"What's going on here?" Clara asked in puzzlement.
The arrival of Clara and her four children eased the heavy tension in the courtyard just a little.
Kate, spotting Clara, cast a vexed glance at her own stubborn daughter standing rigid in the yard, and quickly called Clara over to help persuade her.
Doreen hurried forward, tugging Clara toward Rosie, who stood stiff as a wooden stake.
"Rosie listens most to her third aunt. This girl suddenly turned mule-headed today. Clara, you talk to her. Look at the other village girls—aren't they all staying home quietly, learning needlework?"
Hearing that, Rosie shot her aunt a sideways glare, her small fists clenched tight as though she was holding back a storm inside her. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Before Clara could even make sense of what was happening—
Rosie's voice rang out, not loud, but clear:
"I want to take the exam. I want to go to the academy. I must go—I will go!"
Kate hadn't expected her daughter to cling to this idea after the whole family had been persuading her for so long. Usually gentle, she now rarely showed anger, but her face hardened as she scolded:
"Rosie Liew, stop this nonsense! That academy isn't something we can afford!"
"The village chief said it doesn't cost tuition!" Rosie shot back.
Don't underestimate her—she might be young, but she'd been outside the ancestral hall just now. She had heard clearly that the imperial decree said tuition was free.
Kate snapped, "And what about all the other expenses you conveniently ignored? How will you travel to town? Don't brush off the cost of brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones!"
"Then why can my brother go? Doesn't it cost money for him too?" Rosie demanded, pointing straight at Ryder.
The truth was simple—this little girl just thought it was unfair!
Doreen, unwilling to get caught in this, hurried back into the main hall, pulled her son Ryder into her arms, and smugly said:
"Your brother's a boy. How can that be the same as you? If he studies hard and makes a name for himself, it'll benefit you too. Even if you marry out, won't he still be there to back you up?"
Rosie sobbed and retorted, "If I study and make a name for myself, I can back him up too!"
"Oh heavens~" Doreen laughed outright at the child's naivety. "Rosie, what kind of name can a girl ever make for herself by studying? Academies don't even want girls. What are you going for? Isn't it better to stay home and learn embroidery from your mother?"
Rosie froze, unsure how to argue back.
Kate stepped forward, her baby in her arms, and tried again with gentler coaxing:
"Don't make trouble anymore. Go inside and play with your little brother, hmm? Didn't you say you wanted a red dress? Your grandmother already promised to buy the fabric. Let's make it soon, alright?"
Rosie almost wavered. But deep down she instinctively knew—studying must be more precious than a red dress. Wiping her tears with her small hand, she turned her head stubbornly and huffed:
"I don't want a red dress. I just want the same thing as Ryder!"
Doreen chuckled. "When has the family not favored you and Ryder first with food and clothes? He goes to the academy, you wear a red dress—that's the same thing."
"It's not the same!" Rosie sniffled, but her words were steady. "You just don't want me to take the exam. You all keep saying I won't pass. But how would anyone know if I don't even try?"
Kate opened her mouth, ready to repeat the excuse about money, but Rosie cut her off:
"Don't say the family has no silver to spare for me! Last year, Third Aunt gave you all wages—I know! You can't fool me!"
Clara, watching from the side, arched her brow. The little girl was sharper than she looked.
With a mind like this, it would be a real waste not to send her to study.
Clara thought of stepping in, but this time she wasn't given the chance.
Perhaps Kate had never seen her daughter this mule-stubborn before. Realizing coaxing was useless, she truly grew angry, and her tone dropped heavy:
"Why won't you listen? Tell me, what use is it for you to go to the academy? Two years, and what will you learn? Even if you did study well, you can't sit for the imperial exams!"
Rosie faltered at the weight of her mother's words, then asked, bewildered, "Why would I need to take the exams? Isn't learning just to know more characters?"
"What's the use of knowing a few words? Besides, you're a girl—what do you need literacy for? Learn embroidery properly, find a good marriage, that's the proper way!"
Kate fumed: "With this temper, who would dare marry you in the future!"
"I don't care! I'm going to the academy!"
Round and round they went, ending up where they started. Rosie refused to listen, leaving Kate so angry her tears threatened to fall. At that point, Clara finally cut in:
"I think Rosie is right."
At once, everyone in the old house flinched.
They had asked her to persuade, not to stir up more trouble!
Beside her, Lillian tugged at Clara's sleeve and whispered softly:
"It's not about having too little, it's about unfairness. If one goes, both should go. If one doesn't, then both don't. That way siblings stay close, there's no resentment, and the family prospers when children help one another."
Clara's eyes lit up at her daughter's words. She shrugged helplessly at the others in the room.
"You see? Even my Lillian understands this simple truth."
Old Walter and the others stared at Lillian in surprise. They hadn't expected such wisdom from her. That saying—"fear not scarcity, but inequality"—was not something a child without any learning could come up with.
Rosie, who had been nearly despairing, suddenly saw someone on her side. Her mouth trembled with grievance as she sobbed:
"Third Aunt… ink and paper don't cost that much, right? My father gave my mother two taels of silver. That's enough to buy a lot, isn't it?"
In her fluster, the little girl accidentally blurted out her household's secret stash.
She gasped, slapped her hands over her mouth, and darted behind Clara's children in fright, as if her parents might whip her on the spot.
Clara glanced up at Caleb and Kate, both looking anxious and caught out. She nearly laughed aloud.
Doreen and Brandon were equally astonished, staring at them. "So this is that 'we have no private money, even for a needle and thread we must beg Father and Mother' story you told us?"
Caleb, seeing explanations were useless, shot back in defiance: "And what about you? With both you and Brandon earning wages together, you must have four or five taels at least!"
Martha pressed her hand to her forehead. "Enough. Stop squabbling—my head hurts. Isn't it just the academy? Whoever wants to go can go, but each family pays their own way!"
That last line was the crux.
Originally, Ryder's study fees were to be covered by the family's shared funds. But with silver tight, she and Old Walter had only planned to support one boy—Ryder, as a son.
On this, they agreed with Kate: only boys could sit for the exams, so sending them to the academy was an investment that might truly bring benefits back to the family.
(End of Chapter)
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