Yu Mingyue went to Cui Shi's courtyard. Before she entered the room, her voice preceded her.
"Mother,"
Cui Shi was fond of playing chess and was currently engrossed in a game of endgame.
"Mother, quickly try these cherries, they're so sweet." Yu Mingyue picked up a cherry with her small hand and placed it in Cui Shi's mouth.
Cui Shi had been experiencing a lack of appetite during her pregnancy, but the sweet and sour cherries were perfectly to her taste.
"Where did these cherries come from?" The cherries from the estate this year were not growing well, and were sour and astringent, far from being this delicious.
"Brother Jiayan gave them to me."
"Oh?" Cui Shi hummed, her daughter had been getting a little close to this popular top scholar recently.
"When Kongsong delivered them, he said they were a gift from the Sage. Our family has no female relatives who don't like such things, so they sent them over," Yu Mingyue said carelessly.
"If they are a gift from the Sage, then they are too precious," Cui Shi said calmly.
"Don't worry, Mother, just eat them. We don't need to be indebted to the Sage. Besides, I lent Brother Jiayan two rare books last time, and those are far more precious than cherries."
They were originally gifts for him, but he said the rare books were too valuable and copied them down, returning the originals to her.
He had promised to treat her to a meal at Wuwei Ju, but he was so busy that he had no time to fulfill it. A basket of cherries was nothing, how could she not eat them? Cui Shi exchanged a glance with Qin Momo, smiled, and shook her head. This girl was clearly oblivious, and they were overthinking things.
"Mother's birthday is coming soon. Will Uncle come?" The "Uncle" Yu Mingyue was referring to was the renowned Ninth Master Cui.
When it was her birthday in April, her uncle had not made it to the capital. Now that her mother's birthday was approaching, surely her uncle would be able to make it.
"Your uncle travels extensively, and even your mother doesn't know where he is now."
Her brother was the most famous, but also the least controlled by the family.
In fact, he was the one the clan most favored to be the next clan leader, hoping he would take over the Cui family's responsibilities. However, Ninth Brother did not wish to be bound and traveled outside for many years.
"Mother is pregnant and it's inconvenient to go out. Yue'er wants to go back to Jiangzhou with Uncle to fulfill her filial duty to Grandmother. Grandmother always says she misses Yue'er in her letters..." Yu Mingyue obediently massaged Cui Shi's legs.
"The journey to Jiangzhou is long, and Mother is reluctant for Yue'er to endure the hardships of travel."
"Mother, I want to go!" Yu Mingyue pouted.
Xie Jiayan had already been appointed as the top scholar. According to the storybooks, he would soon be ordered to establish a government school in Jiangzhou.
Once the government school was built, a large number of scholars would choose to attend, and it would continuously supply talent to the imperial court year after year.
Local aristocratic families would undoubtedly try their best to obstruct it. If a conflict arose, it would be a lose-lose situation for both the imperial court and the aristocratic families.
The Cui family would be the most affected by the establishment of government schools. The Cui family had established its reputation through poetry and literature. The reason they had stood tall among the Five Great Clans for a hundred years was because the family controlled books and calligraphy that outsiders could not access. This was their foundation.
Every year, countless students would travel to Jiangzhou to study. Many officials in the Great Wei had a teacher-student relationship with the Cui family, and these relationships gradually formed an unbreakable network.
Currently, the Five Great Clans were the Wang, Cui, Li, Zheng, and Lu families.
The prestige of the Wang family in the long river of history was undeniable. During the Jin Dynasty, there were rumors of the Wangs ruling the world alongside the Sima family. The Wang family had produced countless prime ministers and empresses.
The Wang family was also the first aristocratic family to support Emperor Taizu's uprising. Both the Empress Dowager and the Empress after the founding of the Great Wei came from the Wang family.
Although the Empress had been away from the palace for many years, even with Consort Yao being so favored, the Emperor had not deposed the Empress because of the aristocratic families.