Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 128: Swallow yourself?
The lady had the sword without sheath, which was presented solemnly in a gift box, checked carefully from beginning to end, and confirmed that it was not poisoned, and had no sinister springs such as poison needles installed, and there were no other defects. At least on the surface, it was an extremely sharp sword that could cut hair with a single blow.
As a result, a skilled craftsman was soon summoned to the Duke of Zhao's mansion overnight with a worried heart. He was then overjoyed to accept this lucrative order and stayed in the guest room of the mansion overnight to make the scabbard.
When Zhang Shou finished his morning class at Banshan Hall the next day, and watched Zhang Chen compile the statistics of the elective course results in the afternoon, and watched a group of people noisily decide on the teachers they would invite, how to invite people, and how to determine the corresponding class venues, but was forcibly taken back to the Duke of Zhao's Mansion from the Imperial , he received the expected gift.
The sword was scabbarded in a simple manner, and at first glance it looked as if all its sharpness had been muted.
When Zhu Ying handed him the sword, she was still a little dissatisfied: "This scabbard is too plain. I still like the style of gold and jade inlay, but my grandmother said that gold makes you look vulgar. I also think that the scabbard with only jade inlay is not very eye-catching and wastes your good looks. Using jade as a sword tassel is easy to crack, so I have to forget it!"
Zhang Shou was very satisfied with this plain sword without any gold or jade inlay. When he went to the Imperial College again on the third day, the students in Banshan Hall were all shrewd and noticed at a glance that he had an extra pendant on him.
Others could still hold back, but the Fourth Prince, who was spoiled by the Emperor and had a flamboyant and curious personality, couldn't help but ask before class started: "Teacher, why did you suddenly think of wearing a sword? I don't think I saw anyone else wearing a sword in the Imperial College."
Zhang Shou had originally intended to show off the sword. At this moment, he looked around at everyone and laughed, "In my dynasty, wearing a sword was a privilege for officials and scholars with meritorious service, and of course, students could also carry it. But nowadays, there are more and more scholars who are weak and powerless. People even use the phrase "a scholar is useless" to insult people, and fewer and fewer people are wearing swords."
He paused, then laughed and said, "In the past, scholars commanded the army on horseback and governed the people on foot. They became generals and ministers. Lou Shide passed the imperial examination and accepted the military examination. Li Qinglian traveled the world with a sword. Xin Jiaxuan gave up his pen and joined the army, determined to conquer the Central Plains. In the early years of this dynasty, there were many such predecessors. But now, there are more and more people who read books blindly, are lazy, and don't know the difference between grains."
Hearing this, the two lazy and ignorant Imperial College doctors who came quietly to the door and were about to find fault suddenly turned pale and left immediately. Xu Heida, the Supervisor of the Shengqian Hall, who ran into them head-on, had just arrived and had no idea what Zhang Shou had just said. After hesitating for a moment, he quietly stepped forward and stood in a corner behind the door to listen.
The fourth prince did not notice the idlers outside the door, and asked with shining eyes: "Teacher, do you wear a sword to imitate the predecessors?"
Zhang Shou liked the flamboyant but impulsive Fourth Prince very much. He smiled when he heard this and said, "This sword was given to me by someone. It was wrapped in an exquisite brocade box but without a scabbard. I think the person probably wanted to tell me that a person should be like a sword, unstoppable and sharp. So I specially ordered a scabbard for me to carry with me."
The third and fourth princes were too young to understand what Zhang Shou meant, but many students understood it. As for those who didn't understand, people at the next table would explain it quietly. Before long, hundreds of people understood the message Zhang Shou conveyed, and they all wanted to watch the fun.
I don't know who sent a sword without a sheath to threaten this newly appointed doctor of the Imperial College! But Zhang Shou not only didn't care, he also put a sheath on the sword and carried it with him... This is a provocation!
Lu Sanlang, who had managed to get the qualification to be an auditor in Banshan Hall, had flickering eyes. He endured it again and again. When he heard Zhang Shou gently knocking on the copper bell on the table, he shut his mouth in disappointment. In his heart, he was thinking about going back to find Zhang Chen to see if the two of them could join forces to dig out the guy who dared to threaten him with the sword.
Now that he had been praised by both the Emperor and Mr. Ge, he had to do something practical… After all, the credit for capturing and killing the rebels in the bamboo forest was a lie, and he and Zhang Chen together had done nothing!
In the class that day, Zhang Shou followed up on the question raised by the Fourth Prince and took Lou Shide as an example, describing the eventful life of this prime minister who was a Jinshi graduate, but he also emphasized the story of him swallowing a spit in the face.
After a history class was over, he unknowingly dragged on… but when he found that no one else paid attention, he went on to teach a nature class. Just like before, he explained some natural phenomena in a simple way, and asked people to do a few experiments, and then he finished the morning class.
However, when he announced the lunch break and walked out of the Banshan Hall, he heard a voice behind him saying "Teacher". He turned around and saw the Fourth Prince rushing out in a hurry: "Teacher, why did Lou Shide spit in his own face? Confucius said, repay evil with justice, and repay kindness with virtue!"
Zhang Shou was immediately happy. He knew that although he did not specifically teach the Four Books and Five Classics in Banshan Hall, the emperor might ask others to make up for it for the two princes. Maybe the two brothers had learned a lot before they officially entered school. At this time, the third prince actually hurriedly chased out, but after he came forward, he did not ask any questions, but secretly pulled the fourth prince's sleeve.
Zhang Shou was waiting for someone to ask about this idiom in class, but he didn't expect that the question would be delayed until after class. He looked up and saw the students who were about to go out to find food seemed to be looking around at the entrance of Banshan Hall, so he simply answered it directly.
"Because Lou Shide met the most difficult emperor in history, and this emperor was also the only female emperor in history. She was good at employing people, but she was also suspicious. Very few civil officials and military generals had a good ending, especially those who could stand on their own, such as Pei Xingjian, Wang Fangyi , Heichi Changzhi... One by one, they were demoted or died, and only Lou Shide had a good ending."
Seeing that the Fourth Prince seemed a little confused, Zhang Shou smiled gently and said, "To put it simply, Lou Shide did not meet a magistrate as generous and wise as your father, so if he could not be careful and tolerant, but instead became arrogant because of his wealth and status, he would have died long ago. Therefore, the four words "swallow one's own spit" are not to describe the character of tolerance and forbearance , but to praise the wisdom of judging the situation."
In the Banshan Hall, Lu Sanlang's eyes flickered when he heard this, until the entourage of the Third and Fourth Princes escorted the two away - they were much older than the other students and did not stay every day to attend the strange elective classes of the other Banshan Hall students in the afternoon. According to him, this was the insistence of the Queen Mother, and the Emperor had to give in.
He did not quietly slip out of Banshan Hall until most of the students left, either in deep thought or as if nothing had happened.
As a result, he ran head-on into Xu Heizi who was walking over from the side of Banshan Hall!
The two met face to face, and Lu Sanlang bowed unnaturally as a greeting, but he didn't expect that he just wanted to get away from this plague god, but after Xu Heizi nodded, his walking posture was a little unnatural. It was not until he found Zhang Shou's temporary room in the Imperial College that he suddenly realized.
Could it be that Xu Heizi had been standing there all morning, eavesdropping on the lecture Zhang Shou was giving them?
When he found Zhang Shou's room and was about to knock on the door, Lu Sanlang was still a little sad. He gave up living in a luxurious house and endured living in the Imperial College because he didn't want to face his father, but what about Zhang Shou? The Duke of Zhao's mansion almost treated this prospective son-in-law as half a son, and Zhu Ying obviously liked Zhang Shou very much, and he was willing to live in the Imperial College.
Comparing yourself to others is really frustrating...
But when Lu Sanlang put two fingers on the door and was about to knock, the door suddenly opened. He was so frightened that he almost knocked Zhang Shou's head with his two fingers, but fortunately he pulled them back in time.
Zhang Shou just heard some strange noises outside the door, so he opened the door to check, but he didn't expect Lu Sanlang to suddenly come. After seeing the fat man staring at him, he smiled and asked, "Are you trying to get lunch from me? You have a good nose!"
"Eh!" Lu Sanlang took two deep breaths, and when he smelled an indescribable fragrance wafting from the dormitory in front of him, he said with a drooling face, "It was just a coincidence. Young sir, you really know how to live. You even make delicious food in your dormitory yourself..."
"Even if I want to make it, I need the ingredients!" Zhang Shou has long been immune to Lu Sanlang's flattery skills, so he simply said directly, "Everyone who sees it has a share. Come in and close the door!"
"Yes, yes, yes." Lu Sanlang immediately smiled and quickly followed Zhang Shou into the house and closed the door.
When he saw clearly that there was a copper hot pot in the middle of the room, and plates filled with various meat dishes were piled up like beads next to it, he couldn't help but widen his eyes: "In the middle of the day, the young master is actually eating hot pot!"
"Yingying specially asked Ah Liu to deliver it. The boy didn't even show up. He asked a janitor to deliver it to my cell. I don't know where he went. I can't eat so much by myself. I can't waste such a good food. It's a good deal for you to run into it." Zhang Shou said and added lightly, "It just so happens that I have something to ask you."
Lu Sanlang was counting the bowls and plates on the table, wondering how many three- or four-layer food boxes would be needed to hold them all, and how Ah Liu had carried them all. At the same time, he was thinking that a hot-tempered rich girl like Zhu Ying could actually be so considerate. Although he had never truly pursued Zhu Ying, he was only pretending, and he felt a little jealous in his heart.
Miss Zhu is fine, but why didn't any other girl recognize my goodness? Although I'm a little fat, I'm still a talented little fat girl praised by the emperor himself...
