Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 959: Chapter 960 Free School

She spoke to the four little ones, ”Come one by one to mother’s side and place them, this is by the river, it’s not safe, you must be obedient, only mother can protect you while you release them.”

”Mhm~” The four little ones obediently did as they were told.

After all four little ones had placed their lotus lanterns, An Jing finally looked up and asked her husband, ”Husband, there’s one left, do you want to release it?”

That one was specifically reserved by An Jing for Xiao Changyi to release, and Xiao Changyi would certainly not refuse. As soon as An Jing asked him, he nodded, ”Mhm.”

Having instructed Qin Er to take good care of the four children, Xiao Changyi crouched next to An Jing and together, they gently placed the last lotus lantern into the water.

The river’s surface was almost completely covered with lotus lanterns, adorning the velvety night with breathtaking, dazzling beauty.

Tobanya had already set her lantern afloat and had stood up, seeing how affectionately An Jing and Xiao Changyi were releasing the lantern, she couldn’t help but feel envious. Her beautiful eyes involuntarily drifted towards Meng Zhuqing.

Meng Zhuqing had just snapped out of his daze, alert to his surroundings, when inadvertently, his eyes met Tobanya’s. He instantly didn’t know how to react.

When had she started looking at him?

Meng Zhuqing’s heartbeat pounded like drums.

Yet Tobanya acted as if she hadn’t been looking at Meng Zhuqing at all, naturally reaching out a hand to him.

Meng Zhuqing hurriedly handed the rabbit lantern he was holding back to Tobanya, feeling somewhat disappointed. She must not have been looking at him just now. Even if she was, it was probably just to get the lantern back from him.

Then, he comforted himself internally.

Now, he just wanted her to be well, not necessarily to be delighted by him, and that was fine... That was very fine...

Thinking this, Meng Zhuqing felt much more at ease, not disappointed at all.

An Jing had originally planned to stroll around and look at the lanterns some more. The Imperial Capital was vast, adorned everywhere with exquisite lanterns that were enough for her to explore and admire, but since the four little ones were tired, she did not continue and, together with Xiao Changyi, took the four little ones home.

Seeing An Jing heading back, Tobanya didn’t continue either and followed An Jing back to Prince Yi’s Mansion.

...

The next day, while An Jing was teaching the four little ones to practice with wooden swords in the main courtyard of Prince Yi’s Mansion, someone from the palace arrived, inviting An Jing to enter the palace, stating that the Emperor of Xiyun had important matters to discuss with her.

Without the Emperor of Xiyun needing to say, An Jing already knew what it was about. Wasn’t it about teaching people how to read and write using phonetics?

This had already been discussed last year.

Indeed, once she entered the palace, it was exactly that. The Emperor of Xiyun said he would assign ten scholar-officials to learn phonetics from her, and then it would be their responsibility to promote this phonetic system within Xiyun Kingdom.

An Jing had no objections.

”They will come to learn from you at Prince Yi’s Mansion for four hours daily until they have mastered it sufficiently to no longer need your guidance,” the Emperor of Xiyun stated.

”Mhm,” An Jing had no objections, but added, ”Father Emperor, since this phonetic system is to facilitate literacy, why not set up some schools where people can study without having to pay? If so, more people would attend school and read, which could elevate the cultural level of your subjects.”

After a pause, An Jing continued, ”Like in Jiuping Village where I used to live, there were only a few people who could read, and even they knew only a few characters. Sometimes, when something needed to be written, they had to ask someone else to write it, which was particularly inconvenient.”