These few days, Feng Sheng had been busy grappling with the academyâs affairs.\n
Prince Wei ran the Jinjiang Academy to a nominal extent, but it wasnât apt for a man of his status to sort out its trifles. The position of headmaster remained irresolute up until present, so Feng Sheng had to shoulder everything. Regardless of how busy she was or how late her day ended, Prince Wei never failed to personally pick her up.\n
It was already dark after they crossed the Zuoâan Gate, and the carriage drove forward along the smooth bluestone road. Feng Sheng recounted to Prince Wei what she had encountered today.\n
âWho knew that your heart would actually be this soft? If you find them that pitiful, itâs fine to raise them.â\n
Prince Wei uttered these words with utmost nonchalance, as though fostering twenty young girls was akin to raising a group of chicks. As a matter of fact, such was actually the case. Over a thousand people resided within the manor of an esteemed Prince of the First Rank, and this was merely at face value. On the sly, there were still private guards and others tasked to handle Prince Weiâs outside affairs. The exact number of people was unknown to anyone.\n
Furthermore, prior to its transformation, the academy had been an estate with over a hundred tenant farmers, servants, and estate keepers. As such, to Prince Wei, raising a few more people was not unlike raising a group of chicks.\n
Feng Sheng shot him a glance and teased, âHis Highness Prince Wei is indeed impressive.â\n
Such a her made Prince Wei laugh. He rubbed her waist and said, âYou have no conscience. In truth, you donât feel sorry for them at all. Itâs not like this princeâs manor has so much food that thereâs no place to spill it.â\n
âFrom what I heard, it sounds precisely like the prince manor has so much food that thereâs no place to spill it,â she quipped, then veered to a more serious tone of voice, âAll jests aside, it wasnât simply because I thought them pitiful. Iâve always felt that my previous convictions somewhat led me to take things for granted.â\n
Prince Wei raised his eyebrows, leaned back, and struck a pose conveying his willingness to hear the specifics.\n
Feng Sheng lifted the carriage curtain and surveyed the outside. Seeing that they had not yet entered the inner city and still had at least a quarter of an hour to arrive home, Feng Sheng gave him a rough explanation of the events that had earlier stirred her.\n
Initially, when Prince Wei heard Feng Shengâs ardency to establish a Womenâs Hall, he had surmised that it was merely for her own self-fulfillment. He never would have thought that beneath her intent lingered Fan Jin Chuanâs shadow.<sup>1</sup> The emotion in his eyes immediately changed.\n
âNever wouldâve expected Princess Consort Wei to be so considerate. You are a married woman and the other has a wife, yet it still concerns you whether or not that husband and wife pair have things to talk about.â\n
âWhat are you talking about?!â Feng Sheng raised her head. When her eyes met Prince Weiâs, she sensed that this was a recurrence of one of his old issues.\n
The two had been married for quite some time now, so Feng Sheng esteemed herself to be very well versed in Prince Weiâs temperament. This person was usually saying one thing and meaning another. If something troubled his heart, he would still force a smile on the surface. To have him express himself so clearly like this was because the two could now be considered to be âtwo hearts beating as oneâ, just that he was still a complete vinegar jar.<sup>2</sup> If this matter wasnât thoroughly clarified, she would definitely suffer a calamity tonight.\n
âWhat are you thinking? I just find Manâer a bit pitiful.â\n
âWhat use is your pity to them? What you donât know is that a manâs belt usually controls his brain. So long as a woman can get a man to untie his belt, who cares if they have nothing to talk about?â\n
Upon hearing this, Feng Sheng was so bewildered that her eyes almost fell out. Her mind then drifted to Prince Weiâs experiences in his youth. He had traversed the jianghu for a stretch of time, mingling with people from all walks of life, be it from the jianghu or from the three religions and nine schools of thought. She recollected the moment he had infiltrated the salt gangâs base, invulnerable in his disguise as Gou Qing, and no longer thought it baffling that such vulgar words could escape his mouth.\n
On one hand, she was slightly embarrassed, and on the other, she felt that this statement seemed reasonable. She was rendered a little discomfited. As she gazed at him once more, his handsome face unconsciously grew rigid, appearing as though he slightly regretted the words he had just uttered. She smiled in her heart and feigned an uncouth bravado, similar to how she did in those days she inserted herself in crass conversations with yamen runners.\n
âIt seems that His Highness Prince Wei is very experienced. Are you saying that as long as your belt is untied, whether or not you like a woman is insignificant?â After saying this, Feng Sheng was overcome with instant regret. How come it sounded like she was jealous?\n
Sure enough, Prince Wei misunderstood. A hint of mirth flashed through his eyes. He embraced her, tilted her chin up with one hand, and put on a cold face.\n
âThis prince studied Buddhism for many years and, unless bewitched by a demoness, has long been immune to feminine wiles. The way this prince sees it, your delicate countenance, as if made by the heavens, is exceeded only by your seductive charm. Tell me honestly, whose poor girlâs skin have you stolen?â<sup>3</sup>\n
Feng Sheng couldnât hold back her desire to laugh, but before she even could, she heard the sound of stifled laughter.\n
Prince Weiâs expression was still as before: the visage of an eminent monk who had achieved immortality. She didnât laugh, so who could it have been? She shifted her sight toward the carriage door. Could it be?\n
Right this moment, the carriage came to an abrupt halt.\n
âHis Highness, Princess Consort, we have arrived.â\n
Prince Wei alighted first and glanced at De Wang, whose head was slumped down. Feng Sheng followed thereafter. He disliked being inconvenienced, so he directly carried her down.\n
When she stood on her feet, the two went inside.\n
During this period, Prince Wei said nothing. De Wang quietly tailed behind all the while, a considerable distance away from the two, with sullen brows and ears hanging down, resembling a frosted eggplant. If those outside the manor didnât know him, they would have thought he was an assassin.\n
When they entered the room, Feng Sheng couldnât help but laugh to an extent where her waist could hardly straighten up. Though curious, Zhi Qiu didnât dare to ask. After Prince Wei pulled her down for a seat and brought her water to drink, her laughter finally ceased. She cast Zhi Qiu a meaningful glance and bid her to check on that person, De Wang.\n
Puzzled as she was, Zhi Qiu still stalked out to check. After a while, she returned to report that De Wang was squatting under the wall of the courtyard gate, prohibiting everyone to ask him what he was doing.\n
Feng Sheng smiled again, then laughed and coughed. She held a kerchief to cover her mouth, yet her eyes were on Prince Wei.\n
âThat worthless thing!â cursed Prince Wei with a smile. He also couldnât help but laugh a little.\n
*\n
Because of this joke, Feng Sheng ate an extra half bowl of rice at dinnertime, allowing De Wang to elude punishment. This, however, wouldnât be told in detail.\n
Later, while in bed, they discussed once more, setting aside their earlier banter. Feng Sheng roughly laid out her thoughts.\n
âYour ideas arenât bad, but they have low feasibility.â\n
Feng Sheng was also aware. In all honesty, it was much too arduous of a feat for a woman to eat off her own strength and to adequately provide for herself. She had outlined in her head what kind of work a woman could do, and after considering it carefully and at length, she couldnât conjure that many.\n
Becoming a maid or a servant was not usually of a womanâs own volition. Furthermore, there were âthree kinds of nuns and six kinds of old womenâââthe connotation of which was not at all in the negative, but rather, it denoted certain classifications of people. The three nuns referred to Buddhist nuns, Daoist nuns, and fortune tellers. Among them, fortune tellers had a very extensive scope, and often they exploited married women by using fortune telling to gull, hoax, and beguile them. The six old women were the human traffickers, matchmakers, sorceresses, procuresses, female doctors, and female midwives. A sorceress was the likes of a shaman, also the type to swagger and swindle impressionable people. A procuress was similar to a female brothel keeper.\n
Then, there were women serving in brothels. This wasnât the correct means to earn a living, nor did it follow the proper path.\n
Of course, there was also the proper path: to be an embroideress, an expert in embroidery. Another thing, what Feng Sheng saw and heard while in Jiangnan was that Suzhou was home to several weaving households, and its local commerce was flourishing. Almost every family raised silkworms, and every household had looms. There were few men doing weaving work, but majority were women. Some women were manually adroit, but many relied on looms. Their husbands didnât earn as much as them, so the women were the masters of the family and in charge of the household.\n
Feng Sheng relayed this information to Prince Wei.\n
Prince Wei raised his eyebrows and asked, âDoes Princess Consort Wei plan to switch professions and become a weaver?â\n
Feng Shengâs eyes brightened, and she sat up. âI think this is a good approach. Uncle Yu is producing salt in Yangzhou. Official salt shops are now spread all over the north and south of Yangtze River and have already reached their peak, so we wonât be losing money. We can first try to test the depth of the waters.â\n
Prince Wei pulled her to lie down and replied, âYou can sure find things for others to do. Well, such an approach also isnât impossible.â\n
Feng Sheng hence fired out her reasoning, âI honestly think women are trapped in the rear court. Most of you men look down on women, but women are scrupulous and skillful. In fact, women are adept at several tasks. Zhi Qiu, for instance. I only guided her for a while, yet her abacus skills have surpassed mine. Now, she would aid me whenever Uncle Yu and the others send over the account books. Her work already looks proper. She would observe what Iâm doing, imitate my ways, and then easily identify her own mistakes. Whatâs more, maids and female cooks do all the cooking, snack-making, and kitchen work at home, yet when I explore restaurants or snack shops, men are the ones doing this line of work.â\n
âThere are three principles and five virtues in the secular world.<sup>4</sup> In this reality, it is inherent knowledge that women who donât step out of the gate canât pass the second. If you want to shatter this notion, it will be too onerous. And donât you think itâs too early for you to consider such things? A group of only eight or nine-year-old girls, even if you teach them skills in wielding eighteen kinds of weapons and allow them to undertake all sorts of tasks alone, the results will manifest only some years later. Furthermore, a woman will marry at fifteen or sixteen. Even if she has learned everything, she may not be able to support herself the way you imagine it.â\n
Without a doubt, such words struck Feng Sheng. It seemed like she either didnât understand the truth, or that she was somewhat naive for trivializing the reality.\n
She knew how to make concessions. Cognizant of Prince Weiâs position, she had occupied herself with things that interested her to give her a sense of freedom. As a result, she devoted a lot of time to think and reflect more deeply, consistent with her unwillingness to accept the common belief that âwomen are inferior to menâ.\n
Hers was the type of unwillingness that was absolute; the unwillingness to solidify the common customs of the social class; the unwillingness to shackle a womanâs identity to the constraints of heirarchy in human relationships. Perhaps, as Prince Wei had said, she was thinking way too far ahead, and achieving her goal was still too onerous as of present. However, many things in the world were realized because of a single sprout of idea.\n
Perhaps this sprout would grow into a towering plant a few years later. Who would know?\n
âRight, Mao Shan recommended someone suitable to be the deputy headmaster. Do you want to meet him tomorrow?â\n
âNaturally.â\n
With her and Prince Weiâs identity, it was truly inappropriate for them to handle the academyâs daily work. Feng Sheng barely had enough time to attend to it, so she attached great importance to the position of deputy headmaster. She naturally wanted to meet that prospect.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-vivid-red-background-color has-vivid-red-color is-style-wide">\n<sup>1</sup> In Chapter 87, Feng Sheng had thought that Manâer was quite intelligent, just that she wasnât very learned. Manâer wanted Fan Jin Chuanâs affections, but they couldnât connect with each other mentally or spiritually. \n
<sup>2</sup> éæĄ¶: vinegar jar, a metaphor for jealousy\n
<sup>3</sup> There are some ancient stories where fox spirits/demons donât transform into beautiful women, but they instead steal womenâs skins to become beautiful.\n