The Ming Dynasty: My sister, Empress Ma

Seven or eight days later.

There has been no word from the palace regarding the authenticity of Ma Wenyuan's identity.

Perhaps because of this, the results of the palace examination were not released for a long time, which caused many students to complain.

Ma Wenyuan hasn't left the house in the past few days, spending his time drawing and teaching Zeng Qing and her brother to read in his spare time.

Speaking of this...

Ma Wenyuan couldn't help but feel annoyed by the low rate of education普及率 (education普及率 is a term that doesn't translate directly but implies a sense of frustration or frustration).

He even felt a little regretful, regretting his earlier decision to take the two as his students.

"You're a real genius!"

Ma Wenyuan scratched his head and asked, enunciating each word clearly, "What does 2 + 1 equal?"

Sitting in front of him was Zeng Qing.

At this moment, Zeng Qing was curled up on a small stool, and his large body looked like he was squatting in a toilet from a distance.

Zeng Qing scratched his head, silently calculated for a while, and mumbled an answer: "21".

Ma Wenyuan's expression froze.

Seeing that Ma Wenyuan was about to faint from anger, Zeng Xiu quickly said,

"It's 3, you idiot."

Fortunately, I still have a smart student.

Ma Wenyuan felt much relieved.

After studying with him for a few days, Zeng Xiu has mastered addition and subtraction within ten. Now she is learning addition and subtraction of three-digit numbers, as well as multiplication and division.

Ma Wenyuan picked up Zeng Xiu's homework, intending to ease his mood.

64-24, Zeng Xiu wrote 40.

78-56, Zeng Xiu wrote 22.

Suddenly, Ma Wenyuan clenched his fist. What does 51-4 mean? It equals more than 40?

It's one thing that Zeng Qing, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, is illiterate, but how come you, a delicate-looking girl, are also illiterate?

Zeng Xiu noticed an unfriendly gaze, immediately shrank back, and carefully stopped talking.

Taking a deep breath, Ma Wenyuan suddenly felt that the road ahead was long and arduous.

He originally thought that if something were to happen to him, at least he could train Zeng Qing to become a scholar within a limited time.

In reality, he could only make two people literate at most.

Immediately, Ma Wenyuan felt a sense of admiration for his elementary school teachers from his previous life, as well as for the teachers who were now educating young children.

How exactly do you manage to cram a Chinese compressed file into these people's brains?

The only thing that gave Ma Wenyuan some relief was that Zeng Xiu was fairly good at Chinese language.

Zeng Xiu could at least memorize all the articles that Ma Wenyuan had taught him and understand their meaning.

As for Zeng Qing, let's not talk about him.

Ma Wenyuan could only teach according to students' aptitudes. For students as intelligent as Zeng Xiu, Ma Wenyuan could directly teach them articles and poems.

As for Zeng Qing, Ma Wenyuan could only show him the newly drawn Analects comic strip.

……

dong dong——

There was a knock on the courtyard gate.

Zeng Qing quickly got up and went to open the door.

"Who are you?"

Hearing the sound at the door, Ma Wenyuan, who was watching Zeng Xiu's homework in the courtyard, immediately turned around.

Zeng Qing stood at the doorway, blocking the entire entrance.

"Who's there? Move aside."

After Zeng Qing stepped aside, Ma Wenyuan was taken aback. The newcomer was Zhu Yuanzhang, along with a beautiful woman, and Zhu Biao was following behind them.

Ma Wenyuan was convinced and prepared to bow.

Why does the emperor keep running to him for no reason?

"No need."

Zhu Yuanzhang, intrigued, stepped into the courtyard first and looked at the tall and imposing Zeng Qing.

After looking him up and down a few times, Zhu Yuanzhang clicked his tongue in amazement.

"Wow, this outfit must have taken a lot of fabric!"

It will cost a lot of money. Fabric is very expensive these days, and many people have to wear the same set of clothes for a lifetime.

Especially the Confucian robes, the fabric of which is even more expensive.

However, a few days ago, when Guo Chong came to pick up the painting and prepare for its publication, he remembered that Ma Wenyuan was in dire financial straits, so he left some money with him.

So Ma Wenyuan isn't really short of money right now.

In other words, clothes are all made to order these days. It would be hard to find the kind of mass-produced clothes that are common in later generations.

Where can you find a scholar who weighs 180 or 200 pounds?

"Your student?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.

"Exactly," Ma Wenyuan replied.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, then noticed the girl huddled behind the table in the courtyard, and was somewhat surprised.

"There are even female students here."

"Education should be provided to all without discrimination." Ma Wenyuan did not elaborate further.

"Good."

Zhu Yuanzhang came from a commoner background and was not bound by the constraints of aristocratic families, so he didn't say much.

Looking around, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that the courtyard had changed a lot.

The last time I came, there was only a small tree and a square table and chairs in the small courtyard.

Now there are two more desks, a black board, and a lot of other miscellaneous items.

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to say a few more words about other things, but he suddenly noticed the burning gaze of the person behind him, so he stopped and slowly walked to the side.

"Students take their leave." Zeng Qing and Zeng Xiu quickly got up and left.

Ma Wenyuan ignored the two of them and looked at the beautiful woman who was staring intently at him.

A beautiful woman who looks remarkably like herself.

"This is your sister," Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects." Ma Wenyuan prepared to bow again.

He knew that his identity had been confirmed.

But in Ma Wenyuan's view, there is no true affection in the royal family.

Throughout history, how many times have brothers been killed, fathers and sons killed each other, and uncles and nephews killed each other in the pursuit of power?

He is now merely Empress Ma's younger brother, not even from the same mother, and was raised by someone who was not raised by her. Apart from blood ties, there is no affection between them.

Ma Wenyuan felt that it was still important to observe proper etiquette.

He performed a deep bow with a respectful attitude, which moved Empress Ma deeply, and her eyes welled up with tears.

Zhu Biao stepped forward, forcibly interrupting the spell, and lifted Ma Wenyuan up. "Uncle, get up. We're family, we don't talk about these things."

Xiao Zhu is only sixteen years old, but he's surprisingly strong.

Rubbing his aching arm, Ma Wenyuan bowed and said,

"Thank you, Your Highness. I believe there should still be rules."

Hearing these cautious words and seeing the childishness on the other person's face, Empress Ma's eyes couldn't help but redden.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly said, "After I grant you the title of Prince of Xu in a while, I will also grant you the privilege of not having to bow when entering the court!"

"No."

"I dare not accept such an honor."

One was said by Empress Ma, and the other was said by Ma Wenyuan.

"I have not made any contribution to the Ming Dynasty, how dare I accept such an honor, and I dare not even ask for a title."

Seeing Ma Wenyuan's attitude, Zhu Yuanzhang and his son were somewhat satisfied. A good imperial relative should be neither arrogant nor impatient.

Only in this way can they avoid the infamy of killing their relatives.

Empress Ma was even more pleased and personally stepped forward to help Ma Wenyuan up again.

"As Biao'er said, from now on, we won't need to exchange formalities with just our own people. Let's leave aside the formalities, as for titles..."

Empress Ma held Ma Wenyuan's arm, feeling the roughness of his hands, and then thought of her younger brother who was only eighteen years old.

At eighteen, he was in the prime of his life, full of vigor and ambition, while his younger brother, at eighteen, was as insignificant as an ant, not even as handsome as Lan Yu, a general who had fought on the battlefield for many years.

With this in mind, Empress Ma quickly changed the subject.

"A kingship is out of the question, but an earlship would be appropriate."

In the Ming Dynasty, no titles were conferred without military merit, which is why civil officials and relatives of the emperor were rarely granted titles.

Even in the mid-Ming Dynasty, the highest rank a maternal relative could attain was a marquis, and after death, they might be posthumously granted the title of duke.

Therefore, Empress Ma's statement is reasonable.