My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 59: Recruiting Female Students Encounters Obstacles

Hearing the noise outside, Qin Ke went to the door, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."

Lu Xiao also bowed and said, "This humble subject greets Your Highness the Princess."

Upon seeing Lu Xiao, Princess Yongjia quickly took two steps back and whispered, "Young Master Lu... there's no need for such formalities."

Lu Xiao looked at Mu Yan and asked, "Senior Brother Mu Yan, why are you with Her Highness the Princess?"

Mu Yan said in a low voice, "I am here on the orders of the Seventh Prince to bring the Princess to visit the academy."

Lu Xiao said, "Although I have never studied at Lingxiao Academy before, I am very familiar with it. Why don't I show Her Highness around the academy?"

Mu Yan was more than happy to oblige and quickly replied, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Junior Brother Lu."

Mu Yan fled as if he were escaping.

Lu Xiao respectfully addressed Princess Yongjia, "Princess, please..."

Princess Yongjia walked a long way from Lu Xiao and went to a deserted courtyard. Looking at the wall covered with trumpet creeper flowers, she said, "Young Master Lu, I won't trouble you any further. I'm tired and will take my leave now."

Lu Xiao blocked Princess Yongjia's path, and said sarcastically, "Your Highness, I am no monster. Why do you have to stay so far away from me? If you come closer, I won't eat you..."

Princess Yongjia blushed when she saw Lu Xiao mimicking the words she had used to tease Mu Yan. "Lu Xiao, how dare you!"

Lu Xiao chuckled and said, "This humble subject will allow the princess to punish me as she sees fit."

Princess Yongjia glanced at Lu Xiao, then turned and quickly left. She really didn't want to see Lu Xiao again, and she deeply felt that drunkenness was harmful, so she would never drink again in the future.
-
Lu Jinshi had been recruiting female students for several days, but only Xu Dan and her cousins ​​were willing to come; the sisters of the other students were unwilling to come.

Recruiting female students has been extremely difficult.

That night, Rong Yi saw Lu Jinshi tossing and turning, saying, "We have to get up early tomorrow, are you going to sleep or not? If not, then let's do something else..."

Lu Jinshi pushed Rong Yi and said, "We are not married yet, so don't try to take advantage of me."

Rong Yi was quite helpless. "We already have a child together, why are you still worried about not being married yet?"

Lu Jinshi said, "It's really troublesome that the academy can't recruit female students. I've invested so much money and effort and I can't let it go to waste. It's almost the middle of the month now, and we only have two students. The Empress Dowager's birthday banquet is almost here."

Rong Yi chuckled and said, "Why don't you recruit female students from the common people who have never learned to read? You should recruit some female students who are already literate and have some knowledge, around thirteen to eighteen years old. At that age, they are too busy getting married to come to the academy to study. Not everyone is like you who can disregard what others say."

Lu Jinshi sighed and said, "Perhaps we can only do as you said and only accept female students from the common people who have never been to school."

Rong Yi said, "Go to sleep."

Lu Jinshi fell into a deep sleep.

The following day, while Lu Jinshi was teaching, she instructed her maids Caifeng, Caiyun, and Yunxia to recruit female students in the villages and towns near the academy.

The female students in this area are closer to Lingxiao Academy, so they don't need to travel far.

At noon, Lu Jinshi came down from the school and saw his maids coming in dejectedly.

Seeing that the maids in front of him had all returned alone, without any female students following behind, Lu Jinshi asked, "Can't you recruit even one girl from the village to study?"

Caiyun said, “Miss, the families I visited all forbade their daughters from coming to study. They all said they were busy planting crops and vegetables. There are so many vegetables to plant in the spring, and their daughters don’t have the leisure to study. They asked me if I accepted male students. They were willing to pay money to let their sons study at Lingxiao Academy.”

Caixia said, “Miss, the families I visited were similar to what Caiyun described. Some girls were busy taking care of their elderly grandparents, some were preparing their dowries, and some were taking care of their postpartum sisters-in-law and helping them with their children. None of their families wanted their daughters to come here to study.”

“For these farmers, it is a great sin for girls to study. There is one family that is willing to let their daughter study, but she has to go back and teach her younger brothers after she finishes her studies. When the little girl heard from her brothers that the teacher would hit her palms, she refused to study anymore.” Lu Jinshi frowned. She had underestimated the difficulty of recruiting female students in Chang’an.

She wanted to do something for the women of this world, but she still faced many difficulties.

Lu Jinshi temporarily suspended his plan to recruit female students.

The only two female students, Xu Dan and her cousin An Jing, studied with the men.

Xu Dan was quite happy to agree. Xu Yang was very busy with his studies these days, not only having to listen to lectures but also having to watch out for Jiang Yin's lecherous gaze at his cousin.

With the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet approaching, Chang'an City has been bustling with activity these past few days, and the weather is gradually warming up.

Although Lu Jinshi brought a lot of spring clothes, she thought that she would have to observe mourning after coming to attend the funeral, so she didn't bring many brightly colored spring clothes.

But now that she has to stay in Chang'an, she still needs to buy a few more spring and summer clothes.

After returning from the academy, Lu Jinshi went to a clothing shop in the afternoon with several maids. She picked out several outfits for herself and two outfits for each of the maids.

"Lu Jinshi, it really is you!"

When Lu Jinshi heard the familiar voice, she turned around and saw He Jinlan. She realized that she hadn't checked the almanac before going out today and had bumped into Liu Xiuxiu and her daughter, as well as her second aunt with her illegitimate daughter He Jiayi and her little cousin.

Lu Jinshi looked at He Jinlan and said, "What a coincidence."

Seeing the pile of brightly colored clothes in front of Lu Jinshi, He Jinlan said, "Don't you care that you're still in mourning? Do you really not want your reputation anymore?"

Lu Jinshi said, "Her Majesty the Empress Dowager will be returning in a few days. When I go to see her, I can't dress too plainly."

Upon hearing the words "Empress Dowager," Liu Xiuxiu bit her lip. She gestured to He Jinlan not to say anything more to Lu Jinshi. The Empress Dowager was very protective of Lu Jinshi's mother, and Lu Jinshi's arrogance stemmed entirely from the Empress Dowager.

He Jinlan looked at Liu Xiuxiu and said, "Mother, the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet is coming soon. Should I wear some bright outfits? Or should I continue to wear my plain clothes?"

Liu Xiuxiu said, "It would be fine to wear something bright and cheerful when you go to see the Empress Dowager."

He Jinlan pointed to the pile of clothes in front of Lu Jinshi and said, "I want all of these clothes."

The shopkeeper looked at He Jinlan with a troubled expression and said, "Miss He, this young lady has already ordered all these clothes."

He Jinlan said, "I'll pay double the price to sell all these clothes to me."

Lu Jinshi looked at He Jinlan and said, "Your mother is used to robbing things, and you've learned it too. I'll offer ten times the amount today."

"I'll pay twenty times."

Lu Jinshi said calmly, "Thirty times."

He Jinlan: "Sixty times!"

Lu Jinshi chuckled and said, "Eighty times."

“A hundred times!” He Jinlan looked at the shopkeeper and said, “I’ll pay a hundred times the price for the clothes here.”

The shopkeeper looked at Lu Jinshi, who smiled at him and said, "Why don't you hurry up and collect the money and hand over the clothes to this Miss He?"

He Jinlan looked at Lu Jinshi triumphantly and said, "So what if your mother is a princess? You still have to obediently give me what I want."

(End of this chapter)