After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1124 Flowers and Trees
Haitang followed her family to visit Mingshu Hall inside and out.

Xie Wenzai, Cao Gengyun, and Lu Bainian have already invited two gentlemen who once worked in famous academies to help manage the general affairs of Mingshutang through the channels of old students from Wumen who they are familiar with. In addition to their own servants, they also hired people from nearby to do miscellaneous work. Now the house and furniture of Mingshutang are complete, books, pens, ink, paper and inkstones have been purchased, and twenty sets of uniform student cloth robes have been made. Only a part of the daily necessities such as grain, oil, rice, noodles, cups, plates, bowls, chopsticks, and beddings have been prepared, and they have to wait until the students officially enter school before they can make adjustments based on the specific number of students. Xie Wenzai went to the government in person to handle various documents and permissions, and he was just waiting for the auspicious day to come so that he could officially open the altar to worship the saint and announce the official opening of Mingshutang.

Hai Xiya was used to managing general affairs when she was in the northwest. Although she had no experience in managing a school, she was able to find several practical problems after a round of visits, and reminded her cousin and old friends. Xie Wenzai and others hurriedly took over, planning to rectify them later. Ma took people to the backyard of the private house where the three lived. Even though she knew that the three of them now had mature and steady servants to serve them, and Xie Zhong, an experienced old servant and housekeeper, she was still worried, fearing that the three of them would be confused and unable to take care of themselves, and she would have to personally ask about their diet and daily life to ensure that everyone's life was okay.

When all these things were done, it was already late, so Xie Wenzai invited everyone to his courtyard for a simple meal.

As Xie Wenzai's old servant and housekeeper, Xie Zhong also took care of the three mountain chiefs' affairs. However, he entrusted matters such as diet and health to Lu Bainian's niece, Ping'an's mother. Although Ping'an's mother was dressed simply now, she grew up in a wealthy family after all. After becoming the main wife, she worked as a respected lady in the countryside for several months. Her words and deeds were different from before. She no longer had the sense of servility and humility. In front of elders and guests, she dared to speak with her back straight. Therefore, although she was still gentle and docile, and well-mannered, no one would regard her as a concubine. Instead, they felt that her behavior was indeed very dignified like a daughter-in-law of a wealthy family.

Ping'an's mother brought the maids and set up two banquet tables in the main room of Xie Wenzai's courtyard. She invited all the elders and relatives to sit down, and then sat down next to Ma, and invited Ma, Hu, Zhuang Minyi and Haitang to dine too.

The dishes at the banquet were not delicacies from the mountains or the sea, but fresh chicken, duck, fish and meat. There was no complicated or delicate cooking method, just simple home-cooked flavors, but they were very delicious. Everyone was very satisfied with the meal. After the meal, the kitchen sent up some stewed soup, which was a seasonal warm tonic soup, very suitable for the elderly and children to nourish their bodies, and everyone drank it happily.

The dishes and soups were all set by Ping'an's mother, and she also taught the cook how to cook them. She had been taking care of patients for many years and was very experienced in this area. Ma secretly observed her actions and nodded slightly, thinking that she was quite reliable and that she should be able to safely entrust the daily lives of her three old friends, Xie, Cao, and Lu, to her.

After the meal, everyone was not in a hurry to leave and separated in groups of three or four. Some continued to wander around, some went to take a closer look at the school building where the students would live, and some pulled Xie and Lu aside to talk about the curriculum after the start of the school term. Cao Gengyun returned to his own courtyard, brought home a newly hired kitten, and played with the cat with Lu Ping'an.

Haitang walked into the library and looked through the books already placed on the shelves, among which there was one that she had contributed to.

There were light footsteps outside the house. Haitang scanned the spines of half a shelf of books slowly, and just turned around, just in time to see her cousin Xie Wenzai walk in. She smiled: "Cousin, why are you here?"

"Your grandfather was curious about whether the academy was well-managed and whether students could sneak over the wall and run out to cause trouble, so your grandfather Lu took him to look around the walls." Xie Wenzai said with a smile, "I have visited Chang'an Weixue before, so I naturally know how to avoid such things. The walls of Mingshu Hall are twice as high as those of ordinary houses, and there are no tall trees planted under the walls. I'm afraid that if students want to climb over the wall and sneak out, they must first learn how to fly over eaves and walk on walls. Your grandfather is worrying too much."

Haitang had just discovered this. The wall of Mingshutang was only one foot lower than the outer wall of the Hai family's house in Chang'an. The long ladder that could reach the top of the wall had to be specially customized. The three principals had not made such preparations, and it was obvious that they had been on guard for a long time. In fact, the height of the wall was not difficult for her. She used Qinggong to climb over it without much effort. However, for ordinary students, this was an impossible task. In addition to the main gate of the front yard, the academy only had a small side door for servants to deliver daily necessities. It was usually strictly managed. But this was not a bad thing. After all, a school with strict gates could protect the safety of students and allow them to focus on their studies with peace of mind, right?

Haitang smiled and said, "I saw osmanthus trees and jujube trees planted in the dormitory courtyards of the students. There were also many flowers and trees planted in the three courtyards at the back. I was wondering why there were no tall trees near the school buildings and the library? It turned out that this was to prevent the students from climbing over the wall!"

Xie Wenzai smiled and said, "The osmanthus tree is for good luck. I just hope that the students will win the first prize in the imperial examination in the future. The jujube tree is for the shade in the summer, and the jujube can also be a snack for the students. But forget about the other trees. We have preserved the original big trees on this land, but did not transplant new big trees from other places. Old Lu thinks that a few clumps of green bamboo can be planted in this library. If we are worried that the students will sneak out with the help of the bamboo branches, we can just pick some thin and short varieties. But if we want to teach students calligraphy and painting in the future, having a clump of green bamboo here will make it easier for students to appreciate the charm of bamboo. I couldn't persuade him, so I let him find the right bamboo on his own."

Lu Bainian has always loved calligraphy and painting, so it is not surprising that he has higher expectations for the flowers and trees in Mingshutang. In fact, the architecture of Mingshutang is generally more regular than delicate, with few carved decorations. The overall style is simple, which is also meant to save money and labor. Most of the calligraphy and painting scrolls used for decoration were written by the three mountain masters and their literary friends, and sponsored for free. There are also a few works of crabapples, but they are signed with pseudonyms so that people don’t know that they are boudoir paintings.

As a newly built school, Mingshutang is already in good shape. Even if there are some shortcomings in the flowers and trees, there is nothing to complain about. Haitang thinks these are all trivial matters. However, Xie Wenzai smiled meaningfully: "If you want to see beautiful flowers and trees, the nearby Jin Family Villa is actually a good place. His villa is almost completed. The houses are fine, but the flowers and trees transplanted here are excellent. If you pass by the outside of his courtyard wall when you leave, you can see the red pomegranate flowers on the wall, which are in full bloom!"