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Maomao doesn’t consider herself a great teacher by any means. It’s hard when her gold standard is her pa, and frankly Maomao just hasn’t inherited any of those good traits of his. She admits she gets impatient, easily distracted, and gets way too into her work when it becomes just a little interesting, but luckily no one was clamouring for her services in that regard.
Until recently, that is.
It’s not really until she’s asked about it again that Maomao realizes that she might’ve gotten a little carried away again.
Jinshi looks at her expectantly and Maomao racks her brain for a sensible report (or at least a semblance of one) to deliver.
“How did the high consorts take to the lesson?”
Loulan’s looked the same the entire time, so Maomao will just omit that altogether. No news is good news, right? She can talk up Gyokuyou and Lihua, who both looked genuinely into it. She has to admit it was a bit of an ego boost—after all, she was pretty much winging the lessons based on what her older sisters have drilled into her over the years, but it seemed effective enough!
And as for Lishu…well, at some point Maomao had to recognize that maybe in her efforts to get straight to the point that she might’ve been too cavalier about things, given Lishu’s own lack of experience.
Not to say Maomao herself had any experience, but hey. Teachers can source their material from all sorts of places!
“The lesson went well, I believe. We went into a great deal of depth,” she opts for the safe version of the truth.
“Oh? So they were engaged?” summarizes Jinshi.
Maomao smiles to herself, thinking back. He’s not wrong.
“This particular position seems…difficult,” Lihua murmurs.
She steals a peek at the page in question and nods to herself, pacing a little before the answer comes to her.
“This one can be a little tough on the spine, but you can get comparable pleasure if you make a few modifications. I don’t believe this is in the literature, but if you’ll excuse me—”
Okay, she didn’t mean to get carried away with the drawing either. She recalls how Lishu squeaked a little while Loulan tilts her head ever so slightly, as if trying to discern what Maomao was trying to illustrate in the first place.
“My apologies, that was meant to be an arrow. You may want to turn at some point.”
Gyokuyou simply laughed.
“Yes, Jinshi-sama. Very engaged. We even came up with new material!” she declares proudly.
Jinshi, true to expectation, shrinks away from that and they move on without further details required. Phew!
Teaching how to read and write wasn’t really something she was interested in, but Xiaolan made it somehow easy, full of enthusiasm and keen to absorb every one of Maomao’s ill-thought out lessons.
When their lessons gain popularity, Maomao is honestly perplexed as to why. But then Xiaolan beams at her with pride, and starts going off about her to the new joiners like she was good at this somehow, and Maomao thinks ah. Xiaolan is just too innocent for her own good. She simply has no idea what makes a good teacher. She probably hasn’t ever had one, much less one that’s decent.
But that doesn’t discount the fact that Xiaolan is a good student. She continues to be even as she munches on her snacks and recounts to Maomao all that she’s learned at the school. Honestly, she’s a quick study, and Maomao can’t take credit for that.
“Maomao! Today we learned how to write the words medicine and emergency!”
These were important words to be aware of, definitely the broader and far more useful versions from what Maomao had first taught off the fly. It’s taken a while to get there, but that really speaks to Xiaolan’s progress.
“That’s great, Xiaolan. What else did you learn?”
She does feel like a little sister somehow.
Huh. Is that how her sisters thought of her too? When they taught her all about—uh, yeah, nevermind. Maomao will just focus on the bright belltones of Xiaolan’s voice every time she says her name, like they’ve known each other their whole lives.
It’s not like she doesn’t enjoy a good problem—of course she does—but the stakes that come with them are things she’d rather not be involved with. When Gaoshun asks her how exactly she manages to solve so many mysteries around the palace, Maomao has to choose her words carefully.
“I try my best to observe and come to a potential logical conclusion based on the most-likely information.”
Gaoshun sighs.
“I suppose it isn’t an easily teachable skill, then?”
Maomao blinks. “Are you arranging something for the high-ranking consorts on this, Gaoshun-sama?”
“Nothing like that. It’s just a good skill to have on hand, but there’s only one of you, Xiaomao. And your methods are more easily understood than…” he pauses, long enough for Maomao to fill in the blank with a shudder. Urgh. She gets it. She’s more easily accessible and controllable than that guy.
Regardless, it’s not something she wants to teach, even if she could. Not that she doesn’t try to give a little more next time she explains her thinking. Gaoshun is smart and patient and understands it all, she’s sure, but he was never asking for himself.
“No, don’t eat that. Oh, it’s not poisonous or anything, it’s just not very good.”
Princess Lingli just giggles, still playing with the limp leaf with her fingers, cooing all the while in delight. Maomao’s pretty sure she didn’t understand a thing, but also, who knows? Children can be smarter than they look. Besides, it feels kind of nice, having someone to talk about this stuff to.
Then, as if she understood, the princess drops it in favour of a tall stem of fennel.
“Good taste. That one has good medicinal properties, though nothing you should be concerned with at your age…”
Maomao continues narrating out loud as she follows the young princess on her walk, pleased with herself. Gyokuyou was right to start teaching her young.
Ah. Nevermind. Now she’s off grabbing after a butterfly.
What a distracted pupil. Totally doesn’t remind her of anyone.
“Oh, that’s quite alright, I’m just glad she had fun,” Gyokuyou says with her usual gentle smile when Maomao finishes recounting how she and Princess Lingli spent their day together.
Maomao bows and waits as Gyokuyou purses her mouth in thought.
“Perhaps she will simply learn from your reactions to the elements all around her. After all, I learn something new every single day watching you,” she giggles. “Though you may want to be careful with some of your…inclinations.”
Maomao tries to hide a grimace, remembering that perhaps she has gotten too comfortable here. They have let her do far more than she had imagined when she was first brought to the Rear Palace, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a place. She was not Gyokuyou’s anymore, yet being here has somehow become like another home.
But she may soon be empress, and there are certain things that can’t be looked past.
Maomao nods. “If I may ever be of service, please do let me know, Gyokuyou-sama. I’m not a great teacher, but I can try to teach anything you may find of value.”
Gyokuyou giggles again. “Oh, don’t worry. You just being around is plenty valuable to me.” She glimpses past Maomao and waves someone in eagerly. Maomao waits for the familiar footsteps to settle beside her, Jinshi in wait, no doubt something else troublesome on his plate.
At least Gyokuyou looks pleased, though Maomao can’t imagine what she could possibly learn from these encounters.
Alas. Just another day.