The addition of Fang Zhi and Lü Songyuan caused quite a stir among the common people.
The crowd that had started to disperse quickly gathered back, surrounding Zhaoyu Academy so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through.
"The daughters of the Chief Secretary and the Grand Tutor are studying in this academy?"
"Weren't they at Zangshan Academy? Why are they here?"
"Hey, you guys don't know! I heard that the Lady of the Duke of Qing said this academy was good and told them to come here to gain some experience!"
"The Lady of the Duke of Qing praised this academy?"
Some people couldn't believe it.
Seeing everyone looking at her, the woman who had been speaking immediately preened with pride. "My cousin's son delivers vegetables to this academy. He told me. Can it be false?"
"The owner of Zhaoyu Academy is the daughter of General Xuanwei and also the owner of Li's Wine Shop, Miss Li San! You've all heard of Li's Wine Shop, right? Their wine was even praised by the emperor!"
Someone nodded. "That's right. Since she could invite a Number One Scholar to be a teacher, it's not so strange that the daughters of the Chief Secretary and the Grand Tutor would come to study here."
"But..."
Someone still looked worried. "I heard that this academy only teaches mundane things like brewing wine and weaving. What do the daughters of the prime minister's family need to learn these for?"
After this was said, everyone was stunned.
Right. It was hard to imagine that the daughters of the Fang and Lü families would wave hoes and work in the fields.
It was simply impossible.
"Who cares!"
The well - informed woman said again. "Anyway, I'm definitely going to sign up my girl. It's only twenty wen a month. Even if she doesn't study, just being a classmate with the daughters of the prime minister's family is a blessing that takes many lifetimes to earn!"
"Exactly. Those two girls are as beautiful as celestial maidens. Just looking at them every day would make one happy..."
The crowd got more and more excited. Someone shouted, "Can we start signing up now? We can't wait any longer!"
Inside the main hall, Li Wanming was discussing Pei Yanqi's treatment with him when Qing Lan rushed over in a hurry. "Cousin - in - law, the common people outside all want to sign up!"
Li Wanming originally planned to open the academy today and start the enrollment process tomorrow, but she didn't expect everyone to be so enthusiastic.
She thought for a moment and said, "Well, since everyone is willing, there's no need to wait until tomorrow."
"You take Lu Ping and Wu Yao, carry a table out, and start registering students now."
After seeing that Qing Lan had everything arranged properly, Li Wanming saw Lü Songyuan and Fang Zhi off.
On the way from the main hall to the door, the two of them secretly clashed twice.
By the time she finally saw off these two "great gods", Li Wanming's throat was hoarse.
Liu Yiyi looked at her sympathetically. "Wanming, it must have been tough on you."
Li Wanming's voice was hoarse. "It's okay. Anyway, I'll only come here for one wine - brewing class every day. The really tough ones might be Aunt Liu and Liu Shuang..."
Madam Liu and Liu Shuang had already moved their luggage here today and would live in the academy from now on.
Li Wanming was worried that Qing Lan was too young and might overlook some things, so she asked Madam Liu to be an instructor and help Qing Lan take care of the place.
So, in the future, Madam Liu and Liu Shuang would have more contact with those two "great gods".
Hearing this, Liu Yiyi immediately began to feel sorry for her mother. "I originally wanted to be a teacher here. Fortunately, I didn't come..."
Before she could finish her sentence, someone bumped into her from behind. Without even saying sorry, the person said to Li Wanming, "Being a teacher here is so tiring for my mouth, and it gives me a headache. This is a work - related injury. You have to raise my pay!"
Liu Yiyi was immediately a bit angry. "As a Number One Scholar, how can you be so rude? You bumped into someone and didn't even say sorry?"
Pei Yanqi was only concerned about the work - related injury and didn't even realize he had bumped into someone. Seeing this, he quickly apologized. "Did I bump into you? I'm sorry. I didn't see you."
Seeing his good attitude, Liu Yiyi felt embarrassed to be angry anymore. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt..."
Just as she was saying this, the two of them were pushed aside by a strong force from behind. If it weren't for Pei Yanqi holding Liu Yiyi, she might have rolled into the grass by the roadside!
Liang Xiong, with his iron - tower - like body, rushed out from behind. "Oh my goodness! I can finally leave!"
"I wanted to leave earlier, but that kid Feng Xiao said it wasn't polite to leave early on such an occasion. But when I asked just now, that kid had already run away!"
"Sister - in - law, it's not that I don't want to support you, but your academy is just too noisy. I really can't stand it!"
As Liang Xiong fled out like a man on the run, he turned his head and said, "But don't worry, sister - in - law. If those two women ever give you trouble in the future, just come to me! I'll even risk my position as a general to help you deal with them!"
After saying that, he mounted his horse and disappeared.
It seemed that the confrontation between Fang Zhi and Lü Songyuan today had indeed left a deep psychological shadow on General Yunhui.
If it weren't for being tricked by Feng Xiao, he probably wouldn't have lasted this long.
Liu Yiyi looked at Liang Xiong's back and didn't say anything to blame him.
To be honest, she had also had the urge to run away.
Pei Yanqi stamped his feet and kept saying, "See? Even General Liang, a military general, can't stand it, let alone a weak scholar like me? This is a work - related injury, a work - related injury! You must compensate me!"
After finally seeing everyone off, Li Wanming just wanted to go back and lie down. She turned around and walked inside, not even bothering to pay attention to him.
"Hey..."
Just as Pei Yanqi was about to chase after her, someone blocked his way.
Xiao Jingnan smiled slightly. "Brother Pei, just asking my wife for a raise won't work."
"As everyone knows, Zhaoyu Academy was funded by Li's Wine Shop. And besides my wife, there's another important partner in Li's Wine Shop."
"Partner?" Pei Yanqi was stunned. "There are other shareholders in Li's Wine Shop besides me? Li Wanming never told me..."
"Not exactly a shareholder."
Xiao Jingnan looked mysterious. "It's just that all the wine in Li's Wine Shop depends on the lychees from Fujian, and the transportation of these lychees absolutely depends on Miss Liu's support... We can say that without Miss Liu, there would be no Li's Wine Shop, and no Zhaoyu Academy."
"So, Miss Liu is of course our important partner."
"If you want a raise, you naturally need Miss Liu's approval."
"Moreover, privately, Miss Liu is my wife's long - time close friend. If she agrees, my wife will surely have no reason to object."
Hearing this, Pei Yanqi thought, right!
Liu Yiyi was Li Wanming's good friend. As long as she agreed, Li Wanming surely wouldn't say no!
He turned to Liu Yiyi. "Miss Liu..."
"Stop!"
When Liu Yiyi heard him start to talk about money, her face immediately changed. She said bluntly,
"Isn't your monthly salary of two taels of silver enough? Teachers in Fujian only get five hundred wen a month, and sometimes they can't even collect that. Even considering the higher prices in the capital, this money is more than enough!"