For a time, Chaoyang Gate was as lively as New Year celebrations.

Zhou Shaojin, Cheng Zheng, Cheng Sheng, and Zhou Chujin sat on the large kang by the window in the reception room, drinking tea and eating snacks. Ah Ren held a Buddhist whisk while Guan Ge wielded a feather duster, the two chasing each other around the room without a moment’s rest. Their wet nurses stood nervously to the side, while the young maids playing with them followed anxiously behind, afraid they might bump into or hit each other. Yun Ge’er was held by his wet nurse, watching wide-eyed from the side, occasionally giggling and making sounds of delight, appearing thoroughly entertained.

Being somewhat older, Ah Bao was different from Ah Ren and quickly integrated into the Cheng family.

He stood to the side watching Ah Ren, looking as if he feared Ah Ren might cause trouble.

Gu Zhong laughed and said, “With the wet nurses and maids watching, nothing will happen. If Ah Ren or Guan Ge get bruised or bumped anywhere, those serving them will be severely punished, so they’ll be very conscientious in caring for the two children.”

He asked Ah Bao, “I’m planning to go practice calligraphy with my brother. Would you like to join us?”

Ah Bao looked at Gu Ning, who sat at the square table in the main hall with posture straight as a pine tree practicing large characters. After thinking for a moment, he said somewhat uncertainly, “I haven’t formally taken a teacher yet for my education. I’ve only been reading the Three Character Classic with Second Grand-aunt…”

Gu Zhong smiled like a little adult and said, “When my brother and I were young, Mother taught us to recognize characters, and we only formally took a teacher this spring.” The implication being that there was no need to feel embarrassed. “Have you started tracing characters yet?”

Ah Bao nodded.

Gu Zhong said, “My mother requires me to practice three hundred large characters every day. How many large characters does Grand-aunt require you to practice?”

Ah Bao said somewhat embarrassedly, “There’s no requirement. I just need to copy from the character book for the duration of one incense stick each day.”

“Then you’re just beginning,” Gu Zhong said with the voice of experience. “If you sometimes write more characters, it’s best to write more. My father says that practice is a matter of continuous improvement—the more effort you put in, the better your writing becomes. Before my father passed the jinshi examination, he would write five thousand characters every day. His calligraphy is excellent now. Not only my grandfather and grandmother, but even my great-grandfather and great-grandmother have praised Father’s writing. My great-grandmother’s calligraphy is also excellent. When my aunts, cousins, and younger female cousins began their education, they all used character books written by my great-grandmother. Even now, my Seventh Aunt practices five pages of small script daily following Great-grandmother’s character book! My Seventh Aunt is my Grand-aunt’s daughter and my father’s cousin…”

Ah Bao was already dizzy from the complex family relationships Gu Zhong described. But seeing how seriously Gu Zhong spoke, he still nodded solemnly while following him to the main hall.

The senior maid beside Gu Ning immediately walked over silently, curtsied to Gu Zhong, and whispered, “Second Young Master, the Young Master is practicing calligraphy!”

“I know!” Gu Zhong also whispered, “We’re going to practice calligraphy too. Please bring us a small table.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a servant woman from the Cheng family who had been attending in the main hall stepped forward and said quietly, “Young Masters, please wait a moment. This servant will arrange it immediately.”

Gu Zhong nodded.

The servant woman withdrew on light feet.

Gu Zhong gestured to Ah Bao, then tiptoed forward, standing on his toes and craning his neck to look at the table.

Gu Ning, who had been concentrating on his writing, suddenly turned around and smiled at his younger brother.

Gu Zhong was startled and said guiltily, “Brother, I didn’t disturb you. I was just looking…”

“I know!” Gu Ning said warmly. “Once I finish the assignments my teacher gave me, I’ll play with you.” As he spoke, he also glanced at Ah Bao.

Ah Bao smiled shyly.

Gu Zhong quickly said, “I’ll practice calligraphy with Brother.”

Gu Ning smiled and lowered his head to practice seriously.

The servant women brought over a set of small tables and chairs.

Gu Zhong then took out character books and traced characters together with Ah Bao.

At first, Ah Ren and Guan Ge tried to run into the main hall, but their wet nurses held them back and pointed to Gu Ning, Gu Zhong, and Ah Bao practicing calligraphy, coaxing them with a few words. The two children then stopped trying to enter the main hall and instead ran back and forth between the reception room and the inner room. Since the inner room had many jade-carved incense balls, wooden stacking dolls, and other small toys, the two children had no time to bother Gu Ning and the others.

Only Yun Ge’er was quite dissatisfied.

He wanted to watch Ah Ren and Guan Ge play.

Whenever he couldn’t see them, he would start fussing.

After trying several times, the wet nurse understood his intention and carried him following behind Ah Ren and Guan Ge. He then quieted down, occasionally making incomprehensible sounds.

Cheng Xiao couldn’t help laughing and said, “When Yun Ge’er grows up, he’ll definitely be the type to tear tiles off roofs and catch fish in rivers.”

Zhou Chujin, however, was delighted with this nephew of hers no matter how she looked at him. She smiled and said, “Look how sturdy he is—he’s much heavier than our Guan Ge was at this age. Such children are all energetic. When the time comes, you just need to guide him well. Like Shaojin—when she was little, she was especially mischievous, asking ‘why’ about everything she saw, never quiet for a moment. At the time, my grandmother worried she wouldn’t be able to marry her off. Look at her now—quieter than anyone, staying home every day with no desire to go anywhere!” Speaking of this, she remembered the temple fair at Great Xiangguo Temple on the first day of the tenth month and said, “The temple fair at Great Xiangguo Temple probably won’t be held, will it? Should we go to Zhetan Temple in the suburbs to offer incense?”

“I heard the temple fair at Great Xiangguo Temple will still be held,” Cheng Sheng said. “However, it may be conducted as a religious ceremony—since the Crown Prince has passed away, it’s appropriate for the monasteries in the capital to pray for him. Zhetan Temple is a major temple, so I think they’ll probably hold a prayer fair like Great Xiangguo Temple, won’t they?”

“Then we’d better not go out,” Zhou Chujin said, her memory of the crushing crowds at the temple fairs held by the capital’s major monasteries still vivid. “We’ll just make offerings at home!”

By rights, the first day of the tenth month was a day for honoring ancestors.

Cheng Xiao smiled and said, “I wasn’t planning to go out either. Why don’t we gather again on the second day? Look how happy the children are playing together!” Speaking of this, she sighed and said, “Watching this makes me want to bring our Ying Ge’er over.”

Zhou Chujin smiled and said, “Then bring her over! After all, children raised by your own side are different.”

“Who says otherwise?” Cheng Xiao said with a bitter expression. “But my father-in-law and mother-in-law won’t let her go. They say we can’t even take care of ourselves, let alone care for a child. They’re also urging us to have another one…”

Every family has its own difficult scriptures to recite!

Zhou Chujin sighed inwardly but noticed Zhou Shaojin had remained silent for a long time.

She couldn’t help but nudge Zhou Shaojin with her elbow and said, “What are you thinking about?”

Zhou Shaojin came back to herself and smiled, “I was watching Gu Ning and Gu Zhong practice calligraphy, thinking about how these young children will all need to begin their education in a few years. The Cheng family clan school used to be so excellent—why don’t we establish a clan school again? Let the children study together. When they grow up, they’ll not only have blood ties but also the bond of fellow students. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Zhou Chujin was greatly moved.

The Liao family was one of the top families in Zhenjiang and could barely count among those in Jiangnan, but they were clearly insufficient in the capital. She and her husband no longer hoped the Liao family could support them—they only asked that they not hold them back.

If Guan Ge’er could grow up with Gu Zhong, Ah Bao, and the others, they would have someone to rely on if anything happened in the future.

She looked toward Cheng Sheng: “I think this is a good idea! But we all have elders in our families, so I don’t know what the elders think.”

Cheng Sheng was also quite moved.

After the senior branch separated from the Jiuru Lane branch in Jinling, those remaining in Jinling no longer had the senior branch as prominent relatives and were having difficult times. Without the foundation in Jiuru Lane, the senior branch was equally disadvantaged.

If they could recreate the glory of the Cheng family clan school, the senior branch could truly establish a firm foothold in the capital.

She looked toward Cheng Zheng.

What Cheng Sheng thought of, Cheng Zheng had also considered.

She pondered and said, “I’ll go back and discuss this with Eldest Sister. If it can be done, we’ll need to decide where to establish this clan school.”

Zhou Shaojin said, “Could it be established here? If not, I still have a residence on Yuqian Lane. However, there wouldn’t be anyone from the family to oversee things there. When a clan school first starts, it’s best to have someone overseeing it. If the teacher isn’t suitable, we can replace them. But if this delays the children’s futures, the consequences would be irreversible.”

Cheng Zheng nodded and said, “The choice of teacher is also an issue. Currently, Ning Ge’er and Zhong Ge’er are being tutored by a clan uncle from the Gu family, but next year is the great examination year. This clan uncle will definitely participate, and if he succeeds in placing on the golden list, the Gu family will certainly need to hire a new tutor.”

Zhou Shaojin mused, “Could we ask Mr. Wu Zaoxiu to help recommend someone with profound learning? It needn’t necessarily be someone from the Hanlin Academy—being too rigid in teaching young children isn’t good. Finding someone younger…”

“That’s a good idea,” Cheng Sheng smiled. “When we were studying at home, Grandmother preferred to find female teachers for us rather than old Hanlin scholars for exactly this reason. Unfortunately, we gave birth to boys. If only we could have daughters.”

The conversation shifted from the academy to methods of conceiving sons or daughters.

Zhou Shaojin smiled with pursed lips.

A young maid came in to report, “Madam, Nanny Shang requests an audience.”

Since there were no outsiders present and Nanny Shang didn’t come in directly to report, clearly what she needed to discuss wasn’t convenient for others to hear.

Zhou Shaojin smiled in acknowledgment, excused herself to Cheng Zheng and the others, and left the main room.

Nanny Shang was waiting in the covered corridor.

Seeing her, she stepped forward, curtsied, and whispered in her ear, “Madam, the steward from the second branch—the distant nephew of Old Madam Tang—was cursing at the main gate. Manager Qin had someone stuff his mouth and drag him into the gatehouse. Manager Qin asks what should be done.”

Zhou Shaojin’s eyelids twitched as she said, “Why was he cursing at the main gate?”

Nanny Shang hesitated for a moment before saying, “Last winter, the second branch invested one hundred thousand taels of silver in the Thirteen Hongs’ fleet. This year, two ships from the Thirteen Hongs capsized at sea, and one of them was the ship the second branch had invested in. Old Madam Tang’s nephew claims that wasn’t actually the ship they invested in—that Fourth Master had manipulated things because he still harbored resentment over how the second branch had taken so much silver from the senior branch during the clan separation…”

This was indeed something Cheng Chi would do.

But Zhou Shaojin felt that even if this matter was Cheng Chi’s doing, he wasn’t wrong.

The second branch had separated with so much silver—if they weren’t greedy, that money would have been enough for their descendants to live on for several generations.

Now that they lacked the skills, they came to blame others for being more capable.

She said, “What does Manager Qin think?”

Nanny Shang said, “Manager Qin’s meaning is to send him to the authorities—when he was cursing, neighbors saw it.”

“Then follow Manager Qin’s suggestion!” Zhou Shaojin also felt they should teach these people a lesson, lest they treat their household like a vegetable garden gate where they could do as they pleased.

Nanny Shang smiled and left to carry out the order.