In order to prevent these people from being disgusted, he arranged for tutoring once a month, one hour at a time. From now to August, there were only two months, so only two tutoring sessions for each person were enough.

There were not many times, and this was the emperor's will. He felt that even if these people were unwilling, they would not dare to say anything more.

These people dare not say much, but they may have opinions in private.

Someone complained: "How many people come to my house with heavy gifts and ask me for advice, but I don't even bother to pay attention. Now I am asked to go to a special place to give advice, and I am still a girl. She is taking the imperial examination."

Why? You are not allowed to marry in two years? It is unreasonable to mobilize people, waste people and money just because the emperor appreciates her paintings!"

"Isn't that right? If you don't have the ability, don't take part in the imperial examination; if you want to take part, just study by yourself honestly. What's the point of asking us to tutor her before the exam?"

The good old man advised me: "Oh, forget it, just two lessons, I'll be patient and get over it."

Zhao Ruxi is such a transparent person. When things turned out like this, she knew that some people would be unhappy and even gossip. She was also helpless.

She doesn't pursue high rankings in the provincial examination, she can just pass it. Moreover, she feels that her essays are pretty good, and they are not much worse than those of the top students in previous provincial examinations. As long as she performs normally, she will have no problem passing the provincial examination.

Yes. There is absolutely no need to do it like this.

It would be okay if the emperor only asked Peng Guoan to tutor her. Peng Guoan was a relative by marriage, had a relationship with Kang Shilin, and admired her paintings very much. It would be no problem for her to take a few classes to improve her skills.

But now there is no need to work hard.

It's just that both the emperor and Peng Guoan have good intentions. Now that the matter has come to this, she has no choice.

After thinking about it, she wrote to Xiao Lingyan and asked him to inquire about the preferences of those great scholars.

Xiao Lingyan is now dedicated to collecting plots for Xiao Lingpu. Things like this are effortless for him. Only one day later, the reply was sent to Qing Feng.

Zhao Ruxi read the letter, made a list, and asked Ma Sheng to go shopping.

So when she went to the Exhibition Hall of the Imperial College to attend classes, the scholar who taught her received a gift from herself—a fine piece of soapstone.

This great scholar liked to carve seals, so Zhao Ruxi's chicken blood stone was a gift to his heart. The old man who originally had some objections to Zhao Ruxi could no longer show his bad face in front of Zhao Ruxi.

In the process of giving guidance to Zhao Ruxi, he found that Zhao Ruxi was not ordinary smart. He could tell the truth with just one click. Once he made a mistake once, he would never make it a second time. With a little tweaking, he could achieve excellent results.

He has taught in the Imperial College for many years and has seen many smart people. But talented people are often young and frivolous. People like Zhao Ruxi, who are smart but still very humble and calm-minded, are very rare.

This time, the scholar no longer had the slightest dislike, and said to Zhao Ruxi: "It's not enough for you to attend my class twice. Let me see if there is any free time on Mr. Peng's timetable. If so, I will arrange another one for you.

Two classes.”

Zhao Ruxi stood up with surprise on her face and saluted: "Thank you, Master."

The next day, the masters in the Imperial College saw that the great Confucian who was still complaining the day before had a 180-degree turn on the matter of making up classes and went to Peng Guoan to take the initiative to make extra classes. Everyone was surprised.

"Hey, I won't say much more, old man. You will find out when you give that girl a lesson." The scholar gave up.

When other people went to class, they were first bombarded by Zhao Ruxi's sugar-coated bullets, and then they repeated the same psychological process as the first scholar to take class. After the last class, they all rebelled against the camp.

Peng Guoan discovered this change and inquired about it carefully. He was a little bit dumbfounded. Then he became very emotional and said to his second son Peng Jinrui: "That sister-in-law of yours will definitely do great things in the future."

"Now she has made great achievements." Peng Jinrui said, "At such a young age, her paintings can be compared with Mr. Kumu's. It's really amazing."

Peng Guoan nodded, suddenly looking forward to the holiday.

That little man wouldn't just give gifts to a few great scholars without him. He doesn't have any special preferences. I wonder what kind of gifts Zhao Zhiwei would give him.

When the holiday came, Zhao Ruxi arrived as promised and was taken to the courtyard where Peng Guoan used to work as his study room to salute him.

"Here you come? Sit down." Peng Guoan pointed to the chair next to him.

At this time, the weather was pleasant, neither hot nor cold, and there was no wind. In order to avoid suspicion, he simply asked people to move the tables and chairs to the corridor and tutored in the corridor.

Zhao Ruxi did not sit down, but took a small box from Qing Feng's hand and handed it to the Peng family maid: "Uncle Peng, I'm sorry to trouble you for taking up your rest time. So I prepared a small gift to express my feelings and wish you the best."

Don’t dislike it, Uncle Peng.”

Peng Guoan did not answer the question and said, "Didn't you prepare a courtesy when you came to the house with Master that day?"

"That was a gift from my master, not from me." Zhao Ruxi said with an innocent face.

That day they came to ask for help. If Peng Guoan agreed to give him a heavy gift, it would make people think that he agreed because he was greedy for money, which ruined his innocent reputation. So that day, Zhao Ruxi asked people to buy four-color dim sum, plus a set of textures.

The four treasures of the middle-class study cost a total of dozens of taels of silver. Such a gift is nothing in the capital.

Peng Guoan couldn't help laughing after hearing Zhao Ruxi's absurd reasoning.

He was not afraid of accepting gifts. Zhao Ruxi was considered his junior anyway, so he would just return the gifts when the time came. He was very curious about what gift Zhao Ruxi gave him.

He nodded to the maid: "Take it over."

The maid took the box, brought it to Peng Guoan, and opened the lid.

A golden, round thing was lying in the brocade.

"What is this for?" Peng Guoan picked it up and found that there was a chain on it. The flat, round metal was about the size of his palm, and there were some patterns carved on it, making it look extremely exquisite.

"There is a button below. Uncle, please press the button." Zhao Ruxi said.

Peng Guoan pressed the button as he was told, and the round metal cover suddenly popped up, revealing the contents inside.

"This is..." Peng Guoan couldn't help but stand up and asked with surprise, "Could this be a clock?"

The first generation clocks have already been sold all over the capital and Jiangnan. People with better families in the capital will buy one and put it at home. There is one in the hall of the Peng family.

After Zhao Ruxi wrote to Xiao Lingyan last time, the second generation bell also appeared at the auction.

This second generation clock, in addition to the large clock with a more exquisite appearance and a bird jumping out to chime the time, there is also a small clock, four feet high and two feet wide, which is also very exquisite when placed in the bedroom.

Peng Guoan was a frugal person. Although he felt it was necessary to put a clock in his study or bedroom, he still did not buy it because of the high price. However, he saw it more than once in other people's homes, and there was one in the hall of the Imperial College.
Chapter completed!