Chapter Fifty-two: Who Says Women Are Inferior to Men?

  The melodious voice like a warbler's song spread among the crowd, and everyone's eyes turned to look at her. The woman who was speaking wore a white dress, with willow-leaf eyebrows, vermilion phoenix eyes, red lips and white teeth, and her lovely appearance immediately captivated many men. Such a stunning beauty is rarely seen in Lingyun City.

  "She is a talented and beautiful woman!" The crowd was already familiar with Yun Wanjing's appearance, as the beloved daughter of the master of Cloud City, she was also known as the number one beauty of Lingyun. Her popularity was naturally high, even if you hadn't seen her before, you must have heard people describe her beauty.

  Many people suddenly realized and whispered: "It turns out she is Yun Wanjing, the daughter of the city master..."

  Even Yun Cai Cai has arrived, today's Ming Li Shu Yuan is indeed very lively. Everyone sighed and wondered if it was Zhu Gongzi who invited her.

  Seeing Yun Wenyu standing in the distance, Zhu Ziming was stunned for a moment. He really didn't expect Yun Wenyu to make a sudden visit. With an astonishing tone, he said: "If Miss Yun is willing to come to the academy as a female teacher, the academy can admit women to study."

  "The... " The crowd was stunned, extremely surprised, and wondered if there had ever been an example of a woman attending school in any dynasty. However, today this Zhu Gongzi actually said that he was willing to admit women to the school and even appoint a female teacher.

  A woman without talent is virtuous, although nowadays in the State of Yan this point is not taken too seriously. Otherwise, a talented woman like Yún would be despised to death. A woman should learn at home about the three obediences and four virtues, where does this talk of reading books come from?

  Zhu Ziming's words are indeed shocking and go against common sense, leaving everyone at a loss for what to say.

  Yun Wenyi was taken aback, she had only been joking, but didn't expect Zhu Ziming to say something so unprecedented. A hint of hesitation flashed in her eyes, and she smiled slightly: "If Mr. Zhu is speaking from the heart, I'm willing to come to the academy as a female teacher!"

  "Alright, so..."

  "Wait a minute!" An old man suddenly stood up, interrupting Zhu Ziming's words, and glared at him: "Zhu Gongzi, your actions are too absurd. Don't you know that a woman without talent is virtuous? If women can read books, it goes against etiquette and morality. Please think thrice, Zhu Gongzi!"

  Yun Wenyi's beautiful face flushed slightly, originally delighted to become a teacher at the academy, teaching female students to read and write, but now being suddenly disrupted by this old man, she was really annoyed with this stubborn old gentleman.

  Seeing Miss get angry, Xiao Yu'er was also furious, rolled up her sleeves and said: "Miss, I'll go teach that old man a lesson."

  Yun Wanqing pulled her a little and said lightly, "Don't provoke trouble, let's just wait and see." In her heart, she thought that if he really wanted her to be the female teacher, then they would see his "sincerity".

  Seeing the old man who suddenly appeared halfway, Zhu Ziming smiled and said: "I dare to ask the old gentleman a question."

  "Please speak," said the old man with a nod.

  "May I ask if Old Master's talent can be compared with Yun Xiao Jie?"

  The old man shook his head: "Can't compare..."

  "May I ask, sir, how does Miss Yun's skills in music, chess, calligraphy and painting compare?"

  The talent of Yun's daughter is renowned in Lingyun City, and even throughout the entire state of Yan. How dare an old man like me compare with her? With a dejected tone, he lowered his head, yet persisted in saying: "Regardless of Miss Yun's academic achievements, since ancient times, has any woman ever entered a school or read books? Zhu Gongzi's actions go against the teachings of our ancestors."

  "Awesome! Grandma, you even brought out the ancestors. Zhu Ziming hummed: "The ancestral teachings are not necessarily all correct. If it's like Mr.'s way of speaking, this girl doesn't need to recognize a single character, does she? On the contrary, from ancient times to the present, although women have not attended school, they also read and write at home. What's the difference between this and attending school?"

  The old man fell silent, for Zhu Ziming's words were flawless. Even a poor and destitute girl would buy a book to learn to read and write, and a rich young lady would invite a teacher to instruct her personally. Every woman was reading books, the only difference being the location.

  "What if Master's wife can't recognize a single character, how would you feel?" Zhu Ziming asked back.

  The old man thought that if his wife couldn't read, life with her would be dull and uninteresting.

  However, if your wife has some talent and can appreciate the moon with you in poetry... Zhu Ziming's words were not yet finished, and the old man became even more silent. Being able to appreciate the moon and recite poetry with one's daughter-in-law is a wonderful thing!

  The old man was like a defeated rooster, hanging his head low, and the crowd let out a soft sigh. Zhu Gongzi's eloquence was truly unmatched, every sentence he spoke was reasonable, leaving no room for rebuttal.

  Zhu Ziming bowed his fist to the crowd and said, "In my opinion, women reading books is not for official career or wealth, but to understand the way of being a person from books. As the saying goes, 'there are beauties in books', can't women have hobbies for reading books? Can't they be talented and elegant? I think only talented women truly understand the four words 'knowing books and reaching reason'."

  "Ah, a young master of great talent," the old man said with a bow, before quickly disappearing into the crowd, clearly having been won over.

  "Miss, this Zhu Gongzi is really extraordinary," Shuang'er said in a low voice. Her impression of Zhu Ziming changed immediately. She used to think he was a shameless person, but it turned out that he was actually a talented and knowledgeable man.

  Yun Wenyi nodded slightly and quietly looked at Zhu Ziming on stage without saying a word.

  Zhu Ziming felt Yun Cai Nü's gaze and winked at her with a somewhat smug expression.

  The sly smile immediately made Yun Wenyue's pretty face blush, and she lightly scolded: "This bad guy..."

  "A bad person?" Er'er asked in surprise: "Miss, who are you referring to?"

  After this stubborn old man left, it's likely that another troublemaker will emerge. Zhu Ziming said seriously: "I'm sure everyone knows Miss Yun, her poetry talent is extraordinary, and she excels in all four arts of qin, qi, shu, and hua. I dare ask, who among you dares to say they surpass her?"

  Everyone shook their heads, playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting... They can't be good at everything.

  "Who says women are inferior to men!" Zhu Ziming said with a deep breath.

  "What?!" The crowd was in an uproar again, this earth-shattering remark was too astonishing. In this feudal society, the status of women could not be compared to that of men. Zhu Ziming's words left everyone stunned.

  "Who says women are inferior to men..." Yun Wanjing whispered a sentence, with tears already in her eyes. She looked at Zhu Ziming standing on the high platform, talking eloquently, as if his words could make the sails and oars disappear into thin air. This confident demeanor, subtle majesty, left a deep impression on Yun Wanjing's mind.

  Even Zhu Ziming thinks this sentence is a bit too much, but in his heart, he thinks, I'm the one who crossed over, why would I cheat you guys?

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  PS: Brothers, writing is not easy, but every day as long as I see the rewards, I have a special motivation to write. So brothers all give some strength, old blood will definitely work hard to update until the end of the book.