Chapter 164: Keats House… Inn?
Don't bully her because she is not familiar with the capital!
Keats House Keats House, no matter how the name sounds, it doesn't look like an inn, right?
Perhaps the big question mark on Yun Shu's head was too obvious, so Ye Qing'an took the initiative to explain without her even asking:
“Your Highness is right, Keats House itself is not an inn.
It was the place where the imperial court provided relief to abandoned orphans in the capital.
It was just because the funds allocated by the Ministry of Revenue were very limited and were not enough to cover the expenses of so many people at Keats Home.
Therefore, during the reign of the previous emperor, a minister proposed that the Keats House should vacate some rooms during the spring examination period and provide accommodation for some poor students at a low price.
This will not only bring some income to Keats House, but also solve the problem that the prices of ordinary inns are too high for poor students. "
"I see."
The minister who made the proposal was a rare person with a quick mind.
At least it is much better than those ministers Yun Shu has met so far, who always say nonsense like "what a disgrace", "disgraceful", "unprecedented", "unheard of" and so on all day long, and always want to stick to the rules!
While the two were talking, a tattered plaque with the three big characters "Keats Home" written on it finally appeared in front of Yunshu.
Ye Qing'an was the first to dismount and walked over to knock on the gate.
"Who!"
Inside the courtyard, a woman's voice was heard.
After a sound of footsteps, the gate was opened from the inside.
A woman who looked to be about 30 or 40 years old poked her head out. Seeing Yun Shu and his group, who were obviously noble people from important backgrounds, she stuttered a little:
"You, how many...how many distinguished persons are you?"
"Don't be nervous. We are sent by the court."
Without directly disclosing his and Yun Shu's identities, Ye Qing'an said vaguely:
"I heard that some poor students who came to Beijing to take the imperial examinations live here. We would like to observe them secretly and understand their character. Is it convenient?"
People from the imperial court come to observe the conduct of poor students?
How come nothing like this has happened before?
And the one sent was a young girl?
The woman was a little skeptical at first, but soon she seemed to understand something and quickly opened the door wider:
"Fang, it's convenient!"
"Thank you."
Ye Qingan nodded slightly, turned around and gestured to Yun Shu:
"Miss Fifth, please."
……
Perhaps it was because houses in such places were sold at a relatively low price, and although the Ministry of Revenue allocated a small amount of money to Keats Home every year, the place was still quite large.
When Yun Shu and the others entered from the front yard, they could see a few skinny children clumsily washing the diapers of smaller children.
In the corner stood a little girl with a stubborn look on her face, wiping her tears.
Yun Shu paused and couldn't help but ask one more question:
"What's going on here?"
"You mean Sanya?"
The woman leading the way looked in the direction of Yun Shu's gaze and explained awkwardly:
"This child has a younger sister who was ill a few days ago. She is a little better now. She heard about some pastries from somewhere and kept talking about wanting to eat them.
You have seen what the situation is like here. It is considered very good if we can have enough food to eat. How can we have the money to buy her some pastries?
This child insisted on going out to earn money to buy cakes for her sister, but she was only seven years old, so we definitely didn’t agree, so this…”
"Want to make money?"
Yun Shu looked at the little girl thoughtfully, then turned back to look at the guards following behind him and raised his chin slightly.
Immediately, a guy who was good at reading people's expressions turned around and trotted out of Keats Hospital to buy some cakes.
As for Yun Shu and the others, they continued to walk towards the backyard.
"It's over there." The woman pointed at the two wooden doors at the end of the road from a distance and subconsciously lowered her voice:
"There lived dozens of scholars who came to the capital to take the imperial examinations. I heard that their homes were very far from the capital and they were worried that something might delay them on the way, so they set out early.
We have many children here, and it is hard to stop the younger ones from crying, for fear of disturbing others' studies, so we gathered them in this place farthest from the front yard.
On weekdays, except when delivering meals, I basically don’t bother them.”
"Thank you."
Yun Shu nodded slightly, and after the woman left, he walked over with Ye Qing'an and stood behind the slightly open wooden door.
At that time, there were several scholars standing or sitting in the yard, holding books in their hands and wearing patched clothes.
At the stone table in the middle, there were several scholars chatting.
"Have you heard? The one presiding over our Spring Examination this year is a princess!"
"Princess?!"
Those who were late in receiving the news immediately frowned:
"What is the court thinking? Why would they send a princess to be in charge of such an important matter?"
"what do you think?"
Those who had heard of Yun Shu's name long ago immediately refuted:
"Your Majesty has only one princess, and that is Princess Saint Ann!
The feather pen and printing technology, these good things that benefit us poor students, all came from the hands of Princess Saint Ann!
If there is anyone in the court who truly cares about us, it is probably only Princess Saint Ann!"
"...Can this princess be so powerful?"
The scholar who had previously expressed doubts hesitated:
"Is it true? How do you know this information?"
"I arrived earlier than you! And haven't I been taking time out to go for a walk every day these days?"
Seeing that several pairs of eyes were staring at him, the man who retorted stood up triumphantly:
"Have you ever heard of the Capital Weekly?"
"What it is?"
"have you heard of it?"
"I've only been here for two days!"
"..."
Several scholars looked at each other, shook their heads, and then looked at the man curiously again:
"Brother Zhou, this "Beijing Weekly" must be related to the capital, right?"
"That's right!"
The man called Brother Zhou bowed his hands from a distance in the direction of the imperial palace.
"The Capital Weekly was created by Princess Saint Ann and the Sixth Prince. It is published every seven days and contains interesting news about the recent events in the capital.
Sometimes, they even talk about what happened in the court!
Of course, this "Beijing Weekly" is not something that ordinary people like us can afford.
However, there were several storytellers in teahouses in the capital who would often get the "Capital Weekly" and read it to everyone.
The people of this capital city can basically learn about the latest happenings in the city within three days after the latest issue of "Capital Weekly" appears.
Including the matter of Princess Sheng An, I also learned it from the people in the capital!"