How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

Shen Yuan had seen the truth today. It turned out that Xie Chengze was not only a master at making big promises, but also had the ability to be sarcastic and irritating enough to make people die.

In order to make friends with Shen Yuan, the children of the powerful and wealthy talked about this and that, trying to find topics to talk about, and inevitably talked about the Imperial College.

They were much more informed about the affairs of the court than the noble ladies, and even knew a lot of details, such as the need to learn arithmetic and ancient books, and what Xie Chengze had just said in front of the noble ladies about the titles to be conferred and the invitation to the Qionglin Banquet.

For people of their status, it doesn't matter whether they can learn arithmetic or not. If they want fame, they just need to use their connections and power. In their eyes, the Imperial College is like a tool to "gild" their academic qualifications, and in order to successfully gild them, they will inevitably place their own people in the Imperial College.

Of course, they supported the establishment of the Imperial College, but they had different opinions on whether noble ladies should also go to the Imperial College to study.

Some people think that they don't need to study at all, while others think that they may take up their places. If they want to study, they can just hire a teacher at home, so why go to the Imperial College.

Some people even think that their mission is to learn how to take care of their husbands and children, rather than going to the Imperial College to waste time learning things that men should learn, which would make their temperaments wild and make it difficult for them to get married.

Cheng Wuxue and Sheng Yiren, who came over to chat, were so angry that they argued with the young man, and he started to speak without thinking, "Look at you and Cheng Wuxue! It's because you read too many books that you are still unmarried at the age of twenty!"

Sheng Yiren and Cheng Wuxue's faces instantly fell.

"What! Am I wrong?" the young man said stubbornly, "It is because you are a talented girl in the capital that you dare to be so picky, which leads to you not being able to get married even after you are past the marriageable age!"

"I advise you to read less and just get enough. It's more important to find a husband and get married as soon as possible."

Sheng Yiren laughed angrily, "Who do you think you are? My father hasn't said anything to me yet, but you are the first to lecture me?"

Cheng Wuxue's face was not looking good either. She had been scolded by her father many times for always delaying marriage, but... "Should I marry a man who is not as good as me? A man who doesn't even study as hard as I do. I'm afraid that the child I give birth to in the future will be as stupid as a pig like his father!"

"You!" The young man's face turned red with anger, "You are so vulgar. What a talented lady from the capital, I think she is nothing more than this!"

"Hey, hey, stop arguing." Seeing the tense atmosphere between the three, the other young masters hurriedly tried to persuade them, "Wang Yan, why bother to argue with the two young ladies?"

"Yes, Miss Sheng, Miss Cheng, Wang Yan is a man who speaks his mind. You should not take it personally."

"We just think that you don't need to learn so much! Learning music, chess, calligraphy, and housework is tiring enough, why do you need to go to the Imperial Academy to attend classes?"

"That's right, men have always been the breadwinners and women the homemakers. It's useless for women to keep so many reputations. In the end, they still have to pave the way for their husbands and sons, take care of their husbands and children in the backyard, and when they have made it big, it's important to win a title of imperial consort."

Cheng Wuxue was so angry that she didn't know what to say. Sheng Yiren was about to open her mouth to refute her when suddenly a string of silver bell-like laughter rang out, "Hahahaha~"

It should have been pleasant to the ear, but for some reason, the tone of the laughter seemed full of mockery.

Everyone turned around and found that it was the "beauty" that Shen Yuan had met.

"She" sat on the mat behind Shen Yuan, her slender white hands resting on the man's shoulders, her white chin gently resting on the crook of her arm, her red lips curled up in an indistinct smile under the veil, "Oh, is this my illusion? Why do I feel like the gentlemen are scared?"

Xie Chengze pretended to be surprised and said, "Are you afraid that the ladies will do better than you in the exams after entering the Imperial College, and you won't be able to explain to your family when you return?"

"How is that possible!" Someone immediately retorted, "We have all been educated, how can we be inferior to these noble ladies!"

That's not necessarily true~

After all, arithmetic depends on talent and hard work, and you can't win over others just by reading some books of sages.

Xie Chengze continued to speak in a strange tone, and said in a thin voice, "I understand. Gentlemen, you have a very hard life. It was tiring enough to compete with other men in studying before, and now you have to compete with women in studying. If you can't beat them, I don't know how many other men will laugh at you and say that you are not even as good as a woman..."

He pretended to be sympathetic and said, "Alas! Young masters, you have it so hard! I feel so sorry for you young masters!"

Young Master: ...

Why is it that even though every word from this peach-dressed woman is full of care and flattery, they always feel like something is not right?

"Girls, please be more considerate of them." Xie Chengze sighed softly, his words full of heartache and understanding, "It's not easy for them either. If my son goes to the Imperial College in the future and fails the exam for girls, I will definitely look down on him from the bottom of my heart and think that it's a waste of time to give birth to a girl. It's better to give birth to a girl."

"Of course, I definitely don't mean to say that you can't beat the girls." Xie Chengze started to act like a green tea again, "You gentlemen are so knowledgeable, when you enter the Imperial College in the future, you will definitely be able to beat the girls in the exam~"

He smiled sweetly and said, "Then let them see what a real man is! How can a man be inferior to a woman!"

"Ahahaha, that's natural."

"That's right, how could we possibly not be better than them in the exam?"

"If you can't pass the exam as well as them, just drop out of school. It's a disgrace to us men!"

The young masters all agreed, but they were thinking in their hearts that they should study hard after entering the Imperial College, otherwise they would fail the exams of these noble ladies, which would be very embarrassing.

Oh, being a man is so difficult!

Shen Yuan, who was responsible for supporting his "little lover" in front of the young masters, poured a cup of tea and handed it to Xie Chengze, "Moisten your throat, don't get tired."

Xie Chengze took it, reached into his veil and took two sips, then smiled faintly at these young men who had their own thoughts in mind.

In this era, women of the same class not only have a lower status than men, but are also restricted by morality and laws in every way. The poorer and more backward a country is, the more likely it is that men will be superior to women. Under the condition that women have a low status, if a man is accused of being "even worse than" women, it can really kill a man's self-esteem, and a man with a fragile heart might just hang himself.

And Xie Chengze wanted to take advantage of this to get the young masters involved as well.

Stop wandering around the streets all day and let him receive the nine years of compulsory education!