Chapter 136.2
The three people headed to Xuanwu Street. Frankly speaking, this street appeared more orderly and planned than Chang"an Street, but the traffic of people here was a little smaller.
Guarantor Zhang introduced a dual-purpose house to the both of them, "It used to be a residence, but later it was changed into a shop. What do you think?"
This shop was indeed much better than those on Chang"an Street, but Second Owner preferred the one next to it.
"That one has already been bought." Guarantor Zhang said.
"How much is this then?" Second Owner asked.
"Three hundred taels." Guarantor Zhang answered.
"Three, three hundred taels?" Second Owner felt that he had heard wrong.
Guarantor Zhang said with a smile, "Yes ah. You can pay it in the span of one year, and the deposit is 100 taels."
"You, you, you… This is too expensive!" Second Owner was a local in the capital, and yet he still thought that this price was somewhat unacceptable.
Guarantor Zhang responded helplessly, "Prices have all gone up these days. If it were last year, I can make you an offer of two hundred and fifty taels, but this year, the Imperial Academy has reopened, and all the houses in this area have gone up in price!"
Second Owner looked at the house before him, then at the bigger and more magnificent one next to it. He said, "With three hundred taels, we might as well rent that one!"
“Are you sure you want that one?" Gu Jiao asked.
Second Owner replied, "It’s bigger!"
Gu Jiao nodded to Guarantor Zhang, and Guarantor Zhang took out a doc.u.ment, saying, "Shall we sign the contract then?"
Second Owner was stunned, "Didn"t you say that someone had already bought it?"
Gu Jiao slowly took out the house deed from her sleeve and said, "That’s right, it was bought by someone, and the owner is my family’s Little Jing Kong. Come, come, come. Benefits should always be kept for one"s own people. Three hundred taels you say, then three hundred taels it is. I’m renting it to you cheaply."
Second Owner wanted to grab someone by the neck, his eyes rolling backwards...
When Little Jing Kong learned that Gu Jiao was going to partner up with someone to open a medical hall, he contributed his house deed without another word.
Gu Jiao, of course, couldn’t just let the little guy suffer a loss. If they were going to rent somebody’s house anyway, might as well rent your own house to people, yes? But if Second Owner didn’t like it, she naturally wouldn’t insist. Who knew he would actually like it?
Gu Jiao spread out her hands, saying, "You can"t blame me on this."
When Second Owner returned to his senses, the contract had already been drawn up. He paid the money and signed it with heartache.
To be honest, he still somewhat didn’t like this area. Although it was convenient to go to the Imperial Academy from here and vice versa, one Imperial Academy wasn’t enough to support the business of a big medical hall.
Second Owner"s worries continued until the medical hall’s renovation the next day.
At the moment, he was discussing with the carpenter about where to put the medicine cabinets. On the other hand, Gu Jiao took a broom to clean the lobby. Just then, she saw a handsome little scholar pa.s.sing by at the gate.
The little scholar inadvertently caught a glimpse of Gu Jiao and then froze.
The little scholar took a step back, walked up to Gu Jiao, and then pointed at her with a folding fan, saying, "Girl, do you remember me?"
"I don"t." Gu Jiao answered without thinking.
The little scholar bent down a bit to look straight into Gu Jiao"s eyes and said, "How could you not remember me? Look at me properly!"
But Gu Jiao didn"t look at the other party again and turned to sweep somewhere else.
The little scholar chased after Gu Jiao while speaking, "You must remember me! I still remember you!"
What an interesting logic.
Did she have to remember the other party just because the other party remembered her?
The little scholar"s persistence was beyond Gu Jiao"s imagination. Gu Jiao continued to sweep the ground, ignoring the other party, but the little scholar simply crouched down and stared at Gu Jiao with eager eyes.
Gu Jiao sighed helplessly, "What do you want?"
The little scholar smilingly replied, "You finally remember me, don’t you?"
Gu Jiao said lightly, “Our medical hall hasn’t opened yet. If you want to see a physician, you"d better go somewhere else."
“Oh, so this is a medical hall. Will you be working in this medical hall in the future?" The little scholar asked this question, obviously not believing that Gu Jiao, with the way she was dressed, could afford to open her own medical hall. Most likely, she was hired here to do menial work.
Gu Jiao uttered a random ‘en’ and continued to sweep the ground.
The little scholar exclaimed excitedly, “Then we will be seeing each other often in the future!”
Gu Jiao looked at her strangely, "Do you have so many diseases?"
The little scholar shook her head like a rattle drum. To say that her temper was really good was also true. If it was others who had been asked this question, they would have been angry, but she, on the other hand, didn"t seem to take offense at all.
She said, "The houses next to this place have all been bought out, do you know what for?"
"No idea." Gu Jiao replied.
"To make them into an academy!" The little scholar said.
"Oh." Gu Jiao’s response was calm.
Second Owner, who was discussing the location of the medicine cabinet with the carpenter, was however not calm when he heard it. He rushed over and looked at the little scholar and said, "What did you just say? What academy?"
"Haven"t you heard? The Crown Princess is going to run a women"s academy for the young ladies! Exactly on this street! Several houses on your west end and the large piece of land behind you have all been acquired by the Crown Princess." The little scholar said and then pointed to the medical hall of the two people, "As I remember, originally, this house was supposed to be purchased as well, but people couldn’t find the owner so they were unable to buy it in the end. By the way, how did you manage to get this place? How did you find someone even the Crown Princess can’t find?”
Second Owner said inwardly: You won’t be able to find the owner because the owner is a little monk from some temple!
If there was a women"s academy run by the Crown Princess next to them, then did their medical hall still have to worry about business?
Second Owner suppressed his excitement and asked, "You’re not mistaken, are you? We haven"t heard of this news at all! "
The little scholar responded, "It’s an inside information, it’s only natural you haven"t heard of it!"
Inside information. Gu Jiao took a glance at the little scholar.
The little scholar clapped her hands and said, "Alright, I"ll be taking my leave. I"ll come back to see you again when the women"s academy opens and cla.s.ses begin! The Crown Princess is truly a great person. She unexpectedly stood her ground against the opinion of the majority and opened the first women’s academy since the founding of the State of Zhao. In the future, women can also attend an academy like men! Don"t you think such a Crown Princess is excellent? A hundred years later, the Crown Princess will surely go down in the annals of history and her achievements will earn eternal glory!"
Whoever would go down in history or whatnot, Gu Jiao didn’t have the slightest care. However, having a women"s academy nearby was indeed good for the business of their medical hall.
Second Owner smiled from ear to ear.
This location was good. Truly great!
He seemed to be able to see the glistening silver taels coming towards him!
The fact that the Crown Princess started a women"s academy soon spread in the upper circle. Although the State of Zhao did not follow the principle, ‘an unaccomplished woman is a virtuous woman,’ like the previous dynasties did, still, women could only invite a teacher at home and be homeschooled.
This used to be the case with the Crown Princess in the past, and also for Gu Jinyu at present.
However, just today, Gu Jinyu received an admission letter.
Only then did Gu Jinyu learn that the Crown Princess had actually opened a women"s academy near the Imperial Academy.
"It seems that she sent me a gift for my coming-of-age that day not because His Majesty conferred me as a County Princess, but because she wanted me to attend her academy."
She just knew it. How could a high-ranking Crown Princess think highly of her, a small County Princess?
After all, this was the first academy for women, and there were only a few people who were willing to send their daughters to school. If she, someone who had an excellent reputation in the capital, were to attend the academy, there would be many people who would follow her.