The general kneels on the washboard again

Yue Niang sincerely admired Wen Shu's vision.

But their power is still too weak.

As they drank cup after cup of tea and watched the setting sun, Yue Niang said, "Master Wen, if I asked you to run a proper school, would you be willing?"

"Of course I'm willing, but how can it be possible?" Wen Shu thought it was a fantasy.

"I'll pay for it, I'll solve it. This is a good deed, a righteous act, the village head will definitely support it."

Wen Shu thought she was joking: "Don't try to make fun of me."

"Master Wen, I am serious. As long as you are willing, I will do it."

Wen Shu was skeptical: "What do you want to do?"

Yue Niang said, "I have some spare money now. There are many women like Erya in Qingshi Town. I want to build this for them."

"Built for them?"

"No tuition fee, women can go to school for free." This idea is still too bold in today's Dacheng.

"So that's it? What can you get?" Wen Shu was really confused.

"I just feel sorry for these women." In Yue Niang's heart, education is as important as the "welfare home."

The two were talking when there was another knock on the door.

The door was broken and could only be left closed. The man just kept knocking. Wen Shu went out to see: "Who is it?"

Yue Niang also followed to the door.

Wen Shu opened the door and saw a man dressed like a scholar standing outside. He was tall and thin, about the same age as Wen Shu.

When the door opened, the man stood up straight and introduced himself: "Hello, Miss Wen, my name is Gu Xiufu."

The pupils of the two people inside the door trembled, and they said in unison: "Gu Xiufu!"

Gu Xiufu looked around and bowed politely: "Can I go in and talk?"

Wen Shu made way: "Come in."

Gu Xiu Fu was holding a box of pastries in his hand, and Wen Shu didn't ask him to put it down. He felt a little awkward standing in the yard.

"Miss Wen, we have communicated through letters before." He took out a stack of letters from his sleeve.

Wen Shu took it and opened it. "This is really my handwriting. Are you Gu Xiufu? What's going on?"

Anger was still visible on Gu Xiufu's face. "I was Ding Hao's husband." He said, as if he was afraid Wen Shu would overthink things. "But don't worry, I've already escaped from the Ding Mansion."

Then he continued: "A few days ago, Mr. Ding suddenly gave me the poems you wrote and asked me to write a reply. As a hired gentleman of the Ding family, writing letters for them is also within my duties.

Through the exchange of letters, I figured out what Mr. Ding meant, and I wrote this letter to ask you to be careful, but this letter was stopped by the doorman, and Mr. Ding kicked me out.

After leaving the Ding Mansion, I also tried to find you, young lady, but your name and surname were not included in the letter that Mr. Ding wrote to me, so the result was fruitless.

I returned home and lived on the money for a while. One day, a good friend from the same village told me by chance that I had become a heartless man, and I was talking about it over tea with a storyteller in town.

After listening to the story, I finally understood the whole story, and I came here today to apologize to the young lady."

Wen Shu's face was filled with disbelief as she flipped through the letters: "So it was you who corresponded with me, discussing poetry?"

"It was me. I know what kind of man the master is. In the end, he didn't ask me to hand over the letters, so I kept them with me."

Wen Shu asked cautiously, "I didn't write my name in the storybook. How did you find this place?"

Gu Xiufu took out another booklet and said, "My younger sister was fortunate enough to study here. The other day, I accidentally saw the handwriting on the rubbing of the 'On Learning' that you gave her, so I found this by comparing it."

"Well, this is what I gave away." Wen Shu looked at the book carefully.

She would give such a book to every student on the first day of school so that they could copy it as punishment.

Wen Shu suddenly became very irritable and said in a cold voice, "Gu Xiufu, Gu Xiufu, I'm tired of hearing this name now. Give me back the letter and you can leave."

Wen Shu grabbed the letters and Gu Xiu Fu left with a full of apologies.

Yue Niang couldn't get a word in just now, and now she was even more speechless looking at the lonely Wen Shu.

Wen Shu closed the door and said with a wistful smile, "I never imagined this would be the outcome. I can accept deception, I can start over, but I can't accept it. It was wrong from the beginning. It was through these letters that I fell in love."

Wen Shu held the stack of letters and walked to the stove. Yue Niang thought she was going to destroy the letters, but in the end she didn't. She just squatted down and burst into tears.

Yue Niang walked up to her and said, "You are very good. You deserve a wider world."

After returning to Nanshan Village, Yue Niang was still uneasy and worried about Wen Shu's condition. She thought that it was so rare to see a female teacher with a pure heart. She thought about going to see her again tomorrow.

The next day, before dawn, Wen Shu knocked on Yue Niang's door.

Yue Niang rubbed her sleepy eyes and asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Wen Shu."

"Master Wen? Why are you here so early?"

Yue Niang opened the door and saw Wen Shu in front of her. She was dressed simply and looked capable, with no trace of dejection at all.

Wen Shu couldn't wait to walk in: "Miss Fu, I agree to what you said yesterday. When do we start?"

Yue Niang could already sense Wen Shu's eagerness to try.

Wen Shu continued, "When my master was alive, I only wanted to enter the academy to become a female scholar, but I didn't get the position. Now, as long as you are sincere and willing to teach, I will definitely do my best."

Yue Niang nodded hurriedly: "Of course I am sincere, but we need to think long-term."

Wen Shu's face changed when she heard this: "What do you mean? I didn't sleep all night, just looking forward to the morning. Are you trying to trick me?"

"Of course not. What I mean is that we need to proceed step by step. First, we have to inform the village head. Then we have to choose a site, build the school, complete it, name it, enroll students, and so on. We can't finish all of this today or tomorrow. We need to sort out a set of rules and take it slow."

Wen Shu was still full of enthusiasm: "Okay, as long as you agree to build it and promise to pay, I will do it."

"Come in first, let's talk slowly."

Yue Niang led Wen Shu to her newly separated study room and laid out her writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. "Master Wen, you are certainly more familiar with the rules and regulations than I am. Please sort them out first, and we can discuss the details together."

Wen Shu smiled sweetly: "Don't call me Master Wen anymore, it's so awkward. I'm older than you, so just call me sister. I won't be polite and call you Yue Niang, how about that?"

"Okay, Sister Wenshu."

Now that Ruoyan was watching over Pinmingju, Yueniang could let it go. She and Wenshu worked tirelessly in the study for two days and finally drafted all the detailed rules and regulations.

But when they came out of the study, they were still in high spirits.

Wen Shu received some silver and hurried out without even having time to eat: "Okay, Yue Niang, wait for my good news."

In Dacheng, running a private school is particularly simple and does not require high moral character or strong financial resources. The current emperor also strongly advocates private schools.

Ruoyan came forward and said, "Yue Niang, what have you and Master Wen been busy with these days? You've been working day and night, burning the midnight oil."

Yue Niang's eyes lit up. "We plan to set up a free girls' school so that all the girls in the surrounding villages who want to learn to read can go to school."

Ruoyan also gave a thumbs up in amazement. This was a way of praising people that she had learned from Yue Niang recently.

Yue Niang was discouraged again. "But if this happens, we'll have to work harder to make money. I want to go to Yunzhou tomorrow, so I'll just get some sleep today. Is there anything going on at Pinmingju these next two days?"

"Everything is fine, don't worry."