Author: 打字机N号
Chapter 54: The search for one’s mom second spring 22 [End] /For the sake of my mother’s remarriage 22 [END]
Future Generations
“Today, it seems that we are going to learn about the history of the Jin Dynasty. I do not know which people from those times that Guan Daniu going to talk about. “
The students of the Department of Archaeology of the Shuimu University arrived in the classroom in a group of two and three. Before the teacher arrived, the students started to discuss the lesson quietly. The Guan Daniu mentioned in their mouth was the headteacher of their Department of Archeology. Since her surname is Guan and because he was the highest authority of their department, the student had called her Guan Daniu. [T/N: Da = Big; Niu = Cow]
“I think that Guan Daniu is going to talk about Wu Ying-niang. After all, she was the one who leads to the flourishing period of the Jin Dynasty. Furthermore, she was the only female emperor in the history of China.”
A girl whispered to her roommate who sat next to her. These years with the focus on the military emperor as the prototype for the film and television drama can be many, even if you did not know about it, the existence of the female emperor left an extremely profound impression in many people.
“I think that Guan Daniu will talk about Jiang Liu. As you know Wu Ying-niang was a student of Fu Liu Academy which was founded by him. Wu Ying-niang had also stated that without Fu Liu Academy, Wu Ying-niang will not exist. Apart from Wu Ying-niang, the famous female poet and the representative writer of Wanyue school of thought, Jiang Furong was also Jiang Liu’s wife. [Furong’s book of songs] which was introduced as the teaching material for primary and middle school was said to be edited and compiled by Jiang Liu himself. Even the reformation on the law regarding the widow was pushed and promoted by him during Emperor Jin Wen’s reign… He was the most important person in the history of the Jin Dynasty who drive to improve the status of women. In my opinion ah, Jiang Liu is the true figure of history advancement.”
[T/N: Wanyue: graceful and subdued (style)]
It is true that in the history of the Jin Dynasty, Wu Ying-niang was originally a daughter from a peasant family in the suburbs of the capital. She was poor as a child but because of her wise mind, she was recruited as a female student by the Fu Liu Academy. In the years she studied at the Fu Liu Academy, she had learned a lot of knowledge and made friends with many girls from a noble family. She also had become the top achiever consecutively in her six years at Fu Liu Academy. Because of that, the current Empress at that time was truly impressed by her. Subsequently, the Emperor had selected her as the side consort [Ce fei] for the sixth prince at that time.
After the eight princes the throne, Wu Ying-niang, had been relying on her intelligence and connections that she had forged through her years at Fu Liu Academy to help the sixth prince overcome many problems. Eventually, the sixth prince comes to power and Wu Ying-niang was sealed as the Imperial Consort [Huang Gui fei] whose position is only beneath the Empress position.
It is a pity that the emperor’s suspicion is always extraordinarily heavy. Coupled with the Empress’ provocation, as well as the appearance of more and more fresh faces in the palace, the once loving husband and wife in the past gradually become estranged. Although the wisdom of Wu Ying-niang was far beyond the ordinary people, even she could not escape from a love trap. Feeling disheartened with everything she started to close herself behind her own palace’s door until Wu Ying-niang’s only son, the Third Prince was accidentally drowned and yet the Emperor did not punish the perpetrator behind the scene which completely infuriated Wu Ying-niang who had just lost her child.
On the surface, Wu Ying-niang began to fast and immersing herself in the teaching of Buddha. She was completely quiet. However, in fact, she had borrowed power from her former connections and woven a dense net around the royal court. After the Emperor accidentally assassinated, she killed the Empress and support the young thirteenth Prince to ascend the throne while she governs from behind the curtain.
At that time, there were also many oppositions among the courtier which was all brutally suppressed by Wu Ying-niang.
The seventh-year after the little emperor ascended to the throne, he was persuaded by some courtiers who wanted to stop Wu Ying-niang from meddling in the politic. Because of this, Wu Ying-niang simply abolished the Little Emperor and ascended the throne herself while changing the name of the country to Zhou.
Because she came from the Fu Liu Academy, everything that she had gained was inseparable from the knowledge that she had learned in Fu Liu Academy. Consequently, Wu Ying-niang attached particular importance to women’s education. In her decades as an emperor, the Jin Dynasty’s Women’s Academy had flourished but she still had the most respect towards Fu Liu Academy. All women were proud to be students of the Fu Liu Academy. This is the era of the highest status for women in ancient times. Almost all the prestigious wives and daughters were students of the Fu Liu Academy. Even after the downfall of Emperor Wu, and the ascended of the seventh prince’s eldest son, the transcendent status of Fu Liu Academy remained strong.
[T/N I found Wu Ying-niang story is similar to Wu Zetian]
Unfortunately, no dynasty can truly last a thousand generations, and Wu Ying-niang’s Zhou dynasty ended with the third emperor after hers.
At that time, the head of the Fu Liu Academy was also the seventh generation granddaughter of Jiang Liu and Jiang Furong. Under her leadership, she led all the female students from Fu Liu Academy to fight against the enemy. They eventually died for the country and the academy which had been founded for hundreds of years was also collapsed and turned to ashes under the fires of the enemy corps.
Perhaps due to their fear of the women’s academy which had once taught a female emperor, after the Jin Dynasty, there have been a lot of literati who denounced the behaviour of women who go to school. They vigorously praise the principle of a woman’s virtue is to have no talent. Thus, after the Jin Dynasty, the restrictions on women became even more severe, and it was only in modern times that foreign ideas clashed with native Confucianism, the feudal rule was overthrown and women’s status began to rise.
But even in modern times, there is still a long way to go before the real equality between men and women could be achieved.
“I always think that Jiang Liu might be a time traveller. Think about it, he was the only six times champion in history. He was the first one who sent his widowed mother to remarry. He had also spent his whole life promoting changes and improving the status of merchants and women. This idea of being ahead of times and totally unlike those of ancient native.”
Speaking of Jiang Liu, these girls obviously have a lot to say. After all, Jiang Liu’s various initiatives against women showed that he was a rare ancient people who advocate the gender-equal rights between men and women.
“Haha, ha, he images really seemed like someone in a traversal novel. Not to forget that he and his wife, the famous poet, Jiang Furong shared conjugal love throughout their life. There was no concubine at their backyard. Even in some unofficial record in the history of the Jin dynasty showed that he was a yes-man who even painstakingly avoided the Qin Lou Chu Pavilion when he was meeting with his colleagues. If you change it to another male-born stud, there will be at least four, five or six true love.”
[T/N: I assumed Qin Lou Chu is kind like a brothel or an entertainment house based on my google image search]
That girl said it with a smile, but in her heart, she truly envies Jiang Furong. Even in this monogamous modern era, there are still few men who can keep their bodies like jade and be content with only one partner.
“I heard that Jiang Liu is still a very handsome man. The unofficial record wrote that Jiang Liu has a wonderful appearance. Many women throw fruit at him so much that it could fill his carriage car full. For her to be able to get such a handsome and attentive husband, Jiang Furong must be really blessed. “
The girl looked love-struck. Unfortunately, there is no camera in ancient times. Otherwise, she really wanted to see what a well-known beautiful man in history looked like.
“Heh, Jiang Furong is one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. Isn’t it normal for Jiang Liu to be fond and love her? Besides, Jiang Furong is still the daughter of Jiang Liu’s mentor. Without Jiang Shendao’s teaching, when all is said and done, it might not even possible for Jiang Liu to accomplished anything.”
As Jiang Liu’s fans and Jiang Furong’s fans began to fight, Professor Guan finally arrived after the bell rang.
“Today we going to talk about the Jin Dynasty’s history, I think everyone familiar with who we are going to discuss today.”
This head of the archaeology department was obviously a very casual person, with a mug in her hand and no lessons plan at all.
“First of all, let’s talk about the Jin Dynasty’s poet-girl Jiang Furong. She was also the first director of Fu Liu Academy. She is the representative poets of the Wanyue style. We have learned about her poetry when we started to learn in primary school. I do not want to talk much about it so today we are going to discuss something interesting. Now you tell me, what does this poet look like in the end? “
Guan Daniu did not play cards according to common sense. She did not speak about any textbook knowledge but instead talked about the appearance of the poet.
“This classmate, you speak.”
The person who had been called happened to be Jiang Furong’s fan.
“Naturally she is beautiful. “
She blurted out her word spontaneously. However, her answer was not without thinking as it was supported by a lot of historical evidence.
For example, in Jiang Shendao’s autobiography, of course, this was not written by Jiang Shendao, but by his grandson, which was Jiang Furong’s son. This son of hers grabbed the Tanhua position during the Imperial examination when Emperor Jin Wen was 37 years old. The autobiography was written based on Jiang Shendao’s dictation and his own understanding.
In this autobiography, Jiang Shendao once described his daughter as “beautiful and unparalleled.”
Furthermore, in the [Historical annals] pertaining to Jiang Liu, it was recorded that every morning he draw his wife’s eyebrows and then praise her with the sentence [ Furen is very beautiful]. These two people were Jiang Furong closest men so it should note be false.
Besides, if Jiang Furong is not beautiful, even if she is smart, it will be hard for her to ensure that her husband will devote himself to her for a lifetime.
Professor Guan has no objection in regards to the explanation given by this classmate.
He waved to the classmate to sit down: “Yes, many historical records describe Jiang Furong’s face, but in my opinion, Jiang Furong is likely to be a plain-looking woman.” “
There was a commotion in the classroom, but Professor Guan went on without stopping.
“First of all, the record on the rise and fall of the Fu Liu Academy, [The History of Fu Liu] has briefly described the first director of the Fu Liu Academy. It was recorded that her appearance was merely delicate and pretty. Many of Jiang Furong’s poem also mentioned her appearance as only ordinary, although many later scholars believed that this is merely Jiang Furong’s self-deprecating words. However, I think that this may be the truth. “
“Of course, this is my own opinion. You can choose not to believe it. Anyway, our research on Jiang Furong is mainly on her poetry and her achievements in the history of women’s education which is also enough to make people ignore her appearance.”
Guan Daniu took a sip from her mug and went on: “Let’s discuss the famous and well-known woman’s friend in our history- Jiang Liu.”
“Hahaha. “
“Pfft.” “
Because of this women’s friend remark, the students in the class were laughing out loud. However, when they thought about it carefully, Professor Guan’s description was not wrong. Jiang Liu was most famous for his widow reform and he also founded the women’s college. Due to his initiatives, it greatly improved the status of women in the Jin Dynasty. Therefore, to call his Friend of women was not too much.
“I don’t need to elaborate on his achievement. In addition to him being so thriving and formidable, he and his wife Jiang Furong has a total of three sons. Two of them are like their fathers and were the champion of the Imperial examination. Even the worst of the bunch managed to grab the Tanhua. It was said that when the Jiang Liu’s youngest son result was revealed, Jiang Liu’s father-in-law, Jiang Shendao was crying in front of his colleague. For this, we can see the importance of education in this family.”
[T/N: Good for you Jiang Shendao! Finally got your flower lol. I somehow could imagine Jiang Liu saying to his son, (Son, you must get the flower, don’t be like your useless brothers) lol]
If you constantly comparing yourself, it will only make you feel angry. However, for this family, everyone was happy even when the youngest son only managed to get a Tanhua. So much that Jiang Shendao needed up weeping.
Also, he himself was a champion, his only disciple is also a champion, even his two grandsons a champion. But when one ended up as a Tanhua, if it was another person, obviously they will become angry right?
“But fortunately this grandson was not someone who drowned in flattery. He was the one wrote a personal biography for his grandfather, and it was rumoured that, among many grandchildren, the most beloved grandson of him was Jiang Gelou who only managed to get Tanhua in the Imperial examination”
Guan Daniu flow of speech was so persuasive even when she did not have any direction. However, due to her humorous and interesting teaching contents, she will talk about many unknown unofficial histories or more obscure historical records that make the students so engrossed that they could not wake up from the world she described until the next bell rang.
“Okay, today’s lesson end here, the next lesson we will discuss the contribution of the ancient warrior for women’s rights to the equality between men and women.”
The class was over, and the tea in the Guan Daniu’s mug was nearly empty.
As the student leaves the class in two or three, only the four characters written on the blackboard behind Guan Daniu were still looking conspicuous: equality between men and women.
*****
Since leaving the previous world, Jiang Liu has received a total of 94 people’s sincere gratitude. In addition to the completed task, he received a total of 2000 points. Added up with the 8400 point that he saved from the previous world he now has a total of 15,300 points remaining.
“Only 94 people truly grateful?” “
The extra points were much smaller than he expected.
“That’s because the impact of your initiatives really came into play after many years of these initiatives were initiated. As soon as you leave the world, even if someone else was genuinely grateful to you, it won’t be recorded.”
001 patiently explained: “Furthermore, do you think those extra points are so easy to get? If it was only simple gratitude, for each extra 50 points, you can simply throw money on the ground to make tens of millions of points in a single world. The judgment for real gratitude is very strict. In general, only those who regard you as a saviour and believe you as if you were their god will create those 50 points of gratitude. “
The explanation done by 001 solved the persistent doubts that had bothered Jiang Liu for a long time. For him now, the point is the second things. The utmost important is to enjoy life in every world which in his opinion are more interesting.
“Let’s start
the next task.”
Jiang Liu decided not to rest for long as he can’t wait to go to the next
world.
A few seconds later, Jiang Liu started to sway and he appeared in the next world.
*****
“Dad, Yueliang is going to tell you a little secret. “
When Jiang Lu appeared in the next world, there was a seven- or eight-year-old girl standing in front of him, dressed in a white shirt and knee-length grey plaid pleated skirt that looked like a uniform issued by the school.
The little girl’s cheeks were bulging as she laughs. There is also a pair of lovely little dimples on her cheek. Her eyes round and bright and with a delicate pigtail, she truly looks like a doll.
Jiang Lu suddenly struck with the thought that his children Xiaoming and Xingxing from the first world. Yueliang and Xingxing really looked like a pair.
For a moment, Jiang Liu’s heart softened
He crouched down, put his ears to the little girl’s mouth, and made an obedient and respectful gesture.
“Last night Yueliang had a dream. Inside that dream, Yueliang is a fairy in the sky. However, because I know that my father is very lonely, so I had come down to accompany my father. And if dad is not good to Yueliang then Yueliang will fly back to the sky.” “
The little girl stuck out her chest and said with a little pride.
“Really, then dad will be very good to Yueliang and strive to let my fairy to accompany dad for life.”
Jiang Liu made a surprised expression as he cooperatively played along.
“Hehehe!” “
The little girl was amused by her father: “Today I will go to school with Doudou, dad has to wait for Yueliang to go come back home okay.”
The little girl kissed Jiang Liu on his cheek and then ran out to the door of the house. She then waved a Jiang Liu before leaving the afterimage of her braid.
What a lovely little girl!
Jiang Liu can’t wait to receive the memories and tasks of the world.
Ten minutes later, he was sweating coldly as he rushed out of the house with a pale face
He hopes that it is not too late.
The author has something to say: There’s another chapter about 10:30.
T/N: Author. Not me.
About the fourth arc. There might be a trigger that made people uncomfortable with it. This arc also the arc that nearly made me give up ever translating this novel. But I think this arc is very good as a precautionary and PSA type of story. If you are uncomfortable with some aspect of this arc, please skip it.
Trigger warning: Paedophile, Victim-shaming, Revenge on the abuser, Cyber-bullying.
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Oi Oi Oi little girl come back!