My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 103 Teaching Qi Li to Read

Upon hearing the words of the Prince of Yan, the Princess Consort of Jin looked anxiously at the Prince of Jin and said, "Your Highness, what should we do? If Consort Rong really becomes Empress, then the position of the Seventh Prince as Crown Prince will be a sure thing."

Prince Jin said, "How could you and I possibly fathom Father's intentions? Third brother, you should also be careful, lest the walls have ears."
-
The next day.

On the first day after the Dragon Boat Festival, Lu Jinshi got up early to prepare to go to the academy.

Early in the morning, seeing that Zhang'er had not yet woken up, Lu Jinshi decided not to bring Zhang'er along. Now that they were in the palace, Consort Rong could play with Zhang'er.

Since the wedding, Lu Jinshi had never gotten up this early. She was still dozing off in the carriage, so she simply lay down in Rong Yi's arms and used him as a cushion.

Just as he was sound asleep, Lu Jinshi heard a child wailing loudly.

"Waaaaah... I don't want to go to school!"

"You bad guys, you're all big bad guys, I want to eat cake!"

"Waaaah. I want to eat pastries, I'm hungry."

"Young Prince, Her Highness the Princess said that you can only eat pastries once you can study at the academy and memorize an entire book of the Book of Poetry..."

"Ah! Waaaaah!"

A child's scream made Lu Jinshi's ears hurt. She lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw the chubby little Qi Li.

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi and said, "Won't our Zhang'er end up like his cousin?"

Rong Yi said, "No, you and I both knew a thousand characters at the age of three. Our Zhang'er will only surpass us. He won't be five years old and still not know the Book of Poetry."

Hearing the pig-like screams, Lu Jinshi, being a mother herself, couldn't bear it and got off the carriage.

"Stop! This is the young prince of the Prince of Jin's mansion! How can you bully him like this?"

Upon hearing Lu Jinshi's voice and seeing the Seventh Prince following behind him, everyone from the Prince of Jin's residence bowed in greeting.

The chubby boy ran up to Lu Jinshi and hugged her tightly, saying, "Waaah, Seventh Aunt, waaah, I'm hungry, I'm so hungry! But my mother told me I could only eat pastries if I could recite the Book of Songs. This Book of Songs is so big, I can only memorize it! Waaah!"

Lu Jinshi wiped away the little fat boy's tears and said, "Don't cry, it's not hard to memorize a book of poems."

The chubby boy cried even harder: "I'm so young, how can I memorize the whole Book of Songs... Waaah, I want to eat mung bean cake, I want to eat zongzi... I'm so hungry."

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi helplessly.

Is this child really that hard to please when he grows up?

Will her son be the same when he grows up?
Lu Jinshi thought back to when Qin Ke was a child, apart from being a bit naughty, she had never cried so loudly. She hoped that her Zhang'er would learn from her uncle, but please don't let her cousin learn from her.

Rong Yi took a box of pastries from the carriage. Xiao Qili's eyes lit up, but Lu Jinshi frowned and said, "If my sister-in-law doesn't allow him to eat them, we can't let him eat them. The worst thing about raising children is for one person to set the rules and the other to break them."

"Waaaaah, Auntie Seven is bad too! Uncle Seven, Uncle..."

Little Qi Li ran to Rong Yi's side, her little hands trying to snatch the pastry box from his hands.

Rong Yi said, "Your seventh aunt is right. We can't break the rules your mother set for you."

"This humble subject greets Your Highness the Seventh Prince. I was unaware that you were Your Highness the Seventh Prince when we were at the academy. I apologize for any offense I may have caused. I hope Your Highness has been well."

Lu Jinshi looked at an old scholar with a beard who came out, and then looked at Rong Yi and asked, "Who is this?"

Rong Yi said, "It's that Mr. Qian who angered Dean Lin so much that he's still lying on his sickbed." Lu Jinshi smiled and looked at Mr. Qian in front of him: "Mr. Qian, I've long admired your name, I never thought I would have the pleasure of meeting you today."

Lu Jinshi looked up and indeed saw the words "Jinming Academy".

Master Qian asked, "And who is this lady?"

Lu Jinshi stared at the plaque of Jinming Academy in front of him and said, "I am Lu Jinshi, a teacher at Lingxiao Academy."

Master Qian sneered, "Lingxiao Academy used to be so aloof, but now it has fallen into moral decay. I had heard that Lingxiao Academy was recruiting women, but I never expected that there would be women as teachers. It's really... laughable!"

Lu Jinshi said without any politeness, "You yourself were born of a woman, so why can't a woman be a teacher?"

Master Qian noticed that Lu Jinshi's identity seemed unusual, so he didn't say much. He simply walked to Xiao Qili's side and said respectfully, "Young Prince, the Princess Consort has asked me to teach you your studies properly. Please come with me into the academy."

Little Qi Li hid behind Rong Yi and said, "I don't like you! I don't want to study with you!"

Master Qian looked at Rong Yi and said, "Seventh Prince... Princess Jin said that the young prince will study with me."

"I'm not going to study with you! You're obviously a big bad guy!"

Lu Jinshi smiled and said, "Li'er is indeed clever, worthy of being the grandson of the emperor. However, children still need to study. Why don't you go to Lingxiao Academy with Seventh Imperial Aunt to study?"

"Seventh Aunt will teach you to memorize the Book of Poetry as soon as possible, so that you can eat pastries sooner."

Little Qi Li blinked and said, "Yes, yes, I want to study with Seventh Imperial Aunt."

Lu Jinshi took Xiao Qili's hand and said, "Let's go to the Prince of Jin's residence and tell your father and mother."

Lu Jinshi then instructed Shuangxi, who was beside her, to go to Lingxiao Academy and tell her senior brother that she would probably be more than an hour late, and to let him teach first.

Rong Yi leaned close to Lu Jinshi's ear and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "By bringing Qi Li to Lingxiao Academy to study, aren't you just creating trouble for yourself?"

Lu Jinshi smiled and said, "My father has always believed in teaching all people regardless of their background and teaching according to their aptitude. Qi Li is Zhang'er's cousin after all. If I teach Qi Li well, I can set a good example for Zhang'er."

Rong Yi said, "I'm afraid my sister-in-law won't be willing to entrust Li'er to your care, just as you wouldn't believe that my sister-in-law would treat Zhang'er well."

Lu Jinshi said, "We'll talk about it when we get there. We can't just keep watching this little brat howl and make a fool of himself at the academy gate."

After saying that, the two went to the Prince of Jin's residence together.

On the first day of being confined to his home, Prince Jin, who had worked diligently for many years, slept in late, only to hear that the Seventh Prince and his wife had arrived.

Princess Jin, standing next to Prince Jin, said, "Is Qi Yi here to show off? It's just that Father Emperor is biased. If it weren't for Father Emperor's bias, Qi Yi and Lu Jinshi would have been punished for plotting against Father Emperor yesterday!"

Princess Consort of Jin glanced at Prince Jin and said, "Your Highness, His Majesty is truly confused. You are clearly no less capable than the Seventh Prince. How can a father be so biased?"

Prince Jin shook Princess Jin's hand and simply smiled, "Get up and go see them."

The Prince of Jin and his wife hurriedly washed up and went to the reception room, where they saw their son sitting on Lu Jinshi's lap, reciting in a childish voice: "Guan Guan cry the ospreys, on the islet in the river; a fair maiden, a gentleman's good match. The watercress grows unevenly, I want to eat it..."

Lu Jinshi chuckled and pinched Qi Li's chubby cheeks, saying, "It's left and right flow... not something I want to eat."

Qi Li said, "I just want to eat some pastries, Auntie. I can recite so many lines now, can I have a bite of pastry?"

"Li'er!" Upon seeing this, the Princess Consort of Jin hurriedly said, "Quickly get off your royal aunt's lap! Weren't you supposed to be studying? Why are you back?"