Marrying the Crown Prince

After receiving the apprenticeship certificate, the process moved on to the coming-of-age ceremony.

"First, straighten your clothes, then understand the principles of things. I hope you can distinguish right from wrong in the future." As she spoke, Madam Ning straightened Zhou Zhou's clothes and gently touched her little face.

I didn't notice it normally, but now that Zhou Zhou is dressed up, I find his serious demeanor rather cute.

"The student understands," Zhou Zhou replied.

At this moment, the maid brought in a basin of water. Madam Shen washed and dried Zhou Zhou's hands, saying, "Wash your hands and cleanse your mind. I hope that you will eliminate distractions and concentrate on your studies in the future."

"The student understands." Zhou Zhou originally wanted to give the exact same answer as before, but then felt it wasn't quite right, so he changed the word before he could finish speaking.

"Alright, go and pay your respects to Confucius." Madam Shen patted her shoulder, showing her high expectations for her performance.

The maid placed the prayer mat, and Zhou Zhou knelt in devout worship.

First bow to the sages' teachings, whose virtue rivals that of heaven and earth; second bow to the ancient sages' teachings, whose merit will last for millennia; third bow to the investigation of things to attain knowledge, to cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, and achieve harmony.

After paying respects to the sage and the teacher, Zhou Zhou stood up, changed direction, kowtowed to Madam Shen, and then kowtowed to Madam Ning.

First bow to the teacher's style, to cultivate virtue and nurture people; second bow to the teacher's teachings, to impart knowledge and resolve doubts; third bow to the teacher's kindness, for heaven and earth bear witness.

After finally finishing, Zhou Zhou felt completely dizzy.

After bowing, Zhou Zhou offered tea. He took the teacup with his right hand, rolled up his sleeve with his left, and just as he raised it above his eyebrows, he said, "Please have some tea, Master."

Shen took the teacup with both hands, supporting the tea bowl with her left hand and stroking the tea with her right, then closed her eyes and drank the tea.

The ceremony is complete; rise.

Afterwards, Zhou Heng chatted with Zhou Zhou about the details of the apprenticeship banquet and sincerely admired her, saying, "You've worked so hard these past few days. There were so many procedures, and you must have practiced many times to make sure there wasn't a single mistake."

"Hmm?" Zhou Zhou blinked in confusion. She had just followed Yang's mother's instructions once and didn't find it difficult.

Seeing her bewildered expression, Zhou Heng realized that the child had become dull from studying too much.

There aren't many, even though everyone is taught together, Shen Ning and the other two have different requirements for each person.

For example, when learning "Ode to the Goose," Zhou Yue was required to recite it fluently, while Zhou Heng was required to write it neatly from memory.

When Shen walked up to Zhou Rong, she began, "Based on the description in the poem, tell me what the poet wrote in what situation and with what mindset."

Zhou Rong is the daughter of Zhou Laosan, the second child in the family. She is 13 years old and will be of marriageable age in two years.

As for Zhou Zhou, her question was even more tricky: "Combine the historical context of this poem with the policies of our dynasty, and discuss the origins of the nation and the way of people's livelihood."

A question mark slowly appeared above Zhou Heng and Gao Yunxi's heads—What is that?

Yes, the Gao family was sparsely populated, with only one girl, Gao Yunxi, in the household. Naturally, they couldn't open a school, so she came to study at the Yongjing Marquis's residence, just like Zhou Cheng'an was studying at the Boyuan Marquis's residence.

Since Madam Shen was in charge of explaining poetry and songs, Madam Ning was responsible for teaching the children etiquette and music.

Of course, during etiquette lessons, Zhou Heng's twin brother, Zhou Cong, was taught the Four Books and Five Classics by Shen alone.

Therefore, he was quite envious of Zhou Heng and the others who could have an hour without suffering from Shen's torment.

Zhou Heng said, "You don't understand my suffering."

The Ning family's teaching style wasn't strict; they had higher expectations for the older Zhou Rong, but only gave the younger ones a cursory mention. What put pressure on Zhou Heng was having to study in the same class as that devilish Zhou Zhou.

Despite being roughly the same age, she grasped everything very quickly. Often, after listening to Ning Shi explain something once and then doing it herself, Zhou Zhou could achieve an 80-point score.

Only Zhou Rong could keep up with Zhou Zhou's pace.

During halftime, Zhou Zhou looked at the two with worried expressions and asked curiously, "Master didn't lose his temper today, so why are you two still looking like wilted flowers after a frost?"

“You don’t understand the suffering of ordinary people like us.” Zhou Heng leaned sadly against Gao Yunxi.

Gao Yunxi nodded, wiping away her tears, "Never mind, never mind, it's our own fault for being so useless."

Zhou Zhou's lips twitched a few times, trying her best to suppress her utter speechlessness, but she still pounced on them, "One or two of you, what are you pretending for?"

The three of them started laughing and joking around, while Zhou Rong, standing nearby, hurriedly reminded them to be careful and took meticulous care of the younger Zhou Yue.

Young Zhou Yue followed timidly beside Zhou Rong, yawning nervously and clutching at her clothes because she hadn't had enough rest.

Zhou Cong, on the other side, once again showed an envious look, and then Shen tapped the table, "Calm down, concentrate."

Zhou Cong, with a bitter face, continued copying the homework assigned by Shen.

Shen's expression softened. "Let's take a break after we finish this page."

"Okay." Zhou Cong's fighting spirit was rekindled once again.

Such peaceful and beautiful days are always fleeting, and soon the end of the year arrived.

On New Year's Eve, Zhou Zhou, who had slept in for two days, got up early again, changed into a silver-red new dress, tied her hair into two buns, and wore red pom-poms and beaded flowers. She looked both festive and adorable, like a New Year's picture doll.

Zhou Zhou rarely dressed in such bright colors, so when she looked at herself in the bronze mirror, she felt somewhat unfamiliar.

As soon as she finished getting dressed, Zhou Yue pushed open the door and said, "Sister, do you think I look good today?"

This year, the Zhang family made a new red outfit for each of the girls, so Zhou Yue's current attire is not much different from Zhou Zhou's.

So when a group of bright red girls crowded together to pay their respects to the old Marquis and the old lady, the scene was quite a sight.

The old marquis stroked his beard, a rare kind smile appearing on his face. "Good, good, good. May everyone have a good new year."

After saying that, he gave each child a purse containing 20 taels of silver.

That amount would take Zhou Zhou, who only earns two taels of silver a month, a whole year to save up!

After paying New Year's visits, the old lady asked Zhang to take the children out to watch the procession of the gods.

Every year on New Year's Eve, the Kingdom of Chen holds a parade of a hundred gods through the streets.

The "Hundred Gods Parade" clearly refers to a procession of hundreds of deities. Of course, these could not be real deities, but rather a procession of a thousand people, including imperial guards and soldiers from various ranks of the palace guards, who wore masks and carried golden spears or flags, and were dressed as deities such as the Earth God, the Kitchen God, and the Judge of the Court.

The procession starts at the Meridian Gate, circles the Imperial City nine times, and lasts for a full day, as a way to drive away evil spirits and pray for favorable weather in the coming year.

The snow in the streets and alleys has been cleared away, and many small vendors are hawking their goods. Children are running around laughing and playing, and the whole of Kyoto is bustling with activity.

Zhou Zhou and his companions were lucky; they hadn't walked far after getting off the carriage when they came face to face with the procession of the Hundred Gods.

Even Zhou Zhou craned his neck, watching with curiosity at the spectacle that could only be seen once a year.

Zhou Heng skipped and hopped towards the Hundred Gods team, and the children followed behind her, laughing and joking.