People in the capital had never heard of Dongliu Jushi.
However, this Dongliu layman's calligraphy is quite good, vigorous and powerful, penetrating into the wood, and has a majestic and majestic beauty.
"Thank you all for coming to support despite your busy schedule!" Cheng Zhao stood on the steps and said loudly, "Today is the first day of the Reading Pavilion to welcome guests. Everyone can enter and read books for free, but please remember that the Reading Pavilion's Every book is hard-earned and must be cherished..."
After he finished speaking, he stepped out of the door and the scholars standing at the foot of the steps entered in an orderly manner.
The main reason they came here this time was to see what the Reading Pavilion was all about, and how could the Empress also donate books?
Furthermore, they also want to know whether there are any books they want to read among the books donated by so many ladies from the aristocratic family, and whether it is worth it for them to get a membership card for Nao Shizi here.
After entering through the gate, there is an open courtyard filled with desks and chairs, and behind it is a wall with three words written on it, Wall of Merit.
This merit wall is densely covered with names of people, and it is roughly divided into three parts. The first part is the merit wall of women from aristocratic families, the second part is the merit wall of scholar men, and the third part is the merit wall of ordinary people, as long as they have contributed to the creation of the Reading Pavilion. People's names are all written on it.
Of course, a woman's maiden name would not be written carelessly. The ladies of these aristocratic families either kept their own title or a font name, while ordinary lower-class women took their husband's surname and were collectively called a certain surname.
A large group of people gathered around to see who was ranked first and second.
"Mr. Yanzhu, one thousand volumes."
This name was ranked first, and people were talking about it immediately.
"Who is this Miss Yan? How come I have never heard of her?"
"You are really ignorant. There is only one family in the capital with the surname Yan and the nickname Zhujun. Isn't that the current queen?"
"Oh my god, it turns out that the Queen really donated books."
"There are also eight hundred volumes donated by Mrs. Gongya, that is, Mrs. Lin, from the Lin family, a scholarly family. There should be many books in these eight hundred volumes that we have never seen before."
"Let's go and have a look at the library, otherwise others will take it away."
Groups of onlookers left.
There are also people who come specifically to the merit wall to look for their names.
"I just donated a book and it was written on the wall of merit. The people of Sui'an will not deceive me."
"Look, my grandmother donated twenty books, and they have my grandmother's name on them too."
"If I had known, I would have come to donate a few copies. This merit wall is erected at the entrance where everyone can see it. This is a great opportunity to make a name for yourself."
"..."
The reading pavilion has just opened for an hour, and it has attracted more and more people.
Another reason why most people come to see the Reading Pavilion is that the Reading Pavilion has opened up a reading area for women.
In an era when a woman's lack of talent was a virtue, only women from wealthy families would learn to read some words in order to read the account books, but most of the books they read were "Female Virtues", "Female Precepts", "Husband's Guide", etc. Books, and those girls from ordinary people’s homes don’t even have the means to read books.
Cheng Wanwan specially asked shopkeeper Yu to open a private room in the backyard. On the bookshelf are some books that women can read, such as geography, history, biographies, anecdotes, female workers, clothing...
In the afternoon, a group of ladies from aristocratic families came together.
Someone from their family also donated books. Firstly, they wanted to see if the names of the family elders were on the merit wall. Secondly, they also wanted to see if there were any books in the reading pavilion that were really suitable for them.
Entering from the main gate, you will find a place where scholars talk. The men walked east to borrow books, while the women walked west, passed through the hanging flower door, and then arrived at the wing where the books were stored.
It's a pity that these ladies from aristocratic families arrived too late. There were already many people in the wing, and there were only a few books left on the bookshelf.
However, there is a book catalog next to the bookshelf. Although I can't borrow books for the time being, I can get an idea of what books are here.
"There is actually a secret history of Empress Xiaojia. This book must have been donated by the empress."
"This is a palace book, telling the story of the first empress of the founding of the country. How can the empress donate it at will and let the common people criticize it?"
"People are very curious about Empress Xiaojia, and various rumors emerge one after another. After this book is circulated, it should give people a more comprehensive understanding of Empress Xiaojia. From a certain perspective, it is also a good thing."
"There is also an introduction to the royal cuisine, but I don't know if the cooking process is written in detail."
"I have to say that the variety of books is quite complete, which is very suitable for us women to read to pass the time and increase our knowledge. No wonder the Queen also participated in the construction of the reading pavilion. This is indeed a good thing to make her famous."
"This Reading Pavilion was founded under the leadership of Mr. Cheng, Tanhua Lang of Jinke. After the imperial examination that day, I took a look at Tanhua Lang from a distance. He was really handsome. Even the four great princes in our capital could not compare with him."
"With this reading pavilion, Mr. Cheng is probably going to rise to prominence."
"Miss Situ is so lucky."
"..."
Hearing these words, a woman wearing goose-yellow clothes pursed her lips and held the handkerchief tightly with her fingers.
This woman is the second daughter of the concubine of the He family. She is seventeen years old this year. She has not gotten married for a long time just to wait for the Jinke Gold List to come out before making plans.
But he didn't expect that this year's number one winner was the young master of the Fu family, the eldest son of the Fu family. It was impossible for him to marry a concubine like her.
The second best person in today's exam is the young master of the Xie family. He has been married since he was a child, so it is impossible for him to break the promise and marry the He family.
Then only Tanhua Lang is left.
My father had already asked someone to inquire about Tan Hualang. There was no engagement at first, but after asking about it at the He family, he suddenly got engaged to the Situ family.
If the Situ family hadn't interfered, she would now be the envied Mrs. Tanhua.
She didn't really want to marry Cheng Zhao, a boy from a poor family, but as her father said, Cheng Zhao was really outstanding. He entered the Hanlin Academy at the age of twenty, and he could see a bright future, and the future would be smooth...
The ladies around her saw through her thoughts. Although they looked down on concubines, the He family was of the second rank and they couldn't afford to offend her, so naturally they supported Miss He.
"Master Situ is a fifth-grade talent. I really can't figure out why Master Cheng would marry the Situ family."
"Miss He has a higher status than Miss Situ, has a better family background, and is more outstanding in appearance. I really don't know why this is the case."
"Some women from small families will resort to some underhanded tactics in order to marry the one they love, such as falling into a lake, having secret meetings, and cooking the rice before it's raw..."
"Isn't this Miss Situ some trick? She is really vicious..."
A group of ladies were talking and preparing to leave. Situ Man walked over and met them at the entrance.
Today is the first day that the reading pavilion is open. She has brought a few people over to help welcome guests, for fear of neglecting these young ladies from aristocratic families.
"Miss He Er, Miss Zhou, Miss Li..." Situ Man said with a smile, "There are many people coming today, and the books in the library may not be enough. If you ladies want to borrow any books, you can go and register in front. After the books are empty, I will send someone to inform the house."
Miss He Er's close friend pulled her lips and smiled: "Miss Situ San is really a bit like a lady."
Situ Man heard a bit of sarcasm in these words. She straightened her expression and said, "What do you mean by Miss Li's words? It's better to say it clearly."
