The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 1716 - 1691: A Chance Encounter

Manbao’s eyes lit up, "Do they also teach the art of governance? I want to learn too. Why isn’t it on the schedule you gave me? Which Assistant Lecturer is teaching it? I want to attend too!"

Zhou Man was summoned to live in the palace, and from the beginning, Yang Heshu had told her that if she wanted to attend classes, she could listen in. After all, when the Chongwen Pavilion was recruiting talents, her name was on the list, although she entered not as a student but as an official.

However, after Zhou Man entered the palace, she was very busy, and within a few months, she attended less than five classes in total. Two of them were to support their teacher, and the other three were because she was interested in the subjects, so she went to listen.

Bai Shan glanced at her and said, "Of course, it’s not directly about the way of governance. Sometimes the Assistant Lecturers discuss official affairs or past court conflicts with us, and with numerous discussions, we gradually come to understand the elders of the former dynasty and the deeds done by the officials in the court, and slowly figure it out."

He added, "Moreover, the teacher is also here."

Some things can’t be said directly in class; spelling them out makes it uninteresting and might cause trouble.

But Bai Shan and Bai Cheng are direct disciples of Mr. Zhuang, so naturally, it’s different for them. Since he is also in the palace as an Assistant Lecturer, it makes it convenient for him to give them private lessons.

Every day, the three of them talk, solving some classroom questions and clarifying what other lecturers and scholars didn’t say thoroughly. Bai Shan eventually learned.

In simple terms, being a moderate official allows one to endure; holding one’s position and fulfilling one’s responsibility ensures one doesn’t neglect their salary; and importantly, one must not forget their initial purpose, so even in death, the path remains clear.

That’s what Bai Shan concluded about the way of governance after listening to the various lecturers.

He told Manbao, "You can just ask me what you want to know. Otherwise, if you want to figure it out yourself, you’d probably have to attend every single class."

Manbao, upon hearing this, felt deflated, "Alright then, show me your notes, or talk to me about it during meals and breaks. I’m so busy right now, I really don’t have time."

Bai Shan nodded, "I can tell."

He dipped the prepared ink and put down the ink stick, "Start writing."

Manbao then contemplated for a while, and after half a quarter of an hour, she dipped the brush in ink and began writing.

Bai Shan sat beside her, occasionally giving her pointers, telling her to adjust sentences or write from a different perspective.

Since she had written it once before and consulted with Bai Shan, it was quite smooth this time.

Manbao wrote it all in one go.

Bai Shan saw that the time for the afternoon class was approaching, so he took the draft she wrote and quickly reviewed it, then nodded, "Just make some revisions, and it’ll be good. I have to go to class now."

Manbao waved her hand, "Go, go."

Bai Shan ran off to class, while Manbao took the finished draft and chuckled to herself. After reading through it and revising a few sentences, she dried the ink, gathered her things, and happily ran back to the Chongwen Pavilion.

Manbao found a new memorial at her place, mulled over it, cleared her throat, and opened the memorial to copy the draft neatly, paying special attention to the handwriting and keeping the paper clean, aiming for the best quality.

She felt that she wasn’t even this meticulous during exams.

Copying was slower than writing, and by the time she finished, her neck was sore.

She leaned back to stretch her sore neck, and when the ink dried, she packed up the memorial and sent it to the Imperial Secretariat.

Hmph, it’s just a dispute, who’s afraid of whom?

It’s just a pity that tomorrow is a day off, and it’s getting late already. The Imperial Secretariat will probably handle it in two days, right?

For the first time, she didn’t look forward to the day off.

After delivering the memorial to the Imperial Secretariat, Manbao walked back to the Eastern Palace with her hands behind her back, coincidentally encountering the Crown Prince, who was returning to the Eastern Palace after handling matters at the Taiji Hall.

Seeing the person ahead walking confidently with hands behind, the Crown Prince couldn’t help turning to ask Eunuch Wu, "What’s the good news?"

Eunuch Wu thought hard but couldn’t come up with anything, so he cautiously replied, "Is it because the Imperial Hospital’s school is about to start?"

When the Imperial Hospital opens, and Zhou Man has classes, she will definitely attend those, and then she will have plenty of chances to leave the palace.

The outside is more fun than the inside of the palace.

Eunuch Wu thought and thought but could only think of that, and then nothing more.

The Crown Prince glanced at him and strolled with hands behind toward Zhou Man, who was blissfully unaware, mostly because they were quite far apart.

Seeing her enter the Eastern Palace still with hands behind, looking around at the scenery on both sides, the Crown Prince couldn’t help but also look around, then suddenly realized, how come it seemed like she treated the Eastern Palace as her territory?

The Crown Prince simply gathered his breath and called out, "Zhou Man!"

Manbao was happily appreciating the scenery when she was startled by the call, immediately retracting her hands from behind to turn and look, only to see the Crown Prince standing far away.

Manbao stopped, intending to wait for him to come over, but seeing him not moving, she sensed something was wrong. It seemed that, though he was coming her way, she, being of lower rank, should approach him instead.

Feeling weary, yet with a cheerful smile, Manbao jogged over cheerfully.

After quite a bit of running, she finally reached the Crown Prince, slightly breathlessly saluting, "Greetings to Your Highness."

The Crown Prince said, "Running and jumping around in the palace, what kind of manners is that?"

Manbao: ... If I had walked over slowly, would it be seen as disrespectful to the Crown Prince?

But the Crown Prince, accustomed to disciplining his younger siblings, casually reprimanded her. Seeing her in front of him, he continued walking to the Eastern Palace, asking, "Were you visiting Prince Gong at the Taiji Palace?"

"No, now Prince Gong doesn’t need checking daily; I go when I have time. I didn’t go today; I went to the Imperial Secretariat."

Though Zhou Man spoke lightly, the Crown Prince knew she wasn’t careless. Even if Prince Gong didn’t need constant care, she would still visit every other day at most.

If she didn’t go, she would formally request leave from the Empress, and the Crown Prince had seen such leave notes from her with his mother before.

The Crown Prince asked, "What were you doing at the Imperial Secretariat?"

Manbao then explained the impeachment of the Crown Prince and the Imperial Hospital for embezzlement by Wang Ji and others. Seeing the Crown Prince’s indifferent demeanor, she asked, "Your Highness, aren’t you angry?"

"Oh, such a trivial matter isn’t worth getting angry about," he said. "Father and the court officials aren’t fools. It’s only two thousand taels a year, not two hundred thousand or two million. Would I need to embezzle such a small amount?"

Eunuch Wu chimed in, "Exactly, Your Highness could casually bring out a flask of pearls, a few jade pieces worth that amount, why bother embezzling petty silver? It’s just that they habitually dislike Your Highness, that’s why they impeach."

As long as the criticism wasn’t directly pointing out the Crown Prince’s flaws, or implying he had no heirs, and insufficient participation from others, the Crown Prince usually ignored it.

Every day someone impeached him, if he always reacted fiercely, he might as well stay angry daily.