Chapter 257 Establishing a Girls' School

Chapter 257 Establishing a Girls' School

Jiang Yuan wasn't interested in whether the other women were beautiful or not. He asked Xie Wanniang, "Do you think she was the one helping?"

Although Xie Wanniang didn't have solid evidence, her intuition told her that was the case. She nodded and said, "Although that Duke has indeed always been the Emperor's vanguard, hasn't he always been involved in important military and national affairs? This time, he suddenly attacked the Prince of Nanyang. I have a feeling that the young lady played a part in it."

Jiang Yuan thought about it and realized it was true. In the past, he would usually ignore trivial matters, but he would only step forward and openly support the emperor on matters of national importance.

He asked Xie Wanniang, "So what do you plan to do? Write a letter and subtly inquire?"

Xie Wanniang shook her head. "It depends on her. If she writes to say that the favor has been repaid, then I will offer her a generous gift. If she doesn't intend to use this to distance herself from me, then I will continue to maintain contact with her as before."

Although Xie Wanniang is now a county princess, and her status is comparable to that of the Duke's second wife, there are some people who are unwilling to associate with those who once witnessed their wretched state after becoming glamorous and wealthy.

Xie Wanniang didn't know if the girl was the same way, so she needed to see what the other party's attitude was first.

Another important point is that she never felt she had done anything that required the other party's gratitude.

Even if the other person leaves and is never heard from again, she wouldn't really think anything of it.

Not to mention that because of that insignificant bit of help he gave her back then, he continued to correspond with her after they got married.

She grabbed Jiang Yuan's arm and said, "We'll talk about this later. What's important now is that the Prince of Nanyang asked the Emperor to issue an edict, but the Emperor rejected it."

Jiang Yuan nodded, "He probably won't have such thoughts again in the future."

The emperor has made his stance clear and public. Even if the Prince of Nanyang wants to take the path of the imperial concubines, he has to see if any of them are willing to offend the monarch on whom they depend for their livelihood for his sake.

Between the Prince of Nanyang and the Emperor, Jiang Yuan believed that as long as they weren't completely corrupt, the concubines would never choose the wrong side.

Xie Wanniang shared his thoughts, but she had another worry: "It's not going to work out openly now, do you think he might try something underhanded?"

“It’s not impossible.” He patted Xie Wanniang. “And that Princess of Nanyang, she doesn’t deserve to die. After some torment, she should be released back to her fiefdom. At that time, she will definitely be even more ruthless towards you and me.”

After all, she had implicated her own family, including her father, brothers, and nephews, who all suffered greatly. Given her thought process, she was probably already hating Xie Wanniang, the "culprit," to death.

Hearing this, Xie Wanniang couldn't help but sigh, "That's why the human brain is such a strange thing, it's hard to tell whether it's good or bad. Some people in this world will never learn to look at problems objectively and calmly."

Jiang Yuan couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry, I'll arrange for people to protect you and your daughter."

Xie Wanniang shook her head, "You just need to take care of yourself. The guards at home are enough for the child and me."

Before Jiang Yuan could say anything more, Xie Wanniang added, "Besides, I have some money to spare right now. If we really don't have enough manpower, I can choose to continue expanding the size of the guard team, can't I?"

She didn't want Jiang Yuan to give her and the child the personal guards he was comfortable with. Firstly, he would go to the battlefield from time to time and couldn't be short of manpower. Secondly, compared to her, he didn't have many trustworthy people that he could freely mobilize.

Raising her hand to touch Jiang Yuan's face, Xie Wanniang said gently, "You have to take good care of yourself. Only if you are well will my child and I not lose our support."

While her words contained an element of persuasion, they were also a truly objective statement, after all, Jiang Yuan was the strongest link between her and the border troops.

After the couple finished speaking, Jiang Yuan took the initiative to serve Xie Wanniang dinner.

As for the child, the little one, being cared for by Haitang and a maid, was already asleep in the west room of the main house.

Apart from the incident caused by the Prince of Nanyang, Xie Wanniang's postpartum period was uneventful and without any major upheavals.

Even the foreign tribes beyond the Great Wall, because of the sprouting grass in spring, no longer gather to knock on the gate from time to time.

Speaking of this, Jiang Yuan has made some military achievements, big and small, in the past year, but these achievements are not enough for him to continue to be promoted. Therefore, he still has to continue to slowly accumulate seniority in the army.

Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan were both very open-minded about this. Although a fifth-rank garrison commander was just a low-level military officer, for Jiang Yuan's age, it was actually quite outstanding that he had managed to reach this position.

They still have plenty of time; they can gradually develop their wings.

After a smooth forty-day postpartum period, allowing her body to recover to its pre-pregnancy state, Xie Wanniang began working on establishing a girls' school.

She planned to open her first girls' school in Yi County.

Because Baoding Prefecture was located on the frontier, the social etiquette was not as strict as in the interior. In many families that lost young men in the war, the women in the family did not care whether it was appropriate for them to show their faces in public in order to keep the family alive.

Whether they like it or not, they have no choice but to shoulder the burden of supporting their families.

In families where there is a man, but he is unable to support the entire family, the women are also forced by circumstances to actively go out to work.

The target students of Xie Wanniang's school were women who were forced to work but had no special skills, so they could only do manual labor and earn a meager monthly wage.

In order to ensure that anyone who wants to learn can come and learn without having to give up due to the pressure of making a living at home, Xie Wanniang's girls' school adopted a completely different approach to enrollment and teaching than traditional schools and other crafts.

In terms of curriculum design, she divides the learnable content into different categories such as reading, martial arts, medicine, cooking, needlework, textiles, animal husbandry, and planting. Each category of courses is designed to be highly practical and easy to learn.

For example, when it comes to reading, she doesn't want to teach a group of scholars who read the classics, but rather aims to cultivate students who can "read and write, and be able to do accounting and bookkeeping."

Graduates of this course are perfectly suited for the position of shop accountant.

Even if a student is eloquent and adept at social interaction, they could easily become a manager or shopkeeper.

For example, in the course on medicine, Xie Wanniang plans to directly teach them how to identify and process common local herbs.

In this way, they can master a survival skill that they can rely on in the shortest amount of time.

The same applies to other courses; they all start with the most basic and applicable parts, so that many people can learn and graduate from the academy in just six months to a year, or even two or three months.