Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 198: A gentleman's revenge, from morning to night
After visiting Carpenter Sun's house, Zhang Shou followed the sturdy craftsman to visit Blacksmith Zhang and hired a blacksmith apprentice who was already a qualified blacksmith. Although he repeated the pendulum experiment this time, he did not get the eye-catching results that Guan Qiu had.
Even so, he was still very satisfied. After being dragged by the enthusiastic carpenter Sun to have dinner at the blacksmith Zhang's place, when he returned home again, the moon was already above the treetops. He thought Zhu Ying's midnight snack was just a casual remark, but the doorman, Old Liu, smiled and told him that Wu had not returned yet, so he had to hurry to the Duke of Zhao's mansion.
Fortunately, the back door was still open, and Madam Jiang, who was waiting there, did not mention how long she had been waiting, and welcomed him in with a smile. She was very quiet all the way, and did not mention anything about the house, and sent him directly to the Madam's Qing'an Hall. As soon as he entered the door, he heard Zhu Ying's slightly angry voice coming from inside.
"I'm finally back! Look at all those self-proclaimed talents in the capital, they just compose poems and essays and compete with others in writing. Who can be like Ah Shou, who is busy with serious work all day long?"
Following the sound, he saw the door curtain at the main door move, and then Zhu Ying stepped over the threshold with an unhappily look, and frowned when she saw him.
"The small kitchen was about to be closed, but grandma and mother repeatedly told us to leave two people to guard it! You didn't even look at the time. It's almost midnight. You still have to teach at the Imperial College tomorrow. You're so busy all day, and you don't even ask yourself if your body can handle it! Aunt Wu is getting so anxious waiting, and mother almost sent someone to find out where you are!"
Zhang Shou broke out in a sweat. "This is the capital, and Ah Liu is driving. How can this be so exaggerated?"
"Think about it, all the messy things happened in the capital." Zhu Ying snorted, and finally turned around to let Zhang Shou enter the house first. When she followed him in, she said jokingly, "Besides, Ah Liu is so careless when doing things that he treated inviting guests as kidnapping. When Aunt Wu mentioned it just now, my grandmother and mother were both amused and confused."
Zhang Shou had already seen the Madam and Jiu Niang. Seeing that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were still awake, he stepped forward to apologize and made an apology to Wu. Then he said with a smile, "Is Ah Liu really that stupid? He did it on purpose. If it weren't for him, how could Carpenter Sun think that I am gentle and polite, and the easiest official to talk to?"
The lady laughed immediately, and Jiu Niang also laughed and said, "I was wondering, how could Hua Qi's apprentice be like this?"
Wu immediately asked if the trip went smoothly. When she heard Zhang Shou say that he had already invited the people he needed, she did not ask what he wanted to do with all these people. She smiled and said, "Ah Shou, there was a letter from Datong. There is good news for the Duke of Zhao who was on the northern expedition."
Zhang Shou was naturally very happy about this good news: "Oh, could it be that Duke Zhao won a great victory?"
"It's not a big victory, but just a series of small victories." The lady took her time to answer, but she did show a relieved smile on her face. "The victory report was suppressed before, and it should be spread in the next two days. However, in war, you can't judge the victory or defeat at a certain time and place. You have to return home in the end to know the winner or loser. So, let's just listen to it."
Jiu Niang disagreed with the lady's nonchalant attitude. She raised her eyebrows and said bluntly, "Victory is victory, and defeat is defeat. When we lose, some people make a big fuss about it, but when we win, others are very secretive. Why? Mother, you are a person who does not fight for anything, but I cannot swallow this breath. Those guys who are making trouble behind the scenes should pay the price!"
"Right!" Zhu Ying also raised her eyebrows and said, "I think so too. We should throw the victory report in the faces of those censors! You know, although Dad has not fought in the war in recent years, he has consulted with Duke Chu and others on military and national affairs. Whenever there is an incident in the north, the emperor will summon them . I don't know how many times they have simulated the battle situation on the sand table. How dare those censors say that he is not fit to be a general!"
As she spoke, she gnashed her teeth and angrily said, "Even if there is no news about my eldest brother now, it's all because of those guys! If they hadn't repeatedly urged him openly and secretly, it wouldn't have come to this!"
"Yingying!" The lady stopped him with a gloomy face. Seeing Wu's uneasy expression and Zhang Shou's thoughtful expression, she asked, "Ah Shou, if it were you, would you want to make it public or wait and see?"
"If it were me..." Zhang Shou paused, then smiled. "If it were me, a gentleman would seek revenge from morning till night. Of course, I would make the news of the successive victories known to everyone, and gather a group of people to fight back against those imperial censors, so that people would know that the reputation of the Duke of Zhao's Mansion is not something they can trample on casually!"
Zhu Ying was immediately delighted: "A gentleman's revenge begins from morning till night. This is a very good saying!"
But at this time, Zhang Shou changed the subject and said, "But this is only the most ideal situation. After all, Duke Zhao has not returned victorious yet. If he comes back, then nothing can be excessive. After all, he is a nobleman, not a prime minister. He does not need to pretend to be magnanimous. Fighting back can show strength to those with ulterior motives. And now that the battle is not over yet, it is not a bad thing to temporarily suppress the results of the battle."
This time, Jiu Niang and Zhu Ying, mother and daughter, all frowned, and Zhu Ying looked even more unhappy.
Zhang Shou smiled and said, "It's like boiling a pot of water on the stove. If you put a heavy object on the lid, the lid will stay on even though the water is boiling. However, in the end, the boiling water will use great force to overturn the lid and the heavy object, and the scalding water will splash all over the onlookers. Keeping silent now is for a better explosion in the future."
The old lady couldn't help but laugh at this analogy: "A Shou said it well! So, Jiu Niang, don't be anxious, Yingying, you too, just wait and see. When the dust really settles, of course there will be grievances and revenges! Besides, Yingying, although there is good news from your father, your eldest brother and his "remnant troops" are still missing!"
Zhu Ying was unhappy. As Mama Li and Mama Jiang personally brought over the midnight snack, there was a bowl of shrimp and egg soup that she had specially ordered for Zhang Shou. She watched Zhang Shou drink it all up, and then she gradually showed a happy expression. When the lady had also had a bowl of light soup, she said it was getting late and asked someone to send Wu and Zhang Shou and their son back home, she stood up suddenly.
"Grandma, I'm going to see Aunt Wu and Ah Shou off!"
Seeing that the old lady had no objection, she happily left the house. But the old lady stopped Jiu Niang, who was also about to leave, and waited until Zhu Ying's laughter faded away, then she smiled and said, "Yingying has always been picky since she was a child. There are actually some good-looking children in the capital, but she never looked down on them. She and A Shou are simply destined to be together."
Jiu Niang went to Zhaoming Temple out of spite and practiced Buddhism for many years, but the ancient Buddha did not change her temper. However, when she thought about her daughter's growth, she actually missed everything. Even though she often saw Zhu Ying in Zhaoming Temple, her eyes became wet and her head, which had always been held high, lowered unconsciously.
"Mom, if I had been stronger, I should have gone directly to Wu's place and personally assumed the responsibility of taking care of and educating Ah Shou. I shouldn't have stayed in Zhaoming Temple for more than ten years out of spite. I didn't take Yingying with me, and I didn't care about Ah Shou. I didn't do anything. In fact, I just wanted to make myself feel at ease!"
The lady couldn't help but laugh. "If you really go to Rongshui Village, do you believe that Yingying's father will bring you back no matter how good his temper is? Some things are just coincidences, but some things are destined by heaven, just like their marriage. Looking at Yingying's attitude and what Ah Shou has done these days, I think it's time to prepare for the wedding."
Jiu Niang's eyes lit up immediately, and she said without hesitation: "Then listen to me!"
Seeing that her daughter-in-law did not even mention that Zhang Shou did not even have a real place to stand, the lady could not help but feel a little headache. Although it was not difficult for the Duke of Zhao's mansion to prepare all the houses and land for the young couple, she was not sure whether Zhang Shou, who looked gentle but actually had a very intriguing temper, could accept it calmly.
In this world, there are too many men who become sons-in-law of wealthy families, but they have accumulated too much inferiority in their long-term lives, so they vent all their anger on their wives and in-laws, or they do not show anything in public, but they are planning messy things behind the scenes. Zhang Shou is neither like the former nor the latter, but because she cannot see through it, she hesitates.
Zhu Ying had previously found an embroidery apprentice and other apprentices for Wu, and now the house next door to Zhang's was also rented. Could it be that she was trying to find a way to give someone a big business? But that was unrealistic, after all, Wu didn't even have a sign for a weaving and dyeing workshop!
When the lady was hesitating about how to quietly give her grandson-in-law a windfall to help him get married, Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying accompanied Wu to the back door, the moonlight reflected the figures of the three people on the wall, and they seemed inseparable. But compared with Zhang Shou's naturalness and Zhu Ying's briskness, Wu felt a little awkward.
Seeing the back door was within reach, she suddenly broke free from Zhang Shou's hand and coughed, "Ah Shou, you have to thank Yingying very much. She specially asked the kitchen to prepare a sumptuous dinner today, but you didn't come. You have been busy with your own things all day long. You should apologize to her. You should know that the food you had in the Imperial College was also specially sent by her!"
After saying this, she nodded to Zhu Ying with a smile, and then she made an excuse to go home and ask for hot water, and walked out the back door. When she left, Zhu Ying blushed, and then said unhappily: "I don't have anything to say to you that I don't want to tell Aunt Wu. We can talk about the Yangzhou Teahouse today later. Her leaving makes us look guilty!"
Zhang Shou felt that he could understand Wu's subtle feelings, shrugged and said, "But I do have something to tell you in private."
