Chapter 221: A Physician Cannot Heal Himself

Time flows like a stream, and as the seasons pass, time quickly arrived at the spring of the eighteenth year of Wanli. By this time, more than two years had passed since Zhang Yunxiu opened his academy and recruited Junior Officials.

Not to mention the students of the academy over these three years.

The Junior Officials recruited alone had propped up the framework of Songjiang Prefecture, and compared to before, the office efficiency was worlds apart.

Matters that previously took three days to handle could now be completed entirely in just three or four hours.

Seeing this transformation, those officials who had originally looked down on it all became like silent gourds, not daring to speak again.

Early this morning, wisps of cold rain stretched across the sky.

The air was filled with a chill, freezing the dogs on the street into tucking their necks and the horses into snorting; pedestrians on the road all pulled their cotton robes high and hurried along.

Inside the Zhang University Scholar Mansion located on Dengshikou Street, Zhang Yunxiu walked out of his room at a leisurely pace.

Following behind him was Xu Ruoxi, her cheeks flushed red.

A gust of cold wind swept by, and the beard Zhang Yunxiu had been growing was blown into a mess. There was no help for it; at this current moment, it was popular to grow a beard, as the saying goes: "If there is no hair on the mouth, one cannot handle matters reliably."

Based on this consideration, he could only obediently grow a beard.

"The weather is getting colder and colder; it's almost the second month, yet this wind still feels like a bone-scraping knife."

Xu Ruoxi chuckled, stepped forward to tidy her husband's beard, and replied, "It is true. In previous years at this time, although it was cold, it wouldn't be cold to this extent. This weather is truly getting stranger and stranger."

Zhang Yunxiu looked at his wife, and while she was busy tidying his clothes, he stretched out his icy hand and, like a child playing a prank, reached into the back of her neck.

Instantly, Xu Ruoxi in front of him shivered and jumped back a step.

She looked up at her husband with a resentful face and chided him poutingly, "You are the father of several children, yet you still have no sense of propriety!"

Zhang Yunxiu scratched his head, laughed off the remark, and then left as if fleeing.

Arriving at the dining hall, Zheng Xi'er and Lvluo were already waiting there with Zhang Xuan, Zhang Zhongrui, and Zhang Zhongjie.

Seeing Zhang Yunxiu enter, Zhang Xuan clapped her hands, strode up to her father, hugged his legs, and acted spoiled, "Daddy, hold me. Xuan'er wants to ride a big horse, let me ride quickly."

"Xuan'er!" Zheng Xi'er glared fiercely at her daughter.

Zhang Xuan showed a look of terror and let go of her father pitifully. Zhang Yunxiu smiled and took the opportunity to pick her up and place her on his shoulders.

Zheng Xi'er looked at the unruly father and daughter and opened her mouth to scold them, but thinking of Zhang Yunxiu's overbearing nature, she could only sigh, "Just spoil her then; you'll know how serious it is when you raise her into a little devil."

"I'm happy to." Zhang Yunxiu didn't care at all, turned his head to look at Zhang Xuan on his shoulders, and said, "Your mother says you are a little devil; you must behave well in the future and never give your mother a reason to complain."

"Oh."

As Zhang Xuan said this, she stretched out her cold, chubby little hand and reached into her father's neck.

Hiss. Zhang Yunxiu's teeth chattered from the cold instantly.

Xu Ruoxi, who was behind them, happened to see this scene and immediately covered her lower abdomen, laughing until she was swaying. Then, the family sat down, and Zhang Yunxiu sat in the main seat with Zhang Xuan on his lap.

Xu Ruoxi sat on the right, with four-year-old Zhang Zhongrui next to her.

Zheng Xi'er sat on the left, and Lvluo sat opposite.

Once seated in order, Lvluo stood up to give a greeting, and the maidservants set out the dishes as if performing a magic trick before retreating. "Daddy... I want to eat a steamed bun."

"Alright."

"I want that one too."

"Alright."

During the meal, Zhang Xuan gestured wildly, directing Zhang Yunxiu as if no one else were present.

Zhang Yunxiu nodded to every request, tirelessly serving her; he looked just like a servant attending to his master. The others all cast sidelong glances at this pair of oddballs.

The two ignored them and busied themselves with their own tasks.

After a long while, Zheng Xi'er covered her mouth and laughed, looked at the blushing Xu Ruoxi, and teased while pointing at Zhang Yunxiu and his daughter, "Sister, look, doesn't our husband look like a 'daughter slave' now?"

"It's not that he looks like one, he simply is one!" Xu Ruoxi huffed poutingly and grabbed a steamed bun from the plate, taking a fierce bite.

She turned her head to look at Zhang Zhongrui, only to find him looking with envy, staring straight at his father and sister.

Xu Ruoxi felt a pang of heartache, gently rubbed her son's head, and asked softly, "Rui'er, what do you want to eat? Tell Mother."

"Thank you, Mother, Rui'er doesn't want anything." Zhang Zhongrui shook his head; at four years old, he already acted like a little adult.

"Sister, Rui'er is truly sensible," Zheng Xi'er praised with a smile.

"Sister Xi'er, Rui'er was personally trained by the Mistress; not only is he sensible, but he has already begun his elementary education," Lvluo, sitting opposite, smiled and said, glancing intentionally or unintentionally at Zhang Yunxiu.

"Thank you for the compliment, Auntie. Rui'er is just doing what Mother told me to do," Zhang Zhongrui smiled warmly, his young face full of longing.

"Eat your food properly, no talking!" Zhang Yunxiu's expression dropped, and he reminded them with a stern face.

After breakfast.

It happened to be a day off, so after coaxing Zhang Xuan for a while, Zhang Yunxiu went to the study alone to sit down and prepare to handle the academy's official business.

A short while later, Xu Ruoxi followed closely behind with a murderous look. As soon as they met, she slapped the table and questioned, "Is Rui'er even your biological son? He is so sensible, have you ever held him?"

He is clearly the eldest legitimate son, yet now he cannot even compare to a concubine-born eldest daughter.

Zhang Yunxiu gave a sheepish smile, stood up, and pulled the still-angry Xu Ruoxi to the side to sit down. Looking at his wife with her puffed-up cheeks, Zhang Yunxiu teased, "You look quite pretty when you're angry like this."

"Shameless!" Xu Ruoxi burst into a laugh, cast a charming glance at her husband, and said, "I am talking to you about a serious matter. Rui'er is already four; as his father, you should care for him more."

"Four years old, it's too early for elementary education," Zhang Yunxiu shook his head.

"It's not early. Other children all start their education at four."

"Then you can handle it yourself."

Zhang Yunxiu let out a long sigh and stood up to leave, but Xu Ruoxi grabbed him and threatened fiercely, "You are Rui'er's father. For such a major matter, if you don't make the decision yourself, what kind of behavior is that?"

Women are naturally gentle, but they become strong for their children.

Xu Ruoxi was a gentle Jiangnan girl, but the moment her son was mentioned, she turned into a tigress. The stance she took was that if Zhang Yunxiu dared to say half a word of refusal, she would tear him to pieces.

Zhang Yunxiu felt bitter in his heart.

He found it easy to teach others, but when it came to teaching his own children, he really had no clue.

Especially with Zhang Zhongrui; as his heir, he really hadn't thought through how he should treat him.

If he were accidentally raised into a debauched and dissolute young scoundrel, then his sin would be truly great.

As for Zhang Xuan, the harm is not significant.

At most, she is just a parasite, a female wastrel; at worst, he can just support her for a lifetime himself.

Thinking it over, Zhang Yunxiu knew he could not muddle through, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and answer: "Boys should be raised frugally; if a boy is too pampered, he will likely be a wastrel in the future."

"Only girls should be raised in luxury, so they won't be easily deceived by the sweet talk of bad men."

"Wasn't I deceived by you just the same?" Xu Ruoxi said without a second thought.

"I am not a bad man."

(End of this chapter)