Li Wanming was stunned for a moment, suspecting she had misheard.
Fang Zhi and Xiao Yingchu were going to enroll in Zhaoyu Academy?
This simply wouldn't do!
She was the owner of this academy, and Qing Lan was the dean.
If Fang Zhi and Xiao Yingchu came to study here, they would become their students...
What on earth did they do to deserve having the daughter of the Secretary-in-Chief and the young lady of the Prince Ning's Mansion pay them respects as their teachers?
Not only Li Wanming, but Qing Lan was also shocked. The color instantly drained from her face, and she stammered as she spoke:
"This... this... this... How can this be? Miss Fang and Miss Xiao have been studying at Zangshan Academy and are the protégés of the Lady of the Duke of Qing. How could our humble Zhaoyu Academy... "
Li Wanming also forced a smile and said, "Miss Fang, don't be joking..."
"Why would I be joking?"
Fang Zhi widened her round eyes and put her hands on her hips. "I've already discussed it with our teacher, and she's agreed for me to come and take a look."
"She also said it's a good thing for girls to go out and gain some experience, instead of just staying in the room all day playing the piano and embroidering..."
The teacher she referred to was, of course, the dean of Zangshan Academy, the Lady of the Duke of Qing.
Li Wanming could hardly believe it. "You mean the Lady of the Duke said..."
"Right!"
Fang Zhi lifted her little face, extremely proud. "Our teacher is also very interested in your academy. She said that if she gets the chance in the future, she'll come and have a look too!"
She grabbed Xiao Yingchu's hand and stepped forward. "I told her I wanted to enroll with Sister Xiao, and she agreed!"
Xiao Yingchu met Xiao Jingnan's inquiring gaze, her heart pounding with nervousness. Her face flushed so red it seemed as if blood was about to seep out.
She fidgeted with the handkerchief in her hand, her voice barely audible. "I... I just wanted to come and accompany Sister Fang to gain some experience..."
She was lying.
She knew she was lying.
She also knew that Xiao Jingnan knew she was lying.
But she still had to force herself to carry on with the lie.
In fact, even if Fang Zhi hadn't come this time, she would still have come.
Because this was a task given to her by her mother.
The story of Prince Ning pretending to be a peasant in Pingkang Fang in order to find a wife for his son had quietly spread among the nobles in the capital.
When this news reached her mother, Kang Shi, it caused her extreme anger and panic. She hardly slept at all that night.
"I've worked so hard for so many years to manage the affairs of the prince's mansion. Now that they've found a daughter - in - law for their son, do they think they can just kick me out and install a new mistress of the mansion?"
"Dream on!"
Kang Shi gritted her teeth, her face almost distorted.
Xiao Yingchu wanted to console her, but was harshly scolded by Kang Shi.
"What do you know! As long as Xiao Jingnan doesn't get married and as long as his branch has no heirs, the title of the prince will surely go to your younger brother in the future.
"Then you'll be the real young lady of the Prince Ning's Mansion! Who would dare to laugh at you behind your back and make things difficult for you?"
"Let me ask you, did they tell you when Xiao Jingnan got married?"
"Humph, you think of them as your close relatives, but do they think of you as family?"
There was a twisted glint in Kang Shi's eyes. "Now he's quietly gotten married, and the whole family has conspired to keep it from us... It's obvious that they don't take us seriously at all!"
Xiao Yingchu really wanted to say that if her mother hadn't been constantly scheming against the eldest branch, the eldest branch wouldn't have had to do this.
Cousin Jingnan was so intelligent. How could he be deceived by her...
But she didn't dare to say it.
She couldn't say it.
Over the years, she and her father had tried to persuade her mother countless times, but all they ever got in return were her mother's hysterical curses:
"Who am I working so hard for every day? Isn't it all for you guys!"
"Xiao Yuanjie, are you even a man?"
"If you hadn't been so useless, why would I have had to go through so much back then..."
As soon as her mother brought up the past, her father would have to grovel and try his best to console her, not daring to say another word.
This time, upon hearing that her cousin and cousin - in - law's Zhaoyu Academy was opening, her mother told her to come and take a look and insisted that she enroll.
Firstly, it was to find out what kind of person Li Wanming, the future "mistress of the prince's mansion", was.
Secondly, it was to gather information for her mother so that she could plan her next moves...
Xiao Yingchu knew that by coming here, she had become a spy and a puppet. She was extremely reluctant, but she couldn't go against her mother...
Now, meeting her cousin's scrutinizing gaze, Xiao Yingchu felt as if her face was on fire. She was so ashamed she could hardly bear it.
Xiao Jingnan gave her a long look, paused for a moment, then turned to Li Wanming with a smile and said,
"Since Miss Fang and Miss Xiao think so highly of our academy, my dear, don't decline."
"Although our academy is mainly for commoner girls, we never said that the daughters of officials can't study here, right?"
"It's a good thing that Miss Fang and Miss Xiao can study under the same roof as them. It'll make them more aware of the hardships of the common people."
"Right!" Fang Zhi clapped her hands. "My father said the same thing!"
"He said that the court is now vigorously promoting female education. Who knows, they might even open up official positions for women in the future. So girls can't just stay in the boudoir all the time. They should see how the common people live outside."
Xiao Jingnan was rather surprised. "Did Prime Minister Fang tell you this?"
In his impression, Fang Shisong had always been a deep - hiding old fox, full of schemes and planning every step carefully. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to go head - to - head with Grand Tutor Lü in the court as a man from a humble background.
He didn't expect that the man would have such insights on this matter.
Moreover, his agreement for Fang Zhi to study at Zhaoyu Academy was rather delicate.
On the surface, both he and Grand Tutor Lü were on the side of the Empress Dowager, two of her knives to balance the court situation.
But the Empress Dowager supported the daughter of the Lü family to be the queen. Fang Shisong must have had his own thoughts.
So his agreement for Fang Zhi to enter the academy he opened... There was much to think about.
If they could win over Fang Shisong, it would be like cutting off one of Empress Dowager Kang's arms. At the same time, it would also give Zhao Yanke a great boost!
Thinking of this, the smile on Xiao Jingnan's face became even more meaningful.
"Qing Lan, take the two young ladies to register. From now on, they'll be the students of our Zhaoyu Academy."
Qing Lan still hesitated. "What about Zangshan Academy..."
Fang Zhi quickly interjected. "I've already discussed it with our teacher! This month is the opening of Zhaoyu Academy, and we need to get used to the environment. So we'll study here this month and go back to Zangshan Academy next month! As for the future, we can study at both places. It won't be a problem."
After saying that, she urged Qing Lan to register them and issue their name tags.
Before leaving, she deliberately walked up to Lü Songyuan and provocatively said, "Sister Lü, did you come today just to show your face and cut the ribbon? That doesn't count as supporting the academy for commoner girls, you know!"
"Why don't you sign up here just like Sister Xiao and I?"
"Hey, why do you look so pale? Could it be that you look down on commoner girls and think they're too poor to study under the same roof as them?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, I never thought Sister Lü was such a snobbish and money - loving person..."
After saying that, Fang Zhi pulled Xiao Yingchu and walked away haughtily.
Only Lü Songyuan was left standing there, her face ashen with anger.