Comprehensive wear purple

After arriving in Tokyo, Sheng Hong politely declined Ouyang Xiu's invitation, and his family packed their luggage and headed towards Jiying Lane in a mighty procession. They did not feel any of the embarrassment that ordinary local officials felt when they first arrived in Tokyo after being promoted to Beijing officials.

Although Sheng Hong's grandfather was born into a merchant family, he paid great attention to his son's education. After his son passed the imperial examination and won the third place, the old man had foresight and left this huge house for future generations.

At that time, relying on his son's fame and his family's wealth, Old Master Sheng bought a large house with four or five courtyards outside Tai'an Gate, a relatively good location in the capital.

This house is located in Jiying Lane, in an upper-middle-level location. On the right is Linqingfang, where scholars live, and on the left is the residential area of ​​the powerful and wealthy.

Seeing that Tokyo was becoming more and more prosperous, he was worried that his son would not have enough space to live in when he became rich. So he took the opportunity of his son marrying the only daughter of Marquis Yongyi to buy a garden behind the mansion and connected it into one piece.

Therefore, Sheng Hong's generation did not have to worry about having no place to live while working in Tokyo.

The Golden Crow was about to set in the west when the family finally arrived at Jiying Lane. Although the master did not do any physically strenuous work, everyone in the family was still exhausted.

Fortunately, the old lady had foresight and sent someone to clean the house early, otherwise, given their current condition, they would definitely not have the energy to tidy up the house.

Several adults looked at the children with tired faces and quickly ordered the maids to boil water for them to wash and let them rest as soon as possible. As for the luggage they brought, it would not be too late to pack it the next day.

Maybe due to the fatigue from traveling for some time, the whole family slept until noon before slowly waking up. After eating breakfast in their own yard, they slowly began to pack their things.

The old lady lived in the main courtyard of the third courtyard, which was the most comfortable courtyard in the house and the one closest to the front yard. The name of the courtyard was still Shou'an Hall. The brothers Changbai, Changfeng, Changsong and Changwu lived in the four small courtyards to the east of the old lady's courtyard.

As for Shulan and Minglan's future residence, it was arranged in the two small courtyards between the third and fourth courtyards.

In addition to arranging a residence for himself in the front yard of the second entrance, Sheng Hong also arranged a large courtyard next to it as a study for his children, and his own study was on the other side of the main courtyard. As for the courtyard of the first entrance, he arranged it into a reception room and guest room.

Wang Ruofu and her daughters lived in the innermost courtyard. As usual, Wang Ruofu lived in the main courtyard, and the name of the courtyard was not changed and it was still called Weiruixuan.

Chenlan and Hualan still lived separately in the two larger courtyards on both sides of the Madam's main courtyard. Chenlan was too lazy to change the name of the courtyard, so it was still called Yuyuzhai.

Hualan followed suit and with a flourish, the name of Zhiyu Zhai was hung on the gate of the courtyard. As for the young Rulan, she continued to live with the eldest lady in Weirui Pavilion.

Fortunately, the Sheng family's house was big enough, and Lin Xiaoniang, Wei Xiaoniang and the newly adopted Xiang Xiaoniang were lucky enough to get three small courtyards. Among them, Lin Xiaoniang's courtyard was the largest, after all, she also brought the fifth girl Molan with her.

After three days of non-stop cleaning and tidying up, the family finally managed to tidy up their yard and make it look brand new, and they also resumed the greeting rules they followed when they were in Yangzhou.

Since officials had very limited rest days, Sheng Hong could not wait to drag two carts full of valuable gifts and hurried to Zhuang's house to pay a visit to Mr. Zhuang in the early morning of the fourth day.

It turned out that the purpose of Sheng Hong's visit was to properly arrange the children's education before he took office.

Normally speaking, with Sheng Hong's current status and network of relationships, there is no way for him to invite an old scholar as famous as Zhuang Xuejiu to come out and teach.

However, fate is sometimes so wonderful. Who would have thought that Sheng Hong was so lucky that he happened to save the life of Zhuang Xuejiu's old mother!

It was also because of this that Sheng Hong had this opportunity after going through untold hardships and repeated requests.

Only then did they have the good fortune to successfully hire the highly respected scholar Zhuang to come to their home to teach their children to read and write.

After arriving at Zhuang Xuejiu's house, the housekeeper led him to the living room to wait. After a while, an old man with white hair but vigorous spirit walked in.

Sheng Hong quickly stood up and saluted, "Student Sheng Hong, meeting Master Zhuang."

Zhuang Xuejiu nodded slightly, motioning him to sit down, "No need to be polite, what do you want to see me about today?"

Sheng Hong quickly explained the purpose of his visit and handed over a thick salary.

Zhuang Xuejiu looked at them but didn't say anything. Sheng Hong felt a little uneasy. Could it be that Zhuang Xuejiu really had no chance with the children?

While he was daydreaming, Zhuang Xuejiu said, "I can promise to teach your children, but I have one condition."

Sheng Hong was delighted when he heard this. "What are the conditions? Sir, just tell me. As long as I can do it, I will definitely not refuse."

Zhuang Xuejiu looked at him and said slowly, "I want to see the qualifications of the Sheng family's children first, and whether they are really sincere about studying, and then make a decision."

Sheng Hong nodded repeatedly, "This is natural, students understand."

He was secretly happy in his heart, thinking that as long as the children behaved well, they would be able to receive instruction from this famous teacher.

Sheng Hong returned home happily and told his family the good news. The children were all very excited, especially Hua Lan, who had always been eager to learn more knowledge and narrow the gap with other ladies in Tokyo.

The next day, Sheng Hong brought the children to Zhuang Xuejiu's house. Zhuang Xuejiu was very satisfied to see that the children were all smart. He conducted a simple test on the children and was quite surprised by the results.

Zhuang Xuejiao nodded secretly and said to Sheng Hong: "The children of the Sheng family are all excellent, and I am happy to teach them. However, my teaching method may be different from other teachers. I hope you can adapt to it, and Sheng Zhongcheng should not interfere too much."

Sheng Hong naturally had no objection, so after the two sides exchanged greetings, they decided to start classes after the Ghost Month.

Some well-informed families in the capital were surprised, some disdainful, but mostly envious when they found out that the world-famous scholar Zhuang was invited to his home to give lectures by a mere fourth-rank chancellor.

The Duke's Mansion of Qi.

Princess Pingning called her six-year-old only son Qi Heng and first examined his homework. Seeing that Qi Heng stuttered but answered well, Princess Pingning nodded with satisfaction.

Qi Heng has been a very well behaved child since he was young. Whatever Princess Pingning asked him to do, he would work hard to complete the task assigned by Princess Pingning.

Therefore, after examining Qi Heng's homework and inviting her son to finish dinner, Princess Pingning asked Buwei to serve Qi Heng and went back to her own courtyard to rest.

After Qi Heng left, Duke Qi hesitated for a moment and then told Ping Ning the news he had received.

Princess Pingning was taken into the palace by Empress Dowager Liu and brought up carefully since she was a child. She was influenced and baptized by the royal aristocratic environment since she was young, and had long been exposed to the etiquette norms, noble status and solemn atmosphere of the palace.

This kind of growing experience gradually shaped her unique personality traits - proud and reserved.

This arrogance does not only come from her environment and identity background, but more from her deep understanding of power.

After witnessing countless court struggles and power grabs, Princess Pingning knows that in order to gain a firm foothold in this world full of intrigues and calculations, and to defend the interests of herself and her family, she must possess sufficiently outstanding wisdom and strategy, as well as a sufficiently noble status and power.

Therefore, in her daily life, whether she was facing princes and nobles or ordinary people, she always maintained her innate noble temperament; at the same time, she also relied on her relationship with the Empress Dowager to successfully consolidate and enhance her own influence and status in the court and the country.

However, it is precisely because of this excessive pride that she sometimes seems a little aloof and cold, and difficult to get close to. But this does not affect the Qi family at all. This noble family, who should have been suppressed, gradually gains real power in the court.

Although the Duke of Qi was often teased for being henpecked, his relationship with Princess Pingning was not affected at all. On the contrary, he was deeply grateful that such a proud person as Princess Pingning was able to humble herself for her and make plans for the Duke of Qi's Mansion, thus preventing the Duke of Qi's Mansion from being excluded from the circle of power like other nobles.

Therefore, whenever something happened, Duke Qi would subconsciously consult with Princess Pingning before making a decision.

"Does my husband have anything to say?"

The Duke of Qi knew that it was impossible for a noble family like them to invite a great scholar like Zhuang Xuejiu, but he felt unwilling if he did not try.

"Today I heard that the newly appointed Chief Censor Sheng Hong somehow managed to invite the famous Zhuang Xuejiu to give lectures at their residence."

Princess Pingning found it incredible. She knew exactly who Zhuang Xuejiu was and what position he held in the literary world of the Song Dynasty.

After all, in order to improve her family's status as soon as possible and let her son enter the center of power in the future, she spent a lot of time looking for a tutor for her son.

She had also visited Master Zhuang before. Although she met Mrs. Zhuang at that time, she was unable to invite Master Zhuang.

Now, a small fourth-rank official could actually accomplish something that she couldn't do. This really made her feel a little unbelievable.

"What do you mean, husband?"

Duke of Qi: "I was thinking, since we can't invite Master Zhuang to teach Heng, can we send Heng to the Sheng family?"

Princess Pingning was a little embarrassed, "But the Sheng family is just a fourth-rank official family. If we send Heng'er there, will he be led astray by their children?"

Duke Qi hesitated for a moment and said, "There is nothing we can do about this. I heard that Sheng Hong is very favored by the government and his future should not be too bad. Let Heng Ge'er make some connections in advance."

Princess Pingning thought about their Chai family. She was the only descendant left. If the Qi family also left the center of power in the future, how would she continue the Chai family's heir?

"Tomorrow is a day off, so you should go and have a good discussion with Lord Sheng to see if this is feasible. If he agrees to let Heng go to their house to study, I will bring gifts to their house to build a good relationship in advance so that Heng will have smoother times in the future."

The Duke of Qi nodded, and after the couple finished discussing their business, they turned off the lights and went to rest.

The next morning, sunlight poured into the room through the window lattice. Duke Qi had already finished washing up and dressed in gorgeous clothes. He went to Sheng Mansion to visit Sheng Hong in high spirits.

Along the way, he was secretly thinking about how to bring up the matter of letting his son study at the Sheng family.

After arriving at Sheng Mansion, Duke Qi met with Sheng Hong and the two exchanged greetings. Duke Qi's words were sincere and warm, and after some polite exchanges, the atmosphere in the study gradually became harmonious.

Seeing that the time was ripe, the Duke of Qi got straight to the point and carefully brought up the issue of reading.

Sheng Hong was quite surprised at first, thinking that he had no dealings with the Duke of Qi before, and it was really puzzling that he suddenly came to talk today. But when he heard that the Duke of Qi hoped that his son could come to the Sheng family to study, Sheng Hong suddenly realized.

Although he was somewhat tempted, Sheng Hong still showed some hesitation, and said to Duke Qi sincerely: "Duke, to be honest, the reason why I was able to invite Master Zhuang to give lectures is that my family has some connections with the Zhuang family. If you are willing to come here to study, it would be a great thing, but I am worried that Master Zhuang might have some inconveniences."

After a brief pause, he continued, "If the Duke can convince Master Zhuang to agree to this, then why wouldn't our Sheng family agree? I hope the Duke will make the final decision." After saying this, Sheng Hong smiled and looked at Duke Qi, waiting for his response.

The Duke of Qi nodded with a smile on his face, and after the two sides reached an agreement, they chatted for a while before the Duke of Qi said goodbye and left.

That afternoon, Duke Qi prepared generous gifts and personally visited Mr. Zhuang. It was unknown what the two talked about, but that evening, Sheng Hong received news that the young Duke Qi would come to his house to study after classes started.

Not to mention Wang Ruofu's excitement and worry after hearing the news, Lin Qinshuang at Linqi Pavilion was unwilling to see her young daughter.

The news spread quickly, and when the Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion learned of it, they were in an uproar. The reason was simple: Marquis Gu also wanted his second son to go to the Sheng family to study so that he could change his trouble-making nature.

Unexpectedly, before Gu Tingye could say anything, he was rejected by Xiao Qin, who had always protected him.

For this reason, the "loving stepson" and wise lady Qin, who always loved her son, quarreled with Marquis Gu. It was only after Gu Tingye firmly expressed his desire to go to school that Mrs. Qin had to agree to this request.

Just like that, on the eve of the start of the class, the Sheng family's small classroom once again welcomed two young men from aristocratic families.

However, this incident did not cause much stir - except for some ripples in the hearts of a few people like Changbai, it did not cause any fluctuations at all for Chenlan, Hualan and Shulan who was of similar age.

At the end of the Ghost Month, Princess Pingning came to the Sheng family with generous gifts to thank the Sheng family for allowing her son to study there. However, her tone and expression, and her condescending attitude, made people lose their favor for no reason.

Originally, Wang Ruofu was extremely excited when she learned that the princess was coming to her house. However, when she saw the arrogant Princess Pingning, who looked down on her family, she became furious.

Especially when Princess Pingning learned that several girls from the Sheng family also wanted to study together, her sense of superiority that she looked down on her birth family background almost made Wang Ruofu explode.

So Wang Ruofu said directly that her own daughter, even the one who was not even one year old, had been betrothed long ago.

She also said that she was worried that her future in-laws would be unhappy about having a man from another family studying in the same room with her daughter, so she specially erected a screen inside the school.

After hearing this, Princess Pingning was speechless for a moment. After sitting there for a while, she left with her maid.

Wang Ruofu: "Really? Who cares if your son comes to our house to study? My three sisters are all engaged. Even if you didn't say it today, I don't want my daughter to have contact with him. I don't want your son to bring bad reputation to me."