Volume 1 In the Countryside Chapter 12: The Way Is Clear, But There Is Sunshine
Because the vegetation is more lush, the weather in the countryside is slightly cooler than in the capital. However, it is almost midday now, and walking under the scorching sun is definitely not a pleasant experience.
Before, she had walked from Zhang's house at the head of the village to this temporary school at the end of the village. Now, she had to walk from the end of the village to the head of the village again. Zhu Ying was sweating profusely and felt that her clothes were sticking to her body, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
As she walked, she thought that on normal days, when it was very hot, she would hide in a room full of ice basins to avoid getting sunburned or tanned, or having her makeup ruined by sweat. If she hadn't been curious about what kind of lecture Zhang Shou was giving, she would not have come out in such a hot sun and walked such a long way!
Although she found some things, that guy still ignored her!
Moreover, she either rode in a car or a sedan chair in the capital, and more often rode a horse. This was the first time for her to walk such a long distance on her own two legs. You know, even when she entered the palace before, she was always treated with great privileges and often had a sedan chair to sit on.
Zhu Ying unconsciously raised her sleeves to block the scorching sun, but after walking a few steps, she suddenly felt her eyes, which were originally too hot to open, suddenly darken. Thinking that clouds had finally floated in the sky, she quickly lowered her sleeves and looked up, only to find that what was blocking the scorching sun was actually a big red oil-paper umbrella!
The most important thing is that there is a poem written on the umbrella, it is "Spring River Moon Night"!
She stared at the handwriting for a long time, and suddenly felt that it looked familiar. Then she thought of looking at the person holding the umbrella. When she turned her head, her gaze was fixed, and the anger in her heart disappeared completely, and she even stuttered when she spoke.
"You...how come you..."
Zhang Shou calmly held out his hand and handed over the umbrella: "Don't go out too much in the summer, and hold an umbrella when you go out, otherwise you will get tanned too late."
After saying this, he waited for Miss Zhu to take it blankly, then he nodded slightly and left without looking back.
After a long while, Zhu Ying finally came back to her senses. Seeing that the beautiful paper umbrella in her hand not only had a smooth and round handle, but also had a poem written in ink and pleasing patterns dotted on the paper, her mood improved unconsciously, and she even forgot that there was a taciturn person next to her. She turned her head, shook the umbrella in her hand, and asked, "Is this made by your young master?"
"No, it was made by Carpenter Xu in his spare time." Ah Liu's answer was still stiff, but then he suddenly changed his tone and said, "But the words on it were written by the young master. It's a poem he likes very much."
Zhu Ying was immediately delighted. She was not a talented woman who could compose poems at will, but she had been reading since she was a child and could recite dozens or even hundreds of Tang and Song poems easily. However, she liked this gorgeous and timeless poem, Moonlit Night on a Spring River, which was the only poem in the Tang Dynasty, the most, but she had never mentioned it to anyone.
What a wonderful fate...but the bad handwriting is really an eye-catcher!
She was so happy that she didn't care about Ah Liu's initial half-sentence and continued to walk forward with her oil-paper umbrella. Even though the sun was still scorching and it was uncomfortable to walk on the muddy ground in the village, she was still sweating, but she felt very relaxed holding the big red oil-paper umbrella, and even couldn't help but think of something off topic.
Did Zhang Shou know that the big red oil-paper umbrella is said to be used by the groom when picking up the bride?
Although she had thought about taking a good bath, changing clothes, and then lying in bed and not getting up, the big red oil-paper umbrella provided shade and Miss Zhu finally perked up. She thought that since she had come to live in the Zhang family under the pretext of inspecting her father's property, she should at least take a good walk around the village. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a joke if she returned without knowing anything?
Thus, the children in the village had the opportunity to see a completely different scenery from what they usually saw when Mr. Zhang Shou passed by.
All I saw was a young man in elegant green silk clothes but with a stunningly beautiful face, holding a big red paper umbrella and walking on the muddy road in the village. He walked here and looked there, as if a rich peony had suddenly appeared in the pastoral painting, extremely eye-catching.
With the first child following behind, Zhu Ying walked around the village for a long time, and there was already a long line of children following her. When she saw a rice field at the edge of the village, she finally realized something was wrong. She turned around and saw boys and girls behind her, some big and some small. The older one was only four or five years old, and the younger one had just learned to walk.
When faced with her gaze, many people ran away, but stopped after a short distance, turned around and continued to stare at her.
If it were someone else, they would definitely be puzzled, but Zhu Ying had already experienced the attention of the crowd when she rode a horse on the streets of the capital . At this moment, she was only slightly startled and then chuckled: "These little guys can recognize beauty and ugliness!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Ah Liu's voice: "Miss, it seems that there are guests at home."
Miss Zhu immediately turned her head and saw that the Zhang family was indeed not far away. At this moment, there were many carriages and horses parked in front of the gate that was empty when she came out. There were as many as seven carriages alone!
With her sharp eyesight, she recognized that those carriages came from her home. Her first feeling was not happiness, but... nervousness!
You know, she was in a bad mood yesterday and stayed. Not to mention that her second brother would be furious, even her grandmother, who always loved her and spoiled her, might not tolerate her to continue to do things like that. What if this group of people came to pick her up? She hadn't found out what she should have found out. Zhang Shou seemed to be hiding in the fog, and she couldn't understand him at all!
She didn't care that her legs felt like they were filled with lead from walking too much today, and she quickened her pace and hurried over.
Before she reached the door, Zhu Ying heard some noise inside, which made her even more anxious. But then she saw two figures rushing out of the door angrily, one after the other. When they saw her, they immediately ran towards her like the wind.
Zhu Ying felt relieved when she recognized her two most trusted girls, Zhan Jin and Liu Yin. Without waiting for them to speak, she asked, "Why did you come out? What's the commotion? Is it that my second brother is here?"
Zhan Jin, who was tall and wearing a honey-colored dress, was overjoyed when she saw Zhu Ying. A shallow dimple appeared on her right cheek. Only when she heard what Zhu Ying said did she show anger.
"Liu Yin and I couldn't stand Mother Zhao's frivolous look, so we decided to come out to look for you! The Second Young Master didn't come, so the Madam put him under house arrest and sent Mother Li and Mother Jiang to bring us here. But God knows what the Second Young Master was thinking, he actually instigated Mother Zhao to bring people to stop our car on the way!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying was immediately furious. No one knew better than her what kind of person . Relying on the fact that she had served her deceased biological mother and fed her for two or three years, she had always bullied others in the mansion. She was kept in the dark at first, but when she found out, she immediately flew into a rage and forcefully drove the wet nurse out of the mansion, even calling it a "honorary care".
I didn’t expect that this shameless guy would be led here again!
The next moment, she heard Mother Zhao's sharp voice: "Any corridor in the mansion is bigger than this one. How can people live in such a cramped place? Young Miss is so precious, how can she listen to others' instigation and live in a place like a pigsty?"
Zhu Ying knew that if she didn't stop Mother Zhao, all her efforts to stay in Zhang's house would be in vain, so she almost clenched her fist. But she was about to rush in to stop this gossipy woman, but when she glanced at the way she came from, she saw Zhang Shou had come back at some point, and was standing not far behind her with Ah Liu.
It was unclear whether he heard Mother Zhao's shouting or not. She couldn't help but secretly say "bad news", but then Zhang Shou's address annoyed her.
"Miss."
"I told you to call me Yingying!"
Zhu Ying was furious when she thought about how Zhang Shou had not called her Yingying since yesterday and had kept his distance from her. She instantly realized that she shouldn't lose her temper in front of the maid, and immediately refused Zhan Jin's offer to help her take the big red oil-paper umbrella. She asked Zhang Shou in a somewhat embarrassed and angry tone, "Why are you stopping me? I want to go in and chase that bitch away!"
Zhang Shou pretended not to notice her change of mood and asked calmly, "How are you going to chase her away? Scold her or beat her? Why bother arguing with a bitch until you get so angry? As the saying goes, to defeat the enemy without fighting is the best strategy."
Zhan Jin and Liu Yin, who were standing behind their young lady, were staring at Zhang Shou with all their eyes at this moment.
They had no idea what had happened yesterday, to the point that their young lady was left in the countryside without even a change of clothes. But now when they saw Zhang Shou, they understood everything.
The young man in front of him was first-rate in both appearance and demeanor, and no one in the entire capital could match him. Even the tone of his voice, which was leisurely, made people feel happy when they heard it...
It’s a bit outrageous to think about dealing with Mother Zhao just by talking about it on paper!
Zhu Ying was also a little unconvinced: "Zhu Gongquan is a scholar after all, your tricks are effective. But the one causing trouble now is my wet nurse, she is illiterate and unreasonable, and few people dared to offend her in my family before. You will only get angry to death if you argue with her, how can you defeat her without fighting?"
Zhang Shou looked calm, as if a mountain man had his own tricks up his sleeve: "When you go in, ignore her and just talk to the people your grandmother sent to deal with her. Your second brother is so powerful, but he was confined by your grandmother. Can you, a wet nurse, stand up to those confidants of your grandmother?"
Zhan Jin and Liu Yin looked at each other with some doubt, but Zhu Ying's eyes lit up and she directly handed the big red oil-paper umbrella to the two of them. Then she smiled at Zhang Shou and said, "Well, those who are involved are confused, but those who are on the sidelines can see things clearly. I will try your idea!"
Thinking about what she saw and heard in the village today, it was enough to prove that Zhang Shou was not just a country bumpkin with a good appearance. Now this idea sounded very reasonable. She glanced at him with a beaming face, then walked into the gate with her head held high.
Without even glancing at the brightly dressed Madam Zhao, Zhu Ying walked straight across the yard, came to Madam Wu, and asked with a smile, "Aunt Wu, I'm hungry. What do you want for lunch today?"
Outside the gate, Zhang Shou couldn't help but touch his nose. Should he say that this rich young lady was really good at drawing inferences from one instance to another?
She actually went even further than he suggested. Not only did she ignore that shrewish wet nurse, she even ignored the people sent by the lady of Duke Zhao's mansion!
If what he said to her was leaked by the two maids, would the lady hold him responsible?
