Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 177 Early Morning Call
Late at night, in front of the Qingning Gate of the palace, a sedan chair slowly stopped, surrounded by many palace servants. The queen sat on it, wearing a dragon and phoenix pearl and jade crown and dark blue clothes. Even with only the dim light of the lanterns of her attendants, it still brought out a hazy brilliance on her jeweled and colorfully embroidered clothes.
She got off the sedan chair and glanced at the eldest and second princes who were walking along the side. A hint of deep anger appeared on her face. However, she did not lose her temper at this time and place. She took a deep breath and ordered someone to knock on the door and ask for an audience. However, Xu Shanggong, who was beside her, went to the door to inform her of her purpose, but the person inside hesitated for a moment and did not open the door.
"Empress, the Emperor is chatting with the Queen Mother. He said that even if the sky falls, we can talk about it tomorrow."
Faced with this obvious rejection, the queen took a deep breath and looked at the second prince with a stern look. Under her glare, even though the second prince was furious, he could only hesitantly step forward and knock on the door himself, saying that he came to apologize. Under the queen's silent urging, the eldest prince, who felt unlucky, could only knock on the door as well.
However, the two brothers talked until their lips were worn out, and they only whispered that they would report first. But the reply that came out in the end was still the same as before: "Empress, you should take the two princes back . The emperor said that it is too late, and we can talk about it tomorrow. In addition, please ask the eldest and second princes to go to court together tomorrow morning."
Although the two princes were close to adulthood and occasionally attended court together, they could only listen and could not attend every day. If the emperor allowed them to attend court together at other times, the two brothers would be so happy that they would even compete with each other and trip each other up. But at this moment, when they heard this order, they suddenly felt a pang in their hearts.
Especially the Second Prince, who had gotten into trouble today after drinking, was extremely worried. At this moment, he heard the Queen's voice from behind: "The Emperor refused to let me and my son in. Didn't the Queen Mother give any instructions?"
Yuquan had come to the Qingning Gate in person. She was one of the few female officials in the palace who was older than the age limit. She had been with the Queen Mother for more than 30 years. When she heard the Queen's words, which were secretly mocking the Queen Mother for not speaking up for the eldest and second princes, she was immediately furious. But she knew it was not appropriate for her to come forward at this time, so she winked at the eunuch at the door.
The eunuch could only cough dryly and said, "Empress, the Queen Mother said that children and grandchildren have their own blessings. She is now enjoying her old age and doesn't care about so much. Empress, you have a family background of learning and are good at educating children. Naturally, there is no need for her to say more."
The words "good parenting" were like a heavy slap in the face, making the queen's face turn pale. She took two steps back, turned around, got on the sedan chair without saying a word, and then slammed the armrest heavily, saying one word from between her teeth: "Go!"
The eldest prince was not willing to be tied up with the second prince, but his intention was exposed by the queen and he was scolded. He snorted and rushed to the side of the sedan chair, smiling and whispering to comfort and explain. Although the second prince also hurried over, when he got to the other side of the sedan chair, he was greeted by the queen's painful reproach.
"Erlang, how can I say anything good about you? Why do you have to compete with your elder brother in everything? Can't you brothers work together? You are so old, have you never heard that two people with one mind can break metal?"
The second prince saw the eldest prince glance at him smugly, and he couldn't help but feel angry. The East Palace was without a master, and the third and fourth princes were obviously too young to compete at all. Moreover, the emperor threw them to the Banshan Hall of the Imperial Academy, which clearly revealed his clear intention. If he doesn't fight now, he will have to bow down to him in the future... Why!
Is it just because the eldest prince was lucky and was born more than a year earlier than me?
Many people didn't sleep well that night. Zhang Shou and Lu Sanlang sat together until midnight before falling asleep. After all, tomorrow was a day off for Banshan Hall, but not for Jiuzhang Hall. Compared with the noble children who couldn't endure hardships, the students of Jiuzhang Hall were denied weekends, so they could only rest one day every six days.
Zhang Shou originally planned to let the abbot Lu Sanlang use the extra working day to lead everyone to review what they had learned and learn new things. However, since he had brought up the topic himself, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing. He was exhausted last night.
In the early morning, he once again relied on his tenacious biological clock to try to open his eyes.
By the way, last night after Lu Sanlang went to Weinan Bo's mansion and came back, the two of them were doing some calculations in the room... In the end, after sending a message, one of them slept on a bed and the other on a couch... Lu Sanlang gave him his bed like a disciple, so they didn't end up sleeping with their feet touching...
Hearing that Lu Sanlang was still snoring, Zhang Shou saw that it was getting dark outside . There was no one from the Imperial College to ring the bell to wake him up. Just as he was considering whether to wake him up, there was a knock on the door. Then, Lu Wan's voice came through the door: "Dr. Zhang, and Lu Zhu, the palace sent a message that you should go to the morning court together today!"
Lu Sanlang, who was snoring in bed, turned over and sat up with an agility that was totally inconsistent with his posture. He looked around blankly and said in a daze: "I seem to hear my father's voice? Am I dreaming? It must be a dream, why would my father ask me to go to court! Well, you think about it during the day, and you dream about it at night..."
Zhang Shou only saw the little fat boy lie down heavily after getting up. After a while, he started snoring again. He could even feel the veins on Lu Wan's forehead popping up through the door. At that moment, he took a deep breath and shouted, "Lu Sanlang, class is starting!"
In an instant, Lu Sanlang jumped up as if he was equipped with a spring. He even closed his eyes and began to get out of bed and put on his shoes. Then he rustled around to find clothes to put on, muttering to himself: "Don't be late. Be dignified and graceful. Always remember that I am the head monk, I am the head monk..."
Are you hypnotizing yourself, kid?
Zhang Shou finally couldn't help laughing out loud, and the last bit of sleepiness he had was gone: "Okay, wake up, your father is waiting outside, and someone in the palace sent a message asking me to go to court with you."
At this point, seeing that Lu Sanlang finally opened his eyes and was obviously much more awake, he suddenly remembered the most important thing - he usually taught in the Imperial College and only wore casual clothes, but today he was attending court, which was an extremely formal occasion, so he had to wear official clothes - but he didn't seem to have his official clothes yet? Are the clothing styles of the sixth and seventh ranks the same?
Therefore, when Lu Sanlang began to dress up in a hurry, he had a headache.
However, when he got out of bed and put on his coat, Lu Sanlang had already rushed to the door and opened it. Seeing his father standing outside the door with a sullen face, he suddenly jumped back and backed away, not knowing that he had talked in his sleep before, and then asked with a vigilant face: "Dad, are you kidding? I am a student, why should I go to court!"
"Who asked you to do such a good thing?"
Lu Wan sneered, and then ordered the people behind him: "Send Dr. Zhang and Sanlang's clothes in, change them quickly, the time for court cannot wait! If it were the previous court, it would be too late now!"
Hearing that his father was blaming him for getting up late, Lu Wan snorted in dissatisfaction, "That's because Emperor Taizu sympathizes with the officials and says that getting up too early in the morning is bad for the body, so the times for court sessions are different in winter and summer, and the list has also been shortened... Besides, the young master and I were busy until midnight last night!"
Lu Wan hated people who talked back to him, and he was even more annoyed because of his wife's troubles last night. If Zhang Shou hadn't appeared behind Lu Sanlang and thanked him with a smile, he would have wanted to teach the fat boy a lesson. He didn't want to stay any longer, so he left after saying a few words.
"Come out quickly after you've changed your clothes. It's getting late!"
Seeing her father leave, Lu Wan saw that it was Mother Jin who came to deliver the clothes, so she hurried over to ask, "Mother Jin, why did you suddenly order me and the young master to go to court? Didn't anyone in the palace tell us more? Also, what about the proposal to Liu's mansion? What did father and mother talk about last night? Where did the young master get these clothes?"
Sanlang Lu asked so many questions that Mother Jin was simply amused. Seeing Zhang Shou smiling but not saying anything, she said angrily, "Don't ask so many questions, Third Young Master. Change your clothes first and eat something to fill your stomach. Bring something to eat on the way. Otherwise, if you get hungry during the court session, there will be no one to take care of your meals. If you faint from hunger, it will be impolite of you!"
Lu Sanlang then stopped talking unhappily, and watched Mother Jin signal the maids to come into the house and help him wash and change clothes.
Mother Jin, who followed into the room, saw the two little girls blushing and glancing at people while they were helping Zhang Shou put on the official uniform. She couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
Fortunately, Dr. Zhang doesn't stay at home often. When the Duke Zhao sent clothes, he reminded us to refrain from letting Zhang Shou stay overnight in the future... Otherwise, there might be some unpleasant gossip in the future! Well, not about the girl, but about this fat young master...
When Lu Wan, who was about to get on the bus at the gate, saw the teacher and student coming , he felt his temples throbbing again, and his whole mood was very complicated. Zhang Shou in front had fluttering sleeves, a handsome and elegant demeanor, and Lu Sanlang in the back was holding a savings box, smiling and following closely, like a fat servant holding snacks to serve a young master.
This scene is so beautiful!
