Offering a Solution

Jiang Bin picked up the cup on the table and took a sip of tea before continuing, "It was a blessing in disguise. After all, when a pampered young lady marries a rough fellow, it isn't just outsiders who doubt the match. Even the couple themselves might not know whether they can make it work.

"Fortunately, Xu Jingshi was lucky enough to marry Sun Xiushan. She took things in stride, too, and the two of them built a good life together.

"They even rubbed off on each other. Xu Jingshi used to be a delicate young lady who could lift nothing heavier than a book, but now she can fight people."

Xu Qing grew worried at that. "Then will my aunt and uncle get into trouble for beating them up?"

Jiang Bin calmly ate a piece of pastry and said through a mouthful, "Those two definitely won't get into trouble. The Earl of Everlasting Prosperity sounds impressive, but that title only fools ordinary people. In reality, his household has been in decline for ages.

"Even if Sun Xiushan really beat the earl half to death, the Earl of Everlasting Prosperity's Residence wouldn't bring charges against him. At most, they'd try to extort some money from him. But if they did that, Sun Xiushan might beat him up again.

"Besides, once the truth about the real and fake daughters gets out, the Earl of Everlasting Prosperity's Residence will soon become the laughingstock of the entire aristocratic circle. They probably won't dare step outside their gates for the rest of the year.

"And someone will definitely submit a memorial about this. Given how foolishly the earl handled the matter of the real and fake daughters, His Majesty will certainly strip him of his official post. He might not even get to keep his title!

"After that, they'll be nothing more than an ordinary wealthy household at best. Though I doubt they'll stay wealthy for long. None of them have much sense, so they'll probably end up destitute before long."

What later happened to the Earl of Everlasting Prosperity's Residence was much as Jiang Bin had predicted. The very next day, someone did submit a memorial to the emperor about the household's affairs. The emperor had little tolerance for such fools and immediately stripped the earl of his official post, though he did not revoke his title.

But the entire aristocratic circle in the Capital knew that the family had fallen out of the emperor's favor, and no one would have anything to do with them.

Even the Yan family of the Minister of War, with whom they had previously arranged a marriage, severed all ties with them. The Minister of War, Yan Weixuan's father, was even implicated by his association with the family, and the emperor docked him a year's salary.

Having fallen out of the emperor's favor and been shunned by the aristocracy, the Earl of Everlasting Prosperity's Residence could only live off its dwindling reserves. Before long, the household could no longer keep itself running.

Never mind lavish delicacies—they could no longer afford even plain congee and simple side dishes. The earl looked with hatred at the person responsible for it all. Catching Xu Zhen off guard, he knocked her unconscious and sold her to the Spring Breeze House.

Trading on her identity as a young lady of the Earl of Everlasting Prosperity's Residence, she soon earned the madam a considerable sum of silver. Later, a wealthy man from out of town bought her, and whether she lived or died after that remained unknown.

The money from selling Xu Zhen could have given the earl a peaceful life for a while, but he became addicted to gambling. Before long, debt collectors beat him so badly that he was left crippled. With no money for treatment, he soon died.

The Lady of the Earl of Everlasting Prosperity also went mad under this succession of blows. During one of her fits, she accidentally fell into a river and drowned.

In the end, it was Xu Jingshi who, for the sake of her sibling bond with the earl, saw to his and his wife's remains.

Meanwhile, at the Eastern Palace, Xiao Yuanqi had roped Xiao Jinyi into helping him. Meng Jiyao was there as well, and the three were discussing how to establish a Girls' School.

Opening a school was easy enough for them. The difficulty lay in opening a school for girls—and finding students and teachers for it.

Finding students and teachers was not the hardest problem to solve. The real issue was how to deal with those hidebound officials at court.

If word of this got out, the three of them would be buried under a barrage of impeachment memorials, and the Girls' School would never get off the ground.

After they had sat together racking their brains for ages without coming up with a good solution, Xiao Jinyi remembered that he had promised Shen Shixu he would attend his housewarming banquet. He stood up to take his leave.

"I have something else to attend to, so I'll be going. Take your time thinking it over. If you come up with an idea, send someone to let me know."

Seeing that he was leaving, Xiao Yuanqi caught Xiao Jinyi by the wrist. "Don't be in such a hurry to go. Oh, right, aren't you going to see Lord Shen? Why don't you ask him? He might have an idea!"

At Xiao Yuanqi's mention of Shen Shixu, Meng Jiyao also looked expectantly at Xiao Jinyi.

Of the three of them, Xiao Jinyi was the closest to Shen Shixu. Having him ask Shen Shixu for help would not seem out of the blue.

Xiao Jinyi did not want to drag Shen Shixu into this troublesome business. On second thought, however, Shen Shixu had been the first to bring up the idea of a Girls' School, even if he had only mentioned it in his thoughts.

Since he had brought it up, he presumably wanted women to have better lives, too. So Xiao Jinyi tacitly agreed to Xiao Yuanqi's suggestion and hurried away.

Meng Jiyao did not know him very well. Watching him leave in silence, she nudged Xiao Yuanqi with her elbow. "What did His Highness Prince Jing mean by that? Is he going to ask or not?"

Xiao Yuanqi stood and stretched, then pulled Meng Jiyao to her feet. "That meant he agreed. It's getting late, so let's hurry and have lunch, too. My stomach's already growling."

By the time Xiao Jinyi reached the Heavenly Fragrance House, all the dishes Shen Shixu had ordered had been served. He was the only one missing.

Xiao Jinyi first apologized to everyone. "I'm very sorry. Something held me up, and I'm late."

Shen Shixu handed him a bowl and chopsticks, then placed a piece of beef in his bowl. "You're not late. The dishes only just arrived. Let's eat!"

With Xiao Jinyi there, the whole private dining room fell quiet. All that could be heard was everyone's breathing and the occasional clink of bowls and chopsticks.

Those clinks came from An Chengyu, who had yet to learn table manners. He was used to the lively meals at Duke An's Residence, and the silence here had spoiled his appetite.

Seeing that he had eaten only half a small bowl of rice and a little of the other dishes, Shen Shixu worried that he had not had enough and served him a bowl of seaweed, dried shrimp, and egg drop soup.

An Chengyu held the small bowl and sipped his soup while watching the others continue eating.

Once everyone had put down their chopsticks, Xiao Jinyi made no attempt to speak privately. He asked Shen Shixu right in front of everyone, "A-Xu, I was just discussing the Girls' School with my brother and my future sister-in-law at the Eastern Palace. We want to open a school for girls, but it won't be easy to establish.

"Those officials at court will definitely stand in our way, so I wanted to ask whether you have any ideas that would keep them from opposing us and get them to support us instead."

Everyone else was stunned by the news. Some women did study, but most read poetry and literary works, along with Admonitions for Women and Virtues for Women, or learned to play the zither, paint, and embroider. Those who studied the Four Books and Five Classics were exceedingly rare.

Xu Qing grew excited at the prospect of a school for girls. If they really managed to open it, she would definitely attend.

Back when she lived in the village, she often heard the old village chief and the others say that studying was the only way to get ahead. When she said she wanted to study, too, they told her that only boys could study, not girls. She had refused to accept that, but her grandmother had called her away before she could argue.