The Rebirth of Han Yuxi

Chapter 363 : Qingming Hall (3)Translated byきつねonJuly 23, 2022

After Yuxi had her breakfast which she took a little while to finish, she went into the room and began to prepare clothes, shoes and hats for her child. Although it was estimated that the child would be born in the sixth lunar month, she didn’t have to be in a hurry to prepare them. But Yuxi was so full of enthusiasm that no one could stop her, not even Yun Qing. No one could understand why she was so happy and excited about this pregnancy. Only she knew how many years she had been hoping for a child of her own.

Yuxi would sew clothes for half a shichen in the morning and another half a shichen in the afternoon. When the time was up, Zijin would come in and remind her, “Madam, it’s already time. You can’t do it anymore.”

Yuxi put down her needle and thread and said, “Ah, it’s you? You are stricter than a stewardess.” If she didn’t listen to her advice, Zijin would call Mama Xi and have her keep giving tongue lashing to Yuxi until Yuxi put down her needle and thread.

Zijin smiled a little and informed her, “Madam, Zisu Jiejie has a cold, so she won’t be in for the next few days.” The cold was contagious, so no matter who had contracted it, they had to go home and rest. Not to mention that Yuxi was pregnant; even she, herself, couldn’t get sick.

Yuxi nodded but quickly thought of something. “Tell Hao Dazhuang that the first day those children come to school, let him hire a physician to look at these children beforehand.” Back then, she was infected with smallpox after receiving it from Han Jianhui. Han Jianhui was originally infected by other children who interacted with him. So, in a crowded place, one must be careful about the transmission of diseases.

Zijin muttered, “It’s so troublesome to run a school. Why doesn’t Madam just donate 1,000 sets of cotton-padded clothes and trousers?” Once the cotton clothes and pants had been sent over, then the matter ended. Unlike this school, there were a series of things one had to prepare. If Madam’s condition were the same as before, it would have been fine. However, Madam was pregnant, so how could Zijin let her work so hard?

Yuxi responded with a smile. “When we stopped by at a hamlet before, didn’t you see how women still had to work in the field even when pregnant? I’m just using my brain, and I’m not even doing any physical work. How could I be tired?” She had always been in good health. If it weren’t because she was currently bearing excess load, she wouldn’t have any issue. The people around her had all been worrying for nothing.

Mama Qu brought a bowl of bird’s nest porridge over when she heard this conversation. “Madam, you have been talking non-stop about the school while the children will begin to attend classes the day after tomorrow, and somehow the place still does not have a name yet!”

Yuxi asked with a smile. “It’s just a temporary school. Why does it need a name?” It was a place to spend the winter, not a real school.

But Mama Qu did not think the same way as her. She stated, “Although it is said to be a temporary school, Madam will surely rerun it next year. Since this is the case, it should have a name. Otherwise, no one else knows what to call it.” Once Yuxi gave it a name, this credit could not be erased by anyone later on.

Yuxi thought for a while and said, “Then it will be called Qingming Hall. I hope this world will be clear soon, no more wars, and the common people will live in peace and happiness.” In this way, Yun Qing didn’t have to go to war, and she didn’t have to be worried about his safety.

Zijin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Madam, didn’t you say Qingming is not a good name? Why is it called Qingming Hall then?” She could remember that Yuxi even asked Yun Qing to change his courtesy name at that time.

Yuxi glanced at Zijin and said, “Qingming is not an appropriate courtesy name for Yun Qing, but it is still good for the academy’s name.” Yun Qing was too scary with his furious look, so it was inappropriate for him to use Qingming as his courtesy name.

Zijin said with amusement, “Madam is always right anyway. But Qingming Hall is really a nice name.” Qingming Hall had an excellent meaning as it was like a wish for the world to return back to soberness and calmness.

Hao Dazhuang didn’t know that Yun Qing’s courtesy name used to be Qing Ming. It could be said that only a few people knew Yun Qing’s old courtesy name. “Qingming Hall. That is good. Really good. Madam is worthy of being called a well-educated lady for choosing such an elegant name.”

Hao Dazhuang didn’t object to Yuxi’s instruction of asking him to let the physician first examine the children before they could enter the school. “Madam is still well thought out.” It was not that he didn’t do things carefully, but men were generally not as attentive as women.

When Yun Qing returned that evening, Yuxi talked to him about the school’s name. “Why don’t you write the name of the school?” This was also a very honourable thing for him to do.

Yun Qing did not refuse. He only needed to write just a few words! As a result, when he wrote it down, Yuxi was not satisfied with them. “These won’t do. They are too sharp and pointy.” These kinds of characters filled with murderous intent should be placed at the entrance of the military camp, unsuitable to used by a school.

He handed the brush to Yuxi with a smile. “Your writing is gentle and suave, so you should write them.”

Yuxi really took the big sheep’s fur writing brush from Yun Qing. She then stood quietly, transporting enough qi to her hand, before dipping it into the prepared ink and starting to write down the three words flamboyantly.

Yun Qing looked at Yuxi with some surprise and asked, “You have also practised writing in the cursive script?” He knew that Yuxi’s plum blossom script was beautifully written and looked very good-looking, but he didn’t expect that she would also learn to write in cursive script. Moreover, this script was pretty popular.

Yuxi smiled and told Yun Qing the story of how she knew to write in that script. After telling him that, she added, “Master Yan’s cursive script is bold and exuberant. One must look out for one’s posture as one’s movements must be swift and energetic. I have copied it for more than ten years, but I can only replicate its shape, not the spirit.”

Although Yun Qing did pretty well in studying while he was in the academy as a child, having the Yun family’s background was not enough for him to continue. In addition, he had to flee when he was ten. All these years, he didn’t even have the opportunity to continue learning this kind of thing. “I think it’s quite good. At least here, I have not seen anyone’s writing better than yours?” He didn’t say this just to compliment Yuxi, but it was a true statement.

Yuxi didn’t get carried away after hearing Yun Qing’s praise. She smiled and said, “People here don’t have time to learn this.” She had been in Yu City for more than half a year, and there were very few girls here who knew how to read and write, not to mention learning qin, chess, calligraphy and painting. This statement referred to the girls of officers’ families, not those from the poor ones. For example, Er Nainai Zhao did not know how to read and write. When Yuxi learned this, she was shocked. [+]

Yun Qing was silent.

Yuxi smiled. “Husband, if you have time, you should go and have a look at the school.” Her pregnancy would reach three months in a few days, and she would be able to go out then.

Yun Qing was not an overbearing person. Hearing Yuxi’s request, he responded, “Wait for a while. I will accompany you when I have free time.”

The next day, Yuxi asked Zijin to send out two pairs of characters she had written. One of the characters was written in cursive script, and the other in plum blossom script.

Hao Dazhuang could read, but not much, so he couldn’t understand what was written. “What’s written here?” One was written like the scene of dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, and another one was in plum blossoms.

Zijin went speechless when she heard this. “The cursive one is for the boy’s school door, while this plum blossom one should be hanging on the girl’s school door. Frame them first, then try to hang them tomorrow morning.”

Hao Dazhuang grinned. “Okay, they will be hung on the doors the next morning.”

Zijin reminded him before leaving. “You will definitely have a lot to manage in the future. If you have free time, try to learn more things.” Zijin was acting high-and-mighty when talking to others, but she completely forgot that she, herself, had shown a painful look when Yuxi first taught her to write and read. If it weren’t for Yuxi to keep pressuring her, she probably wouldn’t even recognise a single word in the three enlightenment books.

Hao Dazhuang responded with a smile, “I’ve been so busy lately that I really don’t have time. When I’m free, I’ll study hard.” He remembered the time when he sought potential students at their door. As soon as those people knew that they would not only provide three meals a day for them but could also learn to read, there was a look of disbelief on their faces. If not for the fact that Yu Cong had gone with him at that time, those people probably thought he was a swindler. It was actually not that difficult to understand those people’s disbelief. Having people providing three meals a day for free was already like a pie falling from the sky to them; it was even more unimaginable that their children would also be taught how to read. It was also a coincidence that Hao Dazhuang could even read!

Zijin said, “You should take care of the school properly. Since Madam is pregnant, she can not work too hard. If it is unnecessary, it is better not to bother Madam.”

Hao Dazhuang smiled. “Don’t worry. I know what to do.” In fact, there were more than one or two troubles in running this temporary school. Since the news got out, those unselected families had come to plead, wishing for opportunities to send their children over. It wasn’t that the General Yun family hadn’t nicely rejected them; even if they were from the same family or had a very deep friendship, it would still be useless. The most troublesome thing was that the age of their children was either a little more or a little less than the age limit that Madam had set. Madam had defined the accepted age as below ten and above five years old. Some children were even eleven or four years old, and their families still wanted to send them there.

Hao Dazhuang actually took advantage of a loophole. Madam did not specify that the student’s age had to be nominal. Madam only stipulated at that time that the number of children should not exceed 300. Therefore, even if a few among the children were a year younger or older, he would let them be in the school obscurely as long as they came from poor families. Of course, he certainly would not tell Madam about these troublesome things to not add more stress to her. Of course, it was also fortunate that Madam could not come out now since she had to nurse her unborn child. No one could enter the General Mansion that easily. Otherwise, these people would have certainly gone to beg from Madam. Madam was such a soft-hearted person. He estimated it would be hard for her to push these people away then.

Once Zijin finished her work, she added, “Madam asked me to stay and help. If you want me to do anything, just ask.” Not only did Yuxi want her to lend a hand, but she also instructed Zijin to survey the school’s situation. It was not that Yuxi didn’t trust Hao Dazhuang, but she was worried that something would go wrong.

Hao Dazhuang said frankly, “Then I won’t be polite to Miss Zijin. The girls’ school is a little less crowded, so why doesn’t Miss go over there and help out!” The boys’ and girls’ schools were not far from each other, which only took a four to five-minute walk. At that time, he would search for buildings around the same neighbourhood so that it would be convenient for him to manage. It wasn’t hard to find empty houses in Yu City. Plus, he had a wide range of contacts and found the place the day after Yuxi ordered him to locate another site.

When it came to the girls’ school, Zijin had a question. “Why are there so many boys yet only twenty girls?” The total number of boys students was eight times more than the girls. Even though there were more men and fewer women in Yu City, this gap was too big.

Hao Dazhuang answered with a smile, “Such opportunities are naturally reserved for boys. Where will there be left for girls? The families who send their daughters don’t have sons at the right age.” It was also because there was a rule that only the biological children of those perished soldiers could attend. Otherwise, there would not have been any girl. Of course, it was also fortunate that Yuxi said that both boys and girls accepted. Or else, no girl would have been allowed to join.

Hao Dazhuang literally said precisely the same thing as Yuxi speculated, causing Zijin to feel that Yuxi had become even more awesome. “Then I will go over there now.” After saying that, she went toward the girls’ school.