Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 683: No One Knows a Father Better Than His Daughter
In addition to the time when he angrily criticized Zhang Shou at the imperial lecture, Dean Hong had also done such things as stirring up a hornet's nest in the past at Yuzhang Academy.
But Hong knew better that when her father was in Yuzhang Academy, he had the old principal above him and a group of students who admired his knowledge and character and sincerely protected him. In addition, there were retired bigwigs from Yuzhang Academy who had experienced ups and downs in officialdom for decades and finally returned to their roots and also lent their support. Most importantly, when her father offended someone, she would find ways to guide him, so her father was always safe in the end.
Not only was he safe and sound, but every time he offended someone in public, the person offended by Hong Shanchang would often fall. Over time, he developed the same stubborn character as his father, because people always believed that destiny was on their side.
This time, the emperor said he would give his father a hundred gold coins and send him back to Jiangxi after the imperial lecture. But after the crown prince was enthroned, the imperial lecture was not held every day, so the date for his return to Jiangxi was delayed again and again, and he was still in the capital.
At this moment, she didn't care about Princess Yongping and Zhu Ying, and hurried to the outer room. She saw that it was an old servant who followed her father. She immediately asked him carefully and learned that it was her father who sent him out to buy paper, and said that he would write a memorial to the emperor about the second prince. He was so scared that he hurried to Bei'an Gate to find her to report the news. Fortunately, someone told her that she was there, so he came to find her.
Knowing that her father did not explicitly say that he was speaking up for the Second Prince, this was just her own guess because the old servant had followed her father for a long time. Thinking of how her father had once been involved in a dispute over the division of property of a famous family in Nanchang, Hong smiled bitterly to herself, rubbed her temples lightly, and after thinking quickly, she smiled pleasantly at the old servant.
"Thank you for making this special trip. I'll have someone take you back. Buy the paper you need. If your father blames you for taking so long, tell him that there was a quarrel in front of the writing shop. It sounded like the families of two officials."
Of course, the paper used to write memorials is not ordinary small or large paper, but paper of a special format. In places like the capital, it is sold in various elegant pavilions that sell the four treasures of the study, as well as in ordinary stationery shops.
In such a place, you might encounter the attendants of various officials. Although the old servant had only been in Beijing for a short time, he understood this principle and nodded quickly.
Knowing that Princess Yongping and Zhu Ying might come out, and that others might secretly pay attention to her movements, Hong continued calmly, "Tell father that the censor's family claimed that his master would submit a petition to request a thorough investigation of the Second Prince's affairs, saying that the Second Prince is still a prince no matter what, and he would give the Second Prince justice even if he died."
"Another person claimed that his master was a certain minister, and he scolded the censor for being crazy for fame, and said that the emperor hated people like this the most! There are so many abandoned poor children filling the ditches every year, why doesn't he care? There are so many officials who are corrupt, why doesn't he care, but he is trying to figure out the emperor's intentions. What's this about being torn to pieces? It's clearly just for fame and integrity. All the years of studying have gone to waste!"
Seeing that the old servant was trying hard to remember, she asked him to repeat it to her. After confirming that she remembered it correctly, she continued, "Tell my father that the attendant of the Imperial Censor was very dissatisfied. Should the death of a prince be treated like a poor child who died in a ditch? There should be no investigation. The Shangshu family retorted, "As a king and father, did the emperor ever say that he would not investigate?"
"It is said that the greatest tragedy in the world is when an old man dies a young man. Who can be more grief-stricken than the emperor? You so-called upright ministers are just rubbing salt into the wounds without caring about the pain of the emperor and father! As if you are not a loyal minister if you don't jump out, there is no need to emphasize the investigation of such things. Instead, it is more worthy of direct criticism to crack down on pirates and rectify the navy."
In a moment of urgency, Mrs. Hong could only come up with these few sentences, and then urged the old servant to recite them again and again. Fortunately, this old servant had served the Hong family for many years and was loyal to her. Most importantly, he was proficient in writing. Although he was old, he had a clear mind, so he ran to him in the first place. After some effort, he finally remembered it.
Finally, she comforted the old servant and promised that after finishing the work here, if she was free, she would rush back to see her father. If she was not free, she would ask for leave and go back in two days. Only then did Hong arrange for the carriage she used when she left to help transport people, and of course she did not forget to give the coachman a string of reward money.
As one of the lecturers in the East Palace, even if she was only teaching painting, she had her own salary, not to mention another salary as a friend of the princess. In the palace, the palace maids who served her had been instructed not to accept any tips, so it was very rare for her to find such an opportunity to spend money.
After watching the carriage leave, Hong wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, then turned around and almost bumped into someone. Seeing Zhu Ying, the stunning beauty, staring at her thoughtfully, and Princess Yongping standing three or four steps away , she didn't know when the two appeared behind her. She was surprised and smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, young lady. My father is a man who can't tolerate any sand in his eyes, to put it nicely, but to put it bluntly... he is self-righteous and always likes to impose his own principles on others. This approach is not a problem most of the time. After all, although he is stubborn, the principles he upholds are not wrong. But in things like this..."
"It's not that I, as a daughter, should criticize my father. It's really not his place as an outsider to comment!"
"Madam Hong, this is the first time I've seen you make up stories for people, but to be honest... what you just said was pretty good!" Zhu Ying raised the corners of her mouth, revealing a smug smile, "And you guessed the emperor's character. That's right, the emperor hates those censors who don't care about the decline of people's livelihood and the corruption of officials, but keep complaining about some trivial details!"
As she spoke, she snorted in contempt: "The Second Prince might have been involved in a shipwreck. The Emperor will definitely not let this matter go. He will definitely investigate it. Is it necessary for outsiders to passionately demand justice for him?"
"I can't say I guessed it, I just... judged others by my own experience." Hong didn't want to be known as someone who tried to guess the intentions of her superiors, but she had to explain it clearly. "I just thought that if I were a father, even if my son was kicked out of the house because he was disobedient and made a big mistake, he would still be my son after all. If something happened to him, how could I not be sad?"
"At this time, I will remember every one of those who jump out to make comments! Because it is like tearing open a person's scar with blood, making him suffer more and more pain!!"
Having said that, Hong thought in her heart that although the supreme emperor could not be measured by ordinary people, and there were many emperors in history whose father-son relationship was alienated by their ministers, and there were also many emperors who expelled or even killed their sons, but based on her limited understanding of the current emperor, the emperor's mood at this moment should be as she said.
Even if the emperor did prefer the third and fourth princes, the second prince was dead. How could he just ignore it?
Sure enough, the next moment, she saw Princess Yongping approaching. Although her expression was as cold as ever, her eyes seemed to be much softer when she looked at her: "If my second brother had been as clear-headed as you, Madam Hong, and not confused, then perhaps he would not have encountered this incident."
"However, I really didn't expect that you, Madam Hong, could be so quick-witted and come up with such a story in such a short time."
For Princess Yongping , such words were indeed a high compliment. After all, she didn't like Mrs. Hong. When she heard the news, she thought that they had to help find a way to stop the stubborn Mr. Hong. Unexpectedly, she and Zhu Ying didn't need to rack their brains. Mrs. Hong had already thought of a set of words that might be of some use.
Seeing that Mrs. Hong was being humble, Zhu Ying said straightforwardly, "If you want to go back and persuade your father, you can go first. Anyway, we have already seen this place, and the next step is to recruit students, so there is no rush today."
"If I go back now, it means that Uncle Qi has come out to tip me off. Even if my stubborn but proud father wants to give up his idea, he might insist on it after seeing me." Hong shook her head without thinking, then smiled and said, "If Miss really wants to help me, you might as well send someone to keep an eye on father's elegant house."
Seeing that Zhu Ying was a little surprised, she said bluntly: "If Uncle Qi comes out again, it means that father may really insist on having his own way. At that time, let someone go up and ask Uncle Qi in my name, and then it won't be too late to make plans."
"No one knows a father better than his daughter. Let's do it. I'll go and give the order right away." Zhu Ying smiled with her eyes curved. She really went out to find an attendant and asked him to go to Yashe to keep an eye on it. After she came back, she continued with the topic.
"Now that you've said that, I think my dad is also a person of his own accord, as stubborn as a cow. Even my grandmother can't persuade him to change his mind when he makes the decision. That's why mom and him had such a bad relationship before! I didn't understand it before, but when I grew up, I often stepped forward to persuade him."
"So, Ah Shou said something I really like to hear." Not noticing the extremely unnatural expression on Princess Yongping's face when she talked about her parents' past, Zhu Ying said with a beaming face, "Ah Shou told me that daughters are like little cotton-padded jackets for their parents, keeping them warm and caring, understanding their feelings, and better than many sons who don't understand their parents' hearts! After I told this to my grandmother and mother, they all agreed!"
Princess Yongping did not expect that Zhang Shou would say such words to Zhu Ying. In this era when giving birth to a boy is called "Niao Zhang" and giving birth to a girl is called "Niao Wa", and giving birth to a girl is like disappointing some kind of expectations, how many people would think that giving birth to a daughter is better than giving birth to a son?
Even now, she hated herself for being a woman, because a princess could only do so little, so little that she couldn't even control her own marriage, let alone her future. It was only after she knew her life experience that she realized that if she were a prince, she might not have existed in the palace.
The royal family might raise a princess with an unknown background, but they would not raise a prince with an unknown background.
However, Zhu Ying was just as "unclear about her status as a concubine" as Jiu Niang, and even Jiu Niang was angry and entered a Buddhist temple. Even her marriage was arranged very early, and her fiancé was Zhang Shou, who was born on the same day as them and grew up in the countryside. But Zhu Ying fell in love with this fiancé at first sight, and Zhang Shou was a man who was very different from most men!
Why is Zhu Ying so lucky despite having the same background?
However, Hong did not feel as many grievances as Princess Yongping. She was born clever and thoughtful, but her appearance was ordinary. She had long been accustomed to looks of admiration and pity, to the cold words behind her back, and had developed a hard heart. So although she felt that Zhu Ying was lucky and had the right person to trust her, she did not feel sorry for her life because of this.
At this moment, she smiled and praised: "If Master Zhang said this not to make the young lady happy, but really thought so, then he is a real man with a broad mind."
"Of course he thinks so. He also strongly supports me to help with the girls' school!"
When talking about Zhang Shou, Zhu Ying's face was full of joy. Then she praised her fiancé to Hong, not thinking that her behavior was showing off in front of the other two. As a result, Princess Yongping finally couldn't stand it anymore and said: "You will get married in November. There will be plenty of time in the future to respect each other. It won't be too late to talk about love then!"
"A truly loving couple is not one that treats each other with respect and acts like a virtuous wife. There are many girls who are willing to be such a wife, but I am not one of them. I have already told Ah Shou clearly that if he doesn't want me one day, just tell me and I will leave immediately without pestering him."
Walking in spring, apricot blossoms blowing all over my head. Who is the young man on the road, so romantic? I intend to marry him and spend my life with him. Even if he abandons me mercilessly, I will not be ashamed.
Hong couldn't help but recite the poem "Thinking of the Imperial Hometown - Spring Day Outing" in her heart. Seeing Zhu Ying's bright and brilliant smile, the light was even a little dazzling, and seeing Princess Yongping's gloomy face, she finally understood why these two beautiful girls could never get along.
One is the sun hanging high in the sky, shining brightly; the other is the moon hanging quietly in the night sky, reserved and silent. The only time they can hang in the sky together every day is during the brief moment of dawn and dusk. They are inherently incompatible like water and fire.
Knowing everything in her mind, Hong did not try in vain to reconcile the relationship between the two. Given the relationship between the emperor and the Zhu family, she still could not make the two reconcile. How could she have such ability?
Therefore, she simply changed the subject and sincerely discussed with the two about the various plans for the women's school. When Zhu Ying suggested that they go to meet the female teachers, she looked at the sky and readily agreed. Princess Yongping was originally indifferent. Anyway, she had nothing to do in the palace, so she simply agreed.
Therefore, these three people with different identities and experiences visited the three female teachers that Zhu Ying had invited to the inner city. Even with the picky Princess Yongping, she had to admit that these three girls who had participated in the selection of the prince's concubines were indeed graceful and knowledgeable. However, she was unwilling to admit that it was Zhu Ying's good vision, and only believed that it was because they had passed the preliminary selection and re-selection before.
At dusk, when Madam Hong said goodbye to Zhu Ying and returned to the palace with Princess Yongping, she heard someone sneer: "Some people in this world have everything without any effort, while some people try their best but have nothing. Madam Hong, do you think this is fair?"
