Chapter 143
After getting his hands on the admission card, Marquis Gu asked Huang Zhong to send it to Gu Jiao immediately.
He already thought it over. On the first day of class, he would take his wife to the women’s academy and give her a big surprise!
Once his wife saw the efforts he made for their daughter with her own eyes, she should then believe that he loved their daughter dearly.
Of course, he also considered that the girl might be ungrateful, and as smart as he was, he had already thought out the countermeasures!
"Young miss, Lord Marquis said that as long as you promised to attend the women’s academy, he would give you five hundred taels of silver." In the medical hall, Huang Zhong passed on Marquis Gu's message word for word.
Gu Jiao was currently working. Hearing what he said, she put down the medicinal herbs in her hands and asked, "Are you sure?"
Huang Zhong answered, "Absolutely sure! I have all the silver banknotes now!"
Gu Jiao said, "Put the money and the admission card each in my hands then."
Huang Zhong: Why do I feel something is amiss?
Huang Zhong said earnestly, "Eldest young miss, you have to promise first."
Gu Jiao spread open her palm, saying, "Okay. I promise, I promise to go to the women’s academy."
Huang Zhong nodded with satisfaction and gave the admission card and the silver banknotes to Gu Jiao.
What Huang Zhong didn't know was that as soon as he left, Gu Jiao posted up a notice on the gate of the medical hall: Admission card for sale, 100 taels!
Second Owner opened his mouth wide in astonishment, "This… You want to sell this too?"
His remark meant that before Huang Zhong came, someone had already sent an admission card to Gu Jiao.
This person was none other than An Junwang, whom Gu Jiao met twice in the countryside.
An Junwang found Imperial Consort Zhuang and asked her for this admission card. He didn't even give it to Zhuang Mengdie, and directly sent it to Gu Jiao instead.
Gu Jiao put it up for sale without saying another word.
And it had already been sold!
Gu Jiao said lightly, "Yes, why not?"
"Then, what was the conversation between you two just now?" Second Owner knew very well that Gu Jiao would not attend the women’s academy.
Gu Jiao uttered an ‘oh’ then said, "He wanted me to promise, and I did. Is there any more problem?"
Second Owner's jaw nearly fell off.
So the point was the act of promising itself? The content of the promise actually didn’t matter?
This… Was this fine?!
Second Owner knew a little bit about the father and daughter’s relationship. He really sympathized with Marquis Gu. Seriously though, you had been tricked by your daughter so many times, so why hadn’t you still learned your lesson?
Someone who wanted to buy the second admission card soon appeared, and she was even an acquaintance, an unexpected acquaintance.
"Do you really have an admission card for the women's academy next door?"
A luxuriously dressed young miss walked in with her head held high.
Little Liu deeply felt that he was not enough to welcome this person himself, so he called Second Owner over.
Second Owner had never seen the other party before, but from her attire, he could tell that she wasn’t just an ordinary aristocratic daughter. He didn’t dare to neglect her and said politely, "We have it here. Does the young miss want to buy it?"
The young miss asked disdainfully, "How do I know if your admission card is real?"
Second Owner smilingly replied, "Young miss, you seem like a person of great status. With a medical hall as big as ours here, we can't possibly get away. If it's fake, young miss can just send someone to smash our medical hall!"
The young miss looked up at the brand-new inscribed board on the top of her head, and felt that the other person's words made sense.
Their family was so powerful that if they really dared to cheat her, she could just smash this medical hall and put everyone in jail!
The young miss took out a silver banknote worth one hundred taels.
Second Owner was about to take it with his hand, but just then, Little Liu came up in a hurry and whispered something in Second Owner's ear.
Second Owner's eyebrows jumped and his hand that reached for the silver banknote froze.
"What's the matter?" The young miss asked.
Second Owner wryly said, "The admission card… is two hundred taels of silver."
"Isn't it just one hundred taels?"
"That's… that's the previous price."
"What’s posted here is still the initial price though?"
"Aiya, are you going to buy it? If not, I’ll take it!"
Behind the young miss came another person who also wanted to purchase the admission card.
That person wasn’t just a phony customer pretending to buy things to lure other customers, but was really a genuine customer.
The young miss glared at her harshly, saying, "Who said I wouldn't buy it? How much is it again?"
Second Owner put up four of his fingers with a smile, and the young miss sucked in a breath of cold air at once. Just as she was about to complain that he had doubled the price again, she saw Second Owner put up his remaining finger.
"Five hundred taels." Second Owner also wanted to cry.
Gu girl, Gu girl, why are you making things difficult for me ah?
Aren't you afraid that this precious young miss might really smash our medical hall in a rage?
As expected, the young miss was really enraged, "Believe it or not, I will smash your medical hall to ruins!"
"If you can't afford it, get out of the way! I’ll buy it!" The person behind her said.
Spending five hundred taels of silver for an admission card, which would allow her to enter the women's academy and get together with talented young ladies from all over the capital. Although it was quite painful, for people like them who simply couldn’t pass the entrance exam, it was the only way out!
"Who says I can't afford it?" The young miss gritted her teeth, took out four more silver banknotes from her pouch, and bought the admission card that Gu Jiao didn't want at a sky-high price of five hundred taels of silver.
Second Owner looked at the extra silver banknotes worth five hundred taels in his hands, and felt quite surreal.
He took the silver banknotes to the consulting room behind the medicine cabinets and asked Gu Jiao, "Who is that girl? Do you know her?"
Gu Jiao answered quietly, "Yes, a young miss from the Zhuang Family, Zhuang Mengdie."
Second Owner gasped, "Which Zhuang Family? It’s not the Zhuang Family of Empress Dowager Zhuang, is it?"
Gu Jiao pondered carefully before saying, "Well, it seems to be it."
"What do you mean by it seems to be?" Second Owner felt his legs soften.
Great aunt, did you have any idea who you just cheated? That was the Grand Preceptor’s granddaughter and the Empress Dowager's grandniece! Touch just a finger of hers and our medical hall could end up being crushed into slag!
Let us forget that he didn’t offer the admission card with both hands to her at the initial price, they even raised the price so much and cheated five hundred taels of silver from her——
Second Owner felt like choking one of his own people again before he collapsed dramatically...
The news that an admission card had been put up for sale quickly spread within the women's academy, mainly because the simple-minded Zhuang Mengdie told everyone that she also had an admission card. Although she didn't say that she bought it with money, with her unlettered reputation, everyone thought that something was fishy.
It was also a coincidence that the Crown Princess traveled incognito today. When she came back and passed by the women’s academy, she heard the bustle here. Hence, she asked a court lady to inquire about it.
The court lady went back to the carriage and reported, "Crown Princess, some admission cards for women's academy seem to have been sold openly outside!"
"There’s such a thing?"
Although the women's academy wasn’t run by the Crown Princess in reality, many things were actually handled by her. For example, the admission card for the academy was designed personally by her and customized by the General Palace Service[1].
She had a clear idea of how many cards she had sent out.
And she more or less knew the recipients of those cards, except the one that the Crown Prince asked her as a favor.
"How many did they sell?" She asked.
The court lady answered, "Two! It's from that medical hall! I don't know where they got the cards, but they sold them just like that!"
The Crown Princess furrowed her brows and said, "Who bought the cards?"
The court lady replied, "This servant didn’t see the first buyer in person, but this servant did see the second customer. It was Young Miss Zhuang Mengdie."
Zhuang Mengdie was a famous good-for-nothing in the capital.
The Zhuang Family was a scholarly family, and it was truly rare for them to produce such a straw bag[2].
For example, her older sister Zhuang Yuexi was a talented young lady worthy of her reputation.
However, when the Crown Princess sent Zhuang Yuexi an admission card, she had speculated that Zhuang Yuexi would give the admission card to her younger sister, and then she would take the entrance exam herself.
It seemed that Zhuang Yuexi didn't do this.
The court lady suddenly spoke, "Strange, Crown Princess. Didn't Imperial Consort Zhuang also ask you for an admission card? It’s not for Zhuang Mengdie?"
The Crown Princess shook her head slightly, saying, "I don't know."
The court lady sighed and said, "There’s also that Fifth Young Miss Du. I'm afraid she'll annoy the Third Prince's Consort again this time. "
The Third Prince's Consort was surnamed Du, and Fifth Young Miss Du was her Di younger sister. The Third Prince had the closest relation with the eldest prince, and he seemed to not get along well with the Crown Prince. As a result, the Third Prince's Consort and the Crown Princess had also consistently competed with each other.
Actually, the Third Prince's Consort was also a renown talented young lady in the capital. Her guqin skills were unique and one of the best in the capital, but overall, she still wasn’t good enough when compared to the Crown Princess.
It was said that when the Crown Princess went to the State of Liang as an envoy when she was still young, she had seen the real Fuxi guqin. This alone was enough for the Third Prince's Consort to be jealous of her for a long time.
Then, the Third Prince's Consort's own sister was still a fangirl of the Crown Princess.
Insiders knew that it was His Majesty's idea to run this women’s academy, but technically, it was still under the name of the Crown Princess. The Third Prince's Consort naturally wouldn’t allow his sister to boost the Crown Princess’ name.
It was impossible for Du Xiaoyun to pass the entrance exam, and she would not be able to receive any admission card either.
Du Xiaoyun was so worried that when she saw Gu Jiao selling an admission card, she bought it without saying another word!
The court lady asked, "Should we… get the admission cards back?" This was also only possible because the women's academy had just started, and everything was not standardized yet. If it was changed to the Imperial Academy, who would dare to sell the admission documents? They would be beaten with a rod, and they could no longer take the imperial examination for the rest of their life!
The Crown Princess sighed faintly, "Forget it, they can sell it if they want. The women's academy is a place for women who really want to learn."
It actually didn’t matter if Zhuang Mengdie entered the academy. But the court lady felt sorry for Fifth Young Miss Du as she said, "She’s probably going to receive a beating again."
That’s right. When the Third Prince's Consort learned that her own sister had bought an admission card for the women's academy from someone, she was so furious that she stormed off on the spot, and regardless of her identity as the Third Prince's Consort, she made a trip back to her paternal home that very night and ruthlessly sorted Du Xiaoyun out!
1. ↑ — One of the six Palace Services whose workers are all female or the court ladies— The General Palace Service ([尚宫]Shanggong ju), Workshops Service ([尚功]Shanggong ju), Ceremonial Service ([尚儀]Shangyi ju), Wardrobe Service ([尚服]Shangfu ju), Food Service ([尚食]Shangshi ju), and Housekeeping Service ([尚寢]Shangqin ju). 2. ↑ — Metaphor for idiot, useless, incompetent, etc.
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