The Art of Speaking
At this point, she added sincerely, "That child is truly remarkable."
After praising her, she continued to explain, "Originally, all we had to do was allocate the spots. But Pingyang was eager to nurture talent, and since the children of the Earl of Suiping's Residence were already registered residents of the capital, we let it go as a special case. However, with the New Year approaching, Zhiwei should return to the capital to study. So she personally went to the Earl of Suiping's Residence."
"Zhiwei said her master teaches in Beining, and the court-run painting class is also in Beining, so it's inconvenient for her to return to the capital to study. Even when Pingyang offered to let her study only on her days off, with the academy specially assigning a teacher to instruct her, and allowing her to stay in Beining the rest of the time, she still refused and directly rejected Pingyang."
Her words were very skillful, pointing out that Grand Princess Shangde had started the trouble first, and that Zhao Ruxi should have come to the capital to study, and that staying in Beining was against the rules. The fault lay with the two of them, and that Princess Pingyang's invitation was not wrong, as she had sincerely tried to solve Zhao Ruxi's problem. Yet Zhao Ruxi still refused without any hesitation.
Princess Pingyang represents Consort Jin, who is the Emperor's favored concubine. Zhao Ruxi's disrespect for Princess Pingyang is tantamount to disrespecting the Emperor. Such a person is not worthy of the Emperor's protection.
At this moment, Consort Jin smiled gently and spoke softly, seemingly stating the facts and explaining the reasons to Xiao Ge, but she was ruthless when it came to sowing discord.
As she spoke, she showed Gao Xing expression and said to Xiao Ge in a coquettish tone, "Your Majesty, when the Women's Academy was built, it was said that students should be enrolled strictly according to their regional household registration. Logically speaking, after Zhiwei and her household registration was transferred back to the capital, she shouldn't have stayed at the Beining Women's Academy, but should have come to the Capital Women's Academy to apply. However, she became a student of Mister Kumu, and I know that you greatly respect Mister Kumu, so I refrained from mentioning it for the past few months."
"Now, half a year has passed, and she has once again ranked first in the annual examination. Whether considering her grades, the available places, or her household registration, she should be admitted to the Capital Women's Academy after the New Year. Her refusal to be accepted by the Capital Women's Academy can be seen as relying on Mister Kumu's influence and not taking me seriously."
As she spoke, she turned her face to the side, her eyes beginning to redden.
She knew that Xiao Ge liked women who were intelligent yet straightforward and honest, so she established this persona soon after entering the palace. She would wear her emotions on her sleeve, whether good or bad, so that Xiao Ge, who had been scheming in the court all day, wouldn't have to bother guessing her thoughts, and she wouldn't pretend to be virtuous.
Intentionally revealing her harmless little flaws, occasionally throwing a tantrum, acting cute or being unreasonable, makes her much more lively than those wooden concubines.
Zhao Ruxi's matter is a minor one. The Emperor is aware of her conflict with Shangde. Since Kang Shilin seized the initiative to complain, she might as well openly express her Gao Xing. That way, even if the Emperor agrees to Kang Shilin's request, he will inevitably feel guilty towards her and will try to compensate her. The matter of Pingyang forcing Zhao Ruxi will no longer be pursued.
Sure enough, Xiao Ge felt guilty after she said that.
The argument is indeed on Consort Jin's side. Since the Capital Women's Academy was entrusted to Consort Jin's management, it was indeed not proper for him to release her students without Consort Jin.
He sighed deeply and said, "You know I've always treated Kumu like a close uncle. When he came to me for such a trivial matter, I didn't think much of it and agreed without hesitation. Now that things have come to this, it's hard to change my mind. Why don't you make a request, as an apology from me?"
Consort Jin rolled her eyes and revealed a sly smile, "You don't need to do anything. Just call Shangde over and give her a good scolding."
Xiao Ge laughed heartily, nodded at Consort Jin's nose, and said indulgently, "You..." He waved his hand, "Alright, I agree."
Consort Jin was then Gao Xing.
"However, you also know that Zhiwei's painting talent is even stronger than your uncle's. She can paint such a picture at such a young age; who knows what she will achieve in the future? Perhaps she will become a painting master whose name will be remembered for eternity. This is an honor for our Great Jin. Tell Pingyang not to make things difficult for that child anymore. If you can help her in the future, please do so. The emergence of such a talent in Great Jin is a sign of the nation's prosperity and an honor for me. I must protect her and not let anyone destroy her. Remember to tell Pingyang this."
Upon hearing this, Consort Jin felt as if she had eaten shit, but she still Gao Xing agreed to Xiao Ge and went along with his words to praise Zhao Ruxi.
The next morning, she had someone relay these words to Xiao Yuyue.
Xiao Yuyue felt even worse than Consort Jin. But with the Emperor as her powerful backer, Zhao Ruxi dared not act rashly, no matter how dissatisfied she was. She even had to praise Zhao Ruxi at the banquet to prevent those who wanted to flatter her from making mistakes, which would then lead the Emperor to Consort Jin.
As compensation, Xiao Ge summoned Grand Princess Shangde to the palace the following evening and gave her a good scolding.
Of course, he didn't just reprimand his only sister mindlessly. Instead, he scolded her for not keeping such an outstanding student as Zhao Ruxi a secret and for showing off by creating a standardized exam. The argument wasn't even on her side, which caused a lot of trouble and made Kang Shilin and Zhao Ruxi needlessly embroiled in problems.
He advised Grand Princess Shangde to think things through before acting, and not to act impulsively.
"This trouble is your doing. You'd better make it up to your uncle and Zhiwei. If I find out you've caused any more trouble, I won't let you off easily," he warned.
Grand Princess Shangde inwardly resented her brother for favoring Consort Jin and not showing her any affection, which made her very uncomfortable. However, she felt guilty towards Kang Shilin and Zhao Ruxi.
Back in Beining, she told Cui Wen about it and asked, "What do you think is the best way for me to make it up to those two, master and apprentice?"
When Madam Cui heard that Zhao Ruxi had refused the offer from the Capital Women's Academy, Gao Xing and didn't know what to do.
When the topic of compensation came up, she thought for a long time before finally shaking her head and saying, "I can't think of any compensation I could give them. They seem to lack nothing."
She did want Zhao Ruxi to invest in or even manage the newspaper business, but Zhao Ruxi refused.
Finally, Grand Princess Shangde gave Zhao Ruxi a small estate next to the Egret Manor. Zhao Ruxi couldn't refuse, and under Kang Shilin's persuasion, she finally accepted the estate.
When Zhao Ruxi led Zhou Chun and Ma Sheng to the Egret Manor to ask Qian Duoduo to help take over the estate, Qian Duoduo was wearing a new padded jacket and happily watching the men of the estate slaughter sheep and geese.
The current Egret Manor is completely different from the Egret Manor of six months ago.
They now have tall, spacious mud-brick and tile houses to live in, and because the rice noodle shop is doing well, they either go to the rice noodle shop to help manage the business or make rice noodles in the village, so they have a monthly income.
In less than two or three months, all the families who were still in debt paid off their debts. Now everyone has enough to eat and warm clothes to wear, and the children can go to school. It's as if they've jumped from hell to heaven in an instant.
Therefore, everyone in the village wished they could worship Zhao Ruxi as if she were Guanyin Bodhisattva.