At this moment, Tong Yingying saw Lu Xi and the other children who were flying kites in the garden on the second floor of the teahouse.

  Tong Yingying couldn’t help sneering. Qiao Jinniang didn’t want the knowledgeable Tao Wen to teach her son but handed over the heir to the Crown Prince to a commoner for their education.

  Could playing kites all day long help the imperial grandson make progress?

  It should be known that Lu Zhen, the eldest grandson of the Emperor, could make poems and essays when he was only five years old.

  The imperial grandson would be ruined by Qiao Jinniang sooner or later.

  There were not a few literati in the teahouse who had the same concern. When they happened to see the guard of honor of the Crown Princess pass by, they began to discuss with each other, and they all felt that Mr. Tao Wen was greatly wronged.

  Qiao Jinniang, however, didn’t care about the impeachment or rumors. If even the Imperial Teacher was not qualified to teach her son, no one would be qualified in this world.

  When they arrived at the Ji Mansion, they heard that Ji Wangkui took the children to fly kites in the fields. When Qiao Jinniang arrived, the children had already taken off their shoes and socks and were stepping on the mud field.

  Little Lu Xi even volunteered to grab frogs in the field.

  Seeing this scene, Qiao Jinniang shivered. There were many insects and leeches in the fields. Although she grew up in the folk, she never went to the field.

  “Xi’er.”


  Covered all over with dirt, Lu Xi climbed onto Qiao Jinniang. “Mommy.”


  Qiao Jinniang was afraid that Lu Xi would smear the mud on her and hurriedly said, “Wait, don’t come over. Take a bath first!”


  Ji Wangkui said to Qiao Jinniang, “Your Highness, do you feel distressed for the Little Highness?”


  Qiao Jinniang didn’t lie and said, “To be frank, Mr. Ji, I do. After all, there are snakes, leeches, and voles in the fields in summer. These kids are very carefully raised, so…”


  Ji Wangkui smiled and said, “Your Highness, don’t worry. I heard that someone impeached me today for only teaching these children the characters “Heaven” and “Earth”. I wonder what you think.”


  Qiao Jinniang said, “If they can learn the two characters well, I am afraid that they will gain endless benefits in their lifetime. Heaven represents the Emperor, and the earth represents the people. They really should learn the two characters well.”


  Ji Wangkui said, “Exactly. These little kids won’t understand the meaning of those abstruse scriptures at all at their age.

  “It’s better to let them feel the heaven and the earth. As for the bites of snakes, insects, rats and ants, they all carry realgar powder on their bodies, so you can rest assured.”


  Qiao Jinniang breathed a sigh of relief, and ordered the imperial maids to take out the dishes for lunch, and place them on the field ridge.

  “When I was a child, my family had several acres of land in the countryside. Every year when the farming season came, I would follow the servants to the countryside to deliver meals and eat with the farmers on the ridges of the fields. Later, my family’s restaurant’s business was doing better and better, so we simply rented the fields to the farmers, and then I seldom ate on the fields.”


  The eunuchs and maids all felt that this was not in line with the rules, but they didn’t dare to stop the Crown Princess.

  However, that didn’t mean Tong Yingying and other people watching the fun wouldn’t speak.

  Tong Yingying saluted Qiao Jinniang and said, “Your Highness, as Confucius said, do not speak during dinner or sleep. They are all the grandsons of the Emperor. It would be a disgrace to the royal family for them to eat on the fields like farmers!”


  Many literati who came to watch the fun echoed her sentiment.

  Tong Yingying sneered again and said, “I had thought the crown princess had found a good teacher for the imperial grandson, but not only did he only teach the children two characters in two or three days, but now he is even teaching them farming?! Does the heir to the Crown Prince need to farm?”


  Ji Wangkui was quite old. The last time he came out was when the Crown Prince was ten years old. So, for the past ten years, he had been reclusive.

  So very few people knew him.

  People like Tong Yingying were not qualified to know Ji Wangkui.

  Mrs. Ji said coldly from the side, “Your grandmother was obsessed with fishing for fame when she was young and angered her mother-in-law so much that the latter died in anger. Now her granddaughter also plays lofty and talented. But in terms of talent, can you get in the line in Chang’an?”


  “Hey, old woman, where are you from?! My miss’s clan theory has spread all over the world.” Tong Yingying’s maid defended Tong Yingying.

  Mrs. Ji laughed. “The clan theory is simply bullshit, using gorgeous rhetoric to cover up her absurd theories.

  “The clan is meant for mutual help among the clansmen and not just for the continuation of the clan. You don’t know the essence of it, but blindly praise its dregs such as snatching other sonless clansmen’s properties. And you are actually proud of your stupid theory?

  “You only know to make some empty meaningless poems but boast yourself as the most talented woman in Chang’an. Isn’t it ridiculous?

  “I suggest you not tarnish the name of a talented girl!”


  Qiao Jinniang didn’t expect Mrs. Ji to be so eloquent. Her words were incisive and poignant. She almost wanted to applaud her. She really should learn from her.

  Tong Yingying’s face turned ashen and she said, “How dare you say that to me? Do you mean I’m not talented but this old man who only knows to teach two characters is?”


  Qiao Jinniang said to Tong Yingying, “Let me remind you, she is the wife of the Imperial Teacher, Mr. Ji. And this man you despise is Ji Wangkui, the teacher of His Majesty!”


  Tong Yingying’s face turned from pale to red and she felt her face was burning. Her eyes widened in disbelief!

  Ji Wangkui?

  How could this old man be Ji Wangkui?

  As the Imperial Teacher and the most famous scholar in the world, how could Ji Wangkui condone the children of the royal family to eat on the field ridge?

  And when the literati who followed to watch the fun heard the name Ji Wangkui, they all rushed over to fawn on Ji Wangkui.

  Ji Wangkui was very impatient, and said to the children, “Let’s go back. We can come out to play again when there aren’t so many annoying people.”


  Tong Yingying gaped in shock. Ji Wangkui had been her idol since childhood. When Emperor Huilin was in a difficult situation, he took a fancy to Emperor Huilin’s knowledge and took him as his disciple.

  Ji Wangkui, who never bent to power, was actually teaching the imperial grandson for the sake of power now!

  It could be seen that Ji Wangkui was nothing but a snob.

  Qiao Jinniang reminded Tong Yingying. “Remember to pay back the money as soon as possible.”


  Tong Yingying had to salute and said, “Yes, Your Highness.”
……

  On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Chang’an was very lively. Perhaps because Fulu was not in Chang’an, it was much less lively than previous years.

  After Qiao Jinniang tied a sachet on Lu Chen’s waist, she went to the observation platform to watch the Dragon Boat Race with him.

  Seeing Qiao Jinniang and Lu Chen seated together, many courtiers and noble ladies remembered that at this time last year, the Crown Prince had already brought Qiao Jinniang in front of everyone.

  Duke Anyuan Mansion and Zheng Xiao were both absent, and halfway through the dragon boat race, a maid from the Duke Anyuan Mansion came to report good news. “Your Highness, Madam has given birth to a daughter who weighs six catties and eight taels.”


  Qiao Jinniang smiled happily and rewarded the maid some money. “After the dragon boat race, I will go back to visit my mother.”


  Soon the good news spread all over the viewing platform. Some people came to congratulate, but some people were sour.

  “Congratulations, Your Highness, but being born on the Dragon Boat Festival is not auspicious!”


  “No matter if it is a boy or a girl, being born on the Dragon Boat Festival was not auspicious, so many people would even take oxytocin to avoid giving birth to their children on the Dragon Boat Festival.

  When Qiao Jinniang heard it, she said solemnly, “She is the daughter of Duke Anyuan and my younger sister. What’s not auspicious about her birth?”