Chapter 1198: United Front

As soon as Qi Haoran came out of the Ministry of War, Xiao Lou led the horse over and said, “Master, Her Highness sent Xiao Ting here to pass on a message telling you to go over to the Prince’s Residence for dinner tonight.”

Qi Haoran was surprised. “Is there good news from Prince An’s estate?”

After Xiao Lou explained the reason, Qi Haoran curled his lips and said, “Little An simply forgot to pick up his younger brother, huh? She could’ve just told Little Fu the truth instead of making the entire family go over to eat just to cover it up.”

He didn’t know how Ah Ling judged the severity of the matter. Anyway, she didn’t care about things that he found important and allowed the children to develop freely. Whereas for matters that he viewed as unimportant, she took them extremely seriously.

Qi Haoran wasn’t the only one who couldn’t understand Mu Yangling’s thoughts. Fan Zijin couldn’t either. He felt that Little An forgetting to pick Little Fu up wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t like the latter had been abandoned in the wilderness. Did Mu Yangling have to be so concerned that Little Fu would feel hurt when he learned the truth?

However, even if Qi Haoran could not understand her at times, he would always choose to accommodate. Fan Zijin obviously did not share the same sentiments. However, when he thought of Qi Haoran, who was sandwiched in the middle, he decided not to discuss this matter further with Mu Yangling. Anyway, there was no need for it since she wasn’t his wife.

When Fan Zijin, who had also received the news, left the Ministry of Revenue, he saw Qi Haoran leaning on his horse and looking around in boredom.

He stepped forward and patted his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

The cousins rode back together. As everyone was buying groceries and closing their stalls at this time, the streets were extremely lively.

When Qi Haoran passed by the newspaper office, he stopped his horse and pointed at some beggars curled up in the dark on the street with his horsewhip. “Zijin, if there’s not a single beggar on the street one day, and when the old are taken care of and every child has access to education, Great Qi will truly be considered prosperous.”

Fan Zijin tightened his grip on the reins in his hand and asked, “Did you specially detour two streets just to tell me this?”

Qi Haoran looked at the setting sun on the horizon and said, “Ah Ling once joked with the children that they were the morning sun. In the past, I always laughed at her for making random comparisons, but now, I find it extremely appropriate. If the children are the morning sun, then we are the noon sun that illuminates the entire Great Qi with our scorching heat. But one day, we will become the setting sun. At that time, they will be the noon sun, replacing us to illuminate the entire Great Qi.”

“Zijin, whether Great Qi can prosper or not, we will only play a very, very small role because we are about to grow old. This burden will eventually be handed over to the children. Therefore, we should not neglect the children’s education and must put effort into nurturing a batch of fine successors. The importance of this matter is not inferior to the matters on hand now.”

Fan Zijin’s eyes were filled with confusion. “So?”

Qi Haoran coughed lightly. “So when we go back later, you can’t just teach them writing techniques. You have to teach them how to bear responsibilities. As princes, they’re different from ordinary children. In the future, they’ll have to assist Little Treasure and wield great power.”

Fan Zijin asked, “Did Ah Ling ask you to tell me this?”

Qi Haoran said proudly, “How could her brain think of this? This is my own idea.”

Qi Haoran rode his horse towards the Prince’s Residence and said to him, “Have you forgotten? This was our dream many years ago.”

Fan Zijin fell silent. That’s right. Mu Yangling’s dream was just to plant high-yielding high-quality seeds so that there would be no famine in troubled times.

It was the dream of the three brothers to create a Great Qi where the elderly were cared for, the young had access to education, and the sick could receive the medical aid needed.

“As you know, Ah Ling and I aren’t good at studying. While we have no problem teaching the children when they’re young, once they get older, we won’t be able to teach them much. Little Treasure is personally taught by my royal brother. If Little Bear wants to take over my position in the future, I can also teach him. As for the other kids, even they don’t yet know what they want to do in the future. Bombarded with constant questions from them every day, Ah Ling and I aren’t quite able to keep up already.” Qi Haoran said, “You’re quite knowledgeable, but I keep feeling that your education method is wrong. Every time I see you teach them, it frightens me. Zijin, they’re not us. They’ve had a happy childhood and with us backing them up, they don’t have to scheme like we did when we were young.”

Fan Zijin sneered and said, “Which one of those people in the court is easy to deal with? If I don’t teach the kids how to scheme, they will suffer in the future.”

However, Qi Haoran said, “I’ve always thought that conspiracies can’t compare to open schemes. Even if someone plots against them, as long as they’re upright, smart, and help each other, they can fight back openly. Zijin, the entire Great Qi can’t be achieved just by relying on our children. They can only lead at the most. If we want Great Qi to prosper, we need many other children to follow their lead. Thus, if they constantly resort to scheming, it’s very difficult for them to convince people to become their followers.”

Qi Haoran was trying his best to persuade Fan Zijin. While Fan Zijin might scoff at others’ words, he would more or less heed Qi Haoran’s words.

Seeing that he was deep in thought, Qi Haoran was relieved. As long as the smart Fan Zijin was willing to think about it, it was half the battle won.

If not for the fact that he and Mu Yangling were indeed not capable enough, he would not have said this to Fan Zijin.

The children had always been spending more time by his and Ah Ling’s side. Whenever the kids encountered any problems, it was mostly the couple who dealt with them.

For the first time, Ah Ling made the children go to Fan Zijin’s place before he even got back. When Qi Haoran heard of the children’s questions from Xiao Lou, he didn’t know how to answer that either.

How would he know how to write an article for the children’s newspaper? He could barely manage to write his official documents, let alone something he had never heard of.

Although it was Ah Ling’s idea to start the newspaper, her writing skills couldn’t even compare to his, let alone be adequate to guide the children. If not for the fact that she really had no idea, she would not have pushed the children to Zijin.

Zijin was the only one in the two families who was knowledgeable and cultured.

Qi Haoran had thought for a long time before coming up with this speech. As he planned to bring Ah Ling out to go on sightseeing tours in another ten years, he had to entrust responsibility in the children. If he didn’t teach the children well, wouldn’t he have plenty to fret about when he went traveling with Ah Ling?

Only when Great Qi prospered could he feel at ease being away with Ah Ling.

As for the children, they were getting more and more difficult to teach, especially the bright Little An who asked the most questions and even influenced Tiger Head and Little Lion. There was a limit to his and Ah Ling’s knowledge reserves, so it was better to rope Zijin in and let him teach the kids together.

However, Zijin’s teaching principles were too different from his and Ah Ling’s style. Before collaborating, he had to minimize this difference. Otherwise, if the adults fought, the few brats would benefit in the end.

Oblivious to the fact that the adults were about to reach a united front, Little An and the rest were excitedly discussing the children’s newspaper in the small study. When Tiger Head heard that he would become famous as long as his article could be published in the children’s newspaper, he was extremely enthusiastic.

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