Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 117: Draw out the snake and bring the army to bear
The emperor brought a group of ministers to watch the whole experiment, and then irresponsibly threw two princes who had just reached the age of enlightenment and a bunch of bad boys to Zhang Shou. Then he bid farewell to his respected teacher Ge Yong in high spirits and left Ge's house with a bunch of people. As for the plaque with the water stain wiped off, it was handed over to Zhou Xun, the chief priest of the Imperial College.
As for the Grand Secretary, who had suffered a lot because of this plaque and was now shocked to hear that there was indeed a hollow secret space in the plaque, the emperor did not care about how he would be troubled afterwards.
However, some people stayed. Ge Yong's old friend and mortal enemy Chu Ying and Qi Jingshan did not leave. And Wang Jie, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, even stayed in Ge's mansion under the pretext of asking Mr. Ge for advice.
However, what surprised Zhang Shou was that the Minister of War Lu Wan was originally walking at the end, and Zhu Ying took advantage of the opportunity to suddenly step forward and stop him, and he actually stayed!
Ge Yong originally planned to keep Zhang Shou to discuss the terminology manual issue - God knows he has become the most famous person in the bookstore in recent days, but he didn't know in advance that any of them were published, and he always realized it afterward. Now he plans to print a book to restore his reputation. Therefore, he can't help but feel that it's too annoying to have so many people gathered together.
Especially a parasite like Lu Wan who is single-minded in rising to the top is not welcome at all. Even if Qi Jingshan, Chu Ying and Wang Datou stayed, he just treated them as objects of bragging - for someone like Lu Wan who doesn't understand those terms at all, bragging to them is like talking to a cow!
Therefore, he simply didn't bother to care about what Zhu Ying had done by intercepting the man, and ordered a mute servant to go back to the study and fetch the compiled terminology manual. Then he said proudly: "You are in for a treat. This is a simplified terminology manual that my last disciple Zhang Shou and I worked on together. It has changed all the difficult terms in the mathematical classics into easy-to-understand words."
Chu Ying immediately sneered out of habit: "You and Zhang Shou worked on this together? You were an old fellow who didn't even like to use Arabic numerals back then, when did you become so trendy? Everyone knows that you have always been saying that fools are not qualified to learn arithmetic!"
"What's wrong with me being trendy? There are too many fools in this world. Many people can't even understand the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. If this continues, mathematics will be studied by only a few old men like us. Is that interesting? You can catch more fish only if you cast a wide net. You don't even understand this. You are old and confused!"
Zhu Ying, who was classified as a fool, pouted her lips immediately, and then thought fiercely that even if it was just to have something to talk about with Zhang Shou in the future, she had to brush up on her knowledge.
As for Lu Wan, who was classified as a fool, his face almost twitched, and he once again recalled the time when Zhang Shou explained something but he didn't understand it at all. That was so embarrassing!
Qi Jingshan ignored the two old friends who were arguing, and stood aside quietly reading one of the volumes. Wang Jie, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, who was also well-versed in mathematics, held the book in his hand, but called Zhang Shou aside.
"There is something I didn't have time to tell you before." Wang Jie's big face had a very calm expression, as if he was talking about something insignificant. "I didn't tell the truth about the letter you deciphered at the court meeting. Instead, I slightly changed a few words and disguised it as an insignificant letter among the thirteen letters."
After a moment of surprise, Zhang Shou immediately said thoughtfully: "Do you want others to misunderstand that I didn't solve it, so as to catch the big fish behind it?"
"That's right." Wang Jie was very satisfied that he was talking to someone who understood. A faint smile appeared on his face. He then read the tampered letter to Zhang Shou in a low voice before continuing to explain.
"I have already secretly reported the real letter to the emperor, and the emperor just agreed with my approach. After all, no matter if someone deliberately mixed up the truth or not, as long as the news gets out, that person will definitely think about it As long as he can't sit still and makes another move, it will be easy to catch him..."
Before Wang Jie could continue to explain, Zhang Shou interrupted with a smile, "Wang Dayin, it's good that you have your own ideas. Anyway, I'm only responsible for deciphering the secret letter. How to deal with it and how to fish are your business. But have you told Lu Sanlang, Xiaoqi and Xiaodai about this idea? As long as the three of them don't say anything, it will be fine."
"If the Queen Mother had not summoned you today, you would not be able to leave Shuntian Prefecture Government Office until I return. Those three must still be wandering around in Shuntian Prefecture Government Office." Wang Jie said as if nothing had happened. He then lowered his head and flipped through the book in his hand. His eyes swept over the terminology, and he raised his eyes again, "Mr. Ge, what you have researched must be good. Send me a copy when it is published."
He paused, and as if afraid that Zhang Shou didn't understand, he added, "The book is too expensive. I can't afford it."
He raised his voice a little for the last seven words.
At this moment, Ge Yong, who had just argued with Chu Ying about who was more old-fashioned, caught it with his sharp ears. Master Ge immediately shouted angrily: "Wang Datou, you still have the nerve to cry poor? Did I set the price of this book so high? It's those profiteers! Besides, if the book is as cheap as cabbage, it will be wasted by fools!"
Lu Wan, who was attacked by a fool again, finally couldn't bear it anymore. Seeing Wang Jie returning the manuscript to Zhang Shou as if nothing had happened, and then bowing to Ge Yong, he just left. He had stayed behind to stop Wang Jie, so he immediately ran out to chase him , but he was blocked by Zhu Ying again.
The annoyed Minister of War was so angry that his face turned blue, and he asked sternly, "What do you mean, Miss Zhu?"
"What do I mean? Haha." Zhu Ying chuckled, then put away her smile and asked coldly, "I was just wondering what you mean! You ordered Lu Sanlang to chase me like a swarm of bees and butterflies, and persuaded my second brother to say that he wanted to form an alliance with my family, but in fact he was instigating people to deal with my father behind my back... Minister Lu, tell me, what do you mean by this!"
Zhang Shou had felt bad when he saw Zhu Ying stopping Lu Wan. When he heard Zhu Ying's barrage of questions, he hesitated for a moment before she had already asked him all the questions. But thinking about what he had promised her before, he finally stepped forward and stood beside her.
Lu Wan didn't know whether Wang Jie, who had just left, stopped after hearing Zhu Ying's words, but at least he knew that Ge Yong and Chu Ying, who had been arguing just now, and Qi Jingshan, who was watching the show on the side, all looked up at him at the same time.
Although the three of them have been out of the court for a long time, they were all once famous people. Once Zhu Ying's words were spread through their mouths, the consequences would be disastrous!
Embarrassed and angry, he subconsciously looked at Zhang Shou and said coldly, "So when Dr. Zhang asked me that question on behalf of Miss Zhu in Zhigong Building yesterday, he had already decided in his heart that it was the Duke of Zhao who was being slandered by me?"
Zhu Ying turned her head to glance at Zhang Shou in disbelief, and seeing that he was still calm, she thought that he not only promised her, but also fulfilled his promise. Now that she rashly stopped Lu Wan to question him, it might ruin his plan. She couldn't help but feel a little hot on her face.
But at this moment, she happened to see Zhang Shou looking at her. Just one glance, and her uneasiness disappeared.
That look seemed to be comforting her, saying, it’s okay, just say it.
Zhang Shou looked away, and seeing that Lu Wan looked unhappy, he said with a half-smile, "Didn't Minister Lu answer me yesterday?"
The words he had just spoken were counterattacked back, and Lu Wan was immediately furious. In front of Ge Yong and the other two, he naturally could not admit such an accusation, and immediately threw his sleeves in anger and said, "This is nonsense! Zhu Ying, your father and brother were not doing well in the war, but you and Zhang Shou blamed others. No wonder the saints said that only women and villains are difficult..."
Before he could utter the last two words, Zhu Ying, whose mood had gone through a lot of ups and downs, immediately retorted, "You can't get away from it, so you want to curse? This is the self-cultivation of a Shangshu? Don't think that you are the only one in the world who has read the Analects. The next sentence is 'If you get close to them, they will be disrespectful; if you stay away from them, they will resent you'. Who would want to get close to you? With your temper, everyone would want to stay away from you!"
Zhang Shou knew that since Zhu Ying was classified as a woman, he was of course a villain. He raised his eyebrows nonchalantly, and then said sarcastically: "Lu Shangshu looks down on women and villains, but there is probably a folk saying that is circulated between women and villains that you haven't heard of. You are too clever and calculated, but you have lost your life!"
Without waiting for Lu Wan to get angry, he said calmly, "I was at Shuntian Prefecture's government office last night and heard the whole story of the secret letters. The incident started with the Ministry of War, and then the Linhai Camp. Minister Lu, please think twice."
Hearing this, Lu Wan suppressed his anger. He was in a fire in his backyard. If was really identified by the Duke of Zhao's Mansion as the mastermind behind the previous attack on the Duke of Zhao and his son, then he would undoubtedly be a mortal enemy. If they fought back with all their might, he, who was thought to be hiding in the dark, would be in trouble!
So, he put his hands behind his back to cover up his clenching and unclenching fists, and said coldly: "I have no grudges against the Duke of Zhao and his son. Besides, civil officials and military generals have nothing to do with each other. If he really comes back defeated, I will impeach him. Now there is no news. Those imperial censors are the ones who will take action after hearing the news. How can I have the time for that!"
After saying this, he sneered and said, "If you two want to bring an army to punish them, why not investigate Grand Secretary Zhang Yu and Governor Zhang Xinling? These two are the sworn enemies of the Zhu family of the Duke of Zhao's Mansion! And Zhang Chen's father, the Duke of Qin Zhang Chuan, who everyone thinks is mediocre and incompetent, has been coveting the status of the Duke of Zhao and the Duke of Chu as the backbone of the meritorious officials for a long time!"
Seeing Lu Wan walked away after she finished speaking, Zhang Shou saw that Zhu Ying was shocked and angry, so he said, "Yingying, the teacher and Mr. Qi and Mr. Chu are watching us, don't cry, tell them if you have any grievances!"
Zhu Ying was stunned. Who was crying? My eyes didn't even turn red!
The next moment, she saw Zhang Shou reaching out his hand, as if to wipe her tears. She was so stunned that she didn't notice that Zhang Shou was quietly observing Lu Wan's back as she left, so she naturally didn't see that Lu Wan stopped and then walked faster as if she was escaping.
