Episode 21

  On the first day of class, all three Lanes were dressed in general attire, with a uniform light green round-necked thin straight long gown, embroidered with apricot yellow folded branch flowers on their chest, wearing a plain white cloud silk long skirt, with a jade lock pinned to their chest, and a bright golden necklace around their neck, with the intricate patterns and fine gold thread pendants extremely delicate and beautiful.

  "This golden hairpin is really nice, it cost Grandmother a lot of money. I'll have to go thank her properly later." Mo Lan said with a smile to Ming Lan; because the day before was a school day, Old Lady Sheng had everyone arrive early at the family school hall, so they didn't need to pay their respects.

  "It's nice, but the quantity is a bit too much. I originally had a gold necklace that weighed over ten taels." Rulan said nonchalantly, while Changbai, who was flipping through a book, gave her an displeased glance.

  "Ten or twenty taels? Wouldn't that weigh down your neck entirely? No wonder I've never seen you wear it, I think this necklace is heavy enough already." Minglan rubbed her neck and muttered.

  "Six sisters, this jade lock is of the highest quality. Looking at it, it seems to be from the Kunlun Mountains in the Western Regions." Chang Feng carefully examined Minglan's jade lock.

  Mo Lan had actually noticed the jade lock long ago, and when her brother mentioned it, she went over to take a closer look at Ming Lan's hairpin. The jade piece was white with a hint of green, but as it turned, it seemed to shift to a yellowish color, like the flow of water. The entire piece of jade was fine and smooth, elegant and refreshing, crystal clear and round, purely beautiful without any impurities. She praised it, saying: "This is truly good jade, I've never seen such good jade before."

  In her heart, she secretly envied and thought to herself, this jade is even more precious than my own, if I were to enter the Shou'an Hall, wouldn't this jade be mine? She recalled being rejected by Old Lady Sheng and couldn't help but feel resentful.

  On the other side, Ruolan didn't quite understand jade. Since entering school, she had been staring at the piece of jade on Molan's chest, thinking about Wang's reminder and enduring it. Now that everyone was discussing jade, she couldn't help but say: "Sixth sister, you should be careful, fourth sister has taken a liking to your jade. She might go back and pester father with tears in her eyes, and before you know it, the jade will end up in fourth sister's pocket."

  Chang Feng furrowed his brow, turned his head and went back to reading, while Mo Lan's face flushed red with anger, saying: "What does this mean, Fifth Sister? Am I someone who only snatches things from my sisters?"

  Ruolan met the warning gaze from Zhang Bai and thought of the slap, so she softened her voice and said slowly: "What's wrong? I just saw the jade lock of the fourth sister and remembered some silly thoughts. Sister doesn't have to take it to heart."

  Minglan immediately went to see the white jade pendant on Molan's chest, and saw that it was also a piece of warm and smooth top-grade white jade. What was even more peculiar was that the color on its surface was a deep and shallow ink color, rich and subtle, and at first glance, it looked like a landscape painting in ink wash style, and she couldn't help but secretly admire it. Molan said indignantly: "This piece of jade was indeed given by the Wang family, my father saw that it matched my name so he gave it to me, and then my father immediately asked people everywhere to find a top-grade peony jade that suits you, why are you still not willing to give up?"

  Yulan smiled faintly: "I don't know if it's good or not, sister, but I only know that it was a token of my uncle's heart."

  Mo Lan hypocritically smiled and said: "Fifth sister, have you forgotten? He is also my uncle!"

  Like Orchid gritted her teeth and glared at Ink Orchid, but didn't dare mention anything about legitimate or illegitimate birth again. At this time, Long Cypress coughed heavily and said in a low voice: "The master has arrived." Everyone immediately sat up straight.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, a series of footsteps sounded, and Mr. Zhuang came in from behind the hall, circling around the screen.

  ……

  "Nowadays, most students read books in order to pass the imperial examination and become officials. They say that if they succeed, they can bring benefits to the world, which is a reasonable expectation. However, after passing the exam, their vision is short-sighted and their words are dull. How can they last long on the official path? Even if they rise to high positions, they will eventually fall! Only when one's studies are solid and their mind is filled with poetry and books, can they naturally become successful."

  Mr. Zhuang is very clear about his students' goals and the purpose of their studies, so he directly teaches the Four Books and Five Classics from the beginning, using peripheral content from history, classics, and collections to explain, supplemented by many test questions from past dynasties. Because almost all of his students participated in the imperial examination, he has a large number of successful and failed cases on hand. He would take out model essays and point out what was good about them, or where they were lacking if they didn't pass.

  This clear and logical teaching method immediately made Minglan respect the old master of ancient times. She had always felt that the Confucian scholars of ancient times were somewhat hypocritical, obviously one or two of them were for the imperial examination to become officials, but they would say every day that reading books was for moral cultivation, but Master Zhuang did not hesitate to say: "In ancient times, those who wanted to make their virtues clear in the world; First govern their country; Those who want to govern their country, first rule their family; Those who want to rule their family, first cultivate themselves; Those who want to cultivate themselves, first correct their hearts; ... Only when the heart is correct can the body be cultivated, only when the body is cultivated can the family be ruled, only when the family is ruled can the country be governed, and only when the country is governed can the world be peaceful; Learning is not just a few articles or poems, it's a comprehensive cultivation of practice, to stand for a long time, you must have solid learning!"

  Chang Bai and Chang Feng sat in the front row, boys of this age were growing taller, Sheng Hou's genetic genes were good, the small Chang Dong at the back was not visible yet, but both teenagers had a straight posture. The three girls in the second row were all elegant and polite, with every move showing some norms, although they were still young, two of them already showed a hint of beauty, Mr. Zhuang smiled as he looked at them, stroking his sparse beard, nodding repeatedly, hmm, these eyes are very good, and at this age, this old bones, had some distance from the concept of men, didn't need to avoid suspicion with female students anymore.

  There were six students in the private school, one teacher, and several maidservants and young servants waiting outside to boil tea and add firewood. From ancient times to the present, there has been an indispensable step in class - reading aloud, and it must be done with a shaking head.

  No matter how familiar you are with it, you have to shake your neck, toss your head, narrow your eyes, and read out the sentences in a drawn-out tone to bring out the feeling, the rhythm, and the infinite subtleties; Mo Lan thought this movement was not becoming of girls and would never agree to do it, after two shakes she felt dizzy and stopped, anyway Mr. Zhuang never paid attention to them.

  Only Minglan felt the benefits, this kind of circular motion of the neck was just right to relieve the soreness of her cervical spine from leaning forward and writing or sewing for a long time. After shaking it a few times, her shoulders and neck immediately felt much more comfortable. Minglan finally understood why ancient scholars who spent ten years studying in cold windows didn't get cervical spondylosis; so she shook her head and read books even harder, causing Mr. Zhuang to look at her twice that morning.

  Mr. Zhuang is very particular and doesn't allow servants to come in, so he has to grind the ink and add paper himself. Others are fine with this, but Zhang Tong is still young, his small hands can't even hold the inkstone steadily, and he happens to be sitting behind Minglan.

  Minglan heard the continuous rustling sounds from behind and thought she should help by drawing her sword. Taking advantage of Mr. Zhuang's inattention, she quickly turned around and skillfully swapped her inkstone with the one on the back table. It was a perfect movement that combined swiftness and lightness. When Mr. Zhuang looked up, Minglan had already sat down properly, grinding the ink with a serious and focused expression.

  Mr. Zhuang's small eyes sparkled, and he continued to lecture; Minglan let out a sigh of relief, when suddenly, from behind her came the faint sound of a little boy's voice: "...... thank you, Sixth Sister."

  Minglan didn't turn around, she just nodded slightly to indicate she had received it.

  Because of this revolutionary friendship, the next day when Dongge came to Shou'antang to pay his respects, he secretly pulled on Minglan's sleeve at the door, twisted his small body and made a fist to thank her, then mumbled for half a day. Minglan looked at Changdong, who was one head shorter than herself, and felt that this height ratio was very satisfying. She patiently said: "Fourth brother, what's the matter? Just tell sister."

  Chang Dong was encouraged, and he stuttered to explain that he didn't have the advantage of being the eldest or the most favored. Xiang Niang was originally a maid from the Wang family, and neither the master nor the mistress could read or write, let alone her. Dong Ge had grown up to five years old without starting his education, and listening to Mr. Zhuang's lessons was like listening to heavenly books - it was both difficult and embarrassing: "Big brother... you taught me a few characters before, but later you were busy preparing for the exam, I didn't dare bother you... Sixth sister, I..."

  He is rarely seen by people and is timid, his speech is also incoherent.

  Minglan softly murmured to herself, pondering whether it was better to stay out of the matter or to help others with pleasure. As she turned her eyes, she saw Changfang carrying a small face with a shrinking expression, full of hopeful and yearning colors, yet carefully hiding and enduring, fearing rejection.

  Xing Lan suddenly felt a pang of sympathy, and after glancing around the room, she saw Old Lady Wang talking to Mrs. Wang. Thinking that there was still some time before school started, she led Rong Er into the Pear Blossom Room. She flipped through a small, intricately carved wooden desk with an Eight Immortals longevity design and pulled out a red-ink practice book for Rong Er. In a soft voice, she said: "This is what Old Lady Wang used to teach me characters. This one I haven't used yet, it's still new; you can have it to practice first. You're young, don't rush, just learning ten characters a day will make you clever. From now on, every day before school starts, I'll assign you a few characters, and while listening to Mr. Zhuang's lessons, try to memorize them, okay?"

  Chang Dong's small face broke out in a big smile, nodding frantically and thanking him repeatedly. Ming Lan saw his grateful and tearful appearance and suddenly felt heartache, thinking of her own nephew being coaxed and begged by four or five adults to go to school.

  That day, she taught Zhang Wu five big characters on the spot, demonstrating the starting and ending strokes of each character. Zhang Wu stared with wide eyes, took a deep breath, and memorized them one by one. Then, during class, he carefully copied the characters from his textbook onto red paper, and after finishing the red copy, he practiced repeatedly on rice paper until the end of the class. By then, those five characters had taken shape under his brush.

  "Brother Dong is really clever, Father will be delighted when he finds out." Minglan smiled and stroked Changdong's soft head.

  Chang Dong's small face was flushed with joy.

  Minglan thought that the young master was still immature, but unexpectedly from then on, Rong'er came to pay his respects every day half an hour earlier than usual. He would take advantage of this time to find Minglan and learn characters from her. However, Minglan was a lazy pig who loved sleep, and she would only get out of bed at the last minute every day. Many times, Danju had almost splashed water on her face before she would finally wake up. This time it was really going to be the death of her.

  "Sixth sister, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You sleep well, it's all because I came too early. I'll wait for you outside..." Chang Dong knew Minglan was still in bed and stopped at the door, anxiously saying. His small body turned to run away but was caught by Danju, who held him back and scolded, looking towards Minglan who was clinging to the quilt and refusing to let go. Cui Mama stood beside the bed with a bitter smile, while Xiao, who was holding the washbasin, narrowed her eyes. Minglan's scalp felt numb, and she honestly got out of bed.

  A four or five year old little bean, who is still in a state of drowsiness and ignorance, yet has the determination to get up before dawn to learn characters. If he were born into a modern single-child family, his elders would probably be overjoyed to the point of setting off firecrackers and burning incense all night long. For this admirable spirit of diligence in learning, Minglan couldn't bear to let a little bean wait, with a bitter face and gritted teeth, he had to get up early every day.

  "Remember, strokes go from left to right, from top to bottom, starting with a reverse stroke, ending with a lifted stroke, and when writing 'na' and 'pie', slowly lift your wrist...". Minglan and Xiaolong sat side by side in front of the kang, demonstrating one stroke at a time. Cui Mama came in from outside, carrying a small black lacquer tea tray with two white porcelain cups adorned with five-color flowers.

  "Thank you, Aunt Cui. I've troubled you again. It's all my fault that you're so tired." Chang Tong's face turned red as she took a covered bowl from Aunt Cui and thanked her lightly; originally at the Wang residence, she never dared to go out or move around, and the only person she spoke to was Xiang Niang, and even then, they didn't speak more than a few words in a day. But these past few days, Minglan had taught her, not only did she learn characters well, but her speech also became more fluent.

  "Amitabha, my little master, what are you talking about? Luckily you're here, or else we'd have to use all our strength just to get the young lady out of bed!" Cui's mother said with a smile, also scolding Minglan slightly. Minglan pretended not to hear and just lowered her head to blow on the covered bowl in her hands. Cui's mother then turned to Changzhu and said, "Fourth Master, please drink up! This is new batch of Luohan fruit and plum blossom sugar stewed sweet tea, which moistens the lungs and warms the stomach. It's best to drink it in the morning, and it also helps with digestion."

  Chang Dong cupped his hands around the lid and took a sip, his small mouth reddened by the steam, his pale cheeks puffed out, and he was delighted to the core. He blushed and said: "It's really delicious, thank you, mom... but if I come every day like this, it will be too much trouble for you, so maybe I won't drink it anymore..." His voice grew softer as he spoke.

  Cui's mother smiled and said, "Fourth Master, this is embarrassing for us. This little tea can't be wasted on you. If you come every day, I'll serve you tea every day! The only thing I'm worried about is whether your sixth sister has the patience..."

  As she spoke, Xiang'er went to look for Minglan. Minglan smiled wryly in her heart. Which book said that after crossing over into ancient times and becoming a young lady, one could sleep in? What a scam!

  Outside the pear blossom window, Danju was helping Minglan pack her school bag and a bamboo basket with writing utensils. Xiaotao was assisting on the side, asking foolishly: "Sister Danju, it's good that Fourth Young Master has come, but our young lady is also too tired. Look at her, she keeps yawning nonstop. I'd rather let her sleep for a while longer. Why doesn't she teach Fourth Young Master during lunch instead?"

  Her eyebrows and eyes were elegant, and she made a gesture of zipping her mouth with Xiaotao in the morning. She said softly: "Less gossip! In this house, there are many young masters and misses, who can compare to whom is not fair, and the old lady is also difficult. As a grandmother, she has to hold a bowl of water steadily. Our girl is lucky to be raised by the old lady, but some people still don't know how many jealous eyes are on her! On the surface, they flatter, but behind their backs, they slander. Even if it's just a needle and thread, there's no end to the rumors. Fortunately, our girl has a broad heart and never puts these trivial matters in her mind.

  Now if she gets close to Fourth Master again, it will be another round of gossip whenever he enters and exits Shou'antang. But Fourth Master looks pitiful, and the girl can't just ignore him, even Old Lady has to pretend not to know, now using the excuse of paying respects and teaching a few words to tidy things up.

  Xiao Tao was stunned for a while, and suddenly a melancholy expression appeared on her freckled face: "... Dan Ju sister, we girls are so harmonious, never quarreling with each other, but just because the old lady pitied and favored her more, why is there so much gossip?"

  "Tangerine smiled lightly and said, 'You don't have to worry, things inside the house are mostly like this, it's not just our household that's like this. At least we have Master and Mistress keeping everything in order, so it's relatively peaceful; you're from a rural family outside, used to being straightforward and free-spirited, originally didn't know about these twists and turns, once you get used to it, it'll be fine. Also, don't be afraid of them, if someone is kind they will be taken advantage of, the proper courtesy should also be given, otherwise losing our face is a small matter, but losing Miss's dignity is a big deal.'"

  Xiao Tao nodded seriously and continued to work with her head down, then suddenly said: "Right, I still need to go and instruct those four green ones, Miss taught the fourth young master's words can't let them go out and talk nonsense!"

  Tangerine covered her mouth and smiled, imitating Minglan's mannerisms, and said in a pretentious tone: "Very good, very good, one thing leads to another, the child is teachable."