Golden Branch

It's early summer again.

In the early morning, the first ray of sunlight shines down, awakening the quiet mountain villa.

Wang Heng woke up naturally and slowly opened her eyes.

The little girl, who is already nine years old, already looks like a young girl.

Her facial features are still as delicate as ever, her skin is as white as snow, and her hair is thick and black.

Only the body shape is still very round.

The chubby little face, if you lower your head slightly, you can see the double-layered chin.

The chubby little arms are like lotus roots, with one section after another.

Wang Heng inherited Jiang's small frame. Although she was fat, she did not look strong.

Whether it's the little hands or feet, they all feel soft to the touch, as if you can't feel the bones.

Zheng Yi has said more than once that if her little girl loses weight, she will definitely be a slender and graceful beauty.

Wang Heng: ...Beauty? That word is too scary. She doesn't want it!

In fact, Wang Heng, who has grown up a little, is no longer as ignorant and silly as she was at the age of six.

She already knew that motherhood was not a disaster and beauty was not original sin.

Now, my mother has become the concubine of the King of Qi, and is no longer the concubine with an awkward status and no name or status.

But deep down, Wang Heng still rejected being a beauty.

Not to mention, being able to eat is a blessing.

Writing, painting and eating delicious food every day really make people happy both physically and mentally.

Wang Heng was very satisfied with such a life and didn't care about beauty or ugliness at all.

Wang Mian, a pretty young lady who grew up at the same age as me, said: Honey, of course you don’t care about beauty or ugliness, because you are not ugly at all.

During the two or three years of knowing Wang Heng, Wang Mian finally realized a truth: beauty is beauty, and it has nothing to do with fat or thin.

Wang Mian has a slender figure, which completely conforms to the aesthetic standards of women since ancient times.

But, her appearance is that of a little beauty with a score of about 80.

Not ugly, one could even say it's pretty.

However, she is still a long way from being a beauty who is so stunning that she can bring disaster to the country and the people.

Of course, Wang Mian can still use the excuse of "I am young and haven't grown up yet" to make some excuses.

But she knew in her heart that beauty had little to do with age.

Some people are beautiful from childhood to adulthood.

Some people have ordinary looks from birth to death, and their appearance is so stable that there is no miracle.

Wang Heng is the former, and she is the miserable latter.

The topic has gone off track, so let’s get back to Wang Heng waking up in the morning.

Wang Heng woke up and was about to get up when the maids who heard the noise outside the screen hurried in.

"Jiu Niang, are you awake?"

The maid who was speaking was about eleven or twelve years old. She was one of the maids that Jiang gave to Wang Heng.

Zheng Yi ordered people to teach the rules carefully and conducted a selection process. Finally, he chose three to fill the vacancies of the four maids around Wang Heng.

Following Baizhi's name, Zheng Yi named the three people in turn: Baishao, Baiji, and Baiwei.

Among the four, Bai Zhi has the longest seniority and is the oldest, and is responsible for leading the other three.

When the noise was heard, the first person to run over to serve was Bai Shao, who was eleven years old.

Bai Shao is from Yizhou. Her family consists of a large family consisting of her grandfather, uncle, cousins ​​and other relatives.

When my grandfather was seriously ill, I sold white peony to pay for his medical treatment.

After Bai Shao was sent to Hedong by Jiang and chosen by Zheng Yi to serve Wang Heng, she wrote a letter home.

Bai Shao would ask someone to send the monthly allowance and year-end rewards back home.

Last year, Dongshan Academy was officially completed and began to recruit students from all over Yizhou.

The tuition fees of Dongshan Academy are divided into two categories:

First, one hundred strings of cash per year is a sky-high price, and is aimed at the powerful and wealthy families in Yizhou.

Second, all fees including tuition, miscellaneous fees, etc. are waived, but an exam is required.

As long as you pass the exam successfully, you can be admitted regardless of your background or family background.

After admission, if you study well, you can also earn scholarships.

Moreover, Dongshan Academy has many subjects, not limited to the subjects designated for the imperial examinations such as Mingjing, Yishi, Sanshi, etc., but also includes miscellaneous subjects such as Shuxue, Medicine, Gewuxue, etc.

Students who have expertise in various subjects and can pass the corresponding examinations can also enroll for free.

As a newly built academy, Dongshan Academy has no fame, no heritage, and no outstanding "alumni".

But, Dongshan Academy has good teachers.

Those gentlemen were the great scholars and celebrities specially invited by Anguo Duke Lou Jin from the capital and the southern border!

Not to mention in the small Yizhou, it is difficult to find one even in the entire Qi area.

There is more than one in Dongshan Academy.

There are more than a dozen of them.

As long as you enter Dongshan Academy, you can study with these teachers.

If you have talent and good luck, you may even be able to become a disciple of a certain teacher.

Students and disciples are different.

The former can only get the qualification to attend the lectures, while the latter can get all the true teachings of the teacher, as well as his fame and connections.

You must know that although the Dayu Dynasty implemented the system of imperial examinations for selecting officials, the imperial examinations had just begun and no regulations had yet been formed.

The mainstream official selection system of the Dayu Dynasty still relied on recommendation or conscription.

Whether it is a recommendation from the bottom up or a recruitment from the top down, the person selected must have "fame".

Needless to say, children of aristocratic families have the help and recommendation of their own family members (in-law and old friends), or the help of the family behind them to make them famous and build momentum.

Children from poor families can also rely on a lot of money to buy some help and seek an entry ticket into officialdom.

Only the children of the common people who want to achieve class advancement must have the support of a "noble person".

Only by worshipping a good teacher and relying on the help of this noble person can you take a shortcut.

Dongshan Academy provides a ladder of advancement for countless students who have no connections.

Although it seems slim and the chances are low, at least there is hope.

Therefore, no matter whether they were wealthy nobles, poor families, or poor people with nothing but four walls in their homes, after hearing about Dongshan Academy, they all rushed to sign up.

Bai Shao was worried about her family and wrote a letter home immediately. Her cousins, brothers and sisters all came to take the exam.

Unfortunately, not everyone can enter Dongshan Academy.

If you fail to study well and are not proficient in miscellaneous subjects, you will be eliminated.

There were seven male children in Bai Shao's family, but only two of them passed the exam.

One is Bai Shao's cousin, who looks inconspicuous on weekdays and is not very good at studying, but he is very good at hands-on work. He can play with the Kongming lock, Rubik's Cube, etc. taken out from Dongshan Academy after thinking about it for a while, and then he can play with them very well.

There is also Bai Shao's younger brother, Douding, who is only five years old but has great talent for medicinal herbs.

He knows nothing about pharmacology, but can identify several kinds of herbs.

None of them were serious students, but they all relied on their "eccentric talents" to enter Dongshan Academy.

Bai Shao's family felt somewhat disappointed, but despite this disappointment, they were also filled with joy and excitement.

No matter what, my son became a student of Dongshan Academy and a classmate of the noble man.

Although I don’t know whether there is a future for me, it is definitely better than staying by the Yi River, fishing, and carrying heavy bags!

Bai Shao's brothers were successfully admitted to Dongshan Academy. Bai Shao became more grateful and respectful to Wang Heng, the owner of Dongshan Academy.

She was holding a tray with a white porcelain bowl on it. "Jiu Niang, have some honey water."

"……Um!"

Wang Heng nodded, raised her hand, picked up the small bowl, and began to drink.

The honey water is neither cold nor hot, but warm and sweet. It slides from the mouth into the intestines and finally into the stomach.

Then, Wang Heng's whole body seemed to be awakened by a glass of honey water.

"Nine Lady, the academy is closed today, so you don't have to get up early. Do you want to sleep in a little longer?"

After helping Wang Heng finish drinking the water, Bai Shao asked softly.

Wang Heng blinked her eyes, but she didn't seem to be fully awake yet.

After a while, she said, "Is today a day off?"

As one of the owners of Dongshan Academy, Wang Heng also entered the academy to study.

The academy has not only male students, but also female students.

In order to ensure the smooth opening of the girls' department, Wang Heng even wrote a letter to her mother, Jiang.

At that time, Jiang had already returned to the capital with the women of the Yang family.

It took half a month before I received Wang Heng's letter.

Jiang was most concerned about her daughter, and she also cared about her daughter's studies.

That bastard Wang Lin was successfully promoted thanks to his political achievements in Hedong, and Yang Chong got him a sixth-rank position as the Chief Clerk of Yizhou.

Wang Lin returned to Yizhou alone to take up his post, and sent his family back to his "ancestral home" in the capital.

Yes, the Wang family also has an ancestral home in the capital.

The location of the ancestral home is quite good, and it is surrounded by dignitaries.

Considering that the new dynasty had just been established and the Wang family's relatives and old friends were all in the capital, Mrs. Xie strongly suggested returning to the capital.

So, last spring, Madam Xie brought Cui and others back to Pingcheng in a grand (glorious?) manner.

Everyone in the Wang family left, leaving only Wang Heng in Hedong.

Jiang almost bit her teeth to pieces!

She knew that this was Wang Lin's revenge—

Wang Lin wanted to return to Beijing to seek an official position, rather than being a chief official in Yizhou.

But, in the end, it didn't happen.

Regardless of whether Jiang was involved or not, Wang Lin would use Wang Heng to "remind" him: Ah Jiang, although you are the concubine of the King of Qi, you only have one daughter, Wang Heng.

If you don't want your daughter to continue to be alone and helpless without her mother or father, you must find ways to help me succeed!

Jiang: ...

There was no way to change Wang Heng's fate of living alone in a country farm for the time being, and Jiang Shi didn't want to change it either.

All she could do was to try her best to provide Wang Heng with better living and learning conditions.

Jiang has already obtained more detailed information about the Dongshan Academy through Zheng Yi.

"It's a nice place. The gentleman Lou Jin invited shouldn't be too bad!"

In fact, it is possible not to go to the academy and let Wang Heng and Lou Yu study together.

However, Jiang also considered that her daughter was already seven or eight years old.

Seven-year-old boys and girls sit on separate seats.

Moreover, the two children will grow up, and Jiang doesn't want to tie her daughter to Lou Yu casually.

Her daughter deserved better.

Lou Yu?

Jiang had never seen it, but from the many descriptions she received from Zheng Yi, Jiang was instinctively dissatisfied.

So, let’s go to the academy to reduce the chances of the two little ones being alone as much as possible.

After several days of thinking and weighing the pros and cons, Jiang found her mistress - Yang Chong's first wife Li.

Li used to be the wife of a general. After Yang Chong was named King of Qi, Li became the Princess of Qi.

After Jiang became Yang Chong's favorite concubine, she served her mistress wholeheartedly.

She never took advantage of her favor to become arrogant, and she never showed disrespect to Li.

At first, Li was afraid of Jiang's stunning beauty, but she soon discovered that Jiang was a smart person who knew the rules and knew when to advance and retreat, so she stopped targeting her.

Later, Wang Mian started his own business, including a tofu shop, a farm, and a restaurant with many novel dishes.

The shop in Hedong is protected by the Wang and Lou families.

After the business expanded to Yizhou, the Jiang family, and even the Li family, became major shareholders.

Li didn't have to pay a penny and could get dividends of tens of thousands of strings of cash every year.

And this was Jiang's "filial piety".

The concubine was well-behaved and could offer a lot of money, so Li became closer to Jiang.

Later, when Jiang accompanied Yang Chong on a horseback ride, she forgot to change her wooden clogs. Yang Chong accidentally discovered that if there was a "bracket" on the leather buckle of the saddle, it would be more convenient. Yang Chong immediately found a craftsman to make an iron footrest in the style of wooden clogs - the stirrup was born.

Jiang was just "unintentional" and the person who really came up with the inspiration was Yang Chong, but Yang Chong still gave Jiang credit.

Yang Chong and Li were married and also cousins, and they had a very good relationship.

Yang Chong wanted to reward Jiang, so he discussed it with Li.

Thinking of Jiang's good behavior after entering the mansion, and thinking of her own endless supply of small treasury, Li said generously: "Then let Jiang be given the status of a concubine."

Although Jiang became Yang Chong's concubine, she did not get carried away and treated Li with the same respect as before.

Wang Mian started building treasure ships again and going out to sea to do business, and Jiang still kept Li as the major shareholder.

Yang Chong's wife and concubine really cooperated happily and loved each other.

This time, Wang Heng wanted to open a women's department in the academy and recruit female students. She asked Jiang for help. Jiang continued to invite Li to "take charge" -

Li personally inscribed "Deyin Hall" and hung it high above the gate of the west branch of Dongshan Academy.

Yang Chong was the King of Qi, and his fiefdom was the Qi area including Yizhou, Qingzhou, etc.

In this land, the King of Qi is the local emperor and Li is the local queen.

She named the girls' branch of Dongshan Academy to allow and even encourage women to study!

The signboard of "Deyintang" is the most intimidating golden signboard in the whole Qi area.

Wang Heng, Wang Mian and more than 30 other girls were successfully admitted to school. Even the most conservative and pedantic old teachers did not dare to raise any objections!

"Yes, Jiu Niang, the academy is closed today!"

Bai Shao saw her little girl's silly look and thought she was cute.

Jiu Niang is still the same as when she was a child, soft, cute and innocent.

"Since it's a day off, let's go out and have some fun."

Wang Heng's eyes lit up. Throughout history, there have been few students in China and abroad who don't like holidays.

She quickly got up, washed, changed her clothes, and ate. Wang Heng took a few maids, got into her carriage, and went out happily.

As soon as the carriage drove out of Wangjiazhuangzi and entered the official road, it discovered that a long team of horses had appeared on the official road.

There were more than a dozen carriages, and armored knights guarding both sides of the convoy.

Which family's noble person is this?

It is said that in Hedong, there is no noble person that Wang Heng does not know.

This team, from its carriages to its clothing, was not a style Wang Heng was familiar with.

……

At the Lou Family Manor, Lou Yu, who had received the news, had a flash of displeasure on his fair and gentle face:

relative?

Never heard of it!