Chapter 7: 6

Chapter 6 The Scholar’s Wife

For example, An He, her hobbies were eating and having fun, but her greatest skill was calligraphy, especially wild grass cursive!

[Kuang cao (狂草) is an excessively free cursive style in Chinese calligraphy. The strokes are connected and round, and the fonts are wild and changeable]

Looking at her sweet and charming appearance, it was completely unimaginable that she was domineering and unrestrained when she writes wild grass cursive.

The contrast was too great that outsiders can’t believe it at all.

Liu Fang was actually surprised. When she was a child and attended class with her elder sisters, she often suspected that she was not the one who cross over but the seventeenth elder sister was. She was gifted with an extraordinary retentive memory, endowed with intelligence and wit, and excellent comprehension. It was just like using a plug-in. The seventeenth elder sister was so talented and savvy that she has crushed her, a traveler with memories of her past life, to the point of doubting her life.

[Kai le gua (开了挂) Chinese internet buzzword. It is mostly used when a person gets a relatively amazing result, because it is incredible, people think that it is obtained by cheating. It is mostly used to marvel at the achievements of others. It is not necessarily believed that this person’s achievement is obtained by cheating]

But that was the truth.

From the outsiders’ point of view, Duke Liu Mansion has only prospered in recent years. However, in Liu Fang’s view, it was the result of the accumulation of all people in Duke Liu Mansion.

What outsiders see was the success of the children of Duke Liu Mansion, but what Liu Fang sees was the IQ and EQ of the ancients.

After all, talent was innate, but the environment to acquire it was created by Madam Liu.

Her generosity, wisdom, fairness, and justice were the keys to enabling all of Duke Liu Mansion’s children to become talents and give full play to their strengths.

If it hadn’t been for her bowl of water, so that all the children could unite from the bottom of their hearts and live in harmony, Duke Liu Mansion would never be what it is today.

[Yi wan shui dan ping (一碗水端平) Chinese idiom which means to deal with things fairly and not favor any party]

Therefore, all the children in Duke Liu Mansion regardless of the concubine’s children sincerely respect and admire Madam Liu, and they have become good and obedient children.

It was precisely because of this that people like Anhe who has a great contrast can maintain her personality and grow up until now.

Anhe pulled Liu Fang all the way to look at the forest of steles, stopping from time to time to comment a few words, Liu Fang listened with a smile, and occasionally responded with a few words. The two sisters were talking and laughing at ease.

After a while, the group of scholars also came, discussing while looking at the forest of steles.

Anhe also happily pulled Liu Fang to stand not far away to listen to their discussion, nodding from time to time.

“This group of scholars is not pedantic people, and the brain is still very smart.”

Liu Fang felt funny. The current custom has not yet reached the point where men and women have separate seats, and completely disdain women. At least several world-famous scholars were women. There was also a female household. There were even female officials and generals in the courtroom. It was open-minded, there were all kinds of doctrine, it can be said that a hundred schools of thought contend, and a hundred flowers bloom.

[Nu hu (女户) means a household with no males and a woman as the head of the household in ancient times]

Such times were good, at least in Liu Fang’s view, a woman’s life was not only about getting married and having children, but also about having choices.

But because she struggled all her life in her previous life and died young, so she no longer had the urge to fight for the top. On the contrary, she was willing to be a rice worm who does not worry about food.

[Mi chong (米虫) is Internet slang to describe someone who doesn’t have to do anything and just depends on others to support them] 

Leisurely and carefree, it was good to live a happy and peaceful life.

That group of scholars was the same group that Liu Fang and Anhe encountered when they went up the mountain, and the scholar in the blue robe was naturally among them.

Anhe whispered next to Liu Fang, “Younger sister, look, that young master is very quiet now.”

“Isn’t it good for others to be quiet?”

“Quiet is good, it proves that he is sober, and didn’t like to get ahead. It’s not bad to be able to know when to advance and retreat.”

Anhe looked at the blue robe scholar, nodded, and said, “Scholars of this age always like to be in the limelight, but he is not. However, it seems that his mind is calm and steady, also very deep and serene.”

She said it was not good for someone to always like to stand in the limelight, but also said someone who was quiet and calm was deep-minded. Liu Fang was really speechless. She has said all the good things and bad things. What else can she say?

“Seventeenth elder sister, no matter what he is, it has nothing to do with us. Besides, we don’t know him. It’s not good to talk about people like this. Let’s go elsewhere.”

“Okay. Let’s go to the bamboo forest to dig bamboo shoots, we can eat them for lunch.”

“Well, let’s go.”

Anhe and Liu Fang turned around and took the people away. The scholars over there were also paying attention to them. After they left, they all gathered to discuss.

“Who were those two just now?”

“Probably the young ladies who went up the mountain to offer an incense.”

“Well, haven’t we met junzhu just now? Probably they are also the young ladies of noble family?”

“It looks like they must be the young ladies from a Duke or Marquis Mansion.”

“How do you say that?”

“Although their clothes look ordinary, they are made of high-quality brocade, and although there is not much jewelry on their bodies, everything is a masterpiece. With a group of escort and maidservants…”

Everyone suddenly said, “No wonder, the temperament was different.”

“Exactly…” 

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The blue robe scholar also heard this, then seriously continued to read the poems on the Forest of Steles from a distance away from them.

After lunch, Liu Fang and the others went back to the mansion. There were no more accidents on the way down the mountain.

After washing and changing clothes, Liu Fang lay on the bed and slept, only got up in the evening to eat, then went to greet Madam Liu, and then went back to rest.

Early the next morning, Liu Fang got up, washed and put on the training clothes, and went to the martial arts field for morning training.

During the morning exercise in Duke Liu Mansion, all the master and servants, including Madam Liu must be present.

The eldest brother already had an heir. Several children were ranked according to their age and height starting from Liu Fang. Anhe followed the adults for morning exercises.

The collective morning exercise was punching, and running for two laps. After that, Madam Liu and the other servants were busy separately, while the others continue to practice other things. For example, the eldest brother practiced swordsmanship and spearmanship on the side, while Anhe practiced the whipping technique. As for Liu Fang, she can try everything, but she was not very proficient in anything. Every day, various weapons come in rotation just to strengthen her body.

Anhe’s whipping technique was mighty and extraordinary, and no one could get close to her within the range of 2.5 meters. Moreover, the move was not the kind of showy but have no practical skill, it was truly life-threatening and full of murderous aura.

When Liu Fang was a child she has also asked An He, why did she learn such a murderous whipping technique?

Anhe’s answer was a matter of course: “Since it is to be learned from childhood, I have worked so hard to learn and practice so hard, so naturally I have to learn something practical. This whip is good, it is convenient to carry and use. It is also very convenient to practice. Well, isn’t it just for self-protection in the end? If I study so hard, but I can’t protect myself in the end, then why should I learn? Do you think I’m not tired enough? As for the murderousness? Oh, people like us, when the day comes when you need to protect your own life, this is the most practical. Otherwise, if you can’t kill others, it will be someone else’s turn to kill you.”

Liu Fang also thought it was true.

The young ladies of the Duke Liu Mansion have guards when they went out. If one day you really need to protect yourself, the skill that allowed you to kill with one hit was the more practical.

What’s wrong with killing? Oh, when life was at stake, she really can’t take care of so much.

The most important thing was to survive.

Therefore, the martial arts masters in Duke Liu Mansion taught practical kung fu, not some tricks. Even the punch that everyone practices together every day was real and practical.

Although Liu Fang was not particularly proficient in martial arts, she was still able to protect herself. At least she would have no problem facing three or five stout men.

Although she has also learned internal skills, she was not a talented person, just ordinary.

In short, under normal circumstances, she can still protect herself, not completely a pampered young lady.

After all, Duke Liu Mansion was the founding father of the country, and Liu Fang’s grandfather used to be a famous general, not a person who gained a false reputation. It’s just the young Duke Liu, Liu Fang’s father’s interest, and aspirations were not here. Even if he learns good martial arts, his favorite thing was to do business and make money. He was a layman. Therefore, it makes Duke Liu Mansion seem to be out of place in the eyes of outsiders.

Of course, Liu Fang secretly guessed that maybe the grandfather was afraid of the emperor’s suspicion of them, the founding fathers, so he condoned his father’s inaction.

However, all of this was just Liu Fang’s own speculation. As for the facts, only the parties concerned will know.

After the morning exercise, they went back to their yard to wash up and eat, and then they went back to do their own affairs.

At present, the eldest brother has three sons, and there were no daughters. In addition, the eldest brother has no concubines, so all the sons were direct descendants. Most of the other brothers have many sons and few daughters, and the girls were still very young, the oldest one was just over a year old, and the youngest was only three months old.

As for Anhe and Liu Fang, one was already engaged and was about to get married, and the other was about to be engaged and was preparing to get married. It will only take a year or two at most, and there was no need to study at all.

Therefore, only the boys’ school was open in the mansion, and the girl’s school was temporarily closed.

However, Madam Liu was the kind of person who likes to take precautions. Even if there were no girls in the mansion who need to go to class, the teachers who teach the girls were not dismissed but continued to support them. They were not exactly idle, they still teach the servants on daily basis.

Of course, these kinds of servants who have been taught by these teachers were not ordinary servants. They were dowry servants prepared for the young ladies in the mansion like female guards, female accountants, female housekeepers, etc.

Even they were capable to enlighted the children of the young ladies in the future. In short, they were the professionals that only a big family can have.

Su Mo and Su Hua on Liu Fang’s side were also professionals, including female guards, female accountants, female housekeepers, and female teachers. The four little maids at the bottom were each good at a certain aspect, waiting to take their post in the future.

Seeing Duke Liu Mansion planning for the future like this, and it was justified that Duke Liu once thought that his family was poor.

Don’t you see modern people raising children, the cost from kindergarten to university was considerably a lot. What’s more, Duke Liu has forty children. In order to maintain the dignity of the Duke’s mansion, it was really not easy to have such a large family.

Therefore, until now, Duke Liu Mansion can be said to be more relaxed, and the cost of the mansion was less because the children grow up, start their own families, and move out of the mansion.

When Liu Fang and others get married, then only the eldest brother’s family was left in Duke Mansion. The population was not too large, and the cost will be less.

However, the cost of the school will probably not be small. After all, Madam Liu intends to turn her school into a clan school to train the people in the family. This aspect was absolutely impossible to reduce the cost.

Fortunately, the family school was also very useful for cultivating children. When there were more talents from one generation to the next, it was still beneficial to the entire family. Now, this cost was of course nothing.

In the blink of an eye, midsummer has passed, autumn has come, and with the advent of winter, the nineteenth year of Emperor Jin has passed.

The next year, when the spring season came, Madam Liu sent someone early in the morning to inquire about the group of scholars who were preparing for the imperial examination and planned to choose a husband for Liu Fang.

When New Year’s Eve passed and the Lantern Festival came, Anhe took advantage of her last year celebrating the New Year at her parents’ house. After dinner, she took Liu Fang and ran out to see the lanterns.

The elder brothers who live in the capital naturally had to keep up. First, they took their wife out for a stroll. Second, they also had to watch the two younger sisters.

It was just that Anhe had seen enough of his brothers and sister-in-law spreading dog food all the way, so she dragged Liu Fang away after a while. Making Liu Fang feel helpless.

[Gou liang (狗糧) Chinese internet slang means public display of affection]

“Elder sister, let’s just stay farther away, do we need to be separated from the eldest brother and the others?”

Anhe rolled her eyes, “Hmph, you can bear to watch it. Anyway, I’m too lazy to watch them. One by another kissing in front of me, it seems like they never get married.”

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