Volume 1 In the Countryside Chapter 36: Dog eyes look down on people!
The clothes that Zhang Shou wore before when he dressed up as an old gentleman, with wide sleeves, a hemp scarf and black shoes, gave off an air of seclusion from the mountains. But at this moment, he looked simple and casual in his casual home clothes when he came out to entertain guests.
He spoke in a clear and husky voice, which was different from the one he used when he was pretending to be a master in Cui Yun Room: "It is so rare to have friends coming from afar. I am Zhang Shou, nice to meet you all."
No matter whether it was Zhang Chen, the conceited and handsome man, or Lu Sanlang, who was always ashamed of his appearance, they could not help but be stunned when faced with Zhang Shou, a man of outstanding demeanor who was completely different from the rude country boy they had imagined.
They had been in the village for quite a while, but none of them had thought of meeting Zhu Ying's fiancé. Because in their minds, Zhu Ying was so arrogant that she didn't even like so many nobles and didn't even acknowledge the prince. Even if there was such an engagement, she would definitely go against it, so how could she live in someone else's house?
The so-called fiancé was probably just an excuse Zhu Ying made to temporarily avoid the whirlpool of the capital and to fool others.
They were too stunned to speak, but the other two on the opposite side would not and could not remain silent.
The young man in the dark blue gauze robe sitting on the first chair on the left bowed slightly and said calmly, "I am Tang Ming, the champion of the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination last year. I am visiting you with my friend Xie Wanquan, the head of the Imperial Academy. I hope you will forgive me, Master Shou."
"Haha, you two are really presumptuous."
Zhang Shou saw that Tang Ming and Xie Wanquan's faces suddenly changed because of his impolite words, while Zhang Chen and Lu Sanlang were stunned for a moment and then smiled at the same time, so he said calmly: "You two are talented scholars who are famous in the capital, but I am a country boy living in a remote corner. We don't know each other. Isn't it presumptuous for Jie Yuanlang to suddenly say the word "visit"? "
Tang Ming's face just darkened, but Xie Wanquan stood up suddenly with a ferocious look of anger on his face.
"Brother Tang was just giving you face, but you took it seriously? You haven't heard of us because you are ignorant; we know you not because you have a good reputation! Zhang Shou, you are a swindler, using your reputation as a hermit to trick the nobles of the capital joining the Cuijun Palace, deceiving the world and stealing the reputation, do you dare to say that this is not true?"
"Oh, so that's why." Zhang Shou didn't even blink, and remained calm as usual, but his voice suddenly became a little more sharp, "You are in the capital, so it's not surprising to hear that the sons of the capital's nobles have joined Cuijun. But how do you know that I, Zhang Shou, am a swindler, deceiving the world and stealing the name? Do you have superhuman eyes and ears?"
He paused, but when Xie Wanquan showed a sneer on his face, he said word by word: "Or are you two so clever that you actually put spies in this rural area to monitor the movements of the eldest lady of the Zhaoguo Mansion and the noble children?"
On the roof on the north side of the hall, Zhu Ying, who had just been so nervous that she was sweating, couldn't help but brighten her eyes. Her stiff shoulders gradually relaxed and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but slightly curl up.
The crime Zhang Shou had charged was really good. To monitor the children of officials and nobles like them was a huge crime that would go against the will of the world!
Xie Wanquan had originally questioned arrogantly, but was choked by Zhang Shou's sudden counterattack. He was caught off guard and instinctively denied it hurriedly: "What nonsense are you talking about!"
Zhang Shou remained calm: "If there were no spies, how can you explain that you two were in the capital and could see everything that happened in the countryside and know it like the back of your hand?"
Seeing that Xie Wanquan was pushed to the edge of the cliff by a few words, Tang Ming finally couldn't sit still. He coughed heavily, and seeing his fellow apprentice brother immediately retreated in dismay, he looked directly at Zhang Shou who was sitting in the main seat.
Even though he had studied hard, traveled around the south of the Yangtze River and the capital, made countless friends, and had seen handsome officials and sons of different gentry, he was still filled with anger and jealousy when faced with this country boy who had never left a village. Looking at his flawless face, he, who was conceited about his handsomeness, felt angry and jealous.
Forcefully suppressing this negative emotion, he finally took over the mess that Xie Wanquan had just made: "Mr. Zhang is indeed a good speaker, no wonder he can bewitch people, but there is a saying that goes, if you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself."
He used a common saying to lightly lift the hat of so-called surveillance, and then said in a deep voice: "But no matter how eloquent you are, you can't cover up your deceiving the world and stealing the reputation! If there is no trick, why has the old man in the so-called Cuijunjian Qingfeng Xulai Hall never revealed his true face to anyone? What is shameful about him!"
Seeing that Lu Sanlang and Zhang Chen were looking at him with doubtful faces, Zhang Shou laughed and said, "May I ask, Mr. Jie Yuan, how did I impersonate that old gentleman and trick so many noble children from the capital to come here? What am I trying to achieve?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Wanquan, who was angry because he had just suffered a loss, sneered.
"How difficult is that? You relied on this face to seduce the beautiful lady of the Duke of Zhao's mansion, and then used it to become famous and dream of becoming the teacher of those noble children! Only dandies like Zhang Chen and Lu San who are well fed and ignorant would fall for your tricks!"
As soon as he heard the word "you", Zhang Shou felt relieved - as expected, a country boy like him was not worth any calculation, and the other party's malicious intentions were directed at Zhu Ying, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhao's mansion!
On the roof, Zhu Ying, who was not stupid, also realized this. She was angry and anxious for a moment, and wanted to hit the tiles with her fists, but she held back when she was about to hit them.
At this moment, Miss Zhu finally realized how wise Zhang Shou's words were to remind him yesterday. When she thought about her own assumption that she had added fuel to the fire, and that her good intentions in helping Zhang Shou become famous might have implicated others, she wanted to jump down and show up, taking all the responsibility on herself.
However, at this moment, she heard Zhang Shou's voice below, which was still calm and composed.
"Haha, what an ignorant person! Could it be that Master Xie thinks Master Zhang and Master Lu are the students under the jurisdiction of you, the head of the dormitory? One of their elders is Duke Qin, who sacrificed his life for the court and eventually earned a hereditary title, and the other is Minister Lu, who won a series of imperial examinations and was promoted to Minister of War after overcoming all difficulties in his official career. I want to ask, what contributions did your elders make?"
"You are the head of the Imperial Academy. You have not yet made great achievements in your studies, nor have you achieved great things in your conduct . You have not done anything to benefit the government and the people. What right do you have to accuse the descendants of meritorious officials of being ignorant? How do you know that they have no ambitions to make progress? You are just talking nonsense based on your prejudice. Isn't this just looking down on others?"
But the more Zhang Chen listened, the more he felt that Zhang Shou's words were extremely to his liking. For a moment, he could not help but forget that the other person might have deceived him, and even more so that he might have been a love rival, and he blurted out a compliment.
"Well said! That's right, these self-proclaimed scholars are just looking down on others!"
Lu Sanlang, who was used to being scolded, couldn't help but feel that Zhang Shou's words hit home. He looked dull but was actually very smart. When he thought about the words of the "old gentleman" last night, it seemed that he was trying to recruit people for Zhu Ying. Now these two young scholars in the capital suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pointed their spearheads at Zhu Ying in their conversation, he immediately made up his mind.
No matter whether Zhang Shou is the old gentleman or not, just get rid of these two unpleasant talents first!
"Brother Chen is right."
Lu Sanlang was just like his lackeys Zhang Lu and Zhang Wu. He called him Brother Chen with a playful smile, and the fat on his face even trembled in disdain. "He is blind and doesn't recognize a master, but he laughs at us who are eager to learn for being ignorant and incompetent. It's a joke. Is the head of the Imperial College so great? If you have the ability, try to solve eight or ten of the problems in front of the bamboo houses in Cuiyun Room!"
"Otherwise you are unlearned!"
Even though Zhang Shou always thought that Lu Sanlang was actually an underestimated smart fat man, he couldn't help but give a thumbs up to this great assist. Sure enough, he saw that before Tang Ming, the Jie Yuan Lang, could stop him, the furious Xie Wanquan made the expected reaction.
"I want to see what the problem is! If I can't solve it, I will take the master of Cuiyun Room as my teacher!"
At this moment, Zhu Ying on the roof slipped. If Zhu Hong hadn't hurriedly supported her, she would have almost rolled off with laughter.
It was so funny! Well, she had to go back immediately and organize a bunch of people to come and watch the fun, so that Xie Wanquan and Tang Ming wouldn't deny their defeat!
