Chapter 167.2: Jin Wang Dotes On His Concubine Ch. 167 Part 2
Translated by gingercat
Edited by gingercat
This Hong Yu was very dedicated to his job and he knew that the matter of the imperial grandsons’ studies wasn’t something he could afford to be negligent about. He asked Xiaobao and the others what they had already learned, one by one. When he learned that no one other than Xiaobao had been enlightened, he could only smile bitterly.
Hong Yu started teaching from the Three Character Classic. As for Xiaobao, he taught him separately, starting with Qian Jia Shi.
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Studying at this age was an extremely boring and tedious task since it was all memorization. The teacher would recite it once, then the little imperial grandsons would repeat it after him. Gradually, after repeating the verses enough times, the imperial grandsons would try to recite them on their own. Once they could memorize them and be familiar with them, the teacher would move on.
After studying for nearly an hour, seeing that some of the imperial grandsons could no longer sit still, Hong Yu announced it was time for a break.
The eunuchs and palace maids accompanying them came in one after another. Those who wanted to eat snacks ate snacks. Those who wanted to drink water drank water. After resting for around a quarter of an hour, they resumed studying again.
However, compared to their previous efforts, it was evident that the young princes’ patience was running out. They sat like there were nails under their butts, and would shift around from time to time. Their gaze also kept wandering out the window.
Most children at their age would be more interested in playing. The main reasons why they had endured it earlier were because one, their father had just warned them, and two, they were curious.
This topic was a bit heavy. Was Jin Wang supposed to tell Xiaobao that Yan Ge’er’s father wasn’t there to fight for this opportunity for him? Emperor Hongjing didn’t care enough to say anything about Yan Ge’er beginning his studies even though Yan Ge’er was already over four years old.
Jin Wang glanced at Yaoniang. Yaoniang nodded in understanding, planning to go to Qing Wang Manor the next day.
Meanwhile, the various princes soon received news of how well their children performed in the imperial study that day.
The older children need not be mentioned. They were already sensible and knew to be self-disciplined. As for the young ones, those who didn’t study hard and had kicked up a fuss about going out to play were punished without exception.
Out of everyone, Xuan Ge’er was punished the heaviest, because he was the one who called for his friends, who were studying, to go out and play together.
Despite his temper, Lu Wang had never raised a hand on Xuan Ge’er. However, today he made a move and heavily spanked Xuan Ge’er twice on the butt. If Consort Lu hadn’t stopped him by saying that he wouldn’t be able to study tomorrow if he was injured, it was likely that Xuan Ge’er would have suffered a bit more.
The next day, the fathers didn’t come, but the elder brothers arrived at the palace with their younger brothers in tow.
Today was different from yesterday. Yesterday was their first day. From today onwards, these little imperial grandsons would have to arrive at the imperial study before chen-shi2.
This was because the princes didn’t live in the palace, so it was inevitable that there would be delays on the way. Back when Jin Wang and the rest of the princes had to study, they all got up at yin-shi3 and arrived at the imperial study by mao-shi.
Xuan Ge’er was in an especially bad mood today. Xiaobao could see it on his face, and the others were also surprised.
He was curious about what was wrong with Xuan Ge’er, so he asked him.
Xuan Ge’er couldn’t help but expose his sadness as he let out a sob and rub his eyes. However, his words were stubborn, “Why do you care about what’s wrong with this young master? This young master was beaten, does this young master need to report to you?!”