The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

In the Changyuan Marquis's house, Hui Shi looked at the deed to the shop in her hand, and felt as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

She just wanted to go out and see if there was a suitable shop that she could buy and start some small business to supplement her family's food and clothing expenses.

But what she didn't expect was that she didn't find a suitable shop, but now she has got several shops for free.

These shops were not the ordinary ones she wanted to buy, but were among the best shops in the most prosperous area of ​​the capital.

Although she had acquired several good shops for no reason, Hui Shi did not feel the slightest bit excited or happy. Instead, she felt uneasy. The deeds in her hands were like hot potatoes, making her feel anxious.

Liu came in from outside, placed the Tremella Soup in front of Hui, and said, "Okay, stop thinking about it. Jianzhou will be back soon."

"After we ask his opinion, we'll decide what to do with these deeds."

"You're all alone here now. What's the point of being upset?"

"Eat something. Thinking on an empty stomach will only make your thoughts more confusing."

Hui sighed, put down the deed in her hand, and said, "I'm just afraid of causing trouble for Jianzhou."

"You said that out of nowhere, we suddenly have such a good shop, and it's not just one. How can I not be panicked?"

"What if this incident causes trouble for Jianzhou?"

Liu looked at Hui, shook her head and smiled, saying, "You are really smart all your life, but confused for a moment."

"The deed to this shop was delivered directly to our house and handed over to you. What kind of trouble will this cause for Jianzhou?"

"If this person had bad intentions and wanted to frame Jianzhou, they wouldn't be so open and honest and send the things to our house."

"The problem now is that this gift is too big, and we don't know whether we are suitable to accept it."

After hearing what Liu said, Hui Shi felt that this made sense and felt much more at ease. "Who do you think sent this?"

"Who else could it be? It must be related to the girl who lives in Jianzhou's courtyard now."

"When Jianzhou brought her back, he told him that the person who asked him to help take care of the girl was a nobleman."

"That noble man asked us to help take care of this girl, so naturally he wanted to give us some benefits."

"The deeds to these shops must have been sent by that noble man."

"Okay, forget it. Eat something. I've been worried about these deeds all morning."

Liu pushed the Tremella Soup in front of Hui and said, "Let's eat first. We can talk about everything after Jianzhou comes back."

Hui Shi sighed, silently picked up the Tremella soup and started eating.

But halfway through the meal, Hui suddenly put down the white fungus soup in her hand, looked at Liu and asked, "Where is Rong Niang? Is she staying at home well?"

"She's here, reading with her sister in her room."

"You're so startled, what trouble has that girl gotten into again?"

Liu's heart was pounding. When she was in Duke Tang's mansion, Rong Niang was a well-behaved and quiet girl.

But since she moved out of Duke Tang's Mansion and moved into the Marquis Changyuan's Mansion, this girl has become increasingly restless.

No one knew what was going on in his mind, he was thinking about all sorts of weird things all day long, and even the words he said now were things Liu had never heard before.

This made Mrs. Liu suspect for a time that her daughter was possessed by some evil spirit, which was why she became so abnormal.

"She hasn't gotten into trouble yet, but she already has the intention to get into trouble."

"When I went out to look at the shop, she insisted on going with me, saying that she wanted to learn business from me, to make money to support the family, and to be independent."

"Do you think this child is possessed by an evil spirit, or is there something wrong with his brain?"

Wyeth was also puzzled. How could such a good child change so suddenly?

"You've also noticed that there's something wrong with this girl. Do you think she's encountered something foul?"

The more Liu spoke, the more uneasy she felt. If the house was unclean and contaminated with dirt, there would be unrest in the family.

"Should we invite a Taoist priest to perform a ritual to drive away those evil spirits?"

Gong Jianzhou, who had already returned home and stood outside listening to the conversation between Liu and Hui for most of the day, could no longer hold back and speak.

"Second Mother, where is there such a thing as dirt in this world? Rong Niang is fine, and there's nothing wrong with her brain."

Seeing Gong Jianzhou suddenly appear, Liu and Hui were both shocked.

"You kid, why didn't you tell me you were back? Are you trying to scare us to death?"

Hui held her chest. The Tremella soup she had just taken was stuck in her chest because she was frightened, making her feel very uncomfortable.

"You were the one who was in such a hurry. You sent three waves of people in one morning and kept urging me to come back. Why are you blaming me now?"

Gong Jianzhou had no idea that Hui Shi had just been frightened by eating, and now the food was blocking her chest, making her extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm saying that you're back. Let someone inform us in advance. Your sudden appearance would really scare people to death."

Huishi pounded his chest, trying to knock out the food that was stuck there.

"What's wrong? Are you choking?"

As soon as Liu saw Hui's expression, she knew what had happened to her. She quickly turned around and told the maidservant beside her, "Quick, go get the silver needle from the room."

The little girl hurried into the house, took out the silver needle and handed it to Liu.

Liu took out a silver needle, pulled Hui's hand over, and pierced her middle finger. Before Hui could react, Liu had already taken out the silver needle.

The blood flowing out of the place where Huishi's finger was pierced was black.

Liu took out a clean handkerchief and wiped the blood off Hui's hands.

"Could you please tell me before you do anything next time?"

Although Huishi complained, she had to admit that her chest, which had been extremely painful just now, felt much better now.

"If I tell you, will you let me get it?"

Liu smiled and looked at Hui, saying, "It seems that she is fine now."

Huishi leaned back and rested her entire body on the back of the chair. Her life was really hard every day.

"Jianzhou, you just said your sister is fine and doing very well. Do you know why she is like this now?"

While Liu ordered someone to prepare breakfast for Gong Jianzhou, she looked at Gong Jianzhou and asked.

She was more concerned about her daughter than what to do with the deeds to the shops.

"Oh." Gong Jianzhou scratched his head awkwardly. He naturally knew why his sister suddenly became like a different person.

But if this reason were to be revealed, someone would probably be in trouble.

He still needs to be more cautious and think of how to say it without angering Liu and Hui, and without causing someone to be fired.

Liu looked at the silent Gong Jianzhou and became a little impatient. "If you know the reason, why don't you tell me?"

Gong Jianzhou swallowed nervously, then slowly said: "Actually, this is all because of the gentleman I invited back for them."

"That day I told my friend that I wanted to hire a live-in tutor for my two younger sisters."

"My friend then said he knew a teacher who was very knowledgeable and talented, and he could recommend him to me."

"Because this friend is someone I trust very much, I didn't think much about it at the time and asked him to bring the person over."

After hearing what Gong Jianzhou said, Mrs. Liu still had something to understand. "Is this Mr. Yuan from our family?"

"Yes, that's Mr. Yuan in our family."

Gong Jianzhou closed his eyes and remained silent for a while before he looked up and opened his eyes. He said, "I only found out later that this Mr. Yuan is actually a woman."

"She is Yuan Xueping, the daughter of Yuan Yi, the governor of Quanzhou who was implicated in the corruption case."

"The Yuan family was raided and convicted, but she escaped because she was married and not in Quanzhou."

"But her husband's family, fearing the consequences for her father, forced her husband to divorce her."

"After her divorce, she came to Shangjing and made a living by teaching. However, because she was a woman and her status was special, she had to dress as a man."

"Oh, I was wondering. No wonder she rarely goes out except when she asks Rongniang and her sister to study. Even if we occasionally see her out, she always keeps her head down and never looks at us."

"I thought it was because she was a scholar and was too arrogant and conceited, but I didn't expect she was actually a woman."

Only then did Hui Shi realize that every time she met Mr. Yuan before, she not only kept her head down and said nothing, but also spoke very little. She would never take the initiative to speak unless asked.

Originally, Hui Shi felt that Mr. Yuan, as a scholar, was too arrogant and disdained to talk to women like them.

Now I know that she did that on purpose in order to conceal her identity.

"That's not right. She's a lady. What does that have to do with your sister's erratic changes?"

Hui looked up at Gong Jianzhou in confusion, waiting for him to give her an answer.

"I don't know who influenced this Ms. Yuan, but her thinking is very different from that of an ordinary inner-housewife, and she's completely different from the ladies of a wealthy family."

"She was quite knowledgeable and believed that women should not be confined to the inner chambers. They should have their own thoughts and actions, not rely on men for survival, but should be self-reliant and independent."

"I heard about Rong Niang's strange behavior recently from Mr. Yuan."

Gong Jianzhou knew about Rong Niang's changes when he found out that Yuan Xueping was a woman.

He was just concerned about Yuan Xueping's identity, fearing that Liu and Hui would know that she was not only a girl, but also taught Rong Niang some things that were not suitable for the times and that ladies from noble families should learn.

He became angry with Yuan Xueping and drove her out of the Changyuan Earl's Mansion.

Yuan Xueping is a woman, now alone and helpless. If she is driven out, where can she go?

Her thoughts and ideas are impossible to be accepted in this era.

Because she is an outlier, she will be treated like a monster by people.

When Liu found out that her daughter was not possessed by some evil spirit, but was taught to be like this by someone, she felt relieved.

"Jianzhou, if Mr. Yuan continues teaching like this, I'm afraid he will corrupt your two sisters."

"Rong Niang has decided not to marry and live her life on her own."

"Ms. Yuan has her own ideas and opinions. I have no objection to that. That's her freedom."

"But she can't instill her ideas and opinions into your two younger sisters."

"If they refuse to marry in the future and insist on being independent, we can tolerate them, but this world cannot tolerate them."

The meaning of Hui's words was very clear. Yuan Xueping had already influenced the two daughters in the family. If no intervention was made, the family would be in chaos.

Although Gong Jianzhou knew that this could not go on, he knew that Rong Niang had been deeply influenced by Yuan Xueping. Even if Yuan Xueping was driven away now, it would probably change Rong Niang's ideas.

"Sanniang, I understand what you mean, but I think it's not a bad thing for women to have their own world instead of being confined to the inner chambers."

"Look, when the emperor was in power, although the people of Yunli couldn't be said to be living in dire straits, from the court to the people, there were chaos everywhere, and there were signs of a country on the verge of collapse."

"But since the Empress took over the government, Yunli has gradually restored order both in the court and among the people."

"It is developing in a better direction. I believe that in the near future, Yunli will become the strongest country among the six countries of Kyushu."

"This shows that women are no less capable, talented, and courageous than men. In fact, in many aspects, they are stronger than men."

"And the Empress is planning to establish a girls' school, so that women all over the world can have the opportunity to study and gain knowledge like men."

"Perhaps one day in the future, women will be able to serve in the imperial court and become officials just like men. Then it will be a grand spectacle of hundreds of flowers blooming and competing for beauty."

Gong Jianzhou was not such an open-minded person from the beginning. He was also preparing to take over Jishi's position as the head of the Imperial College during this period because he wanted to help Shen Tingzhi.

After listening to Shen Tingzhi and Yu Sheng talk about Shen Tianjiao's future plans, his thoughts began to change slowly.

In the past, he always felt that men were the sky and women were men's accessories. Men should go out and do earth-shaking things, while women should stay at home, assist men, handle household affairs, and not distract men.

But now he doesn't think so.