usatvline Chapter 496: Do Not Accept Their Money
Chapter 496: Do Not Accept Their Money
Gu Jianchu said with a doting look on his face, "You're right. For the noble families and officials, if the common people also receive relative favors, it means they are sharing their interests, which they naturally don't want. Especially when it comes to promoting women's education, they can only accept that their own children can enjoy this benefit. If others want to go to women's education, they will not agree. If I accept their money, then they will naturally use this as an excuse to make trouble, or even morally blackmail me. It is indeed difficult for me to deal with it, and I am in the wrong. But if I don't accept their favor, they want to cause trouble, so I have to think twice."
"Besides, the Emperor has asked the Imperial Household Department to pay for half of the money for the girls' school. For the remaining shortfall, I will allocate some from my private treasury. It's better than using their money. Besides, I'm not running the girls' school just to show my favor to these officials' daughters. Even if I don't run this school, these officials' daughters will still have the opportunity to study. Their parents will hire good teachers to teach them at home. But ordinary girls don't have this opportunity."
"Although the girls' school initially only admitted daughters from official families, we can gradually improve. Over time, I will also be able to admit daughters from commoner families into the girls' school."
"Your Majesty is wise. If those officials' wives send in invitations again in the future, I will just send them away. It is better than asking Your Majesty to deal with them. After all, Your Majesty is still pregnant and should not be tired." Zhu Xia asked weakly.
"No need. If we send them away directly, they will inevitably feel uneasy. Otherwise, the girls' school will not be able to run. If they want to enter the palace, let them come to the palace and ask. I will just say a few perfunctory words and it will be like someone comes to chat with me to entertain me. After all, I am quite bored staying in the palace all day." Gu Jianchu naturally understood the caution of those officials' wives, and she would definitely not let them delay her running of the girls' school.
After the Ministry of Works finished the drawings, construction of the girls' school began.
The craftsmen were working quite fast, with progress being delivered to the palace every day.
After only half a month of construction, a snowstorm hit and the girls' school was forced to stop work.
Heavy snow fell for a whole day and night. At first, the snow was only as big as salt particles, but soon it fell like willow catkins. After a while, the ground was covered with a thick layer of snow, which was as high as the calf when stepped on.
The young eunuch was working hard to clear the palace path in the snow. It would be troublesome if the Queen and the Emperor were to travel. The snow was piling up, and it would be difficult to clear if it got too thick.
Gu Jianchu sat at the table, leaning against the side and looking out the window. "This year's snow is really getting heavier with each fall. If it continues like this, I'm afraid many places will be affected."
"Dad and elder brother left for Liaodong half a month ago. I don't know if they have arrived yet, and they haven't sent any letters back." Gu Jianchu frowned in worry.
After the last heavy snow, Nanping Hou and Gu Jianbai asked the emperor for permission to go to Liaodong. Although they had won the battle in Liaodong and had driven the Huns twenty miles north, there was a heavy snow now. They, the herdsmen, didn't know how many cattle and sheep would freeze to death. They were afraid that this winter would be difficult. If they had a hard time, even if they didn't resume the war, they would probably come to the border to harass the people.
They need to go back and keep an eye on it and suppress it at the same time.
Xie Ci'an thought about this at night, and without thinking, he let the father and son return to Liaodong.
My father and brother left in a hurry and didn't even have time to have a meal together.
Just as Gu Jianchu finished his question, before Zhuxi could answer, a deep male voice rang out from the outer hall. "News just arrived from Liaodong. Your father and brother have arrived and suppressed the Xiongnu who broke through the border. As expected, they had predicted. A heavy snow froze many of their cattle and sheep to death, so they risked their lives to break through the border and come to steal food."
Gu Jianchu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Xie Ci'an standing at the door wearing a dark robe and a black cloak embroidered with a golden dragon. The cloak was covered with snow. Xie Ci'an was afraid of bringing in the cold air, so he stood in the direction of the door and refused to go in.
He handed the cloak to Qiutou and stood in front of the charcoal brazier at the door, warming himself by the fire before going in.
Qiutou took the cloak out of the room and asked the palace servants to clean the snow off the cloak before bringing it back in.
Just as Gu Jianchu was about to stand up to greet him, Xie Ci'an stopped him, "I'm cold, don't come over. You're weak and afraid of the cold. If you get sick again, it will be troublesome."
Xie Ci'an waited until he was warm before entering the inner hall.
"It's snowing so heavily outside, why did the emperor rush here?" Gu Jianchu quickly poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to Xie Ci'an to warm him up.
"Seeing the heavy snow outside, I thought of you and came here. Just then, there was news from Liaodong. I was afraid that you would worry, so I sent it to you to take a look so that you wouldn't worry. In addition, I have sent someone out of the palace to deliver a letter to Madam Hou so that we don't have to wait and worry." Xie Ci'an couldn't help but scratch Gu Jianchu's little nose lovingly.
"Your Majesty cares about my father more than I do. What else do I have to worry about? I'll have someone cook some sugar water in the small kitchen and bring a bowl over for Your Majesty to drink to warm himself up." Gu Jianchu quickly gave the order.
But the sugar water had not been delivered yet, but Cheng Song came first.
He was covered in snow and cold, so he didn't dare to go into the house. He just stood at the door and reported, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the Dali Temple Minister and the Ministry of Justice Minister are here. They said that Cao Li's case has been investigated and they are now waiting for a report in the Chuigong Hall."
Xie Ci'an had just arrived when he didn't expect the Shangshu and the Dali Temple Minister to come over. He couldn't let the two adults come in the snow and then send them back.
Xie Ci'an had barely settled down, not even having a drink of the sugar water, and not even having a few words with the Queen. The Queen, being afraid of the cold, naturally didn't want to go through all the trouble, so she said, "Bring the Dali Temple Minister and the Ministry of Justice Minister to Kunning Palace to report."
"Okay, I'll go and invite him right away." Cheng Song had already thought of bringing the person to Kunning Palace to report, but without the emperor's approval, he didn't dare to bring the person here casually. After all, this was the harem and the residence of the empress. Outsiders were not allowed to enter at will unless they got approval.
If he brings it here directly, he won't be able to bear the responsibility if the emperor gets angry.
Cheng Song returned quickly and brought the two adults to Kunning Palace. After walking such a long distance, even with an umbrella, a lot of snow fell on their bodies, and their shoes and socks were soaked. Knowing that Xie Ci'an loved the queen and that the queen was afraid of the cold, he simply stood outside the inner palace door to report.