Chapter 515: Inspection Tour In Civilian Clothes
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The fact that the young ladies of the various aristocratic families were sent back made the aristocratic families feel a little flustered, but they were also displeased. They felt that they were aristocratic families, so why were their daughters not even given a chance to go to the academy?
They even jointly wrote a petition to Xiao Jin, requesting to open up the women’s academy to more students. This was only fair.
During the morning court session, Xiao Jin listened to the Imperial Censor’s impassioned speech and nodded indifferently. “Mm-hmm. What did you say just now, Lord Wang?”
When the Imperial Censor Lord Wang heard him, he said, “Your Majesty, I think that since we are recruiting students, we should accept all kinds of people. We shouldn’t specify that some people can enroll while others can’t. This is not fair.”
Xiao Jin nodded thoughtfully and replied, “Lord Wang, you are talking about fairness.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Do you think it’s fair for those commoners to be bullied and have no avenue to complain?”
Lord Wang frowned and said nothing.
“When your children are living in luxury, they don’t even have enough to eat. Is this fair to them?”
“Your Majesty, even if we are living in luxury, it is because we have worked hard to achieve it. How is it unfair?” An outspoken minister stood up and answered bluntly.
Xiao Jin slowly stood up and swept his gaze across the officials in the hall. “Yes, there’s nothing unfair about it. But how do you know that those people didn’t do their best to survive? How can you be sure that your luxurious life has nothing to do with those people? Do you farm? If you don’t do farming, where do you get your food from?
“Life is destined to be unfair. They have experienced more suffering, but what they get in return is still suffering. The Empress just wants to give those who have been oppressed to the ground a chance at a new life. It’s just this little matter yet all of you feel that it is unfair to you?
“All of you are officials, and they are the people. In my eyes, all of you are of equal importance. If, as officials, you can’t think for the people and want to snatch the rare hope they can get, then what use do I have for all of you?”
Xiao Jin’s voice was not loud, but it was like a heavy hammer smashing viciously into the hearts of these officials. They were stepping forward because they felt that the poor women were not worthy. They were not worthy of learning to read. They were not worthy of learning the knowledge left behind by the sages, and they were not worthy of the opportunity to stand equally with their own children. Those women should lower themselves to curry favor with the upper class. That was the fate they deserved.
All the ministers knelt down. “Your Majesty is wise.”
Xiao Jin was born into the Imperial Family, so he knew all too well about the bad habits of these officials’ families and aristocratic families. They were like the roots under a big tree, and their relationships were intertwined. The establishment of the women’s academy was only the beginning. This kingdom and this Imperial Court needed more varied groups to exist, and not be controlled by an elite group of people.
Xiao Jin’s words made the aristocratic families and nobles shut up completely and they did not dare to broach this subject again.
On the day when the court session was in recess, Xiao Jin planned to bring his children and Su Ying out of the palace to play.
“Your Majesty is going on an inspection tour in civilian clothes?”
“Mm-hmm. There’s no need to send too many people to follow us.”
After Xiao Jin got Zhang Shuming to prepare a few sets of inconspicuous clothes for Su Ying and the children to change into, Su Ying took out some tools and made some subtle changes to her family members’ appearances.
She only made some adjustments to the eyes and nose. When he looked in the mirror again, Xiao Jin realized that his appearance was almost completely different from before.
“Mother, why isn’t the person in the mirror me?” Ling asked in bafflement.
Su Ying looked at Ling’s tiny face. She merely pulled down the corners of the girl’s eyes and widened the distance between the eyes. Ling’s eyes instantly lost their previous charm.
“Mm-hmm. I did some disguises for you guys so that no one would recognize us.”
Su Ying’s most striking feature was the upturned corners of her two almond-shaped eyes. As long as her eyes were disguised, there wouldn’t be any major problems.
“All done. Let’s go.”
Xiao Jin and the two little ones turned to look at Su Ying. If it weren’t for her voice, they wouldn’t have recognized her.
Zhang Shuming had prepared a horse carriage for them to leave through the back gate of the palace.
A few highly skilled Imperial Guards disguised themselves as attendants and followed.
The family of four did not have a definite destination when they left the palace today. They simply wandered aimlessly around the city.
However, they didn’t choose the most prosperous neighborhood they had already visited. Instead, they chose the main street near the commoners’ residential area.
Compared to the bustling grand streets in the city center, the streets in the commoners’ residential areas were much narrower. There were many streets that even a horse carriage would have to spend a lot of effort to pass through.
“Get out of the carriage. Let’s take a good walk.”
Xiao Jin gestured for the Imperial Guards to stop the horse carriage by the side of the street.
“All of you wait here. There’s no need to follow.” If there were too many people following them in the commoners’ residential area, it would attract a lot of attention. How could his family still enjoy themselves?
“Master, why don’t you let the few of us follow you?” The Imperial Guards were worried.
Su Ying felt that two more people were needed to carry things, so she selected two guys to follow them.
“Let’s go. See what’s good to eat and play in front.”
Xiao Jin held the hands of the two children while Su Ying walked beside them.
They didn’t know if it was a festival day today. Although it was still early, there were already many people on the streets.
There were even more street vendors hawking their wares on the streets than usual.
“Hand-made cake, freshly baked hand-made cake. All Masters and Young Madams passing by, come over and try it.”
In order to eat and drink after leaving the palace, Su Ying made a special effort to eat less in the morning. Now, when she heard the vendors’ shouts, she was attracted to them.
On one side of the street, there were two muscular men pounding the glutinous rice in the stone basin with a pestle. Beside them, a delicate-looking little girl was turning the rice cake in the basin that was gradually taking shape.
Su Ying looked at the white milky rice cake and started salivating madly.
“How much longer will it take?”
The little girl smiled when she heard Su Ying and raised her head to reply, “Pretty Sister, please wait a moment. It will be done in less than ten minutes.”
“Alright. Then I’ll wait.”
Less than ten minutes wasn’t long. With the little girl’s skillful hands turning constantly, the men soon finished pounding a large piece of rice cake.
“How much do you want, Big Sister? Over here it is ten copper coins for one serving.”
“Then give me one serving to try.”
“Alrighty.”
The little girl dug out a piece of rice cake with a wooden scoop before putting it into the soybean flour. The pounded glutinous rice became less sticky after it was coated with a layer of soybean flour. As she rolled it, she cut it into thumb-sized pieces and then put the pieces into the oil paper bag.
“Big Sister, here you go.”
Su Ying took the rice cake and took a sniff. She could still smell the pure fragrance of the glutinous rice. She used a bamboo skewer to stab a piece and put it into her mouth. The fragrance of soybeans mixed with the sweetness of sugar and the gooey texture made it very delicious.
“Mother, I also want to try it,” Ling piped up.
Su Ying smiled as she turned around and fed a piece to each of the kids.
“It’s sticking on my teeth,” Ling said and added that she didn’t like it very much.
Ji swallowed silently, feeling that it was a little stuck in his throat.
“Children should be careful when eating this. For your safety, Mother will help you two eat this instead.”
Su Ying looked at the young girl who was selling the rice cakes. She was about twelve or thirteen years old. The coarse cloth clothes she wore had been washed until they were bleached white, but they were still very clean. Even the repair patches on the clothes looked neat and tidy. One could tell with one look that this was a family with nimble fingers.
“Little girl, have you been following your parents to sell rice cakes on the street?”
The little girl was a chatty person. When she heard Su Ying’s question, she answered cheerfully, “That’s right, Big Sister. But I won’t be selling anymore tomorrow.”
“Oh? Why?”
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