Chapter 123 (1/2): Intrigue at the Teahouse

“Your Highness, I’ve reserved a private seat at the Sihai Teahouse opposite the West City Women’s Academy,” Liang Jiugong reported to Kangxi, discreetly glancing at the young servant surnamed Fang wearing a melon-seed hat.

“Which do you prefer… shall we visit the academy or head to the teahouse?”

Kangxi didn’t mind either option and followed Liang Jiugong’s gaze toward Fang He, who stubbornly insisted on dressing as a servant.

Though he was incognito on this outing, his imposing aura was impossible to conceal.

Usually, he would disguise himself as a wealthy gentleman when going out.

In such circumstances, bringing his own wife along wasn’t too scandalous, even if acquaintances saw them.

But this scoundrel—he had no idea what kind of storybook she had read—insisted on wearing men’s clothes and stubbornly defended the choice.

“Your Highness rarely gets to go out, and what if we go somewhere unsuitable for women or catch the eye of some young lady? Bringing my lady along would spoil the mood! I’m just being considerate,” Fang He argued, rubbing her hands together with a sly smile that could fool no one but Kangxi.

What kind of place would be inappropriate for women?

Not that he cared to visit such places, but if he did, he certainly wouldn’t bring along a brazen little jade-faced devil like her!

Rather than for his sake, this scoundrel obviously had her own reasons.

Kangxi let her be.

With him nearby, she could only indulge in her daydreams.

If Fang He hadn’t changed clothes, Liang Jiugong wouldn’t have even asked.

Serving masters always had to be mindful of their lord’s wishes.

This ancestor’s outfit was clearly made to cause trouble… cough, cough, or at least to enjoy the spectacle.

The teahouse was quiet but lacked any real excitement.

“Your Highness, we should go to the teahouse!” Fang He said respectfully, then lifted her head and grinned broadly under Liang Jiugong’s incredulous gaze.

“The academy nearby must be overcrowded right now. How could I bear to see you jostling among the crowds…”

Kangxi tapped her head with his fan and said, “Get to the point!”

Fang He covered her head and instinctively glared, but seeing the guards nearby, she suppressed her temper and forced a smile and said, “From a height, you see further. You understand, don’t you?”

Kangxi looked at her again—her black boots only reached up to his chest—and a faint smile flickered in his eyes as he turned to lead the way.

“Then to the teahouse it is. With your height, if you got lost in a crowd, you wouldn’t see a thing.”

Fang He thought: ‘This bastard deserves a good beating!’

She secretly curled her lips and swaggered over to stand beside Liang Jiugong.

Liang Jiugong’s eyelids twitched; he quickly stepped back, not wanting to bring trouble after just stepping out of the palace.

By the time they reached the teahouse, the roll call had already begun.

Thanks to Fang He’s past memories of school and Concubine Jing’s experience overseeing the Guozixuan, the Women’s Academy was comparable to the other academies the students attended—if not more magnificent.

All thirty academies followed the same regulations, like star-rated hotels maintaining a consistent brand.

On the central axis stood Qin College, a two-courtyard building: five rooms in the front main hall, three side rooms on each side, surrounding a small central square for daily large classes.

These classes were naturally held on the Grand Empress Dowager’s sayings, along with rites and literature.

The rear courtyard faced a wide Yanwu Field, used for horseback riding lessons or walking exercises.

To the left of Qin College were Jingzhu House and Yuming Hall, where music and needlework were taught.

On the right side were Baiwei Residence and Jinxiu Waterside Pavilion, dedicated to culinary arts and accounting.

Currently, all classes were paused for the selection process; health inspections and the Six Arts assessments were conducted simultaneously.

The front and side halls of Qin College were used to assess the Six Arts, while four courtyards on the sides were allocated for health checks to speed up the process.

Sihai Teahouse was diagonally behind the Women’s Academy.

From the private room on the third floor, one could see Jingzhu House, Yuming Hall, and most of Qin College, while the two courtyards on the other side remained out of view for now.

Kangxi and Fang He ascended to the third floor and stood by the window, watching batches of young ladies chattering as they exited Jingzhu House and headed toward Qin College.

Compared to the strict rules during palace selections where a misstep could lead to scolding by matrons, the young ladies selected outside quickly adapted to the new regulations.

During health checks, they no longer needed to bribe matrons.

The matrons no longer dared to mistreat them intentionally, as they were subject to performance evaluations—rewarded for the number of inspections completed, but deductions were made if complaints were filed and the inspection bureau found irregularities.

As long as they kept quiet, they could chat and encourage one another, even discuss the latest trends in Jingcheng, without the supervising palace maids interfering.

Though palace maids had no performance evaluations, they still received extra pay for occasional out-of-palace duties and were also supervised by the bureau.

As the groups of young ladies reached Qin College’s entrance, eunuchs loudly announced names:

“Daughter of Ministry of War Langzhong Shu Mulugu Botun—Health: A grade, Six Arts: B grade, retain plaque!”

“Daughter of Henan Assistant Magistrate Xitara Dashan—Health: B grade, Six Arts: C grade, discard plaque!”

“Daughter of Zhili Prefect—Health: A grade, Six Arts: A grade, retain plaque and rewarded with a purse!”

The young ladies whispered among themselves.

One said the Third Miss Shu Mulugu was famed in the capital for her talents, yet her Six Arts grade was only B, which seemed unfair.

Another said they had never heard of the Tong Family’s Sixth Miss, but she earned the top grade, wondering what extraordinary person she was…

While they chattered, Liang Jiugong presented a pre-prepared roster of the candidates to Kangxi.

Kangxi recognized Shu Mulugu Botun and Tong Sixiang and glanced over the list before looking at Fang He.

“Is Concubine Jing in charge here in West City? How else would a Tong Family girl, clearly inferior to Shu Mulugu’s Third Miss, be the top pick?”

Fang He smiled and explained, “No, it’s Noble Consort Yi and Concubine Jing, but the Six Arts results are accurate.”

She leaned close to Kangxi, linking her arm with his, and scanned the introductions of the young ladies, understanding more clearly.

“Though Shu Mulugu’s Third Miss is beautiful and renowned for her talents, the Six Arts assessment includes a written exam with multiple-choice questions.

“Correct answers add points; wrong ones deduct points.”

Fang He waved to Xinhua, who was dressed in servant attire alongside her.

Xinhua promptly took out the folded exam papers from her sleeve and respectfully presented them to Kangxi.

Kangxi opened and glanced at them, falling silent.

There were only eighteen questions total, each corresponding to one of the female Six Arts.

To be precise, the questions asked whether the girls wished to enter the palace, how far they would go to do so, and what alternatives they would consider if they couldn’t.

Kangxi shot a glance at Liang Jiugong, who immediately led everyone respectfully out the door.

Just as the door opened, Prince Changning and Prince Jian Yabu came upstairs, passing by the private room on their way to the next.

Spotting Liang Jiugong, Changning’s heart skipped a beat.

He instinctively looked inside but only caught sight of the emperor whispering closely to a servant…

About to step forward and greet, Changning halted, shocked, and stared at Liang Jiugong.

Liang Jiugong remained expressionless, closing the door, and bowed to the two princes.

“Greetings to both princes. Third Prince said today is just a casual outing, and since some matters are inconvenient, he did not invite you in.”

Changning nodded silently, understanding perfectly.

His expression turned peculiar as he headed next door.

With the emperor doting on Imperial Noble Consort now, could this be a façade?

After all, His Majesty has many heirs and has made offerings to his ancestors.

With power firmly in hand, the emperor no longer needed to compromise and could pursue his own desires… which, well, wasn’t entirely abnormal.

Changning suddenly jolted, recalling nights spent lying close to Kangxi, and seriously warned Jian Yabu, “Don’t blame me for not warning you. Today, just pretend you didn’t see anything.”

Jian Yabu knew the emperor was in the next room when he saw Liang Jiugong, but Changning blocked him so thoroughly that he truly saw nothing.

Seeing Changning’s strange expression, Jian Yabu grew curious and asked, “What did you see?”

Changning quickly replied, “I saw nothing! Just keep your mouth shut about meeting the Third Prince today.”

Jian Yabu thought: ‘This is a classic case of burying the silver to hide it, but you played it perfectly.’

Jian Yabu and Changning got along because both were brave warriors and prone to reckless fun, making them quite the pair.

Judging from Changning’s haunted look, Jian Yabu’s imagination ran wild.

‘Either the emperor was secretly meeting one of his concubines outside… but that can’t be. Everyone knew Imperial Noble Consort’s favored status. Then it must be that the emperor, like him, doesn’t shy away from… more worldly pleasures?’ Jian Yabu chuckled lightly.

They had met the emperor incognito before, and not once had it scared Changning so much.

He swore to keep this secret but… Changning’s warning was probably wasted.

Jian Yabu was reliable when sober, but after drinking… the rumors about his household’s wives and concubines quarreling, even how they fought inside, leaked anyway—not from outsiders.

Meanwhile, Kangxi held Fang He close and looked down at her with complex emotions.

“Guoguo, what exactly do you want to do?”

With his insight, Kangxi could tell the daughter of Shu Mulugu was taught to be too rigid, wholly focused on entering the palace, with no interest in wider ambitions.

In contrast, Tong Sixiang, a branch son of the Tong Family, was notably ambitious, and his daughter naturally possessed that boldness.

The exam paper Fang He held caused Kangxi secret unease.

Because of her dispute with the Crown Prince over the Imperial Garden incident, he thought the Crown Prince needed tempering and hadn’t stopped her.

But now, under the guise of opposing palace entries, she was subtly guiding these girls through the rules, encouraging them to pursue knowledge and even spread what they learned.

In just a few years and several selection cycles, the Women’s Academy was gaining influence, instilling in young and even married women the idea of universal education—soon most women wouldn’t remain ignorant.

With the women in the family learning so much, it would inspire the whole household to study—no one wanted their female relatives left behind.

Fang He was trying to enlighten the populace!

She had clearly calculated even the palace consorts.

Was she planning to dismantle the harem for him?

If word got out what the Women’s Academy aimed for, the backlash would be tremendous, and balancing the court’s politics with her safety would be difficult.

But as a seasoned ruler, Kangxi could handle these challenges… yet she had never been entirely honest.

No matter her plans, in her heart, he was never the most important.

This realization weighed heavily on Kangxi.

Fang He instinctively tried to step back, but Kangxi didn’t let go, staring at her intently, not wanting to miss any expression.

Fang He placed her hand on his chest, lifting her chin with a smile, “I and Your Majesty are in harmony. Naturally, I can’t bear to see the consorts in the harem spend their lives in hopeless idleness. I want to find them a way out. Is that too much?”

Kangxi sneered, “If it’s not too much, why don’t you dare tell me?”

“Didn’t You teach me the principle of patience? If we are to proceed gradually, every hidden risk must be snuffed out at the start,” she said, rubbing her nose and smiling even more winningly in a small voice, “Including you, of course…”

As the sovereign of Great Qing, Kangxi knew all too well that too much knowledge among the people was harmful to ruling the country.

Seeing Kangxi frown, Fang He rare recognized his displeasure.

She ceased smiling, growing serious she said, “Your Highness, the people are ignorant and revere royalty. This may be beneficial to the court in the short term but not to the nation’s long-term prosperity.”

Fang He recounted the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, then said, “Though Great Qing is strong now, the ministers are busy fighting for power, deceiving their superiors and resisting change. Does Your Majesty expect them to lead Qing to prosperity? If the people remain ignorant, population growth and productivity will stagnate. Sooner or later, those barbarian foreigners you disdain might surpass us, pry open our borders with swords, and leave Great Qing’s land in ruins.”