The prince only allowed me to have a baby, so the pressure is a bit high!

Chapter 76: Big Head, Small Doubts

After that day, it was obvious that the relationship between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager had improved. In the past, although the Emperor always took care of the Empress Dowager, he never paid her visits every morning and evening. Now, whenever the Emperor had time, he would always visit the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager's favorite child would also gain more respect in the eyes of Emperor Kangxi.

Today, Buerhe received another reward from Kangxi, and the reason was still that filial piety to his elders. Buerhe shuddered at Yinreng, he didn't expect the emperor to be so childish, at such an old age, he still wanted to compete with him in filial piety to the queen mother.

Didn't she offer the poker yesterday and play with him for a while? That night, the Emperor asked around and went to the Empress Dowager's Zen Mountain Retreat. It must have been because of the Empress Dowager's persuasion that she also learned to play poker. Not only that, this time Kangxi was smart. After a game of cards, he and the Empress Dowager had mixed wins and losses, but he managed to make the Empress Dowager happy all night and even let the Emperor's father stay in the side room of the Zen Mountain Retreat.

Now the side room of the Zen Mountain Retreat has been stocked with many of the emperor's underwear. It is obvious that the emperor is using it as a temporary residence.

Bu Erhe didn't understand, he really didn't understand. The Emperor's residence was not that small, and he met the Empress Dowager every day, so why was he still so fond of that tiny side room?

Yinreng smiled instantly when he saw Buerhe's antics. He thought the emperor had just been a little too emotional recently and would be fine after he calmed down or got busy. However, the emperor's recent behavior was indeed childish, just as Buerhe said. Who would have thought that the emperor could be jealous of his own daughter-in-law?

It can be said that the emperor has really made up his mind to punish these evil slaves in this life. He heard from the fourth brother that the seventh brother has been investigating things in a hurry recently. Not only that, some people who originally targeted the fourth brother have recently turned around and impeached the seventh brother.

Did the emperor consider this step when he registered the seventh child under the name of Hui Fei before? Otherwise, with so many concubines in the palace, he wouldn't have to choose Hui Fei who died many years ago!

Today is the fifth day that the twins have been studying in the Shangshufang. After dinner, the couple took the twins to the study in the front yard.

Yinreng: "Tell me, what happened today? I remember that before you entered the Shangshufang, you promised to study hard and not find fault, right?"

Jingyi couldn't help but retort: ​​"But Ama, we didn't do anything. We were just answering the questions normally."

Seeing this, Hongye was afraid that his father would blame his sister for being rude, so he quickly pulled Jingyi behind him and said, "Father, what you said is actually not wrong. Today, your son and I just asked a few more questions and found examples to refute the master's words. Father, didn't you always tell your son to ask if he doesn't understand? I have kept this question in my heart for a long time, but I still haven't figured it out. I think the gentlemen in the Shangshufang are all great scholars of today, and they must know a lot, so I thought I would ask for their advice to resolve my doubts."

After hearing this, Yinreng was confused. This was different from what the emperor had sent someone to say. The emperor had directly said that the twins had made the master of the Shangshufang faint from anger.

Looking at the twins before him, who were acting so confidently and without a trace of guilt, Yinreng began to doubt the emperor's news again. These two were only three years old, and they had grown up before his eyes. He knew their character very well. Since they said they had done nothing today and were just asking questions, then this was the answer.

But why did the emperor say that the twins fainted the Shangshufang master? Is there any misunderstanding here?

Buerhe, however, noticed the discrepancy between their questions and answers. Yinreng's questions weren't detailed enough, and the twins' answers were evasive. She smiled faintly. She had to handle this matter herself. Otherwise, the three of them, father and son, would surely continue to argue about this, and perhaps it would just end up in vain. After all, such situations happened all the time in Yuqing Palace.

Bu Erhe walked to the table nearby and sat down, motioning for the others to sit down as well. Only then did Yinreng realize that he was so anxious to know the truth that he asked about the twins as soon as he entered the study, without even having time to let them sit down.

Bull and Wensheng said, "What kind of setting were you in when you asked your questions today? Was it in class or outside of class? Were the questions you asked about what the teacher taught, or were they your own private thoughts?"

Hit the nail on the head.

If the question is about what the masters taught, the teacher will not be angry even if it is asked in class. On the contrary, he will be very pleased, because this shows the students' active willingness to cooperate with learning, proving that the content taught by the teacher is accepted by the students and they are able to raise their own questions to ask the masters.

However, if it was a personal question, and a miscellaneous student outside the classroom asked the master a question in class, it would be disrespectful to the teacher and even disrespectful to the elders. Such unorthodox behavior would be an insult to the class for masters who had taught in the Shangshufang for more than ten years or even decades, and it was possible that he would faint from anger.

Although Hongye didn't know why his mother asked this, he still answered honestly, "Mother, I asked this question after the course ended and before the teacher left. I asked about a question that I have been thinking about recently."

Bull He raised an eyebrow at this and continued, "Then the question you asked is unethical and illegal, and may even cause unnecessary trouble for the other party?"

Hongye tilted his head in confusion: "Mother? Why does my son ask those questions? Can't he just ask my father or mother?"

Hearing Hongye's answer, Yinreng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was not something beyond his control and the problem was not serious. But if there were no problems, then how did the master of the Shangshufang faint?

Buerhe: "Since all of these are correct, then how did the master from the Shangshufang faint? What specific question are you asking?"

Yinreng thought he had spoken his true feelings directly, but when he came to his senses he realized that it was the Crown Princess who asked the question. Seeing this, Yinreng sat up straight and waited for Hongye's answer.

Seeing this, Hongye answered his mother's question obediently: "Mother, I asked the master, is the land we live on square or round?"

Yinreng and Buerhe looked at each other. Is this a question that our son can think of at his current age?

This question may really be a problem for the masters in the Shangshufang, because although Kangxi at that time admired the missionaries from the West very much, he only paid attention to their language, religion and mathematics, but scoffed at foreign astronomy.

In China, people generally believe that the sky is round and the earth is square. Even as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, astronomer Zhang Heng proposed the saying "the sky is like a chicken egg, and the earth is like the yolk of a chicken."

The most recent example was in the late Ming Dynasty, when Italian Matteo Ricci came to China to spread Catholicism and brought the idea that the earth is round. However, at the time, this idea was not accepted by everyone, who thought that this foreigner was talking nonsense because no one could prove the authenticity of this idea.

This time it was Yinreng who asked, "How did you and Master approach this topic?"

When Hongye heard his father ask this, his thoughts went back to this morning:

After the master announced the end of the morning class, Hongye raised his hand to stop the master who was about to leave the classroom.

Hongye: "Master Liu, Hongye has a question that I don't understand, and I would like to ask you to answer my doubts."

Although Hongye and Jingyi had only been in the Shangshufang for five days, they had already demonstrated extraordinary learning abilities. The professors in the Shangshufang all liked the two children very much. Now, seeing Red Crocodile taking the initiative to ask, they stopped packing and waited for Hongye's questions with a smile.

Seeing the master's attitude, Hongye was overjoyed: "Master, may I ask, is the land we live on round or square? What shape is the sky?"

The princes and their companions in the study, who had been preparing to go out to eat or play after class, now silently stopped packing and quietly returned to their seats to listen to the master's answer.

If it was about scriptures or arithmetic, they would feel bored and leave early, but if they were asked about the shape of the sky or the shape of the earth, then they would not feel bored.

The gentleman did not expect Hongye to ask this question. To be honest, this involves astronomy, and the Shangshufang generally does not teach these contents, so he is not very proficient in astronomy. However, he can still answer the questions raised by Hongye.

Sir: "Of course the sky is hemispherical, like a big dome covering our heads. The land under our feet is also free, floating on the sea."

Hongye: "But Master, according to what you said, how do we understand why people living on Earth see the sun at different times? In some places, like Yili, the sun rises at half past the hour of Mao in the morning and sets at midnight. In the capital, the latest sunrise is around 1:15 AM, and the sun sets at 2:15 PM."

The gentleman was stunned. He hadn't really considered this question. If the ground were flat, then the sunrise and sunset times should be the same everywhere. After all, there's only one sun in the sky. Even if the sun keeps moving, the ground wouldn't have many days to observe the sunrise and sunset.

Without waiting for the teacher to continue answering, Hongye began to ask questions: "A few days ago, my mother took my sister and me to the Qianhu Lake to enjoy the scenery. The Qianhu Lake is very large, and Hongye found that there were many boats on it. At that time, Hongye discovered a strange phenomenon. When he saw the boats from a distance, Hongye first saw the masts on the boats. Then, his line of sight slowly moved from the upper half of the boat to the lower half, until the boat appeared completely in front of Hongye. What is the reason for this? Is the Qianhu Lake uneven? But the lake surface was very calm at that time, and it was not obvious that Hongye was standing upstream? According to the teacher, the land is square, so when Hongye saw the boats for the first time, he should have seen the entire boat directly, right?"

At this moment, there were invisible circles in the gentleman's eyes. His mind was blank and he could not think of any evidence to refute Hongye. This question was really impossible to answer.

Seeing that the teacher didn't answer, Hongye thought his example was not sufficient, so he brought up another phenomenon: "Hongye had a guard who was said to be a scout. His father once told him that when he was ordered to deliver a victory report, he kept riding in the direction of the Purple Star. However, as he got closer to his destination, he found that the Purple Star was getting closer to the ground. But as everyone knows, isn't the Purple Star always there, never moving? How could it be getting closer?"

At this moment, the only thing on Mr.'s mind was what shape the ground was. Was it square or round? Was the sky really just a giant dome? Was his previous understanding correct? Why did these questions conflict with the answers he already knew? Why did the sun appear at different times in different places? Why did the mast appear first? Why was Ziwei Star getting closer to the ground?

Then, in full view of everyone in the Shangshufang, the gentleman's legs went weak and he fell onto the podium.

Then Yinreng and Buerhe questioned Hongye about this matter in the study.

After hearing Hongye's explanation, Yinreng's mouth twitched, but Buerhe looked at Hongye with suspicion and pride.

I am proud that my son, at such a young age, can pay attention to these phenomena and think about whether the earth is round. I wonder if my son is also a time traveler!

But soon the doubt in Buerhe's eyes disappeared. Hongye was born to her and she watched him grow up. If he had traveled through time, she would have noticed it long ago.

Yinreng didn't expect the truth of the matter to be like this. No wonder the emperor looked at him with sympathy in his eyes when he called him over today. It turned out to be because of this.

Yinreng: "Now that the matter is clear, I will take you to apologize to Master tomorrow. After all, he fainted because of you."

Hongye had no objection, but said: "Father, Master doesn't know, then do you know the answer to this question?"

Yinreng's mouth froze. He wanted to answer directly that he didn't know, but doing so would undermine his dignity as a father. After all, his image in the children's minds was that of an omnipotent and omniscient person.

Buerhe saw Yinreng's embarrassment and smiled secretly, but on the surface he began to help: "Well, it's getting late today. If you explain it clearly, you will be late to go to the Shangshufang tomorrow. Since you agreed to study in the Shangshufang, you can't be late because of this. After school tomorrow, let your father explain this to you here."

Mother spoke, and the twins obediently returned to their rooms to wash and rest, leaving Yinreng with a wry smile as he said to Buerhe: "Qingqing, you've given me a difficult question! How should I answer tomorrow?"