Inviting Humiliation

"Madam, I truly don't understand. Old Madam and the heir apparent obviously suspect you, yet you still sincerely recommended good teachers for them."

On the way back to Drooping Silk Hall, Ping Ye pouted and said, "If you ask me, you should have washed your hands of the whole affair!"

Lin Yunwan smiled. "Even if I recommended them and the Lu family approved, the Lu family would still have to persuade them to come."

She said, "You don't even have to think about it. The moment those renowned teachers on the list see the name of a noble household, they'll run as far as they can."

Ping Ye said in surprise, "Then wouldn't the heir apparent going there in person be..."

Wouldn't he be inviting humiliation?

Lin Yunwan sneered. "Exactly."

Ping Ye didn't know why, but hearing that the heir apparent would be humiliated outside actually made her a little happy and excited.

She covered her lips and laughed aloud.

Tao Ye glanced at her, telling her to rein herself in.

"I can't help it," Ping Ye whispered.

Lin Yunwan didn't scold the maid.

Ever since she married into the Wuding Marquis Residence, the Lu family had been accustomed to putting on airs. Whatever she did, they took it for granted and even questioned her intentions.

The Lu family had all but forgotten how the Marquis's Residence had kept its title in the first place.

If she didn't show them a thing or two, they would really think she had married above herself by joining the Lu family.

Lin Yunwan had guessed correctly.

Lu Zhengliu had personally called on the five teachers, and things had not gone well.

By the time he returned home as the sun sank behind the western hills, the unyielding man of iron looked rather bedraggled.

Old Madam Lu's face was full of concern. "Zhengliu, what happened to you?"

Lu Zhengliu's lips were pale, and his voice was hoarse when he spoke. "Grandmother, have dinner served first."

He had been out all day and was famished.

Only after Lu Zhengliu had eaten his fill did Old Madam Lu ask, "When you went out today, did you find a teacher for Brother Qing?"

Lu Zhengliu felt embarrassed. "Of the five, I only managed to see three today."

Old Madam Lu quickly asked, "What about the other two?"

A bitter smile appeared on Lu Zhengliu's stern face. "Their gatekeepers said the Marquis of Wuding hadn't sent a calling card and that their masters happened to be out. I could plainly see their carriages were still at home. They simply refused to see me."

Old Madam Lu was speechless. They had so openly denied the Heir of the Marquis of Wuding even that much respect!

She slammed the table in anger. "They've gone too far!"

Lu Zhengliu had been away from the capital for seven years. Though he could not claim to command great prestige in the army, he had been formally granted the title of heir apparent. His status spoke for itself, and he had never been treated with such contempt.

This was the first time.

It was a miserable feeling.

"Grandmother, when you, Father, and Mother dealt with them in the capital all these years, were you humiliated like this too?"

Old Madam Lu wanted to say she had long since grown used to it. The families of those civil officials had always looked down on military families like theirs.

Besides, the Lu family had long been in decline. Anyone with a little wealth dared to push their luck with them.

When she opened her mouth, a thousand words became a single sigh. "Ah... thank goodness Yun Wan has been there to stand in front and shield us from matters large and small."

They truly had Lin Yunwan to thank for the past few years.

A trace of guilt rose in Lu Zhengliu's heart.

Old Madam Lu asked again, "What did the three you saw say? Were they willing to come to the residence and teach the two boys their first lessons?"

Lu Zhengliu shook his head. "Although I saw three of them, two politely declined on the spot."

"What about the one who remained?"

Thinking of that scholar's manner, Lu Zhengliu said, "Better not to mention him."

Old Madam Lu understood, and she was rather dejected. "So none of the five teachers is willing to come to the Marquis of Wuding?"

Lu Zhengliu answered with silence.

Grandmother and grandson both felt some regret. Had they known, they would not have insisted on proving themselves; when Lin Yunwan offered to have members of the Lin clan help invite a teacher, they should have agreed at once.

"Why don't we..."

Old Madam Lu wasn't going to stand on ceremony when it came to her great-grandsons' education. Since the Lu family couldn't invite a good teacher, they might as well let Lin Yunwan ask her family to step in and help.

It would only be this once.

Lu Zhengliu thought it was inappropriate. "Grandmother, we've already turned her down. Let it go."

Old Madam Lu insisted they should try again. She instructed Nanny Yan, "Go and invite the Heir's Wife here yourself."

By the time Nanny Yan arrived, Lin Yunwan was preparing for bed.

Ping Ye came out and said softly, "Nanny, if it isn't urgent, let's talk about it tomorrow!"

The maid serving the Heir's Wife was someone Nanny Yan was willing to show some consideration. She said pleasantly, "If it weren't urgent, Old Madam wouldn't have sent me all this way. Sorry to trouble you, miss, but please go in and announce me at once."

Ping Ye had no choice but to go.

Nanny Yan, however, felt a little put out. She was a longtime servant at Old Madam's side, and even Lin Yunwan treated her with some deference. How could this maid be so lacking in discernment, daring to make excuses when she spoke?

"Nanny Yan."

"Madam."

Lin Yunwan came out after changing, and Nanny Yan gave her a rough account of what had happened on the way.

Her brows drew together as she listened.

The outcome was worse than she had imagined.

As soon as she entered the hall in the Hall of Longevity, she saw that Old Madam Lu's face was also full of worry. Lin Yunwan asked Lu Zhengliu directly, "Did even Mr. Zhang Feng'an refuse?"

Of the people she had recommended, Zhang Feng'an was one who cared less about family background and more about a student's aptitude.

He shouldn't have been so quick to reject the Lu family before meeting the students.

"Mr. Zhang said he was going to stay in another province for a while. When I went, his household was packing."

Only at the mention of Zhang Feng'an did Lu Zhengliu's expression improve a little.

Of the five teachers, Zhang Feng'an was not the most renowned, but he was easier to talk to. Though one could see the faults of a scholar in him, he was reasonably respectful.

He was also the one Lu Zhengliu most wanted to befriend at present.

Unfortunately, he was about to leave the capital.

Old Madam Lu's face was gloomy, and she sighed inwardly.

The person the Lu family was most likely to persuade to come just happened to be leaving the capital.

They could only blame the Lu family for making things difficult for themselves.

She heard Old Madam Lu ask, "Yun Wan, what do you think? Why don't we have the Lin family..."

Lin Yunwan refused outright. "That won't do."

Old Madam Lu's face immediately darkened.

Lin Yunwan paid no heed and spoke plainly. "The heir apparent went in person to invite those five gentlemen today. Word will spread by tomorrow at the latest. Since they have already refused the Lu family, if the Lin family goes to them and they agree, wouldn't they be openly telling the world, 'I look down on the Wuding Marquis Residence and the marquis's family'? Though they don't want to deal with noble households, that doesn't mean they want to deliberately offend the Lu family."

Looking down on someone in private and slapping them in the face in public were two different things.

The upright faction of civil officials might think highly of their own standing, but they weren't fools. They wouldn't deliberately offend a group of military commanders. They were also afraid that one day someone might throw a sack over their heads and beat them when they went out, leaving them none the wiser as to which brutish lout had done it.

Old Madam Lu was thoroughly vexed. This wouldn't work, and that wouldn't work!

What on earth would work?

The children's schooling truly left her at a loss.

"Yun Wan."

In the end, Old Madam Lu asked Lin Yunwan for her advice.

Lin Yunwan said sincerely, "Inviting a renowned teacher naturally takes some effort. The heir apparent should be patient and keep trying."

Keep trying?

Easy for her to say.

Thinking of those people and the faces of the servants in their residences, Lu Zhengliu turned livid.

Old Madam Lu didn't want her grandson to suffer more ill treatment either, so she asked, "Isn't there another way?"

Lin Yunwan said mildly, "There are plenty of ways. For example, you could find some ordinary teachers to teach them instead. The Lu family is a military family, and pursuing a civil official's career is bound to be much harder for them than for others. To put it more plainly, given the Lu family's means, the two boys don't actually have to study."

"That won't do. They must study!"

"In these peaceful times, the Imperial Court is entirely controlled by civil officials. To put it crudely, a military commander needs a civil official's permission even to fart. What chance do the Lu family's children have of getting ahead if they don't study?"

Her son was the best example. He had devoted half his life to the army, yet because of one small mistake, the Lu family had nearly been stripped of its title.

She even regretted not having Lu Zhengliu study from childhood and pursue the imperial examinations. Brother Qing absolutely must not follow the old path of his father and grandfather.

Thinking of the family's circumstances, Lu Zhengliu felt a fierce resolve rise in his heart as well.

Brother Qing not only had to study hard, but also had to follow a renowned teacher, so that he could rise higher and go farther!

"Grandmother, I'll continue calling on them tomorrow. Everyone has a weakness."

Where there was a weakness, there was a way in.

After Lu Zhengliu left, Lin Yunwan left as well.

Back in Drooping Silk Hall, Lin Yunwan thought of the determination on Lu Zhengliu's face and the hope on Old Madam Lu's, and found it laughable.

They simply didn't understand that those scholars prided themselves on their talent and looked down on others, regarded money as dung, and drew a clear line between themselves and crude military men.

They believed that made them noble, upright, and principled.

Though she did not believe that made them truly lofty, there was no chance of Lu Zhengliu moving them while bearing the name of the Wuding Marquis Residence.