When he was almost eight months old, Ruan Rensui could crawl very quickly.
Perhaps his talent points were invested in his physical constitution?
In his previous life, his body had always been in good shape……………….
De Fei still remembered the emperor’s previous criticism of her son, saying that he was not smart!
How could this be acceptable?
The more he thought his son was not bright, the more she was determined to make her son show them what he could do!
After Ruan Rensui learned to crawl, De Fei took him to the Jiu Hua Hall to attend classes with the Crown Princess.
Yes, although the Crown Princess was only three years old at the moment, the palace ladies had already started teaching her.
The curriculum was set by Lady Jia Zhen.
On the east side of the palace, the Empress Dowager had specially partitioned off a large garden, where various plants were grown and many animals were kept.
This was not only for the nobles in the palace to relax but also for the education of the imperial heirs.
Today’s lesson for the Crown Princess was simple.
A palace lady led her to a small patch of dogtail grass in the garden, spread a mat on the ground, and sat down with her, gently asking,
“Princess, what are the characteristics of this grass?”
After the Crown Princess spoke, the lady found a stalk of millet and asked,
“And what about this one?”
Finally, she told the Crown Princess,
“The fruit it produces is the millet you had for breakfast this morning!”
She pointed to the millet and patiently explained to the Crown Princess that modern millet was domesticated from dogtail grass, and although they looked similar, they were actually different.
There were many references to “grain” in ancient poetry and literature, but since the Crown Princess was still young, the palace lady did not go into detail.
She only added, “In our dynasty, there are many crops, but millet is considered the most important in ancestral temple sacrifices.”
The lesson was short and concise, suitable for a three-year-old’s level of understanding.
The final exam would take place after the dogtail grass and millet had matured.
The Crown Princess would need to identify ten stalks of each in a mixed area without confusing them.
If she could pass the exam smoothly, she would receive a painting signed by the emperor.
Ruan Rensui had little memory of his childhood from his previous life, and the lessons back then were dull and tedious.
Now, going through it all again, he found it quite interesting.
Indeed, it seemed that energetic children should be the ones to attend classes, while adults should focus on reading!
De Fei paid close attention to her son’s condition, occasionally looking down at him.
Seeing that he was listening attentively, she felt relieved, even though she wasn’t sure how much he understood.
“That’s the spirit, Sui Sui,” she said encouragingly, patting his round head.
“Lay a solid foundation now, and learning will be much easier for you in the future!”
Ruan Rensui sensed his mother’s somewhat unrealistic expectations of him and laughed heartily, then began to crawl around energetically.
De Fei: “!”
De Fei was flustered: “Sui Sui!”
She quickly went over, held him down, and placed him back on the seat to continue listening to the lesson.
Ruan Ren sui started shouting without any psychological burden.
The lady teaching the class was originally explaining that “the uneven ‘zang’ refers to dogtail grass,” but upon hearing the Crown Prince’s loud cries disrupting the class, she cast a puzzled glance over.
Xian Fei didn’t say anything, but De Fei herself felt a bit embarrassed.
The Crown Princess frowned and loudly scolded: “Sui Sui, I’m in class! Stop shouting!”
Ruan Rensui continued to shout without any psychological burden.
The Crown Princess got angry and said:
“Lady De, control him!”
De Fei’s face turned red with embarrassment.
She couldn’t bear to stay any longer, so she picked up the unfortunate child, nodded to the lady one last time, and left in a flustered manner.
As soon as they were out the door, Ruan Rensui stopped shouting.
De Fei stopped in surprise, tentatively turned back, and Ruan Rensui started shouting again!
This happened twice, and De Fei realized with anger: “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!”
Ruan Rensui looked up at the sky with an air of nonchalance.
De Fei was so angry that she felt faint.
She couldn’t do anything about him and returned to the palace with a heavy heart and a sense of frustration.
The next day, when Lady Xiahou came to the palace, De Fei complained to her mother:
“He’s so disobedient, always trying to make me angry!”
Lady Xiahou, on the contrary, was very pleased:
“How old is he? Don’t force him to grow up too quickly.”
She continued: “Think about it, he just learned to crawl and already knows how to manipulate you to skip class. That shows he’s inherently clever. If that’s not a good thing, what is?”
De Fei’s eyes lit up: “You’re right!”
Looking at her son, who was happily eating with his hands, she felt like he was a wise man contemplating life and let go of her worries.
When the emperor came, she happily shared her son’s daily antics with him:
“Just think how smart he is, deliberately causing trouble. He’s so young, imagine what he’ll be like when he grows up!”
The emperor found it quite interesting and advised her:
“He’s still very young. For now, he’s just making a fuss. Let’s wait until he’s older.”
De Fei happily agreed.
Ruan Rensui’s impromptu class-attending adventure, initiated by De Fei’s whim, thus came to an end.
When he was almost nine months old, Ruan Ren sui could stand by holding onto something.
De Fei was initially delighted by her son’s progress, but after the imperial physician came to check his pulse and told her,
“It’s not necessarily a good thing for a child to walk too early. It’s better for the young master to crawl more and try standing and walking when he’s a bit older…”
De Fei listened attentively and nodded solemnly.
Ruan Rensui also listened carefully and promptly bent his knees, released his grip, and resumed his crawling position on all fours on the mat.
The physician then examined his mouth and said,
“In another two months, the young master will be at the age when he can start speaking. Your Majesty, don’t take care of him too meticulously. If you know exactly what he wants with just a gesture or a movement, he won’t feel the urgency to speak.”
De Fei meticulously took note of this.
Ruan Rensui thought to himself: There’s no need to take this matter so seriously.
That night, Xian Fei went with the Crown Princess to visit.
He went to bed late and consequently woke up late the next day.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he realized he was in a different environment.
It seemed to be the side hall of the Han Yuan Hall where his father was.
His mother was nowhere to be seen, and his wet nurse, Lady Qian, along with several nursemaids, were with him.
Ruan Rensui yawned and stretched his limbs.
Suddenly, he heard the voice of the Crown Princess.
Oh, oh, oh, so the elder sister is here too!
He immediately perked up.
The floor was covered with a thick carpet, specifically prepared for crawling creatures like him.
Ruan Ren sui wriggled and twisted a bit.
Lady Qian, sensing the strength in her hands, knew he wanted to crawl by himself.
Without hesitation, she gently put him down, and Ruan Rensui began to move forward quite nimbly and flexibly.
The door in front of him was slightly ajar, which is why the voices could be heard so clearly.
I’m going to scare my elder sister—jump!
Ruan Rensui thought to himself, his face lighting up with excitement.
He let out a series of cackles and crawled quickly and stealthily, crossing the low threshold and bursting in with a loud shout—wah wah wah wah wah!
Everyone in the room looked over.
His father, the Empress, Xian Fei, the Crown Princess, the Prince and Princess of Han, Lady Jia Zhen, and De Fei……………..
Why were there so many people here!
Ruan Rensui was taken aback and quickly turned around to crawl away stealthily.
The Crown Princess immediately recognized her brother and called out cheerfully and affectionately: “Sui Sui!”
The Emperor: “…”
De Fei: “……”
De Fei felt as if the sky was falling when she opened her eyes!
De Fei thought that her son seemed to possess a kind of Schrödinger’s intelligence.
To say he was stupid, well, that wasn’t quite right.
When it came to being mischievous, he was extremely talented.
But to say he was smart…..
He often did some rather abstract things.
She consoled herself in her heart: Just wait a bit longer, he’ll get better as he grows up.
However, seeing the Crown Princess already able to recite poems and sing songs fluently, going to class with a school bag on her back, she couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious.
After all, the two children were only two years apart in age.
De Fei was anxious, but Ruan Rensui was not anxious at all.
He thought the current life was very interesting!
Why hadn’t he realized how fun it was to be a child in his previous life?!
The Crown Princess, having attended more classes, sometimes would sneak over to her brother and murmur a few words, trying to be lazy, while Ruan Rensui himself didn’t have many memories of his childhood.
Now, as a child again, receiving the early education of a royal child, he had a different kind of realization.
In his previous life, when he was an adult, the Empress had already passed away, and the emperor had not established a new empress, so his understanding of the empress’s authority was rather limited.
In fact, as the empress, Lady Zhu had the responsibility to educate the imperial heirs as their legitimate mother, and as the mother of the nation, she also had the important task of assisting the emperor and bestowing favor upon all the women in the land.
When Ruan Rensui could speak, he began to receive music and dance education together with the Crown Princess.
Since both of them were still children, they did not need to learn systematically; just experiencing it was enough.
Lady Zhu, along with the palace ladies, recompiled the music and dance inherited from previous generations and used the “Book of Songs” as the enlightenment education for the imperial heirs.
This work had a high degree of popularity, and it mentioned many plants and animals, making it very suitable for teaching children.
Lady Jia Zhen, now the Director of Ceremonies, was also ordered to give lectures to the Crown Princess and Ruan Rensui.
The “Book of Rites” states: When music reaches its height, there is no resentment; when rites reach their height, there is no contention.
To govern the world with yielding and courtesy is what is meant by rites and music.
Music is an important part of etiquette……………….
The palace maids, wearing lantern trousers and with slender waists, waved their long sleeves and danced gracefully to the rhythm of the music.
The male and female musicians knelt on either side of the hall, singing “Plucking the Chinese Mugwort.”
When I departed, the willows were tender and green.
Now as I return, the snow falls in a heavy sheen…….
After the lesson ended, Lady Jia Zhen bowed to the two imperial heirs, and they returned the courtesy to their teacher.