Chapter 7: The First Signs of Brilliance

Madam Zhuang’s attempt to find a tutor for her two daughters was unsuccessful. Zhuang Xiaoyu claimed that she knew how to read and didn’t need any lessons, but Zhuang Xian didn’t believe her and decided to test her.

“Go ahead and test me. I can recite poetry, understand history and geography, and everything in between,” Zhuang Xiaoyu boasted.

“Stop bragging. You don’t even know who you take after, with such a wild temper, and you’re always talking nonsense,” Zhuang Xian scolded.

“Old Zhuang, don’t play around. You know how I’ve spent my days. Do you know what I’ve had to do? You keep putting me down,” Zhuang Xiaoyu retorted.

“Unruly child, how dare you talk to your father like that? Don’t think I don’t know. Haven’t you just been chopping wood, washing clothes, and cooking every day? What else have you done?” Zhuang Xian shot back.

“I…” Zhuang Xiaoyu regretted her words. It was true; she’d been doing chores since she was five, washing clothes and cooking, and by ten, she was chopping firewood and hunting. There was simply no time for studying.

“Is it so wrong to study at night?” she said.

“Fine. Let’s see if you can pass my test. If you do, I won’t hire a tutor for you,” Zhuang Xian declared.

Zhuang Xiaoyu raised her chin. “Old Zhuang, give me the test.”

Zhuang Xian shot her a fierce glare in return.

He pulled out a book and opened it. “Read this chapter aloud. If there are no mistakes, you pass.”

“What? Read a chapter? This is child’s play. Are you insulting my intelligence?” Zhuang Xiaoyu exclaimed.

“What, can’t read it?” Zhuang Xian teased.

“No, no, shouldn’t you be asking me to write the chapter? How can reading it be a test?” Zhuang Xiaoyu protested.

“You can write the chapter too? Sure, those who’ve studied extensively can’t write it, but you think you can?” Zhuang Xian mocked.

“Stop, stop! I get it, I’m dumb, okay? Just like my father, dumb,” Zhuang Xiaoyu said, conceding.

Zhuang Xian was so frustrated that he couldn’t say anything more.

Madam Zhang was curious to see how much Zhuang Xiaoyu really knew, and watching the father and daughter bicker, she couldn’t help but laugh.

Zhuang Xiaowan wanted to laugh but didn’t dare to, and struggled to hold it in.

Zhuang Xiaoyu picked up the book and squinted. “A stitch in time saves nine?”

She laughed. Her father thought she was like a first grader. Fine, after eighteen years, she really hadn’t had time to study. If she could read these words, Old Zhuang would surely be satisfied.

Sure enough, Zhuang Xiaoyu read each word carefully and even analyzed the moral of the story at the end. Zhuang Xian nodded, looking quite pleased.

“Not bad, your analysis was quite on point. From now on, you and Xiaowan will come to my study every day for an hour to read.”

“An hour? Two hours of reading every day isn’t that bad.”

“Can we set the time ourselves?” Zhuang Xiaoyu asked.

“Yes, but you must get up early. No sleeping in.”

“How about we make the questions harder? If I get them right, can I sleep in?” Zhuang Xiaoyu joked.

“No,” Zhuang Xian replied firmly.

“Alright then, as long as there’s no tutor watching us, we’ll have some freedom. Worst case, we can study at night.”

“Xiaoyu, since you know how to read, read more poetry and books with Xiaowan. Learn to write poems. If there’s ever a poetry contest, you and Xiaowan can stand out.”

Madam Zhuang had high hopes for her daughters.

“Let’s hope for the best. The Wei family is holding a flower banquet, and we can win them a pot of flowers,” Madam Zhuang encouraged.

“Go, my children. Do your best.”

It seemed that no matter the era, children’s achievements were always a source of pride for their parents.

Writing poetry wasn’t too difficult. Even if she couldn’t write her own, she could memorize others’ poems, couldn’t she?

At the Prince’s Mansion of Murong Xiao, the Empress had sent someone to ask him which family’s daughter he was interested in.

Although the crown prince was the legitimate heir, he didn’t have any military achievements. The Empress feared that her son might be bullied by other princes, so she wanted him to marry into a powerful family. Such alliances for the sake of power and influence were common in royal families, and the Empress’s thinking wasn’t wrong.

Zhuang Xian, being the highest-ranking official, was the ideal candidate for an alliance. However, Zhuang Xiaoyu tricked them. The Wei family clearly wasn’t interested, so they had to abandon that plan for now. Their eyes then turned to Wei Taifu.

The Wei family’s young lady was fine, but it was Murong Xuan, that bastard, who was the real trouble. Zhuang Xiaoyu wondered if the Empress could help remove this stumbling block.

After returning from the Wei family’s flower banquet, she fell ill for a long time. Zhuang Xiaoyu was truly a force to be reckoned with when it came to causing trouble. She needed to find a way to get that vile woman into the Crown Prince’s palace and make her suffer.

The Emperor was planning a palace banquet, and all officials of the third rank and above, along with their families, were invited.

“Big sister, take little sister with you. I won’t go. If the Crown Prince causes trouble, it will be hard to deal with,” Zhuang Xiaoyu said.

“If sister doesn’t go, then I won’t go either. I’ll stay here with sister. You go alone, big sister,” Zhuang Xiaowan replied.

“Hey, you two are strange. Other families are eager to go, trying to show their faces in front of the noble people, but you two are hiding away.”

…

As the three sisters bickered about who would go, someone from the palace came with an imperial decree. The Empress insisted that Madam Zhuang must bring her two daughters to the palace for the banquet.

Now they had no choice but to go.

When the three of them arrived at the palace, they immediately became a beautiful sight to behold.

They all wore identical outfits: light purple dresses. The only difference was that Madam Zhuang had a hairstyle without bangs, while the others had the same hairstyle.

This was Zhuang Xiaoyu’s idea—matching family outfits. The mother and daughters wore the same clothes, and if possible, the entire family would match. But stubborn Old Zhuang scolded her for such nonsense.

Madam Zhang initially refused, but Zhuang Xiaoyu insisted and even sent the clothes over. Eventually, she managed to convince her mother, who ended up feeling much younger in the outfit.

Madam Zhang was only thirty years old, and in modern times, she would be considered a young, unmarried professional. With this outfit, she looked just like her two daughters.

In an era with many children, it wasn’t unusual for siblings to have a twenty-year age gap. She was only twelve years older than Zhuang Xiaoyu. Even Old Zhuang, who was usually very strict, couldn’t help but glance at Madam Zhang a few more times. Zhuang Xiaoyu noticed it and felt quite pleased.

This mischievous daughter of hers was not entirely useless. Recently, the house had been filled with laughter and joy.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xian straightened his back, looking even more majestic.

Behind him, Madam Zhuang was in the middle, with her two daughters on either side, and they made their way to the palace gardens.

It was a scorching hot day. Surely they wouldn’t be dining under the sun, would they?

“Good thing I was prepared,” Zhuang Xiaoyu said, pulling out three hats from her small bag. “Ta-da!”

“Big sister, what’s this?” Zhuang Xiaowan asked.

“Sunscreen hats. Here, each of you take one.”

The hats were simple, with a narrow brim just covering the face. They were modern-style sun hats that wouldn’t mess up their hair.

With these hats, they could stroll through the palace gardens without worry.

“Madam Zhuang, oh my, I’ve been trying to figure out how you’ve become so much younger today! It looks like you’ve shed ten years!” Wei Furen complimented.

“Thank you, Madam Wei. This is all Xiaoyu’s idea, she calls it ‘matching family outfits.'”

“It’s lovely, and it makes you look younger! I’ll have to try this too,” Wei Furen said.

“Yes, yes. Look at us, we’ve been dressing so old-fashioned, worried about being seen as improper, and in the end, we’ve turned into old women. This way, not only does it look good, but it’s cooler too.”

…

Madam Zhang gracefully greeted everyone, while Zhuang Xiaoyu and Zhuang Xiaowan wandered around. Honestly, the palace garden wasn’t as grand as the Wei family’s, though the architecture was slightly more luxurious.

Zhuang Xiaoyu, now with some experience, kept her eyes on her surroundings. She noticed two little eunuchs lingering nearby, and after a while, only one remained.

Interesting. Could it be that foolish Crown Prince had arranged this? She quickly led Zhuang Xiaowan behind a rock garden, slipped out of the eunuch’s line of sight, and returned to her mother’s side.

She wasn’t worried about herself, but she was concerned about Zhuang Xiaowan. The girl was too innocent and shy. She couldn’t let her get hurt—she wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure.

Ancient banquets were quite similar to modern ones. If you could have a conversation with someone, you’d sit at the same table. Madam Zhang and Wei Furen had already sat down, which seemed to suggest their two families had been paired together.

Zhuang Xiaoyu noticed that their family of four seemed smaller in comparison to the one across from them. That family had two wives, which seemed a bit awkward.

More people continued to arrive. Zhuang Xiaoyu realized she had been narrow-minded. It wasn’t just one wife with a concubine; some families had a first wife and a secondary wife, a primary consort and a side consort. Having multiple wives actually seemed like an honorable thing!

She glanced at Old Zhuang, who was sitting quietly, looking rather humble.

She almost said something to comfort him, but stopped herself. “No need to feel inferior. You have two wives too, just one of them is already dead.”