Chapter 708: Educating the Children (2)

Editor: Atlas Studios

Mu Yangling said with a smile, “So your uncle isn’t that kind of person. Have you ever seen him shirk responsibility when it comes to serious matters?”

He was only messing with her. If she gave him something good, he would complain that she was spoiling him and it would be her fault if he couldn’t endure hardship in the future. Was he the kind of person who couldn’t endure hardship?

On the other hand, if he was given something mediocre, he would complain that she didn’t dote on him and that he wasn’t as important as Little Bear in her heart. Sometimes, Qi Haoran would act like a child.

It was fine to say such things in front of the older children since they were more mature. They understood that the elders were just wheedling and would not take it seriously. Meanwhile, young children would remember it in their hearts and learn from them. It would be difficult to change after nurturing such a personality.

Little Treasure’s eyes lit up as he said, “I understand now. This is the method of counter-argument that Teacher mentioned.”

Mu Yangling felt that soon, she wouldn’t be able to educate this child anymore. How old was he? Looking at her ignorant son again, she felt that her son was behaving more like kids their age.

Mu Yangling was still sighing when Qi Haoran nodded and admitted without blushing, “That’s right. I just wanted to personally put on an act to show you how annoying people who have no self-control and shirk responsibility are.”

Little Treasure exclaimed, “Uncle was so convincing I nearly believed it just now. I was still wondering why you blamed Auntie for everything when clearly you never liked to study to begin with. So it turned out that you were just pretending. You’re a brilliant actor, Uncle.”

Mu Yangling laughed out loud.

This brat!

No matter how thick-skinned Qi Haoran was, he couldn’t help but blush. If it weren’t for the look of surprise on Little Treasure’s face, he would have been sure that this kid was deliberately mocking him.

Qi Haoran glared at Mu Yangling and waved his hand as if he was chasing away a fly. “Get out, get out. I’m going to write a memorial. Bring the children to the garden to play. Little Treasure, you’re going back to the palace tomorrow. Forget about coming out to play again.”

Little Treasure, who was originally abnormally excited and wanted to act with his uncle, instantly wilted. Holding Little Bear’s hand, he said unhappily, “Uncle, can I leave the palace to see Little Bear after school?”

Qi Haoran glanced at him condescendingly and said, “Is there enough free time for you to walk from Upper Wood Park to the palace gate after school?”

Little Treasure blushed and whispered carefully, “What about during the break?”

“Ask your father. As long as he agrees.”

Little Treasure cheered softly and said, “Then can Little Brother enter the palace to visit me?”

Little Bear also looked at his father eagerly. Holding Little Treasure’s hand, he said, “I want to play with Brother.”

Qi Haoran could reject Little Treasure, but he couldn’t bear to reject his son. He hesitated for a moment and said, “But Daddy has to go into seclusion to write some memorials for now and can’t bring you into the palace.”

Right away, Little Treasure and Little Bear looked at Mu Yangling in unison.

Mu Yangling glared at Qi Haoran. He was clearly grounded to copy books, but he actually lied to the children. However, Mu Yangling did not want to expose Qi Haoran in front of the two children, so she smiled and nodded. “Alright, no problem. As long as there’s time, I’ll bring Little Bear into the palace.”

The brothers cheered and ran out hand in hand. From afar, they could hear the laughter of the two children. “Brother, I can teach you how to read and write.”

Little Bear shouted, “Brother, I’ll help you fight!”

The corners of Qi Haoran’s mouth twitched. He turned to Mu Yangling and said, “Now that Little Bear can speak, it’s time to enlighten him. Big Brother said that he’ll find a good teacher for him. Meanwhile, we can also make some preparations and teach the child some basics first. We can’t just let him offer to help Little Treasure fight every time Little Treasure says that he’ll teach him how to read and write, right?”

Mu Yangling walked to the desk and picked up the “Book of Rites” on the table. She said leisurely, “Who’s to blame? Who’s the one who makes it a daily habit of coaxing his son to become a general when he grows up? Qi Haoran, let me tell you, what our son wants to do in the future depends on his personal interests. You’re not allowed to force him. Also, since when did I delay your studies?”

Raising the book in her hand, she tilted her head and asked, “Have you ever studied?”

Blushing, Qi Haoran went forward to grab the book. He threw it on the table and hugged her. “Of course you did. If you hadn’t kept me busy, would I not have time to study?”

Mu Yangling rolled her eyes. “Would you take the initiative to read the ‘Book of Rites’? Why did I hear that someone was grounded to copy books?”

Qi Haoran shouted, “Who said that? Ask that person to step forward. How dare he spread rumors? Let’s see if I don’t teach him a lesson.”

Mu Yangling said slowly, “Her Majesty said so. She asked someone to pass a message to me, saying that Big Brother is asking you to lie low. She told me not to restrain you. As long as you don’t leave the residence, it’s fine. Out of the 100 copies of ‘Book of Rites’ that you were made to copy, you can just copy the first 20 to 30 copies. Anyway, Little Bear and I don’t intend to take up your time in the following days. Since you have so much time on your hands, you should copy all 100 copies yourself.”

Qi Haoran froze on the spot.

In the end, Mu Yangling couldn’t bear to leave Qi Haoran alone in the study to copy books. After coaxing the two children to sleep at night, she took out a pen and ink to copy Qi Haoran’s handwriting.

Qi Haoran shook his head happily and said tsunderely, “I didn’t ask you to help me copy it. You’re the one who offered to do it.”

Mu Yangling stretched her leg towards him, and Qi Haoran immediately jumped away. Mu Yangling sneered and said, “If you say any more, I really won’t copy anymore.”

Qi Haoran immediately shut up and continued writing quietly. However, after less than 15 minutes of silence, he started to pick on Mu Yangling’s handwriting. “This doesn’t look like my handwriting at all. It’s so soft. Why can’t you imitate my handwriting accurately after so many years?”

Mu Yangling said nonchalantly, “Anyway, it’s for Big Brother to see. It’s fine as long as it looks somewhat like it. If you continue to complain, I’ll copy it in regular script in small characters1.”

Qi Haoran immediately shut up. He’d learned the calligraphic style of Liu Gongquan, and the calligraphic style of regular script in small characters was mostly learned by women. If he handed in a stack of script in small characters, wouldn’t that anger Big Brother to death?

Although the “Book of Rites” was a book, it was actually not thick. Although it was difficult to comprehend and was written in ancient language, it was actually quite fast to copy it word by word.

However, Qi Haoran couldn’t stand watching her merely copying without understanding. Each time she wrote a sentence, she read it aloud. Mu Yangling, listening to this, directly took a copy of the “Book of Rites” and added punctuation to it. This made the copying process much faster.

After helping Qi Haoran copy a hundred times, Mu Yangling realized that she had actually memorized the contents of the “Book of Rites”. Indeed, copying was the best way to memorize. Mu Yangling felt that she would definitely not forget the contents of the “Book of Rites” within three days. As for three days later, it would be good enough if she could remember the classic sentences in it.

Just as the couple was working together to copy the book, Little Treasure moved back to the palace. Qi Xiuyuan sent someone to bring Little Treasure’s study companions into the palace and made new arrangements for their classes.

This action caused a huge uproar in the Imperial Court. Originally, the Eldest Prince had eight study companions, but this time, the Emperor only accepted four back into the palace. As for the remaining kids, the Emperor rewarded them and ordered them to arrange for their own studies now that they no longer had to accompany the Crown Prince to study in the palace. At the same time, the first rule of the study companions for the princes was out. Each prince could only have four study companions, and the Crown Prince would be subjected to this same rule as the other princes.

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