214 Bai Wutong’s Good Fortune
Chu Tianbao was most afraid of being separated from her.
With a whoosh, he jumped out and saved the painting from Xiaobai’s den.
Fortunately, Xiaobai was not interested in paper, so the painting was still intact.
Chu Tianbao carefully handed the painting to her. “Wife, I found it.”
!!
After opening it and checking, Bai Wutong put it into the cabinet and suddenly turned hostile. “Chu Tianbao! The evidence for your lie is conclusive. Go and copy the Three-Character Scripture 50 times and use a brush to copy it. Also, you are not allowed to go out for three days. Stay at home and read!”
Chu Tianbao pouted. “So many times.”
“What? If you dare to lie next time, it won’t be 50 times, but 500!”
Chu Tianbao whimpered. “Tianbao still has to see Stinky.”
Bai Wutong snorted. “I’ll play with Stinky. He won’t remember to look for you.”
Chu Tianbao looked aggrieved. If he did not look for Stinky for three days and did not play with him, Stinky would definitely be occupied by Sheng Huaixuan and not remember him as a father.
It was useless for him to look pitiful.
This time, Bai Wutong did not compromise. “Alright, go out and sleep for a month. Then, you won’t be punished today.”
Hearing the punishment of going out to sleep for a month, Chu Tianbao immediately panicked. “Tianbao doesn’t want to go out to sleep.”
Bai Wutong’s face darkened. “Then go to the study to copy the scripture now!”
Chu Tianbao walked towards the study dejectedly. He was filled with regret.
Chu Tianbao hated writing the Three Character Scripture with a brush the most. He even had to grind the ink himself and wash the brush. It was so troublesome.
However, he had no choice. What Bai Wutong said was an ironclad rule to him. Chu Tianbao could only obey obediently.
While Chu Tianbao was writing the Three Character Scripture in the study, Bai Wutong found Qingfeng and placed Chu Tianbao’s painting in front of her. “Can you find a person with just his handwriting or painting?”
Qingfeng was the commander of the Dark Guards Team. She definitely had some special methods to find people.
Qingfeng could find out about Wen Renhua’s whereabouts from time to time because they had been secretly searching previously. The emperor also had clues about Wen Renhua’s whereabouts. Therefore, they could find out some news about him from time to time.
However, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack to find Chu Tianbao’s identity in the vast sea of people using just his handwriting, painting and possibly his nickname.
Moreover, now that the Yan Kingdom was about to be destroyed, the hidden members of Dark Guards Team that were stationed everywhere had been completely eradicated. If they searched with great fanfare, it was very likely to attract the attention of King Chu and he would send people to annihilate Qingfeng and the others.
Qingfeng shook her head. “Unless Master Chu was a very famous person before, and his handwriting and paintings are known, it’s impossible to find him.”
Bai Wutong sighed. As expected, she had expected too much from Qingfeng.
If only it was in the modern era, with just a fingerprint, they could identify a person’s background, age, and education.
Qingfeng suddenly said, “You can take Master Chu’s portrait to look around.”
Bai Wutong’s drawing skills were outstanding. If she drew Chu Tianbao’s appearance, those who knew him would definitely recognize him at a glance.
After all, how many men in this world could look like Chu Tianbao, someone with unforgettable looks?
But Bai Wutong shook her head. “No need.”
When she saw Chu Tianbao, he was seriously injured. If he hadn’t met her, he would probably have turned into bones.
If she used Chu Tianbao’s portrait to investigate his identity, it would definitely alarm the people who wanted to kill him.
If Bai Wutong wanted to, she could have asked Qingfeng to investigate Chu Tianbao’s identity using a portrait.
But for Chu Tianbao’s safety, it was better not to alert the enemy.
Qingfeng guessed what Bai Wutong was thinking and said, “Master Chu’s accent is very similar to someone from the Donghua Manor. I can send someone to try that area.”
She meant to look for it with Tianbao’s drawings and handwriting.
Bai Wutong nodded. “Okay.”
What if she could find him?
…
There were more than 5,000 people in Youjia Village, most of them from the 30 families of Qinghe.
After the Qinghe Academy was established, there was no need to worry about insufficient students.
Little Cat had reached the age of enlightenment. Previously, Tao Yinzhen had already started planning to save up and send him to the school in town.
In the summer, she saved up a few taels of silver from selling the fruits at home.
Tao Yinzhen had worked overtime to make cloth. She had already saved up a total of six taels of silver.
Six taels of silver was enough for Little Cat to go to school in town, but Qinghe Academy was right in front of their place. Tao Yinzhen thought of the capabilities of the villagers and wanted to send Little Cat to Qinghe Academy.
Even if the teachers of Qinghe Academy were not very good, it was enough to teach Little Cat.
When Little Cat was a little older, she would not have to fear for him being kidnapped at all. Then, she could also find a good teacher in the private school in town.
Moreover, the Qinghe Academy had a close relationship with Madam Bai. Since Old Master Chu was also attending school, Little Cat would definitely be taken care of if he went to the same school.
Tao Yinzhen told Little Cat that she wanted to send him to Qinghe Academy. Little Cat was so excited that he did not sleep all night.
Before dawn, he got up and fed all the livestock at home. He did all the work in advance before changing into new clothes and waiting obediently for Tao Yinzhen to get up.
Tao Yinzhen got out of bed and went to the kitchen. When she saw that there was already porridge cooking on the stove, she patted Little Cat’s head. “In the future, you just have to study in peace. You don’t have to worry about family matters.”
Little Cat shook its head. “Mother is too tired. I want to help Mother share some of the burden.”
Tao Yinzhen smiled. “Little Cat, study hard. No matter how hard and tired Mother is, it’s worth it. Be good and leave all the matters to Mother in the future. Don’t be too tired. If you’re too tired, you won’t be able to attend school properly.”
Little Cat retorted reasonably, “I’m not tired. I’ll study hard after doing these. Old Master Chu goes to school and even cooks for Madam Bai when he gets home.”
Tao Yinzhen was stunned. She thought of Ren Shuixing, who was lying in bed and had to be changed out of his feces and urine. Chu Tianbao was good-looking, considerate, and strong…
...
Why wasn’t she as lucky as Bai Wutong?
Tao Yinzhen was deep in thought. Little Cat tugged at Tao Yinzhen’s hand. “Mother?”
Tao Yinzhen came back to her senses and hid the embarrassment on her face. “After dinner, I’ll take you to register for school.”
Little Cat nodded and hurried to fill the bowl with porridge.
Before leaving, Tao Yinzhen thought of the shocking beauty of Bai Wutong. After hesitating, she took out her best dress from the cabinet and changed into it.
She did this just so that Little Cat would not be looked down on.
Even though it had been almost a month since lessons started in Qinghe Academy, there were not many families in the surrounding villages who wanted to send their children here to study.
The reason was that the tuition here was too expensive.
It was three times more than going to school in town.
With the remaining income from a typical farmer’s earning, they did not have the ability to support their children in school.
Besides, some children were not cut out for school at all. They did not even want to go even if asked to.
...
In addition, one could not participate in the imperial examination even if one studied now. One could not become the top scholar, nor could one be a high-ranking official if one did not have any connections. The families who originally wanted to send their children to school did not want to send anymore after such consideration.
Even if they had to send their children, they would rather their children walk a few more steps to study in town than let them study in Qinghe Academy.
How could a school’s tuition fee be so expensive?
It was obvious that they were extorting money.
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