchs every day as the Queen Mother said, and he is getting stronger."
Li Wei praised: "This is very good. When your health is completely recovered, you can go to school like your brothers and sisters."
(End of chapter)