The Three Great Han Dynasties: Awaken Liu Bei with a scolding; you weave mats and sell sandals.

Wu looked ashamed. As she spoke, the maid beside her handed her a small bamboo stick. If you hit someone with this bamboo stick, it would hurt quite a bit.

Liu Hong didn't even glance at the bamboo stick, and reached out to hug Wu Shi.

Liu Hong held Wu tightly in his arms, his hands firmly pressed against her chest, feeling exceptionally fulfilled.

"Madam is intelligent and perceptive; how could she be bothered by these rumors? Tomorrow I will have a good talk with the clan elders. According to the clan rules, we must give them a good talking-to when necessary, and we cannot allow them to slack off."

Liu Hong said in a cold voice.

Wu did not refuse. Now that the Liu family was moving to Zhuojun, many things should be strictly controlled. Even if it was an overcorrection, they should not make a fool of themselves in Zhuojun.

Once they establish themselves in Zhuojun, their branch will be considered a force to be reckoned with, even if they look at the whole country.

"I will listen to my husband in everything."

Wu wrapped her arms around Liu Hong's strong shoulders, her face flushed with happiness, but she still hadn't forgotten what she had been thinking about.

She exhaled softly and said, "But my husband, if in the future you wish to take a concubine for the sake of the family and the continuation of the main lineage, I will have no objection and will even strongly support it."

"That Xu family member is of excellent character and can be considered the best choice."

As his wife finished speaking, Liu Hong couldn't help but think of Madam Xu, and smiled calmly: "This matter cannot be forced."

……

The small courtyard at the far east end of the back residence of the Liu family private school.

After Xu Shu became Liu Hong's godfather, he and his mother moved into the private school.

In the past, Xu's mother took care of all the chores for the private school, and she earned a considerable amount of money as her monthly salary.

Xu Shu often helped out, even assisting the private tutor Cui Yan with tasks such as organizing homework. The money he earned was not a reward from others, but was legitimately earned through self-sufficiency.

The two were having a meal when Xu Shu suddenly spoke up, saying, "Mother, I am getting older, and in a few months, I will be going to Zhuojun with my adoptive father to serve as an official in a certain region."

"If Mother has someone she desires, she can choose a suitable person to accompany her for the rest of her life. If Mother is the only one in the family, I really can't rest easy."

With a loud bang, the bowl and chopsticks slammed heavily onto the gleaming yellow wooden dining table, revealing Xu's immense anger at that moment.

If a woman with a child were to try to make a living in the Han Dynasty, and if she were even slightly weak-willed, she would probably have been taken advantage of long ago.

"Yuanzhi, have you perhaps overheard some gossip elsewhere?"

Xu Shu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, as if he did not understand why his mother had suddenly become so angry.

He shook his head instinctively, then reassured him, "It's just what I'm thinking; it has nothing to do with anyone else."

"What's wrong with Mother?"

Xu Shu asked another question, and only then did Xu realize that her reaction had indeed been a bit too extreme.

Whether it was Xu Shu's status in the private school or the reputation of the Xu family in the community, both had always been excellent, and over the years, there had never been any gossip.

After all, she lived in the Liu family's private school, which meant that their fates were intertwined, and the Liu family's private school held a very special position in Zhuo County and was deeply loved by the people.

Therefore, even if there were that gossipy woman, no one would dare to speak ill of her.

"It's good that nothing's wrong."

Xu lowered her head and continued eating, but this time she ate much faster than before, and put down her chopsticks and turned to leave in a few breaths.

Xu Shu witnessed this scene.

He was no longer young, and a sudden realization dawned on him: "Could it be that Mother really has someone she likes? Who is it?"

"Is it Chef Wang, or Carpenter Zhang? Or perhaps Mr. Cui?"

His mother's affairs were his affairs, and he should naturally share her burdens and solve her problems. However, Xu Shu really couldn't interfere too much in this matter, so he could only let things take their course.

The most he can do is occasionally mention it, like he did just now; that's the limit.

……

On this day, just after dawn, the sound of students reading aloud filled the Liu family's private school, clear and melodious.

"The ospreys cry 'guan guan' on the river's islet. A fair maiden, a gentleman's ideal."

"They felled the sandalwood tree, and placed it on the riverbank."

"Big rat, big rat, don't eat my millet!"

Whether it's the preschool class or the regular classes below, the morning reading curriculum is basically the same.

For students just beginning their studies, even those with exceptional talent, the more solid their foundation, the better.

Zhang Fei held a scroll in his hands.

He was a big, burly man with a dark complexion. He stared wide-eyed at the words in the book, recognizing each one and then reciting them in sentences.

As the son of a butcher, Zhang Fei originally had some basic knowledge, but he hadn't been exposed to it for a long time and had forgotten most of it. Now, after reading it several times, he remembered it all again.

As a new member of the Young Lin Class, Guan Yu had just recited the Book of Poetry, one of the Five Classics. After finishing the reading, he immediately picked up the Spring and Autumn Annals, another of the Five Classics.

Although the original text of the Spring and Autumn Annals is extremely concise, Guan Yu loved it dearly, especially the three commentaries within it: Zuo Zhuan, Gongyang Zhuan, and Guliang Zhuan.

He desperately wanted to memorize everything and be able to recite it backwards.

Especially in the Zuo Zhuan, there is the passage "Cao Gui Discusses War" which says "One should strike while the iron is hot, but the second will be weaker and the third will be exhausted," as well as the passage "Zhu Zhiwu Retires the Qin Army."

He had already memorized it perfectly.

He had only heard bits and pieces about these things before, so seeing the whole thing now naturally made him very excited.

This led to an even greater admiration for Cui Yan's annotations on the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Changes.

His arrogance when he joined the Young Lin Class was replaced by a much more respectful attitude towards Cui Yan than that of students in the regular classes.

The morning reading session ended after half an hour.

After that, Cui Yan began to teach according to the Book of Documents, one of the Five Classics.

The newcomers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, listened attentively to the lectures, while Xu Shu and Liu Bei, who had already studied the material, copied down the essays according to the topics assigned in each lesson.

This is the process.

Before I knew it, the whole morning had passed by silently.

Soon it was afternoon, and Cui Yan was not in the private school, but outside the long corridor, where he met with Liu Hong.

In the afternoon, Liu Hong tailored a social practice class for the younger students based on their personality flaws, implying that "knowledge gained from books is ultimately superficial; true understanding comes from practice."

When Cui Yan first heard this idea, he agreed with it very much, and Liu Hong became one of the better teachers in the private school.

"Master Liu, please."

Cui Yan said.

"It should be Mr. Trouble."

Liu Hong responded.

Seeing this scene outside the corridor, Zhang Fei, who was inside the school, couldn't help but purse his lips and ask, "What's going on? Aren't we going to continue studying those Five Classics? Like the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Book of Documents, and the Doctrine of the Mean."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu glanced at the brute.

Other books are one thing, but how dare they defile the most sacred book in his heart, the Spring and Autumn Annals?