Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 163 Curiosity Kills the Cat
I took Zhang Shou out for two consecutive days and unexpectedly met Zhu Ying every time. I was competing with the eldest lady for her. I was doomed!
When Lu Sanlang heard Ah Liu say that Zhu Ying had arrived, he began to look around, as if he wanted to jump out of the car. However, the only door was controlled by Ah Liu, and jumping out of the window... ahem, his fat body simply couldn't squeeze out of the narrow window, and he would definitely be stuck. So, he accepted his fate in an instant.
So, when he heard the sound of horse hooves approaching outside, followed by Zhu Ying's voice, he was even prepared to be scolded. Sure enough, after Zhu Ying called Zhang Shou, she asked him directly. He cried out in his heart, "Oh no!", but the next moment, Zhang Shou immediately turned his head to the side, and then Zhu Ying took the curtain with one hand and bent down to get closer to the window.
"It's you, you know Ah Shou is very tired from teaching every day, but you still take him out for a run every night!"
Zhang Shou saw that Zhu Ying was clearly a little annoyed. He caught a glimpse of Lu Sanlang hiding behind him, so he smiled and explained, "Yingying, I asked him to take me to meet some craftsmen and come back after dinner."
"Hmph!" Zhu Ying rolled her eyes at Lu Sanlang who was sticking his head out with a big smile on his face, and then said unhappily, "Lu Sanpang, you better behave yourself these few days. When you come back for the day off, dress yourself up and look better. I've already made an appointment for you there. She's a girl with a good personality, good looks, and good conduct. If you miss this opportunity, you'll never get another one!"
Zhang Shou knew without even looking how ecstatic Lu Sanlang would be, and couldn't help but laugh, "What a coincidence! Yingying, you are really swift and decisive. You know, he just begged me to hurry up and not wait until the next day off, otherwise he was afraid that his father would promise him to someone else without any reason, and his innocence would be ruined!"
Zhang Shou's words immediately made Zhu Ying laugh. She shrank back and sat up straight, pointed her finger at Lu Sanlang, and said calmly, "It's the next day off, not the next time! I'm taking time out of my busy schedule to help you. If it doesn't work this time, there won't be a next time! Well, the location is my garden in Haidian, just follow Ah Shou!"
After saying this, Zhu Ying looked at Zhang Shou reluctantly, but realizing it was getting late, she sighed and said, "Ah Shou, I probably won't have time to come over these few days. Take care of yourself. If you want something to eat or something, just tell Ah Liu and the mansion will prepare it for you. As for the assassin..."
Zhu Ying's voice suddenly lowered, revealing a hint of coldness: "There is some clue about the assassin, but Ah Shou, you don't have to worry about it..."
Before she could finish her words, she found that her hand was suddenly held by someone. She looked down and saw that it was Zhang Shou's warm and beautiful hand. She was startled. When she looked up again, she saw his bright eyes. Even though it was dark at this time, she could still see the full concern in his eyes.
"Don't mess around." Zhang Shou said these four words, and when he saw that Zhu Ying didn't break free from his hand, he continued, "There's no need to rush about some things. In short, everything is based on ensuring your own safety. Don't be too hasty." After saying this, he slowly let go of his hand, but at this moment, he felt his hand being grabbed, and then his little finger was hooked.
"Well, I'll make a pinky promise with you that I won't mess around!" Zhu Yingyan smiled and gently hooked Zhang Shou's pinky with her little finger. She shook it twice before letting go and grabbing the whip. Then she winked at Zhang Shou, "On the day of the holiday, we'll go watch the good show of Fatty Lu together... I'm leaving!"
Seeing the girl in red speeding away as fast as she came, Zhang Shou slowly withdrew his hand from outside the car. Thinking of the pinky promise that seemed like a child playing house, he couldn't help but laugh.
After spending more time with Zhu Ying, he always had an illusion that he was really only sixteen years old...
"Little sir, little sir?"
The sudden shout from Lu Sanlang at the side finally brought Zhang Shou back to his senses. He turned his head and saw the little fat boy smiling foolishly: "Pinch me, I am not dreaming because I am confused in sleep... Ouch!"
Lu Sanlang's words were suddenly cut off by a sharp pain, and he almost cried because Zhang Shou grabbed his fat cheek and turned it half a circle without saying a word. He almost had the illusion that the fat on his face was completely twisted off.
"Okay, are you awake from your dream? Go back quickly, wash up and go to bed, because you still have classes tomorrow. You're the one giving the lectures in the morning!"
Holding his swollen face, he was gasping for air. When Lu Sanlang heard about the class tomorrow morning, he wailed even more. He used to think that being a teacher was very impressive, and being the head of the Imperial College was also very impressive. But now, even with a simple one-variable equation, two of those guys who came in through exams and interviews couldn't figure it out. He was so angry that he wanted to use a ruler!
But Zhang Chen was granted the power to use the ruler by Zhang Shou, but he didn't have it! If he continued to argue with those stupid guys, he felt that his anger could burn down the newly built Jiuzhang Hall!
Zhang Shou didn't feel that he was irresponsible for pushing the simplest courses to Lu Sanlang. In order to maintain his image as a gentle and kind Dr. Zhang, he really didn't want to teach adults those too basic mathematical knowledge - he had had enough of it when he taught Deng Xiaodai and Qi Liang in the village at the beginning, but fortunately Lu Sanlang was more receptive later.
However, when he starts to teach quadratic equations and functions in the future, he will still have to take part. In this case, should he first teach Lu Sanlang and then pass it on to this kid?
After returning to the Imperial College dormitory, Zhang Shou washed up and went to bed, but he did not blow out the lights and go to sleep immediately. What he saw and heard in the afternoon and evening was very interesting. Although he was a little tired, he was not sleepy yet. Therefore, he simply took the turntable text of the fourteen-ring key in his hand and tried to put the fifty-six words on it into his mind without any pattern.
"Do I have to write all the familiar poems first, and then see which sentences can be written with the characters in the Thousand Character Classic? Well, I'm afraid this is easier than working hard... With the ready-made poems, I can take out the characters in the first three rings of the fourteen rings and arrange them in groups, comparing them one by one. This idea should be more reliable..."
After mumbling to himself for a while, Zhang Shou was suddenly stunned. Didn't he want his reputation as a decryption expert to spread more and more, and eventually become so outrageous that it would be difficult to end? He had clearly decided to tell Zhang Kang that he couldn't solve it before, so why did he really think of a way now? After thinking about it, he came to a conclusion.
Zhang Kang could be stabbed because of so-called curiosity, and he estimated that it was the same - curiosity can kill the cat. He could temporarily put aside the content of the Jiuzhangtang plaque because the emperor did not continue to investigate, but Zhang Kang's secret box could be opened without any damage after all...
"Give it a try when you're free tomorrow or the day after tomorrow!"
The next morning's class was the same as usual, with a history lecture in the Banshan Hall. In the second class, Zhang Shou began demonstrate the buoyancy test, and by the way, he explained in detail the method of testing whether the plaque in the Jiuzhang Hall was hollow. For the adults in the hall, especially those who had stayed in the Cuiyun Room, this was something they had heard of before, and their curiosity was not that strong, but the third and fourth princes were different.
The two asked questions here and there, and the class was dragged to the end in a moment. Zhang Shou, who had no idea of progress, didn't care about this, and the other students didn't care even more. Because Zhang Shou was just chatting with them, telling stories here and there, and they listened without any pressure.
After class, seeing that the Third and Fourth Princes were still holding onto Zhang Shou as usual, the others naturally dispersed in twos and threes. Zhang Shou's class was interesting and not strenuous, and he was clearly very popular, but the children of the nobles were all adults, each with their own family background, and no one thought that they could surpass Zhang Chen's family background or Lu Sanlang's so-called talent.
In this case, there is no need to fawn on Zhang Shou. Of course, except for those who have stayed in Cuiyun Room.
At this time, Zhang Wu took advantage of the opportunity and came forward as soon as the third and fourth princes left. He looked around cautiously and made sure that everyone else had left, including Zhang Chen. Then he lowered his voice and said, "Young sir, the house arrest order for the first and second princes expires today. I heard that one of them went to see Duke Qin and the other went to see Earl Weinan today."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but feel a little surprised, but more puzzled. Qin Guogong Zhang Chuan is Zhang Chen's father, but I'm not familiar with him; and I'm not familiar with Weinan Bo Zhang Kang either. What does it have to do with me that the two princes went to see these two nobles?
Seeing that Zhang Shou didn't seem to understand what he meant, Zhang Wu couldn't help but feel anxious. He organized his words and said in a deep voice, "Because I studied with you, my father has been looking at me differently recently. I heard him say that the Queen Mother often praised you in front of others, saying that Master Ge had good vision and that Miss Zhu had good vision. Anyway, the implication seemed to be that."
What does that mean?
Zhang Shou felt that Zhang Wu was trying to trick him. Under his stare, Zhang Wu finally stammered out the complete sentence: "The Queen Mother's words can easily make the first and second princes feel that the Queen Mother regrets that they are not as good as you, young master."
After a moment of surprise, Zhang Shou smiled. When he followed Zhu Ying to Qingning Palace to see the Queen Mother, he felt that the mother of the emperor, who had once ruled the country from behind the curtain, was actually quite cold to him. Now there were rumors that she looked at him differently, which showed that his feeling was not wrong at all.
He was too lazy to think whether it was flattery, or a target, or whether he was wanted to be the whetstone for the two princes, so he nodded and said, "I know about this. Don't worry, the promise I made to you in Cuiyun Room is still valid."
As for the eldest prince and the second prince…not to mention that they are not the Eastern Palace yet, even if they are the Eastern Palace, they can’t do anything to him.
Moreover, these two brothers are not on good terms, so there is so much that can be done!
