Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 783: So Reasonable
Although Ye had passed the re-selection of the prince's concubine, King Jiangdu had never met her alone. After all, the selection of concubines was all promoted by the emperor and operated behind the scenes. It was not his business as the Grand Master, and even the queen could not intervene. Not to mention that Ye was not the prince's concubine, even if she really became the prince's concubine, he would not be able to meet his nephew's wife for no reason.
However, ever since he knew that Ye was also in this remote village, he was determined to meet her.
Therefore, even though the dignified King of Jiangdu waited for quite a while in the small hall of the courtyard, he was still very patient. He even scolded his followers who were looking around, saying that they should not be rude. After drinking half a cup of tea, he finally received a message that Ye was willing to see him. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he could rely on his status to be a bit tough, Ye was a strong woman who could cut off the ear of a young man who blocked her way and teased her, and beat a lackey into a pulp. If he didn't want to use his reputation to run into trouble, he could only ask for a meeting politely.
He came for his daughter, not for her beauty!
For this reason, the King of Jiangdu even straightened his clothes to make sure he could appear in a decent and decent image, and then he walked out of the hall with his head held high. Several followers naturally followed closely behind, but at the second door, they were stopped by two maids, and the reason was so that no one could refute it. It was okay for the dignified Miss Ye to meet the King of Jiangdu, but what about asking them to follow?
King Jiangdu did not take his entourage seriously when it was stopped . But when he saw Ye, she was dressed in tight clothes, holding a long sword in her right hand with a cold expression. He became nervous and worried that she might have misunderstood his intention and would get angry and strike him with a sword.
But now that he was here, the Grand Chancellor, King Jiangdu, who had seen many storms but had never been involved in one, finally made up his mind and revealed his purpose: "I have heard of Miss Ye's name for a long time in the capital. I used to admire the current wife of Mr. Zhang, Miss Zhu, very much. Now that I know there is a heroine like Miss Ye, she..."
King Jiangdu paused, organized his words again, and then said in the most sincere manner: "She became even more interested in learning martial arts. When she learned that Miss Ye was also going to teach martial arts at the Women's School, she argued with us at home and insisted on going to the Women's School and learning martial arts from you."
Ye stood there quietly with a cold face until the King of Jiangdu said that Princess Hailing was clamoring to go to the girls' school. Then she smiled and said calmly, "Since Your Majesty has come to see me today, I guess you are against Princess Hailing's determination to practice martial arts? Do you think that women are virtuous if they have no talent, and that they should just be obedient and be good women in the inner house, and don't need to learn anything else?"
"Of course I didn't mean that!" King Jiangdu didn't expect to be rebuked just after he opened his mouth. He was a little embarrassed and angry for a moment. "My daughter is the apple of our family's eye. We are not afraid that she will learn martial arts and become aggressive. Anyway, we will help her unconditionally. I'm just afraid that practicing martial arts is too hard. If you are not careful, you may injure your limbs while practicing martial arts!"
"She is a county lady, why would she need to learn this? I will give her as many guards as she wants. Who dares to bully her?"
Although Ah Liu had roughly explained what King Jiangdu had done and the character of this Grand Master when he came to tip her off, Ye had known some of this in the past, but now that she had actually met King Jiangdu face to face and heard what he had to say, Ye was sure that he was truly a good father who loved his daughter infinitely.
Compared to many fathers and elders who use girls in their family as bargaining chips these days, King Jiangdu is much stronger.
However, in the face of the seemingly tough declaration of King Jiangdu, she still smiled calmly, and then said word by word: "I don't know your daughter. What the king asked for originally has nothing to do with me, so I can agree to you without any burden. What's more, I don't even know whether the county lady wants to learn martial arts on a whim, and there is no reason to offend the king because of the county lady's whim."
Hearing what Ye said, King Jiangdu felt a little nervous, because he knew that if Ye said that, she would definitely add the word "but". Sure enough, just as he worried, Ye spoke again.
"However, there are some things that the king just said that I don't agree with. It is true that a son of a rich family should not sit in the hall. The county lady's status is such that she usually brings dozens of guards with her when she goes out, which is indeed enough to ensure her safety. But the king must know that there are unexpected events. How did Lady Zhao and Concubine Yu escape during the rebellion of the common people?"
The King of Jiangdu's face suddenly darkened. He didn't say what he was about to say, "They were fooling around." Not to mention that Duke Zhu Jing of Zhao didn't blame his wife for what happened at the time, and the emperor didn't do the same? On the contrary, the two men still felt deeply guilty... But the two women, including Widow Zhang, who escaped together, were really lucky!
These three women were really fierce. Afterwards, several bodies in the temple were found to have fatal wounds from their weapons. Afterwards, it was said that Concubine Yu and Lady Zhao were also covered in wounds...
Seeing that King Jiangdu did not speak, Ye thought that the Grand Master was not convinced, so she said calmly: "As for what happened to me, others are certainly not so unlucky to encounter it. However, since the incident of the Zhenzhu clan Ji during the Song Dynasty has been widely circulated among the people, it means that even women who are raised in seclusion can still encounter danger."
"So, if the county lady wants to learn martial arts because she admires Mrs. Zhang, or because she thinks I beat that evil young man and his lackeys to a pulp, then there is no need for her to do so. However, if she wants to learn self-defense, then she can go to the girls' school. I have no reason to refuse."
"I never intended to make all the girls in the girls' school become masters of martial arts. I just hope that they can have a certain degree of self-protection when they encounter bad guys. When I teach them in the girls' school in the future, I don't plan to teach them a lot. Just like Cheng Yaojin's three axes, it is enough for them to learn how to defeat the enemy unexpectedly and buy time and opportunities."
"For most women, martial arts is for self-defense, not for fighting."
King Jiangdu was surprised at first, but gradually he was moved by what Ye said. In the end, he found that he agreed with what Ye said from the bottom of his heart and thought it made sense! Although he was a little annoyed by his soft ears, he had to admit that Ye's statement of being prepared for the worst really hit his soft spot.
The story of Ji from the Pearl Clan happened in a peaceful and prosperous era. Just like when Ye was almost robbed last time, who can guarantee that his innocent daughter, whom he has taken good care of, will not encounter some criminals?
Therefore, after hesitating for a while, the Grand Master couldn't help but ask shyly, "Miss Ye, do you mean that you don't want to teach your students to be masters like you and Zhu Ying?"
"Unless you start practicing from childhood, and have enough good food and medicinal materials to use, and have enough perseverance, it is impossible for ordinary people to practice like Miss Zhu, right?" Ye was amused by the King of Jiangdu's anxious look, and made a joke. Cao Qingqing, who was standing beside her, was so engrossed that she burst into laughter.
After laughing, the little girl realized that the person in front of her was not an ordinary person who she could laugh at, but the King of Jiangdu. She quickly coughed to make amends and said, "My king, what the young lady meant is that if you want to be like her and Miss Zhu, you must not only work hard from a young age and lay a solid foundation, but also eat well, with good food and good medicinal herbs every day, without any other distractions."
"For example, when I was in the escort agency, I also practiced martial arts since I was young, but that was for the purpose of protecting the women of wealthy families in the future. So a lot of the skills I practiced were for how to block swords and knives for the wives and ladies of the bodyguards at critical moments. I learned how to use a slingshot, which is also a weapon very suitable for girls... But because I didn't have enough tonics and meat, I was left with many hidden injuries from practicing."
"Thanks to following the young lady, I took a long time to recuperate and regain some energy and blood."
"How can students of the girls' school train like this in the future! Not to mention that some people don't have the conditions, even if they do, Miss and Miss Zhu won't agree! Learn the three skills of self-defense, and then exercise more to strengthen your body, that's enough. By the way, the last eight words were said by Master Zhang. He also said that if girls stay at home all day, they will be weak and will not live long!"
Seeing Cao Qingqing's straightforward words, King Jiangdu's face changed immediately , and Ye had to cough immediately. As a result, the little girl immediately shut up, but the look she gave her seemed very confused, as if she didn't know what was wrong. She couldn't help but feel angry and amused.
"Confucianism talks about keeping healthy, Taoism and Buddhism often talk about keeping quiet, but Mr. Zhang is different. He often says that life lies in exercise. As a result, Miss Zhu listened to him and told this little girl, who remembered it."
Ye knew that the trouble with King Jiangdu was caused by Zhang Shou, so she pushed the blame onto Zhang Shou without making a sound. After all, Zhu Ying said that it was Zhang Shou who said that. Zhang Shou would not deny even that.
When the King of Jiangdu heard Zhang's words, he was not angry but happy. He had not been able to see his daughter these days. Although he insisted on not relaxing on the surface, he was almost anxious in his heart. If it was really like what Ye said, the girls' school could only teach a little bit of basic self-defense skills, and Zhang Shou's words did not sound like he advocated martial arts, then he could agree to the Princess of Hailing...
After all, although there were several maids in the palace who were good at martial arts and could teach Princess Hailing, their identities were very different and their ages were quite different, so when he proposed such a compromise, she simply refused to agree.
Now that he thought about it, the girls in the girls' school were all about the same age, and even the female teachers were not all rigid widows. Moreover, a daughter without sisters at home might have more friends there. At this time, he completely forgot that his daughter had already been engaged, and according to the age at which families usually marry their daughters, she should have been married...
So, he touched his chin and sighed helplessly: "I have four sons and only this one daughter, so it's inevitable that I'm worried about her. To be honest, that girl has been mad at me for several days at home, so when I heard that you were here, Miss Ye, I didn't care about anything and had to see you... Because I know that girl Zhu Ying will definitely stand on my daughter's side."
“Maybe even Zhang Shou brought me here not to visit Zhang Chen and Si Lang, but to convince me!”
When King Jiangdu heard this, his face was full of gloom. Ye thought of the scene when Ah Liu came to see her and delivered the message. She couldn't help but smile, and then said softly: "Your Majesty is a kind father who loves his daughter. I can understand. I just hope that in the future there will be more girls who are as lucky as the county lady, and more fathers like you."
This may be just an ordinary compliment to others, but when King Jiangdu heard it, he felt it was the most appropriate and touching compliment. He would not dare to take other titles, but he would definitely take on the role of the best father in the world! He did not even think about whether his four brats would be angry but dare not say anything after hearing this, he just felt that the cold and beautiful girl in front of him was particularly pleasing to the eye.
"Fathers in the world should be like me. A kind father will make his son filial. If a father cannot be kind, how can he expect his son to be filial?" After boasting about himself, King Jiangdu said to Ye, "After listening to your words today, I can finally reconcile with my precious daughter after I go back. I owe you this favor, Miss Ye."
"If you have any problems in the future, just come to me! Hey, if you want to get married, I'll be your matchmaker. If you don't want to get married, that's fine too. If your elders are nagging, I can also help you block them!"
Cao Qingqing originally thought that Prince Jiangdu was a big shot in the royal family and must be difficult to talk to. But seeing that Prince Jiangdu changed his attitude so readily, she suddenly felt that it was no wonder that this great clan leader could easily marry his precious daughter to a poor scholar - she had no idea that Scholar Song was not poor at all - it turned out that he was such a reasonable person.
Ye had just witnessed the deep understanding of the King of Jiangdu on the four words "kind father and filial son", so she didn't find it strange at this time. She smiled and bowed, thanking the other party for his promise. After she told Cao Qingqing to see the guest off, she stood in silence for a while, and then asked without turning her head: "Sixth Master, I think you are satisfied?"
Following her voice, Ah Liu appeared, but the first thing he said was very direct: "I'm not spying on you."
After saying this, he did not say that Zhang Shou was worried that Ye and King Jiangdu would have a conflict, but said sincerely: "Miss Ye's words to persuade King Jiangdu were very good."
Ye knew that Ah Liu was a person who would always declare that he would borrow money and would not care whether you were a woman or not, so she was a little surprised that he suddenly agreed with her words. But she didn't think that such a seemingly weird boy really agreed with the daughter of King Jiangdu to strengthen her body...
Cao Qingqing, who had already paid back two installments of Ah Liu's debt, told him privately that Ah Liu seemed to admire Zhu Ying very much...but the biggest reason was not because she was beautiful, but because Zhu Ying was very good at fighting. At the critical moment, she would not only not become a burden, but also be able to defeat the enemy. So, Ah Liu agreed with her words, probably because she wanted Hailing County Lady to protect her husband in the future?
However, the next moment, she only heard Ah Liu say: "Song Benben is too weak. If the county lady is also too weak, it will be bad for their children in the future. No world can tolerate weakness."
