I was a stepmother in ancient times, and I led my whole family to wealth.

Chapter 32, Season 4 Study

Fang Shiyu bowed to Gu Chenglin and explained, "Brother Gu, to be honest, Jin'er is a woman. If she were a man, we would definitely have made him our sworn brother."

Although we are students, we are not the kind of people who are pedantic.

Our families are all merchants, so we might be more casual in our friendships compared to those from scholarly families, but we're not exactly dissolute.

The reason I acted this way today was because I was truly impressed by Jin-jie's academic achievements. My actions may have been unwise; please forgive me.

Gu Chenglin gave them a deep look: "It's alright, as long as Xiao Jin likes it. My family are farmers, so I'm glad you don't mind."

Ma Wencai immediately chimed in with a beaming smile: "No problem, no problem, Brother Gu. I'll be careful not to cause any trouble for Sister Jin."

The others followed suit, frankly assuring Gu Chenglin that they would not do anything unkind, and even said they would treat Dongfang Jin as their teacher.

Seeing their attitude, Dongfang Jin agreed to their request. She would then act as their tutor, which would also pave the way for Gu Chenglin and Gu Jingye.

"Alright, I won't let you down today. I'm definitely going to be your sister."

“That’s more like it,” Ma Wencai said, clapping his hands.

Gu Chenglin watched them go down the slope with a dark face. He had an urge to go up and beat them up. How could you shut up the gossip like this?

Gu Jingye glanced at his stepmother, then at his father's dark face, and shook his head. His father was a bit slow; he could tell from the identities of these people that they weren't ordinary individuals.

Finally, the five of them bought Gu Caiwei two sets of earrings, two bracelets, a box of pearl hair accessories suitable for little girls, and a jade pendant for Gu Jingye.

After leaving Jinyulou, they went to Siji Shuzhai.

Jin Yulou

Zhao Yuming witnessed the whole scene. It seems that the second young master's new wife is no ordinary woman.

Although these people all come from merchant families, none of them are simple businesses.

The Ma family ancestors were once the imperial chefs of the late emperor. However, shortly after the emperor ascended the throne, the concubines vied for his favor, and the Ma family chef became the scapegoat. After the incident, the Ma family moved away from the capital.

The Liu and Guo families were once imperial merchants of the Cang Sheng Kingdom.

The Fang family was once the maternal family of the concubine of the current Emperor's uncle, Prince Rui. Because the Fang family refused to participate in the struggle for the throne, that concubine committed suicide by poisoning herself.

The Fang family also found a reason to leave the capital.

The Xie family is the kinship of the current Prime Minister Xie, who is also a student of the current emperor's tutor and a fellow student of Yan Zhiyuan, the dean of Yunshu Academy.

……

On the way to the Four Seasons Study, Dongfang Jin heard them say that the study had a small backyard, which was a place for students in the county to read and discuss academic matters.

If you want to add tea, snacks, or treats, there is a separate charge, which made Dongfang Jin look at the owner of this Four Seasons Study with new respect; he was quite avant-garde.

As soon as the group entered the Four Seasons Study, they attracted a lot of attention, because Gu Chenglin, the children, and her female relative seemed somewhat out of place.

After glancing at the bookshelves in the room, Dongfang Jin went straight to the enlightenment section. When she saw the "Hundred Family Surnames," "Three Character Classic," and "Thousand Character Classic," she breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that they were there, so she could take them out from her spatial storage.

Guo Yuming followed behind her and whispered, "Jin-jie, the content in these primers is incomplete."

"If you'd like, to give my nephew his early education, I'll send you some from my home later."

Upon hearing this, Dongfang Jin picked up a copy of the "Three Character Classic," opened it, and quickly flipped through it. Sure enough, as he said, there were indeed quite a few things missing here.

These are things that kindergarten children can memorize in modern times. She could tell at a glance which ones were missing: "No need. These are for children's early education. Your book must have explanations. Keep them for your own child."

She knew that books were extremely precious here, and every family kept them as heirlooms.

If you say it costs them tens of taels of silver, they probably won't feel bad. But if you actually take one of their books, they'll probably lose sleep for days.

Furthermore, it's incomplete? The books in her space are all complete versions; there's no book collection more complete than hers.

Besides, although she wasn't a top student, she could still recite the "Three Character Classic" and the "Hundred Family Surnames" perfectly.

Guo Yuming looked troubled: "But..."

"Don't worry, whatever you ask me today, as long as I know the answer, I will answer it to the best of my ability."

Guo Yuming felt ashamed upon hearing this: "This..."

"Okay, that's settled then."

Dongfang Jin walked to the counter with three books in her hands: "Shopkeeper, these three books, and also a ream of paper for my child to practice calligraphy, two pens, and two inkstones..."

Gu Chenglin quickly stopped him, saying that these things were very expensive: "Just one set of these will do."

Dongfang Jin glared at him, her face full of disapproval: "Two kids, you want to buy one set? Get two sets, it'll be more convenient that way, get out of here!"

Gu Chenglin pursed his lips and remained silent. He couldn't control his wife. What could he do?

Gu Jingye looked at his father with sympathy and shook his head helplessly. His mother was quite fierce! But she had the right to be fierce.

If his own mother had encountered his aunt's behavior today, she would have either apologized or cried. In the end, not only would his aunt have taken all the money from him, but he would also have been scolded by his grandmother when he got home.

Seeing their reaction, the shopkeeper chuckled and went to fetch the things Dongfang Jin wanted.

The shopkeeper rounded up the three books, charging a total of thirteen taels of silver. A ream of calligraphy practice paper, one tael and eight copper coins, two brushes, and two inkstones brought the total to fourteen taels of silver.

Dongfang Jin thought to himself that these few items cost nearly thirty taels of silver. No wonder studying was expensive in ancient times.

When they arrived at the backyard of the Four Seasons Study, Ma Wencai ordered two snacks and two cups of milk for the two children.

Gu Chenglin left through the back door after she followed the others into the backyard.

Seeing that they had all sat down, Dongfang Jin sat down as well, poured herself a cup of tea, and said, "Ask away."

Fang Shiyu didn't mince words: "Jin-jie, do you know what the Four Symbols are?"

He asked this question with a tentative mindset, and without any hope of getting anywhere.

Dongfang Jin paused in her tea-serving hand: "None of you know this?"

He thought to himself, "This is elementary school knowledge."

Fang Shiyu shook his head: "I don't know. I heard that this question was a short answer question in last year's imperial examination."

Dongfang Jin took a sip of tea, and upon tasting it, she felt a little disgusted, but she didn't show it: "Did you also ask Qi Su?"

Fang Shiyu stood up in surprise: "You know that?"

It should be noted that these questions were passed down from his relatives in the capital, and he had not told anyone else about them.

Dongfang Jin was amused by his surprised reaction and teased, "Hehe, sit down quickly. This is just astronomical knowledge. You're not taking the Imperial Observatory exam, so why are you learning this?"

Didn't ancient examinations test knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics, as well as strategies and other subjects?

Xie Wenke looked worried. He wanted to pursue a career in government: "But it's an exam, and we know nothing about it. We really haven't studied it."

Upon hearing this, Dongfang Jin suddenly remembered a question from her elementary school entrance exam: "Oh, do you know what 'I don't know when asked three questions' means? What are the three things you don't know?"

Her question left the five of them bewildered, and the two children also looked over.

"Is this also a question?" Liu Lingzui asked in surprise, looking bewildered.