iiChapter 773 - The Grown Zi Rui (2/2)
Feng Yu Heng did not reply. Grabbing his hands, she walked into the manor with large steps until they reached Zi Rui’s courtyard. After entering the room, she waited until a servant poured Zi Rui a cup of warm tea and watched Zi Rui finished drinking before she finally said: “Silly child, elder sister did not cry from having suffered any grief. Elder sister cried because elder sister is happy that my Zi Rui has grown up. Zi Rui is no longer the little child that could only follow behind elder sister. My Zi Rui is a grown up and is able to protect me. That’s why elder sister is happy.”
Zi Rui frowned: “You cried because of this? What is there to cry over with this? I grew up a long time ago. It was you that always thought of me as a child. You didn’t even think about it, I was able to get from the capital to the East. What sort of small child would be able to do this sort of thing?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “You’re not even embarrassed to bring up such a dark history. If it was not for the hidden guards of the palace protecting you, do you think that you could really make it to the East safely?” She waved her hand, “Forget it, forget it, let’s not speak about this. I will ask you. Yao… her matter, how did you hear about it?” She had wanted to say Yao shi, but after some thought, that person was still Zi Rui’s mother. To speak too distantly was not good.
But it was very clear that Feng Yu Heng had overthought the situation because when Zi Rui spoke, he directly called out the name. “About Yao shi? Of course, it was teacher that told me. Not only did teacher tell me that Yao shi left the capital, but he also told me that Feng Jin Yuan also left along with Fu Ya, who looks a lot like elder sister. Although they did not leave together, they left one after the other.”
“Teacher?” Feng Yu Heng was stunned, “Your teacher even tells you about these things?”
“Of course!” Zi Rui straightened himself out and spoke very seriously: “Teacher didn’t just talk about this. He even analyzed it with me. Those three left the capital and were definitely going South to have Fu Ya support the eighth prince with her appearance that is the same as yours. In the South, a false image of Imperial Daughter Ji An arriving and Imperial Daughter Ji An is with the eighth prince would be created. With this, it would create an even more advantageous situation for the eighth prince. He would obtain the hearts of the citizens and obtain even more help from the outside. Elder sister, is it like this?”
Feng Yu Heng was completely dumbfounded. The teacher in Xiao Zhou even told young children about this? But after her sudden shock, she very quickly understood. That was right, the children of the ancient era matured earlier. Girls got married at the age of 15, and boys were the same. All of the things that would usually be done later were pushed up, and their maturity would also be pushed up. As she saw it, Zi Rui was still a young child, but in truth, in a government official’s family, a child of this age was already the same as a young adult. In fact, there were many fathers that had already began to talk about the matters of the court in front of their children, and they would talk to their children about some matters pertaining to the country.
Very quickly, Zi Rui also gave her an explanation, as he said: “Teacher said that Yun Lu Academy cannot just teach us to read and write. While in the academy, what we need to learn more about is how to be a person and how to handle matters. Also, the young men that are able to enter Yun Lu Academy, whether they are from commoners’ families or government officials’ families, they are all people that stand out. In the future, they will either have a distinguished career on the battlefield or seek to join the government through the imperial examination. That’s why the teachers of the academy will not avoid the happenings in the capital and the struggle for the throne. They even speak about those things quite thoroughly. Last time, they spoke of an official from out of the province that had been demoted. That official’s son was in class, and the teacher had spoken about it in front of him, asking him for his analysis. Elder sister, what we learn is different from what you think.”
Feng Yu Heng was shocked and could not help but sigh over Yun Lu Academy’s teaching methods. This was clearly already developing in the same direction as modern education. It was no wonder everyone said that Yun Lu Academy was the best in the world. Hearing what he had said today, it turned out to be true.
She nodded to Zi Rui and sincerely said: “What your teacher did is right. Children should be taught like this. Only like this can pillars of the state be produced.” She settled herself then continued: “Since you already know, elder sister will not hide it from you. In regards to Yao shi…”
For the first time, Feng Yu Heng treated Zi Rui as an adult and carefully recounted the situation with Yao shi, Feng Jin Yuan along with the things that had happened over the months in the capital and in the imperial daughter’s manor. The child listened very seriously and had his own assessments of the situations. It had to be said that his views were objective and accurate. Even Feng Yu Heng no choice but to admire it.
By the end, Feng Zi Rui said to her: “Between people, relations depend on predetermined relationships. Our predetermined relationship is of brother and sister, and with Yao shi, it’s of mother and children. But our affinity with each other is a bit better, while our affinity with Yao shi is extremely thin. Elder sister, there’s no need to take it to heart. That’s just how it is, and there isn’t anything unfortunate about it. As long as you and I have a clear conscience, even if there comes a day when we arrive in King Yama’s palace and are facing the judges, there is no reason to feel as if you owe her.” While he spoke, he got out of his seat and walked over to Feng Yu Heng. Holding her hand, he said: “I wonder if elder still remembers back when we were first sent to the mountain village in the Northwest. She didn’t know how to wash clothes, didn’t know how to use a fire and didn’t know how to make food, nor did she have the slightest ability to do anything for money. It was elder sister that brought me into the mountains each day to find mushrooms and wild vegetables that allowed us to barely survive. There were times when we harvested less, and elder sister would lie and say that you ate in the mountains, leaving it for her and Zi Rui to eat. As for her, she didn’t know how to use a fire to boil vegetables. That fire ended up burning the straw house that protected us from the rain. We just spent three days sleeping on the ground, and it was elder sister that went into the mountains to harvest mushrooms for the people of the village to eat. Only then did some kind hearted person help us build a new small room. But that time, elder sister spent a full three months harvesting mushrooms for them. Elder sister, Zi Rui will say something extremely offensive. It should have been mother that took care of the young children, but in our family, it was the other way around. It was the young children that took care of the mother. Whether it was you or me, everything humanly possible was done, and now she has an even better choice. Zi Rui wishes for her to be able to live better from now on. But if there comes a day when she comes back, Zi Rui will not acknowledge that mother…”