Chapter 215 The Tacit Understanding between Father-in-law and Son-in-law
Hangzhou is particularly cool in early summer, with just the right temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. You can stroll around in light clothing.
As one of the important nodes of the Grand Canal, Hangzhou has always been prosperous. Now with the spice business as a foundation, the city is getting richer and richer. Even many boatmen, who work in shorts and get dirty during the day, can travel in fine clothes at night and enjoy the romance when the sun sets.
The atmosphere of luxury is gradually approaching Bianliang.
After settling all the members of the Yang family, big and small, Lu Sen lived a comfortable life for a few days.
He was too lazy to care about the affairs of the court. The safety of several acquaintances was not a problem for the time being.
Although Bao Zheng was demoted, it was not difficult for him to reach Guijun safely with the protection of Zhan Zhao, Wang Chao, Ma Han and others.
Besides, Bao Zheng now has a civet cat to protect him, and his physique is much stronger than that of ordinary people, so it should not be difficult for him to adapt to the hot climate of Gui County.
If there is anyone who is in trouble, it is Di Qing.
After the two women of the Yang family left Beijing, the burden of resisting the Western Xia people fell on him.
Lu Sen believed that Di Qing would have a way to solve this problem. Besides, the Northern Song Dynasty had not yet reached its real demise. "Tall men" like Pang Taishi and Ouyang Xiu were still active in the court, so Di Qing would always have a chance to show his abilities.
Maybe the process is just a little tortuous.
After resting at home for two days, Lu Sen went to the "Zhao Mansion" in Hangzhou City.
There are five "Zhao Mansions" in Hangzhou, two of which belong to wealthy merchants, one belongs to the King of Xiangyang, and the other belongs to the Prince of Runan.
Zhao Zonghua lived in one room and Zhao Zongshi lived in another.
At this time, Zhao Zonghua was still traveling south along the canal and had not yet reached home.
Lu Sen took some time to take Bilian to Zhao Zongshi's home.
As a child who had just turned twelve, Zhao Zongshi was very happy to see Lu Sen and Zhao Bilian.
In fact, before Lu Sen left Aishan in Bianjing, Zhao Zongshi would come to Aishan from time to time to visit and play.
The Prince of Runan was a typical strict father. He was always serious and dignified in front of his children. Few children dared to breathe a sigh of relief in front of him.
But at Lu Sen's home, Zhao Zongshi could play happily, as both his sister Bilian and Lu Sen were quite indulgent towards him.
But when he came to Hangzhou, because of the confidentiality of Lu Sen's cave, Zhao Zongshi could not come to visit and could only stay in the city.
Without the constraints of his parents and elders, Zhao Shu is now having a lot of fun.
Lu Sen and Zhao Bilian did not need to inform anyone when entering or leaving the Zhao family. As soon as they entered the house and turned into the backyard, they heard the laughter of young girls. After walking a few more steps, they saw Zhao Shu, with his eyes blindfolded, playing "Eagle Catches Chicken" with a group of maids in the garden.
Hugging and kissing, the scene was very happy.
Zhao Bilian's face turned dark on the spot.
She roared, "Shudi, what are you doing?"
Everyone in the garden stopped, and the maids were so scared when they saw Zhao Bilian that they hid aside.
Zhao Zongshi was so frightened that he took off the white towel on his face and stood still, not daring to move.
Originally he thought that only Sister Bilian was there, but when he looked, his brother-in-law was there too, and he immediately felt a sense of fear that something too bad was about to happen.
In fact, Lu Sen would not do anything to Zhao Zongshi, but the problem lies with Bilian.
But Lu Sen didn't come, and Zhao Zongshi was having sex with the maid, and Zhao Bilian just made a few criticisms and that was it.
After all, Zhao Bilian dotes on this younger brother very much.
But Lu Sen came along... Although he was only the son-in-law of the Zhao family, Lu Sen's influence and majesty in the Zhao family were no less than that of the Prince of Runan.
It can be said that the Prince of Runan will definitely give more consideration to who Lu Sen thinks is suitable to be the heir of the Zhao family, and other members of the Zhao family will also strongly support Lu Sen's decision.
In this way, Lu Sen has the power to teach and discipline most of the young people in the Zhao family.
He is considered to be at the level of an 'elder'.
Bilian was a favorite of Zhao Zongshi, who was adopted into Zhao Er's family as the crown prince at a young age and then was "thrown" back.
So he didn't want him to be disliked and looked down upon by his own officials.
Thinking that if I scolded them first, others would not scold me so harshly, Zhao Bilian walked over and said with a cold face, "You are so young, but you know how to fool around with maids. How disrespectful! Put your hand out."
Zhao Zongshi followed his instructions and stretched out his hands, palms facing upwards.
Bilian used the scabbard of her sword to whip her brother's palms hard, each blow louder than the last.
After hitting him six times, he asked, "Do you know you are wrong?"
Zhao Zongshi looked timid and nodded repeatedly with tears in his eyes.
His hands were already red and swollen, almost shaped like small buns, and Zhao Bilian beat him without mercy.
Lu Sen sat on a stone bench nearby, watching quietly with a smile on his face.
"Learn more from your brother-in-law in the future. Do things seriously and calmly. Do you understand?"
In Bilian's eyes, the official is a gentleman.
Even though he and Bilian had such embarrassing fun in bed, the three women were married in a formal way and had status. Even if they had sex frequently, it was still just fun in the bedroom. The inheritance of human relations was actually a very serious matter and no one could blame them.
Besides, Lu Sen never laid hands on other women.
Not to mention the vixen at home, the snow girl tries to seduce Lu Sen every day, and there are two shrine maidens from Japan who are thinking about fulfilling their duties as shrine maidens and serving the gods all day long.
What's more, the little girl Jin Lingqin had been eating and drinking well for more than four years. She had grown up and become beautiful. She was thinking about repaying the favor and had that kind of thought.
Which of these women is not much better than Zhao Zongshi’s maid?
Have you ever seen Lu Sen behave in the slightest way towards these beauties?
Absolutely not!
Even before Pang Meir got married, she lived in the Lu family for more than half a year. Even though the man was in love with the woman, Lu Sen always behaved like a gentleman and maintained a sufficient distance and attitude.
In comparison, how old is my younger brother?
He was less than thirteen years old, but he dared to openly have sex with a dozen maids in the backyard. How could this be tolerated?
The more Bilian thought about it, the angrier she became, and she hit the little guy's hand twice more with the scabbard.
Now my hands turned from red and swollen to blue and black.
Zhao Zongshi gritted his teeth to prevent himself from crying out loud.
Zhao Bilian looked at him for a while and said, "Okay, go sit in front of your brother-in-law and drink some honey water."
Zhao Zongshi looked at Zhao Bilian with gratitude, sat down in front of Lu Sen, called him brother-in-law, and then carefully held the porcelain cup with his hands that were swollen like black buns and drank from it.
At this time, Zhao Bilian walked aside and said to the housekeeper standing next to her: "Let all the servants leave the backyard. No matter who comes to see my brother, don't let them in. If you can't handle it, come in and find me directly."
The housekeeper was a confidant of the Zhao family. He was stunned for a moment when he heard the words, then a glimmer of understanding flashed in his eyes. He bowed slightly and walked out with a smile.
Lu Sen also poured himself a glass of honey water and asked with a smile: "Are you bored in Hangzhou? Who are you hanging out with recently?"
"Brother Liyang, Brother Taiyang, and some rich princes in Hangzhou." After drinking a few sips of honey water, Zhao Zongshi felt that his hands were not so painful. He continued to answer embarrassedly: "When they go out to eat and drink, they always invite me."
No wonder, the two guys who call me brother are the children of the Wang family in Xiangyang!
The nightlife in Hangzhou is indeed very rich, and flower boats and painted pleasure boats are the main part of it.
A bunch of rich young men have nothing to do at night. What else can they do except go out for a drink?
Lu Sen couldn't help but ask, "Are you still protecting Yuan Yang?"
Zhao Zongshi blushed, and after a while he stammered, "No...no more."
It's amazing! He is just over twelve years old, but he can already do human things. I admire him.
Although the ancients matured earlier, it was indeed too early.
At this time, Zhao Zongshi's head almost dropped to his chest, and he was filled with embarrassment.
Zhao Bilian came over and heard this. She was about to get angry again, but Lu Sen stretched out his hand to stop her. Then he said to Zhao Zongshi, "I'm not here to teach you a lesson this time. I want to teach you something. Raise your head and listen to me."
Only then did Zhao Zongshi reluctantly look up at Lu Sen.
"I plan to teach you the two subjects of 'the value of social interpersonal relationships' and 'human resource management'."
Zhao Zongshi was confused; he didn't quite understand the meaning of these words.
Lu Sen smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't understand the name, just listen to what I say. You can continue to interact with those rich kids, but you have to practice what I taught you among them. Do you understand?"
Zhao Zongshi nodded repeatedly. Now he had to listen to whatever his brother-in-law said.
Although my brother-in-law has a good temper and doesn't hit people, my sister is different. She was watching from the side.
"The Value of Social Interpersonal Relationships" and "Human Resource Management" were both elective courses for Lu Sen when he was in college...but he didn't learn these two courses in depth. He just listened to them superficially and remembered the general theories, but never really put them into practice.
Because I came into this world less than a month after I graduated and found a job.
After talking about the theoretical significance of "The Value of Social Interpersonal Relationships", Lu Sen spent nearly three hours just explaining the meaning of the nouns.
"That's all for today. Next, you should think carefully about what I said. I will come to you every ten days and teach you new things. It's up to you to figure out how much you can understand and how much you can practice."
"Thank you, brother-in-law, for teaching me the art."
Zhao Zongshi stood up, bowed and clasped his fists in salute as a disciple.
Although he didn't quite understand, Zhao Zongshi was brought up as a 'crown prince' after all. His vision and knowledge were much better than those of his peers. He had already vaguely sensed how outrageous what his brother-in-law told him was.
Lu Sen smiled and left with Bilian.
Five days later, the Prince of Runan, who was far away in Bian Jing, received a secret letter.
The first half of the letter doesn't seem to have much content, but the second half adds a few sentences of nonsense that don't flow smoothly.
This is cryptic text.
He pulled out a book, compared the words on it with the content, and quickly figured out the content.
'Master Lu seems to be teaching Zongshi the teachings of the emperor.'
The eyes of the Prince of Runan suddenly became bright and the secret letter in his hand was crumpled into a ball.
His hands were shaking, but his face was filled with joy and excitement.
His own son was the crown prince, and when Zhao Zhen had a son, he was thrown out of the palace.
He was once a crown prince, but was thrown out of the palace when he was less than ten years old and exiled to the frontier for more than ten years. Only after his edges were smoothed out was he allowed to return to Bianjing City.
The edges on the outside have been smoothed out, but are the edges on the inside really smoothed out?
Is it the destiny of my family to be the crown prince forever?
I have done it, my son has done it, so will my grandson have to do it too someday, and then live in uncertainty in the palace every day, fearing that when a new prince is born, he will be thrown out of the palace again?
He felt alienated from his parents and could not return to the palace.
So that neither side can get close to each other.
Besides, the throne originally belonged to their Zhao Da lineage.
It was stolen by Zhao Er's clan, so what if I take it back myself?
In the past, he didn't have the ability to seize power, but if his son-in-law had this intention and was willing to help... why would he worry about not being able to accomplish his great cause?
After being excited for a while, the Prince of Runan immediately went to the desk and burned the secret letter over the candle flame.
Then he opened his business booklet and searched for which industries could be transformed into covert military forces and which industries could secretly recruit more talents for him.
Originally, the Prince of Runan had already laid down, living a leisurely life counting money and watching plays every day, and he had not attended court for a long time.
But now it is different, he feels like there is a fire burning in his heart, he plans to go to court tomorrow, although he cannot participate in political affairs, at least he has to know what is going on in the court.
It will be convenient for you to plan in the future.
Back in Hangzhou, Lu Sen would leave the cave once every ten days to teach Zhao Zongshi.
It has to be said that Zhao Zongshi was worthy of being the former crown prince, and his comprehension ability was particularly amazing.
Only a month had passed, and he was already able to take the initiative to expand his network of relationships and began to practice what his brother-in-law taught him.
Another interesting piece of news is that the Western Xia finally arrived at the city of Xi'an, and the Zhe family retreated to Xi'an Prefecture.
The imperial court was shocked. After much persuasion from Grand Tutor Pang, Ouyang Xiu and others, Empress Dowager Cao had no choice but to agree to transfer 200,000 imperial guards and 400,000 auxiliary troops to Di Qing's command.
Afterwards, Di Qing led his army into Xi'an city and fought against the enemy together with the Zhe family.
Keep the Xixia people outside the city of Xi'an for the time being.
It is under such circumstances that Hangzhou officially enters summer.
After Lu Sen finished his routine teaching to Zhao Zongshi that day, he just came out of the door and saw several Taoists wearing black Taoist robes and holding white whisks standing in front of him.
Seeing Lu Sen coming out, the old Taoist priest with silver hair and beard bowed and said, "I am Zhang Xuanxing, Taoist name Feiyan, and I am honored to meet Master Lu."
"Master Zhang from Mount Zhongnan?" Lu Sen looked slightly surprised.
Tianshi is a title, and Zhenren is also a title.
In terms of actual power, the Heavenly Master is more powerful. He controls all the Taoists in Mount Zhongnan and restrains all Taoists in the world.
In terms of honor and reputation, only those who are more powerful and have performed great miracles can be called "real people".
So in fact, Lu Sen and Zhang Tianshi are the same.
However, if his official status is taken into account, Lu Sen would be much stronger. Until now, the court has not taken back Lu Sen's identities such as "Direct Scholar of Tianzhang Pavilion" and "Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites".
Even salaries were paid as usual, but there was no place to send them, so they had to be deposited in the Ministry of Revenue.
"It is indeed this poor Taoist." Zhang Tianshi smiled and said, "It is not easy to find Master Lu. Could you please take up some of his time to chat with this poor Taoist and others?"
