Then came the ministers, who hurled all sorts of nice words at the emperor, saying his emperor was merciful and wise, without asking for any money.
After the morning court session, Zhou Shuren walked up to Lord Yu and said, "Lord Yu, you are going to the capital. There is no family school for the Yu family in the capital. Does your son have any academy he would like to go to?"
Lord Yu was stunned for a while before he came back to his senses. "Why is Lord Shangshu concerned about my boy?"
"I'm just asking out of curiosity. Who doesn't know how famous the Yu family's clan school is in Dingzhou?"
Lord Yu is proud of his family. This sense of glory is engraved in his bones. The Yu family has produced two top scholars and even more Jinshi. The family tree lists many famous people from the previous dynasty. If the previous dynasty was framed and caught up in war, the Yu family would not have returned to Beijing again now.
Lord Yu said, "We just came to Beijing last year, and the boys have been studying at home. We wanted to choose a college this year, but we were too busy and delayed it."
Zhou Shuren continued, "The academy my grandson attends is pretty good."
His eldest grandson won the second place in the imperial examination, and his grandson-in-law also passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. The academy was originally famous, but not as famous as it is now. Now there are many children of aristocratic families studying in the academy.
Lord Yu's heart moved. He had indeed considered this academy.
When they reached the palace gate, Zhou Shuren and Lord Yu separated. Wang Ju followed them all the way. "Let's go together?"
Zhou Shuren, "Are you not busy?"
Wang Ju, "I'm almost done with my work."
After Zhou Shuren got on the carriage, he asked, "The old man hasn't been to court for a few days. Are you feeling unwell?"
Wang Ju whispered, "My father has already told the emperor that he wants to retire, so he has become casual about it. He won't attend court unless there is something important."
Zhou Shuren thought that the old man's casualness was also a signal to the court that he was going to retire. "I'll go see the old man when I have a day off."
Wang Ju smiled and said, "I will go back and tell my dad. He will definitely be happy."
After a pause, he asked, "Why do you care about the Yu family?"
He still remembered the several noble families that he and Zhou Shuren had mentioned about coming to Beijing, but Zhou Shuren had no interest at all.
Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and said, "I told you that you are not just trying to take advantage of the carriage. You will know when the time comes."
Wang Ju thought about it for a while but still couldn't guess it, so she gave up and said with a smile: "You don't know how good Zhuo Ping is. The little guy is very smart."
The only bad thing is that the child is dominated by his father, and the old man doesn’t have to teach him anymore. Now he plays with Zhuoping every day and he doesn’t even have a chance to hug him.
Zhou Shuren glanced at him and said, "Don't show off. I know you can't have a baby."
Wang Ju's smile froze, "How did you know?"
"It's easy to guess. Your family has few children, so the old man naturally loves children. You can't snatch one away from him, so you can only stand aside and watch enviously."
Wang Ju, "... "
I am unhappy because I failed to show off.
In Qizhou, the wife of the prefect came to the door carrying some fruits, "I don't have anything good, I just got some fruits, I'll give you some."
Dong took it with a smile, "You are so polite."
This year, their family had more interactions with the prefect, and the prefect's wife would come to talk to her from time to time, although she couldn't get along with her.
The wife of the prefect, Liu, said, "I used to be able to see your children when I came to your house, but you are willing not to leave any of your children with you."
Mrs. Dong smiled and said, "Why are you reluctant to give them up? It's better for the children to be in the capital than to be with us. As long as they are well, I, as a mother, will be content."
Liu smiled. She envied Dong very much. Dong's mother-in-law didn't care about personal affairs and loved her daughter-in-law. Unlike her, her mother-in-law wanted to control everything but couldn't do it properly. After several embarrassing things, her father-in-law took away her mother-in-law's power for the sake of her husband.
Liu took a sip of tea and said, "Come to think of it, I have only heard of your eldest daughter, but have never seen her."
Mrs. Dong spoke of her eldest daughter with pride in her tone, "My eldest daughter grew up with my mother-in-law and has learned a lot from her. Now she teaches her younger sister and brother, and we don't have to worry about them at all. Instead, this child worries about us."
Liu put down the teacup and said, "What a good child."
"Yes, the Queen even praised her."
Dong sensed something from Liu's unnatural expression. Did Liu want to marry? No, no, she didn't look down on the Shen family's family background, but she looked down on the old lady and Liu. Master Shen didn't have much wealth, but he had many concubines and illegitimate children.
The old lady of the Shen family wanted to control the backyard and had everything in her hands, but in order to show her virtuousness, Liu took the initiative to take in several concubines for Lord Shen, which made her speechless.
Lord Shen is a good person, but forget about his backyard. She will never marry her daughter to such a family.
Liu opened her mouth but didn't say anything until she left. Although Lord Zhou was not as high-ranking as her husband, their family background was not good enough.
Dong waited for her husband to come back and told him what Liu was thinking.
Chang Lian snorted, "I have become close to the prefect, and Liu has become interested in me."
Mrs. Dong, "Yudie is engaged, now it's Yuyi's turn. I don't know what kind of family my parents will choose."
Chang Lian smiled and said, "My parents will keep a close eye on it. The daughters of our Zhou family are all precious."
Although he said this, he was actually thinking about it in his heart. He planned to write a letter back to the capital after dinner to ask his mother if she had found a suitable match.
The next day in Beijing, Yudie was not at home, and Yujiao had no one to take her out. After a few days of holding back, she couldn't bear it any longer, so she looked up at her sister who was practicing calligraphy, "Sister, it's New Year's Day."
Yuyi didn't even raise her head, "Yeah."
"Qizhou suffered a disaster this year. Daddy is worried about the people, and mommy has to take care of the household. Daddy and mommy are very hard-working."
Yuyi looked up, "So?"
Yu Jiao untied her purse and said, "I have saved a lot of money for the month."
As he spoke, he poured out the silver, which contained small gold ingots. These were given to my aunt by her uncle when she was out of confinement after giving birth.
Yuyi put down the brush, "You want to go to the street?"
Yu Jiao smiled ingratiatingly, "Well, I want to buy some supplements for my parents. Sister, let's go out."
Yuyi did not refuse Yujiao this time, because she also wanted to buy some supplements for her parents, so she said to the maid, "Go prepare the carriage."
Yujiao jumped up, "That's great."
Yuyi's eyes were full of smiles. It was hard for this girl to hold back for so long before wanting to go out. "Go change into some thick clothes."
"good."
The two sisters went to the main courtyard. Zhulan counted the days. She hadn't been out on the street for a long time. She could even count the number of times she had gone out this year. She wanted to go out but then she looked at the snow outside and finally gave up the idea. "It's cold outside. Go early and come back early so you don't get cold."
Yu Jiao said obediently: "We will definitely be back early."
Only two sisters went out. Don’t even think about pulling Yuwen out of the house in winter. At this time, Yuwen was curled up in the quilt on the small kang, drowsy!
When the two sisters went out, the servant took some extra things with him.
Yu Jiao leaned over the car window as soon as she went out, "Sister, there are a lot of people outside."
Yuyi, "It's New Year's Day."
Although this year is difficult, the New Year is still very important in people's hearts. They bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, hoping that the coming year will be better.