Smack! Although Jin Wang was very light-handed to prevent hurting her, the sound it made raised some eyebrows.
Yaoniang turned her head to look back at him, her lips trembling. Although she didnât speak, her eyes seemed to be saying âyou really hit meâ. Facing this posture and this gaze, Jin Wangâs eyes became darker, and turbulent waves appeared in them.
âBenwang is punishing you.â
He said that to convince her, and also himself. With that, the smack of a ruler hitting flesh sounded four times one after another.
Yaoniang wanted to cry, but before she could cry, Jin Wang asked abruptly, âBack when you were studying, where did you learn to?â
His question was too abrupt, and Yaoniang subconsciously froze. Then she honestly answered âI learned âMengtong Xunâ and âSanzijinâ. After that, my father didnât want to teach me anymore, so I studied âBai Jia Xingâ and âQianzi Wenâ on my own. I also read some miscellaneous books, but they canât be seriously counted.â
Jin Wang nodded with a stiff face. With his hands still behind his back, he said, âSince thatâs the case, benwang will begin by teaching you âYouxue Qionglinâ. Come with me.â
He turned to go to the study. Her mind no longer on her recent spanking, she got up and followed him.
Leaving Xiaobao sitting there, covering his face, and watching Huahua. Huahua meowed at him. Xiaobao rolled over, slipped off the Kang and followed his parents.
When the child and the cat reached the door, they saw Hong Chou and the others looking toward the study with worried expressions. Xiaobao was about to go in when he was held back by Hong Fei.
âYoung Master, donât go in. His Highness is angry with your mother.â
Hong Chou patted Hong Feiâs hand, and whispered, âIt is because His Highness is angry that the Young Master should go in.â
Hong Fei reacted by quickly letting go of the hand holding Xiaobao.
Xiaobao quietly pushed the door with Huahua and went in.
At the desk, sat Jin Wang on one side with Yaoniang on the other side, facing him.
There was a book in front of Yaoniang. Even though Jin Wang had no book in front of him, he was explaining it to Yaoniang. More specifically, the beginning of âYouxue Qionglinâ â
The beginning of chaos was the beginning of the universe as heaven and earth began to lay a foundation. The light and clear qi floated towards the heavens, while the heavy and thick qi condensed down to the earth.
Back then, Xiaobao had studied this âYouxue Qionglinâ at the beginning of his schooling. He had learned how to read when he was very young. After studying this one, he then read other books and naturally learned a lot of allusions and idioms. It could be said that every young child at the beginning of their learning process was extremely capable of absorbing new information.
Yaoniang followed along with what he said and read with a look of concentration on her face. Xiaobao came to Yaoniangâs side and begged Yaoniang to hug him without saying a word. Yaoniang carefully glanced at Jin Wang from beneath her eyelashes. Seeing that he didnât furrow his brows, she quietly lifted Xiaobao onto her lap to sit.
Like this, both mother and son listened to Jin Wang teach.
Yaoniang expected Xiaobao to grow restless after a while, but he listened very seriously and even seemed to be reading along with her.
By the end, Jin Wangâs attention shifted to Xiaobao instead.
Although he was watching Xiaobao, his voice didnât pause at all. Despite the fact that Yaoniang had never studied this piece of work before, she was literate, so she didnât have difficulty keeping up. There were some places where she couldnât completely grasp the meaning but it was no problem for her to read it.
And even though Xiaobao had yet to learn how to read, by only listening to Jin Wang once, he could read out loud together with Yaoniang. The only difference was that Yaoniang had a book in front of her, but he didnât.
Did he have such an exceptional memory that he doesnât forget what he learned?
Jin Wangâs insight and self-control were superior to ordinary people. Maintaining his composure, he read it once more before stopping. He asked Yaoniang to continue and then said that he was going to take Xiaobao out for a drink of water.
Yaoniang didnât notice anything amiss because she was too focused, trying to avoid seeing Jin Wangâs look of disappointment.
As for the babbling from Xiaobao, as he followed along, she didnât take it to heart. She thought he was simply following along for fun, so she didnât pay clear attention to what exactly he was saying.
Jin Wang took Xiaobao to the outer room and sat down, then called for a maid to serve tea. Taking advantage of this moment, Jin Wang said to Xiaobao, âRepeat to father what you just read with your mother.â
Then Xiaobao reiterated the few paragraphs he had just learned to Jin Wang, word by word, not missing anything at all.
Various complex emotions appeared on Jin Wangâs face before his calm took over again. Taking a deep look at Xiaobao, he said in a calm tone, âNot bad. In the future, youâll follow along as father teaches your mother.â
In fact, in these few breaths of time, a lot of thoughts flew across Jin Wangâs mind. If he could express his emotions in words, it would probably be something along the lines of- my son is a child prodigy! As his father, Iâm very happy and I want to let the whole world know!
But at the same time, his character of restraint and forbearance took over again. He understood the concept of the higher one climbed, the worse the fall. At this time, Xiaobao was still in the process of learning and growing. If he wasnât careful, pride could easily hinder a childâs future development.
In the end, Jin Wang chose to treat him as usual. He even considered finding a tutor to teach Xiaobao, but after thinking about it, he decided to do it himself.
At this time, Yaoniang, who was still in the study, didnât know anything about it. By chance, Jin Wang discovered Xiaobaoâs talent, leading to Xiaobao being enlightened by Jin Wang before he even turned two years old.
The reason why Xiaobao wanted to start learning at such a young age was to become a well-known prodigy in the future. As for Jin Wang, he wanted to teach out of his love for his son. Like this, Yaoniang gained a classmate, her son Xiaobao.
At first, when she learned that Jin Wang was also going to start teaching her son at such a young age, Yaoniang felt it was too early. However, Jin Wang insisted and Xiaobao also expressed that he wanted to learn very much, so she could only nod her head in agreement.
Later, when she found out about her sonâs exceptional memory, she was shocked for two whole days. But she had good reason because she also realized that Xiaobaoâs study progress was so fast that he was on the verge of exceeding her.
As his mother, she was extremely unwilling to fall behind, so she worked harder and harder. Although it was not to the extent of tying her hair up to the ceiling, she was still very diligent. Every now and then, sheâd even fall asleep sitting with the book still in her hands. Jin Wang, who dug this hole for himself, felt all kinds of sadness and frustration in his heart, no need to be mentioned for the time being.
Both mother and son were busy with their studies, so they naturally forgot about the promise they made to visit Duke Zhenguo Manor more often.
But given the cold weather, it was also too inconvenient to go out.
When Yaoniang finally remembered, she asked Yu Chan to bring over a small gift specially prepared for Yueyue. Yu Chan was also tasked to pass on the message that due to the extreme weather, it was inconvenient for her to go out. She also mentioned that she had picked up on her studies.
After Yu Chan came back, she said that Qiao-shiâs old disease had flared up but it wasnât anything serious. She also passed on a message from Qiao-shi that once the weather warmed up, sheâd bring Yueyue over to Jin Wang Manor as a guest. There were also several books sent over as well.
Since Yu Chan said that Qiao-shiâs illness was not serious, just a slight cough, Yaoniang didnât take it to heart. She planned to wait until it was sunnier before visiting Duke Zhenguo Mansion.
As for Xiaobao, he was the one who urged her to deliver things to Xiao Yueyue. Hearing that Qiao-shi was ill, his heart tightened. Only after he heard that it was a light cough did he let out a sigh of relief.
However, he still decided to visit Duke Zhenguo Manor in a few days. As for how heâd get there, he just needed to come up with something
Mini-theatre:
Yaoniang: Sorrowful face.jpg You are so despicable and shameless! You changed your face so fast and didnât acknowledge anyone as soon as you put on your pants!
Xiaobao: Innocent face.jpg Mother, youâve suffered. Itâs not that I donât want to save you, I just really have no power to do soâŠ
Hua Hua: The cat licking its paws.jpg Meow, these humans sure know how to have fun.
Jin Wang: Being a good teacher with a serious face.jpg I punished you for your own good.
Passerby A: Are you sure itâs not for anything else?