“It must be Hypatia who’s wrong. Master would never bully people. He only does this when others make mistakes. Xiao Ya, have you forgotten? Master has threatened me many times before, saying he’d dock my allowance. It was always just talk—when has he ever actually done it? Using money deduction as a petty tactic—Master wouldn’t do that.”
Xiao Wu walked out holding a cloth bag. Having just heard Hypatia’s tearful complaint, she wouldn’t be happy no matter who spoke ill of Master.
“Oh! Xiao Jie finally managed to send in the dried figs! Let me taste them quickly. The caravans traveling the Western Regions are only useful for this.” Yun Ya wasn’t stupid either. She immediately reacted and started smoothing things over, grabbing a large handful of dried figs from the bag and stuffing them into Hypatia’s hands, trying to muddle through this matter.
After eating some dried fruit, Gao Yang asked Xiao Ya enviously, “When I entered the academy, all my food was confiscated. They didn’t leave me anything. Lan Ling brought lots of candy and it was all taken away too. How do you have snacks brought in?”
Xiao Ya sneaked a glance at Hypatia. Seeing her happily eating the dried fruit, she cackled with laughter and said, “The smartest person in this world is my brother. The second smartest person is your fourth brother. The third smartest person would be Xiao Jie. Rest assured, as long as Xiao Jie is around, we’ll always have an endless supply of food.”
Yun Ye’s cleverness was universally acknowledged throughout the Great Tang, and Li Tai’s wisdom was also evident to all, so Gao Yang had no objection to this ranking. However, she very much disagreed with this person called Xiao Jie. Still, for the sake of the dried fruit, she said nothing.
What Hypatia loved eating most was figs. Although she couldn’t eat those fresh fruits now, having some dried fruit would do. The fig tree in her courtyard was still too small, only producing a dozen or so fruits a year, and they were very small. Every year, as the figs gradually ripened, she would sit by the window looking westward for a long time.
After eating some figs, the irritation in her heart also disappeared. Only then did she think to size up these students of hers. Xiao Ya and Xiao Wu could be disregarded. Shishi had come to teach these young ladies martial skills, horseback riding, and other subjects. Old Master Wu She had declined, saying it was disgraceful, and strongly recommended Shishi. Just now, Shishi had used her own abilities to conquer these meddlesome young girls.
Hypatia clapped her hands to quiet everyone down. Holding a young girl’s hand, she said to the others, “For the next three years, we’ll be together day and night. I hope everyone will cherish this hard-won opportunity to study. That you can enter the academy to learn makes me feel very surprised. You must know, this world belongs to men. Women exist only as appendages. You’ve also seen—clever as I am, I’m still powerless to resist in those men’s hands. Just because I have no way to expose his deception—knowing it’s a deception but lacking sufficient knowledge to break it—is the greatest tragedy in the mortal world.”
“You are fortunate. As far as I know, Yushan Academy is the largest institution in this world, with the most complete classification of disciplines and the best facilities. Even in the West, there’s no place that can compare with it. At the academy, I am both teacher and student. I don’t want to put on the airs of a principal to communicate with everyone. I only want to be a friend, a big sister, progressing together with everyone, charging together toward the peak of learning, proving to the world that among women, there are also wise ones.”
These words were the most heartfelt ones these young ladies had heard in two days. Unlike Yun Ye’s cold and domineering manner, Hypatia clearly won the favor of most people. Of course, among these people, Xiao Wu was definitely not included.
While Hypatia was discussing the academy robes with the other young girls, a soft, delicate young woman carrying a not-too-large bundle walked in through the garden gate. Seeing many people standing in the courtyard, she froze instantly, stunned at the entrance, not knowing whether to enter or leave. Awkwardly tucking her hair, she revealed a big smile toward the courtyard.
Black hair, white skin, gauze clothing, revealing a hint of emerald green bodice—just standing there, she was a painting, a poem. Hypatia immediately forgot what was written on the scroll in her arms. In a few steps, she walked over, took the young girl’s hand, and gently asked, “Whose young lady are you? Everyone at the academy has already entered. Could it be you’re also here to study?”
The young girl struggled to extract her hand from Hypatia’s clutches and presented a document with both hands. Hypatia took it and looked—her face bloomed with smiles. She said to the other young ladies, “This is your new companion. Her name is Pang Shier. Her home is in Hezhong. This year she’s already fourteen years old.”
Xiao Wu’s mouth was pursed so high it nearly reached the sky. Originally at the academy, she was the prettiest. This one from the countryside was actually prettier than her—this was very difficult for her to like. Following Master for so long, she still had self-awareness, but this couldn’t conceal the strong hatred in her heart.
“Xiao Wu, that Shier is prettier than you,” Xiao Ya said, climbing on Xiao Wu’s shoulder and pointing at Pang Shier.
Xiao Wu twisted away, freeing herself from Xiao Ya. Glancing haughtily at Pang Shier, she returned to her dormitory. Looking at this woman even one more time was annoying. The women of the Yun household were all like independent trees—some robust, some delicate, but at least they all stood on their own. This woman looked just like dodder in the forest. Back then, Master had pointed at the dodder in the forest and told her that women easily became vine-like things, drawing nutrients from other large trees until the tree’s nutrients were drained dry. Then they would perish along with it. Even being a small tree rooted in the soil, unable to see the sunlight above, didn’t matter. At least one’s roots were planted in the soil. Although dodder could climb very high, once the big tree withered and died, it could hardly escape the fate of death. Trading one’s life for temporary glory was too unworthy.
Gao Yang really wanted to touch that woman’s skin, so she went up and pinched the woman’s face. Seeing tears come out of the young girl’s eyes, she happily rubbed her hands and said, “They say a beauty’s skin is made of water—sure enough! Haha, one pinch and water comes out.” Extending her claws wanting to pinch again, she saw Pang Shier protected behind Hypatia and couldn’t succeed, so she retracted her hand. Giggling, she also entered her own room. As soon as the door closed, the smile disappeared.
Delicate young girls had always been Hypatia’s favorite type, especially such top-quality ones—they made her extremely excited. Seeing other young ladies surrounding Pang Shier to comfort her, she dragged Pang Shier to personally arrange her dormitory…
The academy’s affairs were complex. Yun Ye was so busy his feet didn’t touch the ground. The beautiful girl’s matter was quickly cast to the back of his mind. What he now had to face was a large group of merchants. These pot-bellied fellows, led by He Shao, gathered in Yun Ye’s office, all talking at once, demanding the academy give merchants’ children a way out. Grandfather sold bricks, father sold bricks—when it came to the grandson, must he also sell bricks? Selling bricks was indeed not bad—filling one’s belly and marrying two wives was no problem. But shouldn’t our family have some progress? Grandfather sold one hundred thousand bricks a year, father sold five hundred thousand. Even if the grandson sold one million bricks, he was still a brick seller. This generation planned to change their way of living.
This was a thought people only had during prosperous times. During chaotic years, being able to guard the ancestral business was already good. Knowing that nonsense wouldn’t move Yun Ye, He Shao directly had people serve the main dish. When the boxes opened, they were all gold coins. He knew Yun Ye was very short of money recently. Both his household funds and public accounts had been diverted to Yuezhou. Now, countless prisoners were in Yuezhou leveling land, quarrying mountains, and cutting stone. Four managers from the Ministry of Works—two were in Yuezhou. Two master craftsmen from the Directorate of Imperial Manufactories had also gone. As for the long-unseen Gongshu family, over half their manpower was also in Yuezhou. Yun Ye was waiting for the Lingnan naval forces to become idle. Once the navy was free, half would be diverted to Yuezhou. There were simply too many water bandits there. So He Shao wasn’t worried that Yun Ye wouldn’t open up spots.
“Hehe, Old He, you’ve miscalculated this time. You don’t invest money in Yuezhou but come here seeking prospects for your children—I don’t know what you’re thinking. The reason students from the academy’s first few classes could rapidly enter government service was solely because the Great Tang’s territorial expansion was too fast and talent couldn’t keep up, so those opportunities existed. Now it’s different. The realm has entered a relatively stable period. Wanting to take that path clearly won’t work.”
“The Great Tang’s territory is becoming increasingly vast. From south to north, from east to west—all are unprecedentedly broad. You want to seek prospects for your descendants—I understand this. But once they lack the learning matching their official positions, they’ll suffer great losses. You’re a living example. Why don’t you properly be an earl but lower yourself to engage in commerce? Don’t you know the court will soon issue regulations that officials cannot engage in commerce? My household doesn’t even know where to go, yet you want to charge in?”
Old Zhou from the brokers stroked his beard and said, “There are many children in the family. Everyone has large families and big businesses. Every month children are born. The family can’t use all those people, so we can only find other paths for them. Rest assured, once they enter government service, they’ll be separated from the family. As for officials and merchants colluding—we won’t do such disgraceful things.”
“Yuezhou’s situation is very unclear right now. Although Marquis Yun used thunderous methods to stabilize land prices, since ancient times, poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people. What if they pull other tricks and this money goes down the drain—wouldn’t that be ugly? I heard that water bandits there now even rob bricks. The lumber the Liang family sent was reportedly robbed in Dongting Lake. Although the people were fine, the manager’s ear was cut off. We’d better play it safe and steadily earn secure money in Chang’an as the best strategy.”
Yun Ye really had nothing to say. Which of these old foxes wasn’t shrewd? If Yuezhou’s situation were clear, they would probably swarm there. No difficulty would be too difficult. Gold coins would easily submerge Yuezhou like a tide.
The person controlling academy quotas was Master Li Gang. Yun Ye and Xu Jingzong couldn’t withstand the bombardment of favors, so the two of them were people’s main breakthrough targets. When Master Li Gang appeared in Yun Ye’s office with a dark face, He Shao and those merchants could only bow and leave with their gold coins, not daring to say one extra word.
Yun Ye looked at those boxes with regret and said to Li Gang, “Master, should our academy also think of ways to make money?”