Ye Qingqing carefully consulted Xiaoming about the contents of the math workbook and the pinyin workbook.
Xiaoming taught her in a stumbling, halting manner.
In Yecheng, beneath the Sky Curtain.
With the Divine Lady's permission, some eager learners simply sat on the ground, taking out paper and brushes to follow along and learn.
This was arithmetic and literacy, after all! They knew all too well the sheer weight and value of these two subjects.
Take arithmetic alone: how many children of merchants had spent their entire lives learning from their fathers and elder brothers, breaking abacus beads and wearing ledger pages to shreds, only to master simple addition and subtraction by old age?
Yet on the Sky Curtain, the chants of “one times one is one” all the way to “nine times nine is eighty-one,” recited by that child from another world, were so clear and simple that even a toddler could memorize them.
It was even more so for learning to read.
A gray-haired old scholar stared intently at the strange symbols on the Sky Curtain, his lips trembling uncontrollably.
He had taught in Yecheng his entire life, and he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to teach young children to read.
Sometimes, even if he repeated a single character ten, twenty, or fifty times, the children still could not remember it.
Worse yet, some children lacked talent; even if taught a single character for ten days or half a month, they still could not recognize it.
But today, upon hearing this “pinyin,” he suddenly realized—so characters could actually be taught this way!
Standing on the high platform, Yun Shu's gaze swept over the eager, knowledge-thirsty faces, and her heart swelled with emotion.
Although it was merely a single Yecheng Academy, and Ye Qingqing's understanding of teaching and educating fell far short of modern educational concepts, as long as the general direction was correct, the finer details could be slowly added over time.
Some things simply could not be achieved overnight.
Just like how the phrase “equality for all” was simple to say, actually achieving it was harder than reaching the heavens.
Someone murmured with tears in their eyes, “Madam Ye must bring the math workbook and the pinyin workbook back to Yecheng...”
“Didn't that little teacher say he would gift those two miraculous books to Madam Ye? There certainly won't be any problem!”
“If Yecheng Academy obtains these miraculous books, why would we ever worry about children of noble families not coming to Yecheng to study?”
“Indeed. Right now, the academy only has students from humble origins. It is, after all, somewhat improper and invites criticism.”
Yun Shu heard the crowd's discussions but did not voice any opinion. Everyone had their own thoughts, and she could not—and would not—control the minds of everyone.
It wasn't that she couldn't do it, but rather that she shouldn't.
The status of a Divine Lady had its pros and cons.
The benefit was that her words were hundreds of times more effective than imperial edicts; the drawback was that they listened to her too blindly.
But she was not an omniscient and omnipotent god after all. She could not guarantee that every word she spoke was correct.
Moreover, forcing everyone's thoughts to align perfectly with hers would be equivalent to another form of mental imprisonment.
Therefore...
All she could do was guide them in the general direction, and they would have to figure out the rest on their own.
In this process, mistakes would inevitably be made.
But she would do her best to minimize the cost of their trial and error.
Furthermore, mistakes were not necessarily a bad thing; many successes were born from failures.
With this thought, she raised her eyes to look at the Sky Curtain.
Seeing Ye Qingqing bow and thank Xiaoming once more, she waved her sleeve and closed the Sky Curtain.
The crowd snapped out of it, still wanting more, and stared at the wisteria-entwined gate with tense anticipation.
A moment later.
A figure stepped out of the gate. When the crowd saw the two miraculous books Ye Qingqing was carefully cradling in her arms, everyone could not help but wipe away their tears.
Those two books carried far too many hopes.
“My wife, are you well?” Cheng Ji rushed over to support Ye Qingqing, his eyes filled with deep concern for her.
Having seen Ye Qingqing arrive in such a strange place through the Sky Curtain earlier, his heart had been in his throat the entire time.
Ye Qingqing gently shook her head at him.
Yun Shu had no intention of explaining to the people of Yecheng where Ye Qingqing had gone, whom she had met, or what she had brought back.
The most important rule of playing a deity and deceiving people was to always tell only half the story, leaving the other half for them to fill in with their own imagination.
People would only firmly believe that what they imagined was the truth.
“What do you all believe constitutes a great achievement after receiving instruction from a teacher in school and acquiring a wealth of knowledge?”
She waved her sleeve again, and purple specks of light drifted down from her cuffs like fireflies, dispersing onto the ground.
“This is the second question. You will also have the duration of a single stick of incense.”
The incense on the bluestone table was lit once more.
A slight commotion rippled through the crowd. Before the excitement of the first question had even cooled, the second question had already come crashing down.
Before anyone had the chance to consult Ye Qingqing, they all bowed their heads, deeply pondering the Divine Lady's second question.
To achieve academic success at the academy, and then what?
Entering the imperial court as an official, bringing honor to one's ancestors, and securing titles for one's wife and children—this was the natural, unquestioned answer in the hearts of scholars for generations.
Yet under the gaze of the Divine Lady, and remembering Ye Qingqing's answer to the first question, they all vaguely sensed that these were not the answers the Divine Lady sought.
Outside the courtyard.
Cui He tugged on Shen Yu's sleeve. “Teacher, you must know how to answer, right?”
Shen Yu did not deny it, only saying a single sentence.
“Ar He, this is a blessing bestowed upon Yecheng by the Divine Lady. We should merely watch from the sidelines and not interfere.”
Just then.
A young man dressed in a moon-white robe with a crossed collar stood up from the crowd sitting on the ground.
He was likely a student of Yecheng Academy.
He was very young, barely in his early twenties, and looked thin and somewhat malnourished, yet his eyes were exceptionally bright.
Just now, as he stood up, several classmates around him pulled at him, as if trying to stop him.
However, he gently shrugged them off.
The student took two steps forward, bowed his head, and respectfully made a deep bow to the Divine Lady.
“This student, Chen Zhi, begs to answer this question.” His voice was somewhat tight, but every word was clearly enunciated.
How could he not be nervous? This was the Divine Lady, after all!
The Divine Lady looked down at him and remained silent.
This was tacit permission.
Chen Zhi took a deep breath and looked up. He did not dare to look directly at the Divine Lady's face, keeping his eyes lowered and his mind focused.
“This student believes that upon acquiring knowledge in school, the most important thing to do is to use one's learning to improve the plight of the common people. Even if it is something as simple as writing a family letter for an illiterate citizen, or helping them read a letter sent by a distant relative—as long as it truly helps the common people, it counts as a great achievement.”
Everyone was stunned. Some among them had also thought of using their knowledge to help the common people live better lives, but most had envisioned becoming high officials or prime ministers. They had never considered that a minor deed like writing a family letter for an illiterate commoner was actually helping them solve a major problem that troubled them.
For a moment, many people suddenly saw the light.
Yun Shu looked at Chen Zhi, extremely pleased with him. She had finally found another promising prospect for grassroots work.
Her face showed neither joy nor anger. “It is truly rare for you to have such insight. Do not forget your original intention in the future.”
Chen Zhi was overjoyed. “This student will reverently follow the Divine Lady's teachings.”
“Go.”
The wisteria gate slowly opened for the second time.
As Chen Zhi stepped through the gate, he could not help but wonder.
He wondered if he would have the destiny to meet that Teacher Xiaoming, who had taught Madam Ye arithmetic and pinyin.
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