The Crown Prince said with a smile, "Grandmother, Empress Dowager, Master Tutor has been delayed here for quite some time and must be hungry. Perhaps we should go to Grandmother's palace for the midday meal first."
The two also smiled and said, "Yes, yes, yes. Nothing is more important than Fuguang having her meal first."
The Empress Dowager took Yue Fuguang's hand and started walking, leaving a final message for the Emperor: "Your Majesty, we leave this matter for you to handle. Punish those who deserve punishment. Do not show favoritism."
"Rest assured, Mother. Today, this son will certainly give Fuguang a proper resolution."
Yue Fuguang had originally planned to return to her residence today for hotpot. Unexpectedly, with this delay, she was back at the Empress Dowager's palace again.
By the time she returned to the Yu residence from the Empress Dowager's palace, full and satisfied and laden with two full carts of gifts, it was already the end of the Wei hour (around 3 PM).
Yue Fuguang sent Qingzhu to inform the Old Madam and reassure her, then, attended by Cuizhu, she fell straight into bed and slept.
Her drowsiness wasn't just due to a food coma; it was also because, as the system upgraded and consumed more energy, it was simultaneously repairing its own data, which taxed the host even more.
Just before falling asleep, Yue Fuguang thought, thankfully this isn't my original body, otherwise I wouldn't let the system waste it like this!
The next day, after sleeping two extra hours, Yue Fuguang thought going to study was quite good too. This life of early morning classes was the routine she was most familiar with.
Carrying her small book bag, she arrived at the Hongwen Institute with her study companions, Yu Ningxuan and Yu Ningxin. The new classmates and tutors were already there.
Looking around, the classroom was over a hundred square meters, with bright windows, clean floors, and an atmosphere of solemn dignity.
Inside sat over twenty people, all around her age—princes, princesses, and their companions.
[Master, are you the last one to arrive?]
Yue Fuguang, thick-skinned, retorted, 'Even if your master is the last to arrive, you can't say I'm late!'
Arriving right on time, how is that not punctual?
The system checked the time: Chen hour, second quarter (around 7:30 AM). [Master, do you want to put a clock in this school? The water clocks in this world aren't as convenient as those. Arriving at the last moment like this, people who don't know might think you're late.]
'We'll talk about that later. It's too advanced; it's not convenient to bring it out now.'
The tutor for today's class was the newly appointed Hanlin Academician, Shang Xuewen. His promotion followed the same pattern as Feng Tang's: his immediate superior had been sent to prison due to Yue Fuguang's revelations, and he himself had been promoted by the Emperor.
Seeing Yue Fuguang enter, he smiled and said, "Master Tutor, this is your seat."
He pointed to the best seat in the front row. Yue Fuguang looked in the direction he indicated; it was the C-position of the entire classroom.
She just wondered who had been sitting there before she arrived.
Yue Fuguang walked over and sat down. Her two elder sisters also found seats and sat down behind her.
Yu Ningxuan was Yue Fuguang's own choice. For the other candidate, she had asked the Old Madam and Old Master Yu to help select. In the end, they chose the more gentle-natured Yu Ningxin, who would be married off in a couple of years. This experience studying at the Hongwen Institute would also add considerable points to her prospects.
Unlike the older students in the neighboring classroom, what their group learned was relatively elementary. However, listening to all this classical prose filled her head until it ached.
[Master, you say these people have governed the country for thousands of years relying on this kind of learning, with slow social development. Haven't they ever considered that the problem lies with what they're studying?
Isn't this like being unbalanced in studies? Equivalent to walking on one leg.]
'Maybe some have thought about it, but those who did might have been seen as oddities, traitors to the sages' teachings.'
[The Aqua Blue planet we visited was the same. Although its five-thousand-year civilization was brilliant, its development couldn't match the progress of the later fifty years. That's the power of technology.
It can make a society's development fast, like riding the world's fastest steed, or slow, with little change for decades or even a century.]
Hearing this, Shang Xuewen felt an itch in his heart like a cat scratching, silently praying, 'Great Artifact, please don't just say things like that.
What exactly is the problem? Why could that place called Aqua Blue develop so fast in fifty years? Please elaborate in detail!
You only raise the question without solving it. Isn't that tormenting for those who hear it but don't know the follow-up, making them unable to eat or sleep peacefully?'
No matter how Shang Xuewen prayed in his heart, his Great Artifact did not continue the topic as he wished.
Instead, it said, [So, Master, when you think about starting your own school in the future, will you teach the students biology, geography, physics, and chemistry?]
'Little Pearl, how much of that knowledge do you think I can remember with my memory sealed by my master? Aren't you afraid I'll mislead the students?
Besides, I don't want to endure that kind of exhaustion.'
[Then what is Master's purpose in starting a school?]
'To give those who want to study but can't afford it a chance to become literate—commonly known as eliminating illiteracy. The lower a country's illiteracy rate, the more it can indirectly promote social development.'
[That would also be a meritorious deed.]
'Merit or not doesn't matter; it's just something convenient to do anyway.'
She only needed to provide the money and find someone to manage it. No matter what, it couldn't affect her leisurely, idle life.
Going to school and attending court were already ordeal enough; there was really no need to add more burden to herself.
Shang Xuewen memorized their conversation in his heart. After class, he would still have to report it truthfully to His Majesty.
Ever since planning to have the Little Immortal Lord come to study, His Majesty had secretly adjusted the teaching tutors. Anyone paying attention would notice that these people were not only high-ranking and powerful but also all belonged to the group who could hear the inner thoughts.
To compete for the teaching opportunity, colleagues had engaged in no small amount of physical altercations.
The martial arts tutor was the first to be confirmed. Who could blame Wei Shouyi for having the strongest combat prowess among the court officials, overpowering all rivals to win first place?
Thinking about these random things, Shang Xuewen quickened his pace towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Meanwhile, at the Hongwen Institute, it was already time for the midday meal.
Yue Fuguang declined the invitation from the Empress Dowager's palace, insisting on having the midday meal at the Hongwen Institute. Mainly, she was afraid her two sisters, coming to the palace for the first time, might feel uncomfortable, and also worried someone might bully them relying on their status.
After all, even someone with her status had encountered the hard-headed Fourth Prince just yesterday.
According to the system's latest report, the Fourth Prince still hadn't escaped a beating yesterday. Dragging his half-crippled body, he endured ten solid strokes. Eunuch Qian supervised, and no one dared to show the slightest leniency.
Another fifty strokes were reportedly to be administered within the next half month. For this, Emperor Mingxi didn't hesitate to have the Imperial Hospital use strong medicine on him—the kind that heals quickly.
Because of this, seeing the Fourth Prince's miserable fate led to Yue Fuguang's 'new classmates' being exceptionally well-behaved today.
The usual joking and playful fighting during breaks, because of her presence, became much more restrained. They even spoke softly, afraid of offending this great Buddha.
Faced with someone whom the three most powerful figures in the palace plus the Crown Prince, their eldest brother, had to coax, they truly dared not be as hard-headed as Fourth Brother in front of her.
Especially those who had heard her inner thoughts and knew her 'true identity' were even more respectful and cautious towards her.
